stages of attachment Flashcards
who proposed the stages of attachment from an experiment they conducted
Schaffer and Emmerson (1964)
what was Schaffer and Emmerson’s experiment
-60 babies from working class families
-multimethod approach (triangulation)
-visited babies in their homes every month for first 12 months and then once at 18 months
results of Schaffer and Emmerson’s experiment
-at around 25-32 weeks 50% of children showed separation anxiety towards mothers
-by 40 weeks, 80% of children had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments
what are two measures of attachment
-stranger anxiety
-separation anxiety
whats stranger anxiety
-researcher approaching baby and recorded it when it cried
whats separation anxiety
baby placed in everday situations
what are the stages of development
-asocial stage
-indiscriminate attachment
-specific attachment
-multiple attachments
what is the asocial stage
-when babies behaviour to human and objects are similar
-baby is forming bonds
-show signs they prefer to be with people specifically familiar
what’s the indiscriminate attachment stage
-baby develops obvious social behaviour
-can recognise familiar people and prefer them
-accept cuddles from anyone (no separation or stranger anxiety)
what’s the specific attachment stage
-babies develop specific attachment w a primary attachment figure
-experience anxiety when not with PA figure or when with strangers
-attachment to one particular person
what is the multiple attachment stage
-when babies can form multiple attachments to secondary attachment figures
-29% of children form these within a month of forming primary attachment
conclusions of stages of attachment
-supports Bowlby in that being sensitive and responsive is more instrumental in attachment than physical care
-goes against Bowlby’s theory of monotropy as multiple attachments are important to children
what is monotropy
-the concept that infants have an innate and inborn capacity to attach primarily to a single caregiver
