Stages of Attachment Flashcards
Who performed a landmark study on how attachments develop?
Schaffer & Emerson in the 1960s
What was Schaffer & Emerson’s study (1964)?
Studied babies from Glasgow (working class families)
The babies were monitored until 18 months of age
The mother was also asked to keep a diary of the child’s behaviour in different situations to measure separation & stranger anxiety
What is separation anxiety?
Distress shown by an infant when separated from caregiver
What is stranger anxiety?
Distress shown by an infant when approached or picked up by someone unfamiliar
What were the findings of Schaffer & Emerson’s study?
65% babies formed first specific primary attachment to mother
30% jointly attached to mother & another figure (majority father)
75% babies formed attachment with father after 18 months
STRONGER ATTACHED INFANTS HAD MOTHERS WHO RESPONDED QUICKLY & SENSITIVELY TO SIGNALS (quality not quantity)
What are the 4 stages of attachment?
Pre-attachment phase (0-3 months)
Indiscriminate attachment (3-7 months)
Specific attachments (7/8 months)
Multiple attachments (9+ months)
What happens during the pre-attachment phase?
First 6 weeks - asocial state where baby behaves similarly to inanimate objects & humans
6+ weeks - infants prefer humans & familiar faces
What happens during the indiscriminate attachment phase?
Babies are more social
Recognise & prefer familiar adults (no forms of anxiety)
What happens during the specific attachment phase?
Develop separation anxiety and form a specific attachment to 1 person
What happens in the multiple attachment phase?
Infants soon develop multiple attachments after the 1st is formed
What are the strengths of Schaffer & Emerson’s study (1964)?
Good external validity - carried out in family homes (normal behaviour & no demand characteristics)
Longitudinal design - less confounding variables (indictable differences)
What does a longitudinal design mean?
The same participants we’re followed up and observed regularly over a long period of time
What are the weaknesses of Schaffer & Emerson’s study?
Methodological issues - self-report (social desirability bias)
Conflicting research - Rutter (1995)
Biased sample
How did Schaffer & Emerson’s study (1964) have a biased sample?
Only working class population
Sample from 1960s - different to 21 century (more women work nowadays)
What did Rutter (1995) suggest?
He proposed a model of multiple attachments and saw all attachments as equally important (unlike S & E)
Said multiple attachments formed to different people for different purposes
What did Bowlby (1969) find?
Found that babies get distressed when their playmate leaves the room - not just attachment figures
