Stages of Attachment

Question 1

Outline the research conducted into the stages of attachment

Answer 1

Aim: To investigate the formation of early attachments:
- The age they developed
- Emotional intensity (strength of attachment)
- Who they were with / directed at

Method: 60 infants, working class mothers in Glasgow, single parents
Longitudinal study
Mothers used self-report methods to report on their baby’s protests (questionnaires and interviews)
Naturalistic observation done by parents when carrying out ordinary activities –> reported in a diary

Procedure: Schaffer and Emerson visited the babies every month for the first year and then again at 18 months.
The mothers kept diary of:
- The kind of protest (whimper, full-blooded cry, etc) the babies showed in seven everyday separations, e.g. the mother leaving the room (separation anxiety → distress shown by an infant when separated from an attachment figure)
- Researchers measured stranger anxiety (distress shown by an infant when approached by an unfamiliar adult)

Results: Between 25 and 32 weeks of age, 50% of the babies showed signs of separation anxiety usually toward their mother (discriminate/specific attachment).
- By 40 weeks 80% of the babies had discriminate attachments and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments
- Attachment to the adult who was most interactive with them and sensitive to their signals and facial expressions (reciprocity)

Conclusion: Infants go through different stages of attachment and mothers are the most crucial attachment figure at 18 months of age. - Attachment is due to factors such as reciprocity rather than how much time is spent with the infant.
- Their four stages of development are:
Asocial attachment (1st few weeks)
Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
Specific attachment (7 months onward)
Multiple attachment (12 months)

Question 2

Outline the four different stages of attachment

Answer 2

• Asocial attachment: First few weeks, up to 6 weeks
  Infants produce similar responses to all objects - both animate and inanimate. Towards the end, infants prefer social stimuli (anything with a smiley face)
• Indiscriminate attachment: 2-7 months
  Infant becomes more social and prefers human company over inanimate objects. Infants begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people. Infants do not display separation anxiety or stranger anxiety.
• Discriminate/Specific attachment: 7 months +
  Infants form attachments with a primary caregiver, 65% infants are attached to their mother. Infants display both stranger and separation anxiety.
• Multiple attachment: 12 months/1 year of age
  Within one month of first attachment, 29 % of infants attached themselves to someone else, e.g., father, grandparents, siblings. Within 6 months this had risen to 78%.

Question 3

Outline one strength of the stages of attachment

Answer 3

(COUNTER ARGUMENT TO LOW RELIABILITY)
P: High external validity.
Ev: Mother’s observed infant’s behaviour in their own home which is a natural environment for them.
Ex: Setting was authentic and the infant’s genuine behaviours were displayed
L: Therefore there is high external validity in terms of ecological validity.

Question 4

Outline two/three/four limitations of the stages of attachment

Answer 4

Unreliable data collected in their study
P: The data collected by Schaffer & Emerson has been criticised for being unreliable.
Ev: Method used was self-report methods, meaning the results were based on the mother’s opinion –> had to report all observations in a diary (regarding the infant’s protest).
Ex: Data is subjective (based on opinion rather than facts) and some mothers may feel social desirability bias –> not wanting to be seen as a bad mother (e.g. their infant often cries).
L: Results obtained by the mothers may lack accuracy, as what was being reported may not have been a true reflection of the infant’s protests.

Biased sample
P: The sample used in Schaffer & Emerson’s study has also been criticised for being biased.
Ev: Only babies from Glasgow –> example of cultural bias. Families consisted of only skilled-working-class, single mothers.
Ex: Sample lacks external validity - specifically population validity - as it does not represent infants beyond this limited sample.
L: Findings (regarding the formation of early attachments found in the study) cannot be generalised beyond Glasgow and single mothers

Cultural variations
P: Psychologists argue that a child’s cultural background may influence how they develop attachments during infancy.
Ev: For example, in individualistic cultures such as the UK and USA, people are concerned with their own needs and the needs of their immediate family group. In contrast, in collectivist cultures the focus is on meeting the needs of the wider community and people within these cultures share many things.
Ex: This means that in individualistic cultures specific attachments come first (before multiple attachment) however in collectivist cultures multiple attachments come first. Schaffer and Emerson did not discuss the possibility of different cultures affecting the stages of attachment.
L: Therefore these findings suggest that the stages of development which were proposed by Schaffer and Emerson may only be applicable to infants from individualistic cultures and the research lacks universality.

Strict stages?
P: The stages of attachment have been criticised for being inflexible.
Ev: This is because the stages of attachment are assumed to be a fixed order for development. For example, it suggests that normally single attachments must come before multiple attachments.
Ex: In some situations and cultures, multiple attachments may develop prior to single attachments.
L: This is a problem because families who have infants whose attachments deviate from the stages proposed by Schaffer and Emerson may be classed as abnormal.