Stages of attachment Flashcards
What are the stages of attachment
Asocial stage, indiscriminate attachment, specific attachment and multiple attachments.
Who did the Glasgow baby study
Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
sample of glasgow baby study
60 babies - 31m 29f, majority w/c
how long were the glasgow babies studied for
Every month for the first year and then again at 18 months
How were the glasgow babies assessed
assessed seperation anxiety through infant being left alone in a room and assessed stranger anxiety
What % of Glasgow babies showed seperation anxiety between 25-32 weeks
50%
By 40 weeks what % of babies had specific attachment
80%
By 40 weeks what % of babies had multiple attachments
30%
What does the glasgow baby study suggest
That there is a pattern of attachment in infants which is biologically controlled
When is the asocial stage
0-2 months
Describe the asocial stage
-observable behaviour towards humans and objects is fairly similar however they do show signs that they prefer to be with people
- show preference towards familiar people and are easily comforted by them.
What age is indiscriminate attachment
2-7 months
Describe indiscriminate attachments
babies display more obvious and observable social behaviours ad a clear preference for being with humans. They recognise and prefer familiar people but do not have separation or stranger anxiety
when are specific attachments formed
7 months - 1 year
describe specific attachments
Start to display classic signs of attachment towards one person and has separation and stranger anxiety especially when attachment figure is absent.
Develops a primary attachment figure
When are multiple attachments formed
1 year +
What is multiple attachments
Babies start to show attachment behaviour to others who they regularly spend time with.
These are known as secondary attachments
Limitations of Glasgow baby study
-Lacks cultural and temporal validity - carried out 60 years ago on babies from one geographical location. Infants now exposed to tablets and computers and different cultures parent differently
-Poor evidence for asocial stage - difficult to assess anxiety as they are fairly immobile so it may have been displayed fairly subtly and may have been hard to observe
Strengths of glasgow baby study
-Real world applications. They have practical applications in day care. Indiscriminate and asocial stages it is likely to be straightforward as they can be comforted by any adult and shows that it may be difficult to start daycare with an unfamiliar adult during the specific attachment phase. this means parents can this to plan daycare.
- Good external validity - most observations made by parents during everyday life and reported back - alternative would be to have researchers present which may have distracted them or made them anxious - behaved more naturally - however mothers could have lied - biased - not report things like anxiety
