stages of attachment

Question 1

4 Stages

Answer 1

Asocial, indiscriminate, specific, multiple

Question 2

Asocial

Answer 2

From birth to about 2 months infants produce similar responses to all objects. Towards end of period infants are beginning to show greater preference for social stimuli e.g. smiling face but at the beginning the baby’s response to human and non-human objects is the same. Reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing the infants relationships with others.

Question 3

Indiscriminate

Answer 3

Around 2-7 months, infants become more sociable. Prefer human company to objects and recognise and prefer familiar adults to non-familiar adults. Still relatively easily comforted by anyone. No stranger anxiety just yet.

Question 4

Specific

Answer 4

By seven months, show separation anxiety (don’t like being separated from main caregiver). Show joy at reunion with caregiver. Said to have formed attachment to one primary caregiver. Schaffer and Emerson found that the main attachment was not always to the person who spends most time with infant. Intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly and sensitively to the infants. It was to do with the quality of the interactions, not the quantity. In 65 % of children, first specific attachment was to mother, in a further 30% the mother was the first joint object of attachment. Fathers rarely the first sole object of attachment (3%) but 27% joint first.

Question 5

Multiple

Answer 5

nfant now begins to form a wider circle of multiple attachments depending on how many close relationships they have. By the end of year 1, most infants have developed multiple attachments. Schaffer and Emerson found that within one month of being attached, 29% of the infants had multiple attachments to someone else e.g. grandparents, other parent, siblings. Risen to 78% in sixth months. These relationships with other adults are called secondary attachments.