The development of attachment

Question 1

Shaver and Emerson

Answer 1

Outline the 4 stages in the development:

Stage 1: Indiscriminate attachments
Stage 2: The beginning of attachment
Stage 3: discriminate attachment
Stage 4: Multiple attachment

Question 2

Shatter and Emerson (1964)

Answer 2

Carried out a study of infants in Glasgow. Infants were 5 to 23 weeks old at the start, and were studied until the age of one year. The researchers then described the stages of attachment.

Question 3

The role of the father

Answer 3

Schaffer and Emerson found that fathers were less likely to be primary attachment figures than mothers.

Lamb (1977) reported there was a little relationship between the amount of time fathers spend with their infants and infant-father attachment

Question 4

Heerman et al (1994)

Answer 4

found that the men are less sensitive to infant cues while other research have found no differences.

Question 5

What do fathers have an important role as?

Answer 5

A secondary attachment figures and have more playful and physically active relationships with their children.

Question 6

AO3

Question 7

One critcism of Schaffer and Emerson’s research is the possibility of unreliable data

Answer 7

E: Some of the mothers examined may have been less sensitive to their infants, but did not report this during the research.

E: This would cause a systematic bias in the results which do not reflect the mother’s genuine experiences

L: The means that the data obtained by Schaffer and Emerson may be unreliable and might not represent mother-infant relationships

Question 8

Another criticism of Shaffer and emerson’s research is the biased sample used

Answer 8

E: The sample was from a working class population in the 1960s

E: Firstly, this eans that the sample may not represent other social groups and secondly, the results might not apply today.

L: This means that the biased sample may lack population and historical validity.

Question 9

Another criticism of Schaffer and Emerson’s research come from cross-cultural research

Answer 9

E: Sagi et al (1994) found that infants raised in family-based arrangments (individualistc cultures) were twice as close to their mothers, in comparison to those raised in communal enviroments (collectivist cultures)

E: These results suggest that attachments are culturally specfic.

L: Consequently, Schaffer and Emerson’s stages of attachment may only apply to individualistic culttures and not collectivist cultures

Question 10

What AO3 Criticisms are you using?

Answer 10

1. Schaffer and Emerson’s research is the possibility of unreliable data
2. Biased sample used
3. Schaffer and Emerson’s research come from cross-cultural research