The Development Of Attachment Study

Question 1

What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson (1964) + what were their findings?

Answer 1

investigated the formation of attachment within the first year of a child’s life. They visited 60 babies based in the Glasgow area every month and measured various behaviours including separation protest and stranger anxiety. From their findings they proposed that attachments develop in 4 stages.

Question 2

What was the first stage that Schaffer and Emerson (1964) proposed?

Answer 2

Stage 1: Asocial Stage-
(Birth - two months)
- The baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers but its behaviour towards human and non-human objects is quite similar.

-Baby’s show some preference for the familiar adults in that those individuals find it easier to calm them.

-Babies are also happier when in the presence of other humans as opposed to being alone.

Question 3

What was the second stage that Schaffer and Emerson (1964) proposed?

Answer 3

Stage 2: Indiscriminate Attachment
(Two - seven months)

• Babies display more observable social behaviour.
• Show a preference for humans rather than inanimate objects and prefer familiar adults.
• Accept comfort and cuddles from any adult
• Do not show separation protest or stranger anxiety

Question 4

What was the third stage that Schaffer and Emerson (1964) proposed?

Answer 4

Stage 3: Specific Attachment
(Seven months)

• Start to display anxiety towards strangers (stranger anxiety) and separation
  protest.
• The baby has formed specific attachments, the adult is termed the primary attachment figure,
• This person is not necessarily the person they spend the most time with but the one who offers the most interaction and response to the baby’s ‘signals’ with the most skill

Question 5

What was the forth stage that Schaffer and Emerson (1964) proposed?

Answer 5

Stage 4: Multiple Attachments
(7 months+)

• Babies start to show attachment behaviour towards other adults wit whom they regularly spend time. These are called secondary attachments.
• By the age of one year, 33% of children in Schaffer and Emerson’s study have formed multiple attachments.

Question 6

What are the 2 strengths of Schaffer and Emerson (1964)?

Answer 6

It has high external validity.
E.g the study was carried out in the families own homes and most of the observation was actually done by the parents during ordinary activities and reported researchers later.
This is a strength because it means the behaviour of the babies was unlikely to be affected by the presence of observers. This increases the chances of the babies behavit naturally in their own environments.
As a consequence, this increases the credibility of the research that discovered the stages of attachment theory.

It has real world application.
They have practical application in day care. In the asocial and Indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. Schaffer and Emerson’s research tells us day care. May be problematic during the specific attachment stage. This means that parents use of day care can be planned using the Schaffer and Emerson stages.

Question 7

What are the two weaknesses or Schaffer and Emerson’s (2964) research?

Answer 7

• Low Population Validity
E.g the sample was made up of 60 babies from the working class population of Glasgow. This is an issue because we cannot generalise the findings that attachment develops in stages to other social groups. It may be that babies from more privileged background develop attachments in a different way as a result of being cared for by a nanny or other privileges they would experience.
This reduces the explanatory power of Schaffer’s stage theory of attachment as the findings that support this theory are not representative of the whole population.

-Low Temporal Validity
This is because it was conducted in 1964, over 50 years ago.
This is an issue because parental care of children has changed considerably since that time. More women go out to work so many children are cared for outside the home, or fathers stay at home and become the main carer. Research shows that the number of dad who choose to stay at home and care for their children has quadrupled over the past 25 years (Cohn et al, 2014), it is likely that if a similar study were conducted today, the findings might be different.
As a consequence, this reduces the explanatory power of Schaffer’s stage theory of attachment as the study that supports this theory cannot be endured over time.