lesson 2-stages of attachment

Question 1

stages of attachment

Answer 1

-Shaffer and Emerson (1964) investigated the development of attachment in infants using a longitudinal study where they followed 60 infants and their mothers for two years, decided that there were 4 stages in the development of attachment in infants

Question 2

3 stages

Answer 2

pre-attachment- 0-3 months, from 6 weeks infants become attracted to other humans, preferring them to objects and events, demonstrated y smiling at peoples faces
Indiscriminate attachment- 3-7 months, infants begin to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people, smiling more at people they know, still allow strangers to handle them
Discriminate attachment- 7 months onwards, infants develop specific attachment to primary attachment figure, usually the mother, staying close to that person, show separation protest and displays stranger anxiety, noticed that primary attachment figure was not always person who spends the most time with the child, quality over relationship matters the most in the formation of an attachment
Multiple attachments- 7 months onwards, very soon after developing their first attachment infants develop strong emotional ties with other major caregivers, such as siblings= secondary attachment, the fear of strangers weakens but their attachment to primary figure remains strongest

Question 3

evaluation of stages (5 weaknesses)

Answer 3

-data collected may be unreliable as it was based on mothers reports, some mothers might have been less sensitive to their infants protests and therefore less likely to report them
-sample was biased as it only included infants from a working-class population and findings might not apply to other social groups
-culture bias, only included infants from individualist cultures, infants from collectivist cultures may form attachments differently
-temporal validity, was conducted in 1960s and parental care of children has changed considerably since then, more women go to work, more men stay at home
-stage theories such as this one are inflexible and do not take account of individual differences some infants might form multiple attachments first rather than starting with a single attachment

Question 4

role of the father

Answer 4

-inconsistency in research and whether he plays a distinct role
-some research shows that fathers provide play and stimulation to complement the role of the mother, providing emotional support, both are crucial to a child’s wellbeing
-other research shows no such distinction, research investigating effects of growing up in a single-female or same sex parent family shows there is no effect on development, and suggests role of the father is not important

Question 5

S&E and role of the father

Answer 5

-found fathers were far less likely to be the primary attachment figure than mothers
-may be because they spend less time with their infants, or possible that most men are not as psychologically equipped to form an intense attachment because they lack emotional sensitivity women have
-biological factors, female hormone oxytocin underlies caring behaviour so women are more orientated to interpersonal goals than men
-could be due to societal norms, in some cultures there is also stereotype that it is feminine to be sensitive to the needs of others
-men do form attachments with their children, S&E found that 75% of infants studied had formed an attachment with their father at 18 months
-Field (1978), fathers can even be primary attachment figure, role of father in single-parent family is more likely to adopt traditional maternal role, to be primary caregiver and a nurturing attachment figure