Schaffers Stages Of Attachment Flashcards
What were Schaffers Stages of Attachment?
- Asocial
- Indiscriminate
- Specific Attachment
- Multiple Attachments
What is stage one of attachment?
ASOCIAL STAGE
What is stage two of Attachment?
INDISCRIMINATE STAGE
What is stage three of Attachment?
SPECIFIC STAGE
What is stage four of Attachment?
MULTIPLE STAGE
What is the asocial stage of Attachment?
First few weeks of age
Observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects are similar
Tend to show preference for familiar people and were more easily comforted by them
Forms basis of future attachment
What is the Indiscriminate stage of Attachment?
From 2>7 months old
Babies display more obvious and observable social behaviours
Clear preference for humans
Recognise and prefer company of familiar people
Do not usually show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety
What is the SPECIFIC stage of Attachment?
From 7 months majority of babies start to display classic signs of attachment to a particular person
Present with stranger anxiety especially when attachment figure is absent
Present with separation anxiety when separated from attachment figure
The Specific attachment regarded as primary attachment figure
Usually babies mother in 65% cases
What is the MULTIPLE stage of Attachment?
Extend behaviour to multiple attachments who they regularly spend time with
Relationships known as secondary attachments
Schaffer and Emerson observed 29% children form secondary attachment within a month of primary attachment
How did Schaffer and Emerson research the stages of attachment theory?
60 Glaswegian working-class babies (31 boys, 29 girls)
Regular visits of mother and baby every month for first year and then at 18 months
Mothers asked questions about types of protest babies provided when separated in various scenarios (adult leaving room)
Stranger anxiety also assessed
What were Schaffer and Emerson’s findings into stages of attachment?
identified four distinct stages
for example, at age 21-24 weeks 4 babies had specific attachment: 3 had attachment to mother: 0 babies showed fear towards strangers
How can we evaluate Schaffer and Emersons stages of attachment?
R: Good external validity-involved parent reporting observations to researchers- a researcher present may have been distracting and make baby feel anxious-likely behaviour measured was natural- directly addressing dependent variable HOWEVER lacks reliability- self report methods from mothers not objective- possible social desirability/demand characteristics and biased reports- may have not noticed showing anxiety or ignored it
A: Research mainly focused on specific criteria- sample had unique cultural and historical features: 1960s Glaswegian working-class families- traditional view on parenting- individualist culture- collectivist cultures show the formation of multiple attachments in early stages of babies life as supported by van Izjendoorn- lacks generalisability and unable to explain all behaviour
I: Practical Implication in day care- asocial and indiscriminate day care can provide comfort through any skilled adult- Schaffers and Emerson’s research suggest day care with unfamiliar adult may be problematic in specific attachment stage- allows parents to plan the use of daycare using Schaffer and Emerson’s stages- high ecological validity
S: Asocial stage- young babies fairly immobile and have poor co-ordination- anxiety in 2 month old babies may be subtle and hard to observe/interpret- less objective measures, mainly guessing- difficult for mothers to recognise signs of anxiety- possible these babies are quite social but flawed methods cannot deny nor confirm this- limits validity
E:
