development of attachment

Question 1

what was Schaffer and Emerson’s aim?

Answer 1

to investigate the formation of early attachments, what age they formed, their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed.

Question 2

describe Schaffer and Emerson’s experiment.

Answer 2

sample - 60 babies (31 males, 29 females) from Glasgow, majority of working class families.
longitudinal study - babies and mothers studied every month for the first year and then again at 18 months.
used observations and interviews with mothers.
they assessed separation anxiety - infant being left alone in pram, in a room etc and stranger anxiety - researcher starting home visits to see if infant gets distressed on approach.

Question 3

describe the findings of Schaffer and Emerson’s study.

Answer 3

• between 25-32 weeks about 50 percent of babies showed separation anxiety towards caregiver.
• attachment tended to be the caregiver who was the most interactive and sensitive to the infants signals/facial expressions (reciprocity).
• by 40 weeks 80 percent had a specific attachment and almost 50 percent had multiple attachments.

Question 4

whats the conclusion of S&E study.

Answer 4

it suggests that theres a pattern of attachment common to all infants which is biologically controlled.
attachments are more easily made with those who are sensitive eg - recognising and responding to their needs rather than spending most time with them.

Question 5

what are the stages of attachment that S&E demonstrated?

Answer 5

STAGE 1: ASOCIAL (0-8 weeks)
- accept comfort from any adult.
- behaviour between human/non-human objects are similar.
STAGE 2: INDISCRIMINATE ATTACHMENT (2-7 months)
- prefer faces to non faces.
- smile at everyone, happier with humans than alone.
- preference for familiar individuals, and recognise specific faces.
STAGE 3: SPECIFIC ATTACHMENTS (7-12 months)
- show separation/stranger anxiety.
- primary attachment to one individual.
- use familiar adults as secure base.
- smile more at familiar than unfamiliar faces.
STAGE 4: MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS
(1 year onwards)
- form secondary attachments
- recognise and prefer familiar people

Question 6

evaluate S&E study.

Answer 6

• unreliable data - it was based on mothers reports of their infants e.g - some mothers be less sensitive to infants protests so less likely to report them.
• biased sample - a working class sample, and from the 60s - childcare has changed since then.
• culture bias - may not be generalisable to collectivist culture.