Lesson 1 - Stages Of Attachment Flashcards
What is developmental psychology?
A branch of psychology concerned with the progressive behavioural changes in individuals over their lifetime.
How many stages of attachment are there?
4
What are the stages of attachment and when do they occur?
Pre-attachment: 0-3 months
Indiscriminate attachments: 3-7 months
Discriminate attachments: 7 months onwards
Multiple attachments: 7 months onwards
Can you describe each stage of attachment?
Pre-attachment: Infants show they prefer human interaction over objects and events by smiling at them.
Indiscriminate attachment: Infants smile at familiar humans more and still allow strangers to handle them.
Discriminate attachments: Infant becomes closely attached to primary attachment figure and show “separation protest” and “stranger anxiety”. Separation protest is distress when separated from their primary attachment figure. Stranger anxiety is distress when a stranger approaches an infant.
Multiple attachments: Infant forms attachment with major caregivers, such as grandparents and non-caregivers like siblings. These are secondary attachments.
Who conducted the experiment on the stages of attachment?
Shaffer and Emerson (1964)
How was the experiment on the stages of attachment carried out?
A longitudinal study on 60 infants from working-class families was conducted for two years.
The mothers were asked to self-report what their infants did.
What are the disadvantages of the study?
Asking the mothers to self-report may not be valid as some mothers may be less sensitive to their children’s protests and not report them.
Cultural bias as collectivist cultures may behave differently to the individualist cultures.
Population bias as infants from only working-class families were used, so cannot be generalised to whole population.
Using stages to describe attachment is not accurate as it is complex and different to each individual. It may not occur in that exact order for the exact period of time. For example, some infants may form multiple attachments first.
Lacks temporal validity as times have changed and more women go to work while more men stay at home.
What are the advantages of the study?
It has mundane realism and high validity as it was a natural experiment
What about secondary attachment figures?
Fathers play an important role as secondary attachment figures as they generally more physically active, playful and challenging to the infants.
What did Shaffer and Emerson notice?
The primary attachment figure was not always the person the infant spent the most time with.
Quality of relationship > quantity
