Schaffer's stages of attachment

Question 1

What are stages of attachment?

Answer 1

Qualitatively different infant behaviours are linked to specific ages, and all babies go through them in the same order

Question 2

What are the 4 stages of attachment, as propsed by Schaffer and Emerson?

Answer 2

1) Asocial stage
2) Indiscriminate attachment
3) Specific attachment
4) Multiple attachments

Question 3

What happens in stage 1- asocial stage?

Answer 3

• First few weeks of baby’s life
• Observable behaviours towards humans and objects is similar
• Babies show signs that they prefer to be with others
• Babies show a preference for company of familiar people
• Baby forms bonds here

Question 4

What happens in stage 2- indiscriminate stage?

Answer 4

• 2 to 7 months old
• Babies display more obvious and observable social behaviours
• Show a preference for being with others
• Recognise and prefer the company of familiar people
• May still accept cuddles and comfort from any person
• Do not show separation anxiety or stranger anxiety

Question 5

What happens in stage 3- specific attachment?

Answer 5

• 7 months +
• Babies start to display classic signs of attachment towards one person
• E.g: stranger anxiety, separation anxiety
• Forms a specific attachment with a primary attachment figure
• This is the baby’s mother in 65% of cases

Question 6

What happens in stage 4- multiple attachments?

Answer 6

• Shortly after showing attachment to one person, babies extend this behaviour to multiple attachments with others
• 29% of children formed secondary attachments within one month of forming a primary attachment
• By one year, the majority of babies have developed multiple attachments

Question 7

What did Schaffer and Emerson research and how did they do it?

Answer 7

• Observational study of the formation of early infant-adult attachments
• 60 babies involved- 31 boys, 29 girls (Glasgow, working class)
• Visited babies and mothers in their homes every month for year 1, then again at 18 months
• Asked mothers questions about protest babies show in everyday separations
• Assess stranger anxiety

Question 8

What did Schaffer and Emerson conclude?

Answer 8

• Identified the 4 stages of development in infant attachments

Question 9

STRENGTH-
I= Good external validity

Answer 9

D= Most observations were made by parents and reported to researchers. If researchers were to record, babies may have become distracted and nervous
E= Highly likely participants behaved naturally while being observed

Question 10

LIMITATION-
I= Issues with mothers being observers

Answer 10

D= Unlikely to be objective, and may have been biased in terms of what they reported
E= Means even if babies behaved normally, their behaviour may not be accurately recorded

Question 11

LIMITATION-
I= Poor evidence for the asocial stage

Answer 11

D= Measures used to access attachment in the asocial stage lacks validity. Babies have poor coordination and are fairly immobile. Babies less than 2 months old, may have felt anxiety, but displayed this in a subtle way. It is hard for mothers to observe
E= Means babies may be social, but due to flawed methods, appear to be asocial

Question 12

STRENGTH-
I= Real-world application

Answer 12

D= Practical application in day care. In asocial and indiscriminate stages, day care is fairly straightforward, as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. Research tells us day care may be problematic during attachment stages
E= Means parents can use research to plan their use of day care