Schaffer's stages of attachment Flashcards
(4 cards)
AO1
Schaffer thought that the bond between infant and caregiver would become stronger over time.
He conducted a study with 60 mothers and their babies, lasting from birth and 18 months in a working class area in Glasgow.
He interviewed the mothers, and observed attachment behaviour by measuring 2 concepts - separation anxiety and stranger distress. Found that attachment developed in 4 phases.
Pre-attachment phase (birth - 3 months) - infant becomes attracted to other humans, preferring them to objects. This is demonstrated through them smiling at people’s faces.
Indiscriminate attachment phase (3-7 months) - infant begins to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar people, they smile more at known people, though they will still allow strangers to handle them/ look after them.
Discriminate attachment phase (7-8 months) - infants begin to develop specific attachments, they stay close to particular people and become distressed when separated from them. Avoid unfamiliar people and protest to a stranger holding them.
Multiple attachment phase (9 months onwards) - infants will begin to form numerous attachments with other familiar faces, e.g. grandparents. Fear of strangers weakens, but attachment to the mother figure remains strongest.
AO3 - naturalistic observation
Naturalistic observation - high ecological validity as it was not conducted artificially. Therefore, findings are able to be generalised as they would reflect everyday life and the general population.
However, due to being conducted in a real-life setting, there is a lack of control over variables. Therefore means the study will be unable to be repeated to produce similar results - so has low reliability.
AO3 - small sample & low temporal validity
Small sample size. Only conducted on 60 mothers and their infants, and they all came from the same area of Glasgow. Therefore reduces the strength of the conclusion that can be drawn from the study as the findings cannot be generalised due to too small of a group.
Additionally, there may be low temporal validity as parenting techniques have significantly changed since the 1960s, such as through the influence of Bowlby’s work on attachment. Therefore, even more ungeneralisable.
AO3 - cultural bias & self report
Schaffer’s stages of attachment may be culturally biased. Van Ijzendoorn found that culture plays a part in how and when we form attachments, and with whom. In many non-western societies, babies have multiple carers, and this is the norm, so multiple attachments are formed much earlier on than 9 months. Therefore, his stages may not be a valid explanation of attachment across all cultures, so lacks generalisability.
Additionally, the self-report method used (interview) may produce demand characteristics as people may answer in order to appear more favourable. So results are not accurate or reliable.
