Stages Of Attachment Flashcards
Multiple attachments
Multiple attachments are attachments to two or more people. Research has shown that most babies are able to form multiple attachments once they have formed a specific attachment to their main caregiver.
Schaffer and Emerson 1964 : method
Naturalistic observation
Longitudinal research and took place in Glasgow
Sample: 60 infants from working class families, aged 5 – 23 weeks
S&E : procedure
Procedure
Observed every 4 weeks until 1 year old
Observed again at 18 months
At each visit mother reported infant’s separation protest in seven everyday situations (e.g. being left alone in a room, being left with other people).
Mother rated intensity of protest on a 4-point scale and identified to whom the protest was directed.
Stranger anxiety measured by assessing infant’s response to the interviewer at each visit
S&E : findings
Within one month of first becoming attached 29% of infants had multiple attachments
Within 6 months this had risen to 78% of infants having multiple attachments
Most infants maintained one principle object of attachment
The primary object of attachment was not always the one who fed and bathed the infant as 39% of infants attached to someone else
S&E : conclusions
Responsiveness appeared to be the key to attachment
Intensely attached infants had mothers who responded quickly to their demands and, interacted with their child
Infants who were weakly attached had mothers who failed to interact
Schaffer and Emerson reported that there was little relationship between the time spent together and attachment
Stages
Stage 1: Indiscriminate attachments
Stage 2: Beginning of attachments
Stage 3: Discriminate attachments
Stage 4: Multiple attachments
Stage 1 : indiscriminate attachments
0-2 months
Infants produce similar responses to all objects, whether they are animate or inanimate
Towards the end of this period, infants are beginning to show a greater preference for social stimuli, such as a smiling face, and are more content when they are with people
During this period, reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing the infant’s relationship with others
Stage 2 : indiscriminate attachments
At about 4 months infants become more social
They prefer human company to inanimate objects and can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people. However, they are still relatively easily comforted be anyone, and do not yet show anxiety with strangers
The distinctive feature of this stage is their sociability – enjoyment of being round people
Stage 3 - discriminate attachments
By 7 months old most infants begin to show a distinctly different protest when one particular person puts them down (separation anxiety). Equally, they show special joy at reunion with that person and are most comforted by that person
They have formed their specific attachment to one person – their primary attachment figure and stranger anxiety is formed
How can we use Schaffer and Emerson here to suggest who the primary attachment figure is?
Stage 4 - multiple attachments
Very soon after the main attachment is formed, the infant also develops a wider circle of multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships he/she has.
Specifically, Schaffer and Emerson found that, within one month of being attached, 29% of infants had multiple attachments to someone else. These are called secondary attachments – who might this be?
Within six months this had risen to 78%. Within one year the majority of infants had developed at least 5 multiple attachments.
Explain what is meant by multiple attachments (3 marks)
This is where an infant has an attachment with more people than just their primary caregiver. Very soon after the main attachment is formed, the infant also develops a wider circle of multiple attachments depending on how many consistent relationships he/she has. These secondary attachments tend to be close friends and family.
AO3 - research support
P – A strength of the stage theory is that there is research evidence that suggests that all babies go through 4 stages of attachment.
E – For example, Schaffer and Emerson…
This increases the…
E – However, the sample can be viewed as biased as all participants came from a working-class population from Glasgow. Only gaining a sample from one social group in an individualist culture means the results lacks population validity and is unrepresentative of the wider population including other more collectivist cultures. The data may vary if replicated in another region of the world for example a baby from a collectivist culture may be susceptible to forming more multiple attachments earlier on due to the vital sense of community in comparison to the individualist culture found in great Britain.
L – Therefore, this research supports the stages but it could be argued that the stages of attachment are culturally bias, meaning that the study cannot be generalised; therefore lacking population validity.
AO3 - cultural variations
P: A limitation of the stage theory is that it is inflexible and research has shown there are cultural variations in how attachments develop.
E: For example, Sagi (94) compared attachments in infants raised in communal sleeping environments (Israeli kibbitzim) to those raised in family based sleeping arrangements. Those in the family based sleeping arrangements were twice as close to mum than those in the communal environments, suggesting cultural differences in attachments.
E: This shows a limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s 4 stages of attachment as children being raised differently will not develop attachments in the same way and Schaffer and Emerson do not account for these differences.
L: Cross-cultural research highlights differences in attachment development and so the 4 stages of attachment cannot be universally applied to all cultures. Different stages of development would be needed for children who are raised in different settings and the theory presents an ethnocentric bias as it based on Western standards of attachment.
AO3 - temporal validity
P – A further limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s investigation is that the findings reflect the child rearing practises of the 1960’s where most child care was carried out by mothers who were less likely to work outside the home.
E - Today, fathers are far more likely to be the first attachment figure given their greater role in child rearing. Cohn et al. (2014) found the number of stay at home dads has quadrupled in 25 years meaning that Schaffer and Emerson’s data of only 3% of the infants studied formed primary attachments with their father may be a lot higher if replicated today.
E - This suggests that the study lacks temporal validity because…
L – Therefore, as the findings may not remain the same if repeated in todays changed society so we cannot generalise the results with caution to stages of attachment development in today’s society.
AO3 - external validity
P - A strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s study is that babies were observed by the researchers in their own homes and mothers were asked to rate…
E - This is a strength because it means that the study has high ecological validity as the babies were in their own familiar home environments, not effected by foreign stimuli as they are not used to in a new controlled environment. This would in turn increase the ……………………………………………… as the babies will be acting naturally and will not be affected by confounding variables found in a controlled environment.
However, the sample can be viewed as biased as all participants came from a working-class population from Glasgow. Only gaining a sample from one social group in an individualist culture means the study lacks population validity and is unrepresentative of the wider population including other more collectivist cultures. The data may vary if replicated in another region of the world for example a baby from a collectivist culture may be susceptible to forming more multiple attachments earlier on due to the vital sense of community in comparison to the individualist culture found in Great Britain.
E - Schaffer and Emerson used a variety of rich and detailed data both quantitative from observations and qualitative from interviews. This use of different methods to study the same issue is known as triangulation, and it provides greater depth and breadth of knowledge gained which can be applied when developing the stages of attachment.
L - Therefore…
