stages of attachment

• multiple attachments?

  • form strong emotional ties with other major caregivers
  • e.g grandparents
  • e.g other kids - aka secondary attachment
  • become less scared of strangers & attchment to mother remains strongest
• schaffer & emerson study 1964 aim?

  • investigate age at which infants become attached, who they become attached to & if its possible to develop multiple attachments
• schaffer & emerson study 1964 method?

  • conducted longitudinal study on 60 working class glaswegian infants
  • 31 males & 29 females
  • visited children at monthly intervals in own homes for 1st year of life & again at 18 months
  • observed infants interactions with caregiver - naturalistic
  • caregiver interviewed about infants behaviour
  • evidence for development of an attachment was that baby showed separation anxiety after carer left/stranger anxiety in response to unfamiliar adults
• schaffer & emerson study 1964 findings?

  • attachments developed in 4 stages
  • 29% babies had secondary attachments within a month of forming primary attachment
  • e.g grandparents/siblings
  • by one year most infants developed multiple attachments
• how long is the pre attachment stage?

  birth to 6 weeks
• pre attachment?

  • aka asocial stage
  • babys behaviour towards non human objects & humans quite similar
  • from 6 weeks babies prefer other humans to objects & appear happier in presence of others
  • start to show some preference for familiar adults - these adults find easier to calm baby down
  • show this by smiling at peoples faces
• how long is the indiscriminate attachment stage?

  6 weeks to 7 months
• indiscriminate attachment?

  • display more observable social behaviour
  • begin to discriminate between familiar & unfamiliar people
  • smile more at those who are familiar
  • will smile at strangers
  • will accept cuddles & comfort from any adult
  • do not show separation/stranger anxiety
  • attachment behaviour said to be indiscriminate as its not different towards any one person
• how long is the discriminate attachment stage?

  7 to 12 months
• discriminate attachment?

  • show anxiety towards strangers
  • become anxious when separated from 1 particular adult
  • baby has formed specific attachment with 1 adult - primary attachment figure
  • this is someone that offers most interactions & responds to babys signals accurately
  • kids in this stage develop specific attachments staying close to certain people & become distressed when separated from them
• when is the multiple attachment stage formed?

  12 months onwards
• 4 X of stages of attachment?

  1. culturally relative
  2. problem with how multiple attachments are measured
  3. ignores individual differences
  4. research was unrepresentative
• * study carried out in families homes?

  • was carried out in natural environment
  • most observations were done by parents then reported later to researchers
  • behaviour is likely to be natural & true to real life
  • no demand characteristics as babies are unaware
  • ecological
  • means that att behaviour displayed is more realistic so can generalise to real life att
• X culturally relative?

  • psychologists who work in cultural contexts where multiple cgs are norm believe babies form multiple att from outset
  • collectivist cultures work together in child rearing
  • ? population
  • some cultures multiple att may be formed at earlier stage than 12 months
  • so cannot generalise stages of att to all cultures
• X problem with how multiple att are formed?

  • just because baby gets distressed when individual leaves room does not mean that person is true att figure
  • bowlby 1969 pointed out that kids also get distressed when playmate leaves room does not signify an att
  • ? internal
  • difficult to establish cause & effect relationship between separation anxiety & having an att to that figure
  • baby may be upset due to other factors e.g hunger
• X ignores individual differences?

  • this is stage theory suggests all children will go through stages in same order & same age
  • too narrow to believe every child will develop in same exact way
  • are all different & might progress at different rates
  • too simplistic to suggest everyones stages of att are same
  • may be other factors that influence our att
  • e.g single parent/income/working mothers
• X research was unrepresentative?

  • sample was working class from same district in scotland
  • 1960s
  • parental care changed - more mothers go to work
  • child rearing practices vary from diff cultures, socioeconomic backgrounds & time periods as researcher only focused on 1 certain group
  • interactions may be diff in another culture
  • children may develop diff primary att figure as fam dynamics change from traditional nuclear fam
  • ? population/temporal
  • not generalisable to all cultures & modern time periods as stages of att may differ in diff cultures & todays society