Schaffer

• Schaffer & Emerson studied attachment in infants and caregivers in Glasgow. From the results of their study, they concluded that there are four stages of attachment.
• As part of their development, all babies go through the four stages of attachment. Each stage of attachment is linked to specific ages
• Stage 1: Asocial

  • Age (birth-6 weeks)
  • Have no preferance for any on particular human yet
  • Do appear to prefer human stimuli than non-human stimuli
• Stage 2: Indisciminate

  • Age (6 weeks - 6 Months)
  • Infants become more social
  • Show clear preferance for being with humans
  • Recognise caregivers and familiar adults
  • Do not show separation/stranger anxiety
• Stage 3: Specific

  • Age (7 Months onward)
  • Start to show separation/stranger anxiety
  • Formation of attachment to primary caregiver
• Stage 4: Multiple

  • Age (10-11 Months)
  • After attachment to primary attachment figure has formed, multiple attachments can be formed.
  • These are called secondary attachments
• A strength of this theory is that it has good practical applications. For example, we can infer that children might cope well in childcare once they are one year old because they can now form secondary attachments towards care workers
• However a limitation is that this theory may be socially sensitive for any main caregiver who needs to return to work before the infant reaches multiple attachment stage.
• Another limitation is that the theory is ethnocentric because it assumes the norm is for children to be raised in nuclear families with one main attachment figure. In fact, in some cultures children reach the multiple attachment stage much more quickly because they are used to 'shared care'.