Schaffers stages of attachment

• what is stage 1 of attachment and when is it?

  asocial stage

  happens in the first few weeks

  babys behaviour towards people and inanimate object is quite similarand are happy in the presence of people
• what is stage 2 of attachment and when does it happen?

  indiscriminate attachment

  2-7 months

  display more observable social behaviour with a preference for humans they recognise and prefer familiar people and dont show stranger or seperation anxiety
• what is stage 3 of attachment and when does it happen?

  specific attachment

  from 7 months

  stranger and seperation anxiety when away from primary attachment figure

  this is usually the person who offers the most interaction and response (usually mother)
• what is stage 4 of attachment and when does it happen?

  multiple attachments

  by 1 year

  secondary attachments with other adults

  in schaffer and emersons study 29% of babies had secondary attachment within a month of forming primary attachment
• what was the procedure for shaffer and emersons (1964) stages of attachment study?

  60 babies in glasgow most from working class families

  researchers visited babies and mothers at home every month for a year and then again in at 18 months

  speration anxiety measured by asking mothers about behaviour during everyday seperations

  stranger anxiety measured by asking mothers about kids response to unfamiliar adults
• what were the findings and conclusions of the study?

  babies developed attachments through a sequence of stages

  the specific attachment tended to be to the person who was most interactive and sensitive to babies signals. this was not necessarily the person who spent the most time with
• whats a strength of this study?

  has external validity

  most of the observations were made by parents during ordinary activities

  the researchers being there may have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious

  this means it is highly likely that the ppts behaved naturally

  However the mothers may have been biased in what they reported and the reports may not be accurate
• why is poor evidence about the asocial stage a limitation?

  because of their stage of developmentr young babies have poor coordination and mostly immobile this makes it difficult for mothers to accurately report signs of anxiety and attachment which means babies might actually be quite social but appear to be asocial
• why is real world applications a strength of this study?

  in early stages baby can be comforted by most adults but if a child starts day care during specific attachment care from an unfamiliar adult may cause distress this means schaffer and emersons stages can help parents make day care decisions
• why is generalisability a limitation?

  schaffer and emerson based their stages on a large scale study of babies development conducted in working class glasgow however child rearing practices vary according to cultural and historical context this means some of the obsevations may not generalise to other populationa