Stages of attachment

• what is an example of research into the stages of attachment

  schaffer and emerson, sixty babies from glasgow, mother and baby visited in own homes every month until infant was a year old and again when the baby was eighteen months old, researchers asked questions about stranger and separation anxiety
• what were the results of schaffer and emerson's study?

  by 25-32 weeks 50% babies showed signs of separation anxiety, by 40 weeks 70% attached to one person and 30% attached to multiple
• what are the four stages of attachment?

  asocial, indiscriminate, specific, multiple
• what is asocial attachment characterised by and when does it occur?

  baby responds to objects and humans similarly, smiling at anyone, some preference for adults, baby seems happier in presence of these individuals, occurs 0 to 8 weeks
• what is indiscriminate attachment characterised by and when does it occur?

  babies prefer humans to inanimate objects, recognise and prefer familiar humans, do not show separation or stranger anxiety, occurs between two and seven months
• what is specific attachment characterised by and when does it occur?

  babies begin to display separation and stranger anxiety, baby has formed a specific attachment with primary caregiver, using them as a safe base, occurs around seven months
• what is multiple attachments characterised by and when does it occur?

  babies form secondary attachments with people they see on a regular basis, by the age of one year the majority of infants have reached this stage
• evaluation of the research

  POINT- One strength is the study was a longitudinal study.

  EVIDENCE- Schaffer and Emerson studied 60 babies every month for one year. as babies were used over time, there’s no participant variables.

  EXPLAIN- They were able to demonstrate how the same child acted at different ages which increases the validity of the stages of attachment
• evaluation of the research

  POINT- One weakness is the study had a limited sample.

  EVIDENCE- Schaffer and Emerson used 60 working class babies from Glasgow.

  EXPLAIN- This means that other social classes and geographical areas were not representated. so, the results cant be generalised to the whole population, and we cant ascertain if the levels of multiple attachments would be the same, across all babies