stages of attachment

• longitudinal study
• 60 infants - who are glaswegian
• age between 5 weeks - 23 weeks
• observed every 4 weeks until 1 year old
• they were then visited again at 18 months
• the researcher asked the mothers questions about how does the child react when the mother leaves (separation anxiety)
• the parents were all from skilled working class families
• • more infants maintained one principle attachment figure
  • almost 30% of infant by 40 weeks had showed different attachment figures whereas 65% of them had shown that they had wanted to be in the company of their primary caregiver
• • the primary attachment figure was not always the one who fed and bathed the infant
  • 39% of infants attached to someone other than the person who fed and bathed them
• • little relationship between the time spent together and attachment
  • within one month of first becoming attached 29% of infants had multiple attachments
  • between 25 and 32 weeks babies were starting to show separation anxiety from their mother
  • parents who had showed greater interactional synchrony had formed greater attachments with the baby
• asocial attachment - between 0-6 weeks - they show better attachments when they are around humans - after 10 to 15 minutes they still want the presence of someone - they will show the familiarity to some specific adults
• indiscriminate attachment - 2-7 months - the baby starts to portray more observable behaviour - will behave in a certain way in order to get a specific response - seek comfort from a human - comforted easily by one adult
• specific attachment - 7-9 months - in 65% of cases the primary caregiver was mum - starting to develop both stranger and separation anxiety - the baby is looking to the primary caregiver for comfort and security
• multiple attachment - 10 months onward - begin to form attachment to others - these are adults who are they regularly in contact with - 29% of infants had secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment
• AO3(methodology):

  • may have tried to display themselves in a positive light
  • may have been less sensitive to their infants protests and therefore not recorded it
  • challenges the validity of the study - this links to internal
  • behaviour was natural as it was recorded in their home - this links to external
  • was not affected by the presence of others
  • longitudinal study - are able to draw multiple conclusions over the babies behaviour
  • there is also no risk of individual differences as you are looking at the same baby over the same period of time
• AO3(issues with stage theories):

  • trying to explain human behaviour in stages can be difficult
  • suggests human development is inflexible
  • states must have single attachments before multiple attachments but this is not always the case e.g. india where multiple caregivers is the norm
  • does not consider attachment from an idiographic point of view
  • does not consider individual difference such as babies with disabilities or trauma
  • but also can be seen as socially sensitive as if a child is not developing this way would be seen as ‘abnormal’
• AO3(cultural bias towards western cultures):

  • schaffer and emerson’s study only focuses on glaswegian babies from working class families
  • this lacks generalisability as not all cultures and work life is the same
  • is a limited sample as there are only 60 babies
  • can only really be applicable to western cultures
• AO3(lack of communication):

  • we don’t really know what the child is saying and we can not really assume what they want
  • for example in terms of play dates the child may act upset once the play date is over but this may just be because their play time is ending and not the play date actually ending
  • this may specifically link with the asocial stage - as they are completely new born