stages of attachment

• briefly outline the stages of attachment

  SCHAFFER & EMERSON - identified 4 stages of attachment

  1. asocial stage
  2. indiscriminate stage
  3. specific attachment
  4. multiple attachment
• AO1: asocial stage

  • a baby's observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects are fairly similar
  • babies tend to show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them
• AO1: indiscriminate attachment

  • 2-7 months they display more obvious and observable social behaviours
  • shows clear preference for being w/ other humans rather than inanimate objects
  • babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person
• AO1: specific attachment

  • 7 months: majority of babies start to display signs of attachment towards one particular person
  • includes stranger anxiety and separation anxiety
  • the person who they form a specific attachment with is the primary attachment figure, typically the baby's mother in 65% of cases
• AO1: multiple attachments

  • babies will extend attachment behaviour to multiple people they regularly spend time with - called secondary attachments
  • found 29% of the children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary attachment
• AO1: research (procedure)

  SCHAFFER & EMERSON - observational study of the formation of early infant-adult attachment

  • involved 60 babies (from Glasgow & WC families), they visited their families every month for the first year then again at 18 months
  • asked mothers questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in 7 everyday separations - to measure attachment
• AO1: research (findings)

  they identified 4 stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour
• AO3: good external validity

  • most of the observations (separation anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported it to researchers
  • alternative was that researchers were present to record observations
  • this may have distracted or made babies feel anxious, which the participants behaved naturally
• AO3: RWA

  • it has practical application in day care
  • in the asocial and indiscriminate stages, its likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult
  • the research shows that babies starting day care with an unfamiliar adult may be problematic during the specific attachment stage