Evidence for attachment stages

• Aim: examine formation of early attachments
• Method: Sample - 60 babies (31 males, 29 females) from working class families in Glasgow
• Method: researcher visited the babies in their home every month for first 12 months, then once again at 18 months
• Method: researcher interviewed mothers and observed the children, in relation to separation and stranger anxiety
• Results: shows support for stages of attachment
• results: 25-32 weeks 50% of children showed separation anxiety towards mothers, expected at the discriminate stage
• Results: by 40 weeks 80% of children specific attachment and 30% had started forming multiple attachments
• Conclusion: results show support for Shaffres stages of attachment
• Conclusion: suggests that attachment develops through a series of stages
• Evaluation: low population validity - all infants came from Glasgow and were working class
• Evaluation : small sample size 60 families - reduces strength of conclusion can draw
• Evaluation: good external validity - behaviour of babies not affected as research done in homes by parents. participants would have acted naturally while being observed