Schaffers stages of attachment

• Schaffer and Emerson - study

  60 babies were observed. Mothers and babies were visited once a month for the first year and then once at 18 months. They were asked how the babies reacted in 7 separation situations (separation anxiety) and unfamiliar adults (stranger anxiety).
• Schaffer's stages of attachment

  - asocial

  - indiscriminate attachment

  - specific attachment

  - multiple attachment
• Stages of attachment - Asocial

  Birth - 8 weeks

  Behaviour between humans and non-humans is similar

  Happier with people than alone

  No attachments yet
• Stages of attachment - Indiscriminate attachment

  2-7 months

  Recognise and prefer familiar people but still no stranger anxiety

  Prefer people over inanimate objects
• Stages of attachment - Specific attachment

  7-12 months

  Separation anxiety develops (protesting when put down)

  There is now a primary attachment. It's not necessarily the person spending the most time with the infant (quality over quantity)

  Stranger anxiety develops
• Stages of attachment - Multiple attachments

  1+ year

  There is a main attachment as well as multiple other attachments

  Multiple attachments can start as early as 1 month is some babies but by 1 year most will have it
• Credits of the stages of attachment

  Applied in daycare and nurseries as a key worker is assigned a child.

  Research arried out at home so good validity.
• Criticisms of stages of attachment

  Could be biased as the reports were from the mothers.

  Babies are difficult to make judgements from observations.

  This may only apply to individualistic cultures, in collectivist cultures many attachments are common.