Shaffer and Emerson study

• Who were the key psychologists for investigating formation of earlY attachment?

  Schaffer and Emerson 1964
• what did Schaffer and Emerson specifically aim to investigate

  the age at which children developed their emotional intensity and to whom they were directed
• what was the method to the schaffer and Emerson experiment

  • 31 male, 29 female (60 babies)
  • visited at home every month for the first year and the at 18 months.
  • asked mothers about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven everyday separations (measured separation anxiety)
  • also assessed stranger anxiety
• what is stranger anxiety ?

  the infants anxiety response to unfamiliar adults
• what did shaffer and Emerson find in 25-32 week old babies

  50% of them showed signs of separation anxiety towards an adult, usually the mother = specific attachment
• what is specific attachment?

  specific preference for a single attachment figure
• who was attachment mainly tended to be at in shaffer and Emerson experiment?

  the caregiver who was the most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions
• what happened at 40 weeks?

  • 80% babies had specific attachment
  • 30% had multiple attachment