Stages

• What were the stages of attachment?

  • Asocial stage
  • Indiscriminate attachment
  • Specific attachment
  • Multiple attachment
• what happens in the asocial stage?

  • baby is recognising and forming bonds with its carers
  • baby’s behaviour towards non-human objects and humans is similar.
  • show some preference for familiar adults
  • happier in presence of other humans
• when is the asocial stage

  first few weeks
• in the asocial stage, why do babies show some preference towards familiar adults?

  because they find it easier to calm them
• what happens in the indiscriminate attachment ?

  • preference for people rather than inanimate objects
  • recognise and prefer familiar adults
  • usually accept cuddles and comfort from any adult
  • don’t usually show seperation anxiety or stranger anxiety
• at 2-7 months what do babies usually display?

  observable social behaviour
• why is the indiscriminate attachment named indiscriminate?

  attachment behaviour is not different towards any one person
• what happens in the specific attachment

  • around 7 months they start to show stranger and seperation anxiety (65% of the cases being the mother)
  • this adult is termed the primary attachment figure
  • they are not the person the child spends most time with but the one who offers the most interactions and responds to the baby’s signals with most skill
• what happens in the multiple attachment stage

  • extend specific attachment to other adults with whom they regularly spend time with (secondary attachment)
  • in Schaffer and Emerson’s study, 29% of the children had secondary attachments within a month of forming primary.
  • by about one year, most developed secondary