Stages of Attachment

• Stages of Attachment:

  • Asocial (0 – 2 months): infants react favorably to various stimuli
  • Indiscriminate Attachments (2 - 7 months): infants enjoy human company and respond equally to any caregiver
  • Specific Attachment (7 – 9 months): preference for a single attachment figure, fear of strangers, and separation anxiety
  • Multiple Attachment (10 months+): infants become independent and form several attachments
• Multiple Attachments:

  • Many babies have multiple attachments by 10 months old
  • Attachments vary in strength and importance, often structured in a hierarchy
• The stages of attachment as identified by Schaffer and Emerson (1964) are a sequence of qualitatively different infant behaviours linked to specific ages, and it is suggested that all babies go through them in the same order.
• "Multiple attachments" refers to attachments formed by the infant to two or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one strong attachment to one of their caregivers.
• Schaffer and Emerson (1964) studied the attachment behaviours of babies. Their findings led them to develop an account of how attachment behaviours change as a baby gets older. They proposed that there were four identifiable stages of attachment (a sequence which is observed in all babies).
• 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙂𝙀𝙎 𝙊𝙁 𝘼𝙏𝙏𝘼𝘾𝙃𝙈𝙀𝙉𝙏:

  • Asocial Stage (0 - 2 months)
  • Indiscriminate Attachment (2 - 7 months)
  • Specific Attachment (7 - 9 months)
  • Multiple Attachments (9 - 12 months)
• 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝟭: 𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘:

  In a baby's first few weeks of life, its observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar - hence the term 'asocial'. However, Schaffer and Emerson argued that babies aren't entirely asocial as they show signs that they prefer the company of other people. Babies also tend to show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them.
• 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝟮: 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧:

  From 2 to 7 months, babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours. They now show a clear preference for being with other humans rather than inanimate objects. They also recognise and prefer the company of familiar people. However, at this stage, babies usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person - hence the term 'indiscriminate'. They do not usually show stranger or separation anxiety.
• 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝟯: 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧:

  From around 7 months babies begin to display the classic signs of attachment toward one particular person. These signs include anxiety directed towards strangers and anxiety when separated from their attachment figure. The person with whom the specific attachment is formed is called the primary attachment figure. This is not necessarily the person whom the baby spends the most time with but the person who offers the most interaction and responds to the baby's signals with the most skill. This is the baby's mother in 65% of cases.
• 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝟰: 𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗜𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦:

  Shortly after babies start to show attachment behaviours (stranger and separation anxiety) towards one person they usually extend this behaviour to multiple attachments to other people with whom they spend the most time. These relationships are called secondary attachments. Schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of babies formed multiple attachments within a month of forming one specific attachment to their primary caregiver. By the age of one year the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments.
• 𝙎𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙁𝙁𝙀𝙍 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙀𝙈𝙀𝙍𝙎𝙊𝙉:

  𝘗𝘙𝘖𝘊𝘌𝘋𝘜𝘙𝘌: 60 babies (31 boys and 29 girls) from working-class families in Glasgow were visited in their own homes every month for the first year and again at 18 months. The researchers asked the mothers about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven everyday separations, e.g. adult leaving the room, as well as stranger anxiety. This was designed to measure the babies' attachment.

  
  

  𝘍𝘐𝘕𝘋𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘚: Schaffer and Emerson identified four distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour. These make up their stage theory.
• 𝙀𝙑𝘼𝙇𝙐𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎:

  1. good external validity
  2. counterpoint to ev
  3. poor evidence for asocial stage
  4. real-world application
  5. generalisability
• 𝟭. 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗗𝗜𝗧𝗬:

  One strength of Schaffer and Emerson's research is that it has good external validity.

  Most observations (except stranger anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers. The alternative would have been to have researchers present to record observations. This might have distracted the babies or made them more anxious (interfering with stranger anxiety).

  This means it is highly likely the participants behaved naturally while being observed.
• 𝟮. 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗧 𝗧𝗢 𝗘𝗩:

  There are issues with asking the mothers to be the 'observers'. They were unlikely to be objective observers. They might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and reported, e.g. may not have noticed signs of anxiety in their child.

  This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.
• 𝟯. 𝗣𝗢𝗢𝗥 𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗘:

  One limitation of Schaffer and Emerson's stages is the validity of the measures they used to assess attachment in the asocial stage.

  Young babies have poor coordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard-to-observe ways. This made it difficult for mothers to observe and report signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group.

  This means that the babies may be quite social, but because of the flawed methods, they appear antisocial.
• 𝟰. 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗟-𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡:

  One strength of Schaffer and Emerson's stages is that they have practical application in daycare.

  In the asocial and indiscriminate stages, daycare is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. However, Schaffer and Emerson's research tells us that daycare, especially starting daycare with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.

  This means that parents' use of daycare can be planned using S&E's stages.
• 𝟱. 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬:

  The large sample size in the study should help with the generalisability of Schaffer and Emerson's stages.

  However, the sample characteristics may make the sample less generalisable to other populations. This is because child-rearing practices vary so much between social groups/cultures.

  So, patterns of attachment development in 1960s Glasgow may be quite different from that in, say, present-day Southampton or Liverpool.

  Therefore, we cannot assume the same stage pattern would apply universally.
• Most observed babies showed stranger anxiety and separation anxiety at around 7 months.
• Specific attachments -> Stage in which children attach to one adult or small number of adults.
• Asocial stage -> The first few weeks of life.
• Stranger anxiety -> Anxiety towards unfamiliar people.
• Separation anxiety -> Anxiety towards being separated from an attachment figure.
• Multiple attachments -> Stage in which children develop secondary attachments.
• Schaffer and Emerson's (1964) study was a naturalistic observation.
• Schaffer and Emerson collected data from observations and interviews.
• A minority of babies develop multiple attachments without a stage of one specific attachment.
• Schaffer and Emerson studied working-class infants in 1960s Glasgow.
• A naturalistic observation is one carried out in the participants' own environment, as opposed to a controlled environment like a psychologist's laboratory.

  In a naturalistic observation, participants go about their day-to-day business as if they were not being observed.

  Schaffer and Emerson's study could be described as a naturalistic observation because all the observations of babies and their carers took place in the family homes. Nothing was altered to observe the effect on the babies' behaviour.
• 𝗔𝗦𝗢𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 (𝟬-𝟲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀):

  • Infants respond to people and objects in the same way, though they will prefer being with humans
  • Babies in this stage can cry for attention and by 6 weeks old they are starting to smile but they may well smile at a range of people, not just the primary caregiver
  • Babies do, however, show a preference for looking at images of faces and eyes (Fantz 1961)
• 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 (𝟲 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀-𝟲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀):

  • Babies in this stage enjoy the company of a range of people, though, from the age of 3 months, they prefer more familiar people
  • Babies are happy to be cuddled by a stranger (no stranger anxiety at this stage), though a familiar person is preferred as the giver of cuddles
  • Babies may become upset if an adult stops interacting with them but they are yet to develop separation anxiety
  • Research shows that they smile more at actual people than at lifelike objects such as puppets (Ellsworth et al. 1993)
• 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗖𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧 (𝟳 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 +):

  • The baby now has a strong attachment to their primary caregiver (this could be a parent or whoever provides the best quality of care i.e. responsive to the baby's needs)
  • All the signs of attachment are present: separation anxiety, stranger anxiety, proximity-seeking behaviour (wanting to be with the preferred adult) and clinginess
• 𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗜𝗣𝗟𝗘 𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 (𝟭𝟬 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀):

  • Babies now have a range of secondary attachment figures with whom they have formed a bond (grandparents, siblings, aunts and uncles, etc)
  • Secondary attachments are those which develop after the primary attachment figure has been established
  • By the time a child is 12-18 months old, they will have developed multiple attachments
• The stages follow a logical pattern and reflect most children's experience of attachment hence the theory has external validity
• The stages of attachment have good application: they could be used to identify developmental delay or infant-caregiver bonding issues by healthcare professionals
• Not all children will fit neatly into the stages: some children may bond quickly with a range of people while others may be slower so the theory lacks some reliability
• It is notoriously difficult to measure and track infant behaviour: many aspects of attachment remain a mystery i.e. a baby cannot explain how they are feeling or give reasons for their actions
• Identify Schaffer's stages of attachment.

  • asocial
  • indiscriminate
  • specific
  • multiple