Stages of attachment

• What research did Schaffer and Emerson base their stage theory on?

  • Longitudinal study on 60 Glasgow infants between 5-23 weeks in their own homes and visited every month for 1 year
  • Mothers kept a diary of infant's response to separation
  • Up to 3 months - newborn is predisposed to attach and respond equally to any caregiver
  • After 4 months - preference for certain people but accept care from others still
  • After 7 - special preference for a single attachment figure, showing more separation/stranger anxiety
  • After 9 - baby forms several attachments becoming more independent
• What is the 1st stage of attachment?

  • Asocial attachment: 0-3 months
  • Show similar behaviour towards animate and inanimate objects
  • Can show preference for familiar people as they are more easily comforted by them
• What is the 2nd stage of attachment?

  • Indiscriminate attachment: 2-7 months
  • Recognise and prefer the company of familiar people over inanimate objects
  • Accept comfort from any adult and do not show stranger or separation anxiety
• What is the 3rd stage of attachment?

  • Specific attachment: around 7 months
  • Show stranger and separation anxiety when away from a specific adult who is called the primary attachment figure
  • This figure offers the most interaction and responds to the baby's 'signals' with the best skill, is the mother in 65% of cases
• What is the 4th stage of attachment?

  • Multiple attachments: around 9 months
  • Babies extend attachment behaviour to multiple figures who they regularly spend time with
  • These are called secondary attachment figures
• What is one strength of research into stages of attachment?

  • Methodologically sound: most observations were made by parents during ordinary activities, as opposed to the alternative which would be researchers recording observations
  • This may have distracted babies or made them feel anxious
  • Highly likely babies acted naturally while being observed, showing good external validity and means we can be confident in generalising results to other babies
• What is another strength of research into stages of attachment?

  • Real-world application: useful for daycare
  • Asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages tell us that day care is straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult
  • However when starting day care with an unfamiliar adult babies may be problematic specifically during the specific attachment stage
  • Means parents' use of day care can be planned using Schaffer and Emerson's research, showing real-world value and application
• What is one limitation of research into stages of attachment?

  • Poor evidence for asocial stage: since young babies are fairly immobile and have poor co-ordination, they may have displayed anxiety in subtle, hard to observe ways
  • This would've been difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers in an objective manner
  • Babies may appear to be asocial due to flawed methods but may actually be more social
• What is another limitation of research into stages of attachment?

  • Ethnocentric: sample used was relatively small and specific to only working-class homes in Glasgow
  • This limited sample wouldn't be able to tell us about differences in the developmental stages in attachment that could occur due to different socio-economic backgrounds or cultures
  • Weakens the generalisability of findings as it is only specific to a certain group/profile