stages of attachment - schaffer

• Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  aim

  • To identify stages of attachment/find a pattern in the development of an attachment between infants and parents
• Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  participants

  • 60 babies from Glasgow, all from the same estate.
• Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  procedure

  • analysed interactions between infants and carers
  • interviewed carers
  • mother had to keep a diary to track infant’s behaviours based on the following measures: Separation Anxiety, Stranger Anxiety, Social Referencing
  • longitudinal study - 18 months
  • visited infants on a monthly basis and once again at the end of the 18 month period
• Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  findings

  • babies of parents/carers who had ‘sensitive responsiveness were more likely to have formed an attachment.
  • sensitive responsiveness was more important than the amount of time spent with the baby
  • parents who responded to their needs quickly + spent more time interacting with the child had more intense attachments
  • Attachments formed when the carer communicates and plays with the child rather than when the carer feeds or cleans the child.
  • 4 stages of attachment - asocial, indiscriminate, specific, multiple
  • many reached final stage by 10 months
• Asocial stage (0-6 weeks) -

  This is when the infant responds to objects and people similarly - but may respond more to faces and eyes.
• Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks – 6 months) -

  This is when the infant develops more responses to human company. Although they can tell the difference between different people, they can be comforted by anyone.
• Specific (7 months +) -

  This is when the infants begins to prefer one particular carer and seeks for security, comfort and protection in particular people. They also start to show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.
• Multiple (10/11 months +) -

  This is when the infant forms multiple attachments and seeks security, comfort and protection in multiple people. They may also show separation anxiety for multiple people.
• weakness -

  P = lacks population validity.

  E = infants in the study all came from Glasgow and were mostly from working class families. In addition, the small sample size of 60 families reduces the strength of the conclusion we can draw from the study.

  E = cannot be generalised, and so is a limited explanation of attachment development.

  L = Schaffer’s stages of attachment lack both population validity and temporal validity - parenting techniques have significantly changed since the 1950s,
• weakness -

  P= may lack internal validity.

  E = it uses the self report method as the parents kept a daily diary.

  E = therefore the accuracy of data collection may not be the best. The parents were busy so may not have included the full details. They may also be subject to social desirability bias, in that they would skew their reports so they appear to be closer to what they see as socially acceptable or desirable, there may also be demand characteristics

  L = Therefore, caution should be taken when placing confidence in the conclusions drawn from this study
• weakness -

  P = the asocial stage cannot be studied objectively.

  E = children as young as 6 weeks lack basic motor co-ordination skills, meaning that we cannot establish whether their responses, such as ‘separation anxiety’, are deliberate.

  E = Bremner drew the distinction between behavioural response and behavioural understanding. Just because a child appears to have a bond with their primary caregiver, does not mean that such a bond exists or that the child understands the significance of such a bond.

  L = Therefore, it is important not to draw causal conclusions!