Schaffer's Stages of Attachment

• Schaffer and Emerson - Aim

  • investigate early attachment
  • what age attachment develops
  • who their emotional intensity is directed to
• Schaffer and Emerson - procedure

  • 60 babied (31 male, 29 female) from Glasgow working class families
  • longitudinal study
  • studied every month for the first year and then again at 18 months
  • observations and interviews
  • questions about the protest babies showed in 7 everyday situations
  • assess separation anxiety/protest through different situations
  • assessed stranger anxiety through researcher home visits
• Schaffer and Emerson - findings

  • between 25-32 weeks, 50% of babies showed separation anxiety to a particular adult and joy at reunion with that person and are most comforted by that person
  • this is specific attachment to a primary attachment figure
  • they display stranger anxiety at that time
  • attachment was to the caregiver who engaged in reciprocity the most
  • in 65%, the first specific attachment was to the mother
  • in 30%, the mother was the first joint object of attachment
  • in 3% the father was the first object of attachment but in 27% they were the joint first object
  • by 40 weeks, 80% had a specific attachment to a primary caregiver and 30% showed multiple attachments
  • by 18 months, 75% had formed an attachment with the father and it was shown by separation anxiety
• Shaffer and Emerson - conclusions

  • the pattern of attachment is common to all infants which is biologically controlles
  • attachments are formed when someone is sensitive to the child's needs, not just spending time with them
  • primary attachments are more likely to be made with the mother than the father
  • fathers are more likely to be secondary attachment figures
• Schaffer and Emerson - evaluation

  • biased because of a small sample, all from the same place and class - not generalisable, low external validity
  • study was carried out longitudinally so lots of data can be gathered, high external validity
  • natural experiment - low demand characteristics
  • mothers could be biased - maybe reported the behaviour differently - low internal validity
• asocial stage

  • stage 1
  • 0-2 months
  • babies recognise and start to form a bond with its carers
  • behaviour towards non humans is quite similar
  • show some preference for familiar adults
  • happier when in the presence of other humans
  • reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing the infant's relationships with others
• indiscriminate attachment

  • stage 2
  • 2-7 months
  • display observable social behaviour
  • show a preference for people
  • recognise and prefer familiar adults
  • they can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people
  • accept cuddles and comfort from any adult
  • don't usually show separation or stranger anxiety
  • attachment behaviour is indiscriminate because it's not different towards one person
• specific attachment

  • stage 3
  • 7-9 months
  • majority start to display anxiety towards strangers and become anxious when separated from one particular adult
  • show joy when reunited with that person and are most comforted by them
  • the baby has formed a specific attachment
  • this person offers the most interaction and responds to the baby's signal with the most skill
• multiple attachments

  • stage 4
  • 10+ moths
  • show attachment behaviour to multiple other adults that they regularly spend time with
  • secondary aattachments
  • 9% of children have secondary attachments within a month of forming primary attachments
  • by 1, the majority of infants have developed multiple attachments
• evaluation

  • just because babies are immobile it doesn't mean that they aren't social
  • it can be seen as machine reductionist because it says that babies will be at that stage and have to follows those stages in that order, meaning the theory is inflexible