Schaffers stages of attachment

• what are schaffer and emersons 4 stges of attachment ?

  1. asocial stage
  2. indiscriminate attachment
  3. specific attachment
  4. multiple attachment
• what were schaffer and emersons study?

  • 60 babies from glasgow from skilled working class families. Visited babies and mothers in their own home every month for a year and then at 18 months 
  • Asked mothers about the kinds of protests their babies showed in 7 everyday separations (separation anxiety). also assessed stranger anxiety  
• good external validity - One strength of Schaffer and Emerson's research?

  has good external validity.Most of observations made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to researchers. alternative would have been to have researchers present to record observations. might have distracted babies or made them feel more anxious.so highly likely that participants behaved naturally while being observed.
• Counter to first strength ?

  On other hand there are issues with asking mothers to be 'observers" were unlikely to be objective observers. might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what they reported, for example they might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or may have misremembered it.so even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.
• Poor evidence for asocial - One limitation of Schaffer and Emerson's stages ?

  validity of the measures used to assess attachment in asocial stage.Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard-to-observe ways. made it difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group.so babies may actually be quite social but, because of flawed methods, appear to be asocial.
• Real world application - Another strength of Schaffer and Emerson's stages ?

  have practical application in day care.In asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. However, Schaffer and Emerson's research tells us that day care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.so parents' use of day care can be planned using Schaffer and Emerson's stages.
• stage 1: asocial attachment ?

  -first few weeks of babies life, observable behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects r similar.

  -show signs they prefer to be with other people.

  -tend to show preference for company of familiar people and more easily comforted by them.

  -forming bonds with people
• stage 2: indiscriminate attachment ?

  • 2-7 months, start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours.
  • show clear preference for being with other humans rather than objects
  • recognise and prefer company of familiar people
  • accept cuddles and comfort from anyone
  • don't show stranger or operation anxiety
• stage 3 : specific attachment?

  -7 months, display classic signs of attachment to 1 person. signs include stranger and separation anxiety

  -baby formed specific attachment to primary attachment figure
• stage 4: multiple attachments?

  -form multiple attachments with people they regularly spend time with (secondary attachments)

  -schaffer and Emerson observed that 29% of babies formed secondary attachments month after forming primary attachments and within a year majority formed multiple attachments