Schaffer’s stages of development​ - evaluation

    Cards (3)

    • A Strength of the research into the stages of development is that it contained a mixture of self-report and observations. Reseach was carried out in the homes of participants so the setting was natural - high ecological validity. Mothers were interviewed as well as observed which meant the data was rich and varied. This suggests the theory on which the research is based is highly valid and conclusions about children's stages of attachment can be drawn.
    •  A weakness of Schaffer's stages of development is its problematic when studying the asocial stage. The problem here is that babies that are young have poor co-ordination and are basically immobile which makes it hard to make any judgements about them based on observations of their behavior - not much observable behavior, This is a weakness because it means the science can't be relied on.
    • Another weakness of Schaffer's stages of development is measuring multiple attachment. Just because a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves the room does not necessarily mean that the individual is a "true" attachment figure. Children have playmates as well as attachment figures and may get distressed when a playmate leaves the room but this doesn't signify attachment. This is a problem for Schaffer's stages of development because their observation doesn't leave us a way to distinguish between behavior shown towards secondary attachment figures and playmates.