Stages of attachment

• Who proposed the stages of attachment ?

  Shaffer and Emerson
• What is the first stage called ? Describe this stage

  Asocial stage

  Infants prefer humans over inanimate objects

  First few weeks
• Name and describe the second stage

  Indiscriminate attachment

  2 to 7 months

  Infants show preference for humans over other living species.

  No stranger or separation anxiety
• Name and describe stage 3

  Specific attachment

  from 7 months

  infants form a specific attachment with primary care giver.

  will show separation and stranger anxiety to a specific person
• What is the last stage called ?

  Multiple attachment

  A short while after Stage 3

  Infants for multiple attachmen with people most close and sensitive towards them

  shows stranger and seperation anxiety towards a few people
• How did Shaffer and Emerson concluded these Stages of Attachment

  Visited 60 infants and mothers form Glasgow in their own home for 18 months, every month and then once more after 18 months

  They measured separation and stranger anxiety and had interviews with parents. Mother also kept a diary measuring stranger and seperation anxiety.

  There were 31 male and 29 female infants
• Lacks population validity 


  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.

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

  Schaffer's stages of attachment lack both population validity and temporal validity -

  parenting techniques have significantly changed since the 1950s, such as through the influence of Bowlby's work on attachment, and so caution should be taken when generalising the findings.
• Lacks internal validity

  uses the self report method as the parents kept a daily diary, therefore the accuracy of data collection may not be accurate. They may also be subject to social desirability bias, they would skew their reports so they appear to be closer to what they see as socially acceptable(they may believe that it is better if the infant responds to them, so they would report that it happens sooner than it actually did, or they may not report negative experiences they have.)Therefore, caution should be taken when placing confidence in the conclusions drawn from

  this study.
• the asocial stage cannot be studied objectively.


  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. 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. Therefore, it is important not to draw causal conclusions!
• Findings 


  They found that the babies of parents/carers who had 'sensitive responsiveness' - (who were more sensitive to the baby's signals) - were more likely to have formed an attachment.
• Findings

  They found that sensitive responsiveness was more important than the amount of time spent with the baby, so infants formed more attachments with those who spent less time with them but were more sensitive to their needs than those who spent more time with them but were less sensitive.

  Infants who had parents who responded to their needs quickly and spent more time interacting with the child had more intense attachments. Those who had parents who did not interact with their child at all had very weak attachments.
• Findings 


  Attachments seemed to form when the carer communicates and plays with the child rather than when the carer feeds or cleans the child.