Stages of attachment

• Who suggested the stages of attachment?

  Schaffer and Emerson (1964)
• Schaffer and Emerson's procedure

  1. Conducted a longitudinal study on 60 Glasgow infants (31 male and 29 female) from working class homes

  2. The children were all studied in their own homes

  3. A regular pattern was identified in the development of attachment

  4. The babies were visited monthly for approximately one year, and there was a follow up at 18 months

  5. Direct observations of their interactions with their carers were conducted e.g. what happened when carers left the room - to assess separation anxiety

  6. It was taken as evidence of the development of an attachment if the baby showed separation anxiety when the carer left

  7. The researchers also assessed stranger anxiety via observations of the infant's reaction when they approached them

  8. Carers were interviewed, with questions being asked about whom infants smiled at, whom they responded to, whom caused them distress etc.

  9. The mothers were also asked to keep a diary of the infant's response to separation (separation protests) in seven everyday situations
• What were the seven everyday situations used to assess separation protests?

  1. left alone in a room
  2. left with other people
  3. left in their pram outside the house
  4. left in their pram outside the shops
  5. left in their cot at night
  6. put down after being held by an adult
  7. passed by while sitting in their cot or chair
• Up to 3 months - indiscriminate attachments. The newborn is predisposed to attach to any human. Most babies respond equally to any caregiver
• After 4 months - preference for certain people. Infants learn to distinguish primary and secondary caregivers but accept care from anyone
• After 7 months - special preference for a single attachment figure. The baby looks to particular people for security, comfort and protection. It shows fear of strangers (stranger anxiety) and unhappiness when separated from a special person (separation anxiety). Some babies show stranger fear and separation anxiety much more frequently and intensely than others, but nevertheless they are seen as evidence that the baby forms an attachment
• After 9 months - multiple attachments. The baby becomes increasingly independent and forms several attachment
• The mother was the main attachment figure for 65% of the children at 18 months, whilst only 3% of the infants studied developed a primary attachment to their father
• Strongly attached infants had carers who responded to their needs quickly and gave more opportunities for interaction
• By 18 months, 87% of the infants had at least 2 attachments and 31% had formed multiple attachments e.g. to grandparents
• What were Schaffer and Emerson's conclusions?

  They used their evidence to argue that attachments develop in stages as they suggest that there is a pattern of attachment formation common to all infants.
• Result of the study indicated that attachments were most likely to form with those who responded accurately to the baby's signals, not person they spent most time with. Schaffer and Emerson called this sensitive resonsiveness
• What did S and E argue was the most important fact in forming attachments?

  not who feeds and changes them but who plays and communicated with them
• Multiple attachments are the norm and of similar quality, what does this oppose?

  Bowlby's idea that attachments are a hierarchy of one prime attachment and other minor ones. Schaffer commented that there is nothing to suggest that 'mothering' can't be shared by several people.
• Stage 1?

  Asocial attachment - birth-2months
• Describe asocial attachment?

  Similar response to all objects (animate or inanimate). Towards the end of this stage, the child shows preference for being with people. Time reciprocity and time synchrony help to establish the child's relationships with others
• Stage 2?

  Indiscriminate attachment - 2-7months
• The child shows a marked preference for people rather than inanimate objects. They recognise and prefer familiar adults. They accept comfort from any adult. They do not show stranger or separation anxiety
• Stage 3?

  Specific attachment - from around 7 months
• Infants start to show stranger anxiety and distress when separated from a specific adult. The child has formed a specific attachment. The adult with whom the child has formed the specific attachment is called the primary caregiver
• stage 4?

  multiple attachments
• about a month after having formed a specific attachment, the child displays attachment behaviour towards other people with whom they are familiar. These are called secondary attachments
• Longitudinal study?

  Researchers repeatedly examine the same individuals to detect any changes that might occur over a period of time
• primary attachment figure?

  the person most involved in rapidly responding to a baby's cries and who initiates social play during the first 7 months of life
• Separation anxiety?

  Excessive worry and fear about being apart from family members or individuals to whom a child is most attached.
• Stranger anxiety?

  The distress that babies experience when they meet or are left in the care of people who are unfamiliar to them
• Multiple attachments?

  attachments to 2 or more people
• Sensitive responsiveness?

  The extent to which as parent in in tune with a child's emotional state, is able to decode those signals accurately and able to respond appropriately and in a timely fashion