2. Schaffer's stages of attachment

• Schaffer and Emerson aims - AO1


  To understand the development of early attachment
• Schaffer and Emerson's research was conducted in...

  1964
• Schaffer and Emerson procedure - AO1

  - 60 babies from working class families

  - Visited once a month for 1 year and then again at 18 months.

  - They also interviewed the mothers about protest in 7 separation situations (e.g., stranger and separation anxiety)
• Babies showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult (likely their mothers) - AO1

  50% of babies at around 25-35 weeks
• Babies had developed specific attachments - AO1

  80% of babies by 40 weeks
• 75% of infants - AO1


  formed attachments with their fathers at around 18 months
• Findings - AO1

  identified 4 stages of attachments
• Conclusions - AO1


  They found that there were four stages of infant attachments
• Asocial stage - AO1

  0 - 8 weeks
• Specific stage age - AO1

  around 7 months
• Indiscriminate stage age - AO1

  2-7 months
• Multiple stage age - AO1

  by 1 year
• Asocial stage description - AO1


  - Beginning to recognise and form bonds.

  - Behave similarly towards objects and humans

  - Some preference for familiar faces and adults

  - Simply just happy in the presence of other humans.
• Indiscriminate stage description - AO1

  - Show more social behaviour

  - Gained a preference for familiar adults.

  - Still accept comfort from any adult.

  - Don't show separation or stranger anxiety
• Specific stage description - AO1

  - Babies begin to show separation and stranger anxiety as they begin to form more specific attachments

  - Specific attachments are likely with the adult who spends the most time interacting with them rather than the one who's with them the most

  - Specific attachment is mother in 65% of cases
• Multiple stage description - AO1

  - Their attachment behaviours are extended to familiar adults as they begin to form secondary attachments.
• Good external validity - AO3


  - Most of the observations were made by parents during everyday activities and reported to researchers.

  - The researchers didn't record the babies and so they didn't distract the babies or make them feel anxious with their cameras or presence.

  - This makes it highly likely that the babies behaved naturally

  - This further means that these results can be generalized to everyday situations.
• Mothers may be subjective observers - AO3

  - Mother are unlikely to be objective viewers

  - They may be biased in terms of what they saw, noticed and what they reported

  - may also misremember things.

  - So, even if these babies were behaving naturally it may not have all been accurately reported back to researchers.
• Real world application - AO3

  - There is practical applications and uses for this research like in day care.

  - In the asocial and indiscriminate stage babies can be comforted by any skilled adults.

  - It can also tell us that if you bring in infants during the specific stage then they will likely show signs of increased stranger anxiety.

  - This research can help parents learn when to take their kids to day care.
• Poor evidence for the asocial stage - AO3

  - There is a lack of validity in the way they measured attachments during the asocial stage

  - Young children are mobile and have poor co-ordination

  - two month old babies who feel anxiety in given situations are unlikely to display it in elaborate ways.

  - It's likely to be subtle and hard to observe

  - This makes it hard for mothers to observe and reports back to the researchers on signs of anxiety

  - Babies may have been social but due to flawed methodology techniques they appear asocial