Stages of attachment

• Indiscriminate Attachments - Up to 2 months - Similar response to all objects whether animate or not - Towards the end greater preference for social stimuli - Reciprocity very important
• The beginnings of Attachment - Up to 4 months - More social - Can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people - Do not show stranger anxiety and enjoy being social
• Discriminate attachment - Up to 7 months - Have shown separation anxiety and show joy on reunion with main caregiver (Primary figure) - Show stranger anxiety - Mothers who respond quickly to ‘signals’ had more interaction - 65% first attachment is to mother.
• Multiple Attachments - Soon after main attachment is formed, the infant develops a wide circle of multiple attachments - Within 1 month, 29% had second caregiver figure - Within 6 months risen to 78%, with 1/3 had five or more attachments
• Schaffer and Emmerson 1964


  Conducted a study on attachment, they used the findings to construct a description of how attachment develops
• Participants


  • 60 WC infants from Glasgow
  • Ages at beginning of study ranged from 5-23 weeks
  • Studied until the age of 1
  • Visited every 4 weeks
  • Gathered mothers reports in response to separation, intensity of protest on four point scale and stranger anxiety