Schaffer and Emerson

    Cards (16)

    • Schaffer and Emerson studied attachment behaviours of babies and proposed there are four identifiable stages of attachment.
    • The four stages of attachment are;
      1. Asocial stage
      2. Indiscriminate attachment
      3. Specific attachment
      4. Multiple attachment
    • The first stage of attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson is Asocial stage
    • Asocial stage is;
      • 0-6weeks
      • Attention seeking behaviour
    • The second stage identified by Schaffer and Emerson is indiscriminate attachment
    • Indiscriminate stage;
      • 6weeks-7months
      • Recognise and like company from familiar people
      • Accept cuddles from anyone
    • The third stage identified Schaffer and Emerson is specific attachment
    • Specific attachment;
      • 7mth+
      • Primary attached to main caregiver
      • Show stranger anxiety when not with caregiver
    • The fourth attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson is multiple attachments
    • Multiple attachment;
      • 10-11mths
      • Babies show attachment towards several people
    • Schaffer and Emerson procedure;
      • Involved 60 babies from Glasgow mainly w/c
      • Visited families homes every month
      • Designed to measure babies attachments
    • Schaffer and Emerson found four distinct stages of attachment
    • Schaffer and Emersons study had external validity
    • Their research had high external validity as the babies were observed in their own home and done around their parents meaning it would not effect the results.
    • A weakness to their research is that it has low generalisability
    • Their research has low generalisability as they studied families from the same city and social class - meaning it only represents them