scaffer's stages of attachment

• Secondary attachment


  Attachment to a person other than the primary caregiver
• Reciprocity


  Mutual responsiveness and interaction between caregiver and infant
• Internal synchrony


  The coordination and timing of caregiver-infant interactions
• Schaffer and Emerson's study methodology

  1. 60 babies (31 male, 29 female) from Glasgow working-class families visited monthly for first year and again at 18 months

  2. Mothers asked about infant's protest in 7 everyday separations (measure of separation anxiety)

  3. Researchers also assessed stranger anxiety
• Schaffer and Emerson's key findings

  • 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult, usually the mother, by 25-32 weeks
  • Attachment tended to be to the caregiver most interactive and sensitive to infant signals (reciprocity), not necessarily the most time spent
  • By 40 weeks, 80% had a specific attachment and 30% had multiple attachments
• Schaffer and Emerson's 4 stages of attachment

  • Stage 1: Asocial stage (first few weeks)
  • Stage 2: Indiscriminate attachment (2-7 months)
  • Stage 3: Specific attachment (around 7 months)
  • Stage 4: Multiple attachments (shortly after specific attachment)
• Baby Michelle is in Stage 3: Specific attachment
• Baby Ruth is in Stage 4: Multiple attachments
• Baby Graham is in Stage 1: Asocial stage