Stages of attachment

• AO1


  Assessment Objective 1
• Stages of human attachment development

  • Asocial stage
  • Indiscriminate attachment
  • Specific attachment
  • Multiple attachments
• Asocial stage


  Infants in their first few weeks show similar responses to objects and people
• Indiscriminate attachment


  Between 2-7 months, babies prefer human company and are comforted indiscriminately
• Specific attachment


  Around 7-10 months, infants develop a preference for one caregiver and show separation and stranger anxiety
• Multiple attachments


  From 10 months, babies form attachments with different people (secondary attachment)
• Schaffer and Emerson's longitudinal study found that 29% of babies formed multiple attachments within a month of their primary attachment