Schaffer and Emerson’s study

• Schaffer and Emerson study

  • Longitudinal study of 60 babies from a predominantly working class area of Glasgow
  • Mothers visited in their homes every four weeks and at each visit and then again at 18 months
  • Infants studied until the age of 1 year
  • Mothers reported infants' response to separation in seven everyday situations
• Separation anxiety


  Signifies a specific attachment, usually to the mother
• Attachment development stages


  1. Asocial stage

  2. Indiscriminate stage

  3. Specific attachment

  4. Multiple attachment
• Between 25 and 32 weeks of age, about 50% of babies showed signs of separation anxiety towards a particular adult
• By the age of 40 weeks 80% of the babies had a specific attachment and almost 30% displayed multiple attachments
• The study concluded that attachment develops in stages which led him to develop the four stages of attachment