AO3

• Schaffer & Emerson: Evaluation Points

  • Methodology: Naturalistic observation & longitudial study
  • Limited sample characteristics
  • Difficulty studying asocial stage
• Schaffer & Emerson: Methodology

  It was conducted as a naturalistic observation of infants in their own home and by their own parents. This provides good internal validity as it removes extraneous variables that would be present in a different environment which could have affected the measurements of attachment. This means that results can be generalised to real life settings. It was also a longitudial study as it observed the same ppts over 2 years which is better than a cross-sectional study using different ppts as it removes cofounding variables such as individual differences
• Schaffer & Emerson: Limited Sample Characteristics

  Their study was conducted over 50 years ago on 60 infants from a working class area in Glasgow, all ppts were from the same geographical area and social background. Child-rearing practices vary between cultures and time periods. This means that there are limited sample characteristics which means that results cannot be generalised to other cultures and modern day.
• Schaffer & Emerson: Difficulty Studying the Asocial Stage


  The asocial stage occurs between 0 and 6 weeks and it is difficult to gather meaningful information from infants at this age because they are immobile and have little co-ordination. This means that it is difficult to observe their behaviour. However, evidence from Meltzoff and Moore's study shows that infants are social at this stage and show imitation from as young as 3 days. Despite this, Schaffer & Emerson's findings are questionable based on the age of infants.