stages of attachment

• Schaffer & Emerson (1964):

  • looked at how early infant-adult attachments were formed
  • observed 60 babies from Glasgow for 18 months (working class)
  •  researchers went to ppts homes monthly for 1st year of the babies life; visited one more time once the babies were 18 m/o
  • asked mothers how the baby interacts with them & others
  • 50% of babies = specific attachment by 7 m/o (most to mother)
  • found that infants develop attachments through different stages. Infants also experienced different emotions at different stages.
• 4 stages of attachment:

  • asocial: 0-8weeks. Can't tell the difference between humans & objects. Happiest in the presence of other people/objects. Start to recognise faces. No stranger or separation anxiety.
  • indiscriminate: 2-7m/o. Know the difference between people & objects, prefer people. Accept comfort from all people. Recognise people. No stranger or separation anxiety.
  • specific: 7-12m/o. Attach to one person. Familiar people are secure bases. Have stranger & separation anxiety.
  • multiple: 1+ years. Start to form secondary attachments. Some stranger & separation anxiety.
• Schaffer & Emerson - AO3:

  • No demand characteristics. Means that findings can be applied to behaviours in the stages. Ppts = in own home when researched. Increases the use of the research.
  • Outdated. Research took place in the 60s - women stayed at home, men worked. Have been changes since then, more women work. Little temporal validity.
  • Culturally bias sample. All ppts were from Glasgow. Can't apply findings to other cultures - lacks population validity. BUT, a large sample was used. More data was collected which increases the validity.
• Stages of attachment AO3:

  • ethnocentric supporting research. Schaffer & Emerson: individualistic culture. Does not represent stages of attachment in collectivist cultures. Collectivist cultures - unlikely to have specific attachment. Decreases application/generalisability.
  • social sensitive. Infants do stages at different points. Parents = think they have done something wrong if their child is not going through a certain stage at a certain time. Causes harm.
  • economic implications. Specific attachment = 7 m/o. Most mothers go to work at this time. Think leave should be extended. Costs money.