Stages of Attachment

• AIM of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  • To identify stages of attachment/find a pattern in the development of an attachment between infants and parent
• PARTICIPANTS of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  • 60 babies from Glasgow, all from the same estate.
• PROCEDURE of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  • They analysed the interactions between the infants and carers
  • They interviewed the carers
  • The mother had to keep a diary to track the infant’s behaviours
• TIMING of Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  • It was a longitudinal study lasting 18 months
  • They visited the infants on a monthly basis and once again at the end of the 18 month period.
• MEASURES used in Schaffer and Emerson’s study (1964)

  • Separation Anxiety - signs of distress when the carer leaving, and how much the infant needs to be comforted when the carer returns
  • Stranger Anxiety - signs of distress as a response to a stranger arriving
  • Social Referencing - how often the infant looks at their carer to check how they should respond to something new
• Asocial stage (0-6 weeks)

  • This is when the infant responds to objects and people similarly - but may respond more to faces and eyes.
• Indiscriminate attachments (6 weeks – 6 months)

  • This is when the infant develops more responses to human company. Although they can tell the difference between different people, they can be comforted by anyone.
• Specific (7 months +)

  • This is when the infants begins to prefer one particular carer and seeks for security, comfort and protection in particular people. They also start to show stranger anxiety and separation anxiety.
• Multiple (10/11 months +)

  • This is when the infant forms multiple attachments and seeks security, comfort and protection in multiple people. They may also show separation anxiety for multiple people.
• What did Schaffer and Emerson discover about the babies of parents who had "sensitive responsiveness"?

  They found that the babies of parents/carers who had ‘sensitive responsiveness’ - (who were more sensitive to the baby’s signals) - were more likely to have formed an attachment.
• What did Schaffer and Emerson discover about the importance of sensitive responsiveness?

  They found that sensitive responsiveness was more important than the amount of time spent with the baby, so infants formed more attachments with those who spent less time with them but were more sensitive to their needs than those who spent more time with them but were less sensitive.
• What did Schaffer and Emerson discover about infants who had responsive parents?

  • Infants who had parents who responded to their needs quickly and spent more time interacting with the child had more intense attachments.
  • Those who had parents who did not interact with their child at all had very weak attachments.
• Attachments seemed to form when the carer communicates and plays with the child rather than when the carer feeds or cleans the child.
• Most infants reached the "multiple attachments" stage by 10 months. They had attachments with other family members, which varied greatly in the strength and value/importance to the child