Schaffer and Emerson

• Believed that attachments were not forced at birth in human babies, and so were interested in documenting the process of attachment formation
• Hypothesised:

  • infants develop bonds with their caregivers and these bonds become stronger over a period of time
• Sample:

  • studied 60 babies from working-class Glaswegian families
• Longitudinal Study:

  • studied at monthly intervals for the first year and then again at 18 months
• Children all studied in their own home
• Their interactions with their caregivers were interviewed
• Behavioural measures:

  • indicators that an attachment is formed
  • separation anxiety
  • everyday situations, the baby was left alone in the room; alone with others; in the pram outside; being put down after being held
  • fear of strangers, on each home visit the researcher always approached the child first
• Found 4 distinct stages; asocial stage, indiscriminate stage, specific attachment, multiple attachment
• Asocial stage:

  • up to 6/8 weeks
  • saw that babies have a bias towards human-like faces
  • they show a similar response to both objects and people
  • begin to feel happy/happier w people
• Indiscriminate attachment:

  • 2-7 months
  • baby becoming more sociable
  • prefer human company
  • comforted by anyone, do not prefer particular individuals
  • becoming increasingly aware of familiar and unfamiliar faces
• Specific attachment:

  • 7 months
  • now more likely to show; separation anxiety and fear of strangers
  • separation anxiety; prefer to stay close to the primary caregiver, protesting when the primary caregiver leaves
  • fear of strangers; avoid unfamiliar people, protest if strangers try to handle them
• Multiple attachments:

  • 10 months
  • form strong emotional ties with major caregivers; parents, grandparents, siblings and childcare staff
  • known as secondary attachments
  • 75% had formed an attachment with father by 18 months
• Primary attachment figures (PAF)

  • for most babies, the PAF was the mother
  • with only 3% of the babies having the father as their PAF at this stage
  • in 27% both the mother and the father were first attachments