ROT and Stages of Attachment

What evidence suggests that babies are less likely to become attached to their father as a primary care giver

Attachment to fathers

Schaffer and Emerson 1964

• Found that babies first became attached to their mother at 7 months

• Only 3% cases the father was the sole object of attachment

• In 27% the father was joint first with the mother

• However, after 18 months, 75% babies became attached to their fathers (protested when they left the room)

What evidence suggests fathers have a distinctive role in attachment

Grossman et al 2002

• Longitudinal study of babies attachment into late teens

• Researchers looked at parent/child relationships and the babies quality of later attachments to other people

• The quality of attachment was related to the mothers

• Grossman found that the quality of the fathers play was related to the quality of adolescent attachments

• This suggests that fathers have a different role to mothers - one with play rather than emotional development

What evidence suggest fathers do have an important role in attachment

Schaffer & Emerson 1964

• After 18 months babies did form attachments with their fathers, as they go on to become important attachment figures

Grossman et al 2002

• Father's quality of play was related to the quality of adolescent attachment

• Their role (playmate) is just different than the mother's (emotional development)

Field 1978

• PCGF (like PCGM) spent more time smiling, imitating and holding their babies than SCGF

• Fathers do have the potential to become the more emotion focussed PCG but perhaps only when they are given the role of PCG

Outline Field's 1978 experiment into fathers as PCG

• Filmed 4 month old babies face to face

• Included PCGM, PCGF and SCGF

• PCGF spent more time smiling, imitating and holding their babies than SCGF

  • these are IS and Reciprocity - part of the attachment process (Isabella et al 1989)

• Fathers do have the potential to be the emotion focused primary attachment figures they can provide. the responsiveness required for a close emotional attachment but perhaps only express it when given the role of PCG

What evidence suggest fathers are not important in attachment

Schaffer &Emerson 1964

• Only 3% of fathers were the primary attachment figure at 7 months

Grossman et al 2002

• Babies attachment with the mother was related to attachments in adolescence not the fathers

Evaluate the limitations of research into the role of the father

Conflicting evidence

• Findings vary depending according to the methodology used

• Grossman's 2002 study - suggests fathers have a distinct role

• But if they do have a distinctive and important role, it would be expected that a child brought up by a single mother or homosexual parent families would end up different

• Studies by McCallum and Golombok 2004 consistently show that these children don't develop different from those 2-parent heterosexual families

• This mean the question as to wether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered

Bias in research

• Preconceptions about how fathers do and should behave can be created by stereotypical accounts and images of parenting roles and behaviour

  • E.g Advertising

• These stereotypes (not PCGs, strict) may cause unintentional observer bias when observers see what they expect

• This may remove the objective reliability

Evaluate the strengths of search into the role of the father

CC to Conflicting evidence

• Fathers may have a distinctive role in 2PHF

• But single mothers and lesbian parent families may adapt to accommodate the role played by father

• Means the question of distinction is clear

• When present, fathers adopt their distinctive role, but if they're not families can adapt to not having a father

Real world application

• Role of the father can be used to offer advice to parents

• Parents and prospective parents often agonise over who should take on the primary care-giver role

• Both may feel pressured by stereotypes, but research can offer reassuring advice

  • Fathers can take on PCG (Field) or, single mothers/lesbians can be informed that the absence of a father doesn't affect child development

• This means that parental anxiety about the role of the father can be reduced

Outline the sample of Schaffer and Emerson's 1964 study

• glasgow

• 60 babies

  • 31 boys

  • 29 girls

• working class (mainly)

What kind of study was Schaffer and Emerson's

Observational

What are the 4 stages of attachment identified by Schaffer and Emerson in 1964

• Asocial stage

• Indiscriminate attachment

• Specific attachment

• Multiple attachments

Outline the Asocial stage

Occurs at 0 - 2 months

• Behaviours towards humans and inanimate objects are similar (asocial)

• Babies can show preference for the presence of familiar people

• Baby is forming bonds with certain people, forming the basis for later attachments

Outline the indiscriminate stage of attachment

Occurs at 2-7 months

• Babies show more obvious and social behaviours

• They show a clear preference for being with humans instead of inanimate objects

• Babies in this stage recognise their caregivers and other familiar people

• They will accept closeness (cuddles, soothing) from any person and do not show separation anxiety

• They are unlikely to show stranger anxiety during this stage

Outline the specific attachment stage

Occurs from 7 months

• The formation of attachment to a specific caregiver

• This person becomes known as the primary attachment figure (mother in 65% of cases)

• Babies will show signs of separation and stranger anxiety particularly when away from their primary attachment figure

Outline the Multiple attachment stage

Occurs from 1 year

• After an attachment to a primary attachment figure has been formed, babies begin to form multiple attachments with other people that they spend time with (secondary attachments)

• Separation anxiety can occur when infants are separated from their secondary attachments

Evaluate the strengths of Schaffer and Emerson's 1964 study

High external validity

• Schaffer & Emerson's study involved observations carried out by the parents in the home

• The observations did not take place in controlled, lab conditions

• This means that the babies were not distracted by the presence of unfamiliar researchers

• Meaning it's highly likely the ps behaved naturally, thus high EV

Real world application

• The stages of attachment can be applied practically to daycare settings such as nurseries and preschools (kindergartens)

• Parents can use the stages of attachment to help understand the development of their child

• This means that they may avoid starting their child in daycare around seven months due to the likelihood of the infant being in the specific attachment phase

Evaluate the limitations of Schaffer and Emerson's 1964 study

CC to high external validity

• The mothers were unlikely to be objective observers

• Some mothers may be more or less sensitive to their child's distress at separation and so report findings differently and with less accuracy from other families

• Some mothers may have under-reported what they perceived to be the less positive aspects of their child's experience

Bias sample

• Schaffer & Emerson only used families from a working-class population from Glasgow, Scotland (an individualistic culture)

• This means the findings may not apply to other socioeconomic and cultural groups

• The findings may not be generalisable beyond the immediate demographic, lack external validity