The Development of Attachment

What was the procedure for Schaffer and Emerson's research?

- they studied 60 infants from working-class families in Glasgow

- the infants and their mothers were visited every month for the first year and then again at 18 months

- at each visit, the researcher observed the infant and their caregiver and asked the mothers questions

What were Schaffer and Emerson interested in finding?

- separation anxiety, how the infant responded to separation from the caregiver

- stranger anxiety, how the infant responded to the researcher

What was the purpose of Schaffer and Emerson's research?

It was designed to measure the babies' attachment and anxiety response to unfamiliar people

What were the results of Schaffer and Emerson's research?

- between 25-32 weeks, 50% of the babies showed separation anxiety to any adult except their mums

- attachment tended to occur to the caregiver who was most sensitive to the infant's signals and facial expressions

- at 40 weeks, nearly 30% have formed multiple attachments

What were Schaffer and Emerson's stages of attachment?

1. Asocial stage

2. Indiscriminate attachment

3. Specific attachment

4. Multiple attachments

What is the asocial stage?

- 0-2 months

- infants produce similar responses to all subjects (human and non-human)

- towards the end, infants start to show preference for human company

What is the indiscriminate attachment phase ?

- 2-7 months

- infants can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people

- don't display separation anxiety or stranger anxiety

What is discriminate attachment?

- 7 month onwards

- infants have formed an attachment bond to one person

- infants display separation and stranger anxiety

What is the primary attachment figure?

the person who offers the most interaction and responds to the babys signals.

What is the multiple attachment phase?

- 9 months onwards

- the infant develops a wider circle of multiple attachments

- circle includes other adults that the infant regularly spends time with - secondary attachment figured

- infant also displays separation anxiety from these relationships

What are some strengths of Schaffer and Emerson's study?

- high ecological validity as study was conducted at pps house and most observations were from parents so babies behaved naturally

- longitudinal study, following same children over time improves internal validity and controls pp variables that may affect attachment development

- practical applications

What are some weaknesses of Schaffer and Emerson's study?

- limited sample, only studied working-class families in Glasgow, reducing population validity

- biased reporting, mothers that reported infant behaviour may be subject to social desirability bias or inaccurate recall, reducing internal validity

- culturally biased, individualist vs collectivist

What are longitudinal studies?

Research methods that involve observing the same participants repeatedly over an extended period of time

What are some strengths of longitudinal studies?

- establishes sequence of events, helping identify the order in which events occur

- identifies changes over time

- high level of validity

What are some weaknesses of longitudinal studies?

- expensive and time consuming

- pp attrition, pps may die, lose interest or move away

- reliability, may lose it over time, especially if the researcher changes