Schaffer's Stages Of Attachment

What did Schaffer and Emerson study?

The attachment behaviours of babies. Their findings led them to develop an account of ow attachment behaviours change as a baby gets older.

What did Schaffer and Emerson propose?

That thee were four identifiable stages of attachment, a sequence which is observed in all babies.

What are the four stages of attachment?

• Asocial stage.

• Indiscriminate attachments.

• Specific attachments.

• Multiple attachments.

When is the asocial stage observable?

In the baby’s first few weeks of life.

What are the characteristics of the asocial stage?

• Observable behaviours towards humans is fairly similar - Schaffer and Emerson did not believe i was fully asocial as babies sowed signs that they prefer to be with other people.

• Babies show a preference for the company of familiar people and are more easily comforted by them.

When can the indiscriminate attachment stage be observed?

From 2 to 7 months.

What are the characteristics of the indiscriminate attachment stage?

• Babies start to display more obvious and observable social behaviours.

• They now sow a clear preference for being with humans rather than inanimate objects.

• They recognize and prefer the company of familiar people.

• They usually accept cuddles and comfort from any person.

• They do not usually show stranger or separation anxiety.

When can the specific attachment stage be observed?

From around 7 months.

What are the characteristics of the specific attachment stage?

Babies start to show classic signs of attachment towards one particular person:

• Stranger and separation anxiety

The baby is said to have formed a specific attachment with the primary caregiver. This person is not necessarily he individual the child spends the most time with but the one who offers the most interaction and respond’s to the bab’’s signals - the mother, 65% of the time.

When can the multiple attachments stage be observed?

Right after the specific attachment stage.

What are the characteristics of the multiple attachments stage?

They extend their attachment behaviour to multiple attachments with other people - secondary attachment.

• Schaffer and Emerson - 29% of the children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming a primary (specific) attachment.

• By the age of one year the majority of babies had developed multiple attachments.

What was the procedure of Schaffer and Emerson? (not on spec)

31 boys and 29 girls from Glasgow and their mothers were visited by researchers in their homes every month for the first year and then again at 18 months. The researchers asked the mothers questions about the kind of protest the babies showed in seven everyday separations - to measure the babies’ attachments. They also assessed stranger anxiety - the babies’ anxiety response to unfamiliar people

What were the findings of Schaffer and Emerson?

They identified four distinct stages in the development of infant attachment behaviour.

What are the strengths of Schaffer and Emerson’s research?

• Good external validity.

• Real-world application.

How is good external validity a strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research?

Most of the observations (though not stranger anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and reported to the researchers. The alternative would have been to have researchers present tot record observations. This might have distracted the babies or made them feel more anxious. This means it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.

What does the good external validity mean for Schaffer and Emerson’s research?

This means it is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while being observed.

What is the counterpoint to the good external validity?

On the other hand there are issues with asking the mothers to be the observers. They were unlikely to be objective observers. They might have been biased in terms of what they noticed and what they reported, for example they might not have noticed when their baby was showing signs of anxiety or they may have misremembered it.

What does the counterpoint to the good external validity mean?

This means that even if babies behaved naturally their behaviour may not have been accurately recorded.

How is real-world application a strength of Schaffer and Emerson’s research?

Another strength of Schaffer and Emerson's stages is that they have practical application in day care (where babies are cared for outside of their home by a non-family adult)

In the asocial and indiscriminate attachment stages day care is likely to be straightforward as babies can be comforted by any skilled adult. However, Schaffer and Emerson's research tells us that day care, especially starting day care with an unfamiliar adult, may be problematic during the specific attachment stage.

What does the real-world application mean for Schaffer and Emerson’s research?

This means that parents' use of day care can be planned using Schaffer and Emerson's stages.

What is the limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

• Poor evidence for the asocial stage.

How is poor evidence for the asocial stage a limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s research?

Young babies have poor co-ordination and are fairly immobile. If babies less than two months old felt anxiety in everyday situations they might have displayed this in quite subtle, hard-to-observe ways. This made it difficult for mothers to observe and report back to researchers on signs of anxiety and attachment in this age group.

What does the poor evidence for the asocial stage mean for Schaffer and Emerson’s research?

This means that the babies may actually be quite social but, because of flawed methods, they appear to be asocial.

How is generalisability a strength and limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s study?

On the positive side Schaffer and Emerson based their stage account on a large-scale study with some good design features.

On the other hand, they only looked at one sample which had unique features in terms of the cultural and historical context

- 1960s working-class Glasgow. In other cultures, for example collectivist cultures, multiple attachments from a very early age are more the norm (van IJzendoorn 1993).