2. schaffer's stages of attachment

who investigated stages of attachment

schaffer & emerson 1964

stages of attachment

1. asocial stage

2. indiscriminate attachment

3. specific/discriminate attachment

4. multiple attachments

asocial stage

• in the first few weeks

• behaviour towards humans and inanimate objects is fairly similar

• did not believe it is entirely asocial as babies still show signs that they prefer to be with people

indiscriminate attachment

• from 2 to 7 months

• display more obvious and observable behaviours

• show clear preference for being with humans rather than inanimate objects

• recognise and prefer company of familiar people but usually accept comfort from anyone

specific/discriminate attachment

• from around 7 months

• display classic signs of attachment towards one particular person - separation anxiety and stranger anxiety

• baby has formed a specific attachment to the primary attachment figure - not necessarily who they spend the most time with, but the one who offers the most interactions (mother 65%)

separation anxiety and stranger anxiety definitions

separation anxiety = anxiety when separated from their attachment figure

stranger anxiety = anxiety directed towards strangers

multiple attachments

• extend to multiple attachments with others they regularly spend time with - secondary attachments

• schaffer & emerson observed that 29% of the children formed secondary attachments within a month of forming primary ones

evaluation

1. good external validity (& counterpoint)

2. real world application

3. generalisability (& counterpoint)

4. poor evidence for asocial stage

good external validity

• study has high external validity

• observations took place in babies’ own homes (natural environment so avoids artificial behaviour) with most data reported by parents rather than researchers

• means findings can be generalised to real life caregiver-infant interactions

counterpoint

• parental observations may lack objectivity

• they might have been biased or innacurate in reporting behaviours, meaning social desirability bias or memory errors could have influenced results

• reduces reliability as reported behaviours may not fully reflect reality

real world application

• research has practical benefits for childcare

• findings help in planning day care around attachment stages as babies at different stages respond differently to being separated from caregivers

• supports informed childcare decisions, improving child well-being in day care settings

generalisability & counterpoint

• large-scale study with 60 babies (31 male and 29 female)

• but findings may not generalise across cultures as the study was conducted in 1960s working class glasgow - a specific cultural and historical context (low temporal validity)

• attachment patterns may differ in collectivist cultures where multiple caregivers are common limiting universality

poor evidence for asocial stage

• asocial stage is difficult to assess

• babies in this stage are immobile and display few observable behaviours as they have poor coordination and are fairly immobile

• means the classification of this stage may be innaccurate or misleading