Schaffer and Emmerson study and stages of Attachment

Evaluation

The main advantage of the study is that it has good external validity due to the study being conducted using observation in natural activities. Therefore, the study has good external validity because the infants are likely to have behaved naturally. Another strength of the study is that it has good internal validity due to the longitudinal design used. This is due to the design meaning that the same individuals are used and this mean that the confounding variable of individual differences is singled out. There are also a few weaknesses to Shaffer and Emerson's study. Firstly, the study cannot be generalized because it is only conducted in one time frame in one area. There are problems measuring multiple attachment and also the asocial stage. The asocial stage cannot be measured because the infants don't move much at this age, therefore there isn't much to observe. The multiple attachment behavior is also difficult to measure because the behaviors for attachment ad also playmates are similar. There is also controversial evidence for multiple attachment formation. Some cultures, especially collectivist ones that raise there infants together using different people at the same time state that multiple attachments are made at the same time. However, the Schaffer and Emerson study states otherwise.