Schaffer's Stages of Attachment

Various theorists have identified stages in development of attachments.

Schaffer and Emerson (1964) aimed to investigate the formation of early attachments, in particular the age at which they develop, their emotional intensity and to whom they are directed.

60 babies from Glasgow, most from working-class families were studied.

The babies and their mothers were visited at home every month for a year and at 18 months.

The researchers asked the mother questions about the kind of protest their babies showed in seven everyday situations, e.g. adult leaving the room (a measure of separation anxiety).

This was designed to measure the infant's attachment.

The researcher also assessed stranger anxiety- the infant's anxiety response to unfamiliar adults.

50% of babies showed separation anxiety towards a particular adult between 25 and 32 weeks of age.

This specific (primary) attachment was usually with the mother.

Attachments tended to be to the caregiver who was most interactive and sensitive to infant signals and facial expressions (i.e. reciprocity).

This was not necessarily the person who the infant spent the most time with.

Based on the findings of the study, Schaffer and Emerson proposed that attachments develop in four stages.

These stages were:

1) Asocial stage

2) Indiscriminate stage

3) Specific attachment

4)Multiple attachments

This stage of attachment occurs in the first few weeks of life.

It is catagorised by:

• The baby's behaviour towards both humans and inanimate objects being quite similar
• Some preference for familiar adults
• Babies are also happier in the presence of other adults

Occurs between the ages of 2 and 7 months

It is categorised by:

• Babies now displaying more observable social behaviour, with a preference for people rather than inanimate objects.
• They recognise and prefer familiar adults
• Babies do not show stranger or separation anxiety
• Attachment is indiscriminate because it is the same to all.

This occurs from the age of 7 months

It is categorised by:

• Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety when separated from one particular adult. The baby is said to have formed a specific attachment with the primary attachment figure.
• This is usually the person who offers the most interactions and who responds to the baby's 'signals' with the most skill (the biological mother in 65% of cases)

Occurs by the age of a year

This is categorised by:

• Secondary attachments with other adults form
• 29% of babies had secondary (multiple) attachments within a month of forming primary (specific) attachment.
• By the age of one year the majority of infants had multiple secondary attachments.

STRENGTH

Schaffer and Emerson's study has external validity as many of the observations (not stranger anxiety) were made by parents during ordinary activities and then reported to researchers.

Therefore, the behaviour of the babies was unlikely to be affected by the presence of observers.

It is highly likely that the participants behaved naturally while gbeing observed.

STRENGTH

The study was carried out longitudinally and this means that the same children were followed-up and observed regularly.

The quicker alternative would have been to observe different children at each age, but longitudinal studies have better internal validity becasue they do not have the confounding variable of individual differences between participants.

LIMITATION

There may be a problem with how multiple attachments are assessed as just because a baby gets distressed when an individual leaves the room does not necessarily mean that the individual is a 'true' attachment figure.

Bowlby (1969) pointed out that children may be distressed when a playmate leaves the room, but this does not signify attachment to them.

So Schaffer and Emerson's view of stages does not distinguish between behaviour shown towards secondary attachment figures and towards playmates.

LIMITATION

There is a probelm with studying the asocial year as Schaffer and Emerson describe the first few weeks as the 'asocial' stage, although important interactions take place.

However, young babies have poor coordination and are fairly immobile, making it difficult to make judgements based on observations of their behaviour.

It may be the babies are actually quite social but because of flawed methods, they appear to be asocial.