Schaffer's stages of attachment 16 marker
There are 4 stages of attachment. The first stage is called the pre-attachment stage, which takes
place in the first few weeks of a baby's life. This is when their behaviour towards people and
inanimate objects is similar. Babies sometimes show a preference for familiar people, and they feel
more easily calmed by them. The second stage is the indiscriminate stage, which takes place from
two to seven months. Babies display observable social behaviour, and have a preference for and
recognise familiar people. Babies don't show stranger anxiety or separation anxiety. The baby's
behaviour tends to be the same for everyone. The third stage is discriminate attachment, which is
from seven months. The baby will display stranger and separation anxiety if they are separated from
one particular person and they have formed a specific attachment with their primary attachment
figure. This figure is usually the person who interacts with the baby the most and responds to their
signals. This is the mother 65% of the time. The final stage is the multiple attachment stage. The
baby forms secondary attachments with other adults. Shaffer and Emerson's study showed that 29%
of babies formed a secondary attachment a few months after forming a primary attachment. Most
babies have formed multiple attachments by the time they are 1 year old.
Schaffer and Emerson's study of attachment took 60 babies from working-class families in Glasgow.
The researcher would visit their home every month for one year, and then again at 18 months.
Separation anxiety was measured by the researchers asking the mothers about their child's
behaviour when they were left alone. Stranger anxiety was also measured by the researchers asking
the mothers about what happened when strangers interacted with the babies. The babies developed
attachments through the stages Shaffer came up with. The discriminate attachment stage tended to
be people who interacted with the babies the most, and who were sensitive to their needs and facial
expressions. This wasn't always the person the baby spent the most time with.
A strength of Schaffer and Emerson's study was that it has external validity. Most of the observations
were made by the parents during ordinary everyday activities. The alternative would have been that
a researcher was in the home all the time, which could have made the babies feel nervous or act
differently. This means that the study has high external validity since the participants are likely to
have been behaving naturalistically.
However a counterpoint is that the mothers might have been biased when recalling their baby's
behaviours, or they might not have remembered the information properly. This means that the
babies might have been accurately recorded.
A limitation is that there isn't much evidence for the pre-attachment stage. When babies are young,
it is hard to measure what they are doing because they are immobile and they have poor
coordination. This makes it hard to see if they show signs of attachment in the early stage. This
means that babies might be social and have stronger attachments with certain people, but
researchers just don't notice it.
Another strength is a real-world application to day-care. In the pre-attachment and indiscriminate
attachment stages, the babies can be comforted by anyone. If a child starts day-care in the
discriminate attachment stage, having care from an unfamiliar adult might cause distress and long-
term problems. This means that Schaffer and Emerson's stages can help babies make day-care
decisions.
There are 4 stages of attachment. The first stage is called the pre-attachment stage, which takes
place in the first few weeks of a baby's life. This is when their behaviour towards people and
inanimate objects is similar. Babies sometimes show a preference for familiar people, and they feel
more easily calmed by them. The second stage is the indiscriminate stage, which takes place from
two to seven months. Babies display observable social behaviour, and have a preference for and
recognise familiar people. Babies don't show stranger anxiety or separation anxiety. The baby's
behaviour tends to be the same for everyone. The third stage is discriminate attachment, which is
from seven months. The baby will display stranger and separation anxiety if they are separated from
one particular person and they have formed a specific attachment with their primary attachment
figure. This figure is usually the person who interacts with the baby the most and responds to their
signals. This is the mother 65% of the time. The final stage is the multiple attachment stage. The
baby forms secondary attachments with other adults. Shaffer and Emerson's study showed that 29%
of babies formed a secondary attachment a few months after forming a primary attachment. Most
babies have formed multiple attachments by the time they are 1 year old.
Schaffer and Emerson's study of attachment took 60 babies from working-class families in Glasgow.
The researcher would visit their home every month for one year, and then again at 18 months.
Separation anxiety was measured by the researchers asking the mothers about their child's
behaviour when they were left alone. Stranger anxiety was also measured by the researchers asking
the mothers about what happened when strangers interacted with the babies. The babies developed
attachments through the stages Shaffer came up with. The discriminate attachment stage tended to
be people who interacted with the babies the most, and who were sensitive to their needs and facial
expressions. This wasn't always the person the baby spent the most time with.
A strength of Schaffer and Emerson's study was that it has external validity. Most of the observations
were made by the parents during ordinary everyday activities. The alternative would have been that
a researcher was in the home all the time, which could have made the babies feel nervous or act
differently. This means that the study has high external validity since the participants are likely to
have been behaving naturalistically.
However a counterpoint is that the mothers might have been biased when recalling their baby's
behaviours, or they might not have remembered the information properly. This means that the
babies might have been accurately recorded.
A limitation is that there isn't much evidence for the pre-attachment stage. When babies are young,
it is hard to measure what they are doing because they are immobile and they have poor
coordination. This makes it hard to see if they show signs of attachment in the early stage. This
means that babies might be social and have stronger attachments with certain people, but
researchers just don't notice it.
Another strength is a real-world application to day-care. In the pre-attachment and indiscriminate
attachment stages, the babies can be comforted by anyone. If a child starts day-care in the
discriminate attachment stage, having care from an unfamiliar adult might cause distress and long-
term problems. This means that Schaffer and Emerson's stages can help babies make day-care
decisions.
