The Development of Attachment | Page 72-73 | Psychology AS Attachment

The Development of Attachment | Page 72-73 | Psychology AS Attachment

1. Schaffer and Emerson's 'Stages of Attachment'

   • Stage 1: Indiscriminate Attachment
     • Infants between 0-3 months old
     • Infants don't care who holds them
       • They respond equally to all caregivers
     • Stage 2: Beginnings of Attachment
       • Infants between 4-7 months old
       • Now show a preferencefor a primary caregiver
       • Infants do not show Stranger Anxiety yet
       • Stage 3: Specific/Discriminate Attachment
         • Infants between 7-12 months
         • Infants now show Stranger and Seperation Anxiety
           • This is good, shows an attachment has been formed
         • Stage 4: Multiple Attachments
           • 1 year onwards
           • The Infant has now formed multiple attachments other caregivers other than the primary
             • Father, Siblings, Grandparents, etc.
             • Generally around 4-5 attachments
   • Longitudinal Study
   • 60 infants in a working-class area of Glasgow
   • Self reporting (mothers) and naturalistic observation (researchers)
     • Once a month for 18 months

2. The Role of the Father

   • Little correlation between amount of time spent with infant and attachment for fathers (Lamb, 1997)
   • Men can form secure attachments with infants (e.g. single parent famlies)
     • But biological and social factors discourage it
   • Secondary Attachments
     • Fathers have a important role as secondary attachments, providing a playmate and challenging the child to improve their problem-solving and cognitive abilities

3. Evaluation

   • Stage Model
     • Not all infants will fit into the stages
     • All infants judged by a outdated, biased and one-size-fits all model
   • This research is outdated: Conducted in the 1960's
     • There are much more varied parenting styles now
     • Historical differences
       • Both parents work
       • Stay at home dads, nanny's mean that not just mothers
         • Infants may be attaching to people that aren't family - Nanny's, Nursery's, etc.
       • Technology enables children to entertain themselves and not to further the caregivers relationship
         • Attachment takes longer
   • Data is biased
     • Social Desirability Bias: The data was partly collected by the mothers of the children; they wouldn't have wanted to seem like bad mothers and so this may have affected the results.
     • From a specific social class
   • Cultural Differences
     • Different cultures will define a strong attachment differently