The Development of Attachment

The Development of Attachment

1. Stage 1: indiscriminate attachments

   • From birth till two months infants produce similar responses to all objects
   • Towards the end of this period infants show a preference for social stimuli
   • Reciprocity and interactional synchrony play a role in establishing the infant's relationship with others

2. Stage 2: the beginning of attachment

   • At around 4 months infants tend to become more social
   • They prefer human company to inanimate objects
   • They can distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar people

3. Stage 3: discriminate attachment

   • By seven month show different sorts of protests when on particular person puts them down (separation anxiety)
   • They then show especial joy at reunion with that person and are most comforted by this person (primary attachment figure)
     • PAF is not the person the child has spent the most time is who responds quickly and sensitively to the child's signals
   • At this time the infant starts to display stranger anxiety, this is distress when handled by an unfamiliar person

4. Stage 4: Multiple attachments

   • Soon after the first attachment multiple attachment form depending on the amount of consistent relationships the infant has
   • Within the first months infants can have attachments to multiple people
   • With age the number of attachments increases

5. Unreliable Data

   • Schaffer and Emerson may be unreliable as based on mothers reports
   • Some mothers may have been less sensitive to their child's signals so are less likely to report them
   • This challenges the validity of the study

6. Biased Sample

   • The sample was 60's working class parents
   • May only represent that social class and that period of time as childcare has changed dramatically since
   • The findings may be different as times have changed where dads also stay at home

7. Are Multiple attachments different

   • Are some attachments more significant than others for example between a mother and a cousin
   • Bowlby believe that there was one significant attachment the others acted as a safety net for other specific needs
   • Rutter has argued all attachments are equal