The Development of Attachments

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The Development of Attachments The topic of Schaffer and Emerson's research was to observe the development of attachments in infants. They were specifically interested in the age, intensity, and the objects of attachment and the issue of whether there were any individual differences. The research method of the study was conducted by interviewing the children's mothers at every visit. The experimental design of the research was carried out by naturalistic observation. The materials that were used were prams, cots, and chairs. The participants consisted of a sample of sixty infants from working-class homes in Glasgow. The infants were observed every four weeks until they were one year old, and then again at eighteen months. At the start of the investigation, the youngest participant was five weeks and the oldest was twenty-three weeks. All the infants were living at home with both parents; they all had normal births, no major illnesses, and no signs of abnormality. Attachment was measured in terms of separation protest, (the distress when an infant is separated from his/her caregiver), in seven everyday situations. Infants were either: -Left alone in a room. -Left with other people. -Left in their pram outside the house. -Left in their pram outside the shops. -Left in their cot at night. -Put down after being held by an adult. -Passed by while sitting in a cot or chair. Mothers were also asked generally about situations where separation protest was shown and whom these protests were directed to. This meant researchers could rate the intensity of attachment at each monthly visit. They used a four-point scale where zero was 'no protest recorded' and 3 'the infant cries loudly on each occasion'. Schaffer and Emerson also measured stranger anxiety by starting every visit by approaching the infant and noting at what point the infant started to whimper, therefore showing some anxiety. The findings of their study re shown below: 1. Age of onset-Half of the children showed their first specific attachment between 25 and 32 weeks (6-8 months).

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