The document summarizes research on caregiver-infant attachment. It describes Schaffer and Emerson's 1964 study which identified 4 stages of attachment development. They found that most infants form their first attachment to their biological mother by 7 months. Additional research has explored attachments to secondary caregivers, particularly fathers. While some research suggests fathers play a distinct role through play and stimulation, other studies have been unable to clearly define the father's role in attachment. The role of fathers in infant development remains an area of ongoing research and debate.

1. Caregiver – infant interactions
• Attachment is a strong
emotional bond that
develops over time
between a child and their
caregivers.
• Schaffer & Emerson
(1964): the Glasgow baby
study

2. Schaffer & Emerson: stages of attachment
• Schaffer & Emerson identified 4 stages in the
development of attachment:
• Stage 1: asocial stage 0 – 2 months
• Stage 2: indiscriminate attachment 2 – 7 months
• Stage 3: specific attachment 7 months onwards
• Stage 4: multiple attachments 7 months onwards

3. Schaffer & Emerson
• Schaffer & Emerson found that the first specific
attachment was usually made to the biological
mother.
• 65% of the babies in their sample made a
specific attachment to the biological mother.
• This person is called the primary attachment
figure.

4. Schaffer & Emerson
• Psychologists have been interested in identifying who
else a child makes an attachment to.
• These are called secondary attachment figures.
• The main secondary attachment figure is usually the
father.
• Schaffer & Emerson found that by 18 months 75% of
the babies in their sample had made a secondary
attachment to the biological father.
• This finding led to research on the role of the father in
the child’s development of attachments.

5. The role of the father
• Grossman (2002) conducted a longitudinal study that
found differences in the nature of the attachment
children made to fathers and mothers.
• They found that mothers became primary attachment
figure because they took physical and emotional care of
their children.
• They found that fathers became secondary attachment
figures because they played with their children.
• They concluded that fathers played a distinct role in the
development of attachment: play and stimulation.

6. The role of the father: evaluation
• Research has not identified clearly what the role of the
father is in the development of attachments.
• Some research has focussed on the role of the father
as the primary attachment figure.
• This research has found no difference in the role of the
father in attachment.

7. The role of the father: rvaluation
Other research has focussed on the role of the father as a
secondary attachment figure.
This research has found that the father does have a
different role to the mother.
This means psychologists are unable to state clearly what
the role of the father is in children’s development.

8. The role of the father: evaluation
• Some research has investigated if the father does have a
distinct role in children’s development.
• This research has focussed on children who grow up
without a father.
• This research has found no difference in children’s
development to the development of children in
conventional heterosexual two parent families.
• This suggests that the father does not have a specific role
in children’s development.

9. The role of the father
Read p.4 – 6 and complete the role of the
father summary table.