Attachment Key Words Flashcards
(34 cards)
What is attachment?
Attachment is an emotional tie or bond between two people, usually a mother and a child. The relationship is shared, which means it is a two-way relationship.
What does reciprocity in attachment refer to?
Reciprocity describes how two people interact. Mother-infant interaction is reciprocal in that both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals, and each elicits a response from the other.
What is interactional synchrony?
Interactional synchrony refers to how mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other in a co-ordinated (synchronised) way.
What are the stages of attachment?
Stages of attachment identify a sequence of qualitatively different behaviours linked to specific ages.
What is the asocial stage of attachment?
In the asocial stage, babies’ behaviour towards non-human objects and humans is similar (first few weeks).
What are indiscriminate attachments?
Indiscriminate attachments occur when babies start to show a preference for people, but their behaviour is not different towards any one person (2-7 months).
What are specific attachments?
Specific attachments develop when babies start to show stranger anxiety as they have formed a specific attachment to one particular adult (7 months +).
What are multiple attachments?
Multiple attachments occur when babies extend their specific attachment to others (secondary attachments) (1 year +).
What are animal studies in attachment?
Animal studies are studies carried out on non-human animal species rather than humans, either for ethical or practical reasons.
What is imprinting?
Imprinting is where offspring follow the first large-moving object they see.
What is learning theory in attachment?
Learning theory is a set of theories from the behaviourist approach to Psychology, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour.
What is classical conditioning?
Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which an existing involuntary reflex response is associated with a new stimulus.
What is operant conditioning?
Operant conditioning is a type of learning in which a new voluntary behaviour is associated with a consequence - reinforcement makes the behaviour more likely to occur, while punishment makes it less likely to occur.
What is a primary drive?
An innate biological motivator.
What is a secondary drive?
Are those learned through conditioning or association with a primary drive, such as attachment and social acceptance.
What does monotropic mean?
A term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory, indicating that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to the child’s development.
What is an innate behavior?
A behavior that is instinctive and does not need to be learned.
What is an internal working model?
The mental representations we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver, important in affecting our future relationships.
What are social releasers?
Innate behaviours shown by an infant that lead to a caregiving response (e.g. cooing).
What is a critical period?
This refers to the time within which an attachment must form if it is to form at all.
What is a sensitive period?
The best time period over which attachments can form.
What is the Strange Situation?
A controlled observation designed to test attachment security, assessing infants’ responses in various scenarios.
What is a secure attachment?
The most desired attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes, moderate stranger anxiety, and ease of comfort reunion.
What is an insecure-avoidant attachment?
Characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment, with low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion.
