Attachment - Key Words

Question 1

Imitation

Answer 1

Copying

Question 2

Reciprocity

Answer 2

A description of how people act. 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.

Question 3

Interactional Sycrony

Answer 3

Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinated way.

Question 4

Stages of Attachment

Answer 4

1. Asocial Stage: Not recognising and forming bonds with carers. Can’t distinguish between people and inanimate objects.

Question 5

Multiple Attachments

Answer 5

Attachments to two or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one true attachment to a main character.

Question 6

Animal Studies

Answer 6

Animal studies in psychology are carried out on non-human animal species rather than on humans, either for ethical or practical reasons - practical because animals breed faster and researchers are interested in seeing results across more than one generation of animals.

Question 7

Learning theory

Answer 7

A set of theories from the behaviorist approach to psychology, that emphasize the role of learning in the acquisition of behavior. Explanations for learning of behavior include classical and operant conditioning.

Question 8

Monotropic

Answer 8

A term sometimes used to describe Bowlbys theory. The mono means ‘one’ and indicates

Question 9

Attachment

Answer 9

An attachment can be defined as a close two-way bond between two individuals in which each individual sees the other as essential for their own social security.

Question 10

Internal Working Model

Answer 10

The mental representations we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver. They are important in affecting our future relationships because they carry our perception of what relationships are like.

Question 11

Critical Period

Answer 11

This refers to the time within an attachment must form if it is to form at all. Lorenz and Harlow noted that attachment in birds and monkeys had critical periods. Bowlby extended the ideas to humans, proposing that human infants have a sensitive period after which it will be much more difficult to form an attachment.

Question 12

Strange Situation

Answer 12

A controlled observation designed to test attachment security. Infants are assessed on their response to playing in an unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with a stranger and being reunited with a caregiver.

Question 13

Secure Attachment

Answer 13

Generally thought of as the most desirable attachment type, associated with psychologically healthy outcomes. In the Strange Situation this is shown by moderate stranger and separation anxiety and ease of comfort at reunion.

Question 14

Insecure-Avoidant Attachment

Answer 14

An attachment type characterised by low anxiety but weak attachment. In the Strange Situation this is shown by low stranger and separation anxiety and little response to reunion - an avoidance of the caregiver.

Question 15

Insecure-Resistant Attachment

Answer 15

An attachment type characterised by strong attachment and high anxiety. In the Strange Situation this is shown by high levels of stranger and separation anxiety and by resistance to be comforted at reunion.

Question 16

Cultural Variations

Answer 16

‘Cultural’ refers to the norms and values that exist within any group of people. Cultural variations then are the differences in norms and values that exist between people in different groups. In attachment research we are concerned with the differences in the proportion of different attachment types.

Question 17

Maternal Deprivation

Answer 17

The emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and his/her mother or mother substitute. Bowlby proposed that continuous care from a mother is essential for normal psychological development, and that prolonged separation from this adult causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual causes serious damage to emotional and intellectual damage.

Question 18

Institutionalisation

Answer 18

A term for the effects of living in an institutional setting. The term ‘institution’ refers to a place like a hospital or an orphanage where children live for long, continuous periods of time. In such places there is often very little emotional care provided. In attachment research we interested in the effects of institutional care of children’s attachments and subsequent development.

Question 19

Orphan Studies

Answer 19

These concern children placed in care because their parents cannot look after them. An orphan is a child whose parents have either died or have abandoned them permanently.

Question 20

Childhood Relationships

Answer 20

Affiliations with other people in childhood, including friends and classmates, and with adults such as teachers.

Question 21

Adult Relationships

Answer 21

Those relationships the child goes on to have later in life as an adult. These include friendships and working relationships but most critically relationships with romantic partners and the person’s own children.

Question 22

Internal Working Models

Answer 22

The mental representations we all carry with us of our attachment to our primary caregiver.