4. Attachment: Forming Close Relationships Flashcards
attachment
A strong emotional bond that forms between infant and caregiver in the second half of the child’s first year.
imprinting
Birds and other infrahuman animals develop a pref- erence for and follow the person or object to which they are first exposed during a brief, critical period after birth.
insecure-ambivalent attachment
Babies tend to become very upset at the departure of their mother and exhibit inconsistent behavior on the mother’s return, sometimes seeking contact, sometimes pushing their mother away. (This is sometimes referred to as insecure-resistant or anxious-ambivalent attachment.)
insecure-avoidant attachment
Babies seem not to be bothered by their mother’s brief absences but specifically avoid her when she returns, sometimes becoming visibly upset.
insecure-disorganized attachment
Babies seem disorganized and disoriented when reunited with their mother after a brief separation.
internal working model
A person’s mental representation of himself or herself as a child, his or her parents, and the nature of his or her interaction with the parents as he or she reconstructs and interprets that interaction.
maternal bond
Feeling of attachment by a mother to her infant, perhaps influenced by early infant contact.
secure attachment
Babies are able to explore novel environments, are minimally disturbed by brief separations from their mother, and are quickly comforted by her when she returns.
secure base
A safety zone that the infant can retreat to for comfort and reassurance when stressed or frightened while exploring the environment.
separation distress or protest
An infant’s distress reaction to being separated from the attachment object, usually the mother, which typically peaks at about 15 months of age.
Strange Situation
A research procedure in which parent and child are separated and reunited so that investigators can assess the nature and quality of the parent–infant attachment relationship.
