Attachment Flashcards
attachment is an inborn system in the brain that evolves in ways that influence and organize _______, _______, and ________ processes with respect to significant caregiving figures.
motivation, emotional, and memory
when is the earliest attachments formed?
7 months
phase 1: birth to 3 months
social gestures with limited selectivity.
phase 2: 3 - 6 months
focusing on familiar people
phase 3: 6 mos - 3 years
intense attachment & active proximity-seeking
phase 4: 3 years - end of childhood
partnership behavior
the attachment system
motivates an infant to seek proximity to primary caregivers & establish communication
associated processes with attachment
cognitive development, emotion regulation, social relatedness, access to autobiographical memory, development of self-reflection & narrative
assess an infant’s attachment style to their primary caregiver by observing their behavior in a controlled, unfamiliar environment when a stranger is present
the strange situation
Who conducted the strange situation?
Mary Ainsworth
What does the strange situation test?
An infant’s attachment style to the caregiver
Types of attachment styles
secure, insecure-avoidant, insecure-ambivalent, disorganized
shows signs of missing parent during separations, on reunion seek physical contact, proximity, interaction and often try to main contact. readily soothed by parents. associated with sensitive care
secure attachment
fails to cry on separation from parent. actively avoids & ignores parent on reunion. little or no proximity or contact seeking, seems independent. response to parent appears unemotional, associated with insensitive, unresponsive and rejecting parenting style
insecure-avoidant
may be wary or distressed even prior to separation. fails to settle & take comfort in parent on reunion. associated with an inconsistent parenting style. marked ambivalence upon return.
insecure-ambivalent
