Attachment Flashcards
Define Reciprocity
A description of 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.
Define Interactional synchrony
Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do this in a co-ordinate (synchronised) way.
Define Stages of attachment
Many developmental theories identify a sequence of qualitatively different behaviours linked to specific ages. In stages of attachment some characteristics of the infants’s behaviour towards others change as the infant gets older.
Define Multiple attachments
Attachments to two or more people. Most babies appear to develop multiple attachments once they have formed one true attachment to a main carer.
Define Animal studies
In psychology are studies 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 ore than one generation of animals.
Define Learning theory
A set of theories from the behaviourist approach to psychology, that emphasise the role of learning in the acquisition of behaviour. Explanations for learning of behaviour include classical and operant conditioning.
Define Monotropic
A term sometimes used to describe Bowlby’s theory. The mono means ‘one’ and indicates that one particular attachment is different from all others and of central importance to the child’s development.
Define Internal working models
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 relations are like.
Define Critical period
This refers to the time within which 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 idea to humans, proposing that human infants have a sensitive period after which it will be more difficult to form an attachment
Define Strange situation
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 caregiver.
Define Secure attachment
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.
Define Insecure-avoidant attachment
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.
Define Insecure-resistant attachment
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.
Define Cultural variations
‘Culture’ 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 children of different attachment types.
Define Maternal deprivation
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 cause serious damage to emotional and intellectual development.
