Attachment key words Flashcards
Reciprocity
Description of how 2 people interact
Both infant and mother respond to each other’s signals, each elicits response
Interactional synchrony
Mother and infant reflect both the actions and emotions of the other and do in co-ordinated (synchronised) way
Attachment
Close 2 way emotional bond between 2 individuals in which each sees the other as essential for own emotional security
Proximity
People try to stay physically close to whom which they are attached
Secure-base behaviour
Even when independent of attachment figure, tend to make regular contact with them
e.g infant return while playing
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
Stages of attachment 1-4
Asocial stage
Indiscriminate attachment
Specific attachment
Multiple attachments
Multiple attachments
Attachments to 2 or more people. Most babies develop once formed 1 true attachment to main carer
Learning theory
Set of theories from behaviourist approach
emphasis role of learning
classical/ operant conditioning
Monotropic
Describe Bowlby’s theory
One particular attachment different from all others and is of central importance to child’s development
Critical period
Time within which attachment must form if it is to form at all
Humans have sensitive period
After- difficult to form attachment
Strange situation
Controlled observation to test attachment
Infants assessed on response to playing in unfamiliar room, being left alone, left with stranger and reunited with caregiver
Proximity seeking
good attachment - will stay fairly close to caregiver
Exploration and secure-base behaviour
good attachment - child confident to explore using caregiver as secure base (point of contact that will make them feel safe)
Stranger anxiety
good attachment - anxiety when stranger approaches
Separation anxiety
good attachment - protest at separation from caregiver
Response to reunion
Child’s response of reunion after separation from caregiver for short time
Culture
Norms and values that exist within group of people
Cultural variations
Difference in norms and values that exist between people in different groups
Attachment - differences in proportion of children of different attachment types
Maternal deprivation
Emotional and intellectual consequences of separation between a child and mother
Continuous care is essential for normal psychological development
Institutionalisation
Effects of living in institutional setting (hospital, orphanage) for continuous time
Little emotional care provided
Affects attachment and subsequent development
Orphan studies
Concern children placed in care because parents cannot look after them
Orphan - child whose parents died or have abandoned permanently
Childhood relationships
Affiliations with other people in childhood (friends, classmates, teachers)
Adult relationships
Relationship child goes on to have later in life as adult
Friendships, working relationships, romantic, with own child
Internal working models
Mental representation we carry of attachment to primary caregiver
Affects future relationships - carry perception of what relationships are like
Secure attachment
Psychologically healthy outcomes
Strange situation - moderate stranger/separation anxiety, ease of comfort at reunion
Insecure-avoidant attachment
Low anxiety but weak attachment
Strange situation - Low stranger/separation anxiety, little response to reunion (avoid caregiver)
Insecure-resistant attachment
High anxiety, strong attachment
Strange situation - high stranger/separation anxiety, resist comfort at reunion
