Ch. 6 Attachment Flashcards
Attachment
The strong and enduring emotional bond between a child and a significant other and the processes that create and maintain this long- lasting social relationship.
Attachment complex
The set of behaviors and mental states that, taken together, are
responsible for setting up and maintaining attachment.
Attachment style
A pattern of relating to significant others based on expectations about how they will respond and affecting perceptions, emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in close
relationships.
Dependency
A reliance on another for basic physiological needs, such as food and shelter and protection from harm. Attachment and dependency can be largely dissociated.
Disorganized attachment
An attachment style marked by less consistency across situations and characterized by combinations of both insecure and controlling behaviors. Infants showing this style may have a higher incidence of psychopathology in later life.
Indiscriminate attachment
An attachment style in which infants are as affectionate and
receptive to complete strangers as they are to their primary caregivers.
Internal working model
A mental representation of the self and others and how they might interact in different circumstances.
Insecure/avoidant attachment/avoidant attachment
An attachment style in which infants not only avoid or fail to initiate interactions with the mother after a reunion, but also show less visible anxiety in the absence of the mother.
Insecure/resistant attachment/anxious attachment/resistant attachment
An attachment style in which infants show elevated anxiety in the absence of the mother and often try to vigorously prevent her from leaving. They may also show distress and anger when the mother returns while nonetheless clinging to her. In the presence of a mother and a stranger, they may explore minimally and be quite clingy. Also known as anxious attachment.
Joint attention
The situation in which two people are jointly attending to an object and are aware that they are both doing so.
Secure attachment
An attachment style in which infants show some distress when the mother leaves, but not an excessive amount, and show positive affect when she returns.
They also show substantial exploratory behavior in the presence of the mother, using her as a secure base.
Separation distress/separation anxiety
The distress felt by an infant when a specific individual with whom the infant has a specific bond leaves. The infant wants that particular person—not just any social partner—to come back. Also known as separation anxiety.
Specific bonds
A bond to a particular individual, usually formed at about 6 to 7 months. Also called specific attachment.
Still face
An impassive, straight face shown by a caregiver in the still- face task, in which the caregiver abruptly stops interacting with an infant and breaks the normal cycle of social interaction by showing unresponsive facial expressions.
Strange Situation
A series of laboratory episodes developed by Mary Ainsworth and used to measure the kind of attachment a child shows to a parent. The method examines an infant’s reactions to unusual, mildly threatening situations in the presence of a parent and when the parent has left the room, as well as how the child responds when the parent returns.
