Relationships and the Developing Mind

Question 1

With our evolution as humans we have taken the ______ _____ one step further into the world of representing in a more abstract way. (These type of neurons reveal the ways in which our minds respond to the intentional state of another being)

Answer 1

mirror neurons: a system that link perception to a motor action. When an intentional act is witnessed (such as the raising of a cup to drink), the same mirror neuron will fire as when the individual observing the act enacts the same behavior.

Question 2

The capacity for mindset that enables us to see the mindset of another individual. (“mental shoes”) This is also called

Answer 2

Theory of Mind (TOM)

Question 3

_______ research is a field of developmental psychology that examines how patterns of communication between parent and child shape the development of the child in various domains, such as in the social, emotional, and cognitive areas.

Answer 3

Attachment

Question 4

One can see the A-B-C’s of attachment as how the parent _______(A) to the child enabling her to achieve a sense of _______(B) that then gives rise to a sense of ________ (C) internally and interpersonally.

Answer 4

Attunes, Balance, and Coherence

Question 5

The evolutionary benefit of the attachment system is that it motivates the infant to ______ to the parent especially in times of distress, thus increasing its chances of survival.

Answer 5

seek proximity; the infant uses the parent as a safe haven to be soothed when upset and as a secure base to go out into the world and explore

Question 6

________ ______ promotes well being and serves as a source of resilience to stress.

Answer 6

Contingent communication

Question 7

Types of insecure forms of attachment;

1. _____ attachment: having an emotionally impoverished relationship with parent
2. ________ attachment: parent is inconsistently available for sensitive, contingent communication.
3. ________ attachment: when the parent is source of terror and alarm.

Answer 7

1. Avoidant
2. Ambivalent
3. Disorganized

Question 8

To understand why parents would act in ways that were not helpful to their children, attachment researchers created a set of questions called the Adult Attachment Interview; which asked parents to reflect on the nature of their own life experiences. Mostly how they reflect on their personal experience
The findings of this test reveal to us that…

Answer 8

attachment is a measure of a child’s experience not a function of genetics
the AAI reveals that the characteristics ways in which parents remember their own autobiographical story is the most robust determiner of the child’s attachment to them

Question 9

The prefrontal regions of the brain are _____ zones, integrating widely distributed parts of the brain into a function whole.

Answer 9

convergence