Attachment Theory and Developmental Psychology

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts in attachment theory and developmental psychology as discussed in the lecture notes.

Strange Situation

A structured observation to assess attachment patterns in infants.

Secure Attachment

A type of attachment where the infant using their caregiver as a secure base.

Insecure-Avoidant Attachment

A type of insecure attachment where infants are unresponsive to their parents and do not exhibit stress during separations.

Insecure-Resistant Attachment

A type of insecure attachment where infants become distressed during separation and show anger upon reunion.

Insecure-Disorganized Attachment

An attachment pattern lacking a clear strategy, reflecting confusion or contradictory behaviors towards the caregiver.

Maternal Responsiveness

The extent to which a mother is sensitive to her child's signals and responds appropriately.

Infant Temperament

An intrinsic characteristic of infants that may influence their attachment style.

Goodness of Fit

The compatibility between an infant's temperament and their caregiving environment.

Identity Status

The psychological state of an individual regarding their sense of self in different areas of identity development.

Self-Esteem

The overall sense of self-worth or personal value one places on themselves.

Theory of Mind

The ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others, understanding that others have beliefs and desires different from one's own.

Moral Development

The gradual process of learning what is right and wrong and how to act based on those beliefs.

Empathy

The ability to put yourself in someone else’s shoes and understand their feelings

Parental Internal Working Model

The mental framework parents have that influence children

Racial Socialization

The process through which individuals learn about their racial or ethnic group and its cultural norms.

Separation Anxiety

Emotional distress that infants experience when separated from their primary caregivers.

Parental Sensitivity

The ability of parents to perceive and interpret their child's needs accurately and respond to them effectively.

Resilience in Attachment

The capacity of infants or children to adapt positively despite adverse conditions in their attachment relationships.

Preschool Peer Relationships

Friendships that form during preschool years, characterized by play, sharing, and simple communication strategies.

Cooperative Play

A type of play where children work together towards a common goal, fostering social skills and teamwork in preschool.

Social Pretend Play

A significant form of interaction during preschool where children enact roles and scenarios, enhancing creativity and social understanding.

Middle Childhood Peer Relationships

Friendships that develop during middle childhood, marked by increased complexity in social structures and emotional bonds.

Peer Influence

The impact that peer attitudes and behaviors have on an individual, becoming more pronounced during middle childhood and adolescence.

Reciprocal Friendship

A mutual relationship where both parties contribute to the friendship, often forming in middle childhood.

Adolescent Peer Relationships

Friendships during adolescence, which often include emotional intimacy, loyalty, and identity exploration.

Clique

A small, close-knit group of friends, typically seen in adolescence, where members share interests and values.

Peer Pressure

The influence exerted by peers to conform to behaviors, values, or norms during adolescence, which can be positive or negative.

Social Identity in Adolescence

The sense of self derived from social groups and peer relationships during adolescent development.

Associative play

Sharing toys and interacting with peers, but without a common goal

Average children

Children who receive a number of nominations for “like most” and “like least” that is close to the median in the peer group on a sociometric measure.

Cliques

Small groups of friends who spend time together and develop close relationships.

Constructive play

Building or making something for the purposes of play.

Controversial children

Children who receive both a large number of nominations for “like most” and a large number of nominations for “like least” from peers on a sociometric measure.

Cooperative play

Play with peers that has a common goal.

Crowds

Large, reputation-based groups that are based on a shared stereotype but whose members do not necessarily spend time together.

Discovery learning

An approach to teaching that emphasizes allowing children to discover for themselves new information and understanding.

Exercise play

Play in young children that involves large muscle movement, such as running or jumping.

False belief

The understanding that someone else may believe something that a child knows to be untrue.

False belief paradigm

An experimental task used to assess a child’s understanding that others may believe something the child knows to be untrue.

Gender segregation

A preference for playing with other children of the same gender.

Guided play

Children learn in an environment that has been prepared by adults and in which adults are available to scaffold their learning.

Neglected children

Children who receive relatively few nominations either as “like most” or as “like least” on a sociometric measure.

Parallel play

Playing next to a peer with the same type of materials, but not interacting with the other child.

Play therapy

A way to help children work through difficult feelings with the help of an adult who is trained to understand play as a type of communication.

Popular children

Children who receive a lot of nominations as “like most” and few as “like least” on a sociometric measure.

Practice play

Performing a certain behavior repetitively for the mere pleasure of it.

Rejected children

Children who receive a lot of nominations as “like least” and few as “like most” on a sociometric measure.

Rhythmic stereotypies

Repeated large muscle movements that have no purpose, such as kicking the legs or waving the hands, usually seen in infants.

Rough-and-tumble play

Play that looks like fighting or wrestling, where the goal is not to hurt or win, but to have fun.

Social cognition

The way we use cognitive processes to understand our social world.

Social status

The level of peer acceptance or peer rejection of an individual in the peer group.

Sociometry

A research technique used to assess a child’s social status within the peer group.

Solitary independent play

Engaging actively with toys that are different from those being used by other children.

Symbolic/sociodramatic play

Using symbolic representations and imagination for play.

Unoccupied behavior

Looking around at whatever occurs, but engaging in no activity.

Androgyny

The idea that both sexes can have characteristics that are traditionally considered masculine and traditionally considered feminine.

Autobiographical memory

A coherent set of memories about one’s life.

Autonomous morality (7-8 yrs)

When children are aware of the rules and realize that they must adhere to them to maintain their interaction with others, rather than because an adult has told them what to do.

Conventional level moral judgment

Moral reasoning that moves beyond self-interest to take into account the good of others.

Ethnic and racial identity

A person’s attitudes toward the racial and ethnic groups to which they feel they belong.

Gender identity

Stage when children can identify gender but their concept of gender relies on external appearance.

Gender stability

Stage when children understand that their gender will remain stable over time, but aren’t sure that it won’t change if they do activities usually performed by the other gender.

Gender constancy

The stage at which children understand that one’s gender remains constant despite external changes.

Gender nonconforming

Individuals who do not identify or conform to gender norms for either males or females.

Gender schema theory

The theory that children learn gender concepts from their experiences in their particular society.

Gender self-socialization model

An approach to gender identity development that is based on each individual’s own ideas of gender consistency and pressure.

Global self-esteem

The feelings you have about your own general self-worth.

Heteronomous morality (4-7 yrs)

Moral judgments based on the dictates of authority.

Ideal self

The characteristics one aspires to in the future.

Marcia: Identity achievement

high exploration and high commitment

Marcia: Identity diffusion

low exploration and low commitment

Marcia: Identity foreclosure

High commitment and low exploration

Marcia: Identity moratorium

High exploration and low commitment

Immanent justice

The belief that unrelated events are automatic punishment for misdeeds.

Moral judgment

The way people reason about moral issues.

Moral knowledge

Understanding of right and wrong.

Muscular ideal

Presentation of a muscular body as the ideal for boys and men

Postconventional level moral judgment

Moral judgments that move beyond society as the defining factor of what is moral or right and are based on universal principles that apply to all people.

Preconventional level moral judgment

Moral judgment that is marked by self

Premoral

The inability to consider issues on the basis of their morality.

Racial and ethnic constancy

The understanding that appears between 8 and 10 years of age that race and ethnicity remain the same across time and in different situations.

Racial socialization

Efforts by minority parents to teach their children about discrimination, prepare them to deal with these experiences, and teach them to take pride in their heritage.

Self

complexity

Self-esteem

How people feel about characteristics they associate with themselves. 

Social comparison

Comparing one’s own performance or characteristics to those of other people.

Social domain theory

A theory of moral development based on three domains of social knowledge—moral, social-conventional, and personal

Avoidant Maternal Responsiveness

Taking a long time to respond

Resistant Maternal Responsiveness

Very intrusive sometimes, other times taking a long time

Paternal Responsiveness 

Separate from mother, relationships not correlated

Prematurity (effect on attachment)

Situations that make parenting more taxing may result in more attachment insecurity

Temperament (effect on attachment)

Does not have an impact

Parental Internal Working Model

Cognitive framework that parents hold regarding themselves, their child, and the nature of their relationship

Institutionalized Infants

Difficult to attach

“Late Adoptees”

Can develop attachment with adoptive parents, more likely to have attachment difficulties

Culture regarding strange situation

Most countries have same % of secure attachment, differ in insecure categories