W9 attachment

Flashcards on Attachment Theory from a lecture by Dr. Katie McArthur

Cupboard Love - Freud

The belief that a child's main drive to attach to their mother is to feed.

Attachment bond

attachment is based on psychological and emotional comfort, not food.

Critical period for imprinting

The concept that attachment was irreversible after a specific time.

John Bowlby

A psychoanalyst who developed attachment theory, emphasizing the importance of early relationships.

Maternal Deprivation Hypothesis

The hypothesis that a lack of attachment relationship leads to ongoing relationship difficulty and behavioral problems.

Secure base

The concept that a mother allows a child to maintain a balance between closeness and exploration.

The Strange Situation

A standardized procedure used to assess attachment security in infants.

Secure Attachment

An attachment style where the infant plays and interacts with the stranger when mom is present, may be distressed when mom leaves, but comforted when she returns.

Insecure Attachment: Avoidant

Attachment style where the infant tends to be distant in the presence of the mother. Ignores mother when she returns.

Insecure Attachment: Ambivalent

Attachment style where the infant poorly adjusts to the environment, is distressed when mother leaves, and is hard to comfort when she returns.

Insecure Attachment: Disorganised

Attachment style where there is no organized way of dealing with stress and has inconsistent behavior.

Resilience

The ability to recover quickly from difficulties.

New Developments in Attachment Theory

Moving away from focus on monotropy towards recognition of alloparenting

Good enough’ mother

The aim to be appropriately responsive and encourage independence.

Monotropy

Focus on a single attachment figure, typically the mother.

Alloparenting

Caregiving provided by individuals other than the biological parents.