Infancy Psychosocial Development and Attachment

Vocabulary flashcards covering key psychological terms, Erikson's stages, emotional development, self-awareness, and Bowlby and Ainsworth's attachment theories.

Basic Trust vs. Mistrust

Erikson's psychosocial stage occurring from birth to 1 year of age.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Erikson's psychosocial stage occurring from 1 to 3 years of age.

Social Smile

A real, intentional, and directed smile that emerges between 6 to 10 weeks of age.

Emotional Contagion

A precursor to empathy and sympathy where one crying baby causes other babies to cry as well.

Social Referencing

Seeking a caregiver in uncertain situations to guide behavior or understand emotions, as seen in the Visual Cliff Experiment.

Subjective Self-Awareness

The primitive first stage of self-understanding where an infant differentiates themselves from the surrounding environment.

Objective Self-Awareness

A level of self-understanding emerging between 18 to 24 months where an infant understands their own characteristics, marked by visual self-recognition, personal pronouns, and advanced pretend play.

Rouge Test

An experimental test used to assess visual self-recognition and objective self-awareness.

Attachment

A strong, enduring, affectionate tie that an infant forms with a caregiver over the first year of life.

Bonding

A parent's initial tie to a newborn child, which is distinct from attachment.

Internal Working Model

A core concept in Bowlby's Ethological Theory consisting of adaptive cognitive structures and expectations regarding attachment figures.

Preattachment

Bowlby's 1st stage of attachment (Birth – 6 weeks) during which the infant is not yet attached to the mother.

Attachment in the Making

Bowlby's 2nd stage of attachment (6 weeks – 6-8 months) where infants begin responding preferentially to familiar people.

Clear Cut Attachment

Bowlby's 3rd stage of attachment (6 months – 2 years) where attachment is evident and separation anxiety appears.

Formation of Reciprocal Relationship

Bowlby's 4th stage of attachment (18 months – 2 years and on) where the infant negotiates with the caregiver in a bidirectional relationship.

Strange Situation

An assessment procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth to measure infant attachment quality based on responses to a stranger, left-alone periods, and caregiver reunions.

Secure Attachment

Attachment pattern (~60% of infants) where the infant is confident in caregiver availability, explores freely, protests upon separation, and is easily soothed at reunion.

Anxious-Avoidant Attachment

Attachment pattern (~15% of infants) where the infant readily separates, shows little reaction to strangers or caregiver departure, and actively avoids or turns away from the caregiver during reunion.

Anxious-Resistant Attachment

Attachment pattern (~10% of infants) where the infant is wary of exploration, highly distressed by separation, and displays contradictory seeking and resisting behaviors during reunion.

Disorganized Attachment

Attachment pattern (~15% of infants) marked by bizarre, dazed, or contradictory behaviors such as freezing or approaching while looking away, often observed in maltreated infants.

Continuity of Caregiving

The most important factor in maintaining stability of attachment security over time.