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Attachment definitions

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  • Attachment Theory
    A framework from evolutionary psychology explaining the emotional bond between children and caregivers, shaping social and emotional development.
  • Imprinting
    An age-sensitive learning process where certain animals form a bond with the first object they encounter, crucial for early attachment.
  • Ethology
    The scientific study of animal behavior, providing foundational insights for understanding human attachment.
  • Secure Base
    A caregiver's role as a reliable starting point, allowing a child to explore the world with confidence and independence.
  • Safe Haven
    A caregiver's function of providing comfort and reassurance during times of distress, ensuring emotional and physical safety.
  • Strange Situation Procedure
    A laboratory method involving separations and reunions to assess attachment styles in infants based on their reactions.
  • Secure Attachment
    A style marked by distress during separation and easy comfort upon reunion, linked to sensitive and responsive caregiving.
  • Ambivalent Attachment
    A style where children show distress at separation but are difficult to soothe or act angrily upon reunion, often due to inconsistent caregiving.
  • Avoidant Attachment
    A style where children show little distress at separation and ignore caregivers upon reunion, associated with emotionally distant caregiving.
  • Disorganized Attachment
    A rare style with inconsistent or confused behaviors, typically observed in cases of abuse or neglect.
  • Internal Working Models
    Cognitive schemas about self, others, and relationships, shaped by early caregiver interactions and influencing future social outcomes.
  • Insecure Attachment
    A category including ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized styles, generally linked to less optimal social and emotional outcomes.
  • Caregiving
    Parenting behaviors, such as sensitivity and responsiveness, that strongly influence the development of attachment styles.
  • Temperament
    Individual differences in personality or emotional reactivity that can affect attachment style and responses in attachment assessments.
  • Trajectory
    A developmental path, positive or negative, set by early attachment experiences and influencing later social and emotional outcomes.