Emotional Development, Temperament, and Attachment

The strong affectionate ties that parents may feel toward their infant; some theorists believe that the strongest bonding occurs shortly after birth, during a sensitive period.

A close, reciprocal, emotional relationship between two persons, characterised by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity. Attachment differs from bonding in that attachment occurs between an older infant, who is capable of forming an emotional relationship, and another person; bonding is a one-way relationship that the parent feels toward the child.

The set of emotions present at birth or emerging early in the first year that some theorists believe to be biologically programmed.

Self-conscious or self-evaluative emotions that emerge in the second year and depend, in part, on cognitive development.

Culturally defined rules specifying which emotions should or should not be expressed under which circumstances.

Strategies for managing emotions or adjusting emotional arousal to an appropriate level of intensity.

The use of others' emotional expressions to infer the meaning of otherwise ambiguous situations.

The ability to experience the same emotions that someone else is experiencing.

Competent emotional expressivity (frequent expressions of more positive emotions and relatively infrequent displays of negative ones); competent emotional knowledge (the ability to correctly identify other people's feelings and the factors responsible for those emotions); and competent emotional regulation (the ability to adjust one's experience and expression of emotional arousal to an appropriate level of intensity to successfully achieve one's goals).

The ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while continuing to maintain positive relationships with others.

A persons's characteristic modes of responding emotionally and behaviourally to environmental events, including such attributes as activity level, irritability, fearfulness, and sociability.

A temperamental attribute reflecting one's tendency to withdraw from unfamiliar people or situations.

Temperamental profile in which the child quickly establishes regular routines, is generally good natured, and adapts easily to novelty.

Temperamental profile in which the child is irregular in daily routines and adapts slowly to new experiences, often responding negatively and intensely.

Temperamental profile in which the child is inactive and moody and displays mild passive resistance to new routines and experiences.

Thomas and Chess's notion that development is likely to be optimised when parents' child-rearing practices are sensitively adapted to the child's temperamental characteristics.

Generally harmonious interactions between two persons in which participants adjust their behaviour in response to the partner's feelings and behaviours.

Approximately the first 6 weeks of life, in which infants respond in an equally favourable way to interesting social and non-social stimuli.

Period between 6 weeks and 6 to 7 months of age in which infants prefer social to non-social stimulation and are likely to protest whenever any adult puts them down or leaves them alone.

Period between 7 and 9 months of age when infants are attached to one close companion (usually the mother).

Use of a caregiver as a base from which to explore the environment and to which to return to for emotional support.

Period when infants are forming attachments to companions other than their primary attachment object.

An initially neutral stimulus that acquires reinforcement value by virtue of its repeated association with other reinforcing stimuli.

An innate or instinctual form of learning in which the young or certain species will follow and become attached to moving objects (usually their mothers).

An attribute that is a product of evolution and serves some function that increases the chances of survival for the individual and the species.

The notion that infantlike facial features are perceived as cute and lovable to elicit favourable responses from others.

A wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when approached by an unfamiliar person.

A wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when separated from the person(s) to whom they are attached.

A series of eight separation and reunion episodes to which infants are exposed in order to determine the quality of their attachments.

An infant-caregiver bond in which the child welcomes contact with a close companion and uses this person as a secure base from which to explore the environment.

An insecure infant-caregiver bond, characterised by strong separation protest and a tendency of the child to remain near but resist contact initiated by the caregiver, particularly after separation.

An insecure infant-caregiver bond, characterised by little separation protest and a tendency of the child to avoid or ignore the caregiver.

An insecure infant-caregiver bond, characterised by the infant’s dazed appearance on reunion or a tendency to first seek and then abruptly avoid the caregiver.

Alternative method of assessing attachment security that is based on observations of the child’s attachment-related behaviours at home; can be used with infants, toddlers, and preschool children.

Japanese concept; refers to an infant’s feeling of total dependence on his or her mother and presumption of mother’s love and indulgence.

Ainsworth’s notion that the type of attachment that an infant develops with a particular caregiver depends primarily on the kind of caregiving he or she has received from that person.

Kagan’s view that the Strange Situation measures individual differences in infants’ temperaments rather than the quality of their attachments.

Cognitive representations of self, others, and relationships that infants construct from their interactions with caregivers.