PSYC 362 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Attachment Theory, Formins, Behaviorism

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 362
• Professor: Kim Bartholomew

Document Summary

Attachment theory: purposes that the intimate relationships we form in our adult lives are shaped largely be the nature of the bonds we form with our primary caregivers in infancy and early childhood. Represent a rejection of classical psychoanalytic theory. Attachment figure: someone who provides the child with comfort and care. First premise of attachment theory is that humans have evolved, among other behavioral systems, an attachment behavior system. Attachment behavior system: a set of behaviours and reactions that helps ensure the developing child"s survival by keeping the child in close physical contact with caregivers. Felt security: makes the child feel safe and sheltered from impending threat or harm. If the child is possible to restore closeness, the system is said to be hyperactivated. Second, although the presence of an attachment behavior system is common in humans, different individuals form different kinds of attachment bonds as a function of their particular interactions with caregivers during infancy and the childhood.