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attachment
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emotional and affective bond between an infant and their primary caregiver
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attention-seeking behavior
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emotion regulation strategy that consists of an effort to obtain a caregiver’s attention for comfort and support
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attentional distraction
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emotion regulation strategy that consists of turning away from a stressful sound, sight, or event
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autonomy
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sense of independence or freedom to control yourself and your actions
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autonomy versus doubt
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second stage in Erikson’s theory of personality development, in which the toddler forms a sense of autonomy based on whether they are encouraged to try new skills and tasks
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blended family
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family that includes stepparents or stepsiblings
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body-as-obstacle test
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test of self-awareness in which an infant needs to move their body to accomplish a goal
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center care
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childcare provided in a commercial center that is regulated and licensed by the government
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commuter family
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family in which one or more family members split their time between households
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difficult temperament (undercontrolled/exuberant)
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temperament in which the infant has an irregular routine, high intensity, and negative mood and is slow to adapt to new experiences
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disorganized attachment
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pattern of behavior in which infants are confused or inconsistent in their response to the absence of their caregiver
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dyadic regulation
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process of calming an infant down through touch, feeding, or distraction
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easy temperament (resilient)
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temperament in which an infant may be more adaptable and able to thrive in a variety of contexts, establishes a routine quickly, and typically has a positive mood
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effortful control
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includes traits related to impulse control and inhibition, including the ability to maintain attention and control responses to experiences
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emotion
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temporary affective state or feeling that influences an individual’s physiology, facial expressions, and motivations
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emotion regulation
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ability to calm ourselves and move from a state of high arousal to a state of lower arousal
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emotional awareness
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insight into one’s own emotional state and that of others
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emotional labeling
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process of recognizing and identifying one’s own current affective state
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escape behavior
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emotion regulation strategy that consists of distancing or removing ourselves from an upsetting event or experience
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family
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two or more persons who are legally or genetically related, who act as a unit, and who share financial resources
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family care
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childcare provided by family members in the child’s home or the relative’s home
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gender socialization
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the process by which individuals are exposed to and learn gender roles and expectations in their culture
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gender stereotypes
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societal expectations and assumptions based on an individual’s sex or gender identity
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goodness of fit
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degree to which an infant’s temperament and their surrounding environment match and complement each other
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home daycare
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childcare provided in another home by another family, either formally or informally
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insecure ambivalent attachment
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pattern of behavior in which infants become especially distressed during both the absence of their caregiver and their return
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insecure avoidant attachment
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pattern of behavior in which infants show indifference to the absence and return of their caregiver
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intergenerational family
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family that includes aunts, uncles, cousins, or grandparents
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internal working model
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infants’ cognitive understanding of how relationships work and their expectations
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involuntary imitation
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immediate, reflexive imitation that occurs in infants between two and four months of age
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joint attention
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when infants focus their attention on the same object, person, or experience as a social partner
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kewpie doll effect
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motivation to care for an infant because of their rounded features
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mirror neurons
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neurons that react when individuals observe another individual and then perform the same action
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mirror test
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(also, rouge test) test of infant visual self-recognition in which the baby is placed in front of a mirror with a red mark on their nose
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moods
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long-lasting dispositions that describe an individual’s level of arousal and pleasure
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nanny services
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childcare provided by a nonfamily member who cares for children at the child’s home
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negative affectivity
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tendency to experience and express distress, discomfort, and avoidance behavior; associated with lower emotion regulation
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nuclear family
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family that includes two caregivers and their children
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object-relations theory
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theory about the way infants begin to understand their world through their relationship with their primary caregiver
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personality
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long-lasting pattern of behavior, attitudes, thoughts, and emotions consistent across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood
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primary caregiver
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individual who spends the most time caring for an infant in the first year of life
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primary emotions
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biologically based feelings that appear early in the first year of life and are associated with distinct and universal facial expressions
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secondary emotions
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situationally specific emotions that start to develop in the second year of life and require infants to have a sense of self
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secure attachment
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pattern of behavior in which infants become distressed during the absence of their caregiver but feel secure and comforted upon the caregiver’s return
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secure base
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safe place the caregiver gives the infant from which to explore the world around them
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self-conscious emotions
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secondary emotions that respond to an individual’s awareness of how others view them
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self-recognition
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ability to visually identify ourselves when looking at a mirror or a photo
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self-soothing
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emotion regulation strategy that consists of calming ourselves through sucking, breathing, and relaxation
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sense of self
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awareness of self as different from others
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separation anxiety
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distress that infants feel when their primary caregiver is absent
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single-parent family
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family that includes one caregiver and their children
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slow-to-warm-up temperament (overcontrolled/inhibited)
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temperament in which infant may be more prone to anxious or fearful behavior and have a lower activity level and lower mood intensity
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social cognition
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ability to understand another person’s thoughts, emotions, or intentions
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social referencing
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strategy of looking at others to see how they are responding during ambiguous and novel situations to inform one’s own reaction
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social smile
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involuntary smile that infants begin to display at approximately two months of age in response to seeing another smiling face
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Strange Situation
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experiment in which infants and primary caregivers are separated and reunited multiple times in a research lab to examine attachment style
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stranger anxiety
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infant’s fear reaction when encountering a new person or someone they do not often see
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surgency (also, extraversion)
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a trait characterized by high levels of physical activity, sociability, and spontaneity
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synchrony
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interaction between caregiver and child involving responding to each other’s emotions in reciprocal and sensitive ways
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temperament
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innate, biological components of individuality present as consistent patterns of behavior shortly after birth
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transgenerational attachment
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attachment patterns passed down through generations of one family
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trust versus mistrust
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first stage in Erikson’s theory of personality development, in which infants form a sense of trust toward others based on how reliably their caregivers meet their needs
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voluntary imitation
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purposeful imitation of others’ gestures and facial expressions that infants begin to display at approximately eight months of age