attatchment

Question 1

Q: What is attachment (exam definition)?

Answer 1

A:
A biologically based stress-regulation system that motivates an infant to seek proximity to a caregiver during distress to ensure safety and survival.

Question 2

Q: What is the primary purpose of attachment?

Answer 2

A:
To regulate stress and arousal, not to create love or affection.

Question 3

Q: Why is attachment biologically necessary in infants?

Answer 3

A:
Infants cannot regulate stress, temperature, or danger on their own and require an adult to act as an external regulator.

Question 4

Q: What activates the attachment system?

Answer 4

A:
Threat or distress, including hunger, pain, fear, illness, fatigue, or separation.

Question 5

Q: What are attachment behaviours?

Answer 5

A:
Innate behaviours (crying, clinging, following, reaching) that bring the caregiver close during distress.

Question 6

Q: Are attachment behaviours learned?

Answer 6

A:
No. They are hard-wired evolutionary survival behaviours.

Question 7

Q: Why is infant crying so powerful?

Answer 7

A:
It activates adult distress and caregiving circuits, forcing a response.

Question 8

Q: What is a “secure base”?

Answer 8

A:
A caregiver who provides safety, allowing the child to calm down and explore the environment.

Question 9

Q: What is secure attachment biologically?

Answer 9

A:
Efficient coupling between threat detection and regulation systems, allowing rapid calming after distress.

Question 10

Q: What caregiving pattern leads to secure attachment?

Answer 10

A:
Consistent, responsive, and soothing caregiving.

Question 11

Q: What is avoidant attachment biologically?

Answer 11

A:
A deactivating strategy where attachment signals are suppressed because distress is not soothed.

Question 12

Q: Key exam point about avoidant attachment?

Answer 12

A:
Physiological stress is present, even if distress behaviour is suppressed.

Question 13

Q: What is ambivalent (resistant) attachment biologically?

Answer 13

A:
A hyperactivating strategy where distress signals are amplified due to inconsistent caregiving.

Question 14

Q: What is disorganised attachment?

Answer 14

A:
Breakdown of attachment strategy when the caregiver is both a source of safety and fear.

Question 15

Q: Why is disorganised attachment high-risk?

Answer 15

A:
It disrupts stress regulation and emotion control, increasing vulnerability to later psychopathology.

Question 16

Q: Which brain system detects threat in attachment?

Answer 16

A:
The amygdala.

Question 17

Q: What is the amygdala’s role in attachment?

Answer 17

A:
Detects threat and activates distress and proximity-seeking behaviour.

Question 18

Q: What is “social buffering”?

Answer 18

A:
Reduction of the infant’s stress response by caregiver presence.

Question 19

Q: Which stress system is central to attachment?

Answer 19

A:
The HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis).

Question 20

Q: What hormone is released by the HPA axis?

Answer 20

A:
Cortisol.

Question 21

Q: What is the role of cortisol in development?

Answer 21

A:
Helpful short-term for stress, harmful if chronically elevated.

Question 22

Q: How does secure attachment affect the HPA axis?

Answer 22

A:
Produces efficient activation and rapid shut-off of cortisol responses.

Question 23

Q: What happens to the HPA axis in insecure attachment?

Answer 23

A:
Becomes dysregulated with exaggerated or prolonged stress responses.

Question 24

Q: What is the main role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in attachment?

Answer 24

A:
Top-down regulation of emotion and inhibition of fear responses.

Question 25

**Q: Which PFC area signals safety and inhibits the amygdala?**

Answer 25

**A:** **Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)**.

Question 26

**Q: What is the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) role in attachment?**

Answer 26

**A:** Learning the emotional value of caregivers and relationships.

Question 27

**Q: What is the role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC)?**

Answer 27

**A:** Processing distress and **social pain** (e.g. separation, rejection).

Question 28

**Q: Why does social rejection “hurt”?**

Answer 28

**A:** It activates ACC pain circuits similar to physical pain.

Question 29

**Q: What is the role of the insula in attachment?**

Answer 29

**A:** Interoception — awareness of internal bodily and emotional states.

Question 30

**Q: What is oxytocin’s role in attachment?**

Answer 30

**A:** Promotes bonding, trust, and reduces threat responses.

Question 31

**Q: Key exam trap about oxytocin?**

Answer 31

**A:** It is **context-dependent**, not universally prosocial.

Question 32

**Q: What do endogenous opioids do in attachment?**

Answer 32

**A:** Provide comfort, warmth, and relief during closeness.

Question 33

**Q: Why is separation distress so intense biologically?**

Answer 33

**A:** Loss of opioid-mediated comfort and safety signals.

Question 34

**Q: What role does dopamine play in attachment?**

Answer 34

**A:** Motivation and learning — tagging the caregiver as important.

Question 35

**Q: Difference between dopamine and opioids in attachment?**

Answer 35

**A:** Dopamine = *wanting*; opioids = *liking/comfort*.

Question 36

**Q: What role does serotonin play?**

Answer 36

**A:** Emotional stability, impulse control, and mood regulation.

Question 37

**Q: What is co-regulation?**

Answer 37

**A:** Caregiver regulation of the infant’s emotions and physiology.

Question 38

**Q: What does “co-regulation becomes self-regulation” mean?**

Answer 38

**A:** Repeated soothing allows the child’s brain to internalise regulation.

Question 39

**Q: Which brain connections strengthen during self-regulation development?**

Answer 39

**A:** **PFC → amygdala inhibitory pathways**.

Question 40

**Q: What happens if co-regulation is absent?**

Answer 40

**A:** Overdevelopment of stress systems and underdevelopment of regulation systems.

Question 41

**Q: What is an internal working model (IWM)?**

Answer 41

**A:** An unconscious prediction system about self, others, and relationships.

Question 42

**Q: When do IWMs develop?**

Answer 42

**A:** Pre-verbally, through repeated attachment experiences.

Question 43

**Q: Where are IWMs stored in the brain?**

Answer 43

**A:** Distributed across limbic–prefrontal networks.

Question 44

**Q: Can IWMs change?**

Answer 44

**A:** Yes, but slowly, through repeated new relational experiences.

Question 45

**Q: Does insecure attachment cause psychiatric disorders?**

Answer 45

**A:** No — it **increases vulnerability**, not destiny.

Question 46

**Q: What brain pattern links attachment disruption to anxiety?**

Answer 46

**A:** Amygdala hyperreactivity + poor PFC inhibition.

Question 47

**Q: How does attachment link to depression?**

Answer 47

**A:** Chronic stress, negative self-models, and reduced social reward.

Question 48

**Q: What distinguishes RAD/DSED from autism?**

Answer 48

**A:** RAD/DSED arise from severe neglect; autism is intrinsic neurodevelopmental.

Question 49

**Q: Why is disorganised attachment linked to emotional instability?**

Answer 49

**A:** Conflicting approach–avoidance responses and poor regulation integration.

Question 50

**Q: Biggest exam trap about attachment?**

Answer 50

**A:** Confusing attachment with love or personality.

Question 51

**Q: Core exam buzzwords for attachment neurobiology?**

Answer 51

**A:** Social buffering, HPA axis calibration, co-regulation, internal working models, amygdala–PFC regulation.

Question 52

**Q: One-sentence exam summary of attachment neurobiology?**

Answer 52

**A:** Attachment is a biologically based system that shapes stress regulation, emotion control, and social bonding through early caregiving experiences.

Question 53

Sanity-check: 52 original Q&As processed

Answer 53

52 cards produced