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attunement

n. the matching of affect between infant and parent or caregiver to create emotional synchrony. The parent’s response can take the form of mirroring (e.g., returning an infant’s smile) or be cross-modal (e.g., a vocal response “uh oh” to the infant’s dropping cereal on the floor). Attunement communicates to the infant that the parent can understand and share the infant’s feelings. Compare empathic failure; misattunement. [first described by U.S. psychiatrist and psychoanalyst Daniel Stern (1934–2012)]

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Psychology term of the day

December 25th 2024

between-dimension consistency

between-dimension consistency

see cross-dimension attitude consistency.