ATCBE 2025/2026 questions well
answered
Attachment Theory - correct answer ✔✔John Bowlby (1985)
A lifespan model of human development emphasizing the central role of caregivers (attachment
figures) who provide a sense of safety and security.
Hypothesizes that early caregiver relationships establish social-emotional developmental
foundations, but change remains possible across the lifespan due to interpersonal relationships
during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Attachment Styles - correct answer ✔✔Secure, anxious, avoidant, fearful
Secure Attchment - correct answer ✔✔The capacity to connect well and securely in
relationships with others while also having the capacity for autonomous action as situationally
appropriate.
Characterized by trust, an adaptive response to being abandoned, and the belief that one is
worthy of love.
Infants: actively seek and maintain proximity with mother. Shows less distress during separation
from mother.
Show less anxiousness and more positive attitudes towards the relationship, likely because they
believed in their mother's responsiveness towards needs.
Anxious (Ambivalent) Attachment - correct answer ✔✔Characterized by a concern that others
will not reciprocate one's desire for intimacy.
Caused when an infant learns that their caregiver is unreliable and does not consistently provide
responsive care towards their needs.
Infant: characterized as being somewhat ambivalent (and resistant) to the mother.
Demonstrates signs of resisting interactions with the mother.
,Once contact is gained, infant shows strong intentions to maintain contact.
Avoidant Attachment - correct answer ✔✔Tend to avoid interaction with the caregiver, and
show no distress during separation.
Infant: displays little to no tendency to seek proximity with the mother.
Interacted with stranger similarly to interaction with mother.
Defense mechanism against the mother's own rejecting behaviors, such as being uncomfortable
with physical contact or being more easily angered.
Disorganized (Fearful) Attachment - correct answer ✔✔Classified by children who display
sequences of behaviors that lack readily observable goals or intentions, including obviously
contradictory behaviors or stilling/freezing of movements.
Stages of Attachment
Asocial - correct answer ✔✔0-6 weeks
Very young infants are asocial in that many kinds of stimuli, both social and non-social, produce
a favorable reaction, such as a smile.
Stages of Attachment
Indiscriminate Attachments - correct answer ✔✔6 weeks to 7 months
Infants indiscriminately enjoy human company; most babies respond equally to any caregiver.
They get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them.
From 3 months, infants smile more at familiar faces and can be easily comforted by regular
caregiver.
Stages of Attachment
Specific Attachment - correct answer ✔✔7-9 months
Special preference for a single attachment figure.
,Baby looks to participate with people for security, comfort, and protection. It shows fear of
strangers and unhappiness when separated from a special person.
Stages of Attachment
Multiple Attachment - correct answer ✔✔10 months and on
Becomes increasingly independent and forms several attachments
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - correct answer ✔✔Type of psychotherapeutic treatment
that helps people learn how to identify and change the destructive or disturbing thought
patterns that have a negative influence on their behavior and emotions.
CBT combines cognitive and behavior therapy by identifying maladaptive behaviors of thinking,
emotional responses, or behaviors and replacing them with more desirable patterns.
Focuses on automatic negative thoughts that can contribute to and worsen our emotional
difficulties, depression, and anxiety.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Core Principals - correct answer ✔✔Aaron Beck (1960s)
Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
Psychological problems are based, in part, on learned patterns of unhelpful behaviors.
People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them,
thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Strategies to Change Thinking Patterns - correct answer ✔✔Learning to recognize one's
distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality.
Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one's own abilities.
, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Strategies to Change Behavioral Patterns - correct answer ✔✔Facing one's fears instead of
avoiding them.
Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
Learning to calm one's mind and relax one's body.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔Steven C. Hayes (1980s)
Action-oriented psychotherapy that stems from traditional behavior therapy and CBT.
Clients learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their inner emotions and, instead,
accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should
not prevent them from moving forward in their lives.
Acceptance - correct answer ✔✔Involves acknowledging and embracing the full range of your
thoughts and emotions rather than trying to avoid, deny, or alter them.
Cognitive Defusion (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔Involves distancing yourself from and changing
the way you react to distressing thoughts and feelings, which will mitigate their harmful effects.
Techniques for cognitive defusions include observing a thought without judgement, singing the
thought, and labeling the automatic response that you have.
Being Present (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔Involves being mindful in the present moment and
observing your thoughts and feelings without judging them or trying to change them;
experiencing events clearly and directly can help promote behavior change.
Self as Context (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔An idea that expands the notion of self and identity; it
purports that people are more than their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
answered
Attachment Theory - correct answer ✔✔John Bowlby (1985)
A lifespan model of human development emphasizing the central role of caregivers (attachment
figures) who provide a sense of safety and security.
Hypothesizes that early caregiver relationships establish social-emotional developmental
foundations, but change remains possible across the lifespan due to interpersonal relationships
during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Attachment Styles - correct answer ✔✔Secure, anxious, avoidant, fearful
Secure Attchment - correct answer ✔✔The capacity to connect well and securely in
relationships with others while also having the capacity for autonomous action as situationally
appropriate.
Characterized by trust, an adaptive response to being abandoned, and the belief that one is
worthy of love.
Infants: actively seek and maintain proximity with mother. Shows less distress during separation
from mother.
Show less anxiousness and more positive attitudes towards the relationship, likely because they
believed in their mother's responsiveness towards needs.
Anxious (Ambivalent) Attachment - correct answer ✔✔Characterized by a concern that others
will not reciprocate one's desire for intimacy.
Caused when an infant learns that their caregiver is unreliable and does not consistently provide
responsive care towards their needs.
Infant: characterized as being somewhat ambivalent (and resistant) to the mother.
Demonstrates signs of resisting interactions with the mother.
,Once contact is gained, infant shows strong intentions to maintain contact.
Avoidant Attachment - correct answer ✔✔Tend to avoid interaction with the caregiver, and
show no distress during separation.
Infant: displays little to no tendency to seek proximity with the mother.
Interacted with stranger similarly to interaction with mother.
Defense mechanism against the mother's own rejecting behaviors, such as being uncomfortable
with physical contact or being more easily angered.
Disorganized (Fearful) Attachment - correct answer ✔✔Classified by children who display
sequences of behaviors that lack readily observable goals or intentions, including obviously
contradictory behaviors or stilling/freezing of movements.
Stages of Attachment
Asocial - correct answer ✔✔0-6 weeks
Very young infants are asocial in that many kinds of stimuli, both social and non-social, produce
a favorable reaction, such as a smile.
Stages of Attachment
Indiscriminate Attachments - correct answer ✔✔6 weeks to 7 months
Infants indiscriminately enjoy human company; most babies respond equally to any caregiver.
They get upset when an individual ceases to interact with them.
From 3 months, infants smile more at familiar faces and can be easily comforted by regular
caregiver.
Stages of Attachment
Specific Attachment - correct answer ✔✔7-9 months
Special preference for a single attachment figure.
,Baby looks to participate with people for security, comfort, and protection. It shows fear of
strangers and unhappiness when separated from a special person.
Stages of Attachment
Multiple Attachment - correct answer ✔✔10 months and on
Becomes increasingly independent and forms several attachments
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) - correct answer ✔✔Type of psychotherapeutic treatment
that helps people learn how to identify and change the destructive or disturbing thought
patterns that have a negative influence on their behavior and emotions.
CBT combines cognitive and behavior therapy by identifying maladaptive behaviors of thinking,
emotional responses, or behaviors and replacing them with more desirable patterns.
Focuses on automatic negative thoughts that can contribute to and worsen our emotional
difficulties, depression, and anxiety.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Core Principals - correct answer ✔✔Aaron Beck (1960s)
Psychological problems are based, in part, on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking.
Psychological problems are based, in part, on learned patterns of unhelpful behaviors.
People suffering from psychological problems can learn better ways of coping with them,
thereby relieving their symptoms and becoming more effective in their lives.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Strategies to Change Thinking Patterns - correct answer ✔✔Learning to recognize one's
distortions in thinking that are creating problems, and then to reevaluate them in light of reality.
Gaining a better understanding of the behavior and motivation of others.
Using problem-solving skills to cope with difficult situations.
Learning to develop a greater sense of confidence in one's own abilities.
, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Strategies to Change Behavioral Patterns - correct answer ✔✔Facing one's fears instead of
avoiding them.
Using role playing to prepare for potentially problematic interactions with others.
Learning to calm one's mind and relax one's body.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔Steven C. Hayes (1980s)
Action-oriented psychotherapy that stems from traditional behavior therapy and CBT.
Clients learn to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with their inner emotions and, instead,
accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to certain situations that should
not prevent them from moving forward in their lives.
Acceptance - correct answer ✔✔Involves acknowledging and embracing the full range of your
thoughts and emotions rather than trying to avoid, deny, or alter them.
Cognitive Defusion (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔Involves distancing yourself from and changing
the way you react to distressing thoughts and feelings, which will mitigate their harmful effects.
Techniques for cognitive defusions include observing a thought without judgement, singing the
thought, and labeling the automatic response that you have.
Being Present (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔Involves being mindful in the present moment and
observing your thoughts and feelings without judging them or trying to change them;
experiencing events clearly and directly can help promote behavior change.
Self as Context (ACT) - correct answer ✔✔An idea that expands the notion of self and identity; it
purports that people are more than their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
