Attachment and selective attention: Disorganization and emotional Stroop reaction time

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie Atkinson ◽  
Eman Leung ◽  
Susan Goldberg ◽  
Diane Benoit ◽  
Lori Poulton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reaction Time ◽  
Selective Attention ◽  
Distributed Processing ◽  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Disorganized Attachment ◽  
Emotional Stroop ◽  
Internal Working Model ◽  
Strange Situation ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Internal Working

AbstractAlthough central to attachment theory, internal working models remain a useful heuristic in need of concretization. We compared the selective attention of organized and disorganized mothers using the emotional Stroop task. Both disorganized attachment and emotional Stroop response involve the coordination of strongly conflicting motivations under conditions of emotional arousal. Furthermore, much is known about the cognitive and neuromodulatory correlates of the Stroop that may inform attempts to substantiate the internal working model construct. We assessed 47 community mothers with the Adult Attachment Interview and the Working Model of the Child Interview in the third trimester of pregnancy. At 6 and 12 months postpartum, we assessed mothers with emotional Stroop tasks involving neutral, attachment, and emotion conditions. At 12 months, we observed their infants in the Strange Situation. Results showed that: disorganized attachment is related to relative Stroop reaction time, that is, unlike organized mothers, disorganized mothers respond to negative attachment/emotion stimuli more slowly than to neutral stimuli; relative speed of response is positively related to number of times the dyad was classified disorganized, and change in relative Stroop response time from 6 to 12 months is related to the match-mismatch status of mother and infant attachment classifications. We discuss implications in terms of automatic and controlled processing and, more specifically, cognitive threat tags, parallel distributed processing, and neuromodulation through norepenephrine and dopamine.

scholarly journals Close partner relationships

Psihologija ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-95
Author(s):  
Tatjana Stefanovic-Stanojevic
Keyword(s):  
Adult Attachment Interview ◽  
Early Age ◽  
Internal Working Model ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Internal Working ◽  
Emotional Relationships ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Partner Relationships ◽  
American Authors

According to the theory of emotional attachment, specific emotional relationships are being established at an early age between a child and its parents. On the basis of the quality of these relationships the child creates the so-called internal working model ie the image of itself as well as others. The working model persists throughout one's lifetime, shaping in part the quality of adult relationships. Thus, a dominant adult relationship is a close, partner or love one. Within the indicated theoretical context, we were interested in finding out whether there is a statistically significant link between the emotional ties of parents and their children formed in early childhood. The investigation included 180 grown-ups of the same sex and age. For investigating close partner relationships the test Experience in Close Relationship by the American authors (Brenan K.A., Clark C.L., & Shaver P.R. 1998.) was used, while the early emotional relationships were investigated using a test which has been the only one so far to measure this quality in adults - Adult Attachment Interview, (Main M., Casidy J., & Kaplan N., 1985). The results show there is a statistically significant link between the observed variables.

Recalling an Attachment Event Moderates Distress after Ostracism

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erez Yaakobi ◽  
Kipling D. Williams
Keyword(s):  
European Association ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Internal Working Model ◽  
Satisfaction Scale ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Internal Working ◽  
Attachment Orientation ◽  
Delayed Reactions

Ostracism is known to cause psychological distress. Studies have indicated that immediate distress is resistant to individual differences and situational factors, but delayed reactions are more sensitive to moderation. Because attachment orientation is inextricably tied to rejection and inclusion, we hypothesized that attachment orientation would moderate both immediate and delayed ostracism effects and that recalling an attachment event compatible with a person's attachment internal working model would moderate the distress of a laboratory ostracism experience. In two experiments, 158 individualistic (secular Jewish) and 190 collectivistic (ultra–Orthodox Jewish) participants played Cyberball with two other ostensible in–group players. Distress was measured immediately after the game and 30 minutes later. The results show that less anxious and more avoidant individualistic but not collectivistic participants were less distressed by ostracism. After the delay, recall of an attachment event compatible with the participants‘ internal working model eliminated distress in both individualistic and collectivistic ostracized participants as measured on the needs satisfaction scale. Among individualistic participants, avoidants, who are known to avoid meaningful attachments, were less distressed by ostracism; anxious participants, who seek proximity, were more distressed. Recalling a compatible attachment event may be a mechanism that reduces individuals‘ perceptions of threats to their fundamental needs. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

scholarly journals Social work’s fingerprint on the evolution of attachment theory: Some essential knowledge for care practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 79-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley-Ann Chinnery
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Foster Care ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Attachment Theory ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Care Practice ◽  
Internal Working Model ◽  
Working Model ◽  
Internal Working

INTRODUCTION: Social work practice knowledge was seminal to the evolution of attachment theory. This disciplinary connection is little known to many social work practitioners. This article seeks to remind care practice social workers specifically of this association, as the social work skills upon which early attachment knowledge was premised remain important to contemporary care practice.METHOD: Through a three-part discussion, this article aims to deepen care practice social workers’ understanding of attachment theory and its practical relevance for care practice assessment. The first section outlines the watershed moments of the theory’s development. The second highlights social work’s connection to this development. The third and final section reviews the construct of the internal working model and its value for distinguishing emotional differences in an adult’s relational biography.FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: A key care practice goal is to facilitate the healthy growth and development of children and young people who have been placed in foster care due to maltreatment. A growing number of attachment researchers have found that the internal working model of a child’s new caregivers, with respect to attachment, is an important element in the revision of the child’s internal working model of relationships (Pace Zavattini, 2011). Thus, care practice social workers need to pay close attention to relational facets in prospective caregivers’ assessments as some literature suggests that practitioners struggle to understand the role attachment orientation plays in the care relationship (Bick Dozier, 2008).CONCLUSIONS: This article highlights and elaborates upon the utility of attachment theory for present-day care practice and argues that a deep understanding of this theory is likely to be instrumental to achieving better relational outcomes in foster care. This knowledge is foundational to conceptualising the different relational expectancies that prospective foster parents might bring to a new relationship.

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