Researchers have used J. Bowlby's (1969/1982, 1973, 1980, 1988) attachment theory frequently as a basis for examining whether experiences in close personal relationships relate to the processing of social information across childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. We present an integrative life-span-encompassing theoretical model to explain the patterns of results that have emerged from these studies. The central proposition is that individuals who possess secure experience-based internal working models of attachment will process--in a relatively open manner--a broad range of positive and negative attachment-relevant social information. Moreover, secure individuals will draw on their positive attachment-related knowledge to process this information in a positively biased schematic way. In contrast, individuals who possess insecure internal working models of attachment will process attachment-relevant social information in one of two ways, depending on whether the information could cause the individual psychological pain. If processing the information is likely to lead to psychological pain, insecure individuals will defensively exclude this information from further processing. If, however, the information is unlikely to lead to psychological pain, then insecure individuals will process this information in a negatively biased schematic fashion that is congruent with their negative attachment-related experiences. In a comprehensive literature review, we describe studies that illustrate these patterns of attachment-related information processing from childhood to adulthood. This review focuses on studies that have examined specific components (e.g., attention and memory) and broader aspects (e.g., attributions) of social information processing. We also provide general conclusions and suggestions for future research.

Attachment and the processing of social information across the life span: theory and evidence.

Blackwell handbook of childhood social development.

The reliability and validity of the Attachment Q Sort (AQS; Waters & Deane, 1985) was tested in a series of meta-analyses on 139 studies with 13,835 children. The observer AQS security score showed convergent validity with Strange Situation procedure (SSP) security (r = .31) and excellent predictive validity with sensitivity measures (r = .39). Its association with temperament was weaker (r = .16), which supports the discriminant validity of the observer AQS. Studies on the stability of the observer AQS are still relatively scarce but they have yielded promising results (mean r = .28; k = 4, n = 162). It is concluded that the observer AQS, but not the self-reported AQS, is a valid measure of attachment.

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Assessing attachment security with the Attachment Q Sort: meta-analytic evidence for the validity of the observer AQS.

The development of social understanding, relationships, self, and conscience constitute the most important ways that early developing individuality intersects with the social world. These topics have also received the most concerted research attention by students of early development. This chapter summarizes research on these achievements, emphasizing: (1) the relational context in which early social and personality development unfolds, (2) psychological growth arises from the shared activity of children with others, from which developing persons appropriate new skills and understanding, and (3) thinking and understanding in early childhood is a critical foundation for what follows in later years.


Keywords:

attachment;
conscience;
morality;
relationships;
security;
self;
understanding

The Development of the Person: Social Understanding, Relationships, Conscience, Self

The present meta-analysis integrates results from 127 papers on attachment stability towards mothers and fathers, respectively, from infancy to early adulthood. More than twenty-one thousand attachments (n = 21,072) and 225 time intervals were explored, ranging from half a month to 29 years (348 months). An overall coefficient of r = .39 between times T1 and T2 was obtained, reflecting a medium-sized stability of attachment security. However, no significant stability was found in intervals larger than 15 years. Coefficients are higher for time intervals of less than two years compared to time spans of more than five years, if attachments were assessed beyond infancy using representational rather than behavioral measures and if normal middle class as opposed to at-risk samples were involved. Furthermore, securely attached children at risk were less likely to maintain attachment security whereas insecurely attached children at risk most likely maintained insecurity.

Meta-analytic evidence for stability in attachments from infancy to early adulthood

To investigate individual differences in theory of mind acquisition, this study examined whether different aspects of early mother-child relationships contributed to the development of false belief understanding at the close of the preschool period. Forty-six mother and child pairs were seen when children were two and again at five years of age. At age two, home-based Q-sort observations of attachment security and maternal sensitivity were made, and mothers completed a number of self-report measures to create an aggregate of maternal emotional distress. At age five, attachment security and maternal distress were reassessed, and false belief tasks were administered that were based on unexpected identities and locations of objects. In addition, attachment-relevant false belief tasks involving separation from caregivers were also used, which children found significantly more difficult than tasks involving objects. Age five security predicted object location task performance. Maternal sensitivity and emotional distress at age two predicted later caregiver location task performance, even controlling for age five measures. These results support a growing literature on the importance of relationship processes and parenting context to theory of mind acquisition.

A Longitudinal Study of Mother-Child Relationships and Theory of Mind in the Preschool Period

The current report demonstrates reliability and stability of Q-sort attachment security in a sample of 46 mothers and their children seen by two observers at age two and again at age four to six years. Security scores were correlated between ages (r=.44), and a high proportion of item-by-item correlations between ages were also significant.

Stability of Q-sort attachment security from age two to five

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A Longitudinal Study of Mother-Child Relationships and Theory of Mind in the Preschool Period

Stability of Q-sort attachment security from age two to five