Adult attachment style and mental state language use during a controlled reading task
LE3 .A278 2008
2008
Symons, Doug
Acadia University
Master of Science
Masters
Psychology
The present study examined whether adults with a secure attachment style make more reference to mental states during social discourse with a child; which thus examines underlying linguistic processes of attachment security, and whether adult use of such language is influenced by the child use of such language. These questions were examined by having adults conduct joint reading interactions with a child-surrogate doll whose verbal responses and use of mental state language within those responses were controlled. The child-surrogate either used language high in mental state language or absent of mental state language. Adult romantic attachment was measured using the self-report ' ECR-R' and the narrative 'Attachment Representations Task' measure. Results revealed significant negative correlations between avoidant attachment security and the use of mental state language. In addition, adult use of mental state words was affected by the child surrogates use of mental state language, thus supporting the manipulation.
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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3095
