Hypatia360

Grim News

2006-12-07T05:39:02Z

Two weeks ago Friday, I had a routine six month check-up and mammogram. On Friday night, they called to tell me there were no signs of cancer in my mammogram. However, even before those tests, I had been having pain in my back and side for about a week. So, by the Saturday night following that Friday call, when the pain in my side became sever, my husband took me to the emergency room. They did a CT scan, among other tests, which found cancer in my bones and liver... And my glorious first semester in grad school, and everything else in my life really, suddenly came to a screeching halt...

The rest of this story is posted in a new journal I stared, Hygieia180, and after this post I will not be posting much in the way of details about my health to Hypatia360. The new journal will allow me to keep friends and family up to date about my situation without having to relive telling the details over and over on the phone, and without having to filter what I say in this journal to be polite and appropriate for them to read. But this also conveniently allows me to keep this journal from becoming solely a depressing soap-opera; so if you want more info on the women with cancer part of who I am, go there .

Hypatia

Swaying the Course

2006-11-09T00:34:33Z

I know.. I know, they're all corrupt... but that's for tomorrow.
Today, I am having a happy day.

Hypatia

Psych Pros

2006-11-08T06:56:52Z

This is an ap to an LJ list I found by tracking back emotion regulation as an interest.. Given that this is one of my research and clinical interests I was hoping some relevant discussion might go on there. If your not on this list but are interested in Emotion Regulation too, please comment below, I’d love to connect... and you could always share a Freud joke, I love Freud jokes.. or any other psych joke really.

APPLICATION TO psych_pros

1) Provide proof you are 18 years of age or older (can be done by temporarily showing full birth date on your userinfo).

I am

2) How many psychology/ social sciences classes have you taken? Name them, OR, if you have completed a major or minor in psychology/ social sciences, list what majors or minors you have completed.

U of I, BS, Major in Psychology
Class Highlights: Bio-Psychology, Cognitive Development, Development & Relationships Seminar, Developmental Research Methods

In undergrad, I completed a three semester departmental honors program which ended in the completion of an independent research project and honors thesis.

3) Have you completed your Bachelor’s (4-year) degree in psychology OR are you currently pursuing or have successfully pursued a graduate degree in a psychology-related field?

Yes, and Yes… see above, plus
I am currently a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at the U of I

I will be teaching two ed psych classes next semester

6) Anything you feel should be added to the “interests” list? How about the info page? The moderator is terrible with that sort of thing :)

These are just some that I notice I have but you don’t….

academia, adult attachment interview, attachment, psychological assessment, cognition, cognitive behavioral therapy, developmental psychology, dialectical behavioral therapy, emotion, emotion regulation, emotional development, empowerment, erik erikson, existential therapy, grad school, intelligence, john gottman, mindfulness, myers-briggs, nathaniel brandon, paul ekman, rational emotive therapy, reading, interpersonal relationships, research projects, ross thompson, science, scientific exploration, alan stroufe, tiffany field

But that doesn't necessarily mean you'd want to have them :)

7) Do you understand that posting memes, quiz results, promotions for non-psych related communities, or other information that should be reserved for a personal journal is considered irreverent* and will not be tolerated here?

Yes, of course

8) Do you understand that you may seek advice in diagnosing someone ONLY if you are in fact someone who is legally able to diagnose others and are seeking professional peer advice?

I don't think I would seek that kind of advice here anyway. I think that is a better thing to take to my supervisor (or some other formal/professional peer review process). I think I would be very uneasy about posting client details online. APA and ACA ethics for such things are pretty strict, and our protocols at the university as well.

It may be just me (I guess it would depend on where a person's affiliations are too), but I think you may turn off some legitimate grads and practitioners (and thereby select more heavily for a student or hobbyist membership) with that suggestion.

On that note; You may also want to add more graduate education, professional affiliation, research/specialty interests, therapeutic methodology, typical client population type questions to this app as well.

9) Do you have a sense of humor about psychology? Tell us an amusing anecdote or joke (you don’t have to, but we’d really appreciate it!)

I think I do.
My favorite saying is, “Freud was on crack”, does that count? Well maybe not, given that he really was!

My husband says his is a much better attempt at humor.
Freudian Slip: Where you say one thing, but really mean your mother

Hypatia

Don't just sit there, VOTE!

2006-11-07T03:28:06Z

I haven’t voted, except in presidential elections for years... and even those infrequently. I am no longer an O'babe, but I am still more comfortable with libertarianism (even though I don’t think most Libertarian candidates have a clue what that really is) and there is usually no hope of getting the people I really like elected.

However, this year, I have found a whole new reason to care... the nightmare depicted in a little graphic novel I read a few years ago is keeping me awake nights.

In Persepolis , a little girl from Iran tells the true story of her family watching their freedoms slowly erode away (starting with little things like religious freedoms, then women's rights, then segregation, till people are being taken away in the night to torture camps for speaking agaisnt the ruling party) all the while her parents say "it can't get any worse, no one will stand for it"... except everyone does... everyone thinking "someone else will fight, alone I can't make a difference." The parallels in this novel, between the Iran of the late 1970's and the America of the last few years are sufficiently compelling to get me off my butt, into a crowd of people I don't like (that being most people these days, I suppose), out in the freezing cold night, into a voting booth (in a church no less!).

This year I have only one voting rule, and it is extremely simple…
VOTE THE BASTARDS OUT!

Regardless of the ills of whatever opposing candidate, I just want the current ruling power out.
I want my vote to say, "ENOUGH ALREADY! Your smokescreen issues are not fooling us into complacence anymore!

No more overtly religious bigotry played to the lest common denominator!
No more exploiting people’s cultural traditionalism to take away their rights and opportunities (for instance: using religious fundamentalism to get the Latina/Latino vote then turning tail on all the issues important to that culture)!
No more appointing the wolfs to protect the flock (Seriously, replacing recognized scientific experts in the field with handpicked lead industry puppets on advisory committee of Center for Disease Control and Prevention on lead poisoning, appointing a physician who recommends prayer as a treatment for premenstrual pain to a committee advising the Food and Drug Administration on reproductive health issues, a key CDC advisory committee headed by an outspoken opponent of condom use for preventing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases?!.... If your wondering when the scientific method become a Democratic "spin", it was when it opposed the Bush Administration's political machine.)!
No more claiming to protect my freedom, while consistently taking freedoms away (we have lost gay marriage, stem cell research, are seriously close to losing the choice to have an abortion, and have just turned over our right to a fair trial and protection against search and seizure.. if the government for whatever reason thinks someone is a risk.)!
No more government sectioned torture!
And for GOD-Bless-America's sake, NO MORE bold faced lying and reinventing history, on the podium, online, mid-sentence!" At least when we’ve been lied to by past administrations, there was some attempt to cover the trail.. the assumption of our stupidity by this administration is just unprecedented.

It's not that I think that the Democratic party holds some utopia in store. Honestly, I think they are probably just about as corrupt as the Republicans, but I am certain that neither are as corrupt as the Bush Administraion... and I am not clear which Republicans are for or agaisnt, or even part of that! So I see the Democratic candidates as currently the only hope to end the sweeping and unprecedented erosion of our freedoms, a process that this administration seems to think we will quietly sit back and allow as long as they wave the flag and claim all who oppose them are traitors (which, let's be clear, they now actually have the power to prosecute in whatever way they see fit without justification).

My goal is not just to vote out the incumbents, but to vote them out with enough force to send a clear message.. We are not complacent. We are not scared of you. And we will act to protect our covenant with each other as a nation; to protect the civil rights of all members of this country regardless of religion, race, gender, or sexual orientation; and to act in the world in accordance with our shared values of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness... We will act with our votes, with our voices, and if need be with acts of open defiance of this oppressive regime… And for that we are not ashamed, because we are NOT THE TERROISTS here.

But regardless of wether or not you agree with me on that point, VOTE.. vote your conscience whatever that is.
Just don't, whatever you do, sit back and hope that it can't possibly get any worse.

Hypatia

To Read: The Veil , a section of the novel Persepolis, or a message from the bipartisan Union of Concerned Scientists on the Bush administration.

To Hear: Keath Oberman’s reasons why you should VOTE

Get Motivated, Get out and Vote!

2006-10-29T04:27:09Z

This is not new, so I am guessing most have already seen it... but if you haven't, now is a good time to get angery enough to want to make change. He's not Edward R. Murrow, but he's close enough to get the job done.

Beginning of the end of America

Hypatia

An interesting assignment....

2006-10-24T04:12:04Z

Response Paper
On Becoming a Person, by Carl Rogers

[This book is considered a cornerstone of counseling psychology. Rogers’ method is basically accepted as necessary, but not sufficient, in terms of modern therapy technique. The book itself is easy to get a hold of at any used book store; probably for no more than a $1. If you've read it, or are reading it or other books on therapy, please chime in!]

In establishing his theory, Rogers makes several core assumptions: that people are essentially good, that the human mechanism is geared for growth and change, and that people know what is best for themselves. Rogers envisions that clients move through seven stages during the therapy process, however he stresses the idea that this process is ongoing and that it’s ideal result is not moving from one concrete understanding to some new, better, rigid form, but instead is a recognition that life requires comfort and competence with navigating change. Each stage involves a “loosening” of some rigid stance or idea which was previously perceived by the individual as the only possible reality.

Rogers asserts that individuals in the second stage have not yet begun to question these inflexible constructs or "unquestioned reality"; for instance, giving someone else ownership of their problem. In their progress through the second to fifth stage, individuals are increasingly becoming aware of their feelings, allowing a cognitive understanding of the problems to become proximal to their own behavior, and gaining skill in expressing feelings although often still as distant perceptions. Rogers, indicates that the fifth and sixth stages are crucial and the most vulnerable part of the process, in part because as individuals begin to fully experience their feelings they gain a heightened sense of immediacy. No longer hiding from incongruence’s, individuals “vividly experience” the emotion (pain, desire, frustration, disappointment, etc.) associated with their conflicts, and actively make attempts to resolve separations between their most intimate experience of themselves and what they believe are acceptable thoughts, feelings, or behavior. Ultimately, they come to take ownership of feelings that had previously been to threatening to perceive as belonging to themselves. In the seventh stage individuals can experience and express their emotions freely. They can also confidently navigate the communications and interpersonal boundary shifts that maintaining a congruent and fully present self requires.

This conceptualization of therapy feels intuitive and consistent with my own experience of seeking to better understand myself and learn to better navigate my relationships with others. However, I see some major weaknesses in the idea that this is always the process of self-development that individuals need to experience. J. and J. made a very good point about differences between clients who are struggling with life issues, and those who are experiencing moderate to severe psycho-pathology. I can imagine that being encouraged to seek out incongruence, or go deep within one’s most genuine feelings during a major depressive episode could actually be harmful vs. helpful. The perceived helplessness, affective flattening, and avolition (tendency toward apathy) of those who meet criteria for Major Depressive Disorder, would likely cause them to violate Rogers’ core assumptions. Looking back on my own depressions, most of what I thought I needed to do was way off base. The cognitive distortions inherent in the experience of depression, could potentially make Rodger’s process of increasing self-reflection into a terrifying maze of funhouse mirrors.

This is where Rogers needs the scientific process that he claims is not appropriate to his method. It was compelling to read Rogers' argument with himself, between his dedication to empirical understanding and his desire to assimilate his real life experience into a complex process theory. I can relate to this on such a deep personal level. It was a big transition for me to become comfortable with the idea of determinism and empiricism. However, I now feel strongly that it is important to have evidence that we are not violating APA’s first principles, i.e. we need to not only chose methods which don’t harm but also be sure that we are not accepting monetary reward for something that doesn’t help.

To hear Dar sing: "I don't go to therapy to find out that I'm a freak" go here
To buy the album: Visit Dar online

Not Studying When I Should Be

2006-10-23T01:08:15Z

So, I got an 84 on one of two the two total stats tests. I count that as a victory, given my history with math, and the ten year gap between when I graduated high school and when I returned to collage in 2001... well, that and the class average. Most of our class time was spent on watching the prof. work proofs, so nearly everything I learned, I got from reading, and rereading the book. We are covering two enormous texts, so.. I guess it's one down and one to go!

But, it took every thing I had just to get here. I studied day and night, literally… and that, in between other intense assignments and family stuff. Overall, the first six weeks of grad school were completely insane. There was NO me time. I have never been so focused and dedicated to anything in all my life.

Then, just about the time the stats test was over, the work in other classes died down too.
At first I thought that was a great relief, but now I kind of wish that things had stayed completely overwhelming. That's because slowing down gave me a chance to recognize how exhausted and burnt out I am, that it is hard to get motivated to jump back into the grind again.

But I'll get there...

Studying when I don't want to be.

2006-10-08T19:25:10Z

I just wanted to say, I love my husband, brings me food, checks on kids, entertains himself, and tells me how much he wishes we could spend more time together...
But I Hate stats.

She Changes Everything She Touches

2006-10-08T10:17:05Z

It's the full moon, and I am thinking about how far I have come from the moment I stood under a moon just like this one, and dreamt that I could change my whole life... leave my unhappy marriage, stop being an at home mom to go back to school, battle down my fear of failing or worse ending up destitute... truly believing that I was lazy and incapable of taking care of myself.

I have had so many battles since then, my first real job, having to carry the weight of being responsible for supporting my family, an abusive boyfriend, clinical depression, budgets, getting back into college, single-motherhood, moving cross country, blending families, crazy ex-wives, first years of a second marriage.. for both of us, undergraduate degree, honor thesis, cancer...

Recently, I got a few emails from people who check this journal, worrying that I might be very ill because I haven't posted in so long. I feel bad that I didn't check in at all; I wasn't thinking about how that might look for people who care. I'll admit that I did feel pretty down when treatment ended.. maybe physical exhaustion, maybe my mind's desperate attempt to escape the anxiousness of "now what". But right now everything looks fine... on paper. I have my six month check up in a month or so and that is when they do the first post-treatment mamogram. However, in the past two months I have started my Ph.D. program full swing, and I don't have time to worry about cancer anymore... or anything else. Right now it's 4:30 in the morning, and I really should be studying or sleeping, which I only get to do for about 4-6 hours a night these days. There is no time for anything else, and I have to steal time I don't have just to interact with my husband and children.

Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining. Honestly, I have never been happier in all my life! I Love my program, the professors and researchers I am getting to work with, and the freedom I have to develop my own research ideas with multiple mentors (of which there are plenty to choose, given that we work can between three departments, Educational Psychology, Psychology, and Human and Community Development all well respected productive research environments). My primary advisor is just fantastic to work with! And, every time I feel the complete exhaustion of grad school with a family, I think "Oh my god, I never thought I would make it to this!" and I feel giddy all over again that I actually got accepted to a counseling psychology program that is 5th in the nation!

Add to that, the fact that I get to be a part of the most amazing group of people everyday. The other first years in my program are well… they are like a dream come true. They are kind, sensitive, genuinely intellectually hungry and seek to integrate the ideas we are being exposed to into a holistic worldview. We have all gotten pretty close, because everyone is feeling like they can’t make it anymore, everyday… and this feeling is a whole lot easier to take when your not alone there. But I think it may be more than that, because several people have told me that they heard about how close we all are, like that is something unusual and special about us. I think one thing that makes our group's cohesion possible is the diversity of our experiences and skills, and that we have all gotten invested in each other’s success. My most amazing experience so far, was a moment just after we had to debate an ethical issue in class. My brain did that thing were I am just on, and words come out of my mouth barely processed, but eloquent and concise. I was grabbing points out of the other group’s arguments and cutting clear to the logic effortlessly… it was really fun. I didn’t start to worry about the [i]usual[/i] implications of rising to my full potential in that moment, until I had finished the closing argument… just as I began to be concerned, I heard a kind of awe sound go around the room. Then several people from both sides of the debate complemented me. WOW! It was the most glorious feeling, to be everything I am capable of and recieve from others around me, not fear or distain, but the genuine admiration of people I admire. It’s like that! We look out for each other, and we are proud of each other… it’s a very unusual experience for me... maybe just unusual period.

If that weren't enough.. I am even getting to teach Educational Psychology. I have a class of 25 for two hours each week. It is really the highlight of the whole experience. They are an impressive bunch of thinkers who will go on to be teachers (they are all Ed majors) and I get to influence how they think about that a little more every week. I tell them that this is important to me, because I failed out of college the first time. I tell them that I once turned in a math test with nothing but a poem that was just two steps from a suicide note written on it in high school, and got it back with nothing but a big red zero, no phone call to my mom, not an are you okay.. nothing. I tell them that I struggled with dyslexia, ADD, and a difficult family life growing up… and one day not to long from now, I am going to be in their class. I am going to seem difficult and unreachable, but I am really just sitting in the back thinking I am stupid and that I can't make it. Then I say “and how what you communicate to me about who you think I am, and how you interact with me could have to potential to help me save myself form taking over a decade to get back on track to realizing my dreams.... or it could make the difference between my succeeding at all. Then we talk about science and I try to get them to stopping equating the word with the “who is John Galt” kind of mentally it that the Republican party is selling them right now. The professor, a man distinguished for teaching excellence, who oversees the course is also a joy to work with… and he thinks I am great too.

Wow, I am becoming everything I promised the moon. I am becoming a teacher, healer, and a writer/researcher… without even realizing when I began I was taking up that path. When I started all this I just wanted to leave an unhealthy relationship, maybe create a happy marriage one day. Along the way while striving desperately to become more hardened and to be more realistic vs the starry-eyed idealist of my past... I have ended up exactly where I dreamt I’d be in my most mystic moments... Ha.. she changes everything she touches..

Hypatia

Simpsons Quotes for the pop-culture impaired

2006-03-23T20:48:24Z

I have discovered that I have been living under a rock and the world has passed me by. But I am in luck because there is now a reference guide for the pop-culture impaired. Wikipedia has an entire cross-referenced "volume" about the Simpsons including not one but many indexed lists of important Simpsons info.

Two that may be helpful to interpreting Jeff's comment to my last post (assuming you like me are living the life of a hermit) are:
A List of Recurring Characters from The Simpsons ... see Jebediah Springfield/Hans Sprungfeld, and A List of Neologisms invented by The Simpsons ... see Embiggens. But just incase you think this is all just a trivial pursuit you should know that serious academic work has apparently been done on the subject. If you still aren't sated you can check out this link to music and songs from nearly every episode with music at Simpson Crazy.com

But what can you do about all this...?
Well that depends on whether you want to stop or join the insanity?

If you want to join it: Some Wikipedians have formed a project to better organize information in articles related to The Simpsons. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help, They request that you inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list there.

If you want to stop it: ...well, then you are pretty much alone and should keep it to yourself at least on the Web anyway. I searched and only came up with a few articles dissing other articles that apparently at one time dissed The Simpsons.

Me? I have to admit that the stuff I turned up lead me to believe you guys could very well be some kind of brain-sucking cult.. but I won't say that too loud just in case. In the meantime, I will probably start watching one of the I don't know 13 or so seasons that are even now sitting in my family's DVD libary. In other words....

To Be Continued.......

Happy Loafing,
Hypatia

To Hear: They'll never stop the Simpsons try here , for the Lyrics try <a href="http://www.letssingit.com/?/simpsons-the-2m77n.html> here </a>

Dance Empowers, Uhm, Err, I mean... Something like that

2006-03-23T08:07:46Z

Want to read an article about me in one of our local papers?

***Warning it is REALLY badly written and includes a lot of misquotes... like I have *never* said the words "but I want to be part of the survivor group." I HATE the word survivor.. but more on that later.***

All in all, I like the way she approached the article, though.
Hypatia

To Hear: Batwanness Beek try here

Cancer Update

2006-03-22T23:09:26Z

Just a Quick update for friends and family who may not know...

I am finished with Chemo, and just starting Radiation. And I will be done with Rads at the beginning of May. After that the treatment part is over.

And here is the Bitchy part for those who have asked me these questions about 100 times now
(If that is not you, then PLEASE don't be offended by the bitching, it clearly isn't aimed at you... besides the ones it is aimed at don't read my journal anyway)...

NO, I will not know that I am okay from here on out after treatment is over.
NO, there is no test that they will do to make sure the cancer is gone.
The detectable cancer was gone after my first surgery, as I have explained over and over on the phone, all the adjuvant therapy was preventative. Because the cancer made it to my lymph nodes, I never will know for the rest of my life if it will come back or not.
BUT, I will be going on with my life as if I am fine, until something happens that makes me have to behave differently.

Enough Said, now let's move on to the fact that I just got accepted into graduate school in a program that is 5th in the nation for Counseling Psychology okay? Okay.

Hypatia

To Hear: Refugee by Tom Petty try here , to read the lyrics try here

Women & Sex

2006-03-20T19:30:22Z

This one is from a Tribe.net community..

In the end I think it came out that the original poster was just kind of being a jerk. He titled the discussion Women and Sex, and although everyone in the Philosophy of Science list assumed from his initial question that he meant Gender and Intelligence, it slowly became clear form his comments that Women and Sex were really all he wanted to discuss. However, the answers that others gave along the way were though provoking. Some explored the difference between sex and gender, others discussed categorization in general (some rejecting the validity of sexual, biological categorization). This was my rely (My reply was meant to both comment on the subject and address the idot.):

I agree that the question is useless in general (or at least as posed in this board), but there are some interesting answers and if what you are concerned about is educational intervention or the politics of gender discrimination, they are very useful.

In a paper I worked on a few years ago, we found literature that falls on both sides...
As a group (again we all know this does not necessarily apply when to any two individuals are compared)
Boys in grade school & beyond do better on standardized tests.
Girls in grade school & beyond have better report card grades overall.
Men seem to process information (especially math concepts) more quickly.
Women seem to consider things more carefully and in depth.
Boys seem to answer more questions correctly in class (of course teachers are also more likely to call on them).
Girls complete and score higher on more in class assignments.
Women are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, earn bachelor's degrees and master's degrees.
Men are more likely to get a PhD.

and here's the big one...
Men over over-represented at the top of the IQ scale (which keep in mind is a standardized test)

and here is something else to keep in mind...
Men are also over represented in the lower end of the IQ scale.
(for more interpretation of all this data see this article or write me for the citations)

I think all the just goes to prove that women win out in this argument.
Okay I am being totally tongue & cheek here, but since the question was "Women and Sex" not "Women and Gender" or better "Gender and Intelligence", well the data shows that...
If you are a highly intelligent women (as measured by IQ), you are in the more powerful choosing position, given that highly the intelligent men out number us 3 to 1. If we are talking about intelligent Women and Sex, well.. Ladies we've got the power, and you really can have nearly any geek you want!

To Hear My IQ by Ani try here
To Read Lyrics and the Words of Ani go here

The Value of Logical Thought

2006-03-18T05:42:01Z

This is a reply to gasping in abstractthought
Another one where I got carried away, and wrote so much that it makes a good stand alone post...

Here's the deal, it depends on how you define your terms (as most arguments do really).

1. I think when he says that intuition and faith have no place in science, what he means is that you can not make a claim in the scientific or academic world without testable facts on which to base that claim.
... And on that point he is dead right.

Just saying "I feel it's true", or "I wish it were true", or even "it should be true", doesn't cut it there. And that is a good thing, because otherwise we'd have to make decisions about whose theory to believe based on who has the greater confidence, is more intimidating, or has the greater emotional need.... And THAT would produce a chaotic mess for all of us.

2. However, if he is using that fact to argue that intuition and faith have no validity in the everyday living of life, or that there is no scientific discipline that recognizes intuition or faith as important parts of life, well that's were he is on shaky ground.

There are sciences and academic disciplines that look at these issues. In cognitive science it is clear that the brain is not inherently logical. We do process information through emotional filters, and make decisions through heuristics (rules of thumb, rather than algorithms).. that is just the reality of how brains, ALL brains, work. In psychology and other disciplines there is work that looks at the issue another poster mentioned... That faith, and by this I mean the ability to trust things that are not provable (your mother loves you for instance, not God or religion per say), is important for psychological health and normal social development. Then there is the field of psycho-biology which has looked at brain function and belief. Look for _Why God Won't Go Away_ a book about how brain chemistry predisposes us to religious belief (to start here is a review ).

3. But none of this gets at what may be the real issue...
Many people use this kind of argument to also convince their partner that the partner's feelings and needs are unimportant or that the couple should make some decision that is not comfortable to thier partner because their own argument is the only "logical" choice. And if that is what he is doing he is DEAD WRONG.

When you are in a romantic relationship with someone, facts are important and both partners should give value to dealing in truth and offer only honest apriasals of thier expirience of reailty, but both partners also have to feel comfortable in the relationship. Most arguments are not about facts but about boundaries, and whose needs are going to be met in the current situation. If a person is saying that your needs never or rarely deserve to be met because you don't have good reasons for them, they are not concerned for your happiness in the relationship. This may be because they have some kind of issue (narcissism, unresolved childhood abuse, anti-social personality disorder.. etc) or because your needs and his/her needs are just too incompatible to be reconciled comfortably over the long term....

But there is nothing in psychology, or philosophy, or any science that justifies totally disregarding another person's feelings or needs because you are better at rationalizing your own. Pillow talk is not the place for the scientific method, and couple communication was never meant to have to stand up to the peer review process. I your partner thinks he/she needs that to feel (or think) they are safe in a relationship, then that person is really are not socio-emotionally mature enough yet to have one.

Good Luck
Hypatia
Counseling Psych Grad Student
Seeker of Truth in General
& Belly Dance Teacher ;)

To Read the whole exchange including her response to me, try here
To Hear Holy Lamb by Yes try here for the lyrics try here

A connection between psychology and dance?

2006-03-17T18:52:21Z

As a Reply to my last post, and reading my tribe profile, I think...
dddduck said:
"Wow, a Psychologist and a Dancer. I suspect there is a connection between the artistry of dance and an understanding of how we think and feel."

Here is my Reply...

For me, I think, what you said is true.
For all psychologist, probably not.

I mean, I am guessing that you mean a free flow of emotion like in dance, is connected to understanding other's emotions.
I have found that, although there are plenty of warm friendly happy open people in psychological research... There also seem to be a fair number of us who were drawn to this field because we don't understand humans or some part of "normal" but would like to (this is me), or (and this is the fairly prevalent group that I think defy your observation) we see them like Skinner thought of his lab rats... a distal curiosity.

Again, to be clear, *most* psychology has nothing to do with Freudian style , "...and how do you feel about that?". Most psychology is an experimental attempt to understand some phenomenon of human behavior or cognition. Having (or perceiving that you have) a distance from the subjective experience of being human, can help you conceptualize the problems in ways that might not feel safe or flattering enough to the average person.

For me, I think it works because I am both... able to be empathic and/or compassionate (remember thinking of things from another's perspective and feeling things from another's perspective are *not* nessecarily the same thing), and (thanks to D) under the right circumstances see it all from a distant (possibly more objective) perspective. But I think neither the former nor the latter are good models for how to live every situation, everyday (as some do). They are some of the many tools we have for making sense of it all, but you can't live life like a science experiment or a therapy session.

....come to think of it, I live life (the part of it that is about relationships with other people anyway) more like I dance;

In that way you are dead on. For me interacting with others everyday is all about understanding the landscape I need to navigate as well as possible, and then choosing to let it becomes more of an improvisation... like the Arabic tarab , except as a good Raqs Sharqi dancer would, letting the music in each moment tell me how to create the most graceful interpretation of how my identity/skill/emotional experience and the music connect.

To Learn more about Freud on Crack go here to StraightDope.com or what Tarab means to a dancer go here to Katya's site.
To Hear Fatme Serhan "Queen of the Baladi" sing go here to Maqam.com.

A Strange Loop (eat your heart out Godel!)

2006-03-17T05:18:16Z

I just linked my Tribe profile to my live journal RSS feed, which is a pretty cool feature, I think for such a massive ubber-forum-meetup-space as Tribe is.
Here is the link ...

So now, should you for whatever misguided reason want to do so, you can spin in an endless recursive loop between my blog and my tribe profile.

My Dad goes all Hichhiker’s Guide to the Galley, and then.....

2006-01-17T22:24:56Z

A few weeks ago my Dad sent me a list of questions. At the time I was busy applying for grad school and didn't have time for any fun writing. Today when I started answering them I thought... Hey, others might not have abstract thinking dads who take time to play the Hichhiker’s Guide to the Galley version of twenty questions. So, I decided to share. Here are his first two questions, and my answers. If you want to play too, feel free to chime in (I am emailing him the link so he can check up on how his thoughts played out in others heads).

DAD: What if we are all misunderstanding what we thought we said to each other everyday?

ME: To a point we are, but most of the time we get by just fine without the exact truth...
Which is good given that the exact meaning of your words in another's head is impossible to have... or at least impossible without having the genius (and omniscience) to imagine what the words would mean to you if you had lived their lives with their genes exactly... and even then it would take so long that you couldn't accomplish anything else in life. So despite it's obvious drawbacks, I'd say the way we do it now is probably superior.

DAD: What if we can never hope to understand anyone, even those we love the most?

ME: For me, it would mean that life is not worth living. Fortunately, I have grown to have lower expectations for the word understand, and found a few anyones who exceed them.

To Read the lyrics to Closer to Fine try here
To Hear the song and for other info try here

How Childhood Organizes Adult Relationship Behavior, Part III

2006-01-11T17:34:48Z

Again, if you want just the juicy parts go back and read the last two entries. This is the, I am such a geek that I have to see all the data, references, and such to buy anything you say, version. BTW, I have total respect for such people...

Identifying Links Between and Adult Attachment States of Mind and Patterns of Emotion Regulation Through Measures of Physiological Response

Abstract

Much of the research on the behavioral correlates of adult attachment style has grouped dismissing and preoccupied individuals together into the broad category of insecurity. However, attachment theory dictates that the behavioral response of these two groups will be distinct given their unique cognitive-affective models of these interactions. In the currently study, I tested the idea that dismissing and preoccupied individuals are experiencing different patterns of internal response to stress while discussing attachment relationships. Continuous electrodermal and heart rate data were collected, while participants were discussing childhood experiences during the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). I hypothesized that dismissing individuals would experience increases in electrodermal activity suggestive of behavioral inhibition, and that preoccupied individuals would show increases in heart rate suggestive of behavioral activation. As predicted, the correlation between Dismissing states of mind with respect to attachment and increases in electrodermal response was significant. There was no correlation being identified as dismissing on the AAI and heart rate. This implies that for prototypically dismissing individuals, the AAI is a significant stressor which they attempt to regulate specifically by suppressing behavior and/or information. Only marginal correlations were found between increases in heart rate and preoccupation. This result indicates that the two groups do in fact differ appreciably in their internal experience of discussing attachment related information. Due to the limited statistical power of this dataset, however, further research is suggested to clarify the relationship between preoccupation and behavioral activation.

Introduction

Popular or common sense theories tell us that individuals respond uniquely to their encounters with each other, in part because they grow up in different families and have different relationship experiences. Another way to conceptualize this idea is to say that individuals respond to interactions with each other in differing ways because they interpret the world through the unique cognitive/emotional filter of their own previous experiences in relationship interactions. Following this reasoning, the relationship experiences that individuals have with their parents in infancy and early childhood become the most influential, because they organize the expectations that an individual carries with them into subsequent social interactions. Thinking in those terms, one can begin to see how attachment theory can inform theories of emotion and emotion regulation.

Bowlby, the father of attachment theory, conceptualized attachment as a life-long system, which regulates secure-base and safe-haven behavior through changes in internal state (Bowlby, 1978). He posited that proximity seeking, a primary facet of secure-base behavior, is guided by a set of flexible determinations based on an individual’s internal working model of the attachment-related event. Working models, he proposed, are experientially derived systems for interpreting an attachment figure’s behavior, and predicting the most effective means to regain physical or emotional closeness or otherwise minimize emotional discomfort (Cassidy, 1999; Weinfield, Sroufe, Egeland, & Carlson, 1999).
This conceptualization mirrors current characterizations of the processes of emotion regulation. Thompson (1994), argues that the emotion regulation system is organized by socialization, primarily in the home environment, and serves to guide an individual’s predictions of the consequences and benefits of various behavioral choices. In older children these choices often involve navigating the boundary between one’s own immediate needs and desires, and the need to gain and maintain acceptance or affiliation in the social environment (Cassidy, 1994; Thompson, 1994).

Emotional Dysregulation

However, not all individuals are able to develop patterns of emotion regulation that afford them success in navigating social interactions. In her research with infants, Field (1994) uses the phrase emotion dysregulation to describe the result of long-term parenting relationships in which infants are unable to assimilate successful patterns of emotion regulation. Ideally mothers provide a scaffold to independent arousal modulation through attending to their infant’s expressed internal state and controlling environmental stimulation for their child accordingly. Additionally, mother’s model emotion regulation though their responsiveness to their child’s facial expressions and by demonstrating predictable emotional behavior patterns. However, her research has shown that if this mother-infant attunement process is disrupted by separation, or emotional neglect, a child’s emotion regulation system can become decoupled from their internal physiological response. This means that appropriate behavioral responses for moderating internal stimulation may never form into patterns that the child can apply independently (Field 1994), and may instead form pathological patterns that are the basis for later difficulties in social interactions (Kobak & Sceery, 1988; Bouthillier, Julien, Dube, Belanger, & Hameline).

Internal State and Infant Attachment

Within the domain of attachment research, similar observations have been made using the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP) with infants between the ages of 12 and 18 months (Cassidy, 1999; Weinfield, Sroufe, Egeland, & Carlson, 1999). This series of short separations and reunions between infants and their primary caregivers allows researchers to classify mother-child relationships into secure, anxious-resistant, or anxious-avoidant categories (Cassidy, 1999; Fox & Card, 1999). Infants are classified as securely attached if they tend to show distress when separated from their mothers, but are easily calmed upon reunion. Insecure responses to separation are divided into two subcategories. Mother-infant dyads are considered resistantly attached when infants show distress upon separation, and are not easily calmed or express anger on reunion. Infants classified as avoidantly attached are those who orient themselves away from maternal contact upon reunion; these infants may also show no obvious distress upon separation.

Although attachment theory suggests that individuals are responding to their own internal state and their perceived chance of reestablishing closeness with their attachment figure, internal state is not directly measured in the SSP. In an effort to address this, researchers have begun to use physiological measures such as heart rate, vagal tone (heart rate variability), skin conductance, and cortisol levels to monitor internal response during the SSP. Based on the assumption that electrodermal response and heart rate are equally representative of sympathetic nervous system response, many researchers have used them indiscriminately as measures of anxiety. Izard, Proges, Simons, Haynes, Parisi, and Cohen (1991), for example, found that insecure infants, as identified by both a continuous coding system and the standard classification system, showed significantly higher increases in heart rate variability during the Strange Situation procedure than secure infants. In addition, insecure/resistant infants showed the highest level of outward negative reactivity, while insecure/avoidant infants showed the least affective response. Izard et al. (1991) discus this finding in terms of competing theories of temperament; however, one could also interpret these data to mean that resistant and avoidant children both experience the SSP as stressful, but manifest distinct behavioral reactions to the internal experience of that stress. Specifically, insecure/avoidant infants appear to be inhibiting expressive behavior that might communicate their distress to their attachment figure, and insecure/resistant infants seem to over-engage in expressing their discomfort to the point of not being able to be calmed.

This idea is also supported by Termine and Izard (1989), who found that avoidant children show significantly higher levels of heart rate variability than secure children, but outwardly expressed the lowest levels of emotional distress. In addition, Suomi (1990) found that non-human primates who had experienced prolonged separations from their mothers showed markedly increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, but also showed no overt behavioral response. Combined with their own research, Termaine, et al. (1989), posit that these finding suggest that avoidantly attached individuals experience high levels of distress, but cope by suppressing their emotional experience rather than seeking external support through facial or behavioral communication of their feelings. Given that insecure/avoidant infants tend to have parents who reject their bids for attention and/or disregard their communications about their emotional state (Cassidy, 1999), one could infer these infants do not communicate their distress, because they do not interpret the experience of stress as relevant information in the relationship context. For these children, communicating their internal state has not been paired with the experience of relief.

Insecure/resistant infants, on the other hand, tend to inconsistently receive and be deprived of parental attention, such that the infant is not able to assimilate predictable patterns in their parent’s behavior (Ainsworth & Marvin, 1995; Hesse, 1999). Combining the unique parenting history and emotive response of insecure/resistant infants with the physiological evidence that they experience significantly more anxiety/stress than secure infants, one could infer that they become overly engaged in receiving and communicating emotional information. If they lack an autonomous structure for determining when parental attention is likely to occur, they may continue to reengage in proximity seeking despite the stress of being rejected. One could infer that insecure/resistant individuals have learned to rely on their attachment figure in their effort to regulate stressful experiences, but not to expect that they will be able to reliably decrease their stress.

Internal State and Adult Attachment

The Adult Attachment Interview. Although in childhood an individual’s behavioral response to separation and therefore pattern of attachment can be readily identified through observing the child’s physical proximity-seeking behavior, by adulthood attachment is primarily assessed through an individual’s discourse about family relationships. The AAI, developed by Mary Main and colleagues (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1986), is used to assess the integration and coherence of individuals’ global representation of their attachment history with their primary caregivers. The AAI identifies three primary global representations of attachment experiences: autonomous/secure, dismissing (avoidant), and preoccupied (resistant), paralleling the classifications of the Strange Situation procedure.

Based on Grice’s maxims for the content, quantity, style, and coherence of discourse, the Adult Attachment Interview classifies individuals as secure/autonomous when they are able to provide detailed, clear, and consistent descriptions of their childhood experiences (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1996). Preoccupied individuals are identified based on their inability to objectively convey information about their childhood experiences (George, et. al, 1996). During the interviews, preoccupied participants often seem confused, provide an excess of detailed information which is often negative, and exhibit an emotional affect that is not congruent with their temporal proximity to the experience they are describing or the social norms of the laboratory setting (George et al., 1996). Participants who are classified as dismissing, tend to devalue the importance of their childhood experiences, have trouble producing detailed memories, may idealize their portrayal of their parents, and/or provide inconsistent accounts of their childhood experiences (George et al., 1996).

It is important to clarify that the Adult Attachment Interview was not developed as a measure to retrodict infant attachment security from classifications in adulthood. Its original goal was to predict infant attachment security in the next generation based on the mother’s global representations of her own childhood experiences and relationships (Allen & Hauser, 1996). However, subsequent research has established it as a measure for suggesting childhood security. Several studies have found significant correlations between an individual’s AAI classification as an adolescent, and their Strange Situation classification in infancy (Waters, Hamilton, & Weinfield, 2000). Additionally, Roisman, Madsen, Hennighausen, Sroufe, and Collins (2001) found strong correlations between AAI classifications assessed in adolescence (13 to 19) and those assessed in early adulthood (20 to 21).

Attachment Style and Physiological Response.
In the first research to examine internal state as it relates to adults’ states of mind about their childhood experiences, Dozier and Kobak (1992) compared electrodermal activity to individuals’ scores on the Adult Attachment Interview. Although increases in skin conductance and changes in heart rate have both been used as measures of anxiety, this research cited the work of Fowles (1983) to argue that a clear distinction can be made between the behavioral/emotional implications of these two measures. Fowles (1983) argues that because heart rate can be mediated by both sympathetic and parasympathetic response, electrodermal activity is the better measure of anxiety and inhibition. Fowles suggests that an increase in electrodermal activity, also called skin conductance, is representative of engagement of the Behavioral Inhibition System, which is specifically responsible for the passive avoidance of an aversive stimulus. He characterizes increases in heart rate as signaling the Behavioral Activation System (BAS), which controls preparation for active involvement with a stimulus according to Gray’s (1975) motivational theory.

Using electrodermal activity as an indicator of behavioral inhibition, Dozier and Kobak (1992) were able to explore the organizing effect of childhood experiences on adults internal response to attachment related information. They found that individuals who engage in discourse indicative of a dismissing state of mind with regard to attachment relationships during the AAI also demonstrated high levels of change in electrodermal activity during questions which relate to separation, and threat from caregivers. Therefore, they argued that individuals who display the characteristics of a dismissing representation of attachment relationships do in fact experience patterns of physiological response that are suggestive of emotional inhibition. Dozier and Kobak (1992) cite Pennebaker’s work on the relationship between inhibition and electrodermal response, to conclude that a rise in skin conductance indicates, not just a generalized inhibition, but an effort to suppress information specifically. Whether actively misrepresenting the truth or experiencing inhibition below the level of conscious appraisal, these individuals seem to resist emotional information. Although some research has suggested that characteristically dismissing individuals are genuinely unaffected because they are in fact not engaging in emotional information (Fraley, 1997), these data suggest instead that they are at least to some degree engaged and are expending effort to maintain emotional equilibrium.

Ten years after the initial study by Dozier and Kobak (1992), Roisman, Tsai and Chiang (2004) replicated and extended the scope of this work. Because Roisman et al. examined patterns of heart rate in addition to electrodermal activity, two interesting findings emerged. First, the study was able to establish that having a dismissing state of mind with regard to attachment is uniquely associated with a change in skin conductance levels, but not in heart rate, during relevant AAI questions. This supports the idea that dismissing adults are experiencing a response of the Behavioral Inhibition System, as opposed to the Behavioral Activation System, in accordance with Fowles’s physiological response systems theory (1983). Thus it appears that, dismissing individuals experience the discussion of their family history as aversive, but that they inhibit behavior as opposed to becoming actively involved.

Although Roisman et al. (2004) did not find a significant correlation between heart rate reactivity and high scores on the hyperactivation dimension, they did find evidence which suggests that preoccupied individuals experience a generalized dysregulation of internal state and behavioral response. Although they displayed the highest level of emotive response, preoccupied individuals’ facial expressions as assessed by Ekman’s (1978) Facial Action Coding System, were not consistent with the valence of their life narratives as described during the AAI. This is in accordance with Field’s theory that emotional experience can become decoupled from cognitive appraisal when an individual is unable to assimilate clear patterns of emotion regulation.
Most recently, Roisman (revised and resubmitted) has completed a study of married and engaged couples that examined physiological response during an agreement and disagreement discussion interaction. This study revealed that attachment states of mind as assessed by the AAI were correlated with specific patterns of physiological response in both the agreement and the disagreement phases of the interaction. Dismissing individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in electrodermal response than secure and preoccupied individuals, and preoccupied individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in heart rate and heart rate variability than secure and dismissing individuals. Drawing on previous research in the area of romantic relationships, Roisman argues that these patterns of electrodermal and cardiovascular response which have been shown to be strongly associated with marital dissatisfaction and divorce, are related to the developmental underpinnings of an individual’s global representation of attachment. The results of this research again suggest that childhood relationship experiences, serve to organize emotional reactivity to relationship experiences. Further, the link between this study and previous work on marital satisfaction suggest that these patterns may continue to significantly impact an individual’s life, through their ability to maintain successful and fulfilling relationships as adults.

Current Study

The current study, was designed to replicate the correlation between dismissing discourse and skin conductance reactivity during the AAI. Additionally, the study used measures of heart rate to attempt to identify patterns of physiological response unique to individuals who score high on measures of hyperactivation or demonstrate preoccupied discourse during the AAI. Although Roisman (revised and resubmitted) identified a correlation between preoccupation and increases in cardiovascular response during adults’ marital and premarital interactions, no study has yet shown this association during the assessment of the Adult Attachment Interview.

Method

Participants

Data were collected for 68 participants, who were contacted based on their participation in a previous dyadic study of interaction between strangers. These participants were initially drawn from the University of Illinois Psychology 100 subject pool. They were brought back to the lab to participate in a short-term longitudinal study, and at this time physiological data were collected for the current study. There were 37 females and 31 male participants, whose ages ranged from 18 to 25. Each participant was paid $20.00 for retuning to the lab for this study.

Procedure

When participants entered the laboratory, they were greeted by a research assistant and seated in the living room setting of the lab’s primary interview room. After being oriented to the procedure, three heart rate sensors were attached to the participant’s torso, and two electrodermal sensors, were attached to the participant’s fingers. Participants were then instructed to remain calm and relaxed for a period of 3 minutes while baseline physiological data were collected. After this, the participants filled out self-report measures and a mood induction procedure was administered. The mood induction was part of a larger study from which these data were drawn. As such, in the analysis, I controlled for experimental condition of the manipulation.
Upon completing the mood induction and questionnaires, participants were told that they had finished the first study and that an interviewer would be in shortly to administer a second study about childhood experiences. Participants then completed the AAI which was administered by a group of trained interviewers following standard procedure. All interviews were video taped. The videotapes were transcribed verbatim by assistants, and coded by trained researchers using the Adult Attachment Interview Q-set (Kobak, 1993).
Measures

Adult Attachment Interview.
The Adult Attachment Interview is a semi-structured interview, which takes roughly an hour to administer (George, Kaplan, & Main, 1985). Participants are asked a series of questions which prompt them to describe their relationship with their parents in specific detail from as far back as they can remember. The open-ended questions address times of separation, loss, perceived rejection, and change over time in addition to more general characterizations of the relationship.

In the present study the Adult Attachment Interview was coded using the Adult Attachment Interview Q-set. This a continuous measure that rates individuals on scales of low to high deactivation strategy use, as well a low to high security, through the forced distribution of a set of identifier statements across nine piles (5, 8, 12, 16, 20, 16, 12, 8, 5). The statement cards are laid out so that statements that best characterize and individual sit at the middle, and statements which least characterize an individual are at the tail ends of the normal curve. This unique pattern of statement distribution is then compared to the standard secure prototype sort, and the standard deactivating/hyperactivating prototype sort developed by Roger Kobak (see Kobak, 1993). These two comparisons result in Pearson correlations ranging from -1.00 to 1.00 that serve as the individual’s secure/insecure and deactivating/hyperactivating scores, respectively. Secure/insecure scores closer to 1.00 indicate higher security, and deactivating/hyperactivating scores closer to 1.00 indicate higher deactivation strategy use.
In general, the identifier statements are designed to detect a participant’s adherence or violation of conversational norms such as the length, coherence, relevance, quality, and amount of detail. Specifically, statements like “presents an objective and well-thought out picture of relationship influences” and “is credible and easy to believe” are indicators of a secure state of mind. Statements like “subject persistently does not remember” and “provides only minimal response” are indicators of a dismissing state of mind.

Physiological Response.
Heart rate sensors were placed on the participant’s torso, and electrodermal sensors were attached to their second and fourth fingers on the last phalanxes. Both heart rate and skin conductance levels were monitored continuously throughout the baseline period, a set of questionnaires, a mood manipulation, and the interview. During this time, the interviewer recorded the approximate start time of each question on the interview. This information was later used by lab assistants to establish precise answer-to-answer start times by reviewing the video tapes with the assistance of a time stamp reader program. These time periods, called epochs, represent a set of heart rate and electrodermal readings specific to each of the 19 questions on the AAI and the baseline period. Change in skin conductance was assessed by subtracting the means for skin conductance in each epoch from the mean for baseline skin conductance for each individual. Change in heart rate was assessed by subtracting the means for heart rate in each epoch from the mean for baseline heart rate for each individual.

Results

Individual’s scores on the security/insecurity and the deactivation/hyperactivation dimensions of the AAI Q-set were correlated with two channels of physiological response, skin conductance and heart rate, sampled during the AAI interview.

Descriptive Data

Each participant’s Q-sort was correlated with both the security/anxiety Q-sort prototype and the deactivation/hyperactivation prototype. The mean correlations for both prototypes are reflected in Table 1. As would be expected, participants in this study were more likely to produce secure rather than insecure discourse, but were fairly balanced in terms of utilizing deactivating versus hyperactivating styles of discourse.

Mean skin conductance responses are shown in Table 2. The mean rise from baseline to the final question of the interview was 18.08, ranging from 5.50 to 23.58, which reflects the expected pattern of consistent increase in skin conductance throughout the interview. The mean baseline levels for heart rate are shown on Table 3. The Mean baseline level for the general population is 70 bpm. Baseline heart rates do appear to be slightly higher than is typical in the population. This may be the result of beginning the interview with a mood manipulation.

Attachment Organization and Skin Conductance
The deactivation/hyperactivation dimension and the security/anxiety dimension were correlated with changes in skin conductance during answer periods on the AAI. Table 4 shows the correlation between both dimensions and changes in skin conductance for each answer on the AAI in the order in which the questions was asked. Consistent with Dozier and Kobak (1992) and Roisman, Tsai, & Chiang (2004), there were no significant correlations between the security/anxiety dimension and increases in skin conductance. However, as predicted, there were significant positive correlations between changes in skin conductance and the deactivation/anxiety dimension. More specifically, higher scores on the deactivation dimension were associated with increases in skin conductance levels for all but three questions on the Adult Attachment Interview, with the highest correlations observed for questions regarding separation, rejection, loss of caregivers, and the experience of trauma (see Table 5).

Attachment Organization and Heart Rate
Correlations between changes in heart rate during answer periods on the AAI and both the security/insecurity and deactivation/hyperactivation Q-sort dimensions were also computed. There were no significant correlations between the security/anxiety dimension or the deactivation/hyperactivation dimension and changes in heart rate. However, there were two questions that showed marginally significant negative correlations for the deactivation/hyperactivation continuum. The questions: “Did you ever feel rejected as a child” and “Did you have any potentially traumatic experiences?” were negatively associated with deactivation. This suggests that questions which relate to trauma and rejection may differentially effect changes in heart rate. This is in accordance with attachment theory, given that these questions are indicative of situations that in childhood elicit proximity seeking. Table 5 shows the correlation between both dimensions and changes in heart rate for these and other questions.

Discussion

Overview

Insecurity, as measured by the Strange Situation procedure and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), has been correlated with a wide variety of negative outcomes in the domains of social functioning and psychopathology in childhood and young adulthood (Lewis, Feiring, McGuffog, Jaskir 1984; Renken, Egeland, Marvinney, and Mangelsdorf , 1989; Warren, Huston, Egeland, & Sroufe, 1997). Researchers focusing on romantic relationships, specifically, have found that both dismissing and preoccupied insecurity have negative implications for an individual’s ability to successfully navigate partner interactions (Roisman, Madsen, Hennighausen, Sroufe, Collins, 2001; Bouthiller, Julien, Dube, Belanger, & Hamelin, 2002). Taken together, the correlates of insecure attachment suggest that, although these patterns of behavior and affective attribution may be adaptive in an individual’s family of origin, they are maladaptive in later social interactions (Sroufe, 1997). Clearly, the way in which a child experiences their relationship with their primary caregiver as an infant, has a long term effect on how that child behaves later in life, but the question remains, by what means does an attachment model organize adult behavior?

To date three studies have produced data that approach the answer to this question from a physiological perspective. Dozier and Kobak (1992) found that prototypically dismissing or deactivating individuals showed increased in skin conductance during questions which relate to separation, and threat. Roisman, Tsai and Chiang (2004) isolated deactivating strategy use as uniquely associated with increased in skin conductance, and not heart rate, during relevant AAI questions. Finally, Roisman (revised and resubmitted) found that, within married and engaged couples participating in a disagreement discussion, dismissing individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in electrodermal response than secure and preoccupied individuals, and preoccupied individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in heart rate and heart rate variability than secure and dismissing individuals. Together these studies support the idea that dismissing adults are experiencing anxiety in attachment-relevant contexts and are expending effort to maintain emotional equilibrium. Preoccupied individuals, on the other hand, appear to be experiencing behavioral activation, and becoming emotionally dysregulated.

Electrodermal Response and Dismissing Attachment Styles
Given previous work in this area and the clear linkages between current attachment and emotional regulation theories, I posited that distinctive patterns of emotion regulation would be present in the physiological response of individuals during relevant questions on the adult attachment interview. Resting on current theories in psychophysiology and previous work within the adult attachment literature, I hypothesized that a rise in skin conductance could be correlated with scores on the deactiviation/hyperactivation continuum, indicating that prototypically dismissing individuals are experiencing behavioral inhibition.

The current study replicated the results of two earlier studies of physiological response during the Adult Attachment Interview (Dozier & Kobak, 1992; Roiseman, Tsai, & Chiang, 2004). Specifically, I found that young adults who utilized prototypically dismissing discourse were also more likely to show increases in electrodermal response during the questions of the Adult Attachment Interview. Like Roisman et al (2004), I was also able to show that increases in electrodermal response are uniquely associated with deactivation, and not with security. This effect has now been replicated in three separate studies, each in different geographical regions with diverse groups of young adults. The connection between the effortful inhibition of behavior and individuals observed to have characteristically dismissing discourse during the AAI is clearly a robust phenomenon.

Heart Rate and Preoccupied Attachment Styles
In contrast, work on identifying the patterns of physiological response characteristic of preoccupied individuals has not been so clear cut. Although Roisman, Tsai, and Chang (2004) were not able to establish a connection between heart rate and preoccupation during the AAI, Roisman (revised and resubmitted) did find that preoccupied individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in heart rate and heart rate variability than their secure and dismissing counterparts. The childhood data also suggests a relationship between high emotional engagement and resistance at the physiological level (Izard et al., 1991). However, due to the trend of grouping resistant/preoccupied and avoidant/dismissing individuals together under the heading of insecure, very little data exists which allow a true examination of the question.

The current study also failed to identify significant correlations between increased in heart rate and prototypically preoccupied discourse during the Adult Attachment interview. Taken with Roisman’s (revised and resubmitted) results this may indicate that, whereas an agreement/disagreement interaction elicits a strong attachment-related response for preoccupied individuals, recounting narratives about their childhood relationships does not. If this is the case, this data highlights the fact that for dismissing individuals recounting information about one’s childhood does elicit a significant attachment response. This finding, should it be replicated in studies with a larger dataset, would strengthen the assertion that dismissing individuals are experiencing a unique pattern of distress beyond the differences in the quality of emotional response. For dismissing individuals being asked to contend with emotional information, even outside of a real time relationship interaction, appears to activate emotionally driven attachment strategy use, whereas for the preoccupied adult it may not.

However, two marginal results on questions relating to loss and traumatic experiences, indicate that future research of this relationship is warranted. Like Roisman, Tsai, and Chang (2004), the current study focused on a relatively small data set. Given that the questions which produced the marginal results are the ones most likely to elicit an attachment response according to attachment theory, it is possible that a larger sample could produce the expected pattern of results. Additionally, it should be considered that this study was part of a larger study in which participants underwent a mood manipulation prior to the attachment interview. Given that the mean for heart rate was higher than expected for the general population, it is also possible that artifacts from the mood induction masked the effect of having a preoccupied state of mind during attachment related discourse.

Summary

In conclusion, prototypically dismissing individuals did show a pattern of physiological response indicative of the effortful inhibition of behavior. This supports the idea that dismissing adults are expending effort to maintain emotional equilibrium, possibly by suppressing information. This study did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that preoccupied individuals experience a behavioral activation pattern of physiological response during the AAI. However, I did find marginal results on questions that the theory suggests are the most likely to produce significant differences. The marginal results stress the need for studies with larger sample sizes, given that there may be an effect too small to show up in a low power data set. Additionally, the differential response of dismissing and preoccupied individuals to discussing their childhood experiences suggests the need for further research comparing individual’s responses to relationship interaction situations versus interviews across dismissing and preoccupied adults.

Overall, this study supports the idea that insecure individuals differ in their emotional appraisal of attachment-related events through the measurement of physiological response during the AAI. Together with previous research on physiological response and adult attachment, this study advances the claim made by attachment theory that dismissing and preoccupied attachment styles produce distinctly different ways of experiencing attachment-related events. Specifically, this work suggests that internal working models continue to serve to guide and organize behavior, through internal state and the regulation of emotional response well into adulthood.

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How Childhood Organizes Adult Relationship Behavior, Part II

2006-01-11T17:27:02Z

This is the juicy Discussion part as promised....
If you want to read the WHOLE thing including the tables and references, go to this back dated entry .

Discussion

Overview

Insecurity, as measured by the Strange Situation procedure and the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), has been correlated with a wide variety of negative outcomes in the domains of social functioning and psychopathology in childhood and young adulthood (Lewis, Feiring, McGuffog, Jaskir 1984; Renken, Egeland, Marvinney, and Mangelsdorf , 1989; Warren, Huston, Egeland, & Sroufe, 1997). Researchers focusing on romantic relationships, specifically, have found that both dismissing and preoccupied insecurity have negative implications for an individual’s ability to successfully navigate partner interactions (Roisman, Madsen, Hennighausen, Sroufe, Collins, 2001; Bouthiller, Julien, Dube, Belanger, & Hamelin, 2002). Taken together, the correlates of insecure attachment suggest that, although these patterns of behavior and affective attribution may be adaptive in an individual’s family of origin, they are maladaptive in later social interactions (Sroufe, 1997). Clearly, the way in which a child experiences their relationship with their primary caregiver as an infant, has a long term effect on how that child behaves later in life, but the question remains, by what means does an attachment model organize adult behavior?

To date three studies have produced data that approach the answer to this question from a physiological perspective. Dozier and Kobak (1992) found that prototypically dismissing or deactivating individuals showed increased in skin conductance during questions which relate to separation, and threat. Roisman, Tsai and Chiang (2004) isolated deactivating strategy use as uniquely associated with increased in skin conductance, and not heart rate, during relevant AAI questions. Finally, Roisman (revised and resubmitted) found that, within married and engaged couples participating in a disagreement discussion, dismissing individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in electrodermal response than secure and preoccupied individuals, and preoccupied individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in heart rate and heart rate variability than secure and dismissing individuals. Together these studies support the idea that dismissing adults are experiencing anxiety in attachment-relevant contexts and are expending effort to maintain emotional equilibrium. Preoccupied individuals, on the other hand, appear to be experiencing behavioral activation, and becoming emotionally dysregulated.

Electrodermal Response and Dismissing Attachment Styles
Given previous work in this area and the clear linkages between current attachment and emotional regulation theories, I posited that distinctive patterns of emotion regulation would be present in the physiological response of individuals during relevant questions on the adult attachment interview. Resting on current theories in psychophysiology and previous work within the adult attachment literature, I hypothesized that a rise in skin conductance could be correlated with scores on the deactiviation/hyperactivation continuum, indicating that prototypically dismissing individuals are experiencing behavioral inhibition.

The current study replicated the results of two earlier studies of physiological response during the Adult Attachment Interview (Dozier & Kobak, 1992; Roiseman, Tsai, & Chiang, 2004). Specifically, I found that young adults who utilized prototypically dismissing discourse were also more likely to show increases in electrodermal response during the questions of the Adult Attachment Interview. Like Roisman et al (2004), I was also able to show that increases in electrodermal response are uniquely associated with deactivation, and not with security. This effect has now been replicated in three separate studies, each in different geographical regions with diverse groups of young adults. The connection between the effortful inhibition of behavior and individuals observed to have characteristically dismissing discourse during the AAI is clearly a robust phenomenon.

Heart Rate and Preoccupied Attachment Styles
In contrast, work on identifying the patterns of physiological response characteristic of preoccupied individuals has not been so clear cut. Although Roisman, Tsai, and Chang (2004) were not able to establish a connection between heart rate and preoccupation during the AAI, Roisman (revised and resubmitted) did find that preoccupied individuals were significantly more likely to show increases in heart rate and heart rate variability than their secure and dismissing counterparts. The childhood data also suggests a relationship between high emotional engagement and resistance at the physiological level (Izard et al., 1991). However, due to the trend of grouping resistant/preoccupied and avoidant/dismissing individuals together under the heading of insecure, very little data exists which allow a true examination of the question.

The current study also failed to identify significant correlations between increased in heart rate and prototypically preoccupied discourse during the Adult Attachment interview. Taken with Roisman’s (revised and resubmitted) results this may indicate that, whereas an agreement/disagreement interaction elicits a strong attachment-related response for preoccupied individuals, recounting narratives about their childhood relationships does not. If this is the case, this data highlights the fact that for dismissing individuals recounting information about one’s childhood does elicit a significant attachment response. This finding, should it be replicated in studies with a larger dataset, would strengthen the assertion that dismissing individuals are experiencing a unique pattern of distress beyond the differences in the quality of emotional response. For dismissing individuals being asked to contend with emotional information, even outside of a real time relationship interaction, appears to activate emotionally driven attachment strategy use, whereas for the preoccupied adult it may not.

However, two marginal results on questions relating to loss and traumatic experiences, indicate that future research of this relationship is warranted. Like Roisman, Tsai, and Chang (2004), the current study focused on a relatively small data set. Given that the questions which produced the marginal results are the ones most likely to elicit an attachment response according to attachment theory, it is possible that a larger sample could produce the expected pattern of results. Additionally, it should be considered that this study was part of a larger study in which participants underwent a mood manipulation prior to the attachment interview. Given that the mean for heart rate was higher than expected for the general population, it is also possible that artifacts from the mood induction masked the effect of having a preoccupied state of mind during attachment related discourse.

Summary

In conclusion, prototypically dismissing individuals did show a pattern of physiological response indicative of the effortful inhibition of behavior. This supports the idea that dismissing adults are expending effort to maintain emotional equilibrium, possibly by suppressing information. This study did not find sufficient evidence to conclude that preoccupied individuals experience a behavioral activation pattern of physiological response during the AAI. However, I did find marginal results on questions that the theory suggests are the most likely to produce significant differences. The marginal results stress the need for studies with larger sample sizes, given that there may be an effect too small to show up in a low power data set. Additionally, the differential response of dismissing and preoccupied individuals to discussing their childhood experiences suggests the need for further research comparing individual’s responses to relationship interaction situations versus interviews across dismissing and preoccupied adults.

Overall, this study supports the idea that insecure individuals differ in their emotional appraisal of attachment-related events through the measurement of physiological response during the AAI. Together with previous research on physiological response and adult attachment, this study advances the claim made by attachment theory that dismissing and preoccupied attachment styles produce distinctly different ways of experiencing attachment-related events. Specifically, this work suggests that internal working models continue to serve to guide and organize behavior, through internal state and the regulation of emotional response well into adulthood.