Adult Attachment Interview and Categorizations

Question 1

What are the four categories of related to Adult Attachment Interview?

Answer 1

1. Free-autonomous/Secure (F)
2. Insecure-Dismissing (Ds)
3. Insecure-Preoccupied (E)
4. Unresolved (loss/trauma) (U)

5. Cannot Classify (CC)

Question 2

What the 4 Grice’s Maxims in AAI

requirements for ideally rational, coherent, cooperative conversation

Answer 2

1. Quality: be truthful
2. Quantity: be succinct, yet complete
3. Relation: be relevant to current topic
4. Manner: be clear and orderly

Question 3

Free-Autonomous or Secure

clarifying letter and description

Answer 3

• F
• presentation and interpretation of attachment-related experiences (+ or -) is succinct, clear, coherent, and relevant
• answer Q’s with sufficient (not excessive) elaboration
• takes conversational turns with interviewer

Question 4

Free-autonomous or secure parents tend to have children that are…

letter clarifier of free autonomous/secure?

Answer 4

Secure (B)

F parents = B children

Question 5

F pattern 5 sub-classifications

Answer 5

• F1a/F1b
• F2
• F3a/F3b
• F4a/F4b
• F5

Question 6

F1a & F1b

Answer 6

They set aside some attachment concerns regarding harsh/limiting background (e.g., poverty) F1a and have forcused on attachment F1b

Question 7

F2

Answer 7

Humorously indicate, some dismissal or restriction, while showing they value attachment

Question 8

F3a & F3b

Answer 8

“prototypically secure”, obviously “continously secure” subtype F3a distinguished from the “earned secure” subtype F3b

Question 9

F4a & F4b

Answer 9

show mild preoccupation with attachment, with either a largely supportive background F4a or an unfortunate (loss) or traumatic background F4b

Question 10

F5

Answer 10

although secure, some are nonetheless resentful and conflicted in some ways - however are accepting and wish to continue involvement with attachment

Question 11

Secure subgroups all share…

Answer 11

• relative lack of defensiveness
• moderate to high coherence
• clear valuing of attachment

Question 12

Dismissing pattern

clarifying letter and description

Answer 12

• Ds
• describes parents in highly positive terms, lack of examples or with contradictory statements
• idealization - narrtive minimizes attachment-related experiences
• violate coherence - internally inconsistent

Question 13

Parents of dismissing pattern typically have children who are…

letter clarifier of dismissing

Answer 13

Avoidant (A)

Ds parents = A children

Question 14

What are the four sub-classifications of dismissing pattern?

Answer 14

• Ds1
• Ds2
• Ds3
• Ds4

Question 15

Ds1

Answer 15

• highly idealising one or both parents
• frequently associated with maoderate to strong inconsistency/lack of childhood memory

Question 16

Ds2

Answer 16

• no idealization
• derogating of one or both parents

relatively rare

Question 17

Ds3

Answer 17

• idealisation and lack of memory not extreme
• hurt expressions usually absent
• some resentment may be expressed but usually withdrawn and accompanied by positive reaffirmation of parental excellence or that experience made them stronger

Question 18

Ds4

Answer 18

• extreme prospective fear of death of their child
• unable to track this fear to previous experience i.e. loss
• not idealising or derogating
• insistence on absence of memory of childhood may not be present

very rare

Question 19

“state of mind” scales for Ds pattern

Answer 19

• idealization of primary attachment figure
• insistence on lack of memory for childhood
• active, derogating dismissal of attachment realted experiences and/or relationships

Question 20

Preoccupied/Entangled pattern

clarifying letter and description

Answer 20

• E
• narrative characterized by anger, confusion, or passive preoccupation with attachment figures
• excessive attention to attachment-related memories + incoherence
• vioolate principle of collaboration: lengthy, angry, discussion of childhood interaction with parent

Question 21

Parents in category of preoccupied/entangled tend to have children who are….

Answer 21

Resistant/Ambivalent (C)

E parents = C children

Question 22

Sub cats of preoccupied/entangled pattern

Answer 22

• E1 (passively preoccupied)
• E2 (angrily preoccupied)
• E3 (fearful preoccupied)

Question 23

E1

Answer 23

Passively preoccupied
* may say little negative of parents
* seems lost in vague discourse, can’t stay on topic

Question 24

E2

Answer 24

Angrily preoccupied
* overwhelms interviewer with incidents and details of parental offenses
* fixate on topic

Question 25

E3

Answer 25

Fearful preoccupied
* frightening events brought into interview even when not part of topic

Question 26

“State of mind” scales for E pattern

Answer 26

• involved/involving anger expressed towards primary attachment figure(s)
• passivity or vagueness in discourse

Question 27

D pattern or …

Answer 27

Unresolved (u) / disorganized

Question 28

characteristics of D pattern

unresolved (U)

Answer 28

• narrative has lack of resolution of trauma
• lapses in the discourse/reasoning when discussing traumatic events
• additional underlying class. of autonomous, dismissing, or preoccupied
• extreme reports probably dissociative response to traumatic events

Question 29

CC pattern meaning…

Answer 29

Cannot classify
* maxims do not take form they usually do in insecure indvs.
* transcript may just be incoherent
Examples:
* can equally match both secure and insecure
* speaker seems to attempt to frighten listener
* speaker refuses to speak during interview

Question 30

“state of mind” scales for f pattern

Answer 30

• coherence of transcript
• metacognitive monitoring