Attachment Interview

Instructions: Please answer the questions below on separate sheets of paper. Please type up your double-spaced response in Times New Roman 12-point font. (Set your margins to the default mode.) The end paper should be roughly 4 to 5 pages long. (No more than 6 pages, maximum.) You must hand in the first assignment by the due date in your syllabus. Please number all of your answers! Points will be taken off it you don’t! Your score for a question increases if your answer: -Is supported by reasoning and evidence -Contains supporting details (for example: pointing out information from your interview that supports your answer or explaining your reasons for putting down an answer) -Is grammatically correct (spelled correctly, uses correct punctuation, uses vocabulary from our class/textbook) -Answers the question fully (answer every single part of the question with details) Please do not: -Plagiarize or copy answers from a classmate -Use chat-room vocabulary (LOL, OMG, WTF, etc.) or smilies (, , etc.) -Forget to use spell-check -Hand in anything that isn’t typed up (hand-written assignments will not be accepted!) Also, please give your interviewee a pseudonym (i.e., false name to hide their identity)! Do not identify them by their real age, address, or other sensitive information that could be used to track them down. For this writing assignment, you will conduct a short interview (roughly 20 – 30 minutes) with an adult who grew up with at least one living and present parent. This interview is a modified version of Mary Main’s Adult Attachment Interview Protocol. You will take notes on the answers that your participating interviewee (who can be anyone except yourself) gives you and then give a summary of their answers in Questions 1 – 4. In questions 5 & 6, you will be asked to analyze the answers given to you during the interview, using information from class, the textbook, and your understanding of attachment theory. Questions 1 – 4: Interview Questions (10 Points Each) [Your answers should be overview/summary of their responses – you can use important quotations when needed.] 1a. Let’s begin by helping me get oriented to your early family situation, where you lived and so on. Please tell me where you were born, whether you moved around much, what your family did at various times for a living. [Note: Try to get a general sense of their childhood and life circumstances]. 1b. Please talk about most important relationships in your life now. Who are you closest to right now? (Ie. family, friends, romantic partner, etc.) How would you generally describe your relationships? [Note: Try to get a general sense of their relationships with current partners]. 2. I would like to ask you to choose five adjectives or words that reflect your relationship with your mother starting from as far back as you can remember in early childhood– age 5 to 12 is fine. I know this may take a bit of time, so go ahead and think for a minute…then I’d like to ask you why you chose them. I’ll write each one down as you give them to me. [Note: Write down both their words AND their explanations for why they chose the words]. 3. Now I’d like to ask you to choose five adjectives or words that reflect your childhood relationship with your father, again starting from as far back as you can remember in early childhood–as early as you can go, but again say, age 5 to 12 is fine. I know this may take a bit of time, so go ahead and think again for a minute…then I’d like to ask you why you chose them. I’ll write each one down as you give them to me. [Note: Write down both their words AND their explanations for why they chose the words]. 4. Is there anything else you would like to tell me about your important relationships early on in your life? Are there any other memories or experiences you would be comfortable sharing with me? Question 5 & 6: Analysis Question (30 Points Each) 5. Analyzing Childhood Attachment 5a. Based on the results of this interview, what do you feel was the primary attachment style(s) [secure, insecure avoidant, insecure anxious, insecure disorganized] that your interviewee experienced with their parents (mother and father) as a child? Did the person experience different attachment styles with their mother and with their father? 5b. Why do you believe this is attachment style (or styles) they experienced? (Note: Please explain your answers and analysis of their attachment styles thoroughly. Use supporting details from the interview. You can quote participants as needed). 6. Connecting Childhood Attachment to Adult Relationships 6a. Based on the results of the interview, how do you think that your interviewee’s childhood attachment style influences them in the present day? 6b. What kind of attachment style (or styles) do they currently experience with their important relationship partners (family, friends, romantic partners, etc.) now? [Secure, insecure avoidant, insecure anxious, insecure disorganized] 6c. Are they repeating any of their attachment patterns from the past or have their attachment styles changed over time? (Note: Please explain your answers and analysis of their attachment styles thoroughly. Use supporting details from the interview. You can quote participants as needed). GRADING RUBRIC FOR WRITING ASSIGNMENT 1: Points will be assigned for each INDIVIDUAL question, based on the grading rubrics below: A. Rubric for Questions 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Each worth 10 Points): (Please note that you can receive a grade in between the major points if you fall in between 2 of the categories. So if the quality of your question is between 5 and 10 points, you can get a grade of 6 to 9 points). 1 Point 5 Points 10 Points -Answer is very difficult to understand, as it has several grammar, spelling, punctuation, or other errors. -Answer offers very little information on interview participant’s experiences. -Answer does not include at least NOT direct quote from the interview participant. -Answer is generally understandable but has several grammar, spelling, punctuation or other errors. -Answer offers vague information on interview participant’s experiences. -Answer does NOT include at least one direct quote from the interview participant. -Answer is clearly written, generally grammatically correct, and very understandable. -Answer offers detailed information on interview participant’s experiences. -Answer includes at least one direct quote from the interview participant. B. Rubric for Questions 5 & 6 (Each worth 30 Points): (Please note that you can receive a grade in between the major points if you fall in between 2 of the categories. So if the quality of your question is between 10 and 20 points, you can get a grade of 11 to 19 points). 1 Point 10 Points 20 Points 30 Points -Answer is extremely poorly written and hard to understand due to numerous errors. -Answer leaves out almost all information requested. -Answer does not include vocabulary of developmental psychology. -Answer includes no information from class, PowerPoints, textbooks, or other sources. -Answer is poorly written and contains several grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, making it difficult to understand. -Answer leaves out a lot of information from the multi-part question. -Answer does not include the vocabulary of developmental psychology (i.e., attachment terms, etc.) -Answer includes only a little information provided by the participant in their interview. -Answer includes only a little information from the class, PowerPoints, textbooks, or other scholarly sources on development. -Answer contains a few grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors, make it difficult to understand. -Answer leaves out some information from the multi-part question. -Answer includes a few vocabulary words of developmental psychology (i.e., attachment terms, etc.) -Answer includes some information provided by the participant in their interview. -Answer includes some information from the class, PowerPoints, textbooks, or other scholarly sources on development. -Answer is clearly written, generally grammatically correct, and very understandable. -Answer clearly answers each section of the multi-part question using the vocabulary of developmental psychology (i.e., attachment terms, etc.) -Answer draws upon information provided by the participant in their interview. -Answer includes information from the class, PowerPoints, textbooks, or other scholarly sources on human development.