Language and attachment: Conversations between 28-month-old children and their mothers.
Item
-
Title
-
Language and attachment: Conversations between 28-month-old children and their mothers.
-
Identifier
-
AAI9630498
-
identifier
-
9630498
-
Creator
-
Picchi, Virginia Rose.
-
Contributor
-
Adviser: Arietta Slade
-
Date
-
1996
-
Language
-
English
-
Publisher
-
City University of New York.
-
Subject
-
Psychology, Developmental | Language, Linguistics
-
Abstract
-
This study examines the manner in which conversations between mothers and their children are related to their attachment status'. It attempts to show, on a linguistic level, what has already been amply investigated with preverbal infants and their mothers: That styles and mode of interaction can reflect the security or insecurity of a dyad.;Six different mothers and their 28-month-old children were used as subjects--three dyads were classified insecure, three secure. Twenty minutes of conversation for each dyad was transcribed and coded on the computer, using the Child Language Data Exchange System (CHILDES) and Wolf/Kruger's Narrative Co-construction coding system. Two different play conditions were examined; (1) the child playing alone while the mother is occupied but present and, (2) child and mother playing together on the floor. The mother's AAI narrative and child's behavior in the Strange Situation were related to the shape and content of their dialogues together. It was projected that comparing the play performances to the participants' previous measures of attachment would give some idea of how the dynamic internal workings mother are passed on to child.;The final data was examined using two distinctly different methods of analysis: First a descriptive analysis was conducted, in which the discourse measures for both groups were compared. In this analysis, patterns and consistencies within and between the secure and insecure dyads were explored using data from CHILDES and the narrative co-construction coding system. Three dyads were then chosen for case studies. Here, data were considered at a micro-analytic level to facilitate more careful examination of the shape and structure of portions of the exchanges.;This study found that the most marked differences between secure and insecure dyads appeared when the children played alone in their mothers' presence. Here, the secure mothers intervened more frequently to verbally structure the children's play. The case studies suggested that the verbal exchanges of the insecure dyads are more explicitly disrupted and conflictual than those of insecure dyads. These suggestions are in keeping with the findings of previous research regarding discourse and attachment.
-
Type
-
dissertation
-
Source
-
PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
-
degree
-
Ph.D.
