Laura E. Sockol, Ph.D.

Davidson College Laboratory for Risk and Treatment Studies (LabRATS)

Does Attachment Classification Change from Infancy to Adulthood?

-Written by Katie Little ‘18 In previous blog posts, we have discussed attachment between mothers and their infants, as well as between adults in close relationships (Please see the blog posts “What Does Attachment Theory Tell Us about Romantic Love?” and “Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation Procedure” for more information.) To review, attachment is […]

What Creates Mother-Infant Bonds?

-Written by Katie Little ‘18 In 1958, psychologists generally believed that behavior was primarily motivated by survival related drives, such as hunger, thirst, pain, and sex. They determined that all other motives, including love, were secondary to these basic drives and therefore based upon them. From this perspective, the love between a mother and her […]

How Can We Measure Adult Attachment?

-Written by Katie Little ’18 How can we measure adult attachment? It’s certainly easier said than done. When Hazan and Shaver (1987) first came up with the concept of adult attachment as a means of explaining romantic bonds, they used Ainsworth’s categories of adult attachment—secure, anxious/ambivalent, and avoidant (For more information, see the blog post “What […]

Emotional Responses in Women with PTSD using Film Stimuli

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC ‘18 Individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder can be emotionally triggered by their environments. This can occur when something in the individual’s environment “sets off” a memory or an intrusive thought, either about or related to a previous traumatic experience. Often enough, these individuals may respond to environmental triggers in a dysfunctional […]

Mary Ainsworth and the Strange Situation Procedure

-Written by Katie Little ’18 Attachment theory was originally used to study mother-infant bonding. The term was coined by John Bowlby, but one of its most famous applications was with Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation procedure (To watch a video of Mary Ainsworth’s procedure, please see below.). In a 1970 article co-authored by Sylvia Bell, Ainsworth described attachment as […]

Autobiographical Memories and Intimacy

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC ’18 Self-disclosure, the act of sharing self-relevant information with others, has been a common research topic for those studying intimacy in relationships. Another topic among research surrounding intimacy are the potential benefits of including autobiographical memories into a conversation. An autobiographical memory refers to a memory for something that you […]

College Students and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC ‘18 Defined by the American Psychological Association, posttraumatic stress disorder is an anxiety problem that develops in some people after extremely traumatic events (2013). People with PTSD may relive the event by having intrusive memories, flashbacks, and nightmares. They may avoid anything that reminds them of the trauma and have […]

Concepts of Emotional Intelligence

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC ‘18 Emotional intelligence is defined as a subset of social intelligence. Social intelligence can be broadly defined as our ability to get along with others and getting them to cooperate with you. Simplistically put, people skills. Furthermore, emotional intelligence is defined by Peter Salovey and John D. Mayer as the “ability […]

Discourse Around Trigger Warnings

Written by Alexis Mitchell UNCC ‘18 Recent debate surrounding trigger warnings has provoked public attention around issues of critical thinking, academic freedom, trauma, and generally what is best for formal education institutions. Students and professors are requesting trigger warnings in order to flag material that might cause distress or discomfort, or possibly trigger a panic […]

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