@phdthesis{61cdd26e-60fc-4f59-9490-7b3801638776,
  abstract     = {{Close relationships are fundamental to human wellbeing. Attachment theory posits that early caregiving experiences shape how individuals come to understand themselves, others, and the world. Through repeated caregiving interactions in situations of distress, children develop script-like mental structures (i.e., attachment schemas). Attachment schemas, thus, hold implicit knowledge about availability of close others, viability of support-seeking, and how events are most likely to unfold in stressful situations. They are assumed to guide relational expectations when in distress, and regulate attention, largely <br/>outside of awareness, with influence extending from cognitive and defensive processes to relationship dynamics and overall wellbeing. Given this broad scope, this dissertation investigates how implicit script-like attachment knowledge can be reliably assessed, how its functions manifest in cognitive and neurophysiological processes, in relation to regulating attention and guiding relational expectations, and whether defensive patterns associated with attachment insecurity are amenable to change. <br/>Study I examined whether the traditional interview-like assessment of scripted attachment knowledge can be replaced by more flexible, digital settings, in the absence of an interviewer/listener. Findings indicated relative modality-invariance, providing initial evidence that scripted attachment knowledge can be assessed outside traditional interview context, with implications for large-scale and more cost-efficient research. Study II investigated whether attachment security priming can reduce avoidance-related attentional defenses. As expected, high attachment avoidance was associated with attentional disengagement from social stimuli, reflecting avoidance-based attentional defenses. Security priming did not alter this attentional pattern. While low avoidance individuals reported a decrease in positive affect following the priming, those high in avoidance remained unaffected, suggesting that they may have disengaged from the priming task itself. These findings highlight the complexity of experimentally <br/>influencing avoidant defenses and raise questions about what form of priming may be effective. Study III used electroencephalography (EEG) with ecologically valid, narrative stimuli to investigate neural correlates of attachment-schema-congruent predictions of support. Findings supported expected patterns: attachment security was associated with expectations of support in distressing situations as well as a greater capacity to visualize such scenarios, while this association was absent among individuals with insecure attachment. <br/>Taken together, the three studies make complementary contributions to the understanding of nature and functions of attachment schemas, as well as attachment field in a broader sense. Key strengths of this work include methodological diversity in terms of experimental paradigms and ecologically valid stimuli, complementary measurement of attachment-related constructs and novel findings on alternative assessment techniques, and neurophysiological evidence for fundamental assumptions in attachment theory.}},
  author       = {{Han, Gizem}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-8104-998-5}},
  keywords     = {{attachment schemas; secure base scripts; narrative-based assessment; digital assessment; attentional biases; attachment security priming; event-related potentials (ERP); expectation of support}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Lund University}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Nature and Functions of Scripted Attachment Knowledge : Assessment, Cognitive Processes, and Neural Correlates}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/249189197/e-nailing_Gizem_Han.pdf}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}