A. PURPOSE / DESCRIPTION
The student will engage in the study of principles of classical attachment theory (e.g., Ainsworth, Bowlby), adult attachment theory (e.g., Feeney, Hazan, Shaver), and Parasocial Attachment Theory (e.g., Giles, Stever). An advanced understanding of the concept of attachment as ‘proximity seeking for the purpose of safe haven and felt security’ at all stages of the lifespan will be the emphasis in this course. While it is not required, it might be helpful if students took Introduction to Psychology, any human development survey course, or equivalent. This course was previously HDV-283124 . Please note: Students should not enroll in this course and HUDV 2035 Attachment in Early Childhood as there is significant redundancy in the content of courses.
B. LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain the basic tenets of classical attachment theory as they apply to infancy and throughout the lifespan. 2. Explain how classical attachment theory has been applied to adult romantic relationships and adult sexuality. 3. Describe how attachment theory has been linked to parasocial theory to explain the developmental interface between social relationships and media effects in 21st century culture.
Please note that there is no Brightspace Page for this course. Work is all submitted over email to gayle.stever@sunyempire.edu The schedule for the course is in this learning contract.
To achieve the goals of academic learning, you need to be engaged in reading, thinking, and analysis. AI generated writing is not a substitute for your own writing or analysis and should never be submitted as your own work. You should never be copying/pasting from generative AI as this is considered plagiarism and is a direct violation of the University’s Academic Honesty Policy.
Please keep in mind that you are responsible for the content of your submissions. While AI might help with general knowledge questions, it does not do well at answering questions using specific terms and concepts. In addition, generative AIs are known to hallucinate (make up things and present them in plausible-sounding ways), present biased information, and fabricate references. You must fact-check to ensure you are not using false or misleading information.
C. Learning Activities
This course will be 8 weeks, and one paper will be due every week. In each case write a summary and reflection on the paper or papers, including the basic aspects of attachment that are discussed in the paper. Minimum length per paper is 1250 words. For each paper, summarize the key points made by the articles, and then be sure to include your own personal applications of the material based on your own life and experience. (critical!) Find your papers for Paper #8 early in the term. Do not put it off to the end!
All of these papers are based on journal articles (1 or 2 in most cases) and if you have trouble finding any of them, I can send you PDFs. Most of them are easily available using Google Scholar:
Paper #1: Karen, R. (1990). Becoming attached. The Atlantic Monthly, 265(2), 35-70. This paper has an excellent overview of the field.
Due (September 8). This paper is the foundation for the rest of the course. It is an older paper and work has been done since to perfect the theory, but this foundation sets the stage for the rest of the material.
Paper #2: Due September 15 (note that you must include the YouTube clips) Note if a link for YouTube doesn’t work, go to YouTube and search for the video that way using the title and presenter name.
Sroufe, L. A., & Waters, E. (1977). Attachment as an organizational construct. Child Development, 48, 1184-1199.
YouTube clips (to supplement the article):
Ainsworth Strange Situation from Mark Allenb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqlbvpXp74
Secure, Insecure, Avoidant Ambivalent Attachment in Mothers Babies from Marie Coppola
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRejV6f-Y3c
Why Does Your Attachment Style Matter? from Kati Morton
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pq_UoY4rqGo
Paper #3: Due September 22
Besser, A., & Priel, B. (2005). The apple does not fall far from the tree: Attchment styles and personality vulnerabilities to depression in three generations of women. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31(8), 1052-1073.
Spruit, A., Goos, L., Weenink, N., Rodenburg, R., Niemeyer, H., Stams, G. J., & Colonnesi, C. (2020). The relation between attachment and depression in children and adolescents: A multilevel meta-analysis. Clinical child and family psychology review, 23(1), 54-69.
Paper #4: Due September 29
Hazan, C., & Shaver, Phillip R. (1987). Romantic Love Conceptualized as an Attachment Process, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(2), 511.
Bartholomew, K., & Horowitz, L. M. (1991). Attachment styles among young adults: a test of a four-category model. Journal of personality and social psychology, 61(2), 226.
Paper #5: Due October 6
Feeney, Judith A., & Noller, Patricia (1990). Attachment Style as a Predictor of Adult Romantic Relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(2), 281-291
Hazan, C., & Shaver, P. R. (1990). Love and work: An attachment-theoretical perspective. Journal of Personality and social Psychology, 59(2), 270.
Paper #6: Starting with this week, we explore the nature of parasocial interaction, parasocial relationships, and parasocial attachment. Due October 13
Horton, D., & Richard Wohl, R. (1956). Mass communication and para-social interaction: Observations on intimacy at a distance. Psychiatry, 19(3), 215-229.
Stever, G. S. (2017). Parasocial theory: Concepts and measures. The international encyclopedia of media effects, 1-12. (I might have to send you this one?
Paper #7: Due October 20
Stever, G. (2023). PSRs in Adults and Older Adults. The Oxford Handbook of Parasocial Experiences, 210.
Giles, D. & Stever, G. (2024). Parasocial Attachment and its place in attachment theory. (Chapter 7 in Parasocial Experiences). Book is at this link:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/empire-ebooks/reader.action?docID=31691233&ppg=128
Paper #8: Due last day of the course (October 27) (the course technically ends October 24, but I will take these papers through the following Monday).
Choose three journal articles all related to some aspect of the course and write your own reflective summary about these articles. These should be NEW articles and not ones you’ve already read for the other papers.
D. METHOD AND CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
The first seven papers are pass/fail. If the paper is not adequate, it will be returned to you for a rewrite.
Late papers will affect the overall course grade with a penalty assessed for any paper that is more than four days late.
The final paper will receive a letter grade. An A in the course requires passes on the first 7 papers and that they be turned in on time! Then you must obtain a B or better on the final paper. If papers are significantly late or if the final paper is a C or less, the course grade will reflect that.
Grading is based on the following criteria:
A. Excellent: The discussions, writing and questions demonstrate a full grasp of the topic at hand, and understanding of salient points, and a capacity to analyze through writing, discussion, and relevant questions.
B. Good: The work is reasonably focused, demonstrates an understanding of salient points, but lacks the level of analysis expected in excellent work.
C. Satisfactory: The works is moderately focused, demonstrates only a partial or incomplete view of the topic at hand. It relies on description and summary without any analysis.
D Poor: The work is incomplete, wanders, misses salient points and contains errors of fact and omission.
F Failing: The work is missing, demonstrates no understanding of salient points and shows no understanding of the topic at hand.
Written assignments are expected to demonstrate skills of organization, clarity of expression, thoroughness of research, analysis and correct bibliographic format and style (Please use APA referencing style; information available on that at this web site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
http://www.middleweb.com/ReadWrkshp/RWdownld/MvaleRubric.pdf
The student should also be able to use critical thinking through analysis, synthesis and evaluation of course content and demonstrate these skills in discussions and written material. It is expected that all papers will show organization of ideas and proficiency in the mechanics of writing (vocabulary, punctuation, spelling, and grammar) and adhere to APA guidelines for style and references.
All papers and assignments should also be in the student’s own words. Students who are unsure of the criteria for academic honesty are urged to read the college’s policy on academic honesty, attend the local plagiarism workshop, or meet with a writing center tutor to reach an understanding of how to properly put information into the student’s own words, when to use quotes, and how to properly cite sources. Students who fail to comply with academic honesty standards can receive lower grades and evaluations, can be asked to rewrite assignments, and under some circumstances can be given a failing grade for the study.
E. PLAN FOR FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
1. Students’ written work will be assessed, and students are alerted if their work doesn’t meet standards of substantive and consistent participation. Mastery remains the goal of this aspect of the course and the student will be allowed to repeat each paper with the goal of demonstrating mastery. Papers 1 through 7 are pass/fail and if they don’t pass, you will get them back for rewrite.
2. Resources for APA style are provided in this learning contract, and papers are expected to follow that style. Feedback will be given on this as you go along.