Cognition and Neurosciences Consciously identified attachment hierarchies: Cognitive accessibility of attachment figure names as a function of threat primes in a lexical decision task SAM CARR and SEAN LANDAU University of Bath, UK Carr, S. & Landau, S. (2012). Consciously identified attachment hierarchies: Cognitive accessibility of attachment figure names as a function of threat primes in a lexical decision task. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology 53, 17–25. Studies have linked the subliminal priming of threat-related words to heightened cognitive accessibility directed towards the names of identified attachment figures. The present study used a lexical decision task to examine the cognitive accessibility of names of individuals who formed part of participants’ self-reported attachment hierarchies. We did not find support for heightened accessibility in relation to the names of (a) consciously identified attachment figures in general, (b) full-blown attachment figures, or (c) primary attachment figures. However, our data revealed that participants showed increased accessibility to mothers’ names in response to threat primes. This effect was even identified in individuals who did not consider mothers to occupy a primary position in their attachment hierarchy. Results are discussed in the context of attachment system activation in early adulthood. Key words: Attachment, priming. Dr Sam Carr, Department of Education, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1225 383489; e-mail: S.Carr@bath.ac.uk INTRODUCTION One of the key features of Bowlby’s (1973, 1980, 1969/1982) attachment theory is the proposal of an innate attachment system. Bretherton (1985) has described the attachment system as a ‘‘psy- chological organization’’ that has the predominant goal of regulat- ing behavior designed to maintain or initiate proximity to discriminate attachment figures. Bowlby (1969/1982) proposed that the attachment system is most active in situations where infants are threatened, under stress, frightened, fatigued, or ill and it is ‘‘toned down’’ when attachment figures provide needed comfort. The attachment literature has provided strong support for the idea that infants develop a selective preference with regards to particular attachment figures, toward which they seek proximity, direct their attachment related behavior, and object to separation (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters & Wall, 1978; Schaffer & Emerson, 1964). In sup- port of the existence of an attachment system, increased perceptions of threat or distress serve to heighten levels of proximity-seeking behavior toward these specific figures (Ainsworth, 1973; Ains- worth, Blehar, Waters & Wall, 1978; Brooks & Lewis, 1974) and when tired or ill, infants have a tendency to maintain proximity to attachment figures and to feel comforted in their presence (e.g., Ainsworth, 1973, 1991; Heinicke & Westheimer, 1966). Attachment theorists have hypothesized that the evolutionary importance of the attachment system suggests that it will remain active over the course of the lifespan. This is reasoned to be reflected in the fact that adult cognitive and behavioral processes are directed towards maintenance of proximity to specific attach- ment figures when the attachment system is activated (Bowlby, 1988; Mikulincer, Gillath & Shaver, 2002). Recent lines of research have shed light on some of the important properties of attachment system in adults by employing a subliminal priming paradigm. Mikulincer and his colleagues (e.g., Mikulincer, Birn- baum, Woddis & Nachmias, 2000; Mikulincer, Gillath & Shaver, 2002) have utilized this paradigm to investigate activation of the attachment system in adults, reasoning that detection of threat on an unconscious level should automatically heighten cognitive accessibility of thoughts related to attachment figures. In this investigation we explored the cognitive accessibility of significant others identified as part of individuals’ hierarchies of attachment figures in relation to threat primes. Investigating attachment system activation in adulthood: a priming paradigm Mikulincer, Gillath & Shaver, 2002 argued that unconscious detection of threat should initially activate the attachment system (and hence representations of attachment figures) in all humans (regardless of attachment security). This is because Bowlby (1969/ 1982) proposed that the attachment system serves an innate pro- tective function and there are survival-related advantages to the unconscious activation of thoughts about attachment figures upon the detection of threat. However, this is not to say that once initi- ally activated the manner in which individuals experience and deal with the initial cognitive products of the attachment system would not be a function of individual differences in attachment history. In two seminal papers, Mikulincer and his colleagues (Mikulin- cer, Birnbaum, Woddis & Nachmias, 2000; Mickulincer & Sha- ver, 2003) investigated activation of the attachment system in relation to subliminal priming and explored how threat and non- threat conditions were related to the cognitive accessibility of thoughts related to attachment figures. In three experiments, Mikulincer, Birnbaum, Woddis & Nachmias, 2000 examined participants’ sensitivity to proximity related themes and concerns on a lexical decision task, following the subliminal presentation (20-ms exposure) of threat-related (e.g., failure, death) or neutral Ó 2011 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology Ó 2011 The Scandinavian Psychological Associations. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA. ISSN 0036-5564. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 2012, 53, 17–25 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9450.2011.00916.x