Differences in Cognitive Abilities According to Attachment Type in Middle Childhood Boys
AUTHOR : 강수정,이순형,최은정
INFORMATION : page. 175~195 / 2017 Vol.24 No.3
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate children’s cognitive abilities associated with attachment type.
Attachment scores were assessed using the Separation Anxiety Test in a sample of 89 boys in grades 3
and 4. Fifty-one children were evaluated as having secure attachment type, and thirty-eight children as
having insecure attachment type. Their cognitive abilities were then assessed using the K-WISC-IV.
Statistical methods used for data analysis were frequencies, means, standard deviations and independent
t-test. The results were as follows: 1) Boys of secure attachment type showed better cognitive capability in
full scale IQ, verbal comprehension ability, perceptual reasoning ability and working memory ability
compared to boys of the insecure attachment type. 2) There was no statistically significant difference in
processing speed ability between secure and insecure attachment types. This study empirically showed the
relationship between attachment types and cognitive abilities of middle childhood boys; processing speed
ability, however, was not related to attachment type.