View allAll Photos Tagged Behaviour
Gesture, attitude, behaviour : a workshop with dancers Mauro Paccagnella and Alessandro Bernardeschi on march 6, 2007 at Erg (Ecole de Recherche Graphique, Brussels) for bachelor 1 students. Professors : Sabine Voglaire and Marc Wathieu. Pictures by Yves André.
Album Title: Exotic Behaviour
Model: 虹羚
Photographer: Edwin Setiawan
Place: 士林官邸
Date: 2009/07/12
Just about Photography: edwinsetiawan.wordpress.com
Edwin Setiawan Photography: www.edwinsetiawan.com
Gesture, attitude, behaviour : a workshop with dancers Mauro Paccagnella and Alessandro Bernardeschi on march 6, 2007 at Erg (Ecole de Recherche Graphique, Brussels) for bachelor 1 students. Professors : Sabine Voglaire and Marc Wathieu. Pictures by Yves André.
Zebra. Madikwe Game Reserve. South Africa. Nov/2020
Zebra
Zebras are several species of African equids (horse family) united by their distinctive black and white striped coats. Their stripes come in different patterns, unique to each individual. They are generally social animals that live in small harems to large herds. Unlike their closest relatives, horses and donkeys, zebras have never been truly domesticated.
There are three species of zebras: the plains zebra, the mountain zebra and the Grévy's zebra. The plains zebra and the mountain zebra belong to the subgenus Hippotigris, but Grévy's zebra is the sole species of subgenus Dolichohippus. The latter resembles an ass, to which zebras are closely related, while the former two look more horse-like. All three belong to the genus Equus, along with other living equids.
The unique stripes of zebras make them one of the animals most familiar to people. They occur in a variety of habitats, such as grasslands, savannas, woodlands, thorny scrublands, mountains, and coastal hills. However, various anthropogenic factors have had a severe impact on zebra populations, in particular hunting for skins and habitat destruction. Grévy's zebra and the mountain zebra are endangered. While plains zebras are much more plentiful, one subspecies, the quagga, became extinct in the late 19th century – though there is currently a plan, called the Quagga Project, that aims to breed zebras that are phenotypically similar to the quagga in a process called breeding back.
Source: Wikipedia
Zebra
As zebras são mamíferos que pertencem à família dos cavalos, os equídeos, nativos da África central e do sul. A pelagem deste animal consiste num conjunto de listras contrastantes de cor, com o seu corpo todo branco e algumas listras pretas, dispostas na vertical, exceptuando nas patas, onde se encontram na horizontal. São geralmente animais sociais que vivem desde pequenos harém a grandes manadas. Ao contrário de seus parentes mais próximos, cavalos e burros, zebras nunca foram verdadeiramente domesticadas.
É nas savanas africanas onde as zebras habitam. Estes animais, por serem atacados habitualmente por leões, podem se tornar animais extremamente velozes, pois para fugirem dos predadores, utilizam a fuga e seus fortes coices, podendo quebrar até a mandíbula de um felino. As listras das zebras vão escurecendo com a idade, e estes animais, embora se pareçam, não são todos iguais.
Há três espécies de zebras: a zebra-da-planície, a zebra-de-grevy e a zebra-da-montanha. A zebra-das-planícies e a zebra-da-montanha pertencem ao subgénero Hippotigris, mas a zebra-de-grevy é a única espécie do subgénero Dolichohippus. Esta última se assemelha a um jumento, ao qual está intimamente relacionada, enquanto as duas anteriores são mais parecidas com cavalos.. Todas as três pertencem ao género Equus, junto com outros equídeos vivos.
Não se encontram à beira da extinção, embora a zebra-das-montanhas esteja ameaçada. A subespécie de zebra-das-planícies conhecida como cuaga(do inglês quagga, que designa o som que o animal produzia cuahaa), Equus quagga quagga, estava extinta, mas projetos de cruzamento entre zebras com coloração semelhante já recuperaram a espécie antes extinta, e o projeto liberou com sucesso vários exemplares na natureza.
As zebras são animais herbívoros, e se alimentas preferencialmente em pastagens da savana africana
Fonte: Wikipedia
Madikwe Game Reserve
The Madikwe Game Reserve is a protected area in South Africa, part of the latest park developments in the country. Named after the Madikwe or Marico River, on whose basin it is located, it was opened in 1991 and comprises 750 km2 of bushland north of the small town Groot-Marico up to the Botswana border.
Madikwe Game Reserve lies 90 km north of Zeerust on what used to be farm land, but owing to the poor soil type, farming was not that successful. After extensive research, the South African Government found that this land would best be utilised as a provincial park, to economically uplift this otherwise rather poor area.
The process reintroducing wildlife to the area began in 1992 under the codename Operation Phoenix which relocated entire breeding herds of elephants, Cape buffaloes, south-central black rhinos and southern white rhinos along with various species of antelopes. Following Operation Phoenix, Madikwe has also successfully reintroduce rarer predatory species such as lions, cheetahs, spotted hyenas and Cape wild dogs bringing the total large mammal population of the reserve to over 10 000. There are currently more than 60 species of mammal in the park.
Source: Wikipedia
Reserva do Madikwe
A Madikwe Game Reserve é uma área protegida na África do Sul, parte dos mais recentes desenvolvimentos de parques no país. Batizado em homenagem ao rio Madikwe ou Marico, em cuja bacia está localizado, foi inaugurado em 1991 e compreende 750 km2 de mata nativa ao norte da pequena cidade de Groot-Marico até a fronteira com o Botswana.
A Madikwe Game Reserve fica 90 km ao norte de Zeerust, no que costumava ser terras agrícolas, mas devido ao tipo de solo pobre, a agricultura não teve tanto sucesso. Após uma extensa pesquisa, o governo sul-africano descobriu que esta terra seria melhor utilizada como um parque provincial, para elevar economicamente esta área bastante pobre.
O processo de reintrodução da vida selvagem na área começou em 1992 sob o codinome Operação Fênix, que realocou rebanhos inteiros de elefantes, búfalos do Cabo, rinocerontes-negros do centro-sul e rinocerontes brancos do sul junto com várias espécies de antílopes. Após a Operação Phoenix, Madikwe também reintroduziu com sucesso espécies predatórias mais raras, como leões, chitas, hienas-pintadas e cahorros do mato, elevando a população total de grandes mamíferos da reserva para mais de 10.000. Atualmente, existem mais de 60 espécies de mamíferos no parque
Fonte: Wikipedia (traduçao livre)
Impodimo Game Lodge
Impodimo Game Lodge is set on a rocky ridge overlooking the vistas within the magnificent malaria-free Madikwe Game Reserve of the North West Province of South Africa. The air-conditioned suites at Impodimo Game Lodge are decorated in neutral tones and offer a fireplace and private bathroom with additional outdoor shower.
Our passion has always been to bring the most amazing experiences to our guests and with that in mind the Elephant Hide was born. Merging ultra luxury with incredible game viewing right on your doorstep.
Our guests get to enjoy a fully stocked bar, Italian coffee and air-conditioned comfort whilst they soak up the wildlife just meters away. It is the perfect spot to watch wildlife, big and small, up close with minimum disturbance to their natural behaviour. The hide is a photographers dream, offering an excellent vantage point in complete comfort and safety to get that award-winning shot or just to marvel at the unfolding drama of the waterhole
Source: Impodimo Game Lodge website
Impodimo Game Lodge
O Impodimo Game Lodge está situado em uma crista rochosa com vista para a magnífica Reserva Madikwe, livre de malária, na Província Noroeste da África do Sul. As suítes com ar-condicionado do Impodimo Game Lodge são decoradas em tons neutros e oferecem lareira e banheiro privativo com chuveiro adicional ao ar livre.
Nossa paixão sempre foi levar as experiências mais incríveis aos nossos hóspedes e foi pensando nisso que nasceu o Esconderijo de Elefante. Combinando ultra luxo com incrível visualização de animais bem na sua porta.
Nossos hóspedes podem desfrutar de um bar totalmente abastecido, café italiano e conforto do ar-condicionado, enquanto absorvem a vida selvagem a poucos metros de distância. É o local perfeito para observar animais selvagens, grandes e pequenos, de perto com o mínimo de perturbação ao seu comportamento natural. O hide é o sonho dos fotógrafos, oferecendo um excelente ponto de vista com total conforto e segurança para obter aquela foto premiada ou simplesmente para se maravilhar com o drama que se desenrola no poço
Source: Impodimo Game Lodge website (tradução livre)
Emily Gore, Managing Partner of Instinctiv, introducing the Science of Response conference in London on 20 May 2014
More shots from last Saturday at Barnes. This Little Grebe with one of his chicks was so happy to pose for us. He even seemed to be trying to communicate with us by nodding...
In this shot, he's doing the same but nodding at his chick.
Gordon Brown during a reception for Community Crime Fighters Awards at Downing Street, 4 November 2009; Crown copyright
Gianpiero Petriglieri, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour, INSEAD, France, Alia Crum, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Stanford University, USA, Matthieu Ricard, Founder and President, Karuna-Shechen, France and Steven Pinker, Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, USA during the Session "Exploring the Mysteries of the Mind" at the Annual Meeting 2018 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 25, 2018
Copyright by World Economic Forum / Faruk Pinjo
@algonquinoutfit : RT @AlgonquinWRS: New research in press @CanFieldNat about threatened Eastern #wolf behaviour #AlgonquinPark t.co/OoL5t6k89r (via Twitter twitter.com/algonquinoutfit/status/801059019188240384)
Gesture, attitude, behaviour : a workshop with dancers Mauro Paccagnella and Alessandro Bernardeschi on march 6, 2007 at Erg (Ecole de Recherche Graphique, Brussels) for bachelor 1 students. Professors : Sabine Voglaire and Marc Wathieu. Pictures by Yves André.
Museum of Modern Art De Pont by Benthem Crouwel architects, Tilburg, the Netherlands. Mapping Out Paradise exhibition by Claudy Jongstra & Marc Mulders.
More information: www.depont.nl/en/press/press-releases/release/pers/232
See the full gallery on Posterous Addirittura il Venerdì di Repubblica si è accorto dei cambiamenti della piattaforma di retargeting (e Behavioral Marketing) di Facebook. Si chiama Facebook Exchange, è stata lanciata lo scorso autunno e a marzo introdurrà un refresh importante per gli utenti - che s ... Post originale: pasqualeborriello.com/facebook-exchange-cambiano-le-regol...
One of my favourite ways to shoot hot cars is with a low, crouching, angle about keyhole level. Try it yourself. It's fun! CLICK on the image for the LARGE size. Click on the Two Arrows to FILL the Screen.
See Mikey G Ottawa's most popular Flickr Photo Albums HERE:
www.flickr.com/photos/mikeygottawa/albums
Flickr says these are my Top 200 Most Interesting images Here: www.flickr.com/photos/mikeygottawa/popular-interesting
This link will always start with my Most Recent Flickr Photo. See Mikey G Ottawa's Flickr Slideshow HERE: www.flickr.com/mikeygottawa/show
I'm not famous or rich but I'm not shy to promote my Flickr work. CTV Regional Contact gave me 3 minutes on the local CTV News here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3C2U_01ajdw
See my 10 minutes of local TV coverage on Rogers Cable's "Camera Talk" with Sandie Sharkey here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-s4ZpS_t1Y
My new slogan is: "3.5M Flickr Views Can't Be Wrong!"
Found on the path near the pond at Woods Mill Nature Reserve, Sussex. They were- really large, are these hornets or queen wasps? What are they doing? Fighting or mating?
They were not moving much and were not distracted by me hovering over them with my camera. I left them to it!
ID as European Hornets (Vespa crabro) by Tim Randall
"This is two males fighting, no doubt a female will be nearby. Unlike the females, male hornets do not sting. These fights are rarely to the death"
Claire Thomas
Supporter Adviser (Wildlife) / Supporter Services
rspb.org.uk
Emily Gore, Managing Partner of Instinctiv, introducing the Science of Response conference in London on 20 May 2014
behaviour engenders uncertainty. (The US Republicans refusing a budget unless they are allowed to sabotage Obama's Health Care scheme
Attachment theory describes several behavioural systems, the function of which is to regulate human attachment, fear, exploration, care-giving, peer-affiliation and sex. Attachment is defined as any form of behaviour that results in a person attaining and retaining proximity to a differentiated other. The primary caregiver is the source of the infants stress regulation and, therefore, sense of safety and security. Attachment theory emphasises the role of the parent as mediator, reflector and moderator of the childs mind and the childs reliance on the parent to respond to their affective states in ways that are contingent to their internal experience, a process often referred to as secure base/safe haven functioning. Within the close parent-child relationship neural networks dedicated to feelings of safety and danger, attachment and the core sense of self are sculpted and shaped. These networks are conceptualised as internal working models of attachment.
Characteristic patterns of interaction operating within the familys caregiving-attachment system give rise to secure, insecure and disorganized patterns of attachment. These discrete patterns have been categorized using the Strange Situation research procedure, which observes the young childs behaviour when separated and reunited with his or her primary caregiver. Attachment patterns are represented in the childs internal working models of self-other relationships. Secure attachment is promoted by the interactive regulation of affect, which facilitates the recognition, labelling and evaluation of emotional and intentional states in the self and in others, a capacity known as reflective function or mentalization. The recognition of affects as having dynamic, transactional properties is the key to understanding behaviour in oneself and in another. The child comes to recognize his or her mental states as meaningful self-states via a process of parental affect mirroring and marking. Secure children are able to use sophisticated cognitive strategies to integrate and resolve their fear of separation and loss.
When the parent is unavailable, inconsistent or unpredictable, the infant develops one of two organized insecure patterns of attachment: avoidant or ambivalent-resistant. These defensive strategies involve either the deactivation or hyper-activation of the attachment system. Deactivation is characterized by avoidance of the caregiver and by emotional detachment. In effect, the avoidant child immobilizes the attachment system by excluding thoughts and feelings that normally activate the system. Hyper-activation is manifested by an enmeshed ambivalent preoccupation with the caregiver and with negative emotions, particularly anger. However, in common with the avoidant child, the ambivalent child appears to cognitively disconnect feelings from the situation that elicited the distress. Disorganised-disoriented attachment is discussed below.
Attachment research, then, demonstrates that discrete patterns of secure, insecure, and disorganized attachment have as their precursor a specific pattern of caregiver-infant interaction and their own behavioural sequelae. Repeated patterns of interpersonal experience are encoded in implicit-procedural memory and conceptualized as self-other working models of attachment. These mental models consist of generalized beliefs and expectations about relationships between the self and key attachment figures, not the least of which concerns ones worthiness to receive love and care from others.
In sum, the care-giving environment generally, and the infant-caregiver attachment relationship particularly, initiate the child along one of an array of potential developmental pathways. Disturbance of attachment is the outcome of a series of deviations that take the child increasingly further from adaptive functioning. Child abuse and cumulative developmental trauma violate the childs sense of trust, identity and agency and have pernicious and seminal influences on the developing personality. In essence, internal working models of early attachment relationships provide the templates for psychopathology in later life, which may include violent, destructive and self-destructive forms of behaviour. In attachment theory, the main purpose of defence is the regulation of emotions. The primary mechanisms for achieving this are distance regulation and the defensive exclusion of thoughts and feelings associated with attachment trauma.
Early trauma in the form of abuse, loss, neglect and severe parent-child misattunement compromises brain-mediated functions such as attachment, empathy and affect regulation. From an attachment theory perspective, patterns of attachment are encoded and stored as generalized relational patterns in the systems of implicit memory. These are conceptualized as cognitive-affective internal working models which are seen as mediating how we think and feel about ourselves, others and the relationships we develop. Although open to change and modification in the light of new attachment experiences, whether positive or negative, these non-conscious procedural models, scripts or schemas within which early stress and trauma are retained, tend to persevere and guide, appraise and predict attachment-related thoughts, feelings and behaviours throughout the life cycle via the implicit memory system. Psychopathology is seen as deriving from an accumulation of maladaptive interactional patterns that result in character traits and personality types and disorders.
Disorganised attachment may occur when the childs parent is both the source of fear and the only protective figure to whom to turn to resolve stress and anxiety. In such instances, neither proximity seeking nor proximity avoiding is a solution to the activation of the childs attachment and fear behavioural systems. If the trauma remains unresolved and is carried into adulthood, it leaves the individual vulnerable to affect dysregulation in interpersonal conflict situations that induce fear, hate, shame and rage. In such cases, alcohol and illicit drugs are often resorted to as a maladaptive means of suppressing dreaded psychobiological states and restoring a semblance of affective equilibrium.
Findings show that disorganised attachment developed in infancy shifts to controlling behaviour in the older child and adult, reflecting an internalized mental model of the self as unlovable, unworthy of care and support, and fearful of rejection, betrayal and abandonment. Disorganised attachment is associated with a predisposition to relational violence, to dissociative states and conduct disorders in children and adolescents, and to personality disorders in adults. This state of mind constitutes a primary risk factor for the development of borderline, anti-social and sociopathic personality disorders. The rate of such disorders in forensic settings is particularly high. Clinically, dissociated traumatic experience is unsymbolized by thought and language, being encapsulated within the personality as a separate, non-reflective reality which is cut off from authentic human relatedness. The information contained in implicit memory may be retrieved by state-dependent moods and situations. Dissociated archaic internal working models are then activated, influencing and distorting expectations of current events and relationships outside of conscious awareness, particularly in situations involving intense interpersonal stress. In such situations, the self is felt to be endangered, thereby increasing the risk of an angry and potentially violent reaction.
The Legend of the Atsara
Legends say that about 84 dubthops (Mahasiddhas), who had extinguished all defilements and afflictions, roamed the universe to subdue evil thoughts by mocking at worldly things.
Colourfully dressed, eccentric in behaviour, and even vulgar and abusive in language, the dubthops used their wit and tricks together with their powers to uproot evil from the minds of mortals.
"The atsaras today represent these learned and saintly beings," according to a scholar, Dasho Lam Sanga. "The dubthops cultivated detachment from mortal feelings like embarrassment, hesitation, and reservation, as such they appear in these forms and are always vulgar."
Dasho Lam Sanga said that atsaras also symbolised spiritual protection. The balloon and the wooden phallus, which the atsara holds are symbols. The balloon represents the swine bladder, which the dubthops used to collect diseases sown by demons. The wooden phallus symbolises the genuine accomplishment of wisdom by the dubthops, and the tang-ti (rattle), represents khandoms (consort) of the dubthops. Atsaras from the villages have their own interpretation. According to Chencho, the four masks they wear symbolise the four protective deities of the Thimphu valley. The red mask is the Dorji da-tse, blue is the Yeshey Gonpo and other two are the Geynin Bjakpa Mila of Dechenphug and the Dungla Tsen. Atsaras feel spiritually lifted and happy performing their roles during the three-day tsechu although sometimes they have to face uncomfortable situations in response to their lewd and vulgar comments. "It's a part of the tradition, but people don't understand," said Chencho.
"Atsaras do not respect time and place," a young student said. "It is embarrassing when you are with your parents and atsaras come with their vulgar jokes."
Today atsaras are also criticised for asking for money during the tshechus. Although atsaras claim that this was a part of the tradition, a new rule now allows the atsaras to collect offerings only during the last day of the tshechu. On an average an atsara collects about Nu.10,000. Chencho collected Nu.14,000 last year.
"They are a wonderful part of the tsechu," a tourist, Marsha Davis, said. For Lil Laidlaw from Montana, United States, who boasts of an atsara mask back in her room in Montana, atsaras keep the tshechu alive. hey can be witty and wry, lewd and salacious, annoying and bothersome, but without them a tshechu would be tame.
The Atsara, in his the wooden mask with a crooked red hawkish nose and a permanent grin, and commonly seen as the jester of the tshechu, is more than the mask depicts.
Atsara is derived from the Sanskrit word Acharya (holy teacher) or dubthop in Dzongkha. According to religious history, about 84 dubthops (Mahasiddhas), who had extinguished all defilements and afflictions, roamed the universe to subdue evil thoughts by mocking worldly things.
Weirdly dressed, whimsical, vulgar and abusive in language, the dubthops used their wit, foolery, and drollery, together with their powers to uproot evil from the minds of mortals.
Atsaras today represent these learned and saintly beings. Their apparent vulgarity arises out of their detachment from human feelings like embarrassment, hesitation, and reservation.
At 2007's Thimphu tshechu 29-year-old Tsagay, a student of the Royal Academy of Performing Arts (RAPA), is the Atsara gom (head Atsara).
Tsagay, a father of two children, calls himself an artiste. "It is no joke being an Atsara at the tshechu," says Tsagay. "Without mastering all the mask dances, you cannot become the head Atsara. It is an art."
According to Tsagay, Atsaras are spiritual figures at the tshechu, who carry the blessings of mask dances, and, through the auspiciousness of the day, can heal or cure.
Dorji Wangmo, 63, never misses receiving wang (blessing) from the Atsara. According to the farmer from Kabisa, the lewd remarks and outrageous behaviour of Atsaras when they come to bless people is a test in itself. "It is way to test if people are ready to embrace religion in all forms," she said.
Dawa Nob is another Atsara at the tshechu selected from Thimphu's Toeb gewog. "We have a big responsibility," he said, waving a wooden phallus. "We are the guides here for the mask dancers and also for spectators. We explain the meaning of the dances and correct any mistakes in the dance steps."
This year, on their own initiative, the Atsaras decided to promote the use of contraceptives. "If you use condoms, you will live long," an Atsara explained in English to a group of tourists. "Yes," the tourists agreed.
"It's a good opportunity to educate people because they are not embarrassed listening to an Atsara," he said.
Most spectators see Atsaras as entertainers in an otherwise formal festival. "The first thing that comes to mind when we talk of a tshechu is an Atsara," said Choki Lhamo, a student. "I don't mind their dirty jokes as long as they keep them within limits," she said.
"I love them," said Mark Beltzman a tourist from the US, "They are a great transition between the dancers. We should have more of them."
But Atsaras also face awkward situations when women react angrily to their lewd jokes. "Sometimes they do get excited and grab us," said a woman spectator.
Firefighters fight the fire at night. Outside Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan.
Photo by Aulia Erlangga/CIFOR
If you use one of our photos, please credit it accordingly and let us know. You can reach us through our Flickr account or at: cifor-mediainfo@cgiar.org and m.edliadi@cgiar.org
Attachment theory describes several behavioural systems, the function of which is to regulate human attachment, fear, exploration, care-giving, peer-affiliation and sex. Attachment is defined as any form of behaviour that results in a person attaining and retaining proximity to a differentiated other. The primary caregiver is the source of the infants stress regulation and, therefore, sense of safety and security. Attachment theory emphasises the role of the parent as mediator, reflector and moderator of the childs mind and the childs reliance on the parent to respond to their affective states in ways that are contingent to their internal experience, a process often referred to as secure base/safe haven functioning. Within the close parent-child relationship neural networks dedicated to feelings of safety and danger, attachment and the core sense of self are sculpted and shaped. These networks are conceptualised as internal working models of attachment.
Characteristic patterns of interaction operating within the familys caregiving-attachment system give rise to secure, insecure and disorganized patterns of attachment. These discrete patterns have been categorized using the Strange Situation research procedure, which observes the young childs behaviour when separated and reunited with his or her primary caregiver. Attachment patterns are represented in the childs internal working models of self-other relationships. Secure attachment is promoted by the interactive regulation of affect, which facilitates the recognition, labelling and evaluation of emotional and intentional states in the self and in others, a capacity known as reflective function or mentalization. The recognition of affects as having dynamic, transactional properties is the key to understanding behaviour in oneself and in another. The child comes to recognize his or her mental states as meaningful self-states via a process of parental affect mirroring and marking. Secure children are able to use sophisticated cognitive strategies to integrate and resolve their fear of separation and loss.
When the parent is unavailable, inconsistent or unpredictable, the infant develops one of two organized insecure patterns of attachment: avoidant or ambivalent-resistant. These defensive strategies involve either the deactivation or hyper-activation of the attachment system. Deactivation is characterized by avoidance of the caregiver and by emotional detachment. In effect, the avoidant child immobilizes the attachment system by excluding thoughts and feelings that normally activate the system. Hyper-activation is manifested by an enmeshed ambivalent preoccupation with the caregiver and with negative emotions, particularly anger. However, in common with the avoidant child, the ambivalent child appears to cognitively disconnect feelings from the situation that elicited the distress. Disorganised-disoriented attachment is discussed below.
Attachment research, then, demonstrates that discrete patterns of secure, insecure, and disorganized attachment have as their precursor a specific pattern of caregiver-infant interaction and their own behavioural sequelae. Repeated patterns of interpersonal experience are encoded in implicit-procedural memory and conceptualized as self-other working models of attachment. These mental models consist of generalized beliefs and expectations about relationships between the self and key attachment figures, not the least of which concerns ones worthiness to receive love and care from others.
In sum, the care-giving environment generally, and the infant-caregiver attachment relationship particularly, initiate the child along one of an array of potential developmental pathways. Disturbance of attachment is the outcome of a series of deviations that take the child increasingly further from adaptive functioning. Child abuse and cumulative developmental trauma violate the childs sense of trust, identity and agency and have pernicious and seminal influences on the developing personality. In essence, internal working models of early attachment relationships provide the templates for psychopathology in later life, which may include violent, destructive and self-destructive forms of behaviour. In attachment theory, the main purpose of defence is the regulation of emotions. The primary mechanisms for achieving this are distance regulation and the defensive exclusion of thoughts and feelings associated with attachment trauma.
Early trauma in the form of abuse, loss, neglect and severe parent-child misattunement compromises brain-mediated functions such as attachment, empathy and affect regulation. From an attachment theory perspective, patterns of attachment are encoded and stored as generalized relational patterns in the systems of implicit memory. These are conceptualized as cognitive-affective internal working models which are seen as mediating how we think and feel about ourselves, others and the relationships we develop. Although open to change and modification in the light of new attachment experiences, whether positive or negative, these non-conscious procedural models, scripts or schemas within which early stress and trauma are retained, tend to persevere and guide, appraise and predict attachment-related thoughts, feelings and behaviours throughout the life cycle via the implicit memory system. Psychopathology is seen as deriving from an accumulation of maladaptive interactional patterns that result in character traits and personality types and disorders.
Disorganised attachment may occur when the childs parent is both the source of fear and the only protective figure to whom to turn to resolve stress and anxiety. In such instances, neither proximity seeking nor proximity avoiding is a solution to the activation of the childs attachment and fear behavioural systems. If the trauma remains unresolved and is carried into adulthood, it leaves the individual vulnerable to affect dysregulation in interpersonal conflict situations that induce fear, hate, shame and rage. In such cases, alcohol and illicit drugs are often resorted to as a maladaptive means of suppressing dreaded psychobiological states and restoring a semblance of affective equilibrium.
Findings show that disorganised attachment developed in infancy shifts to controlling behaviour in the older child and adult, reflecting an internalized mental model of the self as unlovable, unworthy of care and support, and fearful of rejection, betrayal and abandonment. Disorganised attachment is associated with a predisposition to relational violence, to dissociative states and conduct disorders in children and adolescents, and to personality disorders in adults. This state of mind constitutes a primary risk factor for the development of borderline, anti-social and sociopathic personality disorders. The rate of such disorders in forensic settings is particularly high. Clinically, dissociated traumatic experience is unsymbolized by thought and language, being encapsulated within the personality as a separate, non-reflective reality which is cut off from authentic human relatedness. The information contained in implicit memory may be retrieved by state-dependent moods and situations. Dissociated archaic internal working models are then activated, influencing and distorting expectations of current events and relationships outside of conscious awareness, particularly in situations involving intense interpersonal stress. In such situations, the self is felt to be endangered, thereby increasing the risk of an angry and potentially violent reaction.