Examines the working-models component of attachment theory in some detail, considering what it meant to J. Bowlby and has meant to subsequent attachment theorists, how it is similar to and different from other conceptions of social-cognitive structures (e.g., schemas and scripts), and how it might be productively researched; begin with a brief overview of attachment theory, showing how it led to seminal research on individual differences in relational orientations; describe the role played in the theory by internal working models and explain how these models are related to discourse processes in close relationships; summarize research on infant and adult attachment, showing that it can be organized around the internal working-models construct... use emotion regulation as an example of important psychological domains in which working models operate; conclude with suggestions for future research on attachment and internal working models.