Coding Criteria

Encoding criteria

Coffy Test aims to quickly provide some elements of knowledge on the child's mental representations.
Bowlby (and neurosciences) argue that, with the repetition of relational exchanges, the child builds mental representations ("internal working models") that determine how to process information with emotional content.
Coherent and integrated mental representations, such as those of secure attachment, are the basis for good mental functioning, characterized by a correct cognitive and emotional monitoring of situations.
On the contrary, distortions in processing emotional information indicate worrying aspects of the child/parent relationship that, as Crittenden says, "can be considered as a means of developing and maintaining psychopathology" [Crittenden, 1999].
So, the Coffy Test analyzes the cognitive and emotional monitoring that the child has of situations (represented in the test pictures): closeness or separation from parents, educational rules, dangers, exploratory autonomy, and sharing with peers.
The cognitive "reading" of what is represented by the picture is examined in terms of reality examination: that is if the child correctly recognizes the situation presented.
Furthermore the emotional "reading" is analyzed, identifying the emotion attributed to the character-self, as emerges from the spontaneous story and the first two answers.
The correctness of cognitive and emotional monitoring is quantified through a statistical criterion (on which the scoring system is built):
if most of the subjects in the reference sample have a response, to a test picture, characterized by a certain emotional response, this type of response was considered normal and it was awarded the best score, then the less frequent and ultimately the most rare and pathological ones.

Attachment and other motivational systems

Other information is obtained considering the motivational systems (at the representation level) activated from the pictures.
Bowlby noted that emotions are the early stages of the activity of social motivational systems.
So the emotions, that characterize the answers to the pictures, tell us what motivational systems are activated in the subject examined.
The situations presented in the Coffy Test have a very different value: in addition to separation from their parents, the Coffy Test has other situations that activate the attachment system and situations that activate other motivational systems.
It is important to know the emotions of the various motivational systems because if secure attachment allows a balanced activation of other systems, an insecure attachment or, worse, disorganized, leads to vicarial activation of other systems or, in the most serious cases, to the collapse of the functioning (representational) of the attachment system and then to the lack of mentalization functions and the uncontrolled emergence of unconscious contents.

Motivational system of Attachment

Much of the emotional (positive or negative) reactions in the Coffy Test are related to the motivational system of attachment:
• "Well-being" from attachment:
emotions of comfort, joy, safety, confidence, when aroused by the affectionate and caring proximity of the parent or adult figure of reference;
• "Loneliness":
sadness emotions for separation or absence of attachment figure;
• "Anguish" by abandonment:
emotions of desperation or excessive intensity or with catastrophic consequences caused by the loneliness or lack of a protective figure;
• "Avoidance":
if the examined child does not seem to recognize (by defensively excluding) the relational meaning of the table, so that he is not emotionally affected, as if he has a low sensitivity (emotional detachment).
These answers are difficult to recognize because often cognitive reading is right, but there seems to be no emotion.
Answers are also to be categorized as avoidance, where negative emotions are attributed to situations or reasons other than those represented by the table, and responses with waste to answer or very vague.
Lastly, the attachment system is also related to the possible "Non- Recognitions" of parenting figures.

Fragility of self

Dissociation may be the clinical consequence of the collapse of the attachment representation system [Liotti et al, 2011], so the responses characterized by Scission-Confusion should be considered within the attachment system.
For clinical reasons, we preferred to consider these responses in a separate class to highlight them as a possible symptom of a worrying fragility of the psychic structure:
• "Scission-Confusion": if negative emotions are attributed to other characters or there are conflicting emotions without awareness of ambivalence or two conflicting emotions are explicated as possible alternatives.
(CAUTION: If Coffy is a little taken by an emotion and a little by another - at the same time and in reference to two aspects of the situation - it is not Scission-Confusion and the answer must be classified according to the prevalent emotional reaction or more important).
• "Not-Classiable" responses, because they are confused or contradictory, but not enough to encode them as Splitting-Confusion.

Fear Motivational System

The emotional reactions that in the Coffy Test can be coded related to the Fear (or Defense) motivational system are:
• "Fear":
emotions of fear, anxiety, alarm for a real and immediate danger;
• "Inhibition":
when the emotion of fear is excessive and it is spontaneously explicit that Coffy does not do the action;
• "Anguish" by danger:
when fear emotions are excessively intense, or like terror, or are evoked by situations that are not manifestly threatening (for the emergence of content not present in the picture) or have catastrophic consequences.
• Finally, the "Blocks" (silent pauses or "do not know" answers) signal an hyper-activation of the defense system.
An insecure-worried attachment can predispose to the hyper-activation of the fear system.

Exploration Motivational System

The activation of this motivational system (opposed to separation anxiety) is indicated by the "Exploration" reactions, characterized by curiosity or tendency to autonomy.
In the Coffy Test this is considered as a tendency to hyperactivity/hypercinesia or as little attention to dangers, so with a negative connotation if overly activated, as can happen with an insecure-distancing attachment.

Competitive Motivational System

The activation of this motivational system (otherwise known as Rank or Agonistic), to assume a dominant position, is conceivable in the Coffy Test coded reactions as "Hostility": for emotions of aggressiveness, struggle, attack, attributed to Coffy or other picture characters, or when the responsibility of an unpleasant event is attributed to the other or when Coffy feels offended.
Activation of this system is also reported by any "Oppositional Coping".
The hyperactivity of the competitive system can be correlated with aggressive behaviors.

Passivity or Lack of Self-esteem

In addition to the competitive motivation system, understood as a tendency to assume the dominant position, is also considered the opposite tendency to assume the subordinate position, that of gregarious, difficult to distinguish, in a quick examination such as the Coffy Test, from other theoretical concepts such as lack of self-esteem or physiological awareness of own limits.
We code the answers like this:
• "Failure":
when Coffy, the character-self, admits or is aware of having made an error, a mistake;
• "Shame / Guilt":
when emotion is most frustrating, so Coffy is mortified, or when Coffy assumes too much responsibility.

Cooperation Motivational System

This system is only marginally explored in the Coffy Test, as reactions of "Well-being" (emotions of joy, fun, sharing) from co-operation for social gaming and sharing with peers, are evocable only in the two tables (n.4 and n.9 ) where Coffy is depicted with other dogs.
The absence of these answers may indicate a rivalry of fraternity.
Presence can be a sign of attachment security (safe children have better relationships with peers), but sometimes it seems to be moving on peers of expectations not met by parents.

Care-giving Motivational System

This system should not be activated by the Coffy Test, as testing for people in pre-puberty, but responses with emotional reactions to "Roles Reversal" (the puppy cares or defends the parent instead of the opposite) report the incongruous activation of the motivational system of care-giving, as in the careful control strategies.

Sexual Motivation System

"Sexualization": when the adult character is characterized by a sexualized role (like a girlfriend, a husband, etc.).
Due to the pre-puberty age of subjects to whom the Coffy Test is addressed, the early activation of this system is to be considered a sign of exposure to sexual themes or, in the worst cases, to sexual acts.