Course Topics:
1) Procedures for conducting the Ainsworth Strange Situation assessment
2) The Ainsworth approach to coding infant interactive behavior
3) The Ainsworth ABC classification system
4) Multiple examples of the various patterns of attachment
5) Actual experience in coding and classifying cases
6) An introduction to “disorganized” attachment
As a result of this training, participants will be able to:
1) Create a laboratory setup to conduct and record an Ainsworth Strange Situation Assessment
2) Use age-appropriate toys for the laboratory play area
3) Instruct parents on their role in the assessment
4) Instruct “strangers” on their role in the assessment
5) Instruct “strangers” on when and when not to engage the infant
6) Use proper camera positioning to ensure that they capture the infant behaviors essential for coding
7) Avoid the typical errors made in conducting these assessments
8) Meet APA guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research studies
9) Distinguish between the frequency and the meaning of infant behaviors
10) Apply each of Ainsworth’s four principal behavior coding scales
11) Recognize the different levels of infant exploratory behavior
12) Distinguish between avoidant infant behavior and mere shifts of attention
13) Use timing of behavior to distinguish avoidance from distance interaction
14) Distinguish between distress that is and is not a reflection of anger|
15) Distinguish between efforts to maintain contact and resist contact with the parent
16) Consider context in determining how quickly an infant should be settled
17) Recognize the nature of secure attachment in its many forms
18) Use the pattern of infants’ behavior across contexts to assess security
19) Explain Ainsworth’s concept of attachment/exploration balance
20) Explain Ainsworth’s concept of behavioral organization
21) Distinguish among Ainsworth’s four sub-types of security
22) Distinguish between Ainsworth’s two sub-types of resistant attachment
23) Distinguish between Ainsworth’s two sub-types of avoidant attachment
24) Distinguish between avoidant and resistant (‘ambivalent’) attachment patterns
25) Compare norms applied to attachment behavior of 12-month-olds to those applied to 18-month-olds