Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Group Counseling On The Self-Esteem, Anxiety, And Behavior Of Children With Deployed Parents, Nancy Taylor Mitchum

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a six-session group counseling intervention for children who had a parent experiencing military-induced deployment. Participants were 65 children (30 boys, 35 girls) of enlisted military personnel attending elementary schools near the Norfolk Naval Base. Elementary school counselors facilitated the counseling groups.

An experimental/control group pretest-posttest design was employed. Independent variables were the child's participation in the Children of Deployed Parents-Group/control group, child gender and age. Dependent variables were self-esteem, anxiety, and behavior as measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children (STAIC), the Child …

An Investigation Of Criterion-Related Validity And Clinical Sensitivity Of The Internalizing Symptoms Scale For Children, Lisa Ann Mcclun

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The need for a self-report instrument that assesses internalizing problems in children ages 8 through 12 is evidenced in the lack of such an instrument, and in the prevalence of internalizing problems in children. A new self-report instrument, the Internalizing Symptoms Scale for Children (ISSC), has been proposed and developed to fit this need. The present study evaluated the criterion-related validity, clinical cutoff points, and discriminating power of the ISSC. Two groups of child subjects, clinic-referred and general-school-population, were recruited and administered the ISSC, and a parent of each subject completed the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Each case within the …

The Simultaneous Presentation Procedure: Use In Selecting Reinforcers For Behavioral Intervention, Daniel Houlihan, Robert Bates-Purple, Robert N. Jones, Howard N. Sloane

Psychology Department Publications

Used a simultaneous presentation procedure to select quality reinforcers for 2 identical twin boys (aged 4 yrs) in a summer school program, who were developmentally delayed, noncompliant, and mute. Use of the simultaneous presentation procedure quickly and efficiently helped determine each boy's preferred reinforcer. This preferred reinforcer was then used in an instructional task. For both Ss, the percentage of compliance increased over baseline levels during both the simultaneous presentation and preferred reinforcer phases. However, increased compliance was associated almost exclusively with the selection of each S's preferred reinforcer. The simultaneous presentation procedure may enable trainers to use positive reinforcement …

A Review Of Behavioral Conceptualizations And Treatments Of Child Noncompliance, Daniel Houlihan, Howard N. Sloane, Robert N. Jones, Christi Patten

Psychology Department Publications

This article reviews behavioral conceptualizations and approaches to the treatment of child noncompliance. This includes discussion of behavioral definitions and methods of assessment, generalization of treatment effects, future research directions, and potential ethical concerns in treating childhood noncompliance.

The Development And Construct Validation Of The Children’S Academic Motivation Inventory, Kevin Hughes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to develop and provide construct validation evidence for the Children’s Academic Motivation Inventory (CAMI). The CAMI, the junior Index of Motivation Scale (JIM Scale), and the Children’s Social Desirability Scale (CSDS) were administered to 534 sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. Additionally, teacher assigned math grades; total math and total reading scores from the Kentucky Essential skills test (KEST); and the Cognitive Skills Index (CSI) from the Test of Cognitive Skills were obtained for each participant. Principal-components factor analysis with varimax rotation performed on the CAMI items produced essentially one factor, entitled academic achievement motivation. …

A Methodology For The Study Of Children's Environmental Knowledge In Other Cultures, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

This paper presents a methodology which I used to study the content and acquisition of children's environmental knowledge as central to the social reproduction of a rural agricultural economy in the Sudan. My approach was forged drawing on methods of geography, linguistics and anthropology to provide information on (1) how children learn to interact productively with their environment, (2) the nature of their interactions and (3) their knowledge of environmental processes and resources. In this paper I will describe first the methodology adopted including participant observation, ethnosemantic interviews, child-led walks, environmental modeling and "geo-dramas". I will then discuss its use …

Environmental And Psychological Factors Surrounding Children Of Cancer Patients: An Exploratory Study, Joan Strong Buell

Dissertations and Theses

This exploratory study examines five families in which one parent was ill with cancer and in which there was a 5-to 8-year-old child. To understand the adaptation to the illness (and, in the case of three families, to the death of the ill parent) of the focus child was the principal aim of the study. The circumstances existing around the time of the illness and death of the parent were seen as particularly important in determining how the child viewed these events. Areas such as substitute caregivers, family routines, information given to the child, and the child's participation in, apparent …

Empathy, Communication Skills, And Group Cohesiveness: A Systematic Approach, Michael Hass

Education Faculty Articles and Research

"This article presents an approach to the teaching of interpersonal communication skills to children from 7-11 years of age, and should be of great interest to professionals in the fields of psychology, social work, education and people involved in training such persons."

Children's Responses To Medically Induced Discrete, Acute Pain, Brenda D. Ballard

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Three experiments were carried out with children in a private office on the measurement of distress caused by allergy treatment injections and on a behavioral technique to alleviate this treatment-induced distress. In Experiment 1 a rating scale to measure observable indices of distress with children receiving injections was developed and its construct validity and reliability determined. In Experiment 2, norms were derived for the sample of children studied and the nature of the expression of distress according to age and sex was examined. In Experiment 3 two treatments for alleviating the treatment-induced distress, (a) sensory information, and (b) systematic reinforcement …

Development Of Cooperation Between Children In The Minimal Social Situation, Janice V. Siegel

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to determine whether children can learn to cooperate in what has been described as the "minimal social situation." The research also compared the effectiveness of verbal instructions and a training task for teaching subjects the "win-stay, lose-change" rule. This rule has been used to explain the development of cooperation in the minimal social situation.

Subjects were 19 teams of first-, second-, and third-graders. Five teams were composed of two girls; six were girl-boy teams; and eight were boy-boy teams. Ten of the 19 teams learned to cooperate in the minimal social situation without treatment. …

Behavioral Contrast In Children, Wenden Wayne Waite

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study was conducted as a systematic replication of earlier work investigating the phenomenon of behavioral contrast. Behavioral contrast has been consistently reported in alternating two component multiple schedules using infra-human subjects. The present study was interested in answering the question, "Does behavioral contrast exist in humans?"

Two experiments were performed which investigated the behavioral contrast and sequential contrast phenomena in children. In both experiments, lever press responses were analyzed using an ABA single-subject design. The children were instructed to press a lever to obtain as many tokens as possible. In Experiment I, six Ss were equally divided into …

Modification Of Deviant Behavior By Parents, Jeanne M. Gabourie

All Master's Theses

It is the purpose of this study (1) to determine if a child's deviant social behaviors can be effectively modified by his own parents; and (2) to determine if parents can be trained to use behavior modification techniques in the home.

Effects Of Nurturance On Incidental Imitative Behavior, Ronald Raymond Monti

All Master's Theses

The purpose of the present study was twofold. It was hypothesized that a prior nurturant interaction with an adult model (M) would significantly increase incidental imitation in a child subject (S) receiving this positive relationship over Ss who interacted with a non-nurturant M, or Ss who received no interaction with M. Secondly, the length of the experimental nurturant relationship was manipulated in an attempt to determine its importance in obtaining increased imitative behavior.

A Study Of Early Reasoning Skills In The Trainable Mentally Retarded : As Related To Piaget's Seriation Theory, Robert William Ginther

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In terms of Piaget's theory of cognitive development and the relationship he attributes between reasoning and the development of classification and seriation skills, the following questions arise: can early reasoning ability be enhanced through training? If IQ tests are accepted as measures of intellectual function, do they then contain a significant number of seriation type questions? If so, will the seriation test be an accepted measure of intellectual function?

A Psychological Investigation Of Seven Hermaphroditic Children, Peter Lewis Kranz

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An in-depth personality and intellectual evaluation of a group of hermaphroditic children residing in the state of Oklahoma was undertaken in this study. The following techniques were utilized in order to extensively study the impact of this anomaly on the families of these children: psychological tests, parental interviews by a social worker, and diagnostic play interviews conducted by the investigator. It was the purpose of this study to examine the psychological impact of sexual ambiguity on the child and his parents.

There were no significant differences between the two groups on any of the tests given. This may be attributed …

The Use Of Mental Imagery Among Young Children In The Acquisition Of Piaget's Principles Of Conservation, Richard C. Sweetland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study attempted to discover some parameters in terms of mental age at which young children, ages five through eight, begin to utilize effectively their mental imagery in the learning process. Using Piaget's principles of conservation as a learning task, subjects were taught in one of two groups: Group one was instructed in conservation concepts by use of concrete example, in which case they were allowed to see, handle and manipulate materials as they underwent transformations. Group two received identical instruction but were called upon to use their mental imagery to visualize the materials undergoing transformations.

Based upon the administration …

Relationship Between Self-Concept Discrepancies And The Expression Of Need Achievement In Children, Ian Griggs

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study was designed to test the hypothesis that a significant relationship exists between self-concept discrepancies and expressed need for achievement.

A self-concept discrepancy score was obtained and a low and high discrepancy group was isolated.

Expressed need for achievement was measured by the use of the Thematic Apperception Test and scored according to the Atkinson method.

Mean comparisons of need achievement scores of subjects whose discrepancies between actual and ideal self-concept were in the upper or lower one-third of the distribution were found not to be significant at the 5 percent level of confidence.

Toys For Tinies And Gifts For Children, O. Evans Scott

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

Special care is needed in selecting toys for young children. Well-chosen toys can aid mental and physical development and give many hours of safe, satisfying play; ill-chosen toys can cause anxiety and frustration and may even be dangerous.

This article gives hints on selecting toys for various age groups and suggests some suitable options.