Psychology Commons^™

“For All My Students, I Just Want Them To Love Learning, I Just Want Them To Love Life. To Love The Possibility Of Who They Are”: A Qualitative Study Investigating The Multifaceted Roles Of Special Educators At A Small Autism School In The Hudson Valley, Sydney Simone Darling

Senior Projects Fall 2023

This is a qualitative study which investigates the multifaceted roles of special educators.The United States is currently facing a crisis in teacher attrition. Attrition destabilizes schools, and negatively impacts student outcomes. Special education teachers are the teachers most likely to leave their field. In hopes of reducing attrition, this study seeks out the unique perspectives of special educators. Six special educators from a small school in the Hudson Valley completed 15-45 minute semi structured interviews. Interviews were transcribed and coded in a software MAXQDA. 3 themes were generated. These themes are: continuous learning, expending emotional labor, and balancing care with …

Who Is Anointed? The Psychological And Social Justice Implications Of Gifted And Talented Programs In The United States, Emma Caroline Gossett

Senior Projects Spring 2022

This paper explores the repercussions of gifted and talented programs in the United States, looking specifically at resulting psychological effects and social justice implications. This analysis is positioned within the discussion of global power struggles for technological advancement. After the success of the Russian Sputnik satellite in 1957, the United States bolstered initiatives in education to ensure they were producing students who could contribute to the prowess of the nation. Gifted programs allowed for a more in-depth focus on those children deemed useful to the labor market. This resulted in additional pressures placed on certain students to excel. The anointment …

The Effects Of D2 Receptor Modulation On Locomotor Development In Danio Rerio, Isaiah Thomas Mcroberts

Senior Projects Spring 2022

This study utilized a novel design to investigate the sensitivity of D2 dopamine receptors to modulating compounds through multiple exposures over early development of zebrafish larvae. Zebrafish were dosed for 30 minutes from 5-8 days post fertilization (dpf) with 16µ/mol of either a D2 antagonist, haloperidol, or a D2 agonist, quinpirole hydrochloride. Two other groups were then dosed with these compounds from 9-12dpf. The effects of D2 receptor modulation were measured by analyzing motor activity on measures of movement distance, frequency, and velocity. Results indicated that larvae dosed with haloperidol on 5dpf had increased activity after the first dosage, but …

Reducing Youth Incarceration Through Protections In Childhood Development: A Case Study Of West Virginia, Claire Heather Virginia Lindsay

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Childhood Development is a trajectory that is subject to many risks and protections, enacted by a host of institutions, systems and actors. High rates of youth incarceration in the U.S. demonstrate one of the ways risk factors in childhood can lead to outcomes that are often very harmful to development beyond childhood. West Virginia has the highest rate of youth incarceration in the U.S. and therefore offers a unique look into what systems are at play when considering vulnerable youth populations. Through Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory I examine the various systems of childhood development and how they interact to affect …

Caregiver Cues: The Role Of The Body In Infant-Caregiver Relationships, Anamaria Alvarez

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Touch, gaze, posture, and their synchrony between an infant and their caregiver are the means by which an attachment between the two is formed. The nonverbal elements of communication between the infant-caregiver dyad can explain the nature of their relationship and can serve as a tool for classifying attachment styles. Attachment Theory (AT) proposes that the attachment the infant forms with their caregiver establishes a model for relationships that the infant will carry into adulthood. This paper will untangle the underlying processes of the infant-caregiver relationship to make a case for refining the corporeal lens through which we view AT. …

A Bilingual Advantage For Children With Autism: Effect Of A Bilingual Education On Set Shifting In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Chandler Flannery O'Reardon

Senior Projects Spring 2021

The proposed study will examine the effect of an early bilingual school environment on the set shifting abilities of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). More specifically, it will evaluate how an English-French bilingual education program affects the set shifting abilities of children with ASD compared to a monolingual English education program. Set shifting will be measured by the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) task both before and after the respective education programs. I hypothesize that there will be a main effect of both time point and education program on set shifting abilities such that (a) set shifting abilities will …

Communicating With Play: Helping Adults Recognize Separation Anxiety Disorder And Social Anxiety Disorder In Preschool Children, Katlynn Marie Shamro

Senior Projects Spring 2021

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

Despite well-founded and agreed upon evidence showing preschool-aged children experience anxiety (CDC, 2020), children ages 2-6 are continuously understudied, underdiagnosed, and undertreated for these disorders (NIMH, 2019). Researchers attribute this to the primarily cognitive, as opposed to behavioral symptoms of anxiety, communication deficits during the preschool years, and the nature of childhood amplifying already existing barriers to a diagnosis of anxiety. Because diagnosis is the first step to gaining access to mental health resources and early intervention mitigates symptoms and impaired functioning (Barstead et al., 2018), as well …

The Pressure Cooker Of Higher Education: Multiple Predictors Of Pressure To Succeed Among Today's College Students, John Michael Richards

Senior Projects Spring 2021

This study was aimed at understanding the various factors that affect pressure to succeed amongst American college students, with an emphasis on the financial burden of tuition. Previous research on tuition costs demonstrates that the cost to attend university has steadily and drastically increased since the mid-1970s. Student well-being and satisfaction is considered in light of the many causes of stress in a student’s everyday life. The burden of tuition, familial pressure, and academic self-concept are discussed as dynamic factors in student pressure to succeed. Student well-being and the impact of stress on student learning is also introduced in the …

Family Separation Along The Us/Mexico Southwest Border: An Interdisciplinary Approach To Trauma, Human Rights And Childhood Needs, Christina G. Secor

Senior Projects Spring 2020

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Science, Mathematics and Computing of Bard College.

From Once Upon A Time To Happily Ever After: Grimms’ Fairy Tales And Early Childhood Development, Hannah Mccarley

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies and The Division of Languages and Literature of Bard College.

An Obsession Matched Intervention Improves The Facial/Emotional Recognition Deficit In Children With Asperger’S Syndrome, Aurora Claire Hoffman

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) falls on the high-functioning end of the Autism Spectrum. AS is often characterized by a deficit in social/emotional/facial processing, resistance to change, and routine and repetitive behaviors and interests. Prior research has uncovered that AS individuals process faces in a detail-oriented piecemeal fashion, rather than holistically. They are also found to pay less visual attention to faces and social stimuli. Theoretical explanations that account for this particular functioning and processing style include Weak Central Coherence Theory (WCC) and Hyper-Systemizing Theory. WCC implies that AS individuals do not process instances within context, which contributes to their inability to …

Proposed Intervention To Improve Recently Immigrated Hispanic Adolescents' Academic Performance And Psychological Well-Being, Samantha Lagville-Graham

Senior Projects Spring 2017

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College.

On Environmental Education, James Mackinnon Michel Spreuwenberg-Stewart

Senior Projects Spring 2015

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

"I Is An Other": An Exploration Of The Development Of Childhood And Adolescent Self-Concept, Jessica Lebovits

Senior Projects Spring 2012

A multidisciplinary project that combines original empirical research with an analysis of two Modernist novels, The Waves by Virginia Woolf and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce.