Psychology Commons^™

An Analysis Of Child Valence Bias Trajectories As A Result Of Parental Factors: A Longitudinal Perspective, Kaylee Brooke Donner

Honors Theses

Valence bias is an important part of how individuals perceive the world around them, and this is especially influential in terms of children’s development. This study used data from longitudinal data collection surveys consisting of 197 participants, ages 6-17, to investigate correlations between valence bias, puberty, parental conflict, emotion regulation, temperament, interpersonal regulation, trait anxiety, and personality. This research provides much sought-after knowledge in terms of how parental factors impact children’s development, specifically children's valence bias development. Previous research has shown that emotion regulation in parents, along with different parenting styles with equal levels of discipline and loving support largely …

Psychology In The Modern World, Kutay Agardici

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus is created for the two courses I will be teaching at City College in the psychology dept. Topics include cognition, language, learning, memory, nature vs. nurture, abnormal psychology, social psychology, etc.

Investigating The Covid-19 Pandemic In Your Community, Tanzina Ahmed

Open Educational Resources

In this writing assignment, students will conduct research on statistics about COVID-19 in New York City and their embedded communities using free online databases from the New York City Department of Health (NYC DOH). For questions 1, 2, 3, and 4, students will conduct research on COVID-19 statistics within NYC and their specific neighborhood/community in New York City. In questions 5 and 6, students will analyze the data you have gathered while using your own knowledge of your community. A full set of instructions for accessing NYC DOH databases and a complete rubric for grading the assignment is included.

Promoting The Healthy Development Of All Adolescents Through An Equity Lens: Continuing Education For Secondary-Level Educators, Isabella Simone

Senior Honors Projects

American schools, as an institution, have a mission to educate society’s youth in a way that is characterized by, and promotes, equity regarding educational access, opportunities, and outcomes. Doing so promises to support the individual growth and development of all students. Unfortunately, high school students face challenges regarding healthy development — academic, social, and identity-based — during the transition from childhood to adulthood. These challenges include navigating their identity development, achieving academic success, managing school and family demands, and planning for their futures. Barriers to the successful achievement of these challenges include risk factors associated with family relationships, financial standing, …

Preconception Maternal Posttraumatic Stress And Child Negative Affectivity: Prospectively Evaluating The Intergenerational Impact Of Trauma, Danielle A. Swales, Elysia Poggi Davis, Nicole E. Mahrer, Christine M. Guardino, Madeleine Shalowitz, Sharon L. Ramey, Christine Dunkel Schetter

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

The developmental origins of psychopathology begin before birth and perhaps even prior to conception. Understanding the intergenerational transmission of psychopathological risk is critical to identify sensitive windows for prevention and early intervention. Prior research demonstrates that maternal trauma history, typically assessed retrospectively, has adverse consequences for child socioemotional development. However, very few prospective studies of preconception trauma exist, and the role of preconception symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) remains unknown. The current study prospectively evaluates whether maternal preconception PTSD symptoms predict early childhood negative affectivity, a key dimension of temperament and predictor of later psychopathology. One hundred and eighteen …

Exposure To Prenatal Maternal Distress And Infant White Matter Neurodevelopment, Catherine H. Demers, Maria M. Bagonis, Khalid Al-Ali, Sarah E. Garcia, Martin A. Styner, John H. Gilmore, M. Camille Hoffman, Benjamin L. Hankin, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

The prenatal period represents a critical time for brain growth and development. These rapid neurological advances render the fetus susceptible to various influences with life-long implications for mental health. Maternal distress signals are a dominant early life influence, contributing to birth outcomes and risk for offspring psychopathology. This prospective longitudinal study evaluated the association between prenatal maternal distress and infant white matter microstructure. Participants included a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 85 mother–infant dyads. Prenatal distress was assessed at 17 and 29 weeks’ gestational age (GA). Infant structural data were collected via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) at 42–45 weeks’ …

Social Media, Stress And Sleep Deprivation: A Triple “S” Among Adolescents, Micajah Daniels, Manoj Sharma, Kavita Batra

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

This commentary is aimed to discuss the impact of social media or the internet and engagement on youth development and comprehend these complex interrelationships. The discussion will serve as an important basis for designing targeted interventions to promote the judicious use of social media and meaningful engagement among youth. Problematic social media use (SMU) among adolescents may be associated with sleep deprivation, emotional distress, and adoption of maladaptive behaviors. Depression and stress are most notably connected to online harassment from SMU or cyberbullying. Degradation, threats, fake profiles, cyberstalking and unwanted comments are some examples of cyberbullying. Given the critical developmental …

Psychology Of Adolescence, Brent Maximin

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Self-Actualization And The Need To Create As A Limit On Copyright, Christopher S. Yoo

All Faculty Scholarship

Personhood theory is almost invariably cited as one of the primary theoretical bases for copyright. The conventional wisdom views creative works as the embodiment of their creator’s personality. This unique connection between authors and their works justifies giving authors property interests in the results of their creative efforts.

This Chapter argues that the conventional wisdom is too limited. It offers too narrow a vision of the ways that creativity can develop personality by focusing exclusively on the results of the creative process and ignoring the self-actualizing benefits of the creative process itself. German aesthetic theory broadens the understanding of the …

Sensitive Periods For Psychosocial Risk In Childhood And Adolescence And Cardiometabolic Outcomes In Young Adulthood, Jenalee R. Doom, Kenia M. Rivera, Estela Blanco, Raquel Burrows, Paulina Correa-Burrows, Patricia L. East, Betsy Lozoff, Sheila Gahagan

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Greater psychosocial risk in childhood and adolescence predicts poorer cardiometabolic outcomes in adulthood. We assessed whether the timing of psychosocial risk from infancy through adolescence predicts cardiometabolic outcomes in young adulthood. Young adults and their mothers participated in a longitudinal study beginning in infancy in Santiago, Chile (N = 1040). At infancy, 5 years, 10 years, and adolescence, mothers reported on depressive symptoms, stressful experiences, support for child development in the home, father absence, parental education, and socioeconomic status (SES) to create a psychosocial risk composite at each time point. Young adults (52.1% female; 21–27 years) provided fasting serum samples …

Adolescence & Emerging Adulthood, Lisa Babel

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

Size Vs. Number: Assigning Number Words To Discrete And Continuous Quantities, Emily Slusser, Patrick Cravalho

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Maternally Regulated Prenatal Sensory Experience On Postnatal Motor Coordination In Neonatal Bobwhite Quail, Starlie C. Belnap

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Comparative animal studies aid in understanding how prenatal sensory experiences regulated by maternal activity facilitate or interfere with growth and phenotype development. However, there is a paucity of information on how prenatal sensory experience influence postnatal motor performance. In this series of studies, we used an avian model, the bobwhite quail, to evaluate the effects of prenatal temperature (study 1), prenatal movement (study 2), prenatal light duration (study 3), and prenatal light presentation pattern (study 4) on hatchability, growth and postnatal motor performance in 24hr quail neonates. In study 1, quail embryos were exposed to naturally occurring cool (36.9°C) or …

Across Continents And Demographics, Unpredictable Maternal Signals Are Associated With Children's Cognitive Function, Elysia Poggi Davis, Riikka Korja, Linnea Karlsson, Laura M. Glynn, Curt A. Sandman, Brian Vegetabile, Eeva-Leena Kataja, Saara Nolvi, Eija Sinervä, Juho Pelto, Hasse Karlsson, Hal S. Stern, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Background

Early life experiences have persisting influence on brain function throughout life. Maternal signals constitute a primary source of early life experiences, and their quantity and quality during sensitive developmental periods exert enduring effects on cognitive function and emotional and social behaviors. Here we examined if, in addition to established qualitative dimensions of maternal behavior during her interactions with her infant and child, patterns of maternal signals may contribute to the maturation of children's executive functions. We focused primarily on effortful control, a potent predictor of mental health outcomes later in life.

Methods

In two independent prospective cohorts in Turku, …

Lectures And Test Bank For Human Growth And Development (Gsw), Ellen Cotter

Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Ancillary Materials

This set of lecture slides and test banks for Human Growth and Development was created through an ALG Round Eleven Mini-Grant for Ancillary Materials Creation and Revision. The materials are intended to support Lifespan Development by Martha Lally and Suzanne Valentine-French.

Topics covered include:

• Heredity, Prenatal Development, and Birth
• Infancy
• Early Childhood
• Adolescence
• Adulthood
• Death and Dying

Interview Of Rosanna Mastrangelo, Rosanna Mastrangelo, Juliana Mastrangelo

All Oral Histories

The Interviewee:

Rosanna Mastrangelo was born in February 1964, in South Philadelphia. Her parents, along with the rest of her family, were Italian immigrants who had come to America after the end of World War II in hopes of rebuilding a better life for themselves. Raised in a tight-knit Italian neighborhood and surrounded by Old World traditions, Rosanna quickly realized the importance of remaining close to one’s roots, especially in forming her unique sense of identity. But as she went to school and became acquainted with people of other backgrounds and experiences, it became ever more clear that her sense …

Genome-Wide Association Scan Identifies New Variants Associated With A Cognitive Predictor Of Dyslexia, Alessandro Gialluisi, Till F. M. Andlauer, Nazanin Mirza-Schreiber, Kristina Moll, Jessica Becker, Per Hoffmann, Kerstin U. Ludwig, Darina Czamara, Beate St Pourcain, William Brandler, Ferenc Honbolygó, Dénes Tóth, Valéria Csépe, Guillaume Huguet, Andrew P. Morris, Jacqueline Hulslander, Erik G. Willcutt, John C. Defries, Richard K. Olson, Shelley D. Smith, Bruce F. Pennington, Anniek Vaessen, Urs Maurer, Heikki Lyytinen, Myriam Peyrard-Janvid, Paavo H. T. Leppänen, Daniel Brandeis, Milene Bonte, John F. Stein, Joel B. Talcott, Fabien Fauchereau, Arndt Wilcke, Clyde Francks, Thomas Bourgeron, Anthony P. Monaco, Franck Ramus, Karin Landerl, Juha Kere, Thomas S. Scerri, Silvia Paracchini, Simon E. Fisher, Johannes Schumacher, Markus M. Nöthen, Bertram Müller-Myhsok, Gerd Schulte-Körne

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is one of the most prevalent learning disorders, with high impact on school and psychosocial development and high comorbidity with conditions like attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and anxiety. DD is characterized by deficits in different cognitive skills, including word reading, spelling, rapid naming, and phonology. To investigate the genetic basis of DD, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of these skills within one of the largest studies available, including nine cohorts of reading-impaired and typically developing children of European ancestry (N = 2562–3468). We observed a genome-wide significant effect (p < 1 × 10−8) on rapid automatized naming of letters (RANlet) for variants on 18q12.2, within MIR924HG (micro-RNA …

Brief Report: Attentional Cueing To Images Of Social Interactions Is Automatic For Neurotypical Individuals But Not Those With Asc, Marcus Neil Morrisey, Catherine L. Reed, Daniel N. Mcintosh, M. D. Rutherford

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Human actions induce attentional orienting toward the target of the action. We examined the influence of action cueing in social (man throwing toward a human) and non-social (man throwing toward a tree) contexts in observers with and without autism spectrum condition (ASC). Results suggested that a social interaction enhanced the cueing effect for neurotypical participants. Participants with ASC did not benefit from non-predictive cues and were slower in social contexts, although they benefitted from reliably predictive cues. Social orienting appears to be automatic in the context of an implied social interaction for neurotypical observers, but not those with ASC. Neurotypical …

Human Growth And Development: Question Library, Ellen Cotter, Gary Fisk, Judy Orton Grissett

Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Ancillary Materials

This set of questions for use with quizzes and tests was created under a Round Four ALG Textbook Transformation Grant with an accompanying PowerPoint lecture set. The course uses the free and open Human Development sections of Boundless Psychology.

Topics covered include:

• Nature vs. Nurture
• Piaget
• Attachment
• Freud
• Erikson
• Kohlberg
• Childhood Development
• Adolescent Development
• Adulthood Development
• Late Adulthood

Human Growth And Development: Lecture Slides, Ellen Cotter, Gary Fisk, Judy Orton Grissett

Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Ancillary Materials

This set of lecture slides was created under a Round Four ALG Textbook Transformation Grant with an accompanying question library for tests and quizzes. The course uses the free and open Human Development sections of Boundless Psychology.

Topics covered include:

• Nature vs. Nurture
• Piaget
• Attachment
• Freud
• Erikson
• Kohlberg
• Childhood Development
• Adolescent Development
• Adulthood Development
• Late Adulthood

Psychological Ways Of Expressing Appreciations, Experiences, Thanks And Blessings In The Society, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

ABSTRACT: Research has shown that one of the avenues to make aware of once experiences, appreciations and blessings is through writing a gratitude journal or memoir. By journalizing our thought by hands or electronically, it may help us focus them, according to psychologist Robert Emmons, who says that he does this routinely to remind himself; it makes apple of time to understand the meaning and importance of people and events. It has been found that one should go for a depth in writing rather than breadth, because this will help one to enjoy what one appreciates, and what to keep …

How Socioeconomic Disadvantages Get Under The Skin And Into The Brain To Influence Health Development Across The Lifespan, Pilyoung Kim, Gary W. Evans, Edith Chen, Gregory Miller, Teresa Seeman

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has adverse impacts on physical (Adler and Rehkopf 2008; Blair and Raver 2012; Braverman and Egerter 2008; Cohen et al. 2010; Poulton et al. 2002) and psychological (Adler and Rehkopf 2008; Bradley and Corwyn 2002; Grant et al. 2003) health development. SED is similar to low socioeconomic status (SES) which is based on occupation, income, and education or a composite of more than one of these indicators (McLoyd 1998). However, we conceptualize SED more broadly than socioeconomic status to also include subjective perception of social position and contextual indicators of disadvantage, such as neighborhood deprivation. One of …

Family Income, Cumulative Risk Exposure, And White Matter Structure In Middle Childhood, Alexander J. Dufford, Pilyoung Kim

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Family income is associated with gray matter morphometry in children, but little is known about the relationship between family income and white matter structure. In this paper, using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, a whole brain, voxel-wise approach, we examined the relationship between family income (assessed by income-to-needs ratio) and white matter organization in middle childhood (N = 27, M = 8.66 years). Results from a non-parametric, voxel-wise, multiple regression (threshold-free cluster enhancement, p < 0.05 FWE corrected) indicated that lower family income was associated with lower white matter organization [assessed by fractional anisotropy (FA)] for several clusters in white matter tracts involved in cognitive and emotional functions including fronto-limbic circuitry (uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle), association fibers (inferior longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus), and corticospinal tracts. Further, we examined the possibility that cumulative risk (CR) exposure might function as one of the potential pathways by which family income influences neural outcomes. Using multiple regressions, we found lower FA in portions of these tracts, including those found in the left cingulum bundle and left superior longitudinal fasciculus, was significantly related to greater exposure to CR (β = -0.47, p < 0.05 and β = -0.45, p < 0.05).

Distinct Patterns Of Reduced Prefrontal And Limbic Gray Matter Volume In Childhood General And Internalizing Psychopathology, Hannah R. Snyder, Benjamin L. Hankin, Curt A. Sandman, Kevin Head, Elysia Poggi Davis

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Reduced gray matter volume (GMV) is widely implicated in psychopathology, but scholars have found mostly overlapping areas of GMV reduction across disorders rather than unique neural signatures, potentially due to pervasive comorbidity. GMV reductions may be associated with broader psychopathology dimensions rather than specific disorders. We used an empirically supported bifactor model consisting of common psychopathology and internalizing- and externalizing-specific factors to evaluate whether latent psychopathology dimensions yield a clearer, more parsimonious pattern of GMV reduction in prefrontal and limbic/paralimbic areas implicated in individual disorders. A community sample of children (N = 254, ages 6–10) was used to evaluate …

General And Emotion-Specific Alterations To Cognitive Control In Women With A History Of Childhood Abuse, Kristen L. Mackiewicz Seghete, Roselinde H. Kaiser, Anne P. Deprince, Marie T. Banich

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Background

Although limited, the literature suggests alterations in activation of cognitive control regions in adults and adolescents with a history of childhood abuse. The current study examined whether such alterations are increased in the face of emotionally-distracting as compared to emotionally neutral information, and whether such alterations occur in brain regions that exert cognitive control in a more top-down sustained manner or a more bottom-up transient manner.

Methods

Participants were young adult women (ages 23–30): one group with a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse (N = 15) and one with no trauma exposure (N = 17), as assessed …

Abnormal Dendritic Maturation Of Developing Cortical Neurons Exposed To Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (Crh): Insights Into Effects Of Prenatal Adversity?, Megan M. Curran, Curt A. Sandman, Elysia Poggi Davis, Laura M. Glynn, Tallie Z. Baram

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH) produced by the hypothalamus initiates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which regulates the body’s stress response. CRH levels typically are undetectable in human plasma, but during pregnancy the primate placenta synthesizes and releases large amounts of CRH into both maternal and fetal circulations. Notably, placental CRH synthesis increases in response to maternal stress signals. There is evidence that human fetal exposure to high concentrations of placental CRH is associated with behavioral consequences during infancy and into childhood, however the direct effects on of the peptide on the human brain are unknown. In this study, we used a …

Prenatal Maternal Cortisol Concentrations Predict Neurodevelopment In Middle Childhood, Elysia Poggi Davis, Kevin Head, Claudia Buss, Curt A. Sandman

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Glucocorticoids (cortisol in humans) are the end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) axis and are proposed as a key mechanism for programming fetal brain development. The present prospective longitudinal study evaluates the association between prenatal maternal cortisol concentrations and child neurodevelopment. Participants included a low risk sample of 91 mother-child pairs. Prenatal maternal plasma cortisol concentrations were measured at 19 and 31 gestational weeks. Brain development and cognitive functioning were assessed when children were 6–9 years of age. Structural magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired and cortical thickness was determined. Child cognitive functioning was evaluated using standardized measures (Wechsler Intelligence …

Establishing A Solid Foundation Through An Identity In Christ, Matthew S. Pedersen

Senior Honors Theses

An identity in Christ is the only solid foundation on which adolescents or adults can build their life. Identity is a major building block in a person’s life. Individuals with an unhealthy identity as a result of the culture will need to make many changes to this foundation in order to keep an accurate view of their lives. The definition of identity can show examples of negative consequences of an unhealthy identity. An identity based on the views of culture can show areas of weakness. Examining what the Bible says about man before and after a relationship with Christ will …

It's Not All Just Child's Play: A Psychological Study On The Potential Benefits Of Theater Programming With Children, Sydney R. Walker

Honors College

Research suggests there are developmental benefits of theater education. The present study hypothesized that a theater curriculum, utilizing the techniques of Creative Drama and theater games created by Viola Spolin, taught to students at the Stillwater Montessori School to 15 students in grades Kindergarten through Fourth, would contribute to significant increases in children’s self-esteem and empathy. Questionnaires assessing children’s self-esteem and empathy were administered to children, parents, and teachers prior to and following the theater programming. Results were analyzed using a repeated measures ANOVA and indicated that generally there were no significant changes in children’s self-esteem and empathy. However, for …

Social Compass Curriculum: Three Descriptive Case Studies Of Social Skills Outcomes For Students With Autism, Louanne E. Boyd, Deborah M. Ward

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

The Social Compass Curriculum (SCC) was investigated for its effectiveness in improving core social skills in three descriptive case studies of students with autism. Treatment fidelity of the SCC was also measured in the school setting. The Social Responsiveness Scale and the Autism Social Skills Profile were completed by parents to measure pre- and postintervention social skills for three students aged 8 to 11 years who participated in the present multisite pilot study. Fidelity of implementation data were collected via a checklist during observations for three educators who implemented the intervention. Results indicate that the SCC improved core social deficits …