Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Psychology Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 8 of 8

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Postural Sway In Infants At Low And High Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rachel C. Harris Oct 2014

Postural Sway In Infants At Low And High Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rachel C. Harris

Open Access Theses

ABSTRACT Harris, Rachel C. M. S., Purdue University, December 2014. Postural Control in Infants at Low and High Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder. Major Professor: Laura J. Claxton. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder more commonly known for deficits in social and communication skills. More recently, aspects of motor development have been shown to be delayed in children with ASD, including deficits in their postural control abilities. Children with ASD have difficulty integrating information from their sensory systems to help control their balance. Infants at risk for ASD and infants who are later diagnosed with ASD have delays …


Attachment And Attention: An Investigation Of Biases In Attention As They Relate To Attachment Security In Infancy And Adulthood, Paul J. Meinz Aug 2014

Attachment And Attention: An Investigation Of Biases In Attention As They Relate To Attachment Security In Infancy And Adulthood, Paul J. Meinz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

At the advent of attachment theory, John Bowlby hypothesized that cognition and emotion are shaped by early experiences with primary caregivers (Bowlby, 1980). This idea – that aspects of cognition may be organized within early relationships – still plays a prominent role in contemporary attachment theory. The studies described within this dissertation provide support for the idea that attachment security in infancy and adulthood are associated with differences in cognition – particularly with differences in the way that people attend to certain forms of stimuli. Mothers and children in the studies described here were first assessed for individual differences in …


Effects Of Parental Modeling On The Development Of Panic-Relevant Escape And Avoidance Among Adolescents: An Experimental Study Using A Biological Challenge Procedure, Liviu Bunaciu Aug 2014

Effects Of Parental Modeling On The Development Of Panic-Relevant Escape And Avoidance Among Adolescents: An Experimental Study Using A Biological Challenge Procedure, Liviu Bunaciu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Escape and avoidance behaviors play a prominent role in the maintenance of panic-spectrum difficulties and may also be implicated in the development of such problems. Although the current state of the literature regarding the etiology of these emotion-regulation strategies is relatively underdeveloped, it appears that learning experiences involving parental modeling of such behaviors may be instrumental in the development of panic-relevant escape and avoidance. Given that no tests of such a conceptualization exist at this time, the current study proposed an initial experimental examination of whether parental modeling of defensive reactivity during a well-established biological challenge could impact panic-relevant escape …


Is Maternal Touch Used Referentially?, Rana Abu-Zhaya Jul 2014

Is Maternal Touch Used Referentially?, Rana Abu-Zhaya

Open Access Theses

Early social interactions are highly multimodal and include a wealth of cues (e.g., speech, facial expressions, motion, gestures and touch). Infant-directed speech (IDS) by itself may aid in language development. Touch by itself has been also shown to play an important role in dyadic interactions affecting both the infant and the caregiver. However, little is known about the impact of the combination of these two modes of communication on infant language development. In this thesis, I hypothesize that caregiver touch is provided in synchrony with speech, providing the language-learning infant with cues that may not only help her to find …


Preschoolers’ Physical, Social, And Engineering Play Behaviors: Differences In Gender And Play Environment, Zachary S. Gold Jul 2014

Preschoolers’ Physical, Social, And Engineering Play Behaviors: Differences In Gender And Play Environment, Zachary S. Gold

Open Access Theses

This study explored gender differences in the occurrence of 66 preschoolers' (ages 3-to-5; 29 girls, 37 boys) physical, social, and "engineering thinking play" behaviors across three play environments: the traditional playground, the dramatic play area, and an environment in which children played with large, manipulable, loose parts. Previous research has indicated that young children are not engaging in enough physical play to maintain healthy lifestyles. Play may also have benefits for social competency and cognitive development. Observations of children's engagement with a new and engaging play material, Imagination Playground TM blocks, which are designed to foster imaginative and creative constructive …


Attachment Representations And Mother-Child Dialogue, Baiba Barene Apr 2014

Attachment Representations And Mother-Child Dialogue, Baiba Barene

Open Access Theses

With the emerging linguistic competencies of the child, dialogue becomes a regular part of mother-child everyday interactions, and may serve as one of the mechanisms of transmission of attachment in early and middle childhood. The goal of this study was to investigate the hypothesis about the co-constructive nature of children's knowledge of secure base script. Formation of the secure base script is a result of child-caregiver interactions that have been consolidated into a unit of knowledge available for use in attachment related situations. Individual attachment narratives and mother-child co-constructed narratives were collected from 86 mother-child dyads when children were 3.7 …


It's Not All Just Child's Play: A Psychological Study On The Potential Benefits Of Theater Programming With Children, Sydney R. Walker Apr 2014

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 …


Mother's Experience Of Social Media: Its Impact On Children And The Home, Abe Van Hatch Jan 2014

Mother's Experience Of Social Media: Its Impact On Children And The Home, Abe Van Hatch

Theses : Honours

With the prevalence and accessibility of social media within the last 15 years it has become possible for children to have constant access to their friends and social networks. It is relatively unknown what impact adopting social media has on children and how mothers interpret this. There are gaps in the literature investigating the pervasive effects of modern technology and what meaning mothers ascribe to their children using social media as a method of connecting with the world. The present research aims to explore this phenomenon by investigating the experiences of mothers who have children that have recently adopted social …