Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Maltreatment And Brain Development: The Effects Of Abuse And Neglect On Longitudinal Trajectories Of Neural Activation During Risk Processing And Cognitive Control, Jungmeen Kim-Spoon, Toria Herd, Alexis Brieant, Kristin Peviani, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Nina Lauharatanahirun, Jacob Lee, Brooks King-Casas

Psychological and Brain Sciences Faculty Publication Series

The profound effects of child maltreatment on brain functioning have been documented. Yet, little is known about whether distinct maltreatment experiences are differentially related to underlying neural processes of risky decision making: valuation and control. Using conditional growth curve modeling, we compared a cumulative approach versus a dimensional approach (relative effects of abuse and neglect) to examine the link between child maltreatment and brain development. The sample included 167 adolescents (13?14 years at Time 1, 53 % male), assessed annually four times. Risk processing was assessed by blood-oxygen-level-dependent responses (BOLD) during a lottery choice task, and cognitive control by BOLD …

Positive Youth Development: Parental Warmth, Values, And Prosocial Behavior In 11 Cultural Groups, Concetta Pastorelli, Antonio Zuffianò, Jennifer E. Lansford, Eriona Thartori, Marc H. Bornstein, Lei Chang, Kirby Deater-Deckard, Laura Di Gunta, Kenneth A. Dodge, Sevtap Gurdal

Psychological and Brain Sciences Faculty Publication Series

The current cross-cultural study aimed to extend research on parenting and children's prosocial behavior by examining relations among parental warmth, values related to family obligations (i.e., children's support to and respect for their parents, siblings, and extended family), and prosocial behavior during the transition to adolescence (from ages 9 to 12). Mothers, fathers, and their children (N = 1107 families) from 8 countries including 11 cultural groups (Colombia; Rome and Naples, Italy; Jordan; Kenya; the Philippines; Sweden; Thailand; and African Americans, European Americans, and Latin Americans in the United States) provided data over 3 years in 3 waves (M-age of …

Through A Critical Sociocultural Lens: Parents’ Perspectives Of An Early Childhood Program In Guatemala, Yaëlle Stempfelet

Master's Capstone Projects

The present case study is on an Early Childhood program in Guatemala based on participant parents’ feedback. The Early Childhood program is non-formal, focuses on emergent literacy and nutrition, and takes place in a community-run library in a poor, semi-rural town in the mountainous regions of Quiche, Guatemala. The library was set up by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) that works in Guatemala as well as another neighboring country.

Using a critical sociocultural lens, this study assumes that the parents’ perceptions reflect the state of the program and that involving their feedback through this research will ultimately help to bolster the …

Predicting Social Behavior By Sound & Surface Appearance In Infancy, Ashley Lyons

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Our naïve theory of social behavior assumes that the positive and negative actions of others are caused by some underlying social disposition. Furthermore, adults automatically infer such traits in advance based upon whatever observable, even superficial, properties are available (e.g., how someone looks or sounds). The goal of the current study is to explore the developmental origins of this bias. We tested whether 12-month-old infants automatically infer a character’s social disposition (i.e., whether they ‘help’ or ‘hinder’ another character’s goal) based upon the superficial properties they display. Infants were habituated to two characters that possessed surface properties that were rated …

Resilience In School, Milka Ndura

Master's Capstone Projects

This study explores the factors that motivate students to perform well in the national examination at their basic primary education level despite the unlikely environment to support this success in Kibera slums, Kenya. In the current situation in Kenya, national examinations are used as a basis of distributing the fewer than students slots in secondary school, despite the different circumstances facing each candidate, passing of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education is still an important factor that determines a child’s eligibility to attend secondary school. Students enrolled in Kenyan primary school system take the same national exams regardless of the …

Does Early Perceptual Experience Influence Later Perceptual And Neural Discrimination In Children?, Hillary R. Hadley

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

In infancy, the ability to tell the difference between two faces within a category (e.g., species, race) that is infrequently experienced declines from 6 to 9 months of age (Kelly et al., 2009, 2007; Pascalis et al., 2005; Pascalis, de Haan, & Nelson, 2002; Scott & Monesson, 2009). This decline in the ability to distinguish faces is known as "perceptual narrowing" and has recently been found to be absent when infants are given experience matching a face with an individual-level proper name between 6 to 9 months of age (Scott & Monesson, 2009). Additionally, individual-level experience between 6 and 9 …

Associations Of Childhood Family Adversity And Pubertal Timing With Depressive Symptomotology In Adulthood, Jeffrey P. Winer

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

To date, no prior research has examined the combined roles of childhood family adversity and pubertal timing in longitudinal pathways to depressive symptomatology in adulthood. The present study was conducted with 225 men and 225 women to explore the unique and combined roles of childhood family adversity and pubertal timing on depressive symptoms in a community sample of married adults. Results for both men and women indicated significant main effects of a cumulatively risky family environment on depressive symptoms, as well as main effects of families with higher levels of abuse and neglect, chaos and disorganization, and interpersonal family conflict. …

Working Memory Performance Across Development And Following Acute Exercise, Patrice L. Stering

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis investigates the developmental trajectory of visuo-spatial working memory as well as the potential influence of acute exercise on working memory performance. Individuals between the ages of 6 and 25 years were randomly assigned to a 30-minute bout of exercise on an elliptical trainer or to a no-exercise control condition. Participants then performed a computerized N-back task to assess working memory. Developmental results suggest that working memory ability continues to develop into early adulthood with the exact trajectory depending on the cognitive demand of the task being assessed. No difference in working memory performance was found between the exercise …

The Priming Effects Of Video Viewing On Preschoolers' Play Behavior, Heather J. Lavigne

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

This thesis investigates the relationship between educational television content and children‘s play behaviors immediately after viewing. Children ages 41-43 months of age were randomly assigned to view a television program with predominantly object-constructive or social dramatic content. All children participated in a period of video viewing, approximately 25 minutes in length, followed by a 30-minute play session. Each participant was subsequently administered a brief card sorting task to assess categorical knowledge of constructive and social activities. Each child‘s session was coded for looking at the television, toy choice, and play content (constructive or social-narrative). Video viewing condition and the interaction …

The Behavioral Effects Of Increased Physical Activity On Preschoolers At Risk For Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Jasmin L. Roberts

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Physical activity (PA) has many health benefits, both physical and psychological. PA has been linked to improved cognitive functioning, superior overall health, and enhanced emotional well-being in populations ranging from school-age children to older adults. There has been less research, however, examining the benefits of PA in atypical preschool populations.

The present study examined the efficacy of a PA intervention in preschool-aged children at risk for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ADHD symptomatology, response inhibition, and physical activity were measured at three time points over a 6-month period. Results provide support for the efficacy of PA as an alleviative tool …

The Influence Of Television Exposure On Infants' Toy Play, Katherine G. Hanson

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The association between television exposure and infants’ toy play was examined. Specifically, differences in the amount of program content and coviewing in the home were expected to predict different patterns of play when children were away from television. This thesis also sought to extend Pempek’s (2007) findings indicating that the more parents coviewed certain baby videos (i.e., Sesame Beginnings) in the home with their children, the more likely these parents actively engaged with their children in the laboratory. Consequently, the current thesis examined whether or not this active engagement resulted in something meaningful for children’s play behaviors. Parents of infants …

The Other-Race Effect And Its Influences On The Development Of Emotion Processing, Alexandra Monesson

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

The theory of perceptual narrowing posits that the ability to make perceptual discriminations is very broad early in development and subsequently becomes more specific with perceptual experience (Scott, Pascalis, & Nelson, 2007). This leads to the formation of biases (Pascalis et al., 2002; 2005; Kelly et al., 2007), including the other-race effect (ORE). Behavioral and electrophysiological measures are used to show that by 9-months-of-age, infants exhibit a decline in ability to distinguish between two faces from another race compared to two faces from within their own race. Significant differences in the P400 component revealed a dampening of response to other-race …

Permanently Temporary: Roma Refugee Youth Seeking Schooling, Karen N. Binger

Master's Capstone Projects

This study investigates the experiences of education in exile from a small case study of Roma refugee male youths from Kosovo temporarily settled in Macedonia as ‘asylum seekers.’ These refugees are at an overlooked age where they have slipped through the cracks between the post-war, short-term relief and longer-term development efforts in terms of education. Many of the frustrations of this community stem from their difficulties in accessing education, and their uncertain legal limbo or ‘permanently temporary’ situations.

As adolescents, refugees, and Roma, the youth are at a triple jeopardy of marginalization and invisibility. Through conversations with four Roma refugee …

Cultural Socialization In Families With Internationally Adopted Children, Richard M. Lee, Harold D. Grotevant, Wendy L. Hellerstedt, Megan R. Gunnar, Minnesota International Adoption Project Team

Rudd Publications

Cultural socialization attitudes, beliefs, and parenting behaviors were examined in families with internationally adopted children. The authors hypothesized that parents with lower color-blind racial attitudes would be more likely to engage in enculturation and racialization parenting behaviors because they hold stronger beliefs in the value and importance of cultural socialization. Using data from the Minnesota International Adoption Project, the results support this mediation model of cultural socialization. Individual variations in cultural socialization also are discussed in terms of child development and shifting adoption attitudes and practices.