Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Aging And The Restructuring Of Precued Movements, Paul Amrhein, George Stelmach, Noreen Goggin

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A precue paradigm was used to examine the time it takes to restructure a planned motor response. Two groups of subjects, a young group, and an elderly group, performed an aiming task in which 75% of the trials involved no change of movement parameters. On remaining trials, subjects had to change one or more of the movement parameters. Elderly subjects had slower reaction times (RTs), movement times, and made more errors in both conditions. Elderly subjects had proportionally longer RTs overall, independent of restructuring a movement plan. Preparation of arm and direction also exhibited a proportional increase in RT. However, …

Repeated Acquisition With The Developmentally Disabled, Jeannie Madsen

Masters Theses

Repeated-acquisition data were obtained from four developmentally disabled adults. The task was selecting the poker chip with the sticker on its underside in a sequence of sets of chips. When a sequence was mastered (four consecutive errorless runs) the subjects were given a new sequence to learn. Money was reinforcement for correct sequence completion. Total errors before mastery was the dependent variable.

In Phase 1 the subjects completed as many sequences as possible during each 15-minute session. Errors per sequence was a reasonably stable dependent variable within subjects, and between-subject differences were what would be expected on the basis of …

Utilizing Daily Repertoire Behavior To Facilitate The Acquisition Of Generalized Imitation In Profoundly Mentally Retarded Adults, Scott A. Kremser

Masters Theses

Two procedures were compared in teaching the skill of generalized imitation. One procedure incorporated some of the subject's daily behavior repertoire into the imitation training paradigm. Another similar procedure utilized non-repertoire responses during training. Two male profoundly mentally retarded adults were trained with each procedure. Overall, the acquisition of generalized imitation was facilitated by incorporating daily repertoire behaviors into the imitation training packages. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference in levels of generalized imitation as a function of training condition. Results were variable across subjects however, and it is questionable whether the difference is clinically significant. Further and more refined …

Stimulus Overselectivity: An Investigation Of Determinants, Margaret T. Mcglinchey

Dissertations

Stimulus overselectivity refers to a phenomenon in which, after discrimination training with a multiple component stimulus, behavior fails to come under the control of all of the components of the stimulus. After a screening process based on past research, a group of children with specific learning disabilities was categorized into one of two groups: overselective and non-overselective. Both groups were exposed to training and testing for generalization. All children in both groups evidenced "stimulus overselectivity" during these tests for generalization. Generalization training subsequently reduced stimulus overselectivity for all students. There were few differences between the two groups. The results suggest …

Inter-Rater Reliability: A Question Of Measurement In Social Science Research, Lani Kai Eggertsen Goff

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Erik Erikson (1968) set forth the framework for the conceptualization and adolescent identity formation in the late 1960's. The assessment of identity invokes a subjective measurement of a youth's process and current standing regarding sociopsychological development. According to Adams (1987) throughout Erikson's writings a "conscious sense of individual identity," a process of "ego synthesis" and formation of sense of social "ideals and social identity" are central considerations when discussing identity.

Training Mildly Retarded Adults To Generate Effective Solutions To Daily Living Problems, Dennis Munk

Masters Theses

Two mildly mentally retarded adults, living in a semi-independent residential program received training in solving common social problems. The subjects were trained to perform five problem-solving component skills: (1) identifying the problem, (2) defining a goal, (3) evaluating a solution, (4) evaluating alternative solutions, and (5) selecting a best solution. The five component skills were trained in sequence, as a multiple-baseline across skill behaviors design. It was hypothesized that the training program would successfully improve the subjects' ability to perform the component skills when solving trained and unfamiliar problems. The unfamiliar problems were included to test generalization of skill. The …

Age Differences In Bimanual Coordination, Paul Amrhein, George Stelmach, Noreen Goggin

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

A bimanual coordination experiment was conducted in which two groups of 10 male and female participants, elderly (67 to 75 years of age) and young (21 to 25 years of age), produced unimanual, bimanual symmetrical (equal extent amplitude), and bimanual asymmetrical (unequal extent amplitude) movements. In addition to an overall increase in performance latency, the elderly group exhibited a linear increase in response initiation (RT) with increases in task complexity similar to that of the young group. However, the elderly participants showed a proportional increase over the young participants in response execution latency (MT). Further, the elderly group had a …

Rhinestone Cowgirl: The Education Of A Rodeo Queen, M. Raitt, David F. Lancy

David Lancy

No abstract provided.

Psychological Development Of Infants Conceived Through In Vitro Fertilization, Virginia Lee Van De Water

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

In 1984, The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development awarded a grant to The Eastern Virginia Medical School and The Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters to study the IVF children conceived a The Jones Institute for Reproductive Medicine in Norfolk, Virginia. The purpose of the study was to assess the children comprehensively using a multi-disciplinary team to determine whether the IVF process resulted in higher than average physical and/or behavioral deficits. The children were psychologically tested on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development; they also received pediatric, neurological, cardiac, and ultrasound examinations of their internal organs. 83 …