Developmental Psychology Commons^™

An Ecological Systems Perspective On Individual Differences In Children's Performance On Measures Of Executive Function, Steven J. Holochwost, Deaven Winebrake, Eleanor D. Brown, Keith R. Happeney, Nicholas J. Wagner, W. Roger Mills-Koonce

Psychology Faculty Publications

The predictive validity of performance on cognitive-behavioral measures of executive function (EF) suggests that these measures index children's underlying capacity for self-regulation. In this paper, we apply ecological systems theory to critically evaluate this assertion. We argue that as typically administered, standard measures of EF do not index children's underlying, trait-like capacity for EF, but rather assess their state-like EF performance at a given point in time and in a particular (and often quite peculiar) context. This underscores the importance of disentangling intra-individual (i.e., state-like) and inter-individual (trait-like) differences in performance on these measures and understanding how factors at various …

Grit, Efficacy, Commitment And Career Planning, Mary Clare Newsham

MSU Graduate Theses

This current study advanced understanding of the career goal-setting and relevant goal-related attitudes to the career planning process. Specifically, this study evaluated how career goal commitment, career goal self-efficacy and grit affect career goal structures and effort. A multidimensional career goal commitment scale was developed to differentiate intrinsic (affective) from rational types of commitments. Findings supported affective career goal commitment as consequential to the completeness of career goal structures and in career-relevant effort. Also, career goal self-efficacy was found to predict career planners’ self-efficacy for shorter term performance.

College Students' Autonomy, Self-Regulation, And Academic Self-Efficacy During Covid-19, Madelynne J. Avila

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) forced college students to endure challenges that were unusual in the typical university environment. As self-determination theory, self-regulated learning theory, and social cognitive theory would suggest, college students’ need for satisfaction of autonomy and the ability to apply self-regulation may have been neglected due to COVID-related stressors (SDT; Ryan & Deci, 2000; SRLT; Zimmerman, 2012; SCT; Bandura, 2005). College students from a university (N = 94) participated in an online survey regarding their autonomy, self-regulated learning abilities, academic self-efficacy, and COVID-related stress. Using a moderated mediation model, the current study predicted that self-regulated learning …

Teacher Perception Of A Brief Mindfulness-Based Curriculum And Its Impact On The Development Of Social Skills And Self-Regulation On A Preschool Classroom, Allison Poggendorf

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Recent studies on mindfulness and its impact on children have found promising results, especially with social-emotional skill development. A majority of the research on mindfulness applied in educational setting tends to focus on elementary and high school students, and there is limited, but growing research that examines the impact of mindfulness among early childhood students. This current study explored the impact of a brief mindfulness-based curriculum on an intact preschool classroom. Specifically, this study examined if preschool teachers perceive mindfulness practices in the classroom to impact their students’ self-regulation skills and social skills and how likely they were to continue …

Early Predictors: The Impact Of Childhood Exposure To Interparental Conflict On Developmental Outcomes For Emotion Self-Regulation And Related Problem Behaviour., Katrina Abela

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The capacity to independently regulate emotions occupies a central role in children’s physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing as they progress through their development. The influence of adverse childhood experiences on the absence of attuned emotion self-regulation (ESR) abilities has been recurringly linked to, and coupled with, a range of adverse developmental outcomes for children and adolescents, such as internalizing problem behaviours (i.e., anxiety) and externalizing problem behaviours (i.e., peer bullying and victimization). Although exposure to interparental conflict has been widely associated with such short- and long-term adverse effects for children’s physical, emotional, social, and behavioural development, further investigation is needed …

Differential Harsh Parenting And Sibling Differences In Conduct Problems: The Role Of Effortful Control, Yelim Hong

Masters Theses

Differential parenting has been shown to be an important correlate and possible cause of positive and negative adjustment of sibling children. However, it is not known whether sibling differences in temperament affect this link between differential harsh parenting and sibling differences in adjustment outcomes. The current study addressed this gap in knowledge. The sample included 92 monozygotic (MZ, 63% female) twin pairs and 137 dizygotic same-sex (DZ, 52% female) twin pairs who had complete temperament survey data collected near the third annual wave in the longitudinal study. Children were 6.09 years old (SD = .69) years old at wave 1. …

The Development Of Reward Processing And Risky Behaviors In The Brain, Michelle L. Ramos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence is a period of heightened risk taking which can lead to many negative consequences. This increased risk taking may be related to developmental changes in the reward processing system in the brain. The current study proposes to investigate individual differences in the development of the reward processing system as well as cognitive-based regulatory processes in the developing brain, and how heterogeneity in neural and autonomic activity related to these processes may predict risk-taking behavior. Despite crucial developmental changes in the reward system leading to hypersensitivity to reward, there is great variability in risk-taking and sensation seeking behaviors seen in …

The Design, Development, And Implementation Of A Coding System For A "Hot" Self-Regulation Task, Hannah Martin

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Effortful control is one component of self-regulation that consists of the ability to delay a dominant response in favor of a non-dominant response. One way to measure effortful control is through “Hot” self-regulation tasks, which are when a participant is asked to delay a dominant response when there is a reward or punishment associated with the task. There are two types of “Hot” self-regulation tasks: effective decision making and delay of gratification. One way to assess of delay of gratification abilities is through an experimental task known as Snack Delay, where participants (usually children) are shown a snack but are …

Are Individual Differences In Media Multitasking Habits Associated With Changes In Brain Activation: An Erp Investigation Of Multitasking And Cognitive Control, Morgan Middlebrooks

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the number of mobile phone users grows, understanding the impact of multiple streams of media on media multitasking and related neural correlates is especially pertinent. This research aims to understand the association between media multitasking tendencies on the neural correlates underlying cognitive control using event-related potentials (ERPs). Specifically, we were interested in the N2 and P3, ERPs that measure neural activation underlying aspects of cognitive control. Based on the literature, we predicted that participants who have high media multitasking scores would show more negative N2 activation and more positive P3 activation than their low media multitasking counterparts during an …

Mothers’ And Fathers’ Self-Regulation Capacity, Dysfunctional Attributions And Hostile Parenting During Early Adolescence: A Process-Oriented Approach, Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, Zhi Li, Meredith J. Martin, Hannah R. Jones-Gordils, Patrick T. Davies

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The parent-child relationship undergoes substantial reorganization over the transition to adolescence. Navigating this change is a challenge for parents because teens desire more behavioral autonomy as well as input in decision-making processes. Although it has been demon- strated that changes in parental socialization approaches facilitates adolescent adjustment, very little work has been devoted to understand- ing the underlying mechanisms supporting parents’ abilities to adjust caregiving during this period. Guided by self-regulation models of parenting, the present study examined how parental physiological and cognitive regulatory capacities were associated with hostile and insen- sitive parent conflict behavior over time. From a process-oriented …

Mothers’ And Fathers’ Self-Regulation Capacity, Dysfunctional Attributions And Hostile Parenting During Early Adolescence: A Process-Oriented Approach, Melissa L. Sturge-Apple, Zhi Li, Meredith Martin, Hannah R. Jones-Gordils, Patrick T. Davies

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The parent-child relationship undergoes substantial reorganization over the transition to adolescence. Navigating this change is a challenge for parents because teens desire more behavioral autonomy as well as input in decision-making processes. Although it has been demonstrated that changes in parental socialization approaches facilitates adolescent adjustment, very little work has been devoted to understanding the underlying mechanisms supporting parents’ abilities to adjust caregiving during this period. Guided by self-regulation models of parenting, the present study examined how parental physiological and cognitive regulatory capacities were associated with hostile and insensitive parent conflict behavior over time. From a process-oriented perspective, we tested …

Adverse Childhood Experiences Indirectly Affect Child Telomere Length Through Self-Regulation, David Sosnowski

Theses and Dissertations

The goals of present study were: (a) to examine associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and telomere length during childhood using ACE composite scores both with and without “new” adversities (i.e., parental death and poverty), and (b) to determine if ACEs indirectly affect telomere length through children’s self-regulatory abilities (i.e., effortful control and self-control). The analytic sample consisted of national data from teachers, biological parents, and their children (N = 2,527; M_age = 9.35, SD = .36 years; 52% male; 45% Black). Results from linear regression analyses revealed a statistically significant main effect of updated (but not traditional) …

Children's Self-Regulation During Reward Delay, Abigail Fontaine

Masters Theses

Individuals who display high levels of reward sensitivity are motivated by and respond to reward related cues, thus exhibiting more approach-motivated behaviors. A majority of the research on physiological indices of reward sensitivity in relation to self-regulatory abilities has focused on adults or adolescents, with relatively little work examining these associations in children. Thus, the current study sought to examine whether a common neural measure of reward sensitivity, left frontal electroencephalogram (EEG) asymmetry, assessed in early childhood was predictive of children’s later self-regulation abilities in the context of reward delay. Emerging inhibitory control skills were also examined as a potential …

Event-Related Potential Studies Of Error Monitoring To Affective And Non-Affective Stimuli In Adolescents And Emerging Adults, Rebecca K. Reed

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is hypothesized that prefrontal cortex (PFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function may be still under development in adolescents. As the generator of the error-related negativity (ERN) and the N2, the ACC is expected to be sensitive to the degree of development with age. In adults, these top-down control areas ideally serve to direct attention to goal-relevant information, which can increase the likelihood of making a correct choice, even in fast-response laboratory based tasks. However, adolescents may show increased susceptibility in these top-down control areas when the stimulus is social and emotional. In the first study, event-related potentials were …

Metacognitive Theories Revisited, David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

“Metacognitive theories,” an article Gregg Schraw and I published in Educational Psychology Review in 1995, has been cited in over a thousand scholarly publications. In this follow-up, dedicated to Gregg and written after his recent death, I provide a brief overview of our 1995 article and then reflect on it in four ways. First, I consider the development of the concept of metacognition prior to 1995, including its emergence and use in previous writings by each co-author. Then, I turn to the collaboration itself, including the interplay of complementary conceptions and the construction of new ideas. Third, I consider the …

Providers Perspectives On Self-Regulation Impact Their Use Of Responsive Feeding Practices In Child Care, Dipti A. Dev, Katherine E. Speirs, Natalie A. Williams, Samantha Ramsay, Brent A. Mcbride, Holly Hatton-Bowers

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Supporting children's self-regulation in eating through caregivers' practice of responsive feeding is paramount to obesity prevention, and while much attention has been given to supporting children's selfregulation in eating through parents' responsive feeding practices in the home setting, little attention has been given to this issue in childcare settings. This qualitative study examines childcare providers' perspectives on using responsive feeding practices with young children (2–5 years). Individual semistructured interviews were conducted with providers until saturation was reached. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The final sample included 18 providers who were employed full-time in Head Start or state-licensed center-based childcare …

The Relationship Between Parenting Style And Self-Regulation In Early Childhood, Madeline Newman

Honors Theses

Research demonstrates the significance of the quality and quantity of caregiver guidance in the rearing of children. Many empirical studies find a correlation between social and developmental psychology and child rearing (Karreman et al., 2006). An important component of social-emotional development is a child’s ability to self-regulate––controlling bodily impulses, managing strong emotions, and maintaining focus and attention (Eisenberg, 2005). Children of authoritative parents have well-regulated emotions, respond well to difficult tasks, and exhibit developed social skills and happy and spirited dispositions; whereas, children of authoritarian and permissive parents lack many of those skills (Baumrind, 1971). Studies also show that cultural …

Self-Regulation To Practice: Incorporating The Strategy To An Early Childhood Special Education Setting, Kathryn L. Szwed

Open Access Dissertations

Preschool students who display social emotional deficits pose challenging issues for families, caregivers and teachers who educate them. In this study, the effectiveness of an assistive technology based treatment package consisting of video self-modeling and behavior management software was investigated to determine if its combined use would result in increased student self-regulation skills. Using a multiple baseline design, three students used the treatment package to increase self-regulation skills. During the investigation, the accuracy to self-identify behaviors, the documentation of desired and undesired behaviors and the overall impact of the treatment package was studied. Interobserver agreement (IOA) was used to determine …

Exploring Self-Regulation Of More Or Less Expert College-Age Video Game Players: A Sequential Explanatory Design, Meryem Yilmaz Soylu, Roger H. Bruning

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study examined differences in self-regulation among college-age expert, moderately expert, and non-expert video game players in playing video games for fun. Winnie's model of self-regulation (Winne, 2001) guided the study. The main assumption of this study was that expert video game players used more processes of self-regulation than the less-expert players. We surveyed 143 college students about their game playing frequency, habits, and use of self-regulation. Data analysis indicated that while playing recreational video games, expert gamers self-regulated more than moderately expert and non-expert players and moderately expert players used more processes of self-regulation than non-experts. Semi-structured interviews also …

Adolescent Decision Making And Risk Behavior: A Neurobiological Approach, Jennifer M. Wolff

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this study, the neurobiological theory of adolescent decision making and risk taking and the dual-process decision making theory were tested in a sample of college students. Participants responded to questions in a survey about decision making style, socio-emotional processes, cognitive control processes, and deviant peers. The goals of the research were to test the relation between decision making processes (intuitive and deliberative) and risk behaviors, to test the potential overlap between intuitive and deliberative decision making as described in the more traditional dual-process models and the socio-emotional and cognitive control systems of the neurobiological model, and to extend the …

Early Adolescent Non-Suicidal Self-Injury And Sensory Preference Differences: An Exploratory Study, Jacquelyn Shea Christensen

CGU Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) occurs in 13% to 20% of adolescents, and is often indicative of deeper internal or social problems. A close review of current explanatory models of NSSI suggested that underlying individual sensory preferences may contribute substantial explanations for the self-regulatory functions of NSSI, as well as have implications for treatment approaches. In the context of integrating sensory processing models with prominent functional NSSI models, this dissertation research compared sensory preferences in youth who engaged in NSSI to sensory preferences of youth who did not engage in NSSI.

OBJECTIVE: NSSI-engaging youth were hypothesized to have lower threshold sensory …

Antecedents And Continuity Of Compliance In Preschoolers, Lauren Gindin

Master's Theses

Self-regulation, and compliance behavior specifically, has been implicated in the development of successful socialization. Difficulty self-regulating has led to negative outcomes in areas such as academic success and mental health, and a number of possible contributors, such as temperament, maternal sensitivity and attachment, have been identified. In this study, we examined these possible predictors of preschool compliance behavior through causal modeling utilizing a large and diverse longitudinal dataset from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. We aimed to predict compliance and delay of gratification performance in children across 2, 3 and 4.5 years of age by …