Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

The Role Of Culture In Theory Of Mind, Leslie Linares Pava

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Theory of Mind (ToM) is defined as the ability to understand our own and otherpeople’s mental representations, characterised by individual perspectives and motives,with potential for directing human behaviour (Kuntoro, Saraswati, Peterson & Slaughter,2013). Over the past 30 years this concept has captured the attention of cognitive anddevelopmental psychologists and it has been established that typically developed childrenfrom individualistic, mainly from Anglo (English-speaking) countries are most likely toacquire this ability at the age of four.

In the past decade, a growing interest in differences between children fromindividualistic and collestivistic cultural orientations led researchers to question the extentto which ToM is influenced …

The Needs Of Western Australian Parents Of Children With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, As Influenced By The Age Of The Child, Kerry Stedman

Theses : Honours

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) impact upon parental stress levels above and beyond other childhood disorders. Nevertheless, little systematic research has been done on the perceived needs of parents of children with ASD. The literature has, however, reported that having a child with ASD impacts upon parental well being. These parents report increased levels of stress, depression, dysphoria, fear and marital difficulties as well as other problems. Although there is a debate in current research as to whether the age of the child with ASD affects parental well being, much of the body of knowledge suggests that different stressors and needs …

Social Competence : An Exploration Of Children's Experiences Within The Home Environment, Mandie B. Shean

Theses : Honours

The acquisition of social competence is an important developmental task for children. This review examines how child effects and environmental effects contribute to children's achievement of social competence. Environmental factors are addressed through Bronfenbrenner's (1999) ecological systems model of the microsystem, mesosystem and exosystem, The microsystem includes the home environment with parent-parent, parent-child and sibling relationships. The mesosystem includes the school environment with peer and teacher relationships. Finally, the exosystem incorporates indirect environments such as parent work, economic status and the media. Issues of reciprocal effects are addressed and the suggestion is made that social competence is the result of …