Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Changing Museum Visitors’ Conceptions Of Evolution, Amy N. Spiegel, E Margaret Evans, Brandy Frazier, Ashley Hazel, Medha Tare, Wendy Gram, Judy Diamond

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

We examined whether a single visit to an evolution exhibition contributed to conceptual change in adult (n030), youth, and child (n034) museum visitors’ reasoning about evolution. The exhibition included seven current research projects in evolutionary science, each focused on a different organism. To frame this study, we integrated a developmental model of visitors’ understanding of evolution, which incorporates visitors’ intuitive beliefs, with a model of free-choice learning that includes personal, sociocultural, and contextual variables. Using pre- and postmeasures, we assessed how visitors’ causal explanations about biological change, drawn from three reasoning patterns (evolutionary, intuitive, and creationist), were modified as a …

Book Review: The Morality Of Social Identity, David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Morality tells us how to treat each other. Social identity connects us to each other. But all is not well. Social identity connects us to a group and thus to its members. Morality requires justice for everyone, regardless of group. Thus considerations of morality and social identity often pull in different directions (Appiah, 2005; Moshman, 2007; Sen, 2006).

Two excellent and complementary new books, Children and Social Exclusion and Narrative and the Politics of Identity, address the developmental roots and implications of these issues. The first reviews and integrates multiple programs of research on children’s developing judgments about dilemmas …

A Study Of The Effect Of Maternal Depressive Symptoms On The Mother-Infant Relationship And Protective Effect Of Maternal Reflective Functioning, Kristyn M. Wong

Wayne State University Theses

This study sought to replicate and extend findings on the effect of maternal depressive symptoms and their impact on the mother-infant relationship with regard to reflective functioning. The current sample included 101 mother-infant dyads who participated in a longitudinal study seeking to understand the effects of a traumatic childhood and how those experiences impact parenting. Measures included an assessment of depressive symptoms, an interview assessing reflective functioning capacity, and observation of mother-infant interaction. Previous findings were replicated with regard to significant correlations between parenting and reflective functioning. The current study did not find evidence for parenting mediating the relationship between …

Assessing The Adolescent Perceptions Of The Role Nonparent Adult Relationships Have On Character Development, Colin Thomas

Theses and Graduate Projects

Every day adolescents interact with nonparent adults. These adolescent and nonparent adult interactions have the potential to develop into unique relationships. Since the adolescent is at an impressionable stage in life, nonparent adult and adolescent relationships possess the unique potential to influence an adolescent's character development. For this study, I conducted my research utilizing an action research format. Utilizing in-depth interviewing this study strove to examine the adolescents' perceptions of the role nonparent adult and adolescent relationships had on their character development. Interview data was organized under three headings that developed from the interview responses. Themes that emerged from the …

Attitudes Toward Suicide In Peers Affected By A Point Cluster Of Suicides As Adolescents, Caroline Abbott

Psychology Honors Papers

This thesis aimed to study how exposure to peer suicide may relate to current adjustment and attitudes towards suicide. Eight-five young adult graduates of the same public high school in the northeast who were exposed to multiple peer suicides as adolescents filled out an Attitudes Towards Suicide Scale, Scale of Perceived Social Support, reported their level of agreement with Thomas Joiner’s suicide myths, and completed the Texas Revised Inventories of Grief for each peer lost to suicide. Grief was relatively low in this sample, but related to number of peers lost to suicide and closeness to those peers. Exposure to …

Relationally Aggressive Media Exposure And Children’S Normative Beliefs: Does Parental Mediation Matter?, Jennifer Ruh Linder, Nicole E. Werner

Faculty Publications

Research indicates that relationally aggressive media exposure is positively associated with relational aggression in children. Theories of media effects suggest that these associations may be mediated by aggressive cognitions. Although parental mediation can attenuate the effects of violent media, it is unknown whether there are similar benefits of parental mediation of relationally aggressive media. The current study examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between relationally aggressive television and movie exposure and normative beliefs about relational aggression, and whether parental mediation moderates these associations. Participants were 103 children (50% female) in grades 3-6 and their parents. The following year, 48 children (52% …

A Model Of Student Engagement And Academic Achievement: The Role Of Teacher-Student Relationships And Teacher Expectations, Aja C. Temple

Wayne State University Dissertations

A MODEL OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: THE ROLE OF TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIPS AND TEACHER EXPECTATIONS

by

AJA C. TEMPLE

MAY 2012

Advisor: Dr. Jina Yoon

Major: Educational Psychology

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns of academic achievement among minority students and investigate teacher-student relationships, teachers' classroom and future educational expectations for students, and students' levels of classroom engagement in order to better understand their patterns of academic achievement. Participants (n=522) were students in grades four through six from a suburban district in Michigan. Student achievement varied according to both gender and ethnicity …

Father Involvement As A Predictor Of Preschool Children's Academic Readiness And Socioemotional Competence, Travis Alexzander Goldwire

Wayne State University Theses

Predictors of father involvement (FI) were examined. Associations between learning encouragement (LE) and socioemotional support (SS) in relation to later school readiness outcomes were examined. A subsample of residential fathers (n = 6150) from the ECLS-B was used. Hierarchical linear regressions and conceptual path analysis were used to conduct statistical analyses. Child sex, paternal employment, and the mother-father relationship were significant predictors of LE at 9 months. The mother-father relationship predicted LE at 2 years and SS at 9 months. LE at 9 months was a significant predictor of academic readiness indicators at preschool. LE at 2 years significantly predicted …

Is Plea Bargaining In The "Shadow Of Trial" A Mirage?, Allison D. Redlich

Allison D Redlich

No abstract provided.

Is Diversion Swift?: Comparing Mental Health Court And Traditional Criminal Justice Processing, Allison D. Redlich, Siyu Liu, Henry J. Steadman, Lisa Callahan, Pamela C. Robbins

Allison D Redlich

No abstract provided.

Voluntary, Knowing, And Intelligent Pleas: Understanding Plea Inquiries, Allison D. Redlich

Allison D Redlich

No abstract provided.

Forming Strong Attitudes: Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Donnah Anderson

Donnah Anderson

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a childhood condition whose characteristic behaviours of hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity are salient in school settings. Teachers’ actions and decisions when working with children who demonstrate behaviours consistent with ADHD can be expected to be impacted by their knowledge of ADHD, and their attitude toward teaching such children. Teachers are exposed to numerous sources of inconsistent information about ADHD during their training and classroom experience. The formation of attitudes in response to such complexity is poorly understood. The present research used models of attitude content, structure and strength to investigate the formation of teachers’ knowledge of …

Community Violence, Wan-Yi Chen Dr., Kenneth Corvo Dr.

Wan-Yi Chen

No abstract provided.

Dsm-5: Rethinking Asperger’S Disorder, Lee A. Wilkinson

Lee A Wilkinson, PhD

No abstract provided.

Emotional Intelligence And Team Cohesiveness, Myra M. Beam

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Emotional Intelligence is generally defined as encompassing the awareness and understanding of emotions. Emotional Intelligence also incorporates the application of this understanding to decision making, regulation, and self-management. Many theorists have shown that Emotional Intelligence has a significant positive impact on various aspects of teamwork. Today, more companies and organizations use teamwork to solve problems and complete tasks, so exploring elements that enhance teamwork would be beneficial.

This study was designed to support the notion that Emotional Intelligence is an integral part of teamwork. It was hypothesized that Emotional Intelligence has an impact on teamwork by making the team more …

Covert Behaviors Occurring In Childhood And Adolescence: Predictors Of Adult Sexual Orientation And Sexual Identity, Shelia Ramona Robinett

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the influence pre-adulthood overt and covert same-sex sexual behaviors had on adult sexual orientation and the influence post-adulthood overt and covert same-sex sexual behaviors had on sexual identity in both women and men. Retrospective data were gathered via a computer-assisted self interview on 1281 non-transsexual female (age range 18-78) and 804 non-transsexual male (age range 18-84) participants for the outcome of sexual orientation and 1086 non-transsexual female and 692 non-transsexual male participants for outcomes of sexual identity. Same-sex romantic emotional attachment experience before adulthood predicted adult same-sex sexual orientation in both women and men. Such experiences occurred …

Special Support For University Students With Adhd And Ld In The United States, Laura E. Knouse, J Kanazawa

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Examining Gender And Socio-Economic Status On The Emotional Intelligence Of Early Adolescents, Alicea J. Davis

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine emotional intelligence and its impact on the maturational process of male and female early-adolescent youth. Demographic variables, such gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity, and educational status were, valued against emotionality factors such as intrapersonal stress, interpersonal stress, adaptability, general mood, and overall emotional intelligence (EQ). The study utilized a non-experimental, correlational design examining archival data. The participants consisted of approximately, early adolescent fifth-grade students aged 10-13 years. The participants were administered the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory (BarOn EQ-I:YV) and a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the population sample. A Pearson …

Getting Ready: Results Of A Randomized Trial Of A Relationship-Focused Intervention On The Parent– Infant Relationship In Rural Early Head Start, Lisa Knoche, Susan M. Sheridan, Brandy L. Clark, Carolyn P. Edwards, Christine A. Marvin, Keely D. Cline, Keely Cline, Kevin A. Kupzyk

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of a relational intervention (the Getting Ready intervention) on parenting behaviors supporting the parent–infant relationship for families enrolled in Early Head Start home-based programming. Two-hundred thirty-four parents and their children participated in the randomized study, with 42% of parents reporting education of less than a high-school diploma. Brief, semistructured parent–child interaction tasks were videotaped every 4 months over a16-month intervention period. Observational codes of parent–infant relationship behaviors included quality of three parental behaviors: warmth and sensitivity, support for learning, and encouragement of autonomy; two appropriateness indicators: support for learning and …

Culture Ontogeny: Lifespan Development Of Religion And The Ethics Of Spiritual Counselling, Glen Milstein, Amy Manierre

Publications and Research

The counsellor has an ethical obligation to treat the whole person. Humans are cultural beings and the foundation of most cultures is religion. Religion and culture are received from our early relation~ ships and modified through later relationships across the lifespan. The paper introduces the term "culture ontogeny" to emphasize that this is a biological process wherein abstract ideas of culture and religion become material in the developing neurophysiology of each brain. A framework and methods are offered to examine the changing roles of religion in clients' emotional self~ structure, inclusive of those who describe themselves as spiritual, not religious. …