Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Style Of Timing Cue On Motor Skill Acquisition, Michael A. Freeman

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The hierarchical model of motor programs asserts that a new movement is learned in hierarchical stages, and that movement timing control develops within each specific stage. The present study investigated whether learning within these different hierarchical stages is favored by different styles of timing cues. Three groups of right-handed subjects (total N = 48) learned to trace a short path while a specific style of auditory timing cue was introduced. Cues were presented in either a movement-synchronized style (cues occurring every time a movement change is required), an isochronic style (equal time interval cues), or with no cues (the control …

Behavioral Parent-Teacher Consultation: Conceptual And Research Considerations, Susan M. Sheridan, Thomas R. Kratochwill

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The importance of involving parents in their children’s education has been documented consistently. Likewise, school psychology as a profession traditionally has recognized the importance of working actively and collaboratively with parents. Little conceptual or empirical work has been reported, however, that links home and school individuals systematically in collaborative problem-solving consultation. Behavioral consultation provides a useful framework for working within and between family and school systems to involve parents and teachers together in cooperative problem-solving, with a focus on the interacting systems in a child’s life. The potential advantages of having both parents and teachers serve as consultees are that …

International Student Design Competition Of Two Community Elementary Schoolyards, Roger Hart, Cindi Katz, Selim Iltus, Maria Rosario Mora

Publications and Research

As part of the project for the Participatory Design of Two Community Elementary Schoolyards in Harlem, P.S. 185 and P.S. 208 (The Schoolyards Project), the Children's Environments Research Group of the City University of New York held an International Student Design Competition for the design of these schoolyards. The competition drew sixty entries from various countries. The jury met on October 10, 1990 and awarded one First Prize and five Honorable Mentions. A landscape architect was then hired to utilize the best ideas, together with the architectural program which had been produced with the school and the surrounding community.

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of Early Childhood Ability Measures Within A Model Of Personal Competence, Richard F. Ittenbach, Amy N. Spiegel, Kevin S. Mcgrew, Robert H. Bruininks

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study tested Greenspan’s model of personal competence with data obtained from the Early Screening Profiles, a nationally standardized preschool screening battery designed to measure the general functioning level of children 2–7 years of age. Of the five models tested (three a priori and two a posteriori), three models produced results indicative of a good fit. These findings support the use of Greenspan’s model of personal competence as a framework for understanding the nature of developing abilities in young children as well as for the improvement of classification and diag-nosis of children with special needs.

Religious Orientation And Sex-Role Attitudes: The Apportionment Of Paid Employment Childcare And Household Tasks Within The Context Of Marriage, Gregory Ralph Caron

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between intrinsic/extrinsic religious orientation and sex-role attitudes within the context of marriage. Three hundred and ten students from urban Catholic high schools participated in the study. Sex-role attitudes were measured using Likert-type scales reflecting judgment on apportionment of time between spouses for paid employment, childcare, and housework. Also, Likert-type scales reflected perceived comfort, perceived marriage satisfaction, and divorce probability for a husband and wife represented in an egalitarian and a traditional sex-segregated scenario. Sex-role attitude scores were examined by categorizing students according to gender and high/low intrinsic and extrinsic groups. …

The Relation Between Maternal Behavior And Childrearing Goals And Child Outcomes In Low-Income Black Children, Dawn D. Wimbush

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the relation between maternal goals and practices and preschool children's cognitive development and behavioral compliance. Fifty low-income Black mothers of three- to five— year-old children were interviewed and completed several questionnaires that assessed childrearing goals and practices. The HOME, a measure of maternal stimulation was also assessed. Children were administered the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities and an achievement test. Child compliance to maternal requests was observed in the home. Considerable diversity was found in maternal childrearing goals. For the most part, maternal goals were not related to child outcomes; however, indirect-internal techniques (Sears, Maccoby, & …

Difference Between Maternal Characteristics And Home Environments Of Day Care And Non-Day Care Families, Eva Granahan Clarke

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine differences between maternal characteristics and the home environments of families who planned to use day care and those who did not. The relationships between maternal personality characteristics and the other variables under investigation were also examined. The subjects completed four questionnaires which assessed attitudes towards working mothers, maternal separation anxiety, parenting stress, and general personality characteristics. The home environment was assessed by the Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment. The subjects in the study were 16 mothers who planned to remain home and not place their children in day …

The Influence Of Family Environment On Psychological Separation In Late Adolescence, Steve Bo

Theses Digitization Project

Family social environment -- Late adolescent females -- Psychological Separation Inventory -- Family Environmental Scale -- Cohesion and expressiveness -- Conflictual independence.

A Theoretical Integration Of Robert Kegan's Developmental Psychology And Heinz Kohut's Self Psychology, Wilmar Vanderpol

Dissertations

Theory and research about psychological development tends to be dichotomized into two broad approaches that have never been integrated. The one is Piagetian-based cognitive-developmentalism, and the other is Freudian-based psychoanalytic developmentalism. The first predominates in academic research and application and the second in clinical research and therapy. This dissertation is a theoretical integration of the Piagetian-based theory of Robert Kegan with the Freudian-based theory of Heinz Kohut known as self psychology. A rationale for the integration of these two theories is given, along with an overview of each theory with respect to their developmental aspects. Analysis of their respective basic …

Hemispheric Effects Of Verbal Information Processing On Single And Dual Task Performance, Gwendolyn Lorell Pearson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Several theories have been proposed to predict performance when operators time share tasks. The Hemispheres as Resources Model suggests tasks will be performed efficiently together if each hemisphere allocates resources to one task. The Task Hemispheric Integrity Principle predicts the best dual task performance will be found when the shortest processing route is maintained. The purpose of the present study was to test the single and dual task performance predictions of these two models. The concurrent performance of two verbal tasks was used to compare the importance of ear of attention, hemisphere of processing, response hand and gender on task …

The Acquisition Of Spelling By Developmentally Disabled Adults: An Examination Of Some Variations Of The Look-Cover-Write-Check Cycle, Mark Stafford

Masters Theses

Five developmentally disabled adults were taught to spell groups of five words using the look-over-write-check cycle, in which the subject looks at the word, covers it, writes the word, then looks at the word again to check the accuracy of spelling. Four variations of this procedure were used with each of the subjects including requiring the subjects to spell the words out loud in the "look" component. The results showed that the subjects required fewer sessions and fewer trials to spell the five words when the out loud requirement was in effect. Approximations generated as the subjects learned to spell …

Family Dynamic Variables And Continuity Of Psychosocial Adjustment From Childhood To Late Adolescence And Early Adulthood, Soheila Dehlavi

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates whether the configuration of family dynamic variables modifies the impact of childhood problems on psychosocial adjustment in late adolescence and early adulthood. Based on the Schwarz and Getter (1980) triple-interaction model, the major hypothesis was that the conjoint effects of a history of adjustment problems in childhood, a dominant cross-sex parent, and high interparental conflict would predict greater problems in later psychosocial adjustment than a history of better adjustment in childhood and/or a family dynamic configuration less likely to elicit sex-role and gender-identity conflicts. Subjects were 61 male and 96 female college students from the University of …

Relationships Between Early Mother-Infant Interaction And Later Patterns Of Attachment, Christine Oakes Work

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates the relationships between initiative and responsive attachment behaviors exchanged between mothers and infants in a free play laboratory observation, and later pattern of attachment. Pearson product-moment correlations revealed significant intercorrelations between frequencies of the different attachment behaviors studied. Factor analysis revealed seven factors, three of which were predictive of attachment security through main or interaction effects. High frequencies of infant eye contact in response to maternal initiations significantly predicted later insecure attachment. Attachment security could also be predicted from frequency rates of infant-initiated proximity seeking and vocalization, and maternal responsive non-parallel body contact. When infant gender was …

Elder Volunteerism: Minnesota's Silver Lining, Gerald A. Bloedow, Ralph H. Brown

Journal of the Minnesota Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

The Child's Understanding Of Correspondence Relations, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

A number of quantitative comparison tasks were designed to tap knowledge of injective and suijective correspondences, one-directiona] compositions (greater + greater yields greater), countervailing compositions (greater + lesser yields ?), and length-density relations in 4- to 7-year-olds. The results indicated that performance on the comparison tasks was related to performance on a number conservation test as well as to age. Nonconservers performed at better than chance levels on tasks that tapped an elementary knowledge of injective and surjective correspondences; concrete-operational children, however, tended perform better on all tasks. Uncorrected and disattenuated correlation coefficients revealed considerable consistency across measures. Factor analyses, …

The Early Motor Profile: Correlation With The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test Of Motor Efficiency1, Amy N. Spiegel, Kathleen M. Steffens, John E. Ryders, Robert H. Bruininks

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

A correlational study of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency and the Early Motor Pro-file with 109 kindergarten children showed a significant relation between these two measures of mo-tor abilities. These results support use of the latter profile as a measure of motor development in preschool age children.

A Validation Study Of The Grimley Personality Scale For Children, Hee-Sook Choi

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

I'he purpose of this study was to examine the construct validity of the Grimley Personality Scale for Children (GPSC). The GPSC is an experimental personality test designed to measure the social/personal adjustment of a child in various social contacts. The validity of the GPSC was investigated through the association of this instrument with other measures of social/personal adjustment: the California Test of Personality (CTP), the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (PHCSCS), the Paired Hands Test (PHT), and the Personal Attribute Inventory for Children (PAIC) . It was hypothesized that there would be significant positive relationships between the total score on the …

Comparisons Of Adolescent Sex Offenders And Juvenile Delinquents On Human Figure Drawings And The Adolescent Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Paula F. Zindren

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of two personality tests, the human figure drawing (HFD) and Adolescent Multiphasic Personality Inventory (AMPI), in differentiating adolescent sex offenders from juvenile delinquents without a known sexual offense or victimization history. Subjects (ages 13-17) provided responses to a Structured Clinical Interview (SCI} (adapted from Becker, 1986), completed HFDs of both sexes, and completed the AMPI (Duthie, 1985). Pearson product moment correlation coefficients on each psychodiagnostic characteristic on the HFD rating scale were obtained between pairs of three independent raters. Reliable HFD psychodiagnostic indicators were subjected to a 2 x 2 …

A Comparative Analysis Of Selected Adolescent Fears, Martina Griffith Meyer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The subject of adolescent fears troubling today's generation was studied with the question of specific fears and methods of questioning. It was hypothesized that direct, close-ended questions related to the fear of nuclear war and the fear of failure would elicit responses of greater fear than would indirect, open-ended questions about the future. It was also hypothesized that there would be sex differences in fearfulness of nuclear war with females indicating more fear. It was also expected that there would be developmental differences with 8th-grade subjects more fearful of nuclear war than 12th-grade subjects, and with the older subjects more …

Altruism, Cooperation, And Type A Behaviors In Kindergarten And Third Grade Children, Pamela S. Martin

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the interrelationships of altruism, cooperation and Type A personality types in school-aged children. It was predicted that older children and Type A children would be more competitive and show fewer altruistic behaviors. Forty third-grade students and fifty-two kindergarten students served as subjects. Teachers completed the MYTH on each child to determine his/her personality type. Subjects were then paired according to Type A or Type B profiles, AA, AB, BB. The children played two games, a marble pull and a teaching task. By the time all of the games were completed, each child …

Effects Of Age On Motor Preparation And Restructuring, Paul Amrhein, Noreen Goggin, George Stelmach

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Age-related decrements in motor plan restructuring were investigated. In this experiment, older and younger adults performed a discrete aiming task that involved responses that were precued and responses that were modified at the time of an imperative signal. On 75% of the trials, the precue specified the response-stimulus (valid trials) with respect to the movement parameters of the arm (left or right) and direction (toward or away). On the remaining 25% of the trials, the response-stimulus was different from the precue (invalid trials) in that the subject was required to modify a planned movement by changing the arm to be …

Nova University Master's Program For Child And Youth Care Administrators 1989, Nova University

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice College Archive

No abstract provided.

A Developmental Study On The Kinetic Family Drawing For A Nonclinic, Black-Child Population In The Midwestern Region Of The United States, Jannette Shaw

Dissertations

Problem. Valid psychological instruments for use with Black children are scarce. This study sought to validate the Kinetic Family Drawing (KFD) as a useful tool for gathering information about Black children and their families, and to obtain normative and developmental data for this population.

Method. A correlational research design was used to ascertain the validity of the KFD by comparing results on 40 variables (Burns, 1982; Cho, 1987) with the criterion measure, Semantic Differential Family Scale (SDFS), including family concepts: "Me," "Mother and Me," "Father and M e ” and "My Whole Family." The study utilized a stratified random sample …

Relationship Between Child Temperament, Parental Knowledge Of Child Development, And Parental Stress, Nancy J. Carbonell

Dissertations

Problem. Despite current awareness that temperament of children has been related to parental frustration and lack of child developmental knowledge has led to unrealistic expectations and parental stress, definitive information is needed regarding the relationship between (1) child temperament, (2) parental knowledge of child development, and (3) parental stress.

Method. One hundred and forty mothers with 3-year-old children were studied using the Thomas and Chess' Parent Questionnaire to measure parental perception of child temperament, the Knowledge of Child Development Inventory (Larsen & Juhasz) to assess maternal knowledge of child development, and Abidin's Parenting Stress Index to measure maternal stress. Demographic …

The Transition From Infancy To Early Childhood: A Difficult Transition, And A Difficult Theory, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The transition from infancy to early childhood was observed in households in rural Zinacanteco households in the Highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, in 1968-1969, and found to be a fairly lengthy period of upset, disturbance, listlessness, and apathy for the children, leading eventually to their accepting a new position in the family. The transition involved three abrupt and harsh changes: (1) abrupt weaning from the mother’s breast; (2) simultaneous change in sleeping arrangements from lying next to the mother to sleeping with siblings; and (3) more gradual transfer of the child’s primary care from the mother to older siblings or courtyard …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …