Child Psychology Commons^™

Toilet-Training A Child With Autism In A School Setting, Kristianna Ferrier

Honors Theses

Children with autism and developmental disabilities typically take longer to learn skills. Specific training that requires more repetition to obtain mastery should be used to teach specific tasks (MacDuff, Kratz, & McClannahan, 2001). Toilet training is no exception and must be directly taught to children with Autism. Toilet training is a fundamental skill for independent living and greatly reduces the work load of care givers (Chung, 2007). The child in this study was chosen based on a toilet training readiness checklist. The present study is a combination of the scheduled sitting protocol by Azrin and Foxx (1971) with the omission …

Increasing Shared Attention In Children With Developmental Delays, Shelby Esman

Honors Theses

Joint attention behaviors may be essential to the development of language and social interaction skills (Whalen and Schreibman, 2003). Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often lack these behaviors which may explain the difficulty many of them have communicating appropriately with others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Previous research has shown that prompting procedures and social reinforcement have been successful in teaching children with ASD to shift their eye gaze between an adult and the object of interest when prompted to do so (Taylor and Hoch, 2008). This present study set out to create and test a procedure designed to teach …

Teaching A Scanning Response To A Child With Autism, Katherine Burnham

Honors Theses

Children with autism have been known to exhibit abnormal scanning responses, or lack them entirely, as shown by the results of various studies (Sasson et al., 2008; Landry & Bryson, 2004). Studies have indicated that scanning may be a behavioral cusp and the lack of a normal scanning response in children with autism may be inhibiting the acquisition of many other subsequent skills (Bosch & Fuqua, 2001). By implementing an intervention to teach the scanning response, it was hypothesized that our participants would develop the prerequisite scanning skill, and therefore performance on a matching-to-sample procedure would improve. Through a basic …

Effects Of Playing Computerized Versus Tactile Learning Games On Preschoolers’ Attention Skills And Comprehension: A Pilot Study, Samantha Malick

Honors Theses

The ability to attend to relevant information and resist attention to distractors is important for children’s cognitive development. Much has been written in the news about the impact of electronic media on children’s development of attention skills, but little research has been done explicitly comparing children’s attention to relevant information and resistance to distractions across activities that are presented as either a computerized or tactile learning game. The goal of this study is to compare levels of attention and distraction among preschool-aged children while they engage in a common childhood activity, playing a board game that is either presented in …

Socio-Emotional Development In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Christiana K. Whitley

Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine which lesson from a social skills program would result in the greatest improvement in duration of social interaction for children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) between the ages of five and fifteen. The Superheroes Social Skills Program (Jensen et al., 2011) includes lesson plans that focus directly on helping children with ASD develop communication skills in group settings. The data indicate that one specific lesson, Participation and Joining In, was responsible for the largest mean increase in duration of social interactions of participants. Social skills lessons were introduced …

Sensor-Enabled Reduction Of Stereotypy, Aaron Brzezinski

Honors Theses

The goal of this study was to create and implement an intervention to reduce stereotypic behavior in a child with Autism. The participant was chosen based on a high occurrence of target behavior and was recruited through his treatment center. The target behaviors were selected based on the subjective evaluation of his treatment provider and parents. The dependent variable in this study was hand-flapping. The independent variable was DRO training that included a buzzer and a chime noise contingent on the presence or absence of stereotypy respectively. A Microsoft Kinect© 2.0 was used to track occurrence of target behavior and …

Effects Of Multiple Exemplar Instruction On Reading Comprehension For Secondary Students With Reading Delays, Reilly Chabie

Honors Theses

This study tested the effects of multiple exemplar instruction on reading comprehension for a middle school student with a reading delay. A multiple probe design was used to evaluate and observe the changes in the number of questions the student answered correctly. Probes consisted of: (1) pre-experimental, (2) single exemplar instruction (SEI), (3) post-SEI, (4) MEI, and (5) post-MEI. The independent variable was a multiple exemplar intervention that required the student to read a passage across three topographies (silently, listening, and aloud).

Multiple exemplar instruction was shown to be effective in increasing the number of questions answered correctly during single …

Transitioning Children With Autism From A Discrete Trial Classroom To A Group Classroom, Alexandra Ennis

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to prepare children diagnosed with autism for the transition to group learning environments by teaching them to sit in their chair and attend while the teacher is at least five feet away. This is a skill that will help kids succeed when they make the transition from an early intervention program to a group learner environment because it allows the teacher to focus more on learning important skills. A proximity procedure was put in place for two children that focused on gradually increasing the distance between the tutor and the student with use of …

Increasing Vocalizations In Children With Autism, Nicholette Christodoulou

Honors Theses

This study focuses on increasing vocalizations for students with Autism spectrum disorder. A three-part intervention was used to attempt to establish an echoic repertoire in students who had little to no vocalizations. Both students attended an early intervention classroom with a special education school. Students were selected from their classroom if they showed little to no vocalization or echoic skills. The goal during the first phase was to collect all sounds being made by the student to increase the overall number of vocalizations being made. This was done by continuous reinforcement using edible reinforcers. In phase two, the student’s dominant …

Are There Shared Characteristics Among Children With Autism Who Develop Speech While Training With The Picture Exchange Communication System?, Katherine Neidhart

Honors Theses

It is clear in the literature that there are many factors that may contribute the development of speech as a possible outcome of training with the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Research has indicated a need for more data on the characteristics and skills of children with autism that may contribute to their success while using PECS, and the possible development of speech while receiving PECS training.

This study sought to identify common characteristics and skills of children with autism that acquired speech while receiving PECS training through creating an inventory of demographics, pre-requisite skills, and other characteristics of children …

Affect Recognition And Adhd Symptoms In Preschoolers: A Serial Mediation Model Of Social Cognition, Annalise M. Hays

Honors Theses

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been addressed in a few studies as it relates to social cognition deficiency. Throughout these studies, it seems as if affect recognition may be linked to ADHD through deficits in the development of social skills. The current study tests to see if this mediation may also involve the influence of adaptability in children. It was hypothesized that poorer affect recognition would relate to ADHD symptoms in preschoolers and that this effect would occur indirectly by influencing the children’s adaptability and social skills. A heterogeneous sample of 71 three to five year-old preschoolers participated. Children were …

Training Tutors To Use A Time Delay Procedure To Increase Vocal Manding In Children With Autism, Chelsea Roberts

Honors Theses

Learning how to spontaneously mand, or request without prompting, can be difficult for children diagnosed with developmental disabilities. Previous research has shown that the implementation of a time-delay procedure aids in increasing spontaneous mands with these children (Charlop, Shreibman, & Thibodeau, 1985). The goal of this study was to increase vocal mands in children with developmental disabilities with a time-delay procedure by training their undergraduate tutors, using Behavioral Skills Training (BST), how to implement the procedure in naturally occurring opportunities. The study used a multiple baseline across participants design. The intervention used in this study can help children with developmental …

School Gardens: Cultivating A Child’S Nutritional Habits, Environmental Knowledge, And Sustainability Practices, Jeffrey Meltzer

Honors Theses

School gardens have existed since the late nineteenth century and today are becoming increasingly popular in many parts of the world, including where I studied in Maine and Australia (AUS). Multiple organizations support school gardens in Maine, including the Maine School Garden Network, which has over 125 registered school gardens. In AUS, the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Foundation primarily supports the school garden movement and has over 800 registered school gardens. While many researchers have studied school gardens, few have compared two countries, focused on environmental sustainability, or investigated Maine in particular. This thesis combines information from literature reviews, and …

Autism Project: Case Study Evaluating Behavioral Interventions For The Self-Injurious Behavior Of Biting, Brittani Rohrig

Honors Theses

Self-injurious (SIB) behavior is a common problem among the autism population, and often those who engage in SIB have done so since a very early age. There was a nine-year-old boy named Jack who was diagnosed with ASD and engaged in the self-injurious behavior of biting his hand. A functional analysis was conducted and it was found that the behavior was multiply controlled across three main conditions: alone/play, demand, and attention. The goal of this case study was to review previous interventions that did not eliminate the target behavior, analyze and revise the current protocols in place, and eliminate the …

Examining The Relationship Between Parental Overprotection, Use Of Assistive Technology, And Independence With Routines Among Children With Physical Disabilities, Kelsey I. Shinnick

Honors Theses

The primary purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationships between parental overprotection/overindulgence, assistive technology utilization, and independence with routines among children with physical disabilities. Participants included 26 primary caregivers of children with physical disabilities age 6 to 12 (M = 8.65, SD = 2.00). Data regarding demographic information, parenting practices, the child’s gross motor functioning, assistive technology (AT) use, independence with routines, and frequency of routines were obtained from the primary caregiver via an online survey. While no significant relationships between the variables of interest were observed after controlling for the child’s age, gross motor functioning, and …

The Effects Of Child Birth Order And Number Of Children On Mother’S Supervision Beliefs And Practices, Alyssa Schramm

Honors Theses

Objective: This study aimed to examine (1) whether mothers’ attitudes about supervision differ based on (a) the number of children in the home and (b) the birth order of the child; (2) whether mothers’ reported supervision levels differ based on: (a) the number of children in the home and (b) the birth order of the child; (3) whether children in families with more than one child sustain more injuries than children in families with fewer children. I expected to find that mothers had more lax attitudes for their younger children versus old, and were more lax for homes with more …

Children's Attitudes Toward Television Advertising: A State Of The Art Review, Heidi L. Haskins

Honors Theses

The issue of children and advertising came to light in the 1970s and has continued to be a topic of much discussion ever since. In started in the 1970s when the Action for Children's Television petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to eliminate all commercials from children's TV programs. Then in January 1973, the major networks agreed to reduce commercial time in children's weekend programs from 16 minutes an hour to 12 minutes an hour. In 1991, the Better Business Bureau estimated that children in the U.S. watch an average of 3.5 hours of television every day, and the average …

Power And The Social Order: Sex Role Stereotyping In Children's Television, Christine Burke

Honors Theses

The aim of this study is to offer an assessment of the common themes in feminist, Lacanian psychoanalytic and deconstructionist theory. It will then discuss the degree to which these three discourses allow us to grasp the implications of the political socialization which occurs through television programming directed primarily at children.

There are points of commonality and discordance between these approaches. My aim will not be to make the argument that one approach is best, nor to arrive at a final synthesis. Rather, I construe these theoretical approaches as different lenses through which we can apprehend and evaluate the messages …

Cognitive Impulsivity Of Children : Its Handicap And Treatment, Godwin Koon Tat Lau

Honors Theses

A number of studies have found the relationship between cognitive impulsivity and impulsive behavior among children. There also exists a fair amount of evidence to indicate that an impulsive cognitive style exerts a handicapping influence in the educational process.

Television Advertising And Children, Vince Delange

Honors Theses

Thesis begins by examining the learning and cognitive processes and development of children, followed by a history of advertising to children, then explores the traditional concerns with advertising to children. The author discusses research findings and makes recommendations regarding advertising to children.