Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Evolution And Development Of Reasoning And Argumentation: Commentary On Mercier (2011), David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

For anyone who loves a strong major thesis—and I do—Mercier’s “Reasoning serves argumentation in children” [this issue] obliges right from the title. And for anyone who loves a carefully structured defense of a provocative perspective—and who does not?—Mercier’s article continues to fill the bill.

The “argumentative theory of reasoning” maintains that “reasoning is a fundamentally social ability” that “has evolved to serve argumentive ends: finding and evaluating arguments in a dialogic context.” There appear to be two distinguishable theses here: first, reasoning serves argumentive ends; second, reasoning has evolved. In their moderate versions, each thesis is true and useful; their …

Work And Mexican American Parent-Adolescent Relationships: The Mediating Role Of Parent Well-Being, Lorey A. Wheeler, Kimberly A. Updegraff

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

This study of Mexican American two-parent families (N = 246) examined the role of parents’ well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms, role overload) as a potential mechanism through which parent occupational conditions (i.e., self-direction, hazardous conditions, physical activity, work pressure) are linked to parent-adolescent relationship qualities (i.e., warmth, conflict, disclosure). Depressive symptoms mediated the links between maternal and paternal work pressure and parentadolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure. For mothers, depressive symptoms also mediated the links between self-direction and mother-adolescent warmth, conflict, and disclosure; for fathers, role overload mediated the links between work pressure and hazardous conditions with fatheradolescent warmth.

The Impact Of Exposure To Domestic Violence On Developmental Trajectories Of Depressive Symptoms And Antisocial Behavior Across The Transition To Adulthood, Aely Park

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Principal Aims:

Temperament And Sex As Moderators Of The Relationship Between Maternal Smoke Exposure During Pregnancy And Child Externalizing Behaviors, Amy Beth Kohl

Wayne State University Theses

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy has been associated with negative child behavioral outcomes. Though many studies have found links between maternal smoking during pregnancy and behavior problems in children, few if any have looked into potential moderating factors of that relationship and few have examined the effects of second-hand smoking. This study examined child temperament at 6 months and sex as potential moderators of the relationship between maternal smoke exposure and both internalizing and externalizing behaviors at 24 month, 36 months and first grade. Both maternal smoking and maternal exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) were examined. Data for this study …

Creating A Learning Environment To Increase Early Adolescent Motivation: A Dissertation, Mark Logan

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study focuses on early adolescent motivation in school. It is an inquiry that seeks to understand the factors that contribute to students’ engagement in their learning through student and teacher perceptions. I examined significant research often cited as impacting motivation, including early adolescent development, middle school structures, transitions, student/teacher relationships, and parental involvement. I surveyed 345 sixth grade students on their perceptions of their own learning, thoughts, and behaviors. Participating students attended schools with various middle school age configurations, including K-8, K-12, 5-8, and 6-8. Schools represented public and charter public schools and were located in urban, suburban, and …

Resilience Factors Affecting The Readjustment Of National Guard Soldiers Returning From Deployment, D. Patricia Tackett

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Following the September 11, 2001 attack on the United States, there has been increased utilization of the Reserve Components (RC) by the military to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Service members in the National Guard and Reserve (NG/R) represent approximately 40% of the forces involved in these conflicts. Current research indicates that NG/R personnel and their families may be at greater risk to deployment stressors than their Active Component counterparts. Estimates for the development of mental health problems including PTSD among returning RC personnel, range as high as 42%. The focus of this study was to advance the …

The Impact Of Family, Community, And Resilience On African-American Young Adults Who Had Parents Incarcerated During Childhood, Marilyn Diana Ming

Dissertations

Problem. Parental incarceration affects millions of children, and their numbers continue to rise. By losing their parents, children can be exposed to unique risks, relative to the separation. Many children face family structure disintegration, and this can be so disruptive that their normal development is impaired. Evidence suggests that children are impacted psychologically, socially, and financially. The result is the display of problematic behavior, being aggressive or withdrawn at home and in their communities. The concentration of the incarceration trends seems to be in poor African-American communities. Incarceration has left higher numbers of children without parents, making the collateral damage …

A Psychological Investigation Of The Expressed Attitudes Of Middle School Aged Adolescents Toward School Bullying, Jodi Marie Daly

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

International research on bullying suggests that bullying is pervasive in schools and the workplace. Most researchers concur that bullying behavior is a disruptive factor to the social and educational well-being of students. Previous research, grounded in social and family systems theory, has indicated those who bully tend to be involved in self-destructive and delinquent behaviors. Additionally, in the only-large scale study on bullying behaviors, 29% of the 10th-grade student body admitted to being bullied that school year. Further, in a new study conducted by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, half of all high school students reported that they have bullied …

Adolescents Are Young Adults, Not Immature Brains, David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

When G. Stanley Hall (1904) wrote the first book on adolescence at the turn of the 20th century, he was describing a new cultural phenomenon that had emerged in the United States and other industrializing societies during the late 19th century. There had always been children, whether or not we theorized about them, but there had not always been adolescents.

Of course, there have always been teenagers in the mathematical sense of persons who have reached the age of 13 years but not yet 20 years (and in the linguistic sense that these are the ‘‘teen’’ years in our counting …

The Effect Of The Reciprocity Norm And Guided Imagery On The Development Of Implanted Memories In Children, Misty Christina Duke

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous research has shown that the use of guided imagery can create source monitoring errors in adults and induce false memories for events that never occurred. Research has also shown that some forms of social influence can induce suggestibility in children. The current study examined whether guided imagery and a social influence technique involving the norm of reciprocity could induce the formation of false memories in children. One hundred sixteen first- and second-grade children were interviewed twice and asked to freely recall three true events as well as one false event that they were told was true. Interviewers used guided …

Meanings Of Old Age: A Story In Three Voices, Rivka Tenenbaum-Precel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As the population of the Western world grows older, the need to understand the meaning of this stage in life grows in importance. Psychological research into the meaning of old age is posing questions on diverse levels, from that of individual ontogenesis to those of the family, community and society at large. Traditionally, developmental psychology has investigated different aspects of aging using measures of cognition, emotion, self-concept and well- being. Other approaches have examined the meaning of old age as embedded in cultural and social relations.

The present study uses a narrative approach to elicit the particular voices and interpretations …

Finding The Heart Of Medical Family Therapy: A Content Analysis Of Medical Family Therapy Casebook Articles, Richard Bischoff, Paul R. Springer, Daniel S. Felix, Cody S. Hollist

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

In an effort to identify the essential ingredients of medical family therapy, a content analysis of 15 peer-reviewed case studies in medical family therapy was conducted. The case studies were published from 1996 to 2007 in Families, Systems, & Health. Through a qualitative content analysis, three main themes emerged that describe the essence of the practice of medical family therapy: (1) The patient’s multisystemic experience of disease, (2) treatment is about caring, not just caregiving, and (3) elevating the patient as collaborator in the care team.

From The Editor, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill

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

This is an exciting time for Gifted Children as we transition to an online, peer-reviewed format for the journal. This move will simultaneously improve our submission process and increase the visibility of research being conducted by members and colleagues of the Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG. In addition, Gifted Children will continue to provide book reviews and tools for researchers, as well as practitioner pieces. This issue, the first issue of Volume 5, marks the beginning of this transition; it is the first issue to be initially published online using Digital Commons software. The second issue of Volume …

Preschoolers’ Social Behavior And Context Coding System, Soo-Young Hong

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

Coding Guidelines

1. Observe during free play, small groups, routines/transitions, and outdoor play on two different days per child. Do not observe during large group activity.

2. Observe the target child’s behavior for 20 seconds and code for 30 seconds.

3. Context: a.) Coded as mutually exclusive subcategories.

4. Nature of Activity: a.) Coded as mutually exclusive subcategories. b.) If ‘Daily routines/transitions’ was coded, the Type of Activity should be coded as one of the four types relevant to daily routines/transitions (i.e., Personal care, Meal and snack, Clean up, or Transition activity).

5. Type of Activity: a.) The types of …

A Randomized Trial Examining The Effects Of Parent Engagement On Early Language And Literacy: The Getting Ready Intervention, Susan M. Sheridan, Lisa Knoche, Kevin A. Kupzyk, Carolyn P. Edwards, Christine A. Marvin

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Language and literacy skills established during early childhood are critical for later school success. Parental engagement with children has been linked to a number of adaptive characteristics in preschoolers including language and literacy development, and family-school collaboration is an important contributor to school readiness. This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention designed to facilitate school readiness among disadvantaged preschool children, with a particular focus on language and literacy development. Participants included 217 children, 211 parents, and 29 Head Start teachers in 21 schools. Statistically significant differences in favor of the treatment group were …

School-Based Extracurricular Activity Involvement And Adolescent Self-Esteem: A Growth-Curve Analysis, Lisa A. Kort-Butler, Kellie J. Hagewen

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Research on adolescent self-esteem indicates that adolescence is a time in which individuals experience important changes in their physical, cognitive, and social identities. Prior research suggests that there is a positive relationship between an adolescent’s participation in structured extracurricular activities and well-being in a variety of domains, and some research indicates that these relationships may be dependent on the type of activities in which adolescents participate. Building on previous research, a growth-curve analysis was utilized to examine self-esteem trajectories from adolescence (age 14) to young adulthood (age 26). Using 3 waves of data from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health …

Selfobject Needs, Homophobia, Heterosexism, Among Gay Men During Emerging Adulthood, Kenneth D. Allen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study was conducted to determine the associations between homophobia and heterosexism, psychodynamics of the subconscious mind, and life satisfaction among gay men during emerging adulthood. Although researchers have reported on the psychological distress associated with antigay oppression, limited research is available on the psychodynamics of young gay men in the United States, a place known for prevalent homophobia and heterosexism. Kohut's theory of self psychology and self object needs served as the theoretical foundation for the study. Selfobject needs, perceived homophobic and heterosexist discrimination, and life satisfaction were explored in a national sample of 118 gay men aged 18-25 …

A Delphi Study Regarding Assessment Of Intelligence In The Presence Of Autism, Sara Spencer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has indicated children with autistic disorder often demonstrate below average intelligence. Others have suggested intelligence of the autistic population has been underestimated. A gap in the current literature reflects the need to examine the accuracy of assessment of intelligence of children with autistic disorder. The research questions underlying this study addressed tools professionals use to assess intelligence of children with autistic disorder, how tools are selected, the level of confidence in the accuracy of results, and what level of consensus exists among experts. This Delphi study used a panel of 20 autistic disorder experts and 3 rounds of surveys …

How Adult Children Experience Parent Dependency In A Caregiving/Care-Receiving Dyad, Anna C. Johnson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite plentiful research on the physical, psychological, and emotional demands on adult child caregivers, there are few studies that highlight developmental issues in the adult child/dependent parent dyad. This study was designed to highlight the dependency factor in this dyad, thus addressing the gap in the literature. With family systems theory, attachment theory, and role conceptualizations constituting the bases for the study, research questions addressed how adult child caregivers experience parental dependency and how dependency affects the caregiving/care-receiving dynamic. Ten volunteer participants were interviewed, and the results were analyzed using a variation of the van Kaam method of data analysis …

The Claremont Autism Center, Alex E. Mitchell Mr.

CMC Senior Theses

The Claremont Autism Center is a 23 minute documentary on the strengths and benefits the Center brings to Claremont McKenna students, as well as children and families from the Inland Empire that deal with Autism on a daily basis.

The Relationship Of Leadership Styles, Context, And Outcomes, Max A. Anawalt

CMC Senior Theses

New and experienced leaders sometimes underestimate the importance of the follower and context in their ability to be effective and successful in the long term.  During an organization crisis or in a conflict situation, a leaders’ verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors and an awareness of the contextual factors and followers’ feelings involved may contribute more to long-term effectiveness and success more generally than certain characteristics or type of leadership, even if that style is the prevalent model of leadership within the organization. In theory, every leader should benefit from a greater understanding of the evolving study and theory of leadership …

The Homeless Adolescent Population: Complexity, Protective Factors, And Prevention, Anastasia Jones

CMC Senior Theses

The growing number of people living below the poverty line has made homelessness a topic of interest, once again. This paper focuses on the homeless adolescent population that is often overlooked, and explores the complexity of the homeless situation, and how there is no definite solution to overcome homelessness. At-risk and homeless adolescents are affected by many negative factors that cause them to seek early independence, such as parenting style, finical instability, lack of an education, drugs and alcohol, physical and sexual abuse, all of which are discussed in this paper. Along with the negative factors, there are protective barriers …

Exploring The Flynn Effect: A Comprehensive Review Of The Causal Debate, Abby J. Trimble

CMC Senior Theses

Since its discovery in 1984, psychological investigators have continued to explore the Flynn Effect, the phenomenon of consistent and secular IQ gains within industrialized nations approximating 0.3 points per year. The most contentious debate within this field of research surrounds the purported cause of the Effect, and yet the research literature lacks a synthesis of the leading causal theories and the evidence supporting them. The principal hypothesized causal mechanisms – psychometric artifact, educational intervention, environmental changes, nutrition, genetics, gene-environment interaction model, medical improvements, and the multiplicity hypothesis – are reviewed and analyzed within the larger breadth of Flynn Effect scholarly …

"Out Of The Mouths Of Sibs"... A Phenomenological Study Of The Experience Of Being A Well School-Age Sibling Of A Child With A Traumatic Injury, Mary Jo Bugel

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Presence Of A Best Friend Buffers The Effects Of Negative Experiences, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Jonathan Bruce Santo, William M. Bukowski

Psychology Faculty Publications

The goal of the current study was to examine how the presence of a best friend might serve as protection against the effect of negative experiences on global self-worth and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis (HPA axis). A total of 103 English-speaking male (n = 55) and female (n = 48) participants from Grade 5 (M = 10.27 years) and Grade 6 (M = 11.30 years) completed booklets about their experiences that occurred 20 min previously and how they felt about themselves at the moment, and they provided saliva multiple times per day over the course of 4 …

Work Interrupted: A Questionnaire Assessing The Relationship Between Work-Related Distress And Psychological Adjustment To Cancer, Betsy A. Bates Freed

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Cancer is an increasingly survivable disease that significantly impacts the ability of individuals to negotiate successfully the developmental task most distinctly affiliated with middle adulthood: creating meaning through achievement, creativity, and service. For many adults, these goals are accomplished through employment. When cancer intrudes, patients may be deprived of the ability to participate fully in the “generativity” that developmental psychologist Erik Erikson deemed essential to a healthy adulthood. In qualitative studies, patients’ narratives speak of many work-related losses — of routine, normality, economic stability, social connection, purpose, and identity. While psychosocial issues and quality of life are viewed with increasing …

Growing Up Policed In The Age Of Aggressive Policing Policies, Brett G. Stoudt, Michelle Fine, Madeline Fox

Publications and Research

Spray-painted atop an old tenement building in the East Village of Manhattan is a large fossilized graffiti image of a tyrannosaurus rex that reads: “NYC EATS ITS YOUNG.” With its ribs exposed and mouth open, this image represents symbolically what many young people in the neighborhood already know intimately and have experienced: New York City (NYC) is not an easy place to grow up. Their social safety nets are being dismantled and the public institutions they rely on every day often fail them. In NYC, public school budgets are being slashed each year even though the high school dropout/push-out rates …

Celestial Bodies, Jared Calvin White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following is a collection of original poetry written over a span of three years while attending the University of South Florida. The poetry is divided into five numbered sections, marking the major thematic divisions. Preceding the poetry is a critical introduction to the work that outlines the author's developing thematic ideology.

Family Satisfaction, Ethnic Identity, And Subjective Well-Being Among Urban Youth, Kenia Loiret Gomez

Dissertations

Youth is a period of discovery, exploration, and instability that occurs between middle childhood and late adolescence. In the United States, a diverse society, urban youth have to clarify not only their self concept, but also their ethnic identity, which becomes part of their self-concept. Unfortunately, most researchers have ignored early adolescence (i.e., ages 12-15) and have limited their research to either childhood or later adolescence. The purpose of this study is twofold. The first part of this study examined the relationship between family satisfaction and subjective well-being (SWB) among urban youth. The second part of the study examined ethnic …

Considering Care: Infant Teachers, Reflective Function And The Care Environment In Child Care Centers, Cynthia C. Jurie

Dissertations

The present study sought to explore infant teachers' understanding of the mental states of the infants in their care in child care centers. The goal of the study was to examine whether reflective function could be assessed through semi-structured interviews with infant teachers and whether the care environment of the center was

influential in supporting reflective capacity. To assess the care environment provided by the child care center, director interviews, teacher and director questionnaires and subscales of the Infant/Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, Revised (Harms, Cryer &

Clifford, 2003) were used. Participants in this study were 25 infant teachers and 24 …