Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Ethnic Racial Identity, Social Transactions In The Classroom, And Academic Outcomes, Krystal R. Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

Using a transactional framework, this study explored social relationships in the classroom as mediators of the association between ethnic-racial identity and academic outcomes. Participants were 101 5^th graders of diverse backgrounds who completed computer-based questionnaires about their friendships, ethnic-racial identity, and academic engagement. Teachers reported on closeness and conflict in the student-teacher relationship. Relationships in the expected direction were evident between the public regard and centrality dimensions of ethnic-racial identity and social relationships as well as with academic outcomes. Further, path analyses revealed that the relationship between the public regard and cognitive engagement was mediated by student-teacher closeness. Gender …

Protective Factors In The Association Between Child Sexual Abuse And Telomere Length In Adults, David Sosnowski

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine if childhood sexual abuse (CSA) was associated with decreases in mean telomere length (TL), and if social support and/or optimism moderated this association. The study included 99 Caucasian female monozygotic twins, ranging in age from 19-48 (M_age = 30.5, SD = 7.8) at Time 1. Linear mixed effects models were employed to test study hypotheses. Analyses with all participants did not detect an effect of CSA exposure or severity on mean TL, nor were there effects with optimism. However, in analyses that only included women exposed to abuse, increases …

Adolescents' Self-Described Transformations And Their Alignment With Transformative Learning Theory, Katie Titus Larson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This phenomenological, collaborative inquiry explored the depth of two adolescent girls’ lived experiences during their high school years and the degree to which their self-described transformative incidents aligned with transformative learning theory.Traditionally this theory has been reserved for adults, yet the current paradigm may have overlooked the capabilities of modern adolescents to not only experience, but to describe and interpret transformative learning in ways both similar to and unique from adults.My two 19-year-old co-researchers and I examined four years of their self-identified transformative incidents by breaking them into components, analyzing the language within, and seeking evidence of critical self-reflection throughout; …

The Relationship Between Physical Exercise And Cognition In Children With Typical Development And Neurodevelopmental Disorders, Beron Wei Zhong Tan

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This research project sought to investigate the relationship between physical exercise and cognition in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. To achieve this aim, three approaches were undertaken to explore the exercise and cognition relationship. The first approach sought to understand the efficacy of exercise interventions on cognition in individuals with a neurodevelopmental disorder. The second approach was to understand the effectiveness of an exercise activity when compared to a cognitively-engaging tablet game activity on measures of implicit learning and attention in children with and without a neurodevelopmental condition. The third approach was to investigate if psychophysiological measures could …

Young Children's Source Monitoring: Exploring The Contexts Of Task Difficulty And Repeated Events, Becky Earhart

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation had two over-arching goals. The first was to study the cognitive mechanisms underlying effective source monitoring by clarifying the role that developing executive function skills play in children’s increasing ability to monitor sources. The second goal was to examine whether a particular interview technique called “source-monitoring training” could help children to recall the sources of their memories more accurately. These two separate lines of research were furthered by the same methodology, and thus, these separate research questions were examined simultaneously within both of the experiments conducted for this dissertation.

In the first study, the difficulty of the source-monitoring …

Reading In Arabic Script: A Cross-Linguistic And Cross-National Study, Asma Amin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current study examined within- and cross-language predictors of word reading and reading comprehension among groups of Arabic-English bilingual children in different language learning environments. A total of 80 children were tested, forty Arabic-English bilingual children recruited from Saudi Arabia and forty Arabic-English bilingual children were recruited from Canada. Both groups completed parallel measures of word-level reading, reading comprehension and vocabulary in Arabic and English. Results indicated that the underlying components related to within- and cross-language word reading and reading comprehension varied across groups. Within-language results demonstrate that English morphological awareness was significantly related to English word reading in both …

Mother-Child Planning: Microgenetic Changes In Maternal Instruction Behaviors As A Function Of Task Goals, Candance Wise Gilberstadt

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

This study examined microgenetic changes in mother-child behaviors while they collaborated on a cognitive task that involved planning shopping routes around a table model of a grocery store across 4 trials. Sixty- eight mother-child dyads were randomly assigned to two conditions in which the goals of the task differed. In the experimental condition (n = 32) mothers were encouraged to help their child prepare for a solitary posttest and the dyad was informed they would be timed. In the control condition (n = 36), dyads were simply asked to work together. Research suggests that maternal instruction is most effective …

Prosociality And Risk: How Risky Decision-Making In Young Adults Relates To Altruistic Tendencies, Empathic Concern, And Prosocial Peer Affiliation, Sarah J. Beard

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adolescence involves an increase in risky decisions, such as reckless driving and illicit substance use, but prosocial characteristics and peer affiliation have yet to be investigated as protective factors. The present study assessed altruistic tendencies, prosocial peer affiliation (PPA), and empathic concern as predictors and moderators of risk-taking, including both self-reported health risks and riskiness in a behavioral task. Young adults from ages 20 to 25 (M = 22.55, SD = 1.38) completed a battery of behavioral tasks (including the Balloon Analogue Risk Task and the Dictator Game) and questionnaires on Amazon MTurk, measuring risk-taking (drunk driving, texting while …

Desiring To Appear Moral Versus Being Moral: Development Of Moral Hypocrisy And Moral Integrity, Kathleen Tamming

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Moral hypocrisy has been defined as “the motivation to appear moral while acting in one’s self interest, and therefore avoiding the cost of actually being moral” (Batson, Kobrynowicz, Dinnerstein, Kampf, & Wilson, 1997). This is in contrast with moral integrity, or the motivation to actually be moral. Experimental research with adults has indicated that people are more highly motivated by moral hypocrisy than by moral integrity (Batson, Thompson, & Chen, 2002). However, this research has yet to be conducted with a variety of age groups. The present study investigated whether there are age differences in individuals’ tendency to engage in …

Investigating The Effects Of Mindfulness On Children’S Executive Function, Emotional Regulation, Stress, And Academic Performance Compared To A Control Condition, Lerna Hanceroglu

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mindfulness is a growing field in the study of psychological well-being, with reports of individuals experiencing increases in resilience and reduced stress. The current research on mindfulness lacks information on a comprehensive analysis on the relationship between mindfulness and executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and subsequent academic performance for children. Additionally, studies contain methodological issues, such as the absence of active control groups. Hence, the current study assessed the effects of mindfulness training on children’s executive function, emotional regulation, stress, and academic outcomes compared to an active control group. There were 51 younger children from grades 2 to 4 (Mean …

Infants, Toddlers And Mobile Technology: Examining Parental Choices And The Impact Of Early Technology Introduction On Cognitive And Motor Development, Karin Archer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Despite recommendations of no screen time for children under the age of 2, parents are introducing mobile technology to their children at very young ages (Rideout, 2013). While research on television use has found negative impacts in all areas of development (Barr, Lauricella, Zack & Clavert, 2010), research has yet to investigate the impact of mobile technology use with very young children. The current set of 3 studies included interviews, a survey, and direct observations of parents using mobile technology with children 1 to 2 years of age. The main finding across all studies was that parents introduce mobile technology …

Children's Letter Learning: The Effect Of Manipulating Visual Complexity On Children's Letter Learning, Bahar Amani

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As a growing presence in homes and schools, technology plays an important role in the way that children learn in their environment. The early integration of technology within education reflects the promise of computer-based educational tools to facilitate early learning in children (Grant, Wood, Gottardo, Evans, Phillips, & Savage, 2012). Young learners are reported to be challenged with high levels of distractibility that can hinder their ability to learn in particular conditions and contexts (Fisher, Godwin, & Seltman, 2014). This can be a problem when considering that educational materials are often designed to be elaborate to keep young learners interested. …

Young Adults In Transition: Factors That Support And Hinder Growth And Change, Mona Treadway

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Young adults between 18 and 24 years of age with mental illness are significantly less likely to receive mental health services than adults in older age groups.Nationally, higher rates of depression, substance abuse, and psychiatric issues are reported in this age group.A therapeutic model referred to as young adult transition programs has emerged to better address the unique developmental challenges found in this age group.This study examined 317 critical incidents that supported or hindered young adults in a therapeutic transition program.The research design used a combination of an instrumental case study and critical incident technique (CIT).Using interviews and the Outcome …

"You're Doing Fine, Right?": Adolescent Siblings Of Substance Abusers, Cynthia E. Clarfield

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There has been a rising interest in addiction medicine and addiction treatment in both the medical and behavioral health science fields. Research suggests having a family member with a substance abuse problem has negative impacts on both physical and mental health (Orford, Copello, Velleman, & Templeton, 2010a). Despite advances toward understanding the experiences of family members affected by a loved one's addiction, the siblings of substance abusers have been largely excluded from scientific research and literature. As a result, little is known about how siblings experience the impacts of a brother or sister's addiction; even less is known about the …