Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Children's Perspectives On Coping And Support Following Parental Separation, Ann Marie Halpenny, Sheila Greene, Diane Hogan

Articles

Increasingly, children experience ongoing change in family formation and structure and such fluctuation may threaten or diminish children’s feelings of security with regard to established family roles, relationships and routines. A number of studies have explored available support for children in the context of family transition, focusing in particular upon those organisations providing services to children and families. However, in order to gain more precise insight into the mechanisms through which children can best be supported, it is necessary to consult children themselves and to elicit their perspectives and responses to the changes in their family contexts. A primary aim …

Comparing Parent Ratings Of Referred Preschoolers On The Child Behavior Checklist And Behavior Assessment System For Children - Second Edition, Jennifer L. Bour

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

It is essential for school psychologists assessing children to use instruments that are reliable and valid. The focus of the current study is to determine whether or not the parent preschool versions of two popular behavior rating instruments, the Behavior Assessment System for Children – Second Edition (BASC-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2004) and Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000), are consistent measures of similarly-named behavioral constructs in preschool-aged children. Parents of 95 preschoolers referred to a nonprofit child evaluation clinic because of behavioral or developmental concerns completed both the BASC-2 and CBCL during an initial evaluation session.

The …

The Relation Of Fr Behaviour To Aai Scales, Elspeth M. Evans, Sandi Bento, David R. Pederson, Greg Moran

Psychology Presentations

Attachment theory describes the bonds between caregivers and children that serve a protective function for children.

The FR theory developed by Main and Hesse (1990) proposes that unmonitored parental behaviour, or frightened, frightening and dissociative (FR) behaviour, stemming from a history of Unresolved/disoriented (U/d) trauma, disorganizes the attachment relationship.

The parent is a source of fear and is thus unavailable as a source of safety and protection.

Behavioural And Affective Precursors To Disorganized Attachment In The Still-Face Procedure At 4-Months, Lindsey M. Forbes, Greg Moran, David R. Pederson

Psychology Presentations

We explored whether disorganization in the SSP at 13-months could be predicted from infant affect and behaviour in the SFP at 4- months.

We hypothesized that infants in disorganized relationships would have the most difficulty regulating their affect and behaviour in the SFP.

Infants in disorganized relationships were expected to display greater negativity (e.g., crying, negative vocalizations, stress indicators such as spitting up) throughout the SFP, compared to those in organized relationships.

Both Maternal Sensitivity And Atypical Maternal Behavior Independently Predict Attachment Security And Disorganization In Adolescent Mother–Infant Dyads, Greg Moran, Lindsey M. Forbes, Elspeth Evans, George M. Tarabulsy, Sheri Madigan

Psychology Presentations

On the basis of these findings, at odds with current models of the origins of secure vs disorganized attachment, the current study examined the association between distinct qualities of maternal interaction and attachment in a single study.

The participants in the current study were adolescent mothers and their infants, a population that has been shown to be at substantial developmental risk and to exhibit a range of markedly atypical interactions with their infants (Jaffee, Caspi, Moffitt, Belsky, and Silva, 2001).

The Role Of The Principal In Leading School Improvement, Marilyn Jane Sudsberry

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were to 1) determine the role the principal plays in leading school improvement, and 2) examine the relationship between change implemented and student achievement. Three high-performing, high-needs Title l schools and four low-performing, high-needs Title I schools were identified through lndimm Department of Education data. The high-performing schools met Adequate Yearly Progress in 2006, whereas the low-performing schools did not and were in at least year two of the school improvement cycle. Structured interviews were conducted with the principal and with teams of teachers. The interviews, along with field observations and analysis of the school …

Season Of Birth Effects In Autism Spectrum Disorders, Kastley Marvin

Honors Scholar Theses

One factor that is investigated as a possible clue to etiological factors in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is season of birth. Season of birth effects could be the result of temperature, toxins, dietary changes, viral infections, and cultural or social factors that change seasonally (Bolton, Pickles, Harrington, Macdonald, & Rutter, 1992). A number of studies have looked for season of birth effects in ASD with no conclusive results. The current study analyzed season of birth effects in a sample of 441 children diagnosed with ASD. Analysis was also repeated after excluding prematurely born children from the data. Level of functioning …

The Impact Of Imaginary Companions On Social Development, Emily Bloom

Senior Honors Theses

The imagination and creativity of children is often puzzling to the adult mind. Pretend play and make-believe friends are often prevalent in the life of a child. Past research shows a relationship between the use of the imagination in children’s play and their social, cognitive, and emotional development. Furthermore, there are a number of gender differences in the type of imaginary play and pretend friends children create. Children of all ages reported engaging in make-believe play. Therefore, this study investigated whether children create imaginary companions as a result of their social adaptability or socially adapt in the way that they …

Validation Of A Parental Tolerance Measure: The Child Rearing Inventory, Sana Ayub

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research on child misbehavior has examined the influence of many factors, including the child’s typical behaviors and functioning, child temperament, parenting strategies, parental stress, parental attributions, perceptions of parenting, and parental tolerance.The concept of parental tolerance has recently been advocated as an important variable influencing child misbehavior by Brestan, Eyberg, Algina, Johnson, and Boggs (2003) who developed two parent report measures for it. The present study investigated the validity of one of these measures, the Child Rearing Inventory (CRI). In the present study, parental tolerance as measured by the CRI was compared to other standardized measures of parent and child …

Hierarchy In The Library: Egalitarian Dynamics In Victorian Novels, John Johnson, Joseph Carroll, Jonathan Gottschall, Daniel Kruger

English Department Faculty Works

The current research investigated the psychological differences between protagonists and antagonists in literature and the impact of these differences on readers. It was hypothesized that protagonists would embody cooperative motives and behaviors that are valued by egalitarian hunter-gatherers groups, whereas antagonists would demonstrate status-seeking and dominance behaviors that are stigmatized in such groups. This hypothesis was tested with an online questionnaire listing characters from 201 canonical British novels of the longer nineteenth century. 519 respondents generated 1470 protocols on 435 characters. Respondents identified the characters as protagonists, antagonists, or minor characters, judged the characters’ motives according to human life history …

A Developmental Intervention Approach To Promoting Positive Development: Pathways Of Intervention Change, Marilyn J. Montgomery, William M. Kurtines, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Ervin Briones, Wendy Silverman, Rachel Ritchie, Kyle Eichas

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This paper describes work directed toward creating community-supported positive youth development interventions that draw on a developmental intervention science outreach research approach. With respect to developmental interventions, this approach focuses on creating evidence-based longitudinal change intervention strategies for promoting long-term developmental change. The paper describes three broad challenges (theoretical, methodological, and meta-theoretical) that the authors faced in their efforts to develop and implement community-supported intervention programs built on this approach. The authors describe first the theoretical challenges they addressed in developing the conceptual framework for their community-supported intervention; second, the challenge of developing and refining a methodological framework for evaluating …

Promoting Positive Youth Development New Directions In Developmental Theory, Methods, And Research, William M. Kurtines, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Wendy K. Silverman, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The articles in this special issue report the efforts of the Miami Youth Development Project (YDP), a community-supported positive youth development program of outreach research that draws on a developmental intervention science (DIS) perspective (i.e., a fusion of the developmental and intervention science literatures). These reports illustrate how the application of DIS outreach research contributes to knowledge of human development at all levels (practical as well as methodological, theoretical, and metatheoretical). Consistent with a DIS outreach research approach, YDP is committed to the use of descriptive and explanatory knowledge about changes within human systems that occur across the life span …

Effects Of Father Absence On Adolescent Depression, Sexual Attitudes, And Substance Use, Nicole M. Hurtack

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between father absence and depression, sexual attitudes, and substance use on adolescents. Data were collected from forty-nine high school students (28 males, 21 females) from ninth to twelfth grade from a private high school in Pennsylvania. The Beck Depression Inventory-II was used to measure levels of depression. A sexual attitudes and substance use, and family demographic survey were also administered. The results of this study provided no support for the hypothesized relationship between adolescent adjustment and father absence. Father absence did not significantly predicted sexual attitudes, depression or substance …

The Relationships Among Age, Physical Activity, And Working Memory, Ellen M. Carpenter

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

As our population ages, determining exogenous factors that may offset cognitive decline become increasingly important. The primary goal of the present study was to determine whether older individuals who engage in regular physical activity demonstrate superior working memory performance relative to older sedentary individuals. Forty young (20 active, 20 sedentary) and forty older (20 active, 20 sedentary) individuals engaged in cognitive measures of information processing speed, inhibitory function, and verbal and visuospatial working memory. Age differences in recall were found for verbal and visuospatial span tasks, as well as for recall reaction time on verbal and visuospatial n-back tasks, and …

Treatment Practices Of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Developmental Psychopathology Perspective, Deborah Watson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) occurs in up to 9.9 % of the general population. Clinical implications of CSA are lasting and warrant treatment utilizing suitable approaches. Although the developmental psychopathology model encourages clinicians to evaluate disorders in the context of risk/protective factors, cultural issues and development, there is a gap in current research regarding the utilization of developmental theory among clinicians working with this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine consistent patterns in treatment practices employed by therapists with CSA patients. The primary research question in this study was to determine how closely therapists' actual treatment …

Portraits: Discovering Art As A Transformative Learning Process At Mid-Life, William Scott Wallace

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study explores art as a transformative learning process at mid-life. As adults individuate as they develop into middle age and move towards integration, they may experience transformative learning, a process that can lead to a much broader and deeper life view. Most studies have viewed transformative learning as a process that occurs through critical reflection, (Mezirow, 1991, 2000), possible disorienting dilemmas, (Mezirow, 1991, 2000, and Daloz, 2000), influence of personality type (Cranton, 1994), soulfulness (Dirkx), and other means of awareness. While researchers acknowledge the possibilities of experiencing transformative learning through the arts, a review of the empirical literature reveals …

Evolving Learning: Educators’ Inner Experiences Of Engaging In Service-Learning With Undergraduates, Cara Meixner

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Evolving Learning: Educators’ Inner Experiences of Engaging in Service-Learning with Undergraduates is an exploratory, qualitative study of faculty members’ learning, growth, and development in service-learning contexts. Through two, interwoven forms of constructivist grounded theory – situational mapping and dimensional analysis – this dissertation brought voice to a once ‘private’ perspective, making explicit what all is happening as participants make meaning of their experiences engaging in service-learning with college students. A three-phased series of recursive, comparative interviews and concurrent analysis resulted in the development of a grounded theory best captured by a core, organizing perspective – evolving learning. This perspective is …

Phonological Facilitation Through Translation In A Bilingual Picture-Naming Task, Paul Amrhein, Aimee Knupsky

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We present a critical examination of phonological effects in a picture-word interference task. Using a methodology minimizing stimulus repetition, English/Spanish and Spanish/English bilinguals named pictures in either L1 or L2 (blocked contexts) or in both (mixed contexts) while ignoring word distractors in L1 or L2. Distractors were either phonologically related to the picture name (direct; FISH–fist), or related through translation to the picture name (TT; LEG–milk–leche), or they were unrelated (bear–peach). Results demonstrate robust activation of phonological representations by translation equivalents of word distractors. Although both direct and TT distractors facilitated naming, TT facilitation was more consistent in L2 naming …

Disorganized Attachment In Adolescent Mother-Infant Dyads: Its Nature, Origins, And Developmental Consequences, Greg Moran, David Pederson

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Addressing The Needs Of Children Of Offenders:The 4-H Life Model, Lynna J. Lawson, Robert C. Wilkerson, Tammy Gillespie, Elizabeth G. Dunn

Journal of Youth Development

4-H LIFE represents a promising approach to addressing the needs of children of offenders and their caregivers. The 4-H Living Interactive Family Education (LIFE) Program was established in 1999 at the Potosi Correctional Center, a maximum security prison. 4-H LIFE is an enhanced or therapeutic visitation program with three key components: 1. parent engagement 2. parent education 3. 4-H activities for children of offenders, led by the incarcerated parents. Since inception, 141 youths between the ages of 5 and 18 have participated; 59 incarcerated fathers and 106 caregivers have also been engaged at PCC. Program evaluations suggest that parent-child outcomes …

Addressing The Needs Of Children Of Offenders:The 4-H Life Model, Lynna J. Lawson, Robert C. Wilkerson, Tammy Gillespie, Elizabeth G. Dunn

Journal of Youth Development

4-H LIFE represents a promising approach to addressing the needs of children of offenders and their caregivers. The 4-H Living Interactive Family Education (LIFE) Program was established in 1999 at the Potosi Correctional Center, a maximum security prison. 4-H LIFE is an enhanced or therapeutic visitation program with three key components: 1. parent engagement 2. parent education 3. 4-H activities for children of offenders, led by the incarcerated parents. Since inception, 141 youths between the ages of 5 and 18 have participated; 59 incarcerated fathers and 106 caregivers have also been engaged at PCC. Program evaluations suggest that parent-child outcomes …

Frequency Of Heavy Drinking And Perceived Peer Alcohol Involvement: Comparison Of Influence And Selection Mechanisms From A Developmental Perspective, Gilbert R. Parra, Jennifer L. Krull, Kenneth J. Sher, Kristina M. Jackson

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

The present study investigated social influence and selection explanations for the association between frequency of heavy drinking and perceived peer alcohol involvement in emerging and early adulthood. Participants were 489 young adults recruited from a university setting who were taking part in an 11-year longitudinal study, which includes 6 waves of data. Piecewise latent growth curve analyses indicated that patterns of change from ages 18 to 30 for both frequency of heavy drinking and perceived peer alcohol involvement are best represented by two distinct developmental periods (i.e., college and post-college years). Several models were compared to identify a framework that …

An Observational Analysis Of Psychosocial Behaviors And Caregiver Responses In The Durban Children’S Home, Sarah Young

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In South Africa, many children find themselves in at risk situations arising from issues like HIV, abuse, and poverty, which highly impact their mental well being by forcing them into unlivable situations. The Durban Children’s Home, located in Glenwood, Durban, works to tackle this problem, providing facilities, meals, and care for 75 homeless, abused, terminally ill, and/or poverty stricken children. Yet in coming from situations where children no longer have support of their primary caregiver or environment, these children require quality psychosocial attention in the Home. However when basic needs of so many children must be met in an institutional …

Teaching Children With Autism Imitation Skills As Means To Increase Communication, Chad J. Ryan

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It has been well documented that many children with autism, especially nonverbal children, exhibit imitation deficits that impact their abilily lo develop effective communication skills. Applied Behavior Analysis has been shown to be an effective strategy for teaching many skills to children with autism und other disabilities. However, with regard to imitation training, there is limited research on effeclive strategics to develop these skills. This paper provides an analysis of the apparent imitation deficit for many children with autism. It includes what the specific imitation deficits are for children with autism and how these deficits are different compared to children …

Social Influence Effects On Romantic Relationships Of College Students, Christine Mary Banach

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social influence is defined as "the influences that people have upon the beliefs and behavior of others" (Aronson, 2004, p. 5). A theoretical model that highlights the importance of social influence pressures and in particular, variability in response to these pressures is known as social identity theory. Social identity is defined as "that part of an individual's self-concept which derives from knowledge of membership of a social group (or groups) together with the value and emotional significance attached to that membership" (Harris & Cameron, 2005, p. 159). The current study explored the potential importance of social groups, especially peers, on …

Children With Autism: Sleep Problems And Predictors Of Maternal Stress, Cindy Y. Nam

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research examining the impact of children’s autism and the sleep problems frequently associated with the disorder on parents’ stress has been quite limited. Studies have been constrained by methodological problems, including small sample sizes and the examination of children of autism within larger groups of children with a range of developmental disabilities. Typically, diagnostic criteria used to select children for an autism study is not indicated and no measure of the severity of children’s symptomology is included. The present investigation was designed to examine children’s autism symptomology and parents’ reports of their children’s sleep problems as well as the parents …

The Role Of Automatic Reinforcement In Early Speech Acquisition, Barbara E. Esch

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Television, Music, And Silence Conditions On Performance On Reading Comprehension And Math Word Problem Tests: A Developmental Study, Kimberly Broussard

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

From Arachne To Charlotte: An Imaginative Revisiting Of Gilligan's "In A Different Voice", Erika Rackley

William & Mary Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Influences Of The Family Environment And Parent-Child Relationships On The Executive Functioning Of Children With Adhd, Valarie M. Schroeder

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the relationships between executive functions, family environment, and parent-child relationships in ADHD diagnosed children as compared to non-ADHD diagnosed children. Participants were parents (N = 134) of children diagnosed with ADHD and children not diagnosed with ADHD. As hypothesized, as compared to reports from parents of children not diagnosed with ADHD, parents of children diagnosed with ADHD reported their children as exhibiting greater problems with behavioral control and metacognitive abilities. Compared to control parents, parents of children with ADHD also reported their family environments as less organized and reported more conflict in their homes. In addition, …