School Psychology Commons^™

Culture And Cognition: The Role Culture Plays In Cognitive Development In Rural Tanzania, Eileen Seissen

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper examines the perceived difference of cognition in a Tanzanian classroom. It also examines the effects culture has on cognition. It aims to answer the questions: What role does Tanzanian culture play in shaping the cognitive skills of its children? And, from an American trainers perspective, within an experiential learning environment, what cognitive differences are perceived in abstract thinking, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving? Nine American trainers, one Tanzanian trainer, and one Tanzanian student participated in my study. Each participant filled out a questionnaire geared toward understanding their training methods and perceptions of participant's skills and abilities. After …

Executive Function Predictors Of Children's Talk, Jacqlyne D. Weber

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Relatively few studies have investigated the relationship between executive functioning (EF) and language development, and even fewer have researched hot and cool EF as a predictor language development. This study is an investigation into the relationship between EF and language development in preschool aged children. More specifically, the ability for hot or cool EF to predict language, this will be the focus of the study. It was found that hot EF was a better predictor of language development in preschool aged children.

The Evolution Of Disney Princesses And Their Effect On Body Image, Gender Roles, And The Portrayal Of Love, Rachael Michelle Johnson

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

The media plays an essential role in determining people’s schemas of the real world, assumptions about cultural ideals, and perceptions surrounding body image, gender roles, and the idealization of love (Behm-Morawitz & Mastro, 2008; Herbozo, Tantleff-Dunn, Gokee-Larose, & Thompson, 2004). Children in particular are vulnerable to these messages due to their high consumption of media and their cognitive development (Agarwal & Dhanasekaran, 2012; Herbozo et al., 2004). Disney is one the most powerful aspects in children’s media and their princess phenomenon plays an essential role in perpetuating stereotypes by having their heroines embody submissiveness, being young and thin, and attracting …

Extended Stereotype Threat: Parental Concern That A Child Will Confirm A Negative Stereotype Associated With Dyslexia, Berkley Singer

Senior Theses and Projects

This study introduces a novel concept, Extended Stereotype Threat (EST). EST is based on stereotype threat, whereby one is concerned that he/she may confirm a negative stereotype associated with being a member of a targeted group. EST extends stereotype threat as someone outside a targeted group (e.g., a parent of a dyslexic child) fears that a member of that group (i.e., his/her child) will confirm a negative stereotype associated with the group. Seventeen parents of dyslexic children between the 3^rd and 8^th grades were interviewed. Topics included beliefs about dyslexia, interactions with the child’s school, and how parents’ …

The Emotional Experience And Expression Of Anger: A Child's Perspective, Craig A. Oolup

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to explore and identify key themes related to a child’s experience of anger. The existing literature on children’s emotional experiences stems from adult perceptions and interpretations; this study was envisioned to investigate the experience of anger among children using their own words. Participants were male and female students, aged 8-9 and in a general grade three classroom within a community school. Through the use of semi-structured interview focus groups conducted over a span of 10 weeks, participants were invited to disclose their understandings of anger and how they experienced it. Results were analyzed via …

On Environmental Education, James Mackinnon Michel Spreuwenberg-Stewart

Senior Projects Spring 2015

Senior Project submitted to The Division of Social Studies of Bard College

The Frequency And Competency Of Executive Functions Assessment And Intervention Among Practicing School Psychologists, Meghan A. Garrett

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study surveyed school psychologists (N = 167) primarily from six different states about their perceptions, knowledge, frequency, and application of executive functions assessment and interventions. The purpose of this study was to explore school psychologists’ practices in executive functions assessment and interventions. Results of the study indicated that school psychologists vary in their knowledge of executive functions, but the majority of them do not include the assessment of and intervention in executive functions deficits in their regular practice. However, school psychologists tended to report executive functions assessment and intervention more frequently when presented with specific disability classifications (e.g. autism, …

An Evaluation Of Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Assertiveness Skills To College Students, Savannah Warrington

All Master's Theses

Assertiveness skills are related to a variety of life factors including stress levels, social relationships, social fears, and anxiety. The previous research has shown that engaging in nonassertive behavior can have negative effects, and assertive behaviors can lead to a healthier life (Eldeeb, Enstar, & Eldosoky, 2014; Elliot & Gramling, 1990; Larijani, Aghajanie, Baheiraei, & Neiestanank, 2010; Morgan, 1974). The purpose of the current research was to determine if behavioral skills training (BST) was effective in teaching assertiveness skills to college students and if the skills would generalize to novel situations. BST is a method for teaching skills that uses …

The Utility Of The Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire In Identifying Stably Peer-Victimized Children, Freddie Aníbal Pastrana Rivera

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I evaluated the utility of using the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire (OBVQ) in identifying stably peer-victimized children. Participants were 676 fourth grade students from 37 classrooms in ten public schools. Stable peer victims were identified as children who met elevated levels of peer victimization at both fall and late spring assessments from at least one source (i.e., self, peer, teacher). Four potential screeners using the OBVQ were evaluated. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify how well a recommended cutoff point from the global item of the OBVQ (i.e., being bullied 2 or 3 times a month) identified stable victims. Additional …

The Student Augustinian Values Institute: Assessing Its Impact Of Enhancing The Understanding And Experience Of The Augustinian Core Values Of Veritas, Unitas, And Caritas Upon Students In Augustinian Secondary Schools, Stephen M. Curry

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Educational leadership understands the importance of teaching values in its schools and incorporates this philosophy into the school’s symbolic and structural systems. Roman Catholic Church leaders have always endorsed the teaching of values in its schools and this position was sanctioned at its Second Vatican Council (Vatican Council II, 1962-65). One aspect of the Council emphasized the importance of Catholic education as an essential vehicle for proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Catholic schools founded and sponsored by religious communities were challenged to reappropriate their founders’ charisms in their educational ministries. The Order of St. Augustine is an example …

Korean American Adolescents And Their Mothers: Intergenerational Differences And Their Consequences, Hui Chu

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The current study examined the links and mechanisms associated with intergenerational cultural conflict, psychological distress, and the intergenerational differences in acculturation and model minority stereotype (MMS) endorsement for South Korean immigrants. Specifically, Korean American adolescents’ (ages 12-19, M = 15.3, SD = 1.71) and their mothers’ (N = 209 dyads) acculturation difference and MMS endorsement difference were measured and analyzed as predictors of intergenerational cultural conflict and psychological distress for adolescents. Furthermore, the study analyzed intergenerational cultural conflict as a mediator in the acculturation gap-distress and the MMS endorsement-distress paths. Results indicated that when mothers and their adolescents differed …

Stop The Madness! College Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Classroom Incivility, Christina M. Nutt

Ed.D. Dissertations

Classroom incivility is causing major concern, nation-wide, to college administrators, faculty, and students. The damage caused by student incivility has been associated with a decrease in student learning, the deterioration of the classroom learning environment, lower faculty morale, and reduced student retention rates. The purpose of this quantitative non-experimental fixed research design was to explore and compare college faculty and student perceptions of type and frequency of classroom incivilities at a private college in order to provide a foundation for the development of strategies to reduce uncivil behaviors and increase student success. Study results demonstrated that faculty members and students, …

Gender And Grade Differences In How High School Students Experience And Perceive Cyberbullying, Jeremy D. Doucette

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Gender and grade differences in how high school students experience and perceive cyberbullying was examined through a survey and focus groups with youth in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Survey findings revealed that boys reported cyberbullying more often than girls on most items while girls reported experiencing cyberbullying more often than boys on most items. Grade alone did not account for significant differences, but interactions with gender were sometimes found. The focus groups revealed that most students believe that girls cyberbully more than boys, but that boys are more likely than girls to view cyberbullying as a form of joking, and to …

Message Framing Effects In The Delivery Of Sleep Hygiene Information To Parents Of Elementary And Middle School Children, Aimee L. Blackham

Doctoral Dissertations

In order to achieve all the benefits of sleeping, adequate quantity and quality of sleep are required, particularly for children and adolescents because of the issues of physical, emotional, and psychological development. Recent reviews of the literature have concluded children and adolescents consistently do not get enough sleep, and childhood sleep problems have serious negative effects on children and their families. Self-help guides have been proven to be effective, but the particular framing of the message is vital to its overall persuasiveness. Many researchers have found that these framing effects are important to the overall persuasiveness of a message. However, …

Trauma And Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In Therapeutic Day School Students: Prevalence In This Population And Effective Treatment Programs, Monica Roberts

Dissertations

This survey-based, comparative study investigated the percentage of students at a suburban Chicago therapeutic day school who meet criteria for clinically significant levels of PTSD as compared to students in a general education setting. The directional hypothesis was that students placed at therapeutic day schools have a higher prevalence of PTSD than a general population of students. The method used was a survey assessment called the Child PTSD Symptom Scale (CPSS) given to 16 students at a suburban Chicago therapeutic day school. These CPSS scores were analyzed and statistically compared to CPSS scores of an already published study with students …

Individual Characteristics, Protective Factors And Processes Significant In Helping Low-Income African American Students Achieve Academic Success And Projected Upward Mobility, Barbara Still

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Research and other studies have documented the educational plight and academic difficulties of many poor, urban African American students. A number of studies have explored and identified many reasons for the low level of academic success among these students. Nonetheless, some poor, urban African American students have completed high school and college; and they have successfully transitioned to higher socioeconomic groups. The purpose of this study was to identify individual characteristics, protective factors and school processes that are significant in helping current urban, poor African American students to achieve high levels of academic success and to begin movement towards eventual …

The African American Family's Influence On Academic Achievement Of Urban Secondary Students, Frank A. Edwards

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

One of the most unyielding challenges of the American Educational System to
date has been determining the unique factors that African American families have on the academic achievement of urban high school students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine: (1) what effect does the African American Family’s influence have on urban secondary students achievement; (2) what impact does academic achievement have on the life of an urban African-American student; and (3) what contributing factors stimulate academic achievement in urban secondary students. The African-American family and its influence on student achievement included the following themes: family and familial …

An In Depth Analyses Of Specific Language Impairment As Compared To Other Developmental Disorders, Adam W. Stein Mr.

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Specific language impairment (SLI), defined as a disproportionate difficulty in learning language despite having normal hearing, intelligence, and no known neurological or emotional impairment, has been shown to share similar cognitive characteristics with individuals with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). However, little research has investigated the dissimilarities in these two different developmental disorders. Children with SLI also show many similar symptoms with individuals diagnosed with dyslexia. The aim of these studies is to get a better understanding of cognitive differences between SLI and ADHD, and the cognitive similarities between SLI and dyslexia. Tests of both verbal and non-verbal measures of …

Relational Aggression: The Relationship Between Parents' Perceptions And Adolescents' Perceptions And Actions Involving Relational Aggression, Mallory Foster

Masters Theses

Relational aggression, best defined as behavior that is meant to harm or significantly damage another's friendships, has been shown to peak in adolescence. Additionally, the parent-adolescent relationship has been shown to be related to relational aggression in adolescents' relationships in several ways. The purpose of this study was to examine adolescent relational aggression and how such behaviors are related to the parent-adolescent relationship. Specifically, this study assessed whether parent perceptions of relational aggression were similar to adolescent perceptions of the same behaviors. Moreover, the study examined whether there was a relationship between parent perceptions of relational aggression and whether or …

The Intersection Between Home And School: Developing A Scale To Measure Parental Perceptions Of Childhood School Stress, Teresa Marie Henke

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Parents in the home and educators in the schools are key adults in the most important contexts in the daily lives of school-age children. In the demanding, achievement, and accountability oriented culture of today, it is expected that children experience normal everyday stressors as they move between these two environments. The impact of stress related to daily hassles has been reported to have both cognitive and physical effects on the present and future well-being of children. This study represented an attempt to advance the understanding of childhood stress in the intersection between school and home by investigating the perceptions …

The Effects Of Training In Self-Regulated Learning And Achievement Orientations In Lower Socioeconomic Elementary Students, Ashley N. Carroll

Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research has explored the development of the self-regulated learner. The majority of these studies have focused on high school and college students (Hofer & Yu, 2003). This study explored this concept at the elementary school level with lower socioeconomic students. This study was designed to determine the effectiveness of a short intervention teaching self-regulatory and metacognitive learning strategies to these elementary students. The researcher designed a learning intervention for fifth-grade students that included various cognitive strategies and study skills. The intervention group was compared to a control group of fifth-graders. The students' self-efficacy, self-regulation, and achievement orientation were assessed …

Problem Solving Interventions: Impact On Young Children With Developmental Disabilities, Lindsay Ann Diamond

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Problem-solving skills are imperative to a child's growth and success across multiple environments, including general and special education. Problem solving is comprised of: (a) attention to the critical aspects of a problem, (b) generation of solution(s) to solve the problem, (c) application of a solution(s) to the identified problem, and (d) evaluation of the consequences of the solution. Children with developmental disabilities may experience difficulty with the problem-solving process.

The purpose of this study was to determine an effective method to teach young children with developmental disabilities to problem solve. Specifically, this study compared two types of problem-solving instruction. The …

Emotional Intelligence And Team Cohesiveness, Myra M. Beam

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Emotional Intelligence is generally defined as encompassing the awareness and understanding of emotions. Emotional Intelligence also incorporates the application of this understanding to decision making, regulation, and self-management. Many theorists have shown that Emotional Intelligence has a significant positive impact on various aspects of teamwork. Today, more companies and organizations use teamwork to solve problems and complete tasks, so exploring elements that enhance teamwork would be beneficial.

This study was designed to support the notion that Emotional Intelligence is an integral part of teamwork. It was hypothesized that Emotional Intelligence has an impact on teamwork by making the team more …

Evaluating A Social Skills Training Protocol In A Private Setting: Outcomes And Issues, Judi Davis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Society is dealing with a trend of aggressive and destructive behavior among children and adolescence. Children with social, emotional, and conduct problems are at high risk for academic failure, peer rejection, conduct disorder, school dropout, delinquency, and drug and alcohol problems (Webster-Stratton, Reid, & Stoollmiller, 2008). A high priority for the United States public health and crime prevention is the prevention of aggressive and delinquent behavior during childhood and adolescence (Taylor, Eddy, & Biglan 1999).

Social skills trainings aim to increase the performance of key social behaviors that are important for children to succeed in social situations. Solutions may be …

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.

An Examination Of Napping And Psychosocial Functioning In Preschool Children, Brian Kenneth Crosby

Dissertations

The objectives of this study were to examine racial differences in the sleep distribution of 4- to 5-year-old children, to assess the relationship between napping and psychosocial functioning, and to determine if there are racial differences in the relationship between napping and psychosocial functioning. The sleep behavior of 67 children (52.2% non-Hispanic White; 55.2% male) 4 to 5 years old from a community sample was assessed through caregiver-report and actigraphy. Psychosocial functioning was examined through caregiver-report and laboratory tasks designed to assess aspects of behavioral and emotional functioning. Results indicate that, compared to White children, Black children nap significantly more …

Differences In Self-Esteem Between Genders: A Look At Middle School, Beth S. Michael

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Most theorists suggest that the developement of self-esteem is found through interactions and experiences. However, these experiences may greatly differ between males and females in early adolescence because of developmental differences between the genders. Socialization may also play an important role in the self-esteem differences between genders. Overall, males and females have different developmental levels at the middle school age. Early or late development may impact the adolescent's self-esteem. This study will examine the differences in self-esteem between genders in middle school adolescents.

Gender Differences In Gross And Fine Motor Abilities In Preschool Aged Children In West Virginia, Kelly R. Pennington

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate gender differences in gross and fine motor abilities in preschool aged children in West Virginia. Subjects consisted of 21 males and 16 females. Data was collected via the West Virginia Educare Initiative using the Carolina Curriculum for Preschoolers with Special Needs. Results of this study indicate that there are no significant gender differences in either gross motor or fine motor abilities in preschool aged children.

Detecting A Male's Attitudinal Change During The Course Of A Partner's Pregnancy Using The Index Of Marital Satisfaction, Melanie Ann Hummel

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Thirty-one married men who were expecting their first child were tested in the first, second, and third trimesters of pregnancy with the Index of Marital Satisfaction to see if the subjects experienced a significant drop in marital satisfaction during the course of pregnancy. Previous research has shown that couples’ marital satisfaction significantly declines after the birth of a baby, but little research has explored the male’s attitudinal change during the pregnancy itself. The current study found that there was no significant change in the subjects’ marital satisfaction from early to late pregnancy. A larger study with a sample more representative …

The Relationship Between Attention And Memory And School Readiness In West Virginia Preschoolers, Brenda Carol Parker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The current study investigated the relationship between memory and attention and academic readiness in children between the ages of 2 ½ and 5. Forty-two preschool children were involved in the study and were selected from childcare centers participating in the Educare project in West Virginia. All subjects were tested with the Bracken and the Carolina Curriculum. The Bracken measured the academic readiness and the Carolina Curriculum measured memory and attention levels of the children. The results indicated a positive correlation between memory and attention and academic readiness. The findings supported the position that there is a positive correlation between mastery …