Parenting Among Mothers With High Psychosocial Stress In South-Central Appalachia: Aspirations, Actions, And Intervention,
2025
East Tennessee State University
Parenting Among Mothers With High Psychosocial Stress In South-Central Appalachia: Aspirations, Actions, And Intervention, Kelly Daniel
Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Conceptualizations of adaptive parenting within Appalachia have been historically limited by the scarcity of research with the region as well as stereotyped depictions of Appalachian parents. As such, this project aimed to examine Appalachian parenting through a culturally sensitive lens by centering lived experiences through the ecological systems theory. The sample included mothers (n = 41) who attended Mom Power, an attachment-based, trauma-informed parenting skills intervention in the Appalachian Highlands. Reflective Thematic Analysis was used to analyze qualitative interview data by exploring and conceptualizing current parenting challenges and associated maternal feelings and reactions. Results include the development of a metaphor …
Breaking The Pipeline: Exploring Exclusionary Discipline, Restorative Justice, And The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Educators,
2025
Georgia Southern University
Breaking The Pipeline: Exploring Exclusionary Discipline, Restorative Justice, And The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Educators, Ericka J. Varnedoe
Honors College Theses
This study explores the connection between exclusionary disciplinary practices and the school-to-prison pipeline. It highlights how exclusionary discipline, including suspensions and expulsions, disproportionately affects marginalized groups such as students of color, students with disabilities, and LGBTQ youth, further contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline. In contrast, restorative justice, a non-punitive approach, offers a promising alternative. Initially adopted from the criminal justice system, restorative justice has been integrated into school environments to foster positive school climates, improve experiences, and mitigate challenging behaviors. This research examines educators' attitudes toward both exclusionary and restorative practices, as well as their awareness and implementation of restorative …
Attachment Theory In Adult Romantic Relationships: The Influence Of Childhood Trauma On Adult Attachment Styles And Romantic Relationship Satisfaction,
2025
Liberty University
Attachment Theory In Adult Romantic Relationships: The Influence Of Childhood Trauma On Adult Attachment Styles And Romantic Relationship Satisfaction, Shelby Bock
Senior Honors Theses
Attachment theory provides a key framework for understanding adult romantic relationships, especially for individuals with a history of childhood trauma. Early adverse experiences, such as emotional abuse and neglect, as well as broader categories of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), can disrupt attachment development, contributing to insecure attachment styles—anxious or avoidant—that influence relationship dynamics in adulthood. This review synthesizes current literature on how childhood trauma contributes to attachment patterns and emotional intimacy, trust, and relationship satisfaction in adult romantic relationships. It also highlights the role of attachment in mediating the effects of childhood trauma on romantic relationships. Finally, the review proposes …
Bowlby, John,
2025
West Virginia University
Bowlby, John, Corey Lieneman, Morgan Simpson, Cheryl B. Mcneil
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Edward John Mostyn Bowlby (February 27, 1907, London, England – September 2, 1990, Isle of Skye, Scotland) was a child psychologist, psychoanalyst, and psychiatrist renowned for his attachment theory. Bowlby was interested in how the caregiver-child bond impacted the child’s personality and emotional bonds formed later in life.
Adolescence: Bio-Physiological Development,
2025
Liberty University
Adolescence: Bio-Physiological Development, Theresa C. Allen
Essays in Developmental Psychology
The Wonder Years was a television comedy-drama that aired for six seasons from 1988 to 1993. It was a series on the coming of age…life through the eyes of an adolescent boy, Kevin Arnold, living in the late 1960’s - early 70’s. From surviving the indignities of the junior high gym locker room, to discovering the joys of the opposite sex, to struggling to cut parental apron strings, a nation watched Kevin Arnold try to navigate the ever-changing waters of puberty, friendships, love and lust, and the uncertainty of tumultuous social times while trying to forge a sense of self …
Formal Operational Period,
2025
University of Cincinnati
Formal Operational Period, Katie Cunningham, Heidi Kloos
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Consider the following prompt: “If you hit a glass with a feather, the glass will break. Ann hit a glass with the feather. What will happen to the glass?” To answer correctly, one would have to first learn the rule about how the feather will affect the glass. The second step then is to apply the learned rule in a logical fashion. The mental activity needed to carry out these steps is known as hypothetico-deductive reasoning. It is required for counter-factual thinking, transitive inferences, and hypothesis testing. Jean Piaget postulated that this type of mental activity is characteristic of children …
Attachment Theory: Schaffer And Emerson,
2025
Missouri State University
Attachment Theory: Schaffer And Emerson, Jeffery H. Cornelius-White, Joan E. Test
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Rudolph Schaffer and Peggy Emerson’s work on the development of attachment in childhood is based on the evolutionary perspective of John Bowlby. Schaffer and Emerson (1964) defined attachment as, “The tendency of the young to seek the proximity of other members of the species” (p. 6). In their view, infants and young children seek out and find comfort in being physically close to people with whom they have formed attachments.
Mental Models: How Children Learn The Earth Isn’T Flat,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Mental Models: How Children Learn The Earth Isn’T Flat, Leila Hosseini, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Researchers in the area of child psychology have taken an interest in how children revise their understanding of the world. Stella Vosniadou and William Brewer (1991) postulated a theory called mental models, which provides insight into how genuine understanding is attained. The postulated mental models are created and then tested to build up one’s understanding of how the world works. Additionally, this theory implies there may be points in time where there is some understanding of a concept, yet it is still incomplete. Vosniadou and Brewer wanted to explore these intermediate mental models and develop evidence of understanding in progress.
Mirror Test Of Infant Self-Awareness,
2025
University of Detriot Mercy
Mirror Test Of Infant Self-Awareness, Jenna Bekkala, Naomi J. Aldrich
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Our understanding of self, or belief in one’s being as distinct from others, has been a subject of inquiry throughout human history. Discussions of self-concept would not appear in the empirical literature, however, until the mid-19th century. After likening an orangutan’s response to teasing as that of a “naughty child”, Charles Darwin began to question orangutans’ selfconcept by observing reactions to their own mirror images. Darwin’s use of the mirror to gauge self-awareness, a method eventually applied to his own infant son (Darwin, 1877), would remain the most frequently used assessment of self-concept for the next century.
Infant Memory,
2025
Michigan State University
Infant Memory, Jenna Beffel, Naomi J. Aldrich
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Until the second half of the 20th century, the ability to recall information was thought to emerge between 2- and 10-years-of-age. Resulting from repression of our earliest sexual urges, immature neural mechanisms, or an impoverished sense of self and linguistic skills, infantile amnesia represents the predominant view of infancy at the time; a period in which the child possessed remarkably limited mental abilities, thus experiencing the world as nothing more than “one great blooming, buzzing confusion” (James, 1890). The research contributions of Dr. Carolyn Rovee-Collier over the next seventy years succeeded in altering this perspective.
Infant Imitation And Social Interaction,
2025
University of Detriot Mercy
Infant Imitation And Social Interaction, Caroline Bartes, Naomi J. Aldrich
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Today imitation (i.e., copying another’s behaviors) is recognized as the fundamental mechanism by which cultural knowledge is socially transmitted across generations (Gergely & Csibra, 2006). Indeed, inquiries into children’s imitation have been at the forefront of developmental science nearly since its inception. Piaget suggested that at its core, imitation acted as the child’s representation of self-in-action before the representation of self-in-thought (Piaget & Inhelder, 1966/1969). While Piaget discussed the presence of reflexive imitation within the first months of life (e.g., a baby crying upon hearing another baby’s cry), he reasoned that children could not imitate others’ gestures until the end …
Newborn Senses,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Newborn Senses, Ryan Bennett, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
When babies are born, they possess all five senses-taste, hearing, sight, touch and smell; however, some senses are more developed than others. Newborns had previously been an enigma to scientists and little was known about their intelligence, motives, and capabilities. Neuroscientists are now able to map out a timeline of when senses are developed during and after gestation; this has given the scientific community and parents everywhere a better understanding of newborns and their ability to process their environment.
Newborn Reflexes,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Newborn Reflexes, Ryan Bennett, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Reflexes are characterized as involuntary movements or actions and are a key indicator of a healthy brain and nervous system in newborn babies. There are five primitive reflexes that are common for infants who do not experience central nervous system (CNS) deficits. Furthermore, newborn reflexes are also considered to add adaptive value by increasing their chances of survival.
Preoperational Period,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Preoperational Period, Huda Abu-Suwa, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
The preoperational period is part of Jean Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). Piaget was a cognitive psychology, who in 1936 created a model to explain how children understand the world and develop cognitively. While other contemporary theorists believed that intelligence was a fixed trait, Piaget believed that cognitive development was a process that occurred in distinct stages, and that maturation brings about changes and growth in development, rather than training (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). Piaget posited that each stage occurred at a specific time and in a specific sequential order, such every child goes through …
Rachel Barr,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Rachel Barr, Huda Abu-Suwa, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Dr. Rachel Barr is a developmental and clinical psychologist, and a leading expert on early learning and memory. She has published and presented on over 200 articles, encyclopedia entries, book chapters, and poster presentations on subjects related to child development and psychology and continues to do research in these fields (Rachel Barr, 2019).
Parental Influence,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Parental Influence, Justin Burgess, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
An adequate level of parenting—providing enough nutrition, shelter, exposure to language and peers, or not harshly punishing children (punching, kicking, striking with a weapon)—seems to not have a long-term effect on cognitive development in children. Twin and adoption studies have found that intelligence is accounted for almost entirely by genes and nonshared environment, which includes peers, teachers, and unique experiences. However, there are parenting styles and types of home environments that are correlated with better school performance, stronger school engagement, and more words spoken at certain ages.
Gifted Children,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Gifted Children, Justin Burgess, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
Children can be gifted in a variety of different areas, including musical talent, athleticism, and artistic ability among others. The focus of this entry will be solely on those children who are gifted in intellectual ability and academic achievement. Identification of intellectual giftedness usually requires an individually administered intelligence test, achieving a Full-Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) of 130 or higher, which is a threshold that dates back to Lewis Terman’s research at Stanford in the early to mid 20th century. Although this seems like an arbitrary score, an IQ score of 130 and above is where an individual scores two …
The Marshmallow Task,
2025
West Virginia University
The Marshmallow Task, Laurel A. Brabson, Hannah M. Coffey, Mary Margaret Ruckle, Cheryl B. Mcneil
Essays in Developmental Psychology
To study the human systems of self-control during delayed gratification, Dr. Walter Mischel and colleagues developed what became the famous Marshmallow Test, published in Science in 1989. This study became a frontrunner in the field of psychology, laying the foundation for future studies in impulse control. Dr. Mischel was born in 1930 in Vienna, Austria. He was a professor at the University of Colorado, Harvard University, and Stanford University where he originally conducted the Marshmallow Test. Dr. Mischel currently holds a professorship at Columbia University.
Nutrition And Growth,
2025
Nova Southeastern University
Nutrition And Growth, Chris Burley, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden
Essays in Developmental Psychology
From a child’s embryonic development in the womb to adulthood, nutrition plays a key role in physical, mental, and social growth and development. Throughout the lifespan, proper nutrition and growth are essential to living a long, healthy life. Nutrition is particularly important in the developmental period.
Intersensory Redundancy,
2025
University of Cincinnati
Intersensory Redundancy, Macey Cartwright, Heidi Kloos
Essays in Developmental Psychology
How does redundancy in the input affect the child’s attention? Consider, for example, a scenario in which the child is listening to a parent’s utterances, as well as watching the parent’s lips moving in synchrony with the speech. Intuitively, one might assume that there is an inherent advantage in such informational coherence. The match between sounds and visual input might help constrain attention in productive ways. Alternatively, a mismatch in intersensory information might affects attention negatively. The reality of how intersensory redundancy affects a child’s attention is more surprising than what intuition might suggest, as we discuss in this essay.
