Developmental Psychology Commons^™

Attachment Style: Connecting The Personality Traits Of Our Parents To How We See God, Kaitlyn C. Holcombe

Honors College Theses

This study was conducted to explore the connections between parental personality traits, adult attachment styles, and attachments to God. The personality traits of parents influence the level of care they are able to provide for their children; this impacts the child’s attachment style. Later in life, attachment styles influence friendships, romantic relationships, and even relationships with the divine through the correspondence pathway. How we view God is thus indirectly impacted by the personality traits of our parents. One-hundred forty-two undergraduate students participated in the study, answering various measures for perceived parent personality, attachment, and religiosity. All measurements were replicated from …

Exploring Intergenerational Value Changes Across Three Generations Of Emirati Women Using Focused Ethnography, Ebtesam Ali Alteneiji

Dissertations

Intergenerational value change, influenced by technological advancements, economic development, formal education, and urbanization, becomes especially complex when it occurs in times of rapid changes, as in the case of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Through the lens of social change and human development theory, heavily constructed in the Gemeinschaft/Gesellschaft paradigm, this focused ethnography explored the push and pull of traditional boundaries within a collectivist society and the necessary navigation of infused Westernized philosophies promoting individualism and autonomy. Participants in this study (N = 24) were members of 8 family triads of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters who represented 8 different …

Connecting To The Self: Increasing Self-Awareness In Children With Asd, Development Of A Method, Madison Janke

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Dance/movement therapy is a popular method utilized with the autism spectrum population due to its focus on increasing social skills, developing relationships, improving function, increasing positive body image, and expanding movement repertoire. The literature indicated that mirroring is the most common and most utilized DMT intervention for this population, but it provided minimal alternative dance/movement therapy interventions. The dance/movement therapy method implemented through this research attempted to provide an alternative to mirroring through the creation of a body outline. This method was developed through the theoretical framework of relational-cultural theory, emphasizing the impact that relationships can have on the shaping …

Using Child-Centered Play Therapy As An Intervention To Reassess Adhd Diagnoses And Trauma In Children: A Literature Review, Bethany Gibbons

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Although it is difficult to assess, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent diagnosis that exists among children. A major factor that contributes to the complexity of this disorder is the parallel symptoms presented in other diagnoses. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children has been identified as being either comorbid with ADHD, or sharing similar symptoms, which can produce potential misdiagnosis and ultimately lead to ineffective or impertinent treatment. To better determine a child’s diagnosis and plan of treatment, an approach can be implemented to assist in distinguishing between the two disorders. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) may serve as …

Mental Associations And Music Therapy: Including The History Of Associationism And The Neurology Of Associations, Dianna Rose

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Associations are formed in our minds based upon three elements: sensory experience, emotions, and memories. These associations, unique to each individual, dictate thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, and actions. Some are necessary and supportive, while others can be maladaptive. Established associations can be changed, and new associations can be formed, to align with a client’s goals. The literature presents a strong history of associationism, as well as a body of research that demonstrates the neurological processes of how mental associations are formed. There are also studies showing how music activates the brain. However, there is a lack of research which draws direct …

Testing Reliability Of Biophilic Design Matrix Within Urban Residential Playrooms, Ellen Marte

Theses and Dissertations

Biophilic interior design in urban playrooms has been greatly understudied. We measured inter-rater reliability of the Biophilic Interior Design Matrix (BID-M) and matrix items by quantitatively coding images of 45 New York City residential playrooms. Findings suggest that the BID-M needs to be modified to better assess urban playrooms.

Estimating Predictors Of Mental Well-Being Through Analysis Of Children’S Drawings: The Case Of Syrian Refugees, Stephanie Smith

Master's Theses

There are currently over 65 million individuals that have been forcibly displaced globally. The cumulative trauma that comes from the refugee experience and exposure to violence has proven to have long-term negative psychological outcomes and thus negative impacts on human capital in the long run. Given that over 50% percent of the global refugee population are children, the ability to efficiently and accurately assess their mental well-being is of critical importance. Using data from over 2000 refugee children in Jordan, I use machine learning techniques to find key predictors of psychological distress, PTSD, and exposure to violence found in children’s …

Referential Transparency In Young Children’S Picture Books: A Pilot Study, Brianna Kinnie

Honors Scholar Theses

A wealth of research has shown that reading picture books supports several aspects of young children’s learning and development. In this thesis, we explore the hypothesis that the power of picture books is in part due to their referentially transparent nature. To test this possibility, we designed a picture-book version of the Human Simulation Paradigm (HSP), an experimental paradigm previously used to quantify the referential transparency of child-directed speech in parent-child interactions. Adult participants (N = 18) were presented with pages from children’s picture books (with text blocked out) and asked to identify either the nouns or the verbs …

Social Justice: A Catholic Autistic Perspective, Rebecca Schneider

Honors Projects

This is a collection of short stories about social injustices impacting the autistic community and how Catholic Social Teaching supports a more just approach. It is written from an autistic perspective and informed by the stories of people who are actually autistic. Each story is followed by an analysis that explains the choices made, which are backed by both research and the experiences of the autistic writer and the autistic community. This collection also includes information on how justice can be attained on the individual level by allies and on the institutional level by organizations.

Relations Between Executive Function And Parenting Behavior, Robin Alexandra Riddick

Honors Theses

Past research focused on how harsh parenting related to EF and behavior problems in children when other factors (i.e., maternal stress, household chaos, socioeconomic risk factors) were present. However, the literature was lacking in the examination of the relationship between EF and other parenting styles. This study aimed to examine the relationship between different aspects of executive function and regulation (i.e, inhibition, working memory, cognitive flexibility, problem solving, and impulsivity) and parenting and routines (i.e., laxness, hostility, overreactivity, and sleep and routines). To study this, parents of 18 to 24 month olds were administered a battery of EF tasks and …

The Impact Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Marginalized Populations In The United States: A Research Agenda, Neeta Kantamneni

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

International and national crises often highlight inequalities in the labor market that disproportionately affect individuals from marginalized backgrounds. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting changes in society due to social distancing measures, has showcased inequities in access to decent work and experiences of discrimination resulting in many of the vulnerable populations in the United States experiencing a much harsher impact on economic and work-related factors. The purpose of this essay is to describe how the COVID-19 pandemic may differentially affect workers of color, individuals from low-income backgrounds, and women in complex ways. First, this essay will discuss disproportionate representation of …

Naming The Pain: A Model And Method For Therapeutically Assessing The Psychological Impact Of Racism, Connesia Handford

Dissertations, 2020-current

This study is an exploratory applied research project piloting a therapeutic assessment model and method for addressing racial trauma. Therapeutic Assessment for the Psychological Impact of Racial Encounters (TAPIRE) hopes to illuminate the impact of racial trauma, process racial identity and experience, and explore effective intervention techniques to address a client’s particular relationship with racial identity and distress. Four measures, in addition to a clinical interview, were used to assess different aspects of one’s identity structure, racist experiences, and self-treatment. The four-session process concluded with each participant receiving an assessment report that included information gathered as well as an individualized …

The Academic Success And Beyond-Academic Wellbeing Of High Functioning Autistic Boys: A Policy-Professional Care-School-Parent Ecological Perspective, Evelyn Sauceda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High Functioning Autistic (HFA) boys have significant social, emotional, and cognitive difficulties and unique cognitive abilities that require special support from stakeholders in their ecology (policy makers, care providers, schools, and parents). The quality of such support and its ecological integration are of poor quality. The purpose of this study was to report on the perceptions of parents of HFA boys about their children’s academic and beyond-academic experiences as understood within a policy-care provider-school-parent ecological framework. This study contributes to the limited ecological literature on the topic. This exploratory, qualitative, phenomenological, non-experimental, and cross-sectional research study used a non-probability, purposive, …

Navigating "Technoference" In The Family System, Kathlynn Sergent

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

This integrative literature review explores the increase of technology use in families, with a focus on how technology is disrupting in-person social interactions within the family system. Many studies have been conducted on how technology impacts a couple’s romantic relationship, and only a few have examined the relationship between the parent and child. This review is one of the first to examine how technology may affect the entire family unit from before children to raising adolescents. Each section of the family unit is examined, beginning with before children, followed by the early bonding and attachment associated with infant/childhood, and then …

Youtube Is Unsafe For Children: Youtube's Safeguards And The Current Legal Framework Are Inadequate To Protect Children From Disturbing Content, Heather Wilson

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

For America’s children, the amount of screen time they consume has not changed much over the years. Children under eight have steadily spent about two hours a day in front of a screen, with those under age two averaging 42 minutes a day. Children from low-income families spend roughly an hour and forty minutes longer in front of a screen. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, screen time should be limited to two hours a day for children ages two to five; whereas, for those youngest children—under two years—they recommend zero screen time.

While the average amount of screen …

Understanding Early Childhood Engineering Interest Development As A Family-Level Systems Phenomenon: Findings From The Head Start On Engineering Project, Scott Pattison, Gina Svarovsky, Smirla Ramos-MontañEz, Ivel Gontan, Shannon Weiss, VeróNika NúÑEz, Pam Corrie, Cynthia Smith, Marcie Benne

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

There is growing recognition that interest is critical for engaging and supporting learners from diverse communities in engineering and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. Although interest research has historically focused on older children, studies demonstrate that preschool-age and younger children also develop persistent, individualized interests in different objects, activities, and topics and that these early interests have important implications for ongoing learning and development. Unfortunately, there is relatively little research on engineering learning in early childhood and almost no work specific to the concept of interest. To begin to address this need, we conducted in-depth case study …

Examining Relationships Between Early Childcare Teachers' Adult Attachment Orientations And Quality Of Interaction In The Infant Classroom, Alexandra Morris Benoit

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past several decades, women have entered the workforce in increasing numbers. This has led to the majority of infants and young children being cared for outside of the home by extra-familial caregivers. Research has shown the benefits that quality childcare can have on the developmental trajectories of children, as well as the detrimental effects that can be seen when children experience low quality care. Further, children are particularly vulnerable in the first year of life when they are establishing attachment bonds with their primary caregivers. With the long hours that many spend in the care of childcare workers, …

Mode Of Delivery And Infant Cognitive Development, Madison Olson, Laura M. Glynn

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The rate of nonindicated cesarean births is increasing each year within the United States. Although cesarean delivery can function as a life- saving intervention, emerging evidence suggests that it may also be associated with deleterious developmental consequences for the child. Here we test the hypothesis that mode of delivery is associated with cognitive development during infancy. 229 pregnant women were recruited and their infants’ cognitive development was assessed at 6, 12 and 24 months with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Medical charts were reviewed by obstetric nurses to determine prenatal medical risk and birth outcomes, including mode of delivery. …

Comparing Behavioral And Parent-Report Measures Of Executive Functioning In Deaf And Typically Hearing Children, Abeer Mohamed

Honors Scholar Theses

Executive functioning (EF) is a multidimensional aspect of development that encompasses various mental skills. Children’s utilization of inhibition, in particular, has proven to be one of the most important determinants of academic success. How deafness in children impacts their EF abilities is a question that remains divisive within deaf studies. Some suggest that auditory deprivation is a direct cause of poor EF, while others posit reduced or insufficient language experience that deaf children live with harms their EF development. We sought to explore this question further with a participant sample from our larger SLaM (Study of Language and Math) project. …

Amygdala And Neocortical Structural Volume Analysis In The Shank3b Mutant Mouse Model Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, Preet Sawhney

Honors Scholar Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is characterized by abnormal social behavior, deficits in communication, and motor stereotypy. The SHANK3 gene, responsible for the generation of a scaffolding protein that is integral for the development of synapses, has been identified as one of the primary candidate genes implicated in the disorder. Shank3B is the rodent homolog for this gene. Research has shown that when this gene is disrupted in rodent models (e.g., via knock-out (KO)), ASD-like behaviors result. These include deficits in social interaction, increased anxiety, and repetitive self-grooming. The current study aimed to identify a physiological …