Developmental Psychology Commons^™

A Comparison Study Of Naming, Kassidi Krzykwa

Honors Theses

Bidirectional naming is the ability to acquire a listener response or tact for a stimulus and then emit the other operant without further training. Incidental naming refers to the ability to emit the listener response and tact for the item without direct reinforcement after just being exposed to the name of the item. The development of naming could allow a child to learn more readily from the natural environment. However, it is unclear if bidirectional naming and incidental naming are two separate skills, or if one is potentially a prerequisite for the other. For this project, procedures outlined by Greer …

Stimulus Fading On Teaching Receptive Identification, Dennis Pomorski

Honors Theses

Many of the skills needed to live happily and independently are not in the repertoires of children diagnosed with autism, and they do not learn these skills through exposure to others (MacDuff, 2001). One of the skills children diagnosed with ASD struggle to develop is receptive identification. There is often a risk of prompt dependence or failure to transfer stimulus control to the desired stimuli when using LTM prompting methods. Children with autism spectrum disorder may require a different approach in developing a receptive language repertoire. The purpose of this study was to teach a child diagnosed with ASD receptive …

Fathers’ Perceived Co-Parenting And Children’S Academic Readiness Among Chinese Preschoolers: Longitudinal Pathways Through Parenting And Behavioral Regulation, Lixin Ren, Rebecca Y.M. Cheung, Courtney Boise, Xuan Li, Jieqiong Fan

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Co-parenting quality has frequently been linked to young children’s social–emotional functioning, but limited research has focused on the relationship between co-parenting and children’s early academic skills, or the underlying mechanisms through which co-parenting influences children’s development. Using data collected from urban China, the present study examined how fathers’ perceptions of co-parenting quality was related to their preschool-aged children’s academic readiness (i.e., receptive vocabulary, reading, early math; N = 336), and whether father’s parenting practices and children’s behavioral regulation mediated the link between co-parenting quality and child outcomes. Findings suggested that the relation between co-parenting quality and children’s academic readiness was …

Teaching Echoics To A Student With Autism: Video Model Vs Live Model, Dana Waddell

Honors Theses

Learning a language is not always an easy task for all children. Typically, language is a skill that comes naturally very young in a child’s life, but for children with autism, the path to learning language is very different. The first stages of learning language involve many skills, one of which are called “echoic skills,” because the child directly echoes a sound a person elicits. This is fundamental to learning language, especially in children with autism. The field of behavior analysis has conducted great amounts of research on this topic and has found that using technology in therapy sessions can …

Matching-To-Sample Using A Tablet, Karina Salazar-Ponce

Honors Theses

Kids with autism tend to have a difficult time with one-to-one correspondence matching. Matching-to-sample is the process of pairing an identical stimulus to its corresponding stimulus, for example, matching a physical object to its corresponding picture. This is an important skill because it is the first step in teaching individuals with developmental delays visual discrimination skills and generalization of matching. The use of technology is beneficial because it helps with attending in instructional learning. Technology is also becoming more advanced and is being used more in classrooms. The purpose of this study was to teach matching-to-sample using a tablet. There …

Increasing The Echoic Repertoire Of A Child With Autism Using An Imitation And Echoic Sequence, Rose Bridges

Honors Theses

A prerequisite to many things in life is the ability to communicate. Although this may mean many different things, such as verbal language, sign language, written language, and even icons, there must be some form of communication that may be utilized to get needs across. Many young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are non-verbal, however there are also many children with ASD who have the ability to say words but are still not independently speaking. Reinforcing approximations to word sounds has been previously used as an effective way of increasing the child’s verbal repertoire (Shane, 2017). The present study …

Using A Progressive Time Delay To Increase Mands In A Child With Autism, Brielle Babcock

Honors Theses

Mands are a building block for all communication and are therefore important to teach to individuals who do not consistently use mands. Skinner defined a mand as a “verbal operant in which the response is reinforced by a characteristic consequence and is under the control of relevant conditions of deprivation or aversive stimulation” (Hall & Sundberg 1987). By providing individuals with a way to express their desires and needs, individuals display less problem behaviors. A functional form of communication is imperative to typically developing children and children with autism spectrum disorders alike. The goal of the current study was to …

Establishing Auditory Discrimination And Echoic Stimulus Control With An Auditory Matching Procedure, Matthew Von Holst

Honors Theses

An echoic is a verbal operant which is controlled by a verbal discriminative stimulus and is characterized by the repetition of the verbal behavior of another speaker with point-to-point correspondence between the sound of the stimulus and the response (Skinner, 1957). These echoic responses are very important for children with developmental disorders because their language development is very unpredictable and may not appear at all, potentially causing difficulties in school and problems with social development (Reed, 2005). Teaching language acquisition skills can help offset these problems because it reinforces future echoic responses and helps develop advanced verbal operants such as …

Child-Parent Interactions In American And Turkish Families: Examining Measurement Invariance Analysis Of Child-Parent Relationship Scale, Elsa Lucia Escalante-Barrios, Sonia Mariel Suarez-Enciso, Helen Raikes, Dawn Davis, Aileen Garcia, Mubeccel Gonen, Mefharet Veziroglu-Celik, Ramle Gul Hazar

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

The parent-child relationship is a cornerstone of early childhood development and one-way early childhood programs can have a positive influence on early development is to adopt programmatic features to enhance this relationship. Research supports these conclusions in both U.S. and cross-cultural contexts, even though assumptions about parenting and the parent-child relationship may differ across cultures. However, for true understanding of cultural differences, it is important to have comparable measures across cultures. The purpose of the study is to assess measurement invariance of the two constructs of the Child-parent Relationship Scale using data gathered in programs serving low-income preschool children in …

Role-Differentiated Bimanual Manipulations Efficiency: The Difference In Speed For Rdbms Based On Age, Toy-Type, And Infant Hand Preference, Sarai Mikal Cortina

Theses and Dissertations

Role-differentiated bimanual manipulation (RDBM) is a complex behavior requiring the complementary movement of two hands to achieve a common goal. The current study investigated the relation of RDBM efficiency (speed to complete a successful RDBM) with hand preference, toy type (simple/difficult), age, and hand used to perform the RDBM. This study observed 46 infants between the ages of 9 to 14 months, each with a different hand preference category. Changes in RDBM efficiency across time were examined across different hand preference groups for RDBMs performed on simple toys using the right hand. The analysis revealed that early-right preference infants had …

Positive Communication Across The Lifespan: Early Childhood Aces To Vias, Adam Pyecha

College of Arts and Letters Posters

Felitti et al., (1985; 1998) developed Adverse Childhood Experiences test (ACEs), after researching adults suffering from obesity and addictive overeating. Positive correlations were linked with traumatic childhood experiences, such as severe physical, sexual and mental abuse with those participants struggling with obesity. ACEs is widely accepted in the field of psychology, proving individuals with higher ACEs scores indicate higher probability for mental illness and high risk deviant like substance abuse and felony crime. Identifying students with high ACEs before entering grade school may give educators and institutions the ability positively alter character and behavior outcomes of these victimized children. Nicholson, …

Non-Traditional Church Involvement As A Life-Course Turning Point: Qualitative Interviews With Religious Offenders, William Hunter Holt

Dissertations

This research project conducted and then analyzed qualitative interviews from former and current addicts and criminal offenders who are voluntarily participating in the Christian faith at the same non-traditional, Protestant church. An abridged case study of this church is also provided for background and context. Life-course theory and grounded theory are utilized.

Both the offenders and this church were chosen in an attempt to better understand how the offenders’ involvement at this house of worship, along with their faith in general, have impacted them. Obtaining the perspectives of the offender is essential for three reasons. First, qualitative research conducted in …

Neighborhoods And Mental Health: Understanding The Social, Environmental And Structural Factors To Better Support Our Youth And Communities, Meghan Murtagh

Community Engagement Student Work

The social, structural and environmental characteristics of neighborhoods can have a significant impact on the social, emotional, behavioral and cognitive development of children and adolescents. The Center for Disease Control reports every 1 out of 5 children (22%) living below 100% of the federal poverty level have a mental, behavioral and/or developmental disorder (CDC, 2019). Through the utilization of ecological frameworks and a “place” based framework called The Social Determinates of Health, research was conducted to examine the link between neighborhoods and health outcomes in children and adolescents. These findings were then shared through a workshop with the target audience …

The Developmental Effects On The Daughter Of An Absent Father Throughout Her Lifespan, Carlee Castetter

Honors Senior Capstone Projects

Fatherless households are becoming increasingly common throughout the United States. As a result, more and more children are growing up without the support of both parents, and this may be causing developmental consequences. While there has been significant research conducted on the effect of absent fathers on children in general, there has been far less research regarding girls specifically. As discovered in this paper, girls are often impacted differently than boys when it comes to growing up without a father. The current research paper aims to discover just exactly how girls are impacted by this lack of a parent throughout …

Does Infant Temperament And Parental Involvement Influence Infant Cardiac Physiological Regulation?, Mary Richter

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The ability to self-regulate allows infants to stay at a baseline level during periods of stress (Porges, 1995). Baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) may be used as an indicator of self-regulation and how well an individual can respond to changes in the environment (Stifter & Corey, 2001). Differences in infant temperament can influence a child’s ability to self-regulate (Dale et al., 2011), but moderators of this relationship have not been thoroughly examined in the literature. Parents who are more involved might have more opportunities to teach children important regulatory strategies (Blandon et al., 2010). The current study examined the association …

Phone A Friend Or Ask Alexa? Children’S Trust In Voice-Activated Devices, Hailey M Streble, Laura K. Gregg, Evonie L. Daugherty, Lauren N. Girouard, Judith H. Danovitch

Undergraduate Arts and Research Showcase

Voice-activated devices such as Google Home, Siri, and Alexa are in many homes and children are interacting with these devices. It is unclear if they treat these devices the way they treat human informants. Children prefer human informants that are reliable and familiar. This study examined whether children believe voice-activated devices provide accurate information. Participants included 40 4- and 5-year-olds and 40 7- and 8-year-olds. Children were introduced to two informants: the experimenter’s good friend and the experimenter’s new device. Children heard questions about personal information (e.g., the experimenter’s favorite color), facts that do not change (e.g., the color of …

Time To Play: The Relationship Between Time Spent Playing And Educational Outcomes In Peru, Jasmine Davidson

Economics Honors Projects

Every day, children around the world are playing. There has been plenty of research on the importance of different kinds of play, but very little on the importance of the quantity of play. Understanding the relationship between educational outcomes and the amount of time spent playing would allow parents to better structure their children’s time and would settle the debate between psychologists and economists on whether play has inherent value for a child’s future outcomes. I focus on Peru because conducting this research in a developing country context broadens the current research mostly focused on high-income countries. Using child-level, longitudinal …

The Relationship Between Social Functioning And Anxiety Symptoms In Preschoolers With Autism, Kaylee L. Cox

Senior Theses

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social functioning. Furthermore, children with ASD have been found to have high rates of comorbid anxiety. Understanding the relationship between ASD and comorbid anxiety is essential in raising awareness of anxiety symptomology in children with ASD in hopes of better informing treatment and support. The present study examines the relationship between social functioning and general anxiety in children with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) children. The first objective of this study was to examine group differences in social impairments and anxiety symptoms between children diagnosed with ASD and TD children. …

Examining Biobehavioral Indicators Of Adhd In Children With Fxs, Hannah Pressler

Senior Theses

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity behaviors that are inconsistent with developmental age. Children with fragile X syndrome (FXS), a genetic neurodevelopmental disorder, are often diagnosed with comorbid ADHD (53-59% of males with FXS). Despite the prevalence of ADHD in FXS, little is known about the early manifestation of ADHD. The current project aims to explore group differences in play behaviors between children with FXS and typically developing (TD) children as well as the correlation of infant play behavior and heart activity to future ADHD attention outcomes. Participants included male children with FXS and …

Collaborative Care At A Distance: Student Therapists’ Experiences Of Learning And Delivering Relationally Focused Telemental Health, Paul Springer, Richard Bischoff, Kara Kohel, Nathan C. Taylor, Adam Farero

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

There is mounting evidence that telemental health is an effective delivery method for treating a variety of mental, emotional, behavioral, and relational health problems. While many of the therapeutic skills leading to the effectiveness of face-to-face treatments are transferable, the effectiveness of telemental health requires unique skills. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to determine the experience of learning how to use videoconferencing to deliver relationally focused mental health care. Participants included 10 graduates of a COAMFTE-accredited master’s degree program emphasizing training in telemental health. Each student had practicum placements that required videoconferencing to deliver relationally based psychotherapy. Analysis …