Browsing by Subject "Child psychology"

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19
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    A comparative developmental study of object sorting
    (Texas Tech University, 1972-12) Welti, Donald Richard
    The purpose of this study was to investigate the orthogenetic theory of Heinz V7erner as it applies to the development of categorizing behavior of average and slow learning children, and average and schizophrenic adults. Werner (1948, 1957) postulated that in whatever context development occurs, it begins from an initial stage of globality, proceeds through a stage of differentiation, and culminates in a final stage of hierarchic integration of the differentiated parts. Werner held that his orthogenetic principle not only applied to normal development, but also to the mental development of the schizophrenic and the mental retardate. He postulated that the mentally retarded individual follows the same developmental sequence as does the average individual but at a slower rate and that he evidences earlier developmental arrest. In the thought processes of the schizophrenic, Werner discerned evidence of developmental regression. Werner's theoretical formulations concerning the comparative development of the categorizing behavior of mentally average, mentally below average, and schizophrenic individuals have not been empirically investigated.
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    A comparative study of Negro, Latin, and Anglo children in a West Texas community
    (Texas Tech University, 1964-08) Tullis, David Sherman
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    A study of attention-seeking behavior in young children
    (Texas Tech University, 1968-08) Enlow, Ralph Vernon
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    A study of need for achievement and test anxiety in elementary school children
    (Texas Tech University, 1970-12) Smith, Cynthia Lynne
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    Children's use of interpretations of evidence in judgments of behavior and beliefs
    (2005) Boerger, Elizabeth Anne; Woolley, Jacqueline
    The ability to evaluate others’ behavior in terms of the intentions that guide it is a key development in children’s understanding of personal responsibility (Piaget, 1932/1965). According to Piaget, young children attribute responsibility on the basis of the objective effects of behavior because they are not able to understand the reasons for rules that define permitted and prohibited behaviors. In contrast, older children and adults attribute responsibility on the basis of the actor’s subjective intentions. This ability reflects children’s developing understanding that rules represent the rule-maker’s anticipation of potential effects of the behavior for the individual and the social group. Thus, the developmental shift from objective to subjective concepts of responsibility, as seen in children’s evaluations of behavior, marks underlying development in children’s understanding of the ontology and purpose of rules, as well as in children’s ability to use rules to guide their own behavior. Several types of intention information may be used to attribute responsibility. These can include whether a specific outcome was intended, the actors’ motives for acting, and their knowledge about potential outcomes of their actions. Research on children’s evaluations of behavior has been guided by two theories, Piaget’s (1932/1965) and Heider’s (1958), that emphasize different aspects of intentionality as central to mature concepts of subjective responsibility. On the basis of a review of research guided by each of these theories, this paper argues that understanding of foreseeability as basis for attributing responsibility for beliefs is central to a subjective concept of responsibility. Two experiments exploring development in children’s understanding of responsibility for foreseeable outcomes are described. In Experiment 1, 5-year-olds, 6- and 7-year-olds and adults used foreseeability to attribute responsibility for unintended outcomes. In Experiment 2, although 6- to 12-year-olds and adults all used foreseeability to attribute responsibility for unintended outcomes, only 12-year-olds and adults consistently used foreseeability to attribute responsibility for false beliefs. Using foreseeability to attribute responsibility for beliefs was related, independently of age, to greater use of foreseeability in attributing responsibility for outcomes. Results are discussed in terms of developments in understanding of relations among evidence, beliefs and responsibility for behavior.
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    Competition in children as a function of age, race, sex, and socio-economic status
    (Texas Tech University, 1969-05) Owens, Kenneth Lee
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    The effects of changes in maternal depressive symptoms on children's school functioning in a high-risk sample: the mediating role of maternal behaviors, children's social competence, and children's emotional adjustment
    (2004) Valdez Chávez, Carmen Renée; Stark, Kevin Douglas.; Keith, Timothy, 1952-
    Depression is a highly prevalent disorder among women of childbearing age. At any given time, approximately 8-12% of mothers are clinically depressed. Maternal depression has been associated with problematic outcomes in families, including impaired parenting, higher levels of conflict, socio-emotional difficulties in children, and poor academic outcomes for children. Although the effects of maternal depression on children have been well documented, little is known about children’s functioning once mothers’ symptoms change or alleviate. There is also a gap in knowledge about how maternal depressive symptoms affect children’s outcomes. The purpose of this study is to move beyond the description of effects of maternal depression on children to examine some underlying mechanisms that explain the effects of changes in maternal depressive symptoms on children’s educational functioning. The sample consisted of 106 low- income families in which the majority of mothers were depressed and participating in a randomized treatment intervention. Women’s symptoms of depression were assessed at baseline and 8-10 months later, while maternal behaviors, children’s social competence, emotional adjustment, and their academic outcomes (school behaviors, academic achievement, academic performance) were assessed at 12 months of baseline. Findings suggested that changes in maternal depressive symptoms 8-10 months after baseline affected maternal or parenting behaviors but did not influence children’s later social, emotional and education outcomes. The initial level of maternal depressive symptoms, on the other hand, had a meaningful influence on children’s later school behaviors and academic performance though changes in social competence and emotional adjustment in children. The initial level of maternal depressive symptoms had a direct effect on children’s later academic achievement, but this effect was not explained by maternal behaviors or children’s socio-emotional functioning. Thus, support was found for maternal depression to have a long-term effect on children’s adjustment. The findings were discussed in the context of the existing literature and recommendations for future research included overcoming barriers to identifying depression in low-income samples, implementing and evaluating preventive interventions for depression, designing interventions that promote family and community resources, and designing school-based policies and interventions for the effective identification and intervention of children at risk for problematic outcomes.
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    Effects of recorded amplified human heartbeat sound on physiological arousal of hyperactive mentally retarded males
    (Texas Tech University, 1973-08) Savlov, Steven Michael
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    Parent experience of traditional versus collaborative child assessment
    (2011-05) Matson, May Fraser; Tharinger, Deborah J.; Cawthon, Stephanie; Emmer, Edmund; Finn, Stephen; Sherry, Alissa
    Collaborative child assessment combines traditional assessment methods with techniques aimed at increasing the therapeutic benefit of assessment for children and parents. Previous studies have found high consumer satisfaction, increased self esteem, decreased symptomatic distress, and greater hopefulness following participation in collaborative assessment. However, full collaborative assessment protocols are complex, time-consuming, and thus not practical to use in many applied settings. This study investigated the practicality and potential benefits of implementing several collaborative techniques into otherwise traditional child assessments, including co-generation of assessment questions, use of a process orientation during child testing, and use of an individualized, level-based approach when providing feedback. It was hypothesized that, compared to parents participating in traditional assessments, parents participating in collaborative assessments would report greater satisfaction, greater collaboration, learning more about their child, stronger alliance with the assessor, more positive feelings about the assessment process, and more hopefulness about their child’s challenges and future. Univariate analysis of variance statistics were used to test these hypotheses, which were not statistically supported, in part due to the limited sample size obtained. However, group differences of small to moderate effect sizes were seen for most of the outcome variables, including parent-reported learning about their child, assessor-parent relationship, assessor-child relationship, collaboration, negative feelings about the assessment, general satisfaction, and negative emotions about their child’s future. The results suggest that further research in this area is warranted. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.
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    The patchwork perspective : multi-informant ratings of children’s psycho-social well-being over time using child and informant factors
    (2011-05) Silcox, Karen Kinsel, 1975-; Anderson, Edward Robert; Huston, Aletha; Kim, Su Yeong; Hazen-Swann, Nancy; Loukas, Alexandra
    This study was part of a larger multi-informant longitudinal study with a sample of 319 children (52% male, 48% female) ages 4-12 (mean= 7 years 9 months) whose parents had recently filed for divorce. Three annual waves of data from four informants were used for analysis: child self-report, mother, teacher, and observer report. The purpose of the study was to add to the understanding of multi-informant research and children’s psycho-social well-being. The first goal was to determine the consensus of children’s psycho-social well-being scores within informant across time, within child across informant, and between children over time. The second goal was to determine factors that contribute to the levels of consensus, such as, child gender, child age, child ethnicity, and length of parents’ separation, maternal baseline depressive symptoms score, and timing of the teacher questionnaire. The third goal was to determine if children could be classified into meaningful psycho-social well-being groups. Lastly, a visual diagnostic tool, the “patchwork”, was created using a random sample of eight prototypical cases of group membership based on predicted probabilities. This tool displayed the four informants scores, and child and informant characteristics. A single measure of child psycho-social well-being was created for each informant to compare rater consensus in hierarchical linear modeling. Latent class analysis was used to determine groupings. The HLM results indicate that 53% of the variance is within informants across time, 31% is within child across raters, and only 16% is between child over time. As expected, results showed more consensus of informants’ scores among girls than boys, the greatest consensus for children in middle childhood over other age groups, among Non-Hispanic White children compared to other ethnicities, and among spring reports than fall reports from teachers. Maternal baseline depressive symptoms score was significantly related to level of consensus of reporters, with greatest consensus when mother’s baseline depressive symptoms scores are at the mean (15.47). Mother’s scores of children’s psycho-social well-being decrease from highest scores of when baseline depressive symptoms score is 0, decreasing -.02 with each point increase in baseline depressive symptoms score. The results of the latent class analysis show two latent classes with maternal baseline depressive symptoms as a covariate best fit the data, one class with psycho-social well-being scores above the mean (N=258), and one with scores below the mean (N=61). Baseline data alone sufficiently models these groups and is chosen for parsimony over latent transition analysis. In sum, this study demonstrated benefits of multi-method multi-informant research, while acknowledging the strengths and biases that influence informant consensus of children’s psycho-social well being
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    Piagetian assessment of the cognitive stages of development of four-through seven-year-olds
    (Texas Tech University, 1985-05) Gaines, Betty Land
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    Preschoolers' explanations for intentional and unintentional behavior
    (2004) Browne, Cheryl Annette, 1973-; Woolley, Jacqueline D.
    In this dissertation I begin by discussing and evaluating various models for how people causally explain behavior in their everyday discourse. Using logical argument and empirical evidence I endorse a folk psychological model proposing that people explain intentional and unintentional actions differently. When a behavior is seen as being intentional it is usually explained by “reasons,” which specify the actor’s beliefs and/or desires that led to the intention to act. On the other hand, when a behavior is perceived to be unintentional it is predominantly explained by “causes,” which make reference to non-psychological forces on the actor that bring about action directly, without being mediated by intention. In two studies I investigated 4- to 6-year-olds’ understanding of the relation between the intentionality of an action and the type of explanation used to explain it. Experiment 1 consisted of trials in which children were told about two protagonists performing the same action; one was explained with a reason, and the other with a cause. Children indicated which protagonist performed the act on purpose. Experiment 2 was the reverse; each trial consisted of one story about a protagonist who performed an intentional or unintentional action. Children chose between a reason and a cause explanation for the act. Overall, children performed significantly above chance level for both studies, but when age groups were considered separately only the two older groups’ performance exceeded chance. This finding suggests that children begin to recognize the relation between action type and explanation type around the beginning of their sixth year, which is consistent with past studies showing related developments at that age. Performance on Experiment 1 was somewhat better than on Experiment 2, and only Experiment 1 showed an age effect. It is argued that these findings, combined with the fact that in Experiment 2 the “intentional” and the “unintentional” items were uncorrelated, suggest that two separate domains of knowledge – about the mind and about physical objects, with their separate characteristic modes of causation – become appropriated for the crucial task of explaining human behavior.
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    Symbolic modes of activity in two-year-old children
    (Texas Tech University, 1978-08) Hrncir, Elizabeth Jean
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    Teacher-related anxiety in elementary school children.
    (Texas Tech University, 1964-08) Fare, Don Earl
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    The Development and Use of a Teaching Unit Strategy in the Study of Child Development.
    (Texas Tech University, 1974-08) Mumme, Deborah Cade
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    The effectiveness of programmed material as a method for assisting parents in regulating consummatory behavior in children
    (Texas Tech University, 1970-08) Riebold, Floyd Edmond
    Behavior modification programs have been abundantly demonstrated in clinics and institutions. However, few investigators have extended such programs into the home. The trend of these investigations is to train the parents to be the modifiers of the child's behavior and to use the home as the therapeutic setting. These parents have been trained for this purpose by such methods as experimenter demonstrations, group training sessions in the clinic, video tape feedback, and programmed textbooks. Although investigators have demonstrated the effectiveness of the technique, they have done so by using one or a few subjects; furthermore, they have been directly involved with the parent and subject. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the means of effecting, by correspondence, a behavior modification program in the home that would not directly involve the experimenter. This method necessitated the development of correspondence materials. The Behavior Identification Scale (BIS) was developed to identify troublesome behavior in children. The BIS was sent to 95 parents of children attending the Institute of Logopedics. Of the 19 parent-child units who met the selection criteria, ten and nine were assigned to Experimental and Control Groups, respectively. The Experimental subjects received two independent variables: (1) a programmed text, Programmed Instructions For Regulating Consummatory Behavior In Children, written especially for the study (the basic proposition was that preparatory behavior would be easily regulated by parents who control consummatory-setting events in the home); and (2) a treatment plan, with step-by-step instruction on how to modify a specific, troublesome behavior. Both groups received and returned weekly record sheets from which behavioral results were graphically plotted. An attitude measure was obtained from the parents' rating of the child's behavior before and after the experiment. Other data consisted of a distribution analysis made from BIS responses for levels of concern and categories of consummatory behavior, and a compliance measure obtained from the extent to which parents returned materials. Several conclusions were drawn from the results of the study. (1) Parents of the children attending an habilitative institution showed a willingness to participate in a hometype behavior modification program. Well over 50% of the parents responded to survey materials and agreed to participate in the program. (2) Target behaviors were easily identified by the correspondence method. (3) Parents were taught by the correspondence method to observe their child's behavior, effect the treatment plan, and record the behavior. However, additional means of motivating the parents to follow instructions and return the materials are needed. (4) Parents made use of the programmed material, agreed with its principles, but tended not to write in their responses. (5) Overall, parents were negligent in returning the correspondence materials. The parents' failure to return the materials proved to be a serious shortcoming for a home-type behavior modification program. However, positive results were obtained when parents complied with the conditions of the program and returned the materials. (6) Record keeping alone tended to change the parent's attitude, but not the child's behavior. Under control conditions, parents' attitudes decreased in strength toward the troublesome behavior, but the decrease was relatively small when compared to attitude changes of parents under the experimental conditions. Only minor or no behavioral changes occurred under control conditions. (7) Only Experimental subjects showed a pronounced behavioral change. The expected change occurred when parents complied with conditions of the program.
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    The relationship between response speed and stereotyped behavior in children
    (Texas Tech University, 1986-08) Plumlee, Gary G.
    The relationship between response latency and stereotyped behavior in young children was investigated using a concept identification task. Thirty-eight reflective and impulsive students selected on the basis of scores on the Matching Familiar Figures Test were obtained from kindergarten and second-grade elementary school students. Subjects were administered five discrimination learning problems using blank-trial probes. Kindergarten subjects showed significantly more position stereotypes than did second-grade subjects. Response latencies on experimental tasks were significantly shorter for second-grade subjects than for kindergarten subjects. Reflective subjects did not significantly differ from impulsive subjects in the use of stereotypes. A significant correlation was obtained between increased latency to responding and stereotyped patterns of responding. The results were interpreted as not supporting the concept of reflection-impulsivity or models of discrimination learning based on Piagetian theory. The critical role of pretraining procedures in investigations of hypothesis behavior in children was discussed.
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    Transmission of risk-taking through modeling in middle childhood
    (Texas Tech University, 1972-05) Montgomery, Gary Thomas
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