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The study concerns on the assessment of early literacy development of children aged three to five years. A review of research into the assessment of early literacy, a consideration of purposes of literacy assessment and a survey of practice in schools revealed the need for new measures of literacy development that are in step with current research into literacy development in the preschool years. The study addressed six questions: 1. How is early literacy development currently assessed by teachers? 2. What is the focus of teachers' early literacy assessment? 3. What are teachers' purposes for assessing early literacy development? 4. What are teachers' needs in terms of assessment of early literacy development? 5. How can researchers better assess early literacy development? 6. Can early literacy development assessment instruments developed for researchers also be useful to teachers? Questions 1-4 were investigated through an interview survey of 30 schools. Question 5, the major research question of the thesis, was researched through the development and trialling of a new measure, the Early Literacy Development Profile. Teachers' views gathered during the trial were used to answer question 6. The major outcome of the study is a new measure, the Early Literacy Development Profile. This is intended for those research studies which require a measure which results in a statistical outcome (specifically, experimental studies involving comparison of groups of children, comparison of methods and comparison between age spans). Other outcomes include: a basis for the development of a new measure~ a review of the literature on early literacy assessment and a delineation of the purposes of assessment in this area. Three lines of future research emerge: further development and evaluation of the Profile~ comparisons with other measures; use of the Profile in studies involving comparisons between groups, methods and age spans.

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The purpose of this study was to determine adolescents' level of interest and engagement in risk behaviours as it relates to adolescents' and parents' perceptions of the parenting variables, demandingness and responsiveness. Data were collected from both adolescents and parents. The sample was obtained from two schools: (a) 44 Grade 8 students (28 girls, 16 boys) from a local junior high school and their parents (44 mothers, 37 fathers) ; and (b) 33 Grade 8 students (10 girls, 23 boys) from a second local junior high school. In order to examine perceptions of parenting, participants were asked to complete a 33 item questionnaire adapted from Lamborn et al.'s (1991) parenting measure and Greenberg's (1991) Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment. Adolescents were also asked to report on their level of engagement in 26 risk behaviours, adapted from Lavery et al.'s (1993) 23-item Risk Involvement and Perception Scale. Results indicate adolescents' interest in becoming involved in risk behaviours although a relatively low incidence of actual engagement in risk behaviours is evidenced at this time. Adolescents from one school report significantly higher interest in risk behaviours than those from the other (F₃,₇₃ = 4.98, p<.03). However, the relationships between adolescents' ratings of risk behaviours and the two parenting variables were similar at the two schools. Findings were, therefore, reported for the combined group of adolescents (N = 77) . Adolescents' perceptions of parental demandingness and responsiveness were relatively positive overall. Relationships between adolescents' perceptions of parental demandingness and responsiveness, particularly with regard to mothers, were inversely related to interest in risk behaviours (ranging from r = -.62 to r = -.35 for Total Risk Behaviour). Multiple regression analyses indicated that mothers' demandingness, as perceived by adolescents, is the most significant predictor (Standard beta = -.56, p.001) of teens' interest propensity for engagement in risk behaviours. Adolescents' perceptions of parenting are more strongly related to their interest in risk behaviours than are parents' perceptions of their own parenting. Discrepancy scores between perceptions of demandingness and responsiveness indicate that parents typically rated themselves higher on the parenting variables than did their teens. However, the absolute magnitude of discrepancy in parental demandingness was found to be only moderately associated with adolescents' ratings of risk behaviours (r = .32) and no relationship was found for discrepant perceptions of parental responsiveness. Four parenting style groups (Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive Indulgent, and Permissive Indifferent), based on Baumrind's conceptual framework, were formed on the basis of adolescents' ratings of their parents' demandingness and responsiveness. Adolescents parented Authoritatively (scores above the median on both variables) reported the lowest level of interest in risk behaviours, whereas teens from Permissive Indifferent families report the highest (F₃,₄₅ = 8.03, p < . 001) . A qualitative study was conducted by examining adolescents' use of leisure time. Eight adolescents, a male and a female chosen from each of the four parenting groups, completed a four-day Activity Log describing what they did, where, and with whom in out-of-school time. Those who were parented Authoritatively reported the fewest risk factors and the lowest level of interest in risk behaviours. Further investigation of adolescents' interest or engagement in risk behaviours, using the Activity Log in conjunction with comprehensive interviews, is warranted. This study contributes to knowledge in this area in several ways: (a) a wide range of risk behaviours was examined in relation to the parenting variables, demandingness and responsiveness; (b) in addition to adolescents' data, both fathers' and mothers' data were examined in relation to adolescents' interest and engagement in risk behaviour; and, (c) new measures, some derived from others' work and one newly created, were employed. / Graduate

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of varying levels of stimulation on the subsequent attentive behaviors and visual preferences of four months old. Based on experimental results of studies of exploratory behavior in animals and infants as well as studies of sensory deprivation, the following hypotheses were proposed: 1) Infants will attend more to visual stimuli following a period of low stimulation than following a period of high stimulation. 2) Infants will attend more to a novel stimulus than a familiar one following a period of high stimulation. Furthermore, the study aimed at determining whether the stimulus preferences which emerged following high stimulation were altered following a period of low stimulation. [TRUNCATED] / 2031-01-01

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Fung Yau-Fong. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 80-85). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / List of Tables --- p.v / List of Figures --- p.vi / Abstract (English) --- p.ix / Abstract (Chinese) --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- Introduction --- p.1 / """Knowing That One Knows""" / """Knowing"" versus ""Guessing""" / Theory of Mind: Self versus Other / "Children's ""Theory of Knowing How""" / "Children's ""Theory of Knowing That""" / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- Experiment1 / Method --- p.17 / Participants / Materials / Procedure / Results and Discussion --- p.23 / "Pre-Exposure ""Knowing How"" and ""Knowing That""" / "Post-exposure ""Knowing How"" and ""Knowing That""" / False Belief Task / "Overall Performance on Knowing How, Knowing That, and False Belief" / Chapter CHPATER THREE --- Experiment2 / Method --- p.35 / Participants / Materials / Procedure / Results and Discussion --- p.41 / "Discriminate Measure of ""Knowing How,"" ""Knowing That""" / Performance as an Indicator for Knowing / False Belief Task / "Overall Performance on Knowing How, Knowing That, and False Belief" / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- Experiment3 / Method --- p.55 / Participants / Materials / Procedure / Results and Discussion --- p.59 / "Pre-Exposure ""Knowing How"" and ""Knowing That""" / "Overall Performance on Knowing How, Knowing That, and False belief" / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- General Discussion --- p.65 / Children's Understanding of Self-Knowledge and Other-Knowledge / "Children's Understandings of ""Knowing That´ح and ""Knowing How""" / Chapter i) --- "Pre-Exposure """"Knowing How"" and """"Knowing That ´ح" / Chapter ii) --- "Awareness of a Transition from ""Not Knowing"" to ""Knowing""" / Chapter iii) --- The Role of Informational Access in Knowledge Formation / Chapter iv) --- The Role of Performance Outcome in Knowledge Attribution / "Children's Understandings of ""Knowing That"" and ""False Belief""" / REFERENCES --- p.80 / APPENDIX / Record Sheets of Experiment 1 --- p.86 / Record Sheets of Experiment 2 --- p.92 / Record Sheets of Experiment 3 --- p.102

The primary historical focus of this thesis falls in the years between 1940 and 1970. My main area of interest lies in the individual subject and how that child, adolescent or adult functions in particular situations and most importantly, how my chosen African American writers have portrayed their male and female protagonists in various environments and circumstances. Each of the seven chapters of this thesis covers specific experiences: an emotional journey toward one‘s sexual orientation; a trans-national urban experience of homosexuality; 1950s suburbia and the socio-cultural issue of interracial relationships; historical and legal concepts of interraciality; rural poverty and childhood trauma; communal responsibility and child abuse; and maturation and intergenerational relationships. An emphasis upon family, community and environment are threads that run throughout the thesis. Accordingly, social, political and legal histories are engaged, as are environmental studies. Furthermore, queer, black feminist, trauma and gender theories are utilised along with sociological studies, child development and psychology. This research has enabled my close textual examination of each narrative so as to ascertain how each writer deals with the relationship between subject and society, thus, I argue how they offer differing viewpoints than the ones we find presented by traditional theories and criticism that predominantly comprise issues of race. Finally, the aim of this thesis is to propose alternative avenues of critical inquiry regarding the treatment of child development and individual trauma through individual readings of these mid-twentieth-century examples of autobiography, drama and novel.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine the difference in development (cognition; receptive and expressive language; and fine and gross motor) of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) -exposed infected (HEI) infants with the development of HIV-exposed but uninfected (HEU) infants using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (BSID-III). Sixty infants were enrolled in the study; 32 (53.33%) HEU infants and 28 (46.67%) HEI infants. The two groups were well-matched for infant demographics, anthropometry at birth, maternal demographics, as well as socioeconomic status. Statistically significant differences were found in anthropometry and development between the HEI and HEU group. The HEI infants had malnutrition, were stunted and had smaller head circumferences than HEU infants. The BSID-III showed that the mean developmental delay for the HEI group was approximately two months below their mean chronological age for all scales (cognitive; receptive and expressive communication; and, fine and gross motor age). The HEI group showed that 64.29% had cognitive delay, 60.71% had language delay and 53.57% had motor delay, all of which was significantly different from the development of the HEU group for all domains (p<0.001). In addition to using the BSID-III, the majority of mothers were able to correctly indicate whether their child was developing at the same, or at a slower rate of development than children of the same age. This study demonstrates that infants who are HIV-exposed and infected are at risk of developmental delay.

Postnatal growth of the small intestine can be divided into two separate but complementary mechanisms; mucosal growth and organ (cylindrical) growth. Mucosal growth, observed by increasing villus area and crypt length, is upregulated during weaning, compared to pre or post-weaned time frames. The dynamics of organ growth, mediated by the process of crypt fission, is unknown during this period of postnatal development. Keratinocyte Growth Factor (KGF) and Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) are mesenchymally derived ligands which have been demonstrated to have trophic effects on the epithelium of the gastrointestinal tract in vitro and in vivo during embryonic development, repair/restitution and tumour progression. This study explores the hypothesis that small intestine organ growth occurs independently to that of mucosal growth and the mechanisms of growth are mediated by differential expression of either HGF or KGF within the pericryptal mesenchyme derived cells (fibroblasts). Alternatively, the corresponding receptors for these ligands, c-met and bek, may exhibit differential expression within the proliferative compartment of the crypts. The indices of mucosal and organ growth were compared at various ages during early postnatal life (suckling), then early, middle and late weaning through to adult animals. Microdissection techniques utilising whole tissue samples enabled microscopic evaluation of growth. The assessment of KGF, bek, HGF and c-met was also undertaken using immunohistochemistry on formalin fixed, paraffin processed sections of rat jejunum. The highest rate of organ growth occurred during weaning and was immediately preceded at day 14 (of age) by a peak in the incidence of branching crypts. KGF immunolabelling was observed within the mesenchymal cells at the tips of the villus from mid-weaning onwards but at no stage within pericryptal fibroblasts. Both KGF and bek were demonstrated within the crypt epithelium, with highest levels observed during weaning. Immunolabelling for HGF demonstrated an ubiquitous distribution within both epithelial and mesenchymal tissues at all ages, whilst the expression of c-met was in the crypt cell compartment was limited to the time of weaning. The use of an in vivo blockade technique utilising an anti-HGF (D9) antibody from age 7 to 14 days did not demonstrate any reduction of the indices of organ or mucosal growth. These results suggest that rate of organ and mucosal growth increase concurrently during weaning. The demonstration of both bek and c-met in the crypt cell population during this period suggests that KGF and HGF are potential mediators of organ or mucosal growth, despite only HGF being demonstrated in the pericryptal mesenchymal derived cells. Further, the expression of KGF and HGF at sites beyond the crypts suggest these ligands play a greater role in the development of the rat small intestine during postnatal growth. / thesis (MApSc(BiomedicalScience))--University of South Australia, 2005.