<p> The human psyche is continuously producing symbols. These representations are stilled, emotively energized moments of the external world. The proposition of this thesis is that when symbols are projected onto objects, they lose capacity to elicit subjective motivation for personal responsibility to Self and culture. This research examines the questions: Do you see what I see? How does symbol integration facilitate responsibility to Self and culture? Using hermeneutic methodology, this thesis explores the meaning-making function of symbol formation, demonstrating how, through the integration of once-projected symbols, the individual can experience individuation; the becoming of true Self. Other areas of examination include symbol in relation to sign and symbol: myth and metaphor; the Self; meaning making; sameness and otherness in the function of rituals; and impact of religion on culture. This investigation also focuses on psyche&rsquo;s creation of symbol and explores how an individual&rsquo;s ability to integrate archetypal energy facilitates integration and individuation. </p>

<p> This Master&rsquo;s thesis investigated efficacy of equine assisted modality studies for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The data was collected by means of Literature Review and utilized textual analysis. All participants in the studies examined met the study eligibility criteria. The results and findings were compiled and analyzed to support the data reflected; additional studies were highlighted to aid in the comparison of the data retrieved from the four studies featured. A brief history of the synergistic relationship between horse and humans was reviewed as well as historical perspectives on equine assisted programs and their accredited organizations. The student critiqued the future of equine co-facilitated curriculum for individuals with autism, communication between equine and humans, neurophysiological adaptation and biophilia.</p>

<p> <b>Purpose:</b> Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is a spectrum disorder that is estimated to effect a significant proportion of the pediatric population (1-3% in USA). SDB is able to disrupt and fragment sleep through frequent arousals and intermittent hypoxia. In addition, the long term effects of SDB in pediatrics have been well-documented; decreases in intelligence quotient (IQ), executive function, school performance, and alertness have all been observed. Although surgical treatments can be quite effective, there are no widely accepted prophylactic measures to prevent SDB development. Recently, breastfeeding duration in infancy has been demonstrated to be correlated with reduced SDB (lower AHI, RAI, and higher SpO2), as well as increases in IQ, executive function, and school performance (independent of SDB). The overarching goal of this dissertation was to examine the potential effects of both breastfeeding duration and SDB severity on the neurological underpinnings associated with observed behavioral and cognitive deficits; namely, correlations with white matter structural volume and fractional anisotropy (FA) scores through diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Here, I proposed a unique developmental hypothesis where breastfeeding may ultimately reduce SDB, enabling the preservation of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and leading to healthier neurological white matter development. </p><p> <b>Method:</b> Twenty-four children with SDB and 19 healthy controls were imaged using MR techniques. White matter volume was measured using the central 13 millimeters of the corpus callosum (CC). DTI of major white matter tracts was also conducted. The SDB group received neurocognitive testing to assess cognitive performance; the control group was assessed using real-world academic report cards. Finally, REM sleep was quantified in infants using overnight polysomnography (PSG), with SDB metrics and infant feeding method also measured. Results: There was no correlation between infant feeding methods and CC volume in either group, nor a significant differences between CC volumes in children with SDB versus those without. However, increased breastfeeding duration was correlated with increased left superior longitudinal fasciculus (LSLF) and left angular bundle (LAB) FA scores in healthy controls. In 8-9 month old infants, increased breastfeeding duration was also correlated with a reduced proportion of REM sleep (%TST), and children with exclusive breastfeeding had reduced SDB in infancy compared to children with any formula feeding. Finally, exclusively formula-fed infants were diagnosed with &ldquo;primary snoring&rdquo; more often than those with any amount of breastfeeding. </p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The findings in this dissertation revealed associations between breastfeeding, SDB, REM sleep, and white matter integrity in the brain. These results support the hypothesis that certain cognitive effects associated with SDB and infant feeding methods may have common underlying anatomical brain changes that subserve these observed phenomena.</p>

<p> Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, is of unknown etiology, and has a prevalence of 1.5% in the U.S. Atypical language patterns and anatomical findings of brain asymmetry differences between neurotypical and individuals with ASD suggest involvement of brain lateralization aberrations in autism etiology. The literature suggests an increased frequency of non-right handedness (NRH) in ASD. This dissertation aimed to study the association between hand preference and ASD in a cohort of children with ASD using a large, well-designed, population-based case-control study, CHARGE (<i>CH</i>ildhood <i> A</i>utism <i>R</i>isks from <i>G</i>enetics and the <i>E</i>nvironment). </p><p> In Chapter 1, we evaluated the association between handedness and ASD in 2- to 5-year old children. Chapter 2 longitudinally evaluated handedness outcome of the children from Chapter 1 at age 7 and older. We then investigated the utility of a parent-reported handedness assessment of children at ages 2-5 years using established hand preference at age 7+ years as the gold standard. Finally, we investigated the association between the intronic variant rs7799109 on theFOXP2 gene and ASD as well as the gene&rsquo;s interaction effect on the association between NRH and ASD. </p><p> Our findings indicate that children with neurodevelopmental disorders show a delayed establishment of handedness lateralization in early stages of childhood with a subset of these children still remaining NRH at age 7 years. Language deficits in children at ages 2 to 5 years are associated with NRH and ASD, and is a determinant of NRH in ASD at age 7 years and older. Our study also supports current literature that hand preference may have genomic underpinnings in ASD.</p>

<p> The purpose of this project was to explore the mediating effects of social and academic self-efficacy on the relations between bullying role behaviors and academic achievement. Research has primarily focused on the bully and the victim in bullying situations, which neglects to examine the experiences of those who witness or are involved in the aggressive act, including assisting bullies, defending victims, and ignoring others. As a result, research has overlooked how other bullying roles relate to academic performance. However, research has explored how various bullying role behaviors relate to self-efficacy. Additionally, self-efficacy has been associated with academic performance, such as GPA. The purpose of the current study was to add to the existing bullying role behavior literature by investigating the relations among bully participant role behaviors, self-efficacy beliefs, and GPA. This project investigated the mediational effect of social and academic self-efficacy on the relation between bullying role behaviors and GPA. The mediation models were evaluated separately by gender to differentiate this effect in males and females. In other words, does social and academic self-efficacy explain the association between bully participant role behaviors and GPA in males and females? Data were collected on 7^th-grade students (N= 348). In general, most models exploring the association between bullying role behaviors and GPA through social and academic self-efficacy had consistent results in the male and female samples; however, there were some significant results that were supported in females only (victimization experience). When exploring the mediation models, individuals who engaged in bullying, assisting, outsider behaviors or experience victimization had negative associations with social self-efficacy and academic self-efficacy; there were no significant positive associations between defending behavior and self-efficacy. Across all models, social and academic self-efficacy were significantly and positively associated. Additionally, all or most of the models found significant positive associations between academic self-efficacy and GPA and significant and negative associations between social self-efficacy and GPA. The results of the mediational model varied for each bullying role behavior to suggest that an individual&rsquo;s behavior when bullying occurs influences their self-perceptions and GPA differentially. </p>

<p> Abstract of Dissertation The Power of Peers: Do Deviant Peers Facilitate or Suppress Genetic Contributions to Externalizing Behavior During adolescence, children&rsquo;s social norms are increasingly established and enforced by peers. Affiliation with deviant peers at this time is an established risk factor for externalizing behavior, presumably because peers model, encourage, and permit antisocial behavior. What is unclear however is the degree to which deviant peers facilitate the expression of genetically influenced predispositions to externalizing behavior (contextual triggering), or whether peers socialize behavior and suppress genetic predispositions (social control). To examine these questions, a biometric moderation model was employed to examine the degree to which peer deviance moderates genetic and environmental contributions to externalizing behaviors during adolescence. </p><p> Analyses used archived data from the Nonshared Environment and Adolescent Development (NEAD) project. NEAD included a national sample of 708 same sex sibling pairs from never-divorced families and stepfamilies from the USA: monozygotic twin (N=93), dizygotic twin (N=99), and full sibling (N=95) pairs from never-divorced families, and full sibling (N=182), half sibling (N=109), and unrelated sibling (N=130) pairs from stepfamilies. The mean ages of Sibling 1 and Sibling 2 were 14.52 and 12.91, respectively. Mothers and fathers reported on their own perceptions of their adolescents&rsquo; involvement with deviant and prosocial peers (Perceptions of Child&rsquo;s Peers) and on their adolescents&rsquo; engagement in externalizing behavior (Zill Behavior Inventory). </p><p> Analyses indicated that peer deviance moderates genetic and nonshared environmental contributions to adolescent externalizing behaviors. Specifically, at higher levels of peer deviance, genetic contributions to externalizing behavior were stronger, while nonshared environmental contributions were weaker. Shared environmental contributions were significant, but not moderated by peer deviance. These findings are consistent with a contextual triggering model of gene-environment interaction: within the context of deviant peers, the heritability of externalizing behaviors was higher, while nonshared environmental contributions were lower. Therefore, deviant peers appear to enhance the expression of genetic predispositions to externalizing behaviors rather than exert social control. These findings provide insight into the process through which deviant peers affect the development of externalizing behavior.</p>

A theory is presented of the development of pattern recognition and looking behaviour in infancy. It is proposed that scanning habits are acquired and patterns recognized with the reproduction of fixations and eye movements in the order in which they originally occurred. Recognition is achieved by correctly predicting the current input for each fixation. Evidence supporting this proposal is discussed, and the limitations of other theories are examined. A case is made for the storage of two kinds of visual information, originating from central and peripheral vision respectively. Infants indicate recognition of familiar patterns by looking less at them than patterns which are new. This can be explained by the discrepancy principle which proposes a curvilinear relation between the amount of looking and degree of discrepancy between a pattern and its representation in memory. This principle is incorporated in the theory to account for the control of the length of sequences of fixations. A computer model of the theory is described. This contains a simulation of the cortical processing of visual input, a number of oculomotor reflexes, learning mechanisms, and the means of controlling the length of a fixation sequence by assessing its discrepancy with the contents of memory. The model was run on a computer and learned to recognize patterns by scanning them and reproducing the original sequences of fixations. The ability of the model to mimic infant looking behaviour is shown in three simulations of different infant experiments. Recognition was demonstrated by a decline in looking at familiar relative to new patterns, and this ability was retained after a delay. Such behaviour took time to develop, and the model required a certain level of visual experience before it appeared. Individual differences in the performance of the model resembling tempo differences in infants were also produced.

This thesis considers infant social development from the viewpoint of the perceptual and memory capacities necessary for particular social abilities. Some social abilities, e.g. facial or voice discrimination, require visual or auditory integrity, thus the development of visual and auditory capacities are reviewed. Recognition of familiar faces and/or voices requires memory. Hence the development of memory abilities is considered. Subsequently the development of social behaviour is reviewed. After these literature reviews, three experimental studies are described. The first of these investigates the recognition of mother's voice and reports evidence of that such recognition develops during the first month of life. The second experiment considers visual recognition of the mother and differential responsivity to face-to-face and averted gaze and to different tones of voice. One month old infants did not reveal any conclusive evidence on these points. However, post-hoc analysis suggested the importance of the physical characteristics of faces in eliciting infant visual attention. Experience in these studies suggested the need for the study of more naturalistic encounters and hence a methodology for the study and analysis of naturalistic social interactions was developed. This methodology was then applied to a study of interactions between mothers and strangers with infants seen from one to eight months of age. This study revealed a surprising developmental pattern of differentiation between mother and stranger, with an unexpected period of positive responsiveness to strangers occurring at five months of age. The sequential analysis of interactions revealed evidence of a progressive development of infant receptivity to gaze, and also an exploratory analysis of receptivity to adult smiles and vocalizations suggested infants may respond to these adult behaviours. Subsequently the results of these studies are linked to other recent research.

This investigation consisted of field-descriptive and experimental analysis of young children's verbal behaviour, aiming at the identification and description of parental verbal stimulation and assessment of reinforcement variables. Five 21-month-old children and their respective mothers participated in the field-descriptive study. Observational sessions were carried out at the subjects' home and in a playroom; the situation was one of free-play. Verbal behaviour was taped; non-verbal behaviour was recorded according to selected categories. The audio-tapes were submitted to a technique designed to record the kind and frequency of utterances and the temporal interval between them. The interactive sequences of mother-child utterances were analysed with regard to these three aspects. Indices were computed to describe the characteristics of the patterns of interaction with regard to maternal verbal behaviour and to the child's verbal performance. The results indicated relationships among the categories aid descriptive indices of maternal behaviour and the child's speech: 1) the frequency of the child's verbalisations did not relate to the total amount of maternal verbal output in itself but to the mother's utterances which consisted of a direct response, within 4 sec, to the child's previous utterance; 2) the child's usage of speech correlated with the degree in which the mother responded selectively to the child's utterances; 3) the mother presented different verbal responses as consequences to the child's utterances, which had significant differential effects on the child's verbal performance as related to initiation, maintenance and ending of verbal chains of interaction. Two out of these five children participated in the experimental study which tested the effectiveness of 'repetition' (plus praise and/or the subject's name) as compared with the effectiveness of a material reinforcer (a small toy) on the emission of "correct utterances" as opposed to "incorrect utterances". The verbal reinforcer was delivered by a 'talking clown' and the material reinforcer by feeder. The results indicated that the verbal reinforcer was relatively more effective in controlling the subjects' rate of 'correct' verbal responses. When reinforcement was delayed the main effect observed was the decrease of rate of responses during the verbal periods to a level similar to that observed during the periods of contingent material reinforcement. The results were discussed within a reinforcement theory framework, and suggestions concerning certain methodological requirements to analyse parental stimulation in relation to children's language development were presented.

<p> Although school dropout rate remains a significant social and economic concern to our nation and has generated considerable research, little attention by scholars has examined the phenomena of re-engagement in effective school context and its developmental influences on at-risk students expectancy for success and task-value towards graduation. Given the multifaceted interactions of school context and the complex developmental needs of at-risk students, there were dual purposes for this three-phase, two-method qualitative study that addressed the literature concerns.</p><p> The first purpose was to explore and identify policies, programs, and practices perceived as being most effective in re-engaging at-risk students behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively, at ten Model Continuation High Schools in California. Phases one and two collected data on the Model Continuation High Schools (MCHS) to address this purpose.</p><p> In phase one, an inductive document review of the ten MCHS applications including four statement letters was conducted and results identified eleven policies, ten programs, and eleven practices that were effective in re-engaging at-risk students behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively. In phase two, the phenomenological ten-step analysis of semi-structured administrator interviews revealed eight re-engaging implementation strategies perceived to be effective with at-risk students.</p><p> The second purpose was to build upon Eccles' Expectancy-Value Theoretical Framework by gaining insight on effective school context that supported at-risk students' developmentally appropriate expectancy for success and task-value beliefs towards graduation. Phase three conducted a deductive content analysis of eight theoretical based components on the combine data collected in phases one and two to address this second purpose. Results revealed that principles of Eccles&rsquo; Expectancy-Value Model were evident in all identified policies, programs, and practices of the ten MCHS.</p><p> Model Continuation High Schools are exemplary sites with effective school context that have much to share with other continuation high schools looking for successful re-engaging approaches for at-risk students. The research provided results suggesting that MCHS had significant policies, programs, practices and implementation strategies that transform disengaged at-risk students into graduates by developing students' expectancy for success belief and task-value belief towards graduation. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.</p>