This dissertation advanced a life story model of the self-concept, linking the presently understood past and the anticipated future with the experienced present of the individual story-teller. The central components of this model were identified as the story structure (defined as integrative complexity, an information-processing variable) and story content (defined as the significant life events recalled and anticipated by the participants). The nuclear thesis of this dissertation examined the relationship between these two components in various forms and explored their association with other (individual difference) variables. Participants were 30 males and 30 females drawn in equal numbers from three age groups (young, middle, and later adulthood). These participants completed an extensive questionnaire which entailed a written self-evaluation (which was coded for complexity), the identification and evaluation of significant life events (on scales of event pleasantness, outcome desirability, and event intensity, responsibility, adjustment, and anticipation), and the completion of a series of individual difference measures (life satisfaction, attitudes toward aging, repression-sensitization, and self-esteem). Participants were also interviewed regarding the personal significance of each event, discussions which were coded for integrative complexity and a measure of self in relation to others. The major results indicated that the complexity of self-evaluation (and not chronological age) was associated (curvilinearly) with the number of identified events (with low and high complexity characteristic of fewer events than moderate complexity). A similar pattern emerged between life satisfaction and this measure of complexity, but complexity was not related to any of the other individual difference variables. Unpleasant and undesirable events were discussed in more complex terms than were pleasant, desirable events. There was a similar pattern for high versus low intensity events. However, low responsibility, low adjustment, and low anticipation were associated with greater complexity than were events high on these dimensions. Women identified a greater number of events and discussed them more in terms of connectedness with significant others than did men. These results are presented in the context of the life story and their implications for this model of the self-concept are discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Two groups of 5- to 8-year-olds, and a comparison sample of adults, were examined in an effort to explore the developing relationships between false belief understanding and an awareness of the individualized nature of personal taste, on the one hand, and, on the other, a maturing grasp of the interpretive character of the knowing process. In Study 1,20 children between 5 and 8, and in Study Two, a group of 15 adults, all behaved in accordance with hypotheses by proving to be indistinguishable in their good grasp of the possibility of false beliefs, and in their common assumption that differences of opinion concerning matters of taste are legitimate expressions of personal preferences. By contrast, only the 7- and 8-year-old children and adults gave evidence of recognizing that ambiguous stimuli allow for warrantable differences of interpretation. Study 3 replicated and extended these findings with a group of 48 5- to 8-year-old subjects, again showing that while 5-year-olds easily pass a standard test of false belief understanding, only children of 7 or 8 ordinarily evidence an appreciation of the interpretative character of the knowing process. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This study investigated the Rorschach responses of adolescent male child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors to see if reliable object relations differences could be found in the protocols of boys who did and did not exhibit sexual offending behaviors. Fifty-one Rorschach protocols of 12 to 17 year old boys were selected to form 3 groups: Non-Offending CSA survivors, Sexually-Offending CSA survivors, and a Comparison Group of non-victimized non-offenders. All 3 groups were approximately matched for age at testing, race, and age at first sexual victimization. The primary hypothesis was that the Rorschachs of sexual-offenders and non-offenders would differ in affective reactivity, thought disorder, object relationships, self-perception, and psychological defenses. Urist Mutuality of Autonomy Scale, Blatt & Ritzler Thought Disorder Continuum, Saunders Atypical Movement score, MOR, R, AFR, EB, M, and WSUMC were used to assess differences. Results confirmed the hypothesis in all but the affective reactivity dimension. The protocols of Sexually-Offending survivors had more dependent and maladaptive object relationships, more severe thought disorder, and more MOR and Atypical Movement responses. Although differences in affective reactivity were not found, comparisons made with Exner's norms indicated that AFR was significantly lower than normal among SO-S and NO-S subjects, and that R was significantly higher than normal in the SO-S group. A linear discriminant function analysis showed significant and accurate differentiation between SO-S and NO-S subjects (correct classification rate = 87%) based primarily on the object relations and thought disorder scales. Because the discriminant function and classification were based on the same sample, this finding is quite tentative. Additional research with larger samples of protocols and a wider array of Rorschach variables are needed and could result in the future discovery of a stable and reliable discriminant function for differentiating sexually offending and non-offending CSA survivors on the basis of Rorschach performance.

The "delicate self-cutting syndrome" (Pao, 1969) refers to repetitious non-lethal cutting or scratching traditionally associated with female adolescents. While research and theory have explained the reasons for this behavior in various ways, little attempt has been made to integrate these reasons into broader models. An examination of the literature suggested eight clearly differentiable models that integrated groups of reasons: behavioral, systemic, avoidance of suicide, sexual, expression of affect, control of affect, ending depersonalization and creating boundaries. This study evaluated these models and investigated the relationships between them by surveying therapists about the conceptualizations they use to understand patients who engage in delicate self-cutting. Related developmental issues were also briefly investigated. A pretest was conducted with clinical psychology graduate students and faculty to validate the theoretical associations between specific reasons and the models used to integrate them. The main survey asked a nationwide sample of psychologists and social workers who treat adolescents and adults in individual outpatient therapy to rate a patient on the specific reasons for cutting and the integrative models. Forty-four completed surveys were analyzed. The systemic, suicide, sexual, expression, depersonalization and boundaries models were supported by a factor analysis and the generation of alpha coefficients. Examination of the patterns of relationships between and within models and individual reasons suggested that the behavior model was undifferentiable from the systems model and that the control model addressed the general need to regulate affect and was an issue underlying all other models. The expression model showed a similar patterns of relationships while maintaining its ability to be differentiated. A new structure is hypothesized with control and expression models reflecting basic underlying functions of the self-cutting behavior and the other six models reflecting more subjective meaning assignment. Results also indicated that therapists find the expression, control, depersonalization and boundaries models most useful in understanding and treating their patients. There was little support for the sexual or suicide models. Implications for therapeutic interventions and difficulties are examined in light of the new structure and therapists' preferences for certain models. Directions for future research are proposed.

This dissertation defends a theory of strict Chain Uniformity based on the A/A-bar distinction, in part in response to increasing criticism towards the A/A-bar distinction. The problems originated with the multiplication of new functional categories, whereby new positions were created without any provision to determine their A/A-bar status. The problem was compounded by mounting evidence that specifiers of functional categories could be used either as A or A-bar. Further, serious criticisms came from the alleged simultaneous A/A-bar properties of scrambled positions ('scrambling paradoxes'). Alternative typologies have been proposed (Webelhuth 1988, Chomsky 1989, Deprez 1991, Saito 1991, and others) which condemn the A/A-bar distinction. This thesis advocates that the A/A-bar distinction per se is perfectly adequate, but its current implementation requires major modifications. It is argued that all positions within functional categories are inherently undetermined w.r.t. their A/A-bar status. Given strict Chain Uniformity, a chain-contextual determination of these positions is obtained, i.e. their A/A-bar status is subsumed under algorithms of chain formation. This eliminates any exponential complexity related to increasing functional categories, yet allows the cross-linguistic flexibility the A/A-bar distinction previously lacked. Operator-variable chains are decomposed in two uniform chains connected through Agreement-chain formation, a strategy independently required for Null Operator Constructions which is here extended to AgrPs. AgrPs are thus the interface between A and A-bar chains, and an analysis of past-participle agreement in French is developed in that perspective. Chapter 2 proposes a review of issues on Bounding theory relevent to Chain formation and the A/A-bar distinction. A theory of Weak and Weakest crossover effects which transcends the A/A-bar Chain distinction is developed in chapter 4. Chapter 5 proposes a strict A/A-bar Chain Uniformity approach to scrambling paradoxes which drastically reduces the gap between scrambling and non-scrambling languages. Chapter 6 is devoted to Null Operator Constructions in English and maintains that Tough movement and Purpose clauses shows properties typical of A-movement, and require a different treatment from other NOCs. The analysis capitalizes on the Unified Chain definition which encompasses all chain types by eliminating Case as a defining property of any chain, A-chains in particular.

Considerable evidence indicates that touch is vital to the healthy psychological development of children. However, teacher-child physical contact has rarely been investigated. This study was therefore designed to obtain descriptive data on teacher-child touch in preschool classrooms, the teacher, child and center variables which affect such contact and the messages teachers give to children regarding human closeness. The central question addressed was: do all children receive physical affection from caregivers? The frequency and duration of seven categories of touch were measured in eight preschool classrooms in four day care centers: Affectionate, Caretaking-Helpful, Comfort, Play, Attentional-Control Neutral, Attentional-Control Negative-Punishing and Attentional-Control Affectionate. Data was collected through observation of teachers and 148 children, and interviews with twenty teachers and four directors. The results indicated that while teachers do provide physical affection for children, they are more likely to use touch for caretaking-helpful purposes or to control-punish children than to comfort, express affection or touch in the context of play. However, great variance was found among individual teachers and centers in both the frequency and nature of touch. Education and positive attitudes toward physical contact were found to be related to higher rates of positive teacher touch. Center variables influencing higher rates of positive touch and lower rates of controlling touch were director attitudes and leadership styles, implicit center policies and director expression of physical affection to teachers. A small percentage of children received the majority of all types of physical contact; some children received little or no affection. The most important child variable influencing the frequency of positive teacher touch was whether the child expressed affection to caregivers. Children named as challenging by teachers received far more negative-punishing touch than those named as easy. Children identified as having a painful touch history (physical or sexual abuse; deprivation of affection) similarly received a greater frequency of negative-punishing touch than children in general. The findings were discussed in terms of the need for teacher-parent education on the developmental significance of touch and for an increase in positive touch in early childhood programs.

This dissertation investigates high school students' drug use and the variables identified as risk factors for such use. Specifically, the purpose of this research was to analyze drug use data with regards to levels of Subjective Distress, Parental Bonding, Parental Supervision, and Sensation Seeking, to understand how experimental marijuana users experience these risk factors when compared to other types of drug users. This research posits that experimental marijuana use may be more reflective of adolescent development than of pathology. The theoretical construct underlying this research is the perspective that certain behaviors are deemed harmful based more on moral judgments and the social construction of risk as opposed to the actual danger the behavior poses for the individual. This research used data from a cross-sectional survey given to high school students from a New England college town. Statistical analyses was conducted on the responses of a quantitative, Likert style survey which included 452 questions all derived from existing national surveys. The survey was voluntary and administered to 993 students in grades nine through twelve in January of 2000. The results indicated that a simple, stepwise progression between the level of drug use and the risk factors Parental Bonding, Parental Supervision, and Subjective Distress did not exist. In most cases, experimental marijuana users were more like abstainers than other drug users. The relationship between Parental Supervision and drug use was more related to an adolescent's age than to the actual supervision. Consideration of gender differences revealed that the genders experience the risk factors, specifically parental bonding, differently. Females, when compared to males, did not experience as strong a relationship between parental bonding and drug use. The application of a quadratic regression equation revealed that males' relationship between drug use and parental bonding was more complex; moderate levels of parental bonding predicted drug use more strongly than low levels of parental bonding. The results suggest that future research must be more sophisticated in its analyses of drug use and adolescents, considering the developmental stage of the adolescent, the type of drug used, and questioning the assumption that experimental marijuana use is unequivocally harmful.

The main objective of this dissertation was to characterize the tool-using ability of rhesus monkeys and children by examining the acquisition and comprehension of tool-using behavior, and by identifying factors that might be related to individual differences in the ability to use tools. The first study examined whether twenty rhesus monkeys could use a rake to extend reach, whether they understood the required properties of the tool, and whether tool-using ability was correlated with behavioral characteristics. Fifteen monkeys used the rake to retrieve treats placed out-of-reach; however, none of the monkeys tested selected an effective rake from an ineffective rake. The level of tactile oral exploration in non-tool-using contexts was positively correlated with the number of rewards retrieved. The second study examined whether rhesus monkeys could use a rod to insert and probe and whether they understood the effects of using the tool. Only two monkeys used a rod to push a reward out of a clear tube. Subsequent manipulations involving multi-tube combinations, in which only one tube was baited, indicated that the monkeys were unable to select the correct path or tube. However, these monkeys correctly selected the baited tube over empty tubes when the tubes were presented on separate walls. The third study examined whether rhesus monkeys and 36-month-old children were able to use two different tools in series to retrieve a desired object. Both of the two monkeys tested used a rake to retrieve a rod and then used the rod to push a reward out of a clear tube, and all but one of the children tested used the tools in series either on their own or following hints or demonstrations. The fourth study revealed that certain types of object manipulation and behavior were related to tool-using ability in monkeys. In summary, this dissertation characterized tool-using in rhesus monkeys and children, validated new procedures for assessing comprehension in tool-using tasks, and identified certain factors related to individual differences in tool-using ability. The implications of these results are discussed.

Handedness is a widely studied behavioral asymmetry that is commonly measured as a preference for using one hand over the other. Right hand preference in humans occurs at a ratio of 9:1, whereas left hand preference in rhesus monkeys has been estimated at 2:1. Despite differences in the direction and degree of hand preference, this dissertation investigated whether primates share common underlying factors for the development of handedness. Previous work in human infants has identified a predictive relationship between rightward supine head orientation and later right hand preference. Experiment 1 examined the relationship between neonatal head orientation and later hand use in rhesus monkey infants (N=16). A leftward supine head orientation bias was found that corresponded to greater left hand activity for hand-to-face movements while supine; however, neonatal head positioning did not predict later hand use preference for reaching or manipulation on a coordinated bimanual task. A supine posture is common for human infants, but not for rhesus monkey infants, indicating that differences in early posture experience may differentially shape the development of hand use preference. Movement quality is an additional factor that may affect how the hands are used in addition to neonatal experience. 2-D and 3-D kinematic analyses were used to examine the quality of reaching movements in rhesus monkey infants (N=16), human infants (N=73) and human adults (N=12). In rhesus monkey infants, left hand reaches were characterized as ballistic as compared to right hand reaches independent of hand use preference (Experiment 2). Left hand ballistic reaching in rhesus monkeys may be a carryover from earlier primates that relied on very fast reaches to capture insect prey. Unlike monkey infants, reach quality was a function of hand preference in human infants (Experiment 3). By contrast, a right hand advantage for reaching was observed in human adults regardless of left or right hand preference (Experiment 4). Differential hand experience due to hand preference in early infancy may in part be responsible for the hand preference effects on movement quality observed in human infants but not monkey infants. Motor control may become increasingly lateralized to the left hemisphere over human development leading to the right hand advantage for reaching observed in human adults, as well as over primate evolution leading to right hand use preferences in higher primates like chimpanzees. An underlying mechanism such as a right shift factor in humans and a left shift factor in rhesus monkeys may be a common basis for primate handedness. Environmental and experiential factors then differentially shape this mechanism, including species-typical development. Further work examining the ontogeny of hand preference and hemispheric specialization in various primate infants will lead to a greater understanding of how different factors interact in the development of hand use across primate species.

This study examined the role of the coping process as a mediator of the long-term psychological adjustment of survivors of childhood sexual abuse, with a focus on three specific areas of coping: self-criticism, support seeking behavior, and disengaged coping. The study also addressed a limitation of the existing research in this area by controlling for the potentially confounding effects of depression through the use of a control sample that was matched for the level of depressive symptomatology. Fifty-one undergraduate women with a history of childhood sexual abuse and eighty-eight nonabused undergraduate women completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire, the Coping Strategies Inventory, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised, and the Relationship Questionnaire. There were significant relationships between abuse-severity characteristics and elevated levels of self-criticism and differences in interpersonal functioning. Both self-criticism and avoidant coping predicted psychological symptomatology, but these associations were not specific to abuse victims. Hypothesized relationships between social support and adjustment were not confirmed; however, the findings suggest that attachment style is a particularly sensitive measure of interpersonal functioning within abuse victims.