Thesis (doctoral)--University of Tartu, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (May 25, 2006) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Clark University, 1913. / "Reprinted from the Pedagogical seminary September, 1913, vol. XX." Bibliography: p. 316-321. Also available in digital form on the Internet Archive Web site.

Zugl.: Marburg, Universiẗat, Diss., 2004.

Bibliography: leaves 123-127. This thesis uses a feminist framework to explore one aspect of violence against women - the alienation that has occurred between women and their children. The thesis concludes that maternal alienation is built on two foundations, the privileging of the male voice, and the extensive mother blaming present at macro and micro levels in cultural discourses and in families. It suggests that maternal alienation is one way in which children are initiated into and coached in dismissive and blaming attitudes and behaviours to women. (abstract)

This thesis examines the emergence and use of short-term memory (STM) strategies in children, with respect to the working memory model (Baddeley & Hitch, 1974). Of interest are the developmental shifts observed in the use of coding and rehearsal strategies. The questions addressed refer to the extent to which STM development is affected by contextual factors, namely language characteristics or limitations in processing speed; how these factors affect the use of strategies; and how fixed, time- related factors (e.g. articulation rate, item length) interact with the maturation of strategies to determine STM capacity. It is suggested that children are able to use, or learn to use, STM strategies flexibly to adapt to such contextual factors. This affects the patterns of STM performance observed at different ages. To explore this suggestion, a cross-linguistic study was conducted. Greek and English children were compared, as Greek words are on average longer than English words. The question addressed was whether this difference would be reflected in the patterns of STM performance of the two language groups. A study on STM in children with Down syndrome was also conducted, to explore how limitations in verbal abilities affect STM and strategy use. Greek and English children aged 4 to 10 years were compared on a number of STM tasks. Dissociations between visuo-spatial and verbal tasks and effects of phonological similarity, visual similarity, and word length on recall of spoken words and pictures were examined. The developmental patterns of STM performance in the two language groups differed in the chronology of their emergence. Greek children relied on visual coding for longer than English children, who showed a shift towards a preference for verbal coding at an earlier age than Greek children. Children in both language groups seemed able to use strategies flexibly according to the length of the items to be remembered. Native language and differences in literacy acquisition were considered as possible causal factors for these differences. The study of STM development in children with Down syndrome suggested a preference for visual coding in STM tasks. Children with Down syndrome may rely more on visual strategies, but they should be taught how to benefit from them in STM tasks.

The impetus for using the therapy with J.B. for this study was primarily the challenge inherent in the situation from the moment the parents and J.B. arrived for their family interview and assessment. They had been through many professionals by then, and much medication. They were sceptical of our intervention, since nothing to date had relieved the situation, and J.B. still had outbursts of rage towards his mother, he was still expressing suicidal ideation and anxiety. The challenge was particularly in relation to the mother, who had great difficulty conceptualising J.B. 's problems as being emotional and relational in nature - she was infinitely more comfortable with physiological interpretations of everything. This had the effect on the therapist and the supervisor of frequently reassuring their belief in psychotherapy as the treatment of choice in this case, or if in fact there was a lurking 'disease ' or organic cause to the child's behaviour. The pressure was thus considerable in this respect, despite the fact that the child had been examined physically and nothing found. This study aims to demonstrate the efficacy of psychotherapy, and the changes that took place, with this patient who was previously treated with medication.

M.A. / There seems to be a lack of uniformity concerning the psychotherapeutic treatment of chlidren. This lack of uniformity was mainly brought about by the development of the diverse theoretical approaches in the history of child psychotherapy. There seems to be a need for an integrated model that could be used for the psychotherapeutic treatment of children. A survey of the literature was undertaken in order to determine the current status of the theory and practice of child psychotherapy. The survey brought to light that the field of child psychotherapy gradually developed from an intrapsychic to an interactional orientation. From a retrospective view it is apparent that the diverse theoretical approaches in the development of the field of child psychotherapy, culminated in the systems approach. This approach is currently supported in terms of the theory and practice of child psychotherapy. The systems approach offers an integrated model and represent a meta-theory for the psychotherapeutic treatment of children. It also offers a multitude of therapeutic interventions for the child therapist. Therefore, a tentative model has been suggested based on the systems model for the psychotherapeutic treatment of children.

M.A. (Counseling Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract