The research problem in this qualitative, pilot study explores a child's impressions of hospitalization while in hospital. / Nine children who were in-patients on a pediatric unit of an acute care hospital were interviewed using a semi-structured, self-constructed questionnaire. / The principal finding indicates that these children experienced a neutral emotional response to their hospitalization. Although the subjects were chosen randomly, all children resided in two parent families. This may be a significant factor in enhancing their ability to master hospitalization. Second, their neutral impression of hospitalization may be based on receiving a reasonable level of health care in a child centred environment with support from family.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The purpose of this study was to determine under which of several conditions preschool children would delay gratification longer given the choice between a smaller immediate, and a larger delayed reward in a non-instrumental paradigm.Prior to the experiment 70 subjects from a pool of 81 subjects were randomly assigned to 8 treatment groups with 4 males and 3 females in each group. When a subject was eliminated from the study another subject of the same sex was randomly selected from the remaining pool of subjects and assigned to the treatment condition. In all 31 males and 24 females completed the experiment. -Four experimenters, 2 male and 2 female, were randomly assigned to subjects such that experimenter sex, subject sex, and experimental condition were distributed evenly across cells.In each group the preschool child could obtain a less preferred reward immediately or wait for-a a more preferred reward. 1ne eight treatment groups varied subject sex, nature of the distractor, degree of distraction, and presence of reward. Reward presence was varied by either leaving the rewards on a table in front of the subject during the waiting period or covering the rewards and placing them under the table. Nature of distractor, internal or external, was varied by leaving the subject to his own thought distractions (internal), or by making paper and crayons available to the subject during the waiting period (external). Degree of distraction, structured or non-structured, was varied by the experimenter informing the subject of pleasant activities to engage in during the waiting period (structured) or by the experimenter refraining from making suggestions for activities (non-structured).The data were subjected to a univariate analysis of variance. The F value which was obtained for subject sex was Statistically significant at the .01 level with female subect3 waiting longer than male subjects. The first null h7-pothesis that there would be no statistically significant differences between males and females was, therefore, rejected. The F values for the other three null hypotheses: there will be'no statistically significant difference between those subjects waiting under the conditions of external distractor and those subjects waiting under the condition of internal distractor; there will be no statistically significant difference between those subjects waiting under the condition of a positive structured task and those waiting under the condition of a neutral unstructured task; and there will be no statistically significant difference between those subjects waiting under the condition of reward present and those subjects waiting under the condition of reward absent failed to be significant at the .05 level of confidence.Because three of the four major null hypotheses failed to be rejected and because the study was a partial replication, the data were further subjected to a series of post-hoc analyses in an attempt to account for differences between the present study and previous studies. Analyses of criterion time; subject age; experimenter sex, subject sex, and individual experimenter differences; preference for the rewards; use of the materials; and testing order failed to account for differences between studies.

The present research addressed three major role-taking issues: (1) its developmental nature; (2) its underlying variables; and (3) its status within social cognition. Children between 6 and 11 years were tested. Study 1 examined the development of 3 role-taking tasks. Study 2 compared role taking to nonsocial word-pair comparison to determine whether the self's involvement demanded additional skills. Using original tasks, Studies 3 and 4 related role taking and comparison to referential communication. Study 4 also examined (a) the effects on these behaviours of a direct attentional decentration manipulation and (b) their relation to integration as measured by a modified Gergen-Morse Perceived Self-Consistency Scale. Major results indicated that: most children developed role taking around age 6 and mastered it by 11; nonsocial decentration (comparison) was related to role taking, with comparison developing first; and integration related to role taking but not to comparison. Finally, comparison and role taking were necessary but insufficient for referential communication; integration was also related to communication. The implications of these findings for a theory of role taking were discussed.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The relationship between social skill deficits and emotional and behavioural problems has led researchers to examine the cognitive and behavioural elements of social skill acquisition in childhood. This research aimed to compare the effectiveness of two components of the Aussie Optimism program for enhancing social behaviour in late childhood. One hundred and twenty-eight children (68 boys and 60 girls) aged between 9 and 12 years from two schools participated in the study: (a) 34 students received the social life skills program; (b) 49 students received the optimistic thinking skills program; and (c) 45 students were assigned to a no-treatment control group. Children were assessed with self-report and teacher-report measures of social skills, adjustment and explanatory style at pretest, posttest and three months follow-up. In addition, the relationship between these variables at pretest and health-related variables measured throughout the intervention was examined. The results indicated that the social skills program improved the social skills of participating children at posttest. No intervention effects were found for explanatory style. No intervention effects were found for teacher-rated measures of behaviour or adjustment, although in general students improved on these measures over time. Eating breakfast was associated with increased social skills, and better teacher-rated academic performance and adaptive functioning at pretest. Stressful life events were negatively correlated with academic performance and teacher-rated happiness at pretest, and higher exercise levels were associated with less teacher-rated social problems at pretest. This research indicates that the social life skills intervention program improves the social skills of participating children in the short-term. Limitations and implications of the present findings are discussed. Further research is needed to clarify the impact of health-related variables on intervention outcomes for children.

Thesis (M. Div.)--St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 450-453).

Thesis (D.Psych.)--Murdoch University, 2007. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Health Sciences. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-135).