Thesis (Ph.D.)--Flinders University, School of. / Typescript bound. Includes bibliographical references: (leaves 234-241) Also available online.

This study measured the resistance to temptation of five-year-old children as related to their sex, Sunday school attendance, and mothers' working status; analyzed the mothers' parenting attitudes as influenced by work, church attendance, and family structure; and examined relationships between children's resistance to temptation and mothers' parenting attitudes.

Inclusive education and the abolishment of corporal punishment by the National Department of Education have a profound influence on the behaviour of the learners in the classroom. Behaviour displayed by learners challenges the authority of educators and stand in direct contrast to a peaceful classroom setting which is a key element of the learning process. Educators found themselves at a loss, not knowing how to retain order and discipline while valuable teaching time is lost. The aim of this study is to identify and determine how educators can be empowered to deal with challenging behaviour in their high school classrooms. A qualitative study was conducted for this purpose, in four high schools which is situated in the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape. To obtain the necessary data different data-collection techniques were used, namely questionnaires and interviews. Learners, educators and parents were participants in the study. The findings suggested that most educators do not have the skills and/or knowledge to cope with challenging behaviour displayed by learners in the classroom. Conditions where educators are unable to control the behaviour of learners undoubtedly leads to the degradation of teaching and learning, so the need to address the problem was real. The concluding chapter recommends strategies of dealing with challenging behaviour through classroom management, educator skills as well as disciplinary strategies. An environment that is conducive for teaching and learning will be created by such strategies.

M.S.

Research examining student-teacher interactions has tended to focus upon the teacher's perceptions of, and reactions to, his/her students. Such studies have indicated that teachers tend to react differentially to male and female students, that these students are aware of sex-role stereotypes, and that this awareness seems to affect perceptions of self and others, as well as actual performance. The majority of these studies have targeted the perceptions and behaviors of preschool and elementary school children. As there is a dearth of research examining similar variables in adolescents, more intensive investigations need to be conducted before any generalizations about classroom behavior can be drawn. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the effects of middle-school students' levels of androgyny and self-esteem on classroom behavior, as well as to examine the impact of these variables on students' performance attributions and classroom perceptions. Students were asked to complete questionnaires assessing their levels of androgyny and self-esteem, and their perceptions of which of their peers perform various behaviors. While few significant differences were found by degree of androgyny for student behaviors, student sex did seem to play a role in which classroom behaviors were exhibited. Peer behavior in the classroom was related to students' sex and level of androgyny. Internal and external attributions for performance seemed to be affected by degree of androgyny. Boys received higher grades than girls in both science/computer science and English, although there were no sex differences for grade expectations. High-androgynous individuals tended to have higher self-esteem than low-androgynous individuals. Implications for the conceptualization of androgyny were discussed, as well as empirical findings and developmental issues. / M.S.

Sociometric status in childhood, despite its predictive validity, remains determinants.The relatively poorly understood construct with regard to its aim of the present study was to attempt a better understanding. Like most research studies, for every question answered, several were raised. Results of the present study indicated that, undoubtedly, an interaction of factors relate to sociometric standing. These include behavioral and cognitive skills as well as personal attributes such as athletic ability and physical attractiveness. The direction of these relationships remains unanswered. Exemplary of this causal confusion is the finding from this and other studies of a positive relationship between various cognitive social skills and popularity. This relationship has been demonstrated most reliably with withdrawn children. However, it is unclear whether cognitive skill deficits discourage interaction or whether reluctance to engage in social interaction impedes the development of social understanding. With this, as with other variables, it is likely best represented as a transactional model. Hence, acceptance by peers for whatever reason encourages, through social reinforcement, continued pursuit in that and other dimensions which, in turn, facilitate increased skill. Further, the importance of many of these dimensions varies with age and sex. Results of the present study partially replicated previous findings of the importance of peer behavior to sociometric status. However, the finding of a positive relationship between popularity and peer initiated negative interactions underscored the importance of differentiating rejected and neglected subgroups of unpopular children. For treatment studies, the accurate identification of these subgroups as well as the development of different treatment programs for withdrawn versus aggressive children is indicated. Although the results of the present study indicated that unpopular children, as a whole, demonstrated poorer skills in social perception, findings from previous studies, coupled with the small magnitude of difference in present findings, suggest that these skills may vary according to the type of unpopular child. Further, it appears that the importance of these cognitive skills is age dependent. Future research in the area of sociometric status should continue to focus on the identification of behaviors, cognitive skills, and personal attributes associated with peer popularity. Rejected and neglected children should be considered as significantly different subgroups of unpopular children. Finally, it is recommended that future research focus on developing more refined and standardized procedures for measuring affective social perception skills since this appears to be a fruitful and relatively unexplored area in relation to sociometric status. / Ph. D.

According to the current literature, dysfunctional social behavior in children is purported to be strongly related to adult behavior problems. Hersen and Bellack (1977) reported that deficits in children's social skills are generally the result of "a deficient learning history, wherein the necessary responses never became a viable part of an individual's repertoire, or the result of the disruptive effects of anxiety that inhibit behavior" (p. 510). Thus, social skills training usually consists of a behavioral-acquisition procedure designed to provide the necessary skills repertoire, promote more skillful response alternatives, and reduce social anxiety. Based on social learning theory (Rotter, 1972) and Bandura's (1977) theory of self-efficacy, individuals who display dysfunctional social behavior in a given situation may be handicapped by perceived inefficacy, rather than, or in addition to, a lack of appropriate social knowledge of social skill. To date, no research has examined the relative roles of self-efficacy and children's self-efficacy appraisal in producing social skill deficits in either aggressive or withdrawn children. The purpose of the present research was two-fold: (l) to assess and investigate the relationship between self-efficacy, self-efficacy appraisal skills, and social behavior, and (2) to examine the relative effectiveness of a social skills training group, a social skills plus efficacy appraisal group, and a discussion group in remediating social skill deficits in children judged to exhibit aggressive and withdrawn behaviors in the classroom and on the playground. In general, the results of the current research failed to support the experimental hypotheses. Nevertheless, posttreatment changes in efficacy appraisal and self-efficacy were obtained, and some differential effects of treatment attributable to status of subject were reported. Unfortunately, however, post-treatment changes on measures of efficacy appraisal and self-efficacy did not generalize to produce subsequent changes in social behavior. Several alternative explanations for these results are discussed. / Ph. D.

Orientadora: Luciana Pinato / Banca: Clay Brites / Banca: Célia Maria Giacheti / Resumo: O Transtorno do Déficit de Atenção com Hiperatividade (TDAH), cuja patogênese é multifatorial, apresenta a tríade de sintomas: hiperatividade, desatenção e impulsividade. Queixa frequente nessa população, os distúrbios do sono podem ser indicativos de problemas na ritmicidade circadiana e decorrer em problemas comportamentais, de cognição e de humor. Com o intuito de contribuir para o conhecimento das bases biológicas e das características clínicas no TDAH o objetivo deste estudo foi investigar possíveis correlações entre o comportamento, parâmetros do ritmo atividade/repouso, sono/vigília e a presença de distúrbios de sono em crianças com TDAH. Os dados comportamentais foram avaliados por meio do Questionário de Capacidades e Dificuldades (SDQ); os parâmetros de atividade/repouso e sono/vigília por meio da actigrafia e a presença de distúrbios de sono por meio da Escala de Distúrbios de Sono para Crianças (EDSC). Participaram do estudo 27 crianças de sete a 12 anos de idade sendo 15 delas com diagnóstico de TDAH e 12 crianças com desenvolvimento típico. Os resultados mostraram que no escore total do SDQ 13,4% das crianças do grupo TDAH obtiveram pontuação para classificação normal, 33,3% limítrofe e 53,3% anormal enquanto 75% das crianças do grupo controle apresentaram pontuação total para classificação normal, 8,4% limítrofe e 16,6% anormal. No escore total da EDSC 66,6% das crianças com TDAH apresentaram distúrbios do sono. No grupo controle as crianças não apresentaram in... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), pathogenesis is multifactorial, presents a triad of symptoms: hyperactivity, inattention and impulsivity. The frequencies in this population, sleep disorders may be indicative of problems in rhythmicity and behavioral, cognitive and mood behaviors. In order to contribute to the knowledge of the biological bases and clinical characteristics in ADHD, the objective of this study were to investigate correlations between behaviors, activity / rest cycle, sleep / wake cycle and sleep disorder in children with ADHD. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ); The parameters rhythm of activity / sleep / sleep-wake through the Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC). Twenty-seven children, seven to 12 years of age, 15 of them with a diagnosis of ADHD and 12 children with typical development participated in the study. The results of the total SDQ score were 13.3% of the children in the ADHD group were classified as normal, 33.3% and the percentage of abnormal children were 53.3% of the children in the total control group for the normal classification, 8.4% borderline and 16.6% abnormal. The total score EDSC 66.6% of children with ADHD sleep disorders. In the control group, children are not indicative of sleep disorders. In SDSC subscales, 40% of the children in the ADHD group the indicative of disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep, 20% sleep disordered breathing, 13.3% of the disorders of the awakening, 13.3% of the dist... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre

D.Litt.et Phil. (Psychology) / According to Cunningham (1978) there is a fair amount of controversy that surrounds the possible causes of auto-immune diseases. According to him there are two conflicting categories of causes of which psycho-social causes is one and abnormalities of the immune system is the other. Although a substantial amount of studies concerning the relationship between psychological factors and immune functioning have been done, the results have been inconclusive. The reason for this seems to be that there is a vast amount of mediating factors. A further aspect that needs to be taken into account is that psychoneuroimmunological research has focused mainly on adults. Schleifer, Scott, Stein and Keller (1986) is of the opinion that extensive research is required to study the effects of the central nervous system and behaviour during the early development of a person. The study attempted to identify possible psycho-social factors that could contribute to pediatric diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. In order to identify factors that are unique to auto-immune diseases four groups were compared i.e, emotional disorders, behavioral disorders, auto-immune diseases and a "normal" group.

This study examined the relationship between the resistance to temptation of three-, four-, and five-year-old children and parental attitudes toward child-rearing. Other variables explored included gender of the children, employment status of mothers, and socio-economic status of families. Fifty-two three-, four-, and five-year-old children from two centers were tested to determine their levels of resistance to temptation as measured by Grinder's Bean Bag Instrument. Parental attitudes toward child-rearing were measured by Schaefer and Bell's Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PARI). To determine the difference between the resistance to temptation scores and socio-economic status, gender, and employment status of mothers, Jt tests were employed. No significant differences were found with regard to these variables. Factor analysis of the PARI resulted in three primary factors: Hostility-Rejection, Authoritarian- Control, and Democratic-Attitude. To determine the difference between the Hostility-Rejection scores, Authoritarian-Control scores, and Democratic-Attitude scores of the mothers and socio-economic status, _t tests were employed. There were no significant differences between mothers of a lower socio-economic level and their Hostility- Rejection and Democratic-Attitude scores. However, mothers of a lower/upper socio-economic level showed significantly higher levels of Authoritarian-Control than mothers of an upper socio-economic level. To determine the difference between the Hostility-Rejection scores, Authoritarian- Control scores, and Democratic-Attitude scores of the mothers and employment status of the mothers, t_ tests were employed. No significant differences were found regarding these variables. To determine the relationship between the Hostility-Rejection scores, Authoritarian-Control scores, and Democratic-Attitude scores of the mothers and resistance to temptation scores of the children, a Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was employed. Results indicated that there was no significant relationship between the Hostility-Rejection scores and the Authoritarian-Control scores of the mothers and the resistance to temptation score of the children. A significant relationship was found between the Democratic-Attitude scores of the mothers and the resistance to temptation score of the children.