Bioecological theory suggests that development, including reading development, occurs through interactions between individuals and proximal environmental contexts (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 2004), though neighborhood characteristics are often underrepresented within studies of proximal processes on reading outcomes. The present study sought to further knowledge of the environmental influences on reading comprehension by proposing several hypothesized risk and protective aspects of the neighborhood environment and using a novel combination of techniques to explore their association with FCAT reading. The results of this exploration indicated that of the proposed neighborhood features, distance to shelters was the sole predictor of FCAT reading scores after accounting for family- and community-level SES. Additionally, the present study was concerned with examining the proportion of shared environmental influences on FCAT reading which were accounted for by neighborhood characteristics. Distance to shelters was able to explain a significant proportion of shared environmental influences in this study, marking an additional component of environmental influences on reading. These results help to develop a more comprehensive model of the etiological influences involved in reading comprehension skills. The findings also serve to inform instructional practices and future intervention research targeted to improving reading comprehension skills. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2016. / August 12, 2016. / behavior genetics, bioecological theory, neighborhood environment, reading comprehension / Includes bibliographical references. / Sara A. Hart, Professor Directing Dissertation; Beth M. Phillips, University Representative; Colleen Ganley, Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member; Jeanette Taylor, Committee Member.

Verbal information, or testimony, from learning partners (e.g., parents, teachers) initially serves as one of young children’s primary sources of information beyond direct observation. An extensive body of research has examined children’s burgeoning abilities to evaluate testimony according to cues about the source’s credibility (e.g., Mills, 2013). However, as children grow and develop, they gain increased access to knowledge artifacts, or objects or records containing knowledge such as books or Internet resources (e.g., Einav, Robinson, & Fox, 2013; McGinty et al., 2006; Noles, Danovitch, & Shafto, 2015) that often provide little information about their source (Corriveau et al., 2014; Eyden et al., 2013; Robinson, Einav, & Fox, 2013). Across six studies, I investigated factors influencing young children’s developing abilities to epistemically evaluate knowledge artifacts and the potential role that artifacts’ media, source, and type may play in those evaluations. In Study 1, I examined how media preferences may impact four- to six-year-old children’s trust in information, evaluating the reliability of early reading ability and other factors as predictors for their text-trust preferences and examining whether informant methodology affects these findings. I found that many children display a consistent text-trust preference but that it is likely due to inferences about the epistemic authority of text rather than early reading ability, inferences about puppet or human informants, or other factors. In Study 2, I explored whether four- to six-year-old children use the knowledge of a source author to make inferences about knowledge artifacts and whether media (text or audio) influences these decisions, finding that children’s text-trust preferences are likely more general knowledge artifact preferences and influence their decisions independently of their burgeoning understanding of authors’ knowledge. In Study 3, I developed adult and child surveys to examine children’s usage of and epistemic practices regarding different types of knowledge artifacts and other information sources. Here, I found that parents and children largely agreed on children’s varying usage of various knowledge artifacts and other sources and generally believe most types of artifacts are potential learning avenues for children. The final chapter of this dissertation reviews the theoretical and practical significance of these findings and discusses directions for future investigation using the knowledge artifact framework. / 2024-05-09T00:00:00Z

The relationship between school spending and academic performance is one that is constantly being assessed and evaluated. More rarely however, is the evaluation of how efficiently that spending is taking place. This paper used a method known as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), to examine how efficiently Florida elementary schools were spending their funds to produce student gains in reading achievement. This paper found that schools (n=1,446) were performing on average at an approximate 61% relative efficiency level for the 2009-2010 school year. This paper then used OLS regression and various school-level demographic characteristics to see if school efficiency is able to be predicted, finding that student race, free and reduced lunch status, presence of exceptionalities, and school size to all be significant predictors of school-level efficiency. Finally, this paper examined the relationship between these differing efficiency scores and student individual differences, using a sample of n=677,386 Florida public elementary school students. In doing so, significant interactions between school efficiency and a student’s exceptionality and free and reduced lunch status were found, indicating the negative impact of having an exceptionality or being free and reduced lunch status to be further increased in lower efficiency schools. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / 2019 / September 30, 2019. / DEA, efficiency, ESE, exceptionalities, reading, socioeconomic status / Includes bibliographical references. / Sara A. Hart, Professor Directing Thesis; Chris W. Schatschneider, Committee Member; Andrea L. Meltzer, Committee Member.

Across three papers in this dissertation, I investigate how perceptual and linguistic cues impact young children’s behavior and perceptions in the domain of STEM. Women and non-White people are underrepresented in STEM fields. One way to understand the early roots of the gender gap in STEM is to consider how the messages that children receive from adults and larger society shapes their understanding of who belongs in STEM and, consequently, who does not. The domain of STEM thus also presents a unique lens through which to study how group membership (or a lack thereof) influences children’s decision-making and beliefs in early childhood. In Paper 1, I focus on perceptual cues to belonging, investigating how visualizing groups of scientists that vary by gender impacts four- to six-year-old children’s STEM-related persistence and perceptions. In Paper 2, I focus on linguistic cues, examining whether four- to seven-year-old children prefer to learn from scientists described as innately brilliant or as hardworking. In Paper 3, I explore how the language and character diversity in a science storybook impacts five- to seven-year-old children’s science interest, feelings of self-efficacy, and persistence in STEM. I conclude by addressing implications of this work for psychology and educational settings and exploring future directions. / 2025-05-18T00:00:00Z

Previous research has shown that having a strong, positive ethnic-racial identity (ERI) for youth of color is associated with positive academic outcomes. Yet, research to understand the specific mechanisms through which this relationship exists is scarce. One explanation theorizes that ERI acts as a promotive factor within a supportive academic environment through a sense of belonging and community that is established. This dissertation study tests whether sense of school belonging mediates the relationship between youth’s ERI and their academic self-perceptions (i.e., self-efficacy, growth mindset, and agency) by using a subsample (N=1,671) of students of color (i.e., Black, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, American Indian or Native Alaskan, and multiracial identities), ages 13-19, who participated in a nationally representative survey regarding their high school experience. Results found that students of color who have a higher sense of ERI affirmation (i.e., more positive regard for one’s ethnic-racial group) and ERI process (i.e., increased exploration and resolution of one’s ethnic-racial identity) tend to have more positive academic self-perceptions. However, sense of school belonging partially mediated for the relationship between ERI process and academic self-perceptions specifically. The mediation model was significant regardless of whether a student self-identified as Black, Latino, or Asian. Implications of the findings, including the importance of facilitating the ethnic-racial identity development process for students of color through identity-affirming school contexts, are discussed. / 2025-05-18T00:00:00Z

Victimization has been consistently linked with maladjustment indices (e.g., Hanish & Guerra, 2002), however substantial variability exists in victim adjustment (Kochenderfer-Ladd & Skinner, 2002). Aggression and victimization occur in social interactions (i.e., involving a victim and at least one perpetrator), therefore examining how perpetrator characteristics impact adjustment may be one promising direction to understanding these individual differences. Attribution theory suggests that certain perpetrator characteristics (e.g., different-race perpetrators) may lead a victim to make external attributions in which they blame others (e.g., they’re prejudice), which in turn, may mitigate some of the negative consequences associated with victimization (Graham, Bellmore, Nishina, & Juvonen, 2009). On the other hand, social impact theory suggests that certain perpetrator characteristics (e.g., high popularity) that signify belonging to a larger, more powerful group may lead actions by these perpetrators to have broader reach and visibility throughout the social network, causing greater harm for the victim. This study examined how several perpetrator characteristics impacted four areas of victim adjustment (loneliness, studentship, peer preference, aggression) through the lens of attribution and social impact theory. The participants included 341 sixth grade students (54% female, Mage = 12.01, SD = 0.44, 49% Black) from a longitudinal project on children’s transition to middle school. Participants self-reported on their social and overt victimization experiences and also nominated perpetrators who victimized them. Several perpetrator characteristics were assessed (perpetrator sex, race, aggression, status, dislike, and social group), which were determined based on self-reported and peer-reported measures. The victim outcomes that were measured were loneliness (self-reported), studentship, peer preference, and aggression (peer-reported). Descriptive analyses revealed important differences in the victimization experience by victim sex and race. Female overt victims had an increased likelihood of being targeted by highly overtly aggressive male perpetrators. Female social victims on the other hand were targeted by a higher proportion of female, same-group perpetrators. Black victims were targeted by a higher proportion of same-race perpetrators, and White victims were targeted by a higher proportion of perpetrators in the same peer social groups. With regards to the impact of perpetrator characteristics on adjustment, results showed that victimization by in-group perpetrators was associated with less internalizing problems among social victims; victims of same-sex (primarily for female victims), same-race, and same-group perpetrators showed lower levels of loneliness. However, we did not find the same to be true among overt victims, the only overt perpetrator characteristic shown to significantly impact victim adjustment was perpetrator sex match. Among overt victims, victims of same-sex perpetrators had lower levels of peer preference, suggesting that acts of overt aggression by same-sex perpetrators may have greater visibility throughout the social network, leading to greater harm to a victim’s social reputation. These findings suggest that social victimization by in-group perpetrators may offer greater opportunity for reconciliation or greater context to the victimization that occurs, leading to less distress for victims. Overt victimization appeared to be harmful to victims regardless of perpetrator characteristics. This study provides an important first step in understanding perpetrator characteristics and the victim-perpetrator relationship and their influence on victim adjustment. Future research should include an examination of specific incidents of victimization to enhance our understanding of the impact perpetrators may have on a victimization experience and associated adjustment. / Psychology

Emotion regulation, defined as the ability to modulate one’s emotional experiences in order to navigate social interactions successfully and attain goals, has been associated with social competence, adjustment, and resilience during early childhood and beyond. Family-level risk factors have been linked to differences in emerging emotion regulation skills, measured at both the behavioral and physiological level. The current study investigated two familial risk factors, sociodemographic risk and parental substance use, as predictors of toddlers’ emotion regulation. Participants were 117 parent-toddler dyads recruited across a range of sociodemographic risk. Dyads completed a structured series of parent-child interaction tasks, including a resting baseline and a mildly frustrating task, in which toddlers were asked to wait for toys and their parents’ attention. Emotion regulation was assessed through observational coding of the frustration episode and through measurement of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), an indicator of parasympathetic nervous system functioning associated with physiological regulation. Contrary to hypotheses, parent-reported sociodemographic risk and recent substance use were not significantly related to children’s emotion regulation, whether measured behaviorally or physiologically, in the current sample. However, RSA response to challenge was significantly associated with behavioral regulation, such that children who maintained higher RSA across the transition from resting baseline to frustration (i.e., withdrew less or augmented) showed better behavioral regulation than those who withdrew more. Consistent with prior literature, older age was associated with higher RSA across tasks, and non-White toddlers tended to have higher resting RSA than their White peers. In conclusion, this study did not find expected associations linking sociodemographic risk and parental substance use with child emotion regulation. However, results clarified links between behavioral and physiological regulation, finding that maintaining higher RSA during mild frustration was associated with better behavioral regulation among socioeconomically diverse toddlers. These findings begin to clarify mixed results regarding the association between RSA withdrawal to challenge and child emotion regulation capabilities.

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