Previous studies found that providing infants with repeated opportunities for reaching improved the emergence and quality of the behavior, presumably via exploratory and selective processes (Bojczyk & Corbetta, 2004; Lobo et al., 2008). Here we further examined the effects of opportunities for reaching by exposing infants to multimodal objects that were activated either continuously by a hidden motor or contingently by hand-toy contact. We asked if such objects would motivate infants to try to reach for them even more than still and silent objects. Forty-four pre-reaching infants were recruited within the week prior to turning three months of age and were seen for 16 consecutive days. Three groups received daily exposure to objects that either moved and made noise continuously (continuous), moved and made noise only on hand-object contact (contingent), or did not move or make noise when touched (repeated task exposure). A control group received no daily experience. On day 1, all infants were assessed in the laboratory to ensure they were not reaching. From days 2-15, an experimenter tested the repeated groups in the home. On day 16, all infants’ reaching was reassessed in our laboratory. Arm kinematics were recorded during laboratory visits. All testing was the same: infants were seated in an infant chair behind a table and an experimenter placed 1 toy on the table at midline for one minute. Infants received ten trials per day. We measured amount of intentional reaches, hand-toy distance, and peak movement speed. Intentional reaching significantly increased for all repeated groups. Examination of infants that improved showed that the contingent group displayed a significantly higher gain in reaching over time relative to the repeated task exposure and continuous groups. Kinematic measures indicated that these young infants modulated the speed of their reaching movements to match task demands. Specifically, infants in the continuous group displayed increased peak speeds of their movements in order to contact a moving object. Results suggest that repeated opportunities to reach for objects underlies the emergence of reaching; however this process may be aided by providing a salient, multimodal link that highlights the effects of successful action.

For nearly 30 years, researchers have been proposing and testing theories of the cognitive mechanisms that underlie children’s abilities to comprehend the mental states of others and to predict behavior on the basis of those abilities. One such theory, the “theory theory,” contends that children evaluate their own understanding of others’ minds, developing a theory and expanding it when they encounter situations incongruent with their predictions. Wellman and Liu (2004) present a scale of the changes that children’s understanding of mental state representations commonly undergo as children develop a mature theory of mind. The present study aims to clarify how children pass from one stage of understanding to the next, employing a training study paradigm to examine the possible role of verbal scaffolding on children’s progression in this sequence. Specifically, the present study hypothesizes that verbally emphasizing the connection between one’s knowledge and thoughts will advance children’s performance on false belief tasks. This hypothesis was not supported. Even though children may appear to be at the same developmental level on Wellman and Liu’s (2004) scale, the variation in their performances after training may indicate more nuanced underlying processes than are currently expressed by Wellman and Liu’s (2004) scale.

Data from 183 participants were collected through an online survey focusing on the relationship between parenting styles and self-esteem across a specific age range. Parenting styles were assessed using a four-factor model while self-esteem was evaluated using two different scales. Multiple analyses were completed to find that self-esteem changed across the age range, and across parenting styles. The study looks at the ways in which these two variables changed. Implications, limitations and future research opportunities are discussed.

Thesis_Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3814. Adviser: Arthur F. Kramer. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-100) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: B, page: 3822. Adviser: James Rounds. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 85-98) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.

<p> The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between a history of abuse and exposure to unwanted sexual materials and solicitation online. Specifically, this study assessed the association between an abuse or trauma history and experiences of online solicitation among youth. Also, analysis included examining whether males or females with a history of abuse had higher rates of online exploitation. Archival data from the Youth Internet Safety Survey (YISS) 1, conducted in the year 2000, and YISS 2, conducted in the year 2005, were analyzed to determine if there was an association a trauma or abuse history and sexual solicitation online. For YISS-1, from a total sample of 1,501 youth, there were 119 youth who reported online sexual solicitation in the past year and 12 who identified a history of sexual abuse in the past year. For YISS-2, from a total sample size of 1,500, there were 105 youth who reported online sexual solicitation in the past year and 20 who identified a history of sexual abuse in the past year. Analysis of this data indicated an association between abuse history and sexual solicitation online. In both samples, children who reported a history of sexual abuse were more likely to report online sexual solicitation (x</p><p>2(1) = 18.96, p &lt; 0.001;x</p><p>2(1) = 57.34, p &lt; 0.001). Although statistically significant, both ofthese associations were weak (&phiv; = 0.113, p &lt; .001; &phiv; = 0.196, p =&lt; .001). Due to the small sample size of youth who reported a history of abuse and the results should be interpreted with caution. In addition, for both years 2000 and 2005, there were no significant differences found between male and female youth with a reported abuse history and their sexual solicitation online (x</p><p>2(1) = 0.78, p = .38; x</p><p>2(1) = 2.40, p = .12). It isimportant for professionals to learn if a history of abuse will carry over into an online world and potentially re-traumatize young individuals. This information would have implications for how the mental health community develops intervention strategies and education programs.</p>

<p> This hermeneutic study explores the phenomenon of love-suicide using Cleopatra VII as a case study. This research explores a variety of depth psychological perspectives of death and destruction, suicide, and romantic love in order to gain an understanding of the meaning of death for the psyche and the archetypal underpinnings of suicide in the context of romantic love. Through investigating how the experiences and situations generated by love and generated in love may enliven the archetypal energy of suicide, defined as &ldquo;destructive reconstruction,&rdquo; this investigation establishes a basis for the notion that the shadow side of love may pull the soul to suicide. </p><p> This study uses the myth of Cleopatra&rsquo;s love-suicide to test the ideas developed regarding the soul&rsquo;s pull to suicide in romantic love. By imagining and exploring the projections and identifications Cleopatra may have held and how they may have impacted her love relationship with Antony and her suicide, this study demonstrates how the alchemy of being in love can deconstruct and reconstruct psyche and how love can dissolve the ego and materialize new life. The study concludes that this deconstructive process, an alchemical dissolution, is directed by the Self and ultimately may lead to physical death. This study&rsquo;s symbolic inquiry into Cleopatra&rsquo;s love-suicide illustrates that unlocking the mausoleum of the heart and exposing the interior darkness is a destructive process that is also potentially creative. That is, it may uncover the buried treasure within or bury the body that houses it.</p>

<p> Children diagnosed with ASD and their parents often find themselves in difficult situations concerning their child's behavior while in public, and the responses from the public are usually negative (Chambres, Auxiette, Vansingle, &amp; Sandrine, 2008). The purpose of this study was to describe responses towards a child with ASD having a tantrum. We evaluated how knowing the child's diagnosis, understanding of the behavioral characteristics of ASD, and dispositional empathy related to the responses towards the tantrum. The findings from this study suggest that while it is helpful to disclose an ASD diagnosis, it is not necessarily more helpful to explain the characteristics and nature of ASD in order to elicit an empathic response from others. Revealing that the child was diagnosed with ASD leads to more empathic responses regarding the child and mother. The level of dispositional empathic concern and perspective taking an individual had correlated with their responses to the child and mother's behavior in the tantrum situation.</p>