Much research has focused on the age at which young children are able to use 2- and 3-dimensional stimuli to represent the environment. At 2½ years of age, children do not pass scale-model tasks (using scale models to find a hidden toy in a full-scale room), possibly because they lack dual representation (the ability to understand that model furnishings can simultaneously be both concrete toys and symbols). Experiment 1a of this dissertation tested whether failure on model-tasks by 2½-year-old children is due to an inability to match model furnishings to their full-scale referents. Experiment 1b tested whether children's experience with objects as toys interferes with their ability to use those objects as symbols. Children aged 2½ watched an experimenter hide a small toy in an unfamiliar model and were allowed to search the full-scale apparatus for the large toy hidden in the corresponding location. Children were unable to use the unfamiliar model, indicating that failure on model tasks is due to an inability to use dual representation. Little is known about the ability of monkeys to solve similar symbolic representation tasks. This dissertation tested rhesus monkeys on three types of task. Monkeys were required to use photographs (Experiment 2) or video images (Experiment 3) to guide their search for a hidden object (a rubber ball or food reward) on a familiar apparatus. In Experiment 4, monkeys were shown the location of a ball on a familiar 4-door apparatus and were allowed to search for a replica ball hidden in the corresponding location on an identical board (1:1 ratio scale model). In Experiments 2 and 3 some monkeys were able to use 2-dimensional stimuli to solve spatial problems (i.e., finding the hidden ball or food on the apparatus). In Experiment 4, rhesus monkeys as a group successfully used a full-sized replica of a familiar apparatus to search in the correct location for a rubber ball. These data provide important insight into the ability of rhesus monkeys to represent their environments using 2- and 3-dimensional stimuli, and may allow for the better formation of animal models of human cognitive development.

While careers are often conceptualized as individual paths through occupations—propelled by internal drive and (for the lucky ones) passion—this research takes a more social and political perspective, understanding careers as coordinated by forces external to people and their immediate local settings. In particular this study uncovers ways that imperatives and activities associated with contemporary regional economic development have uneven consequences for young workers depending on socioeconomic status. For this dissertation I undertook a three-year longitudinal study of a much publicized initiative by top administrators of a state university to entice more college students to remain in that northeast US state to work upon graduation. Using the theoretical framework and methodology of institutional ethnography, a mode of analysis designed to "explore a regime of social policy from the standpoint of those subject to it," (DeVault 2008: 2) this research is anchored in the actual experiences of young students and workers transitioning into careers—potential young professionals. Through extensive observations of the activities of those involved with the initiative, interviews of business leaders, students, and recent graduates, analysis of initiative documents, as well as analysis of related practical and academic texts, I mapped the complexes of career-related social relations around students and workers that have material consequences on their everyday lives. According to the leaders of the university initiative "young professionals"—a category applied rather freely—were the creative, energetic, hard workers needed by the state for economic growth. This research investigated the "work"—paid and unpaid—that goes into performing as a "young professional," and reveals the disjunctures between the idealized images of young professionals and their actual lived experiences. It is much easier for some to perform the work of young professionalism than others, given structural inequities in economic, social, and educational structures. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the consequences of these findings, including implications for university professors who work to prepare college students for their future careers. Despite the prevalence of young professional discourse in the United States, there is very little careers research specifically focused on young professionals and their careers. This research addresses that gap and also adds a needed contextual, longitudinal perspective to that body of management scholarship.

The current study examined the effect of Strong Start Grades K–2 (Merrell, Parisi, & Whitcomb, 2007), a social and emotional learning (SEL) curriculum, among a sample of 24 kindergarten and first grade students identified by their teachers as needing additional support with behavioral and social skills in school. The current study used a quasi-experimental design with within-subjects and between-groups comparisons (Heppner, Kivlighan, & Wampold, 1992) to evaluate the effects of the Strong Start social and emotional learning curriculum. The intervention consisted of staggered curriculum implementation across four classrooms, whereby students were assigned by classroom to either the treatment or waitlist conditions. The classroom teachers implemented the 10 lessons of Strong Start as part of their classroom instruction. Results indicated that Strong Start was implemented with moderate integrity and there were significant within-subject effects for increases in students' emotion knowledge and decreases in students' problem behaviors associated with exposure to the curriculum. However, no significant effects were found between intervention and waitlist groups for increase in emotion knowledge and decreases in problem behaviors. Teachers and students indicated strong user satisfaction and social validity of the Strong Start curriculum. Limitations of this study as well as directions for future research are discussed.

Internalizing behaviors, or behaviors related to behavioral inhibition and the tendency to withdraw from novelty or uncertainty, are stable over time. There is substantial evidence indicating the association between greater resting right lateralized frontal EEG alpha asymmetry and negative affect as well as internalizing behaviors (Coan & Allen, 2003; Henderson, Fox, & Rubin, 2001; Fox, 1991). Further, right frontal asymmetry has been shown to be a stable marker of the presence of psychosocial risk (e.g. child maltreatment; see Peltola, Bakermans-Kranenburg, Alink, Huffmeijer, Biro, & van IJzendoorn, 2014 for meta-analyses). However, little is known about the influences of the home and family environment on the link between EEG asymmetry and behavior. The current study examines the associations between resting frontal EEG asymmetry, temperament, and internalizing behaviors in the context of household chaos, as well as additional models. Participants included 247 6-year-old children recruited as part of a larger study on emotion regulation. Results suggest that while household chaos is marginally associated with concurrent internalizing behaviors, the association does not differ depending on patterns of hemispheric asymmetry. Methodological considerations and future directions are discussed. By understanding the physiological mechanisms underlying risk for internalizing problems as well as potential moderators of this link we can better inform the development and timing of effective prevention strategies.

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The effects of mainstreaming on children with disabilities have been well-documented, yet its effects on typical children are not well known. In this study, multiple measures were used to examine social behavior and possible determinants of social behavior of typical preschoolers in integrated and non-integrated classrooms. Measures were selected to build toward a comprehensive and convergent picture of what typical children in both settings do and think in reference to their peers. Methodological problems in earlier research were circumvented by increasing the number of settings and size of samples used, and by matching subjects on the variables of gender, age and social-economic status. Sixty typical preschool children in integrated and non-integrated classrooms were compared on the variables of social behavior, self-competence, social distance and attitudes and cognitions about disabilities. Results challenge research reports asserting children with disabilities are assigned low social status in integrated classrooms. In comparison to non-integrated children, children in integrated settings demonstrate more accurate understanding of issues involving disability, and higher competence ratings. They also exhibit more prosocial and communicative behaviors. Children in integrated classrooms demonstrate positive attitudes and behavior toward special needs peers. Findings suggest that children in mainstreamed classrooms demonstrate social interactions, beliefs and attitudes that are socially desirable.

This study examined infant caretaking practices among the Efe (Pygmies) and Lese, who inhabit the Ituri Forest in northeastern Zaire. The data presented here, collected as part of a larger study of child development among these people, focus on two related questions. First, to what extent are infants' mothers their primary caretakers during their first months of life? And second, who are the other individuals responsible for infants' care? Ten Efe and nine Lese infants were observed longitudinally. Naturalistic observations were made when infants were 3, 7, and 18 weeks old, using an event sequence format with the infant as the focal subject. The behavioral scoring system noted the occurrence of, or any changes in, the ongoing behavior of infant or caretaker, as well as caretaker identity, in each one-minute interval. Four measures of infants' contacts with caretakers were derived: percentage of intervals infants were in physical contact with various caretakers; the rate at which infants were transferred among caretakers; the mean length, in intervals, of caretaking bouts; and the mean number of individuals who held the infant in an observation period. Descriptive data and comparisons of caretaking by mothers and other caretakers are presented. Analyses examine non-maternal caretakers' age, gender, familial relationship to the infant, and the reproductive status of adult female caretakers. Data reveal that Efe and Lese caretaking practices include extensive participation by non-maternal caretakers. Efe infants spent more than 50%, and Lese infants almost 40% of the time with caretakers other than their mothers, and were passed to these caretakers more often than to their mothers. Infants spent little time out of physical contact with a caretaker. Effects of group membership and infant age on contributions by various classes of caretakers are presented. The findings are discussed with respect to models of mother-infant contact during the first months of life. Models such as the continuous care and contact or the bonding model, which place narrow and rigid constraints on the range of acceptable human caretaking practices are challenged, and a more culturally sensitive "strategic" model is proposed.

While rape is a complex multidetermined phenomenon, I believe that the most fruitful avenue of research into its causes lies in the understanding of the cognitive abilities of sexually coercive males. Could it be that most sexually coercive men are capable of aggressive acts because these acts make sense to them from their particular level of social understanding? If a relationship between social/cognitive abilities and the commision of coercive sexual behavior can be identified we will have the information we need to design prevention and treatment programs. The goals of this research, therefore, were to develop procedures for measuring the social/cognitive developmental level of sexually coercive (or potentially aggressive) male college students and contrast very coercive and normally coercive males on these measures. A version of the Coercive Sexuality Scale was administered to several hundred undergraduate males at a large public University in the Northeast, in order to identify samples of sexually aggressive and nonaggressive males. Subjects were also administered the Acceptance of Interpersonal Violence Scale(AIV), which has been found to be a useful predictor of self-reported sexually coercive behavior. Based on scores from these measures two extreme groups (15 "normal" and 13 "coercive" subjects) were selected to receive a semi-structured interview measuring their levels of intra and interindividual understanding. The interview is based on one videotaped vignette depicting young adult female-male interaction. Computer-assisted qualitative analysis procedures were used to categorize the developmental variability among Subjects related to several important social reasoning constructs (e.g. self-knowledge, understanding relationships, perspective-taking and understanding of consequences). A standardized coding system for these abilities was developed which helped to discriminate between very aggressive & "normally" aggressive samples. Data was also subjected to quantitative analyses. The results of this study indicate that (1) the measures used to distinguish between "coercive" and "control" groups have some strength in terms of ability to measure social/cognitive development, and (2) on the whole the "Coercive" group responded at significantly more complex levels of social reasoning than did the "Control" group.

There is evidence that maltreated school-aged children have an elevated incidence of expressive language delay, which is often attributed to the cumulative effects of maltreatment. Younger children and toddlers do not consistently demonstrate this delay. There is some ambiguity whether language delays can be observed in toddlers since language is not well developed at this age. However, if gestural communication is also studied as part of language development, a broader sample of behavior becomes available. Intentional communication includes the use of words and gestures to express a child's intent or desire. Examining maltreated toddlers' intentional communication provides an opportunity to study how language develops under less than optimal conditions. This study examines communicative intents in maltreated and nonmaltreated toddlers (ages 22 to 31 months) and the caregiving interactions of their mothers. The sample is composed of thirty-nine mother-toddler dyads from a Mid-Western city. Maternal maltreatment was documented on thirteen lower class toddlers, who were matched on sex, age, race and SES. Ten middle class dyads composed another comparison group. The lower class toddlers were given the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID) as part of a larger study. Videotapes of a play session between mother-toddler dyads were coded using The Parent/Caregiver Interaction Scale to rate maternal behaviors plus two child communication inventories to code Intentional Communication and Negotiation of Failed Messages. Competency scores were computed for all toddlers on Intentional Communication and Developmental Competence was compared on the lower class toddlers. Two scores compared maternal appropriateness to toddler reactivity and communication competence. Results showed that maltreatment was not related to child Intentional Communication, except that maltreated toddlers acknowledged their mothers' messages more frequently. Social class accounted for differences on most maternal and some toddler variables. Developmental Competence accounted for significant differences in lower class toddlers' Intentional Communication and Social Competence. Patterns of high maternal verbal interaction and control over child's activities were related to toddler's competence in Intentional Communication, suggesting that mothers who are more verbal and appropriate in their control have more competent toddlers.

This study was an exploratory investigation into the impact of men's psychotherapy groups on men's abilities and experiences of relating intimately with other men. Ten men who had participated in such groups for a minimum of six months were interviewed about changes in their perceptions of intimately relating with men within and outside their groups. Drawing on two bodies of literature, one describing gender role conflict, and the other describing close relationships, it was hypothesized that men would experience reduced gender role conflict if they were aided in developing skill in intimately relating. "Self-in-relation" theory, deriving from the women's development literature, was discussed for its usefulness in understanding mutuality in relationships and gender differences in orientations towards relationships. A Mutuality Typology including the steps, components and benefits of mutually relating was developed and refined by this study, and used in the data analysis. It was found that men's psychotherapy groups can have a significant impact towards helping men develop skills in relating mutually, experience mutuality with other men within the group, shift in their orientations towards valuing, pursuing and maintaining intimate connections with other men, and improve their relationships with men and women outside their groups. Results indicated that increases in the experience of mutuality and in abilities in relating intimately with other men contributed to reductions in relational avoidance, isolation, alienation and negative comparisons with other men and gender role norms and increases in self-esteem, self-acceptance and empowerment in relating with others. The results suggested that there is a strong relationship between reported changes in the experience of mutuality and relational abilities and reported shifts towards greater connection with other men. The results also suggested that there is a strong relationship between reported changes in orientations and relational abilities and the stage of group development described by the men in the study. Much data describing those events and conditions that facilitated changes in men's relational abilities and orientations was also reported. That data generated numerous, potentially valuable implications for the forming and running of men's psychotherapy groups. Implications for further research were also discussed.