Thesis advisor: Mary E. Walsh / School readiness at kindergarten is an important predictor of children's future academic success (Duncan et al., 2007). While early pre-academic and behavioral skills are important for all students, there is considerable inequality in students' levels of readiness at the start of school (Coley, 2002; Lee & Burkam, 2002; Razza, Martin & Brooks-Gunn, 2010; Ryan, Fauth, & Brooks-Gunn, 2006; Welsh, Nix, Blair, Bierman & Nelson, 2010), and research has pointed to a range of out-of-school and poverty-related factors that contribute to these inequalities (Coley, 2002; Dearing, 2008; Foster, 2002; Hill, 2001; Razza et al., 2010; Ryan et al., 2006). This study utilizes relational developmental systems theory (Lerner, 2006; 2011) to examine the individual and contextual factors that co-act dynamically to shape and predict student outcomes. Specifically, this study extends the body of research on early child development by examining the factors that predict school readiness skills within a sample of 521 young children preparing to enter the first grade from urban early education programs. Multilevel regression models indicate that student characteristics, classroom characteristics, and peer contexts each predict students' school readiness scores, and that the interactions among these variables make unique contributions to the prediction of school readiness scores as well. Implications for theory, policy, and practice are discussed along with recommendations for future research. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

This dissertation takes as its starting point some curious historical parallels in research on the heritability of alcoholism from opposite ends of the 20th century, and the underlying continuity in assumptions implicated by these parallels. Rather than review mainstream historical narratives on the origins of genetic research and alcoholism studies, I examine evidence and developments as yet unexplored by scholars. First I examine the origins of recent research models and diagnostic criteria that provide evidence for the hereditary nature of alcoholism. Then I consider the assumption of genetic determinism and its relationship to strategies of propaganda employed by the Eugenics movement early in the century. Using these historical "snapshots" I draw out conceptual and philosophical problems with the genetic explanation of alcoholism that continue to confront researchers today. These limitations suggest two possible avenues of resolution: either we develop finer-grained strategies for distinguishing social deviance from physical disorders, or we develop an integrated understanding of the complex interplay of human biological and cultural systems by extending the approach known as Developmental Systems Theory. In the conclusion, I explore these options and their potential ramifications for our understanding of alcoholism in hereditary and human contexts. / Ph. D.

Behavioural scientists argue that ‘social learning' provides the link between biological phenomena and cultural phenomena because of its role in the ‘cultural transmission' of knowledge among individuals within and across generations. However, leading authors within the social sciences have proposed alternative ways of thinking about social life not founded on the Modern oppositions including nature-culture, biology-culture, body-mind, and individual-society. Similarly, the distinction between a domain of nature and a domain of nurture has also been extensively criticized within biology. Finally, advocates of ‘radical embodied cognitive science' offer an alternative to the representational-computational view of the mind which supports the conventional notion of culture and cultural information. This thesis attempts to integrate developmental systems theory, radical embodied cognitive science, and relational thinking, with the goal to bring the field of social learning closer to these critical theoretical developments. In Chapter 2, I find no justification for the claim that the genome carries information in the sense of specification of biological form. Chapter 3 presents a view of ontogeny as a historical, relational, constructive and contingent process. Chapter 4 uses the notions of environmental information, abilities, affordances, and intentions to make sense of behaviour and learning. In Chapter 5, I argue that the notion of social learning can be understood in terms of relational histories of development rather than in terms of transmission of information. I then report empirical studies investigating behavioural coordination and social learning consistent with this theoretical framework. Chapter 6 presents evidence that dyads in a joint making activity synchronize their attention constrained by their changing situation and that coordination of attention is predictive of implicit and explicit learning. Chapter 7 presents evidence that joint attention does not require gaze following and that attentional coordination is predictive of learning a manual task. Together, these theoretical and empirical studies suggest a new way of thinking about how humans and other animals live and learn socially, one that is consistent with critical theoretical and philosophical developments that are currently neglected in the literature on social learning.

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The South African context, in particular, is characterized by a definite need for the facilitation of the development of the youth in a more positive trajectory. Family structures are not always robust enough to support the positive development of the youth, owing to the demands made on single–parent families, amongst other reasons. Community structures may also be less supportive of the development of the youth, because of the impact of the changes associated with the transitional phase of the country during the past sixteen years (Meehan, Peirson & Fridjhon, 2007). Furthermore, young people under the age of 15 years comprise almost a third of the total South African population (Statistics South Africa, 2009), and in the future, they will have to be prepared for an adulthood faced with previously unknown challenges (United Nations Population Fund). The importance of the development of the youth, in order to enable them to contribute to their country in future, is acknowledged by the South African Governement (National Youth Commission website). This study was conducted within the parameters of the newly developing positive youth development (PYD) paradigm. The empirical level of this paradigm is well represented in the literature, indicating that the content areas, or the “what” of PYD, have been well elucidated. However, there is a lack of theory, especially with regard to models describing developmental change (Larson et al., 2004), and evaluation of interventions aiming at the facilitation of PYD. In order to contribute to the answering of the questions regarding the “how” of development, this study had the following main aims: a) the compilation of a theoretical model, describing developmental change in the youth; b) the operationalization of this model for intervention purposes; and c) the evaluation of a programme and the model on which it is based. The study is reported on in an article format, and comprises a total of three articles. The first article focuses on the process of the compilation of a theoretical model by means of: a) the construction of a comprehensive meta–theoretical matrix, b) the integration of theory that features in the PYD literature, and c) the expansion of the latter with theory from other compatible sub–disciplines in psychology. The resultant Positive Youth Development Intervention (PYDI) model provides a process–related description of developmental change ? and is one of the first models to do so. The second article describes the operationalization of the PYDI model, by means of an indication of the relevant constructs, phenomena and processes to be facilitated. Although recent research points to a relation between PYD and self–regulation, there has been no model, describing the role of self–regulation in the facilitation of the positive development of the youth. This study adapted a model from an educational context (Heckhausen & Gollwitzer, 1987 (as cited in Boekaerts & Niemivirta, 2005)), in order to describe the regular self–regulatory processes constituting the bi–directional interactions between the youth and their primary life contexts, as proposed by developmental systems theory (Lerner, 1998), the meta–theory to PYD (King et al., 2005). A further specifc contribution is that the presentation aspects of the programme material, aimed at facilitating the integration thereof, are addressed on a theoretical level. The third article describes the evaluation of the PYDI model and programme, with young adolescents in a school in a rural area as participants. A mixed–methods study, which has been shown to render much richer information than a quantitative study alone, was applied. Although the quantitative data did not prove the success of the programme, the qualitative data suggested that some aspects of self–regulation had indeed been facilitated successfully. A second follow–up assessment, conducted seventeen months later, indicated that certain skills had only become internalized by that time, suggesting that the implementation and evaluation of such a programme should be expanded over an extended time–frame. This study has contributed to the level of theory of PYD, by indicating, a) the lacunae, and b) that theory in compatible sub–disciplinary paradigms could be used in order to devise workable models for PYD. Furthermore, the process–related nature of the PYDI model and programme, owing to its adaptability to different needs, may be adapted and extended to be applicable to the needs of the diverse South African population. Recommendations regarding future application and research, especially within the South African context, have also been put forward in the study. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The South African context, in particular, is characterized by a definite need for the facilitation of the development of the youth in a more positive trajectory. Family structures are not always robust enough to support the positive development of the youth, owing to the demands made on single–parent families, amongst other reasons. Community structures may also be less supportive of the development of the youth, because of the impact of the changes associated with the transitional phase of the country during the past sixteen years (Meehan, Peirson & Fridjhon, 2007). Furthermore, young people under the age of 15 years comprise almost a third of the total South African population (Statistics South Africa, 2009), and in the future, they will have to be prepared for an adulthood faced with previously unknown challenges (United Nations Population Fund). The importance of the development of the youth, in order to enable them to contribute to their country in future, is acknowledged by the South African Governement (National Youth Commission website). This study was conducted within the parameters of the newly developing positive youth development (PYD) paradigm. The empirical level of this paradigm is well represented in the literature, indicating that the content areas, or the “what” of PYD, have been well elucidated. However, there is a lack of theory, especially with regard to models describing developmental change (Larson et al., 2004), and evaluation of interventions aiming at the facilitation of PYD. In order to contribute to the answering of the questions regarding the “how” of development, this study had the following main aims: a) the compilation of a theoretical model, describing developmental change in the youth; b) the operationalization of this model for intervention purposes; and c) the evaluation of a programme and the model on which it is based. The study is reported on in an article format, and comprises a total of three articles. The first article focuses on the process of the compilation of a theoretical model by means of: a) the construction of a comprehensive meta–theoretical matrix, b) the integration of theory that features in the PYD literature, and c) the expansion of the latter with theory from other compatible sub–disciplines in psychology. The resultant Positive Youth Development Intervention (PYDI) model provides a process–related description of developmental change ? and is one of the first models to do so. The second article describes the operationalization of the PYDI model, by means of an indication of the relevant constructs, phenomena and processes to be facilitated. Although recent research points to a relation between PYD and self–regulation, there has been no model, describing the role of self–regulation in the facilitation of the positive development of the youth. This study adapted a model from an educational context (Heckhausen & Gollwitzer, 1987 (as cited in Boekaerts & Niemivirta, 2005)), in order to describe the regular self–regulatory processes constituting the bi–directional interactions between the youth and their primary life contexts, as proposed by developmental systems theory (Lerner, 1998), the meta–theory to PYD (King et al., 2005). A further specifc contribution is that the presentation aspects of the programme material, aimed at facilitating the integration thereof, are addressed on a theoretical level. The third article describes the evaluation of the PYDI model and programme, with young adolescents in a school in a rural area as participants. A mixed–methods study, which has been shown to render much richer information than a quantitative study alone, was applied. Although the quantitative data did not prove the success of the programme, the qualitative data suggested that some aspects of self–regulation had indeed been facilitated successfully. A second follow–up assessment, conducted seventeen months later, indicated that certain skills had only become internalized by that time, suggesting that the implementation and evaluation of such a programme should be expanded over an extended time–frame. This study has contributed to the level of theory of PYD, by indicating, a) the lacunae, and b) that theory in compatible sub–disciplinary paradigms could be used in order to devise workable models for PYD. Furthermore, the process–related nature of the PYDI model and programme, owing to its adaptability to different needs, may be adapted and extended to be applicable to the needs of the diverse South African population. Recommendations regarding future application and research, especially within the South African context, have also been put forward in the study. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.