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This thesis addresses itself to the problem of observing, interpreting and explaining ongoing behaviour in the natural environment. It maintains that the ,intention of the actor is the primary characteristic of behaviour and is concerned with how observers attribute intentions to the actions of others. Naive observers were asked to segment the behaviour of infants exhibited to them on a video tape and having done so to describe that behaviour in their own terms. The behaviour sequences selected for observation were relatively "simple",i.e. the behaviour of infants and young children, in order to gain some possible guidelines for a study of more "complex" adult behaviour. The sequences were interpreted on two levels, at the perceptual level and at the level of meaning. It was assumed that by instructing subjects to divide the observed behaviour into perceived segments and subsequently to describe those segments, that some guidelines as to how to proceed with a study of action would emerge. The findings suggest that "naive observers do identify meaningful segments in the ongoing stream of behaviour but that inter-observer agreement about the precise timing of the changes was not high, a finding which differs from studies on adult behaviour. Attributed meanings were also individual, suggesting that the actions observed are not tied specifically to the physical movements of the child but are subject to a range of meaning depending on the observer's individual interpretation. General trends in meaning were, however, observed for the children of different ages. These trends were identified by categorizing the attributions into "functional" categories, developed from a study of early utterances and are assumed to be continuous with later "uses" that language serves. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1982.

The quality of early infant-caregiver interactions determines the path of an infant's social, cognitive and emotional development. Theoretical and empirical evidence supporting this claim is reviewed, and the implications for early relationship-focussed interventions are considered. The study focuses on infants from birth to three years of age. Developmental psychology research findings are presented, and the role of risk and protective factors in planning preventative interventions are discussed. Recommendations are made for developing a centre-based relationship-enhancing early intervention program for infants and their depressed caregivers. The program is intended for implementation in a rural or periurban South African Primary Health Care setting. / Thesis (M.A.)- University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

This thesis investigates how children learn the first and the second person pronouns in English. In the first phase two cross sectional studies, which examined production and comprehension in children between 16 months and 36 months of ages, were conducted to determine what types of hypotheses children entertain about the semantic rules of the pronouns. In the second phase an intervention experiment was conducted to determine whether children benefit from observing speech not addressed to them for discovering the correct rules. This hypothesis was evaluated by comparing the effects of two different intervention programs: One providing children with opportunities to observe the shifting reference of personal pronouns in speech addressed to others and the other not providing such opportunities. The results suggest that even children under two years old can learn the correct rules of personal pronouns from speech not addressed to them.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-61). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Sc.)--Acadia University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-127). Also available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Georgetown University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.