Given the focus on cognitive-developmental trends in how children understand rich and poor, many researchers have developed a concern that research has ignored the influences of children's contexts. For this reason this study aimed to build on previous research (particularly that by Leahy, 1981, and by Bonn et al.,1999) by combining the cognitive-developmental model with the need to recognize contextual influences inherent in children's understandings of social constructs, while relating this to a theoretical framework which can provide a more thorough picture of the way in which children understand rich and poor. This was done using a qualitative interpretive design. Specifically this involved a combination of focus groups and drawing activities with a group of 20 South African children from a local government, former model C, primary school located in a relatively lower socioeconomic area in Pietermaritzburg, in which their perspectives and understandings of socioeconomic status were explored. In applying the sociocultural approach in data analysis, Rogoff's (1995, 1998) notion of the sociocultural three planes of analysis were used to examine how the children's accounts reflect the personal, interpersonal, and contextual factors. Within each of these planes, the principles and methods of a sociocultural discourse analysis using interpretive repertoires was applied, with a focus on the respective level. Results revealed that while the trends in the children's ideas were consistent with Leahy's (1981) cognitive developmental trends, the particular ideas expressed by the children were embedded and predominantly informed by the social and cultural context of the interpersonal group, their everyday lives, and South African society. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

The recent social and political changes in South Africa are having a profound effect on social relations in South Africa, and it seems appropriate to study the attitudes of children and their perceptions of racial and gender relations. This study attempts to explore self-esteem, perceptions of social satisfaction, status and prejudice in relation to race and gender. The sample consists of 444 Black and White children aged 12/13 years and 14/15 years. The children were from schools in an urban area (Pietermaritzburg) in Kwa-Zulu, Natal. Three instruments were administered: The Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory, the Social Status Technique and the Social Distance Scale. A review of theoretical considerations of prejudice, self-esteem and social identity theory is provided. Statistical analysis indicated the following findings: there is no difference in assessed self-esteem between the races although boys exhibited a more positive self-esteem than girls. Black children showed more positive levels of self-esteem on the academic and parent-related sub-scales, while White children showed a more positive social self-esteem. With regard to social satisfaction and preference, all children identified Whites as being the most satisfied and having the most status. With the exception of Black boys, all children perceive that girls have more satisfaction and status than boys. There is a clear difference between boys and girls with girls showing a strong bias towards their own gender in the preference and satisfaction questions but not on the identification question. In relation to identification, children showed a clear own-group identification. On the Social Distance Scale, Black children were more prejudiced than White children, and were most prejudiced towards the Afrikaans speaking group. Boys also were more prejudiced than girls. The findings are discussed in relation to the theoretical perspectives and to previous findings. A critique of the study and recommendations for future research are included. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

The present study is a qualitative and quantitative interdisciplinary investigation of young children's vocal development. It investigated how vocalizations of young children mutate in relation to the children's linguistic and musical development, and the contexts in which these developments take place. Eight girls age eighteen to thirty-eight months participated in this study. Four spoke Chinese and four spoke English as their first language. Each child was visited every four to six months over a 42 month period. Acoustic analyses were performed on recorded vocal responses, and three judges classified the vocalizations and provided perceptual evaluation. It appears that young children have established communicative pitches that are associated with different forms of vocalizations by age two. All children consistently sang with higher fundamental frequencies than they used for speaking, while other forms of vocalization appear to be positioned consistently between singing and speaking. Both the mean fundamental frequency data and the qualitative data suggest some possible differences in vocal pitch behaviours across language. Chinese bilingual children made comparatively less but stable distinction between their speech and song; in their acoustic intermediate vocalizations however, the boundary between speech and song was "fuzzy". English monolingual children made increasingly clearer and wider acoustical distinctions between their speech and songs; their contextual intermediate vocalizations were made up of intermittent singing and speaking. The intermediate vocalizations observed in the present study appear to confirm that singing and speaking are two vocal phenomena that exist along a continuum. They call into question the entire concept of differences between singing and speaking both acoustically and contextually. These intermediate vocalizations offer a rich account of the linguistic and musical development of a child; they suggest that while first spoken language appears to affect vocal development, a child's non-speech auditory environment is also crucial to the understanding of her vocal behaviours.

Integral (holistic) and separable (analytic) processing were studied in ADD-H and normal children using restricted classification tasks composed of separable dimensions and triad/tetrad combinations. In Studies One and Three classifications of ADD-H children and controls were compared on size/brightness and length/density combinations. In Study Two classifications of four age groups of normal subjects (mean ages 5-3, 7-9, 11-1 years and adults) were compared on size-brightness combinations. ADD-H children demonstrated significantly fewer separable responses than normal controls only on the tetrads. Normal subjects showed a developmental trend towards differential separable responding to size as compared to brightness. ADD-H children appear to show a lag of about two years on this developmental trend. Results suggest that ADD-H children resort more readily than normals to integral responding under increased processing load. Results are discussed in terms of the cognitive deficits of ADD-H children and current theories of perceptual differentiation.

Two sets of connectionist simulations of children's acquisition of distance (d), time (t), and velocity (v) concepts using a generative algorithm, cascade-correlation (Fahlman & Lebiere, 1990), are reported. Pure condition simulations represent a situation in which memory demands across the concepts are equal. The limited memory condition explores the effects of differing memory demands. / It was found that the rules that correlated most highly with network responses during training were consistent with the developmental course of children's concepts (Wilkening, 1981; 1982). Networks integrated the defining dimensions of the concepts first by identity rules (e.g., v = d), then additive rules (e.g., v = d-t), and finally multiplicative rules (e.g., v = d $ div$ t). / The results are discussed in terms of similarity to children's development, the effects of memory demands, the contribution of connectionism to cognitive development, and directions for future research. It is argued that cascade-correlation provides an explicit mechanism of developmental change--weight adjustment and hidden unit recruitment.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a 10 week aerobic movement program for overweight children on cardiovascular fitness, body composition, self-esteem, and body-esteem. The subjects for the study consisted of 20 children (17 females and 3 males) ages 8-12. One group (n=12) consisted of overweight children and one group <n=8) consisted of average weight children. Cardiovascular endurance was measured in seconds with a two mile walk/Jog In the school halls. Self-concept was measured with the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale. Body-esteem was measured with Mendelson and White's Body-Esteem Scale. A 2x2 univariate statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA) was employed to determine significance of effect. Overweight and average weight children were the independent variables. Self-esteem, body-esteem, and cardiovascular endurance were the dependent variables. Body composition (tricep skinfold measurement) was used to distinguish the two groups and determine weight loss due to the program. The ANOVA indicated no statistically significant Improvements In cardiovascular endurance, self-esteem and body-esteem in overweight children In comparison with average weight children after a 10 week aerobic movement program. / School of Physical Education

This study examined the effects of cooperative learning combined with the philosophy of Challenged education on social skill and self concept development. The participants were sixth grade students from two different classrooms in a rural midwestern school district. One class was the control and the other the experimental group.During a nine week intervention the experimental group was involved with cooperative learning/Challenge Education while the control group maintained their usual schedule that did not include cooperative learning/Challenge Education. Previous to and following the intervention, the students' social skills were rated by themselves, their teachers, and their parents. In addition, the students rated their own academic and nonacademic self concepts. Measurement tools used were standardized assessment instruments.Two separate multivariate analysis of variance were computed: one for social skills and one for self concept. Following the social skills MANOVA simple interaction effects analyses were calculated followed by simple effects analysis. The results of the MANOVA revealed a significant interaction between time of testing and treatment when examining social skills. Significant interactions were found for parent ratings and teacher ratings. The students' ratings did not reveal a significant interaction. The simple effects analyses for teacher reports revealed the teachers' ratings of students' social skills differed on the pretest; however, the posttest did not reveal a significant difference between group's social skills. No effect were found on the self-concept scale. It was concluded that the intervention may not have produced the desired effects because students had attained only the awareness level of development according to the challenge education model. Therefore, further research using awareness as the outcome seems warranted. / Department of Educational Psychology

In this study, results from Epstein's (1983) study were replicated and parental acceptance was found to be significantly correlated with measures of global self-esteem and lovability. This study extends his work to examine the unique effect of parental nonconcordance (i.e., one parent experienced as accepting and the other parent experienced as rejecting). Undergraduate students (N = 259) completed the Mother-Father-Peer Scale and the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Inventory. Results of the hierarchical multiple regression analysis supported the hypotheses that mother acceptance is a better predictor of global self-esteem and lovability than father acceptance in cases of parental nonconcordance. The results are discussed in lights of Bowlby's (1969/1982. 1973, & 1980) attachment theory, the construct of internal working models of attachment and the hierarchical nature of these models. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

Thesis (MPsy(Clinical))--University of South Australia, 2002.

Bibliography: leaves 208-219 / x, 219 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Psychology, 1992