Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Psychology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 23-28).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-46).

No description available.

This study compared the social cognition and object relations of 39 physically abused children to a clinical group of 39 children with no recorded history of abuse.

The intent in formulating this study was to examine social perception, as related to several sociometric variables. By social perception is meant the ability of an individual to estimate correctly the feelings of his associates toward him, in terms of their desiring or not desiring him as a close friend.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Speech Pathology and Audiology, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 28-30).

M.Ed. (Psychology of Education) / Although the learning disabled pupil has an average to above average intellectual ability, he does not perform accordingly. Not only does he reveal academic deficiencies, but social and emotional deficiencies are also part and parcel of his problem. Furthermore he experiences problems in meeting social demands that are made in his every day life. These deficiencies in his social abilities in turn imply an insufficient recognition of social demands. Research has shown that a learning disabled pupil's social perceptions are weaker than those of a normal pupil. Although the learning disabled pupil's academic short-coming are at first recognised by the teacher, his social problems are normally neither identified nor understood. The learning disabled child should .be assisted to acquire social skills. In this process the teacher could playa vital role. From previous studies, insight regarding the learning disabled pupil, has been gained. The etiology and manifestations of learning disabilities have been discussed and the characteristics of deficient social skills have also been scrutinised. The purpose of this research is to determine certain disorders regarding the social perceptions of a learning disabled child. Criteria as well as guidelines that a social-perceptual education programme should meet, are also suggested. The study was conducted with 60 learning disabled pupils forming the experimental group and 60 non-learning disabled pupils forming the control group. The "Coding of Emotional Responses Test" was used in this study. In this study it became apparent that the learning disabled pupils made significantly more errors than the control group (nonlearning disabled pupils). Therefore the learning disabled pupil experiences difficulty in interpreting non-verbal behaviour patterns such as facial expressions, body language and gestures correctly, as a result of his deficient social perceptions. Criteria programme research. and guidelines for a social-perceptual education have been determined as a result of this...

The present study examined the relationship between the cognitive skill of role-or perspective-taking and naturally occurring behavior of behaviorally disordered children. Twenty-six boys, aged five years, nine months to twelve years, two months were tested and observed at their treatment facility. It was predicted that children who could take the perspective of others would prefer peer to adult interaction, would more likely give positive attention to their peers and would be more likely to use effective language than their non perspective-taking peers. These and related hypotheses were examined by observing each participant's interactive behavior for 36 minutes distributed over three different settings, lunch, freetime and organized activity on six or more different days. To determine perspective-taking skill, two perspective taking instruments were administered in a separate room at the treatment site. One measure (the Chandler role-taking task) required a child to tell a story from a series of three cartoon pictures and then retell the story from the point of view of a late arriving bystander. The other task (the Friendship interview from the Selman Measure of Interpersonal Understanding) assessed role-taking on the basis of the child's responses to questions about a filmstrip story that depicted a common dilemma between close friends. The variety and frequency of effective words was assessed by counting the effective words used by the child when responding to the first role-taking task, the cartoon stories. A vocabulary test was administered at the same time as the other cognitive measures. Before data analysis began, such methodological concerns as reliability of the observational code, reliability of the judges' scoring of the role-taking tasks and internal consistency of the measures were addressed. Cognitive measures, use of effective language and behavioral categories were then correlated with each other. The vocabulary test was used to partial general verbal skill from the relationship of role-taking and effective language. In addition to examining relationships among the measures, the children were divided into perspective-taking and non perspective-taking groups and compared on the various behavioral and language measures.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Visual-spatial skills deficits are one of the primary neuropsychological deficits among children with Nonverbal Learning Disability (NVLD; Rourke, 1989) and Asperger's Syndrome (AS; Ellis, & Gunter, 1999; Klin, Volkmar, Sparrow, Cicchetti, & Rourke, 1995). In addition to affecting written tasks, visual-spatial deficits also have implications for the social functioning of children. Children who are not able to accurately process visual-spatial information will have difficulty processing the visual, nonverbal cues present in social situations including facial expressions, hand movements, and body posture (Nowicki & Duke, 1992). These social perception deficits make social interactions difficult for these children. As a result of their social differences, they are likely to get negative reactions from others, have social skills deficits (Petti, Voelker, Shore, and Hayman-Abello, 2003), and have much difficulty fitting in with same-aged peers. These social skills deficits will likely lead to internalized adjustment problems in which these children feel isolated, withdrawn, and depressed around their peers. This sequence of events, visual-spatial deficits, followed by social perception deficits, followed by social skills deficits, which ultimately lead to internalized emotional problems, is implied, but not empirically proven, in a study by Petti and colleagues (2003). In addition to experiencing greater socioemotional problems than other LD subtypes, visual-spatial and social deficits of children with NVLD have been shown to worsen with age (Casey, Rourke and Picard, 1991). This dissertation study investigated the relation between these four constructs (i.e., visual-spatial skills, social perception, social skills, and internalized emotional functioning). It was hypothesized that social perception and social skills mediate the relationship between visual-spatial skills and internalized emotional functioning. In addition, these deficits were expected to increase as these children get older. As NVLD and AS are commonly co-morbid with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity DisorderPredominantly Inattentive Type (ADHD: PI; Gross-Tsur & Shalev, 1995; Voeller, 1996), this diagnostic group was compared to children diagnosed with ADHD: PI. An additional aim of this study was to differentiate the classification of Learning Disability (LD) by demonstrating the socioemotional functioning differences between individuals with NVLD/ADHD: PI and their counterparts -- individuals with a Verbal Learning Disability (VLD/ADHD: PI). Seventy-one children, ranging in age from 8-14 participated in the study and were assigned to one of three groups (e.g., NVLD/AS with ADHD: PI, VLD with ADHD: PI, or ADHD: PI) based on pre-determined criteria. The NVLD/AS group, as expected, showed impairments in all areas (i.e., visual-spatial skills, social perception, social skills, and internalized socioemotional functioning) and significantly differed from one or both of the other groups on each of the four domains. Support was not found for the age effects for the NVLD/AS group. That is, visual-spatial and internalized socioemotional scores did not worsen with increasing age as expected. Also, visual-spatial skills were not significantly related to internalizing socioemotional functioning, and the hypothesized mediation variables were not statistically significant. The current study contributes to the understanding of individuals with NVLD, an under-studied population. The proposed visual-spatial skills deficits and social perception deficits in Rourke's (1989) theoretical model were supported. This study also offers some insight into the internalizing socioemotional functioning of children with NVLD. It clarifies the heterogeneity of socioemotional functioning among LD children, suggesting that it is children with the LD subtype, namely NVLD, who are at greater risk for social problems. / text