When individuals are presented with a task situation for which they must use complex, sequentially available information, they must construct organizations for this information in order to perform the task effectively. For example, organizing incoming information allows the individual to remember more information, and to predict and prepare for information yet to come. The hypothesis tested in the present study is that such organizations have an impact on an individual's ability to maintain attention to a task and resist distractions in the environment. Specifically, it was hypothesized that (1) people can attain complex, hierarchically organized structures for incoming information; (2) that the boundaries between the units highest in the hierarchy constitute major breaks in the processing and integration of information; and (3) that these major "breakpoints" are times when people are especially vulnerable to distraction. In the experiment, subjects were trained to perceive particular, defined structures in sequences of stimuli. After training, they performed a task in the context of a video game requiring speeded predictions or classifications of stimulus events. Within the sequences which had been learned, information irrelevant to the task was sometimes displayed. Overall, subjects' response times in the classification/prediction task indicated the psychological reality of the structures for them as they produced responses more slowly when near a high level unit boundary. They were also affected by distraction, slowing performance significantly when distractions were present. However, the major hypothesis was not confirmed: Distraction did not affect performance differentially for higher level units. This null finding is made compelling by the tremendous statistical power of the analysis. The results were interpreted in the light of possible alternative hypotheses; notably, that distraction affects performance in a strictly momentary way, unrelated to sequences of information that the individual processes. In addition, a major limitation to the present test of the hypothesis is discussed, and a revised test of the hypothesis is proposed. The potential relevance of the hypothesis to theories of the development of attention is described.

In families with young children, bedtime is widely experienced as a difficult and draining task. This study examines the relationships and interactions that emerge at bedtime between children two-to-five years old and their parents. In particular it focuses on the physical closeness they exchange in mediating difficulties or potential difficulties at bedtime. A review of cross-cultural and of historical studies of childhood shows that the problematic nature of children's bedtime is itself a modern western phenomenon. Where there are no separate sleeping quarters, there is no clearly defined period in the daily cycle set aside as children's bedtime. Seen thus as a modern problem, and in terms of child development, bedtime is a form of separation. This comparative study utilizes a quantitative approach in two separate cultural communities, one in the United States and one in Italy. The method involved the formulation, distribution, and analysis of a questionnaire filled out by the parents of 468 children: 208 in Amherst-Northampton, Massachusetts and 260 in Pistoia, Tuscany. The behavior described in responses to the questionnaire was grouped into four categories: direct physical closeness, indirect physical closeness, surrogate to physical closeness, and child difficulties at separation. The results show that the two-year-old children tended to get more physical closeness, the most difficult age that emerged was three, while the five-year olds tended to be less demanding. They were receiving more indirect and more surrogate physical closeness than direct physical closeness. The cultural differences proved more striking than those related to age. Parents in the American sample tended to put their children to bed earlier, to make more use of certain forms of indirect physical closeness (reading) and to make more use of surrogate to physical closeness (leaving the light on, giving the child a soft toy). The examination of family interaction during the preparations of young children for sleep, an aspect of social development as yet little explored, is in fact a study in "attachment and separation".

Previous studies of gender differences in emotional and behavioral expressivity have generally found few differences between male and female infants despite persistent reports by parents to the contrary. This study presents striking sex differences in infants' behavior and affect during face-to-face interactions with their mother. 81 infants (43 females and 38 males) and their mothers were videotaped in Tronick's Still-Face Paradigm at 6 and 6 1/2 months. The Still-Face Paradigm consists of three two-minute episodes: normal age-appropriate interaction, mother acting unresponsive by holding a still-face (a stressful event), and a reunion of normal interaction. The infants' behavior (e.g., gaze, self-regulatory coping behaviors, gestural and vocal signals, and withdrawal/ escape behaviors) was coded using the Infant Regulatory Scoring System and their affective expressions with the AFFEX system. The mothers' behavior (e.g., facilitative or disruptive behaviors, gaze, gestural and vocal signals) was coded with the Maternal Regulatory Scoring System and their affect with Emde's Maternal Hedonic Tone Scale. The videotapes were coded second by second and reliability was maintained at over 75% for each behavior and facial expression. Boys showed significantly more joy and anger, more positive vocalizations, fussiness, and crying, more gestural signals directed towards the mother, and more escape behaviors than girls. Girls were significantly more likely to show interest, to gaze at objects, and to use self-regulatory behaviors such as diverting their attention to objects and to thumbsuck than boys. Several of these sex differences were stable over time and none could be accounted for in terms of maternal behavior and affect. Finally, significant between-session stability in both sexes' behavioral and affective displays was found particularly in the first play suggesting that stress does not highlight individual differences at this age. These data indicate that boys are more affectively reactive and socially directed than girls, and that girls are more object oriented and use more self-regulatory behaviors than boys. Thus 6-month-old infants show gender based affective, behavioral, and self-regulatory differences that appear independent of maternal behavior and affect.

abstract: Background. Hundreds of studies have linked maternal depression to negative child outcomes. However, these studies have been correlational, so they cannot rule out alternative explanations such as that child characteristics evoke maternal depression or that confounding variables are causes of both phenomena. Design. I applied a propensity score approach to data from the Early Steps Multisite Trial, a sample of 731 low-income families tracked approximately annually from ages 2 through 16. Families were equated on propensity scores based on a large set of baseline characteristics, producing two groups that were similar across all measured characteristics except for the presence of clinically significant symptoms of maternal depression during toddlerhood. Children’s longitudinal behavioral outcomes from parent-, teacher-, and self-report measures were compared across the equated groups in order to estimate the causal effects of maternal depression. Results. Both matching and weighting were successful in equating families with depressed and non-depressed mothers on a set of 89 potential confounding variables measured at child age 2. Prior to any adjustment for confounding, the effect of maternal depression was statistically significant for 41 of 48 mother-, secondary-caregiver-, and teacher-reported outcomes. Effect sizes were consistent with the larger literature and in the small to medium range. After matching or weighting to equate families with depressed versus non-depressed mothers, the effects of maternal depression at age 2 was statistically significant for 6 of 48 mother-, secondary-caregiver-, and teacher-reported outcomes. Adjusted effect sizes were in the very small to small range. Conclusions. Findings are consistent with the claim that there is a very small causal effect of exposure to maternal depression at child age 2 on child externalizing and internalizing behavior in early childhood, middle childhood, and adolescence. While awaiting replication, results suggest (a) that treatment of maternal depression should not be expected to substantially reduce child externalizing and internalizing behavior problems; (b) that very large sample sizes are needed to adequately investigate causal developmental processes that link maternal depression to child behavior; and (c) that causal inference methods can be an important addition to the toolbox of developmental psychopathologists. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Psychology 2020

When learning about concepts that are difficult to experience first-hand, children must rely on information from others. One challenge for young children is that adults may provide differing information, yet few studies have examined how children reconcile conflicting beliefs from different sources. Across three studies, I explored children’s understanding of reality and possibility in natural and supernatural domains from secular and Christian communities in a largely secular society, Mainland China. Two age groups were included, one group before formal schooling (5- to 6-year-olds), where children are mainly exposed to testimony from parents and their immediate circle, and one group after several years of schooling (9- to 11-year-olds), where the testimony from parents may support or conflict with school testimony. Specifically, in Study 1, children and their parents were asked to judge the existence of unobservable scientific and religious entities. Results showed that the ontological judgments of children from both age groups were in strong correspondence with their parents’ beliefs, even when parental testimony may conflict with the testimony children receive in school. Study 2 expanded beyond Study 1 to explore children’s understanding of fact and fiction in counter-intuitive processes. Study 2 also asked whether religious exposure from the immediate circle in a largely secular society may extend Christian children’s understanding of possibility in formal religious contexts to folk religious contexts, fantastical contexts or improbable contexts in general. It was found that with age, Christian Chinese children became less likely to extend their belief in the impossible via God’s intervention to other magical or divine powers. Lastly, Study 3 examined and revealed the specific elements of parental testimony that might alert children to the existence or non-existence of unobservable concepts by analyzing parent-child conversations about unobservable scientific and religious concepts in both high consensus and low consensus domains. Taken together, Study 1 and Study 2 demonstrated the weight of testimony from parents and the immediate community on children’s understanding of possibility and facts when there is conflicting testimony in the larger society. Study 3 provided evidence on parental testimony as one possible cultural transmission mechanism. The final chapter addresses the significance and implications of these findings in the field of developmental science and education.

Children with disabling chronic illnesses are known to have complex and frequently unmet health care needs. Limited information exists in South Africa regarding the prevalence of children with disability, as well their needs and utilization of services. The purpose of the current study is twofold: (1) identify the number of children known with disability, or disabling chronic illnesses in the western health sub-district of Cape Town; (2) analyse the health services that currently exist for these children. A period prevalence survey was conducted between January 2010 and December 2011. Numerous sources of information were sought to identify as many children with disabling chronic illness as possible. These included the referral hospitals for the Western sub-district, namely Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital and New Somerset Hospital, as well as the institutions where children with disability are cared for or educated, and relevant non-profit organisations in the disability sector. Information was gathered between January 2011 and Sept 2012.

abstract: Students at High Achieving Schools (HASs) have recently been identified as an at-risk population, and excessive pressure to excel is considered the cause of this maladjustment. However, the specific aspects of pressure that lead to these outcomes have yet to be comprehensively explored. In two schools, one public and one independent, this study examined multiple constructs potentially implicated: feelings of pressure to succeed from different sources (parents, teachers, coaches, the self, and friends) and total felt pressure. Also considered are dimensions of being overextended across commitments, including hours of sleep, homework, and levels of associated strain and enjoyment. These indices were all examined in relation to adolescents’ internalizing and externalizing symptoms, as well as feelings of disengagement with school, after controlling for attachment to both parents. Results showed that total felt pressure, and pressure felt from the self, were most notably related to internalizing symptoms and disengagement with school. Additionally, strain from commitments showed unique links with depression, anxiety, and negative feelings about school. Finally, enjoyment from different commitments showed robust links with feelings about school. Overall, the different pressure predictors showed sporadic links with externalizing behaviors and substance use. Findings are discussed in terms of directions for interventions as well as future research with HAS populations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Psychology 2019

The large quantity and ready availability of developmental-genetic data, coupled with increased rigor and detail in the characterization of morphological phenotypes, has made the genotype-phenotype map of whole organisms a central challenge in evolutionary developmental biology. This in turn necessitates more general modeling strategies that can efficiently represent different types of biological knowledge and systematically applied across levels of organization, spatiotemporal scales, and taxonomic groups. Graph-based models appear useful in this context but have been remarkably underutilized in biology. Simulation of ontogenetic and evolutionary change by means of graphrewriting algorithms has been explored as a means of providing a coordinate-free approach to form transformation in time and space. A finite set of rules describing generic graph transformations is used to encode knowledge about morphogenetic steps. Their application to skeletal growth in sea urchins effectively models ontogenesis in terms of topology rather than specific geometry, suggesting a promising approach to general modeling of developmental evolution.

Bioecological theory suggests that development, including reading development, occurs through interactions between individuals and proximal environmental contexts (Bronfenbrenner & Ceci, 2004), though neighborhood characteristics are often underrepresented within studies of proximal processes on reading outcomes. The present study sought to further knowledge of the environmental influences on reading comprehension by proposing several hypothesized risk and protective aspects of the neighborhood environment and using a novel combination of techniques to explore their association with FCAT reading. The results of this exploration indicated that of the proposed neighborhood features, distance to shelters was the sole predictor of FCAT reading scores after accounting for family- and community-level SES. Additionally, the present study was concerned with examining the proportion of shared environmental influences on FCAT reading which were accounted for by neighborhood characteristics. Distance to shelters was able to explain a significant proportion of shared environmental influences in this study, marking an additional component of environmental influences on reading. These results help to develop a more comprehensive model of the etiological influences involved in reading comprehension skills. The findings also serve to inform instructional practices and future intervention research targeted to improving reading comprehension skills. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2016. / August 12, 2016. / behavior genetics, bioecological theory, neighborhood environment, reading comprehension / Includes bibliographical references. / Sara A. Hart, Professor Directing Dissertation; Beth M. Phillips, University Representative; Colleen Ganley, Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member; Jeanette Taylor, Committee Member.

Verbal information, or testimony, from learning partners (e.g., parents, teachers) initially serves as one of young children’s primary sources of information beyond direct observation. An extensive body of research has examined children’s burgeoning abilities to evaluate testimony according to cues about the source’s credibility (e.g., Mills, 2013). However, as children grow and develop, they gain increased access to knowledge artifacts, or objects or records containing knowledge such as books or Internet resources (e.g., Einav, Robinson, & Fox, 2013; McGinty et al., 2006; Noles, Danovitch, & Shafto, 2015) that often provide little information about their source (Corriveau et al., 2014; Eyden et al., 2013; Robinson, Einav, & Fox, 2013). Across six studies, I investigated factors influencing young children’s developing abilities to epistemically evaluate knowledge artifacts and the potential role that artifacts’ media, source, and type may play in those evaluations. In Study 1, I examined how media preferences may impact four- to six-year-old children’s trust in information, evaluating the reliability of early reading ability and other factors as predictors for their text-trust preferences and examining whether informant methodology affects these findings. I found that many children display a consistent text-trust preference but that it is likely due to inferences about the epistemic authority of text rather than early reading ability, inferences about puppet or human informants, or other factors. In Study 2, I explored whether four- to six-year-old children use the knowledge of a source author to make inferences about knowledge artifacts and whether media (text or audio) influences these decisions, finding that children’s text-trust preferences are likely more general knowledge artifact preferences and influence their decisions independently of their burgeoning understanding of authors’ knowledge. In Study 3, I developed adult and child surveys to examine children’s usage of and epistemic practices regarding different types of knowledge artifacts and other information sources. Here, I found that parents and children largely agreed on children’s varying usage of various knowledge artifacts and other sources and generally believe most types of artifacts are potential learning avenues for children. The final chapter of this dissertation reviews the theoretical and practical significance of these findings and discusses directions for future investigation using the knowledge artifact framework. / 2024-05-09T00:00:00Z