Two groups of 5- to 8-year-olds, and a comparison sample of adults, were examined in an effort to explore the developing relationships between false belief understanding and an awareness of the individualized nature of personal taste, on the one hand, and, on the other, a maturing grasp of the interpretive character of the knowing process. In Study 1,20 children between 5 and 8, and in Study Two, a group of 15 adults, all behaved in accordance with hypotheses by proving to be indistinguishable in their good grasp of the possibility of false beliefs, and in their common assumption that differences of opinion concerning matters of taste are legitimate expressions of personal preferences. By contrast, only the 7- and 8-year-old children and adults gave evidence of recognizing that ambiguous stimuli allow for warrantable differences of interpretation. Study 3 replicated and extended these findings with a group of 48 5- to 8-year-old subjects, again showing that while 5-year-olds easily pass a standard test of false belief understanding, only children of 7 or 8 ordinarily evidence an appreciation of the interpretative character of the knowing process. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

Enterocytes, epithelial cells of the small intestine, exhibit remarkable apical-basal polarity. The apical surfaces of enterocytes display an array of tightly packed microvilli termed the brush border. Microvilli are composed of membrane supported by a linear actin bundle, with the plus ends of the actin filaments at the microvillar tips. Despite the importance of the brush border in nutrient absorption and host defense, the mechanism of brush border assembly is unclear. Because of the central role of actin in microvilli, the goal of this thesis is to provide molecular detail as to how microvillar actin bundles form. A proteomic analysis of the brush border by our laboratory identified two actin nucleators in the brush border: the Arp2/3 complex and Cordon-Bleu (COBL). Small molecule inhibition of the Arp2/3 complex did not have an effect on brush border assembly in Ls174T-W4 (W4) cells, which act as a single cell model of enterocyte polarization and brush border formation. Therefore, this work focused on the linear actin nucleator COBL. We show that COBL localizes to the base of the brush border in mouse small intestine and in W4 cells. COBL is necessary and sufficient to induce microvillar growth using a mechanism that requires functional WH2 domains. COBL functions downstream of the F-BAR domain containing protein syndapin-2, which drives targeting to the apical domain of enterocytes. In the syndapin-2 knockout mouse, COBL enrichment at the apical domain of enterocytes is impaired, and microvilli are significantly shorter as compared to wild-type control mice. In cells that do not normally build microvilli, exogenous COBL drives the aberrant formation of dynamic cytoplasmic actin bundles that grow and shrink over the course of minutes; stabilization of COBL-induced bundles by the actin bundling protein espin leads to robust microvillus-like protrusions. This study provides novel insight on mechanisms that control microvillar growth and thus, the maintenance of intestinal homeostasis. This work also reveals a novel assembly paradigm for actin-based protrusions that do not emerge from a dendritic array.

This study investigated the Rorschach responses of adolescent male child sexual abuse (CSA) survivors to see if reliable object relations differences could be found in the protocols of boys who did and did not exhibit sexual offending behaviors. Fifty-one Rorschach protocols of 12 to 17 year old boys were selected to form 3 groups: Non-Offending CSA survivors, Sexually-Offending CSA survivors, and a Comparison Group of non-victimized non-offenders. All 3 groups were approximately matched for age at testing, race, and age at first sexual victimization. The primary hypothesis was that the Rorschachs of sexual-offenders and non-offenders would differ in affective reactivity, thought disorder, object relationships, self-perception, and psychological defenses. Urist Mutuality of Autonomy Scale, Blatt & Ritzler Thought Disorder Continuum, Saunders Atypical Movement score, MOR, R, AFR, EB, M, and WSUMC were used to assess differences. Results confirmed the hypothesis in all but the affective reactivity dimension. The protocols of Sexually-Offending survivors had more dependent and maladaptive object relationships, more severe thought disorder, and more MOR and Atypical Movement responses. Although differences in affective reactivity were not found, comparisons made with Exner's norms indicated that AFR was significantly lower than normal among SO-S and NO-S subjects, and that R was significantly higher than normal in the SO-S group. A linear discriminant function analysis showed significant and accurate differentiation between SO-S and NO-S subjects (correct classification rate = 87%) based primarily on the object relations and thought disorder scales. Because the discriminant function and classification were based on the same sample, this finding is quite tentative. Additional research with larger samples of protocols and a wider array of Rorschach variables are needed and could result in the future discovery of a stable and reliable discriminant function for differentiating sexually offending and non-offending CSA survivors on the basis of Rorschach performance.

The "delicate self-cutting syndrome" (Pao, 1969) refers to repetitious non-lethal cutting or scratching traditionally associated with female adolescents. While research and theory have explained the reasons for this behavior in various ways, little attempt has been made to integrate these reasons into broader models. An examination of the literature suggested eight clearly differentiable models that integrated groups of reasons: behavioral, systemic, avoidance of suicide, sexual, expression of affect, control of affect, ending depersonalization and creating boundaries. This study evaluated these models and investigated the relationships between them by surveying therapists about the conceptualizations they use to understand patients who engage in delicate self-cutting. Related developmental issues were also briefly investigated. A pretest was conducted with clinical psychology graduate students and faculty to validate the theoretical associations between specific reasons and the models used to integrate them. The main survey asked a nationwide sample of psychologists and social workers who treat adolescents and adults in individual outpatient therapy to rate a patient on the specific reasons for cutting and the integrative models. Forty-four completed surveys were analyzed. The systemic, suicide, sexual, expression, depersonalization and boundaries models were supported by a factor analysis and the generation of alpha coefficients. Examination of the patterns of relationships between and within models and individual reasons suggested that the behavior model was undifferentiable from the systems model and that the control model addressed the general need to regulate affect and was an issue underlying all other models. The expression model showed a similar patterns of relationships while maintaining its ability to be differentiated. A new structure is hypothesized with control and expression models reflecting basic underlying functions of the self-cutting behavior and the other six models reflecting more subjective meaning assignment. Results also indicated that therapists find the expression, control, depersonalization and boundaries models most useful in understanding and treating their patients. There was little support for the sexual or suicide models. Implications for therapeutic interventions and difficulties are examined in light of the new structure and therapists' preferences for certain models. Directions for future research are proposed.

This dissertation defends a theory of strict Chain Uniformity based on the A/A-bar distinction, in part in response to increasing criticism towards the A/A-bar distinction. The problems originated with the multiplication of new functional categories, whereby new positions were created without any provision to determine their A/A-bar status. The problem was compounded by mounting evidence that specifiers of functional categories could be used either as A or A-bar. Further, serious criticisms came from the alleged simultaneous A/A-bar properties of scrambled positions ('scrambling paradoxes'). Alternative typologies have been proposed (Webelhuth 1988, Chomsky 1989, Deprez 1991, Saito 1991, and others) which condemn the A/A-bar distinction. This thesis advocates that the A/A-bar distinction per se is perfectly adequate, but its current implementation requires major modifications. It is argued that all positions within functional categories are inherently undetermined w.r.t. their A/A-bar status. Given strict Chain Uniformity, a chain-contextual determination of these positions is obtained, i.e. their A/A-bar status is subsumed under algorithms of chain formation. This eliminates any exponential complexity related to increasing functional categories, yet allows the cross-linguistic flexibility the A/A-bar distinction previously lacked. Operator-variable chains are decomposed in two uniform chains connected through Agreement-chain formation, a strategy independently required for Null Operator Constructions which is here extended to AgrPs. AgrPs are thus the interface between A and A-bar chains, and an analysis of past-participle agreement in French is developed in that perspective. Chapter 2 proposes a review of issues on Bounding theory relevent to Chain formation and the A/A-bar distinction. A theory of Weak and Weakest crossover effects which transcends the A/A-bar Chain distinction is developed in chapter 4. Chapter 5 proposes a strict A/A-bar Chain Uniformity approach to scrambling paradoxes which drastically reduces the gap between scrambling and non-scrambling languages. Chapter 6 is devoted to Null Operator Constructions in English and maintains that Tough movement and Purpose clauses shows properties typical of A-movement, and require a different treatment from other NOCs. The analysis capitalizes on the Unified Chain definition which encompasses all chain types by eliminating Case as a defining property of any chain, A-chains in particular.

This dissertation studies the generic construct of critical consciousness, defined as the kind of awareness characterized by the independent and interdependent investigation of truth and meaning, both internally and in one's social environment, which allows an individual to disembed from it, engage in a critical moral dialogue with it, and become a moral and caring agent for positive change in his/her social world. The study subjects the broad phenomenon of CC to a rigorous empirical and developmental exegesis through descriptive accounts of the levels of its evolution in the life-span of interview subjects and secondary life histories from different cultural and historic contexts. It brings together Neo-Piagetian and Vygotskian understanding into an integrated model of the ontogeny of CC as an alterative, optimal developmental pathway of the evolving of adult social consciousness on the boundary of public and private. This study has established three levels in the CC pathway: Pre-CC, Conventional CC, and Postconventional CC. Each level is described in terms of a different range of tasks, concerns, and capabilities in their cross-cultural and socio-contextual variation. Converging theoretical and empirical evidence supports the empirical claim that the centrality of authentic moral concerns in the formation of consciousness is independent of the level of operant structural development, although the moral motivational dimensions are continuously elaborated throughout development. Hence, the ontogeny of CC is described as the synergistic outcome of the on-going interplay between moral motivation and the composite structural development of consciousness. The composite structural developmental component includes social-cognitive and ego development. Moral motivation is analyzed in terms of the interaction of four dimensions in the formation of personhood. They are: (1) the formation of a moral sense of identity and moral imperative; (2) the negotiation of external moral authority progressively internalized as moral responsibility and agency; (3) the formation of empathic and permeable relationships, and concerns with justice and not hurting, which grow into social consciousness; (4) the search for greater meaning in life than the individual self, which serves as a vantage point for self-reflection and critical examination of reality.

The importance of continuous sight of the target in 7.5 month old infants' reaching was explored in a task that addressed the issues of infants' ability to anticipate and to retain information about the properties of a hidden object. Barriers and darkness were used to investigate infants' ability to compensate for the physical and visual obstruction of a target object in a reaching task. Infants' ability to intercept a moving object with a partially obscured trajectory was tested. Thirty 7.5 month old infants were presented with a graspable object that moved in a straight-line path through their reaching space. In some conditions the object was obscured by a barrier or by darkness for one second just prior to moving within reach, and infants' frequency of reaching and success at contacting the object were used to evaluate their performance. Further analyses of the infants' looking behavior and of the path of their reaching hand helped to clarify the reasons underlying their successes and failures. Infants showed some ability to adapt to a loss of visual information about the moving target object's position by sometimes successfully contacting the object in the barrier conditions. However, infants reached less often and with less success when access to, or sight of, the target object was obstructed. The infants' visual tracking, obstacle-avoidance skills, and ability to retain information about a hidden object were examined in conjunction with kinematic data to explain infants' limitations in adapting to obstacles in reaching tasks. These limitations involved difficulty visually tracking the object past a barrier, particularly in the dark conditions, as well as difficulty successfully aiming a reach around a barrier. Infants appeared to ignore the path of their hand on its way toward the target object, resulting in the hand frequently contacting a barrier rather than the target. Infants' successful contacts in the barrier conditions suggest that they do not require constant visual information about target position in order to enact a proficient reach. Further, infants appear to predict the reappearance of the target object and remember the path and speed of the object during its occlusion.

Considerable evidence indicates that touch is vital to the healthy psychological development of children. However, teacher-child physical contact has rarely been investigated. This study was therefore designed to obtain descriptive data on teacher-child touch in preschool classrooms, the teacher, child and center variables which affect such contact and the messages teachers give to children regarding human closeness. The central question addressed was: do all children receive physical affection from caregivers? The frequency and duration of seven categories of touch were measured in eight preschool classrooms in four day care centers: Affectionate, Caretaking-Helpful, Comfort, Play, Attentional-Control Neutral, Attentional-Control Negative-Punishing and Attentional-Control Affectionate. Data was collected through observation of teachers and 148 children, and interviews with twenty teachers and four directors. The results indicated that while teachers do provide physical affection for children, they are more likely to use touch for caretaking-helpful purposes or to control-punish children than to comfort, express affection or touch in the context of play. However, great variance was found among individual teachers and centers in both the frequency and nature of touch. Education and positive attitudes toward physical contact were found to be related to higher rates of positive teacher touch. Center variables influencing higher rates of positive touch and lower rates of controlling touch were director attitudes and leadership styles, implicit center policies and director expression of physical affection to teachers. A small percentage of children received the majority of all types of physical contact; some children received little or no affection. The most important child variable influencing the frequency of positive teacher touch was whether the child expressed affection to caregivers. Children named as challenging by teachers received far more negative-punishing touch than those named as easy. Children identified as having a painful touch history (physical or sexual abuse; deprivation of affection) similarly received a greater frequency of negative-punishing touch than children in general. The findings were discussed in terms of the need for teacher-parent education on the developmental significance of touch and for an increase in positive touch in early childhood programs.

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the role internalized shame and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) play in the treatment outcomes of people in methadone programs. Clients at two methadone treatment sites were surveyed with Cook's Shame Scale and the MEMPI PK and PS sub-scales for PTSD. Over 63%—ten times that found in the general population and two and a half times the frequency found in other chemically dependent populations—tested for PTSD, which is often passed over as a generalized anxiety disorder. The study showed that the symptoms of PTSD, internalized shame and low self-esteem are highly intercorrelated in this population. The study also showed that there is a strong relationship between internalized shame and PTSD test scores, methadone dose levels, are predictors and the frequency of drug use, frequency which are treatment outcome variables. Secondary findings show that there is a correlation between sexual abuse, age of first drug use, shame and PTSD scores. Internalized shame, PTSD PS Scale scores and race also showed some trends. These findings, along with research on the biochemical effects of not only chemical dependency, but also of trauma and internalized shame support the understanding that PTSD and internalized shame do play a role in affecting treatment outcomes. Research in related fields describe biochemical feedback loops created by responses to trauma and the biochemistry of chemical dependency. These feedback loops are perpetuated and exacerbated by continued drug use and untreated trauma symptomology. The resultant biochemical deficiencies can be stabilized and replenished through time when direct interventions are made on the physical, behavioral and emotional levels of treatment. Methadone, while helping to decrease the use of heroin, may actually contribute to furthering the progression of chemical dependency and block treatment of PTSD by covering symptoms which when addressed could lessen or resolve and improve treatment outcomes. Further studies, which find ways to examine and measure these different aspects of trauma, internalized shame and PTSD need to be designed to understand more clearly how these conditions affect various outcome variables. A variety of therapeutic modalities which focus on overall wellness and recovery can be used and tested to design comprehensive treatment. Hopefully, this study will begin to build a bridge between conventional methadone treatment—which uses behavioral modification and drug replacement therapies—with the exciting new findings in neurobiochemistry.

Although mathematical skills are important to economic success in this society, U.S. students routinely perform below international standards of math achievement. Given such findings, there is a pressing need to understand factors that contribute to individual and group weakness in mathematics before such difficulties become entrenched. By studying preschool children with a longitudinal approach, the current study aimed to improve understanding of math development by investigating the unfolding relationship between math interest and achievement. Based on research with older children, it was expected that math interest and skill would be both concurrently related and predictive of one another over time. Additionally, research from the self-efficacy literature suggests that a child's conception of his or her math ability would be related to both the child's math interest and actual skill. Using the TEMA-2 as an assessment of skill and a multimodal approach to measuring interest, this study explored the measurement of math interest in young children. Gender and ethnic differences were found in select teacher measurements of interest, though none were found on observed or child-reported interest. Concurrent relationships were found between the different measures of interest and math ability. Even when controlling for initial skill or interest, skill was predictive of later observational ratings of math interest, and both observational and teacher measurements of interest were predictive of later skill. Because the assessment of self-efficacy demonstrated poor psychometric properties, further analyses were not conducted.