Background: Developing a well-adept social competence in preschool years is considered important and seems to play a pivotal role in later social functioning like school readiness and academic competence. Due to the individual development in children, establishing potential early markers of early social problems has been difficult. Although parent, peer, and contextual factors may be important to children’s development of social competence, the present study addressed the range of individual differences in children that may facilitate or impede social skills development. Method: The paper is based on data from the comprehensive longitudinal Trondheim Early Secure Study (TESS) of a screen-stratified community sample of 2475 children who were assessed at 4 year of age (T1) and followed up at the age of 6 (T2) (n=797). General linear modeling weighting data back to yield true population estimates of the predictive value of Social Competence, Gender, Negative Affectivity, Surgency, Effortful Control, Inattention, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity, Peer Problems, Disorganized Attachment and Callous-Unemotional traits assessed at T1 in predicting Social Competence at T2, when adjusting for Social Competence at T1. Results: Analysis indicates that Social Competence, Surgency, Inattention, Peer Problems high levels of Callous-Unemotional traits and Disorganization were unique predictors of Social Competence when adjusting for all variables. Negative Affectivity failed to predict Social Competence. Conclusions: Beyond a sizable continuity in social competence a range of child characteristics may enhance social skills development in young children . The identification of such child factors, when controlling for other potential factors, may inform health promotion efforts towards increasing young children’s social competence.

The present study investigated variability in the remedial outcomes of 105 adolescents with reading disabilities who participated in PHAST PACES, a research-based reading intervention with a strong attributional retraining focus. The study focussed on the impact of three conative functions—intrinsic motivation, attributions, and effortful control—and their relationships with reading skill and reading growth. It was hypothesized that, following PHAST PACES, students would demonstrate improvement on reading outcomes, increased intrinsic motivation for reading, a shift from maladaptive to adaptive attributions, and improved effortful control. Students demonstrated significant gains on reading and effortful control measures following PHAST PACES intervention. The intrinsic motivation and attributional profiles of students did not improve. Students who performed best on reading measures at pre- and post-test made attributions of success to ability and avoided attributions of failure to ability, while reporting high perceived competence for reading, and demonstrating good effortful control.

The present study investigated variability in the remedial outcomes of 105 adolescents with reading disabilities who participated in PHAST PACES, a research-based reading intervention with a strong attributional retraining focus. The study focussed on the impact of three conative functions—intrinsic motivation, attributions, and effortful control—and their relationships with reading skill and reading growth. It was hypothesized that, following PHAST PACES, students would demonstrate improvement on reading outcomes, increased intrinsic motivation for reading, a shift from maladaptive to adaptive attributions, and improved effortful control. Students demonstrated significant gains on reading and effortful control measures following PHAST PACES intervention. The intrinsic motivation and attributional profiles of students did not improve. Students who performed best on reading measures at pre- and post-test made attributions of success to ability and avoided attributions of failure to ability, while reporting high perceived competence for reading, and demonstrating good effortful control.

abstract: I examined the role of children's or teacher's effortful control (EC) in children's academic functioning in early elementary school in two separate studies. In Study 1, I tested longitudinal relations between parents' reactions to children's displays of negative emotions in kindergarten, children's EC in first grade, and children's reading or math achievement in second grade (N = 291). In the fall of each school year, parents reported their positive or negative reactions and parents and teachers reported on children's EC. Standardized achievement tests assessed achievement each spring. Results from autoregressive panel mediation models demonstrated that constructs exhibited consistency across study years. In addition, first-grade EC mediated relations between parents' reactions (i.e., a difference composite of positive minus negative reactions) at kindergarten and second-grade math, but not reading, achievement. Findings suggest that one method of promoting math achievement in early school is through the socialization of children's EC. In Study 2, I examined relations between teachers' EC, teachers' reactions to children's negative emotions, the student-teacher relationship (STR), and children's externalizing behaviors or achievement among 289 second-graders and their 116 teachers. Results from mixed-model regressions showed that negative reactions and teacher-reported STR mediated relations between teachers' EC and math achievement. In addition, teacher-reported STR mediated links between teachers' EC and externalizing problems across reporters and between teachers' EC and reading achievement. Tests of moderated mediation indicated that a high-quality STR was negatively associated with externalizing problems and high levels of teachers' negative reactions were negatively related to math achievement only for students low in EC. In tests of moderation by social competence, teachers' reports of high-quality STRs tended to be negatively associated with externalizing problems, but relations were strongest for students not high in social competence. For students low in social competence only, children's reports of a high-quality STR was related to lower reading achievement. These results highlight the utility of considering whether and how teachers' own intrinsic characteristics influence classroom dynamics and students' academic functioning outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Family and Human Development 2011

Adults with hearing loss who report difficulty understanding speech with and without hearing aids often also report increased mental or listening effort. Although speech recognition measures are well known and have been in use for decades, measures of listening effort are relatively new and include objective measures such as working memory tasks, pupillometry, heart rate, skin conductance, and brain imaging. This purpose of this study is to evaluate an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based method to assess cognitive states associated with high frequency alpha (10-13 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) during effortful listening. Changes in high frequency alpha have been associated with semantic memory and cognitive demands. In addition, changes in theta have been associated with encoding information and increased listening effort. Correlations between EEG frequency recordings, self-report, and behavioral measures in speech recognition and auditory working memory tasks will be described. Results will be presented demonstrating the extent to which high frequency alpha predicts word recognition in noise performance and self-reported listening effort.

No description available.

Adults with hearing loss typically experience difficulty understanding speech and report increased mental effort or listening effort (Pichora-Fuller et al. 2016). Over time, or in difficult listening conditions, listening effort can cause stress and mental fatigue, contributing to negative psychosocial consequences (e.g., social withdrawal) or limited/discontinued hearing-aid use (Eckert, et al., 2016; Pichora-Fuller, 2007). Additionally, the amount of listening effort required to recognize speech varies by individual and by listening condition (Pichora-Fuller, Kramer, Eckert, et al., 2016). Therefore, having a way to measure and account for listening effort in individual hearing aid fittings and aural rehabilitation plans may improve satisfaction and eventual hearing aid retention in those with hearing loss. Few objective measures are available to reliably predict listening effort in real world environments and many effort-related measures do not consider the specific neural systems that underlie listening effort (Zekveld et al., 2010; Smith et al. 2016; McMahon et al. 2016). The purpose of this study is to evaluate an electroencephalogram (EEG)-based method for quantifying listening effort based on the power of the cortical EEG response. Spectral power estimates within different EEG frequency domains that represent the activity of attention-related neural systems were calculated and included: (1) low-frequency alpha (8-10 Hz; LFA) power that has been associated with increased working memory task demands (Klimesch, 1999); (2) high-frequency alpha (10-13 Hz; HFA) power that has been associated with semantic memory and cognitive demands (Klimesch, 1999); and (3) theta (4-7 Hz) power that has been associated with encoding information (Klimesch, 1999) and increased listening effort (Wisniewski et al., 2015). The EEG data was collected during administration of the Words-In-Noise test (WIN; Wilson et al., 2003) and the Word Auditory Recognition and Recall Measure (WARRM; Smith et al., 2016) that induce listening effort due to low signal-to-noise ratio and due to auditory working memory demand, respectively. The results of correlations among EEG power in the three frequency ranges, WIN performance, WAARM performance, and self-report measures of listening effort will be presented. These results will be supported by independent component source analysis of EEG frequencies for regions of interest predicted to contribute to listening effort, including the frontal midline, auditory cortex, and parietal lobe. The EEG measures are expected to collectively explain task performance and self-reported listening effort.

No description available.

Selon la théorie de l’auto-détermination, l’autonomie est un besoin universel de base qui, lorsque soutenu, permet aux individus de mieux fonctionner et de vivre plus de bien-être psychologique (p. ex., Deci & Ryan, 2008). Le style parental des parents qui soutiennent l’autonomie de leur enfant est caractérisé par le soutien du fonctionnement autodéterminé de ce dernier. Sa définition traditionnelle inclut des pratiques telles qu’offrir des explications et des choix lors des requêtes, communiquer de l’empathie, et encourager les prises d’initiatives tout en minimisant l’utilisation d’un langage contrôlant (p. ex., Soenens et al., 2007). Les bénéfices d’un style parental qui soutient l’autonomie d’un enfant ont été bien documentés (p. ex., Grolnick, Deci, & Ryan, 1997), toutefois, peu d’études ont été effectuées auprès des bambins. Or, cette thèse visait à enrichir la littérature sur le « parentage » en explorant les pratiques soutenantes qui sont utilisées par des parents de bambins dans un contexte de socialisation (étude 1), ainsi qu’en examinant les facteurs qui peuvent brimer leur mise en pratique (étude 2). La première étude a examiné un grand nombre de pratiques de socialisation que les parents qui favorisent davantage le soutien à l’autonomie (SA) pourraient utiliser plus fréquemment lorsqu’ils font des demandes à leurs bambins. Cette étude nous a permis d’explorer comment les parents manifestent leur SA et si le SA dans ce type de contexte est associé à un plus grand niveau d’internalisation des règles. Des parents (N = 182) de bambins (M âge = 27.08 mois) ont donc été invités à rapporter la fréquence avec laquelle ils utilisent 26 pratiques potentiellement soutenantes lorsqu’ils demandent à leurs bambins de compléter des tâches importantes mais non intéressantes et de rapporter à quel point ils valorisent le SA. Huit pratiques ont été identifiées comme étant soutenantes: quatre façons de communiquer de l’empathie, donner des explications courtes, expliquer pourquoi la tâche est importante, décrire le problème de façon informative et neutre, et mettre en pratique le comportement désiré soi-même. De plus, l’ensemble des huit pratiques corrélait positivement avec le niveau d’internalisation des bambins, suggérant aussi que celles-ci représentent bien le concept du SA. Des études futures pourraient tenter de répliquer ces résultats dans des contextes potentiellement plus chargés ou ébranlants (p. ex., réagir face à des méfaits, avec des enfants souffrant de retard de développement). La deuxième étude a poursuivi l’exploration du concept du SA parental en examinant les facteurs qui influencent la fréquence d’utilisation des stratégies soutenantes dans des contextes de socialisation. Puisque la littérature suggère que le stress parental et le tempérament difficile des bambins (c.-à-d., plus haut niveau d’affectivité négative, plus faible niveau de contrôle volontaire/autorégulation, plus faible niveau de surgency) comme étant des facteurs de risque potentiels, nous avons exploré de quelle façon ces variables étaient associées à la fréquence d’utilisation des stratégies soutenantes. Les buts de l’étude étaient: (1) d’examiner comment le tempérament des bambins et le stress parental influençaient le SA parental, et (2) de vérifier si le stress parental médiait la relation possible entre le tempérament des bambins et le SA parental. Le même échantillon de parents a été utilisé. Les parents ont été invités à répondre à des questions portant sur le tempérament de leur enfant ainsi que sur leur niveau de stress. Les résultats ont démontré qu’un plus grand niveau d’affectivité négative était associé à un plus grand niveau de stress parental, qui à son tour prédisait moins de SA parental. De plus, le stress parental médiait la relation positive entre l’autorégulation du bambin et le SA parental. Des recherches futures pourraient évaluer des interventions ayant pour but d’aider les parents à préserver leur attitude soutenante durant des contextes de socialisation plus difficiles malgré certaines caractéristiques tempéramentales exigeantes des bambins, en plus du stress qu’ils pourraient vivre au quotidien. / According to self-determination theory, psychological autonomy is a basic, universal need that, when supported, enables individuals to function more positively and experience greater psychological well-being (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2008). Parenting that supports the autonomy of a child is classically defined as the parental support for their self-determined functioning and includes practices such as providing rationales and choices for requests, communicating empathy, and encouraging initiatives while using non-controlling language (e.g., Soenens et al., 2007). The benefits of autonomy-supportive parenting have been well-documented (e.g., Grolnick, Deci, & Ryan, 1997) however, few studies to date have been conducted with toddlers. The present thesis thus sought to enrich the parenting literature by exploring what autonomy-supportive parenting practices are used by parents of toddlers in a socialization context (Study 1) and by examining the factors that may hinder their use (Study 2). The first study examined a wide range of socialization practices that parents who favoured AS to a greater extent may use more frequently when making requests to their toddlers. The study allowed us to explore how parents manifest AS towards their toddlers and whether AS in this context is associated with greater rule internalization. Parents (N = 182) of toddlers (M age = 27.08 months) were thus asked to report the frequency at which they used 26 potentially autonomy-supportive practices when asking their toddlers to complete important yet uninteresting activities and the extent to which they valued AS. Eight practices were identified as being autonomy-supportive: four forms of communicating empathy, providing short rationales, explaining why the task is important, giving an informational and neutral description of the problem, and modeling the desired behaviour. The set of eight practices was positively associated with toddlers’ level of internalization, further suggesting that they embodied the concept of AS. Future studies may seek to replicate these findings in more potentially volatile or distressing contexts (e.g., reacting to misdeeds, with children with developmental delays). The second study extended the results further by examining what factors influenced the use of parental AS in socialization contexts. Since the literature points to parental stress and toddler difficult temperament (i.e., higher levels of negative affectivity, lower levels of effortful control, and lower levels of surgency) as possible risk factors, we explored how they related to the frequency of use of autonomy-supportive practices. The goals of the study were: (1) to examine how toddlers’ temperament and parental stress influenced parental AS, and (2) to verify if parental stress played a mediating role in the putative relationship between toddlers’ temperament and parental AS. Using the same sample, parents were asked to answer questions regarding their toddler’s temperament and their own stress levels. The results showed that greater child negative affectivity was associated with greater parental stress, which in turn predicted lower parental AS. Moreover, parental stress partially mediated the positive relationship between child effortful control and parental AS. Future research could investigate possible interventions that aim to help parents preserve their autonomy-supportive stance during challenging socialization contexts, in the face of exacting child temperamental characteristics, and in addition to the stress brought on by daily life.

Объектом данного исследования является когнитивное, моторное и речевое развитие детей. Предметом: взаимосвязь темперамента и когнитивного развития детей младенческого и раннего возраста. Магистерская диссертация состоит из введения, трех глав, заключения, списка литературы (71 источник) и приложения, включающего в себя бланки применявшихся методик. Объем магистерской диссертации 129 страниц, на которых размещены 3 рисунка и 4 таблицы. Во введении раскрывается актуальность проблемы исследования, ставятся цель и задачи исследования, определяются объект и предмет исследования, формулируются основная гипотеза. Первая глава включает в себя обзор иностранной и отечественной литературы по теме исследования, описание понятия темперамента в историческом контексте, рассмотрены современные представления о темпераменте отечественной и западной школ Рассмотрены основные методы изучения темперамента. Более детальное рассмотрена концепция психобиологического подхода к развитию темперамента Мэри Ротбарт, а также результаты исследований, посвященных данной концепции. Во второй главе были рассмотрены особенности психического развития детей, был сделан обзор периодизаций развития детей до 3 лет. А также были рассмотрены особенности когнитивного, сенсомоторного и речевого развития в младенческом и раннем возрасте. Третья глава посвящена эмпирической части. В ней рассмотрены методики, использованные в данном исследовании: опросник поведения младенцев, а также «Шкалы развития Бэйли». Здесь представлен корреляционный анализ результатов исследования. А также обсуждение этих результатов. В заключении изложены выводы эмпирической части исследования. А также выводы по выдвинутой гипотезе, обоснована практическая значимость работы и описаны возможные перспективы дальнейшей разработки данной проблематики. / The object of this study is the cognitive, motor and speech development of children. Subject: the relationship of temperament and cognitive development of infants and young children. The master's thesis consists of an introduction, three chapters, conclusion, list of references (71 sources) and an Appendix, including the forms of the applied techniques. The volume of the master's thesis is 129 pages, which contains 3 figures and 4 tables. The introduction reveals the relevance of the research problem, sets the purpose and objectives of the study, determines the object and subject of the study, and formulates the main hypothesis. The first Chapter includes a review of foreign and domestic literature on the topic of research, the description of the concept of temperament in a historical context, modern ideas about the temperament of domestic and Western schools, the main methods of studying temperament. The concept of a psychobiological approach to the development of Mary Rothbart's temperament is considered in more detail, as well as the results of studies devoted to this concept. In the second Chapter, the features of mental development of children were considered, a review of periodization of development of children up to 3 years. The features of cognitive, sensorimotor and speech development in infancy and early age were also considered. The third Chapter is devoted to the empirical part. It describes the methods used in this study: a of infant behavior questionnaire (IBQ-R), and Веyley Scales of Infant Development. Here is a correlation analysis of the results of this research. As well as discussion of these results. In conclusion, the result of the empirical part of the research are presented. As well as conclusions on the proposed hypothesis, the practical significance of the work is justified and possible prospects for further development of this problem are described.