What is the fate of a stimulus which is processed, but not consciously seen? Are there any properties of subliminal or preconscious stimuli which are available for conscious report? While psychologists have long been interested in these and similar questions, the answers obtained have varied. This variation is partly a function of the process of uncovering previously overlooked methodological limitations, and then advancing beyond them. The present work takes advantage of a masking technique known as continuous flash suppression to examine an underexplored stimulus property - temporal order. Data from three studies indicate that participants are able to judge whether a subliminal event comes before or after a cued button press. This data is taken to indicate that not all processing is suppressed equally in subliminal masking paradigms. In particular, it seems probable, especially in light of previous work, that processing in the dorsal visual pathway is spared to a greater extent, and is available for introspection. Given this, future work will focus on investigating whether these effects are robust to manipulations of physical action. Implications for theories of action control and visual awareness are discussed in light of the present findings.

I conducted a study comparing the effects of a Social Listener Reinforcement protocol and a video modeling protocol on the number of social verbal operants emitted by preschoolers diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and speech and language delays. The purpose of this study was to examine whether teaching the verbal operants directly would produce different outcomes than conditioning the reinforcers for social verbal exchanges. A combined experimental-control group design with two "nested" non-concurrent multiple probes across participants was used to provide two within-group single case designs simultaneously with the experimental-control group design. The dependent variables were the number of social verbal operants emitted during non-instructional sessions and the number of missed social verbal opportunities. The social verbal operants measured were vocal and non-vocal: (a) sequelics, (b) conversational units, and c) tacts. The independent variables were a Social Listener Reinforcement protocol and a video modeling protocol. Twelve participants, 5 females and 7 males, between the ages of 3-4 were selected to participate in the study. Participants were placed in matched pairs based on their verbal behavior repertoires and pre-experimental probe data. One participant from each pair was assigned to the Social Listener Reinforcement condition and one to the video modeling condition. Results are reported across both individuals and groups. Results showed that participants in both conditions increased the number of social verbal operants they emitted with peers in non-instructional settings. Participants in the Social Listener Reinforcement condition had greater gains in the total number of social verbal operants they emitted and the number of conversational units and sequelics they initiated in non-instructional settings. However, participants in the video modeling condition emitted higher rates of social verbal operants prior to the intervention procedure than participants did in the Social Listener Reinforcement condition. Results are discussed in terms of differences in potential conditioned reinforcers that result from the two social learning procedures.

The quantitative study of choice under conditions of uncertainty dates back to the earliest applications of probability to games of chance. Over time, theories of choice have transitioned away from the `oughts' of rational econometrics toward more face-valid descriptions of observed behaviors. Throughout this period, the problem of subjective probability has posed a consistent difficulty for theories of choice. The most successful approach for modeling these distortions is use of `log-odds,' which provides a powerful description of two-alternative choice as a power law function of relative outcome probability. The log-odds approach can be generalized using the framework of `compositional analysis.' The core statistical methodology of this framework is introduced and described, with an eye towards developing models of choice across any number of alternatives. The viability of these models is demonstrated on several previously published datasets. A series of experiments with rats explored the effect of changing the number of alternatives. Power-law models continued to provide an effective description of behavior, but subjective probabilities were also found to be less distorted when subjects made choices among a larger number of alternatives (eight at once) than among smaller numbers (four or six). This effect was robust against controls for age, order of experience, chamber configuration, and schedule richness. A working hypothesis is put forward based on an analysis of responses as a dynamical process: Subjects succeed at complex tasks by limiting their transitions between response alternatives to a highly stereotyped `default transition matrix,' making only slight deviations in order to adapt to changing task demands. This strategy is computationally efficient. However, severe mismatches between the schedule and a subject's default transition matrix are much more likely to occur when fewer alternatives are available, and behavior under such conditions is necessarily insensitive. Implications for other choice models are considered.

The field of moral psychology has made tremendous advances in the last two decades, spurred on by the reconsideration of many prior assumptions that undergirded its study from the beginning of the twentieth century. These new discoveries largely involved the application of new psychological tools to the puzzles of moral judgment and decision-making, often confirming intuitions ruled out by previous models, which, in turn, needed to be revised to accommodate new evidence. This dissertation seeks to consolidate much of this research under the umbrella concept of "virtue," showing that this idea has important motivational significance for the study of moral psychology. This concept of virtue will be examined and demonstrated to be of import to three major areas of investigation by moral psychologists: (1) moral judgments, (2) moral decisions, and (3) moral character. This research program will provide a framework from which to argue for a revision of many popular and expert a priori assumptions about what the boundaries of morality are and how ethics relates to happiness, and suggest additional avenues for future research.

Childhood physical abuse has been studied for almost 50 years now, resulting in rich knowledge about the immediate and long-term effects on development. For the most part, research has focused on understanding childhood physical abuse as a risk factor for psychopathology, including depression and antisocial behaviors, as such outcomes have clear consequences and costs for society as a whole. However, outcomes related to general social functioning and, more specifically, intimate relationship functioning are also important to study as they may contribute to perpetuation of violence. Children with histories of physical abuse are more likely to have difficulties with multiple aspects of interpersonal functioning, including how they relate to their parents and peers, how they perceive their social worlds, and how they are perceived by others. Given that preadolescence and adolescence are developmental periods when social relationships are particularly important, examining the role of interpersonal factors during these times may provide new insight into understanding the link between childhood physical abuse and later problems in peer relations. As such, the present study hypothesizes that various aspects of interpersonal functioning in preadolescence and adolescence within the domains of attachment, social behavior, social cognition, and social status, mediate the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adolescent social functioning in general and with romantic partners more specifically. Seventy-five adolescents with a history of childhood physical abuse on the New York City Register and 78 matched classmate controls were studied at age 10.5 years and 16.5 years. During both phases, data were collected from the subjects, teachers, parents, and peers. Problematic attachment to parents, aggression, social misperception, and peer rejection status, all during preadolescence, were expected to partially explain the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adolescent poor peer relations. Changes in problematic attachment to parents and aggression from preadolescence to adolescence were also expected to partially explain this relationship. Hierarchical and logistic regression analyses indicated that social misperception and aggression were both significant mediators of the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adolescent poor peer relations. Findings indicated social misperception during preadolescence partially explained the association between childhood physical abuse and adolescent social problems in general, and more specifically the association between childhood physical abuse and problematic intimate relationship functioning (i.e., dating violence). Findings also indicated that preadolescent aggression partially mediated the relationship between childhood physical abuse and adolescent general social problems. Contrary to expectations, neither problematic attachment to parents nor peer rejection status was found to significantly mediate the relationship between preadolescent physical abuse and adolescent poor peer relations. Changes from preadolescence to adolescence in problematic attachment and aggression were also found to be nonsignificant mediators. Of note, change in problematic attachment over time predicted dating violence in adolescence. Findings are discussed within the context of implications for intervention and future research directions.

Specific parenting behaviors, parental style, and quality of relationship are often confounded when examining predictors of adolescent depression. Using Wave I of the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (N = 4,301), the author examined quality of relationship as a potential mediator of parenting behaviors and adolescent depression. Furthermore, the relationship between teachable parenting behaviors and their contribution to adolescent depression was examined, above and beyond quality of relationship with parent and parental style (discussed as parental warmth in this study). As significant differences have been demonstrated in adolescent depression for girls and boys, as well as age, the data was analyzed by age and gender categories. A series of hierarchical linear regressions were performed to test these relationships and significant differences were found by age and gender. Results indicated that for some age/gender groups, both participating in activities with parents and parental warmth was related to a better quality of relationship, which in turn was related to lower levels of adolescent depression. Additionally, for some age/gender groups, teachable parenting behaviors (activities with parents, family meals, and parental monitoring) were significantly related to adolescent depression, above and beyond the contribution of parental style (parental warmth) and quality of relationship. However, communication with parents and parental presence at key points throughout the day were not related to adolescent depression.

Seventy-two children were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions (i.e., verbal praise, token reinforcement, and standard administration groups) to study the effects of different incentive conditions on the CTONI-2 performance of 6 -7 year old children. The participants in the token reinforcement condition were rewarded with tokens that were exchanged for reinforcers for providing CTONI-2 responses. The participants in the other conditions were verbally praised for their effort or received neutral comments following the same schedule. Mean scores for each group on the CTONI-2 Pictorial Scale, Geometric Scale, and Full Scale composite scores were compared using MANOVA and ANOVA procedures, respectively, and no significant differences were observed. The results were generally inconsistent with the literature that supports the hypothesis that young children perform better on an individually administered nonverbal intelligence test when given token reinforcement and/or verbal praise in comparison to groups who receive standard administration. However, analyses revealed potential interactions among demographic and condition variables that may inform future directions in the research of standardized testing.

The context of parenting children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is understood to be extremely stressful and presents unique parenting challenges. Research with typically developing families has demonstrated that parent-child relationship difficulties and ineffectual/negative parenting practices are likely to exist in the context of high parental stress and child behavior problems, but few studies have observed parenting behaviors in families with a child with ASD. This study examined three well-established components of parenting (i.e., emotional support, instruction/patience, and negative parenting/psychological abuse) using the Psychological Multifactor Care Scale – ASD Adapted Version (Donnelly, Brassard, & Hart, 2014; Brassard, Hart, & Hardy, 1993) through observations of a structured and unstructured parent-child interactions in a sample of children diagnosed using gold standard ASD assessments (N=30; Autism Diagnostic Interview – Revised, Rutter, Le Couteur, & Lord, 2003; Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition, Lord et al., 2012). It was hypothesized that the relationships of parents and children with ASD would be similar to those of parents and neurotypical children but that these relationships would be moderated by cognitive ability (Full Scale IQ) and ASD symptom severity. The sample, of largely African American and Hispanic, working and middle class urban families, demonstrated high rates of positive parenting and low rates of negative parenting, and significantly better parenting compared with lower income urban maltreating and comparison families in a previous study using the same observational measure (Brassard et al., 1993). Child cognitive level and symptom severity did not have the expected moderation effects between parent and child behaviors. Similar to neurotypically developing children, children with ASD acted more negatively towards their parents when negative parenting was exhibited in the structured task. In the unstructured task this relationship was moderated by cognitive level, suggesting that what is perceived by higher functioning children as intrusive, might function as helpful direction for lower functioning children. Conversely, when higher functioning children display negativity towards their parents, their parents may act more negatively in turn. Higher levels of negative parenting were related to lower levels of the child’s experience of the session in the unstructured task, but not in the structured task, indicating that negative parenting may be perceived variably by type of task. Positive parenting was related to the degree to which children were observed to have a good experience of the session, and this relationship was moderated by comorbidity of other disorders (mostly Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in the unstructured session; children without comorbid disorders were observed to have better experiences in the session, in comparison to children with comorbid disorders, when their parents exhibited greater amounts of positive parenting. The presence of a comorbid disorder was also associated with the degree to which parents exhibit patience in the structured task. Parents displayed higher levels of patience and less negative parenting with children that did not have comorbid disorders. Implications for parents with children with ASD and comorbid disorders are discussed. Lastly, in regards to parent ethnicity, Hispanic parents tended to have children who directed less negativity towards their parents. Clinical implications for families and practitioners working with children with ASD and future research directions regarding parenting in the context of ASD are discussed.

Identifying vulnerability to perinatal emotional distress is an important public health issue. According to Beck’s Cognitive Theory (Beck, 1964; 2002), specific dysfunctional attitudes interact with specific stressors, such as pregnancy or childbirth, increasing risk for emotional distress. According to the Self-Regulatory Executive Functioning Model (Wells & Matthews, 1994; 1996), the appraisal and regulation of one’s thoughts, known as metacognition, are more responsible for maintaining and exacerbating emotional distress than maladaptive cognitive content. This has yet to be explored in the perinatal period. The aim of this thesis was to explore the role of cognitive and metacognitive factors in increasing risk for perinatal depression and anxiety. To accomplish this, a psychometric exploration into the Pregnancy Related Beliefs Questionnaire (Moorhead, Owens, & Scott, 2003) was conducted, which resulted in a valid and reliable measure of maladaptive attitudes specific to motherhood that was found to increase risk for the onset and severity of postnatal depression. Finally, the independent role of metacognitions in increasing risk for perinatal emotional distress was explored, outside of the contribution of dysfunctional attitudes specific to motherhood, which revealed that metacognitive beliefs about the uncontrollability and danger of one’s thoughts independently predicted the onset and severity of antenatal emotional distress, after controlling for baseline emotional distress and maladaptive attitudes about motherhood; however metacognition did not independently predict postnatal emotional distress. The results suggest, during the third trimester, when anxieties about the birth of the baby are high, beliefs that thoughts are uncontrollable and dangerous can lead to increased emotional distress. In the weeks after the baby is born, rigid attitudes about motherhood and what makes a good or a bad mother become more relevant, increasing risk for postnatal emotional distress. These results support the relevance of both cognitive and metacognitive approaches to understanding perinatal emotional distress and suggests that their strength as predictors is dependent on context. The limitations and implications are also discussed.

Advances in neonatal technology have improved survival rates of children born at lower and lower birthweight and after fewer and fewer weeks of gestation. However, these children are at increased risk of experiencing developmental delays. As weeks of gestation and birthweight decrease, the risk of developmental impairment and severity increases. Yet to be determined is whether premature birth and low birthweight (LBW) effect development differentially, and if the combined, have an additive effect on developmental outcomes. The first part of this study aimed to examine the independent effects of preterm birth and LBW in children at risk for developmental delays. Using the Battelle Developmental Inventory, Second Edition (BDI-2), differences in overall developmental quotient (DQ) scores and domain scores (i.e., adaptive, personal-social, communication, motor, cognitive) were assessed. In Part 1, were noted different developmental profiles for children born premature and/or LBW. Additionally, premature birth and low birthweight (PLBW) children exhibited the greatest impairment in all areas of development evaluated compared to their premature, LBW, and full term peers. The second part of this study aimed to examine the predictive value of weeks of gestation, birthweight, age, gender, and race on developmental outcomes. For Part 2, weeks of gestation, birthweight, age, gender, and race predicted statistically significant impairments in all the areas of development assessed with to varying degrees. These findings support the institution of early intervention, before clinical manifestations appear, and the importance of highly individualized interventions.