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1
Espanola, Elaine. "A Randomized Comparison of Two Instructional Sequences for Imitation Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." FIU Digital Commons, 2015. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2490.
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Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine differences in effectiveness and rate of skill acquisition between a recently developed and empirically validated instructional sequence, Motor and Vocal Imitation Assessment (MVIA), and a commonly used instructional sequence in a curriculum guide, Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP).
Methods: Children with ASD were randomly assigned to two treatment groups to determine difference in imitation performance. The treatment group followed the instructional sequence proposed in the MVIA. The comparison group followed the instructional sequence proposed in the VB-MAPP. Initial levels of imitation were assessed via the MVIA. The intervention consisted of discrete trial training (DTT). A trained therapist presented a fixed number of stimuli in massed trial format. Prompted and unprompted imitative responses were reinforced using edibles. A most-to-least with a progressive time delay prompting strategy was used to help the learner engage in the target response.
Results: Participants in the MVIA treatment group had significantly more skill acquisition than participants in the VB-MAPP comparison group. Participants in the MVIA treatment group also acquired these skills more efficiently, spent less time on skills that never reached mastery and demonstrated higher levels of responding. Additionally, pre-treatment imitation was found to predict autism severity and expressive language.
Conclusions: These results indicate that the MVIA protocol provides an appropriate sequence ordered from simple to complex for selecting targets for intervention. These findings suggest that organizing and sequencing skills in increasing difficulty, as with the MVIA protocol, leads to more appropriate target selection. Targeting skills that are appropriate for the child’s current skill level, in turn leads to more effective and efficient intervention. Results also replicate previous findings that demonstrate that imitation performance plays a critical role in other areas of development.
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Thornton, Corinne. "DIRECT SUPPORT STAFF RETENTION AND TURNOVER IN THE FIELD OF APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS: A NATIONAL SURVEY." Master's thesis, Temple University Libraries, 2018. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/531037.
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Applied Behavioral AnalysisEd.M.
This paper explores the current rates and correlates of turnover among direct support staff working with individuals with developmental disabilities. While the United State Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics collects data on annual separation rates by a variety of industry sectors, there is not a recognized sector for the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Other data sources similarly do not include Applied Behavior Analysis as its own industry sector, which produces a gap in knowledge. This study uses data obtained from providers of services for individuals with developmental disabilities in a national online survey to obtain rates of turnover for the field of Applied Behavior Analysis. Results indicate a lower rate of turnover than what is reported in the fields of education, and social services in general. The results also indicate that pay rate and amount of supervision offered increase retention while training offered pre and post hire has little correlation to rate of turnover.
Temple University--Theses
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Graham, Rebecca. "Anxiety Sensitivity and its Association with Parenting Behaviors." ScholarWorks@UNO, 2013. http://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1740.
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The aim of this study was to examine the association between parent and child anxiety sensitivity in the context of parenting behaviors, specifically by testing parenting behaviors as moderators or mediators of the association between parent and child anxiety sensitivity. Past research implies that parent anxiety sensitivity may be more related to child anxiety sensitivity (moderation) in girls and in the context of certain parenting. Alternatively, parenting behaviors may better account for the association (mediate) between parent and child anxiety sensitivity. To test the hypotheses 191 families (n = 255 youth aged 6-17 and their parents) completed measures of child anxiety sensitivity (CASI) and parenting (APQ-C), and parents completed measures of their anxiety sensitivity (ASI) and parenting (APQ-P). Hypotheses were tested with hierarchical linear modeling. Results indicated that the child’s gender and the child’s report of their parent’s positive parenting behaviors moderated the association between parent and child anxiety sensitivity.
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Swope, Betsy Susannah. "Evaluating the Tact Model as Accounting for Joint Attention in Children with Autism." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2010. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/91179.
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PsychologyPh.D.
Autism is a neurological disorder that affects 1 in 110 children in the United States. Children with autism show deficits in the areas of language development, social skills, and behavioral and sensory functioning. One subset area of deficit involves joint attention skills. Joint attention entails the social sharing of new or novel information in the environment between two people using a gaze shift, vocalization, and/or gesture. The current research examines a behavior-analytic model suggesting that tacting is a central underlying mechanism of joint attention. Data from twenty-two participants in applied behavior-analytic instructional settings were analyzed based on relationships between tacting skills and joint attention abilities. Participants were separated into three groups based on joint attention responding and initiation skills - Joint Attention Responders (JAR), Joint Attention Initiators (JAI), and Pre-Joint Attention Participants (PJA). The tacting model suggests that the JAI group would show the highest joint attention scores, followed by the JAR group and then the PJA group. Current data support this hypothesis and also suggest potential curricular sequencing involving the earlier introduction or tacting, social and imitation skills. Further research utilizing standardized training of tacting repertoires with a larger number of children is recommended.
Temple University--Theses
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Sepulveda, Desiree J. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Discrete Trial Procedures for Teaching Receptive Discrimination to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders." FIU Digital Commons, 2015. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1850.
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Research has found that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show significant deficits in receptive language skills (Wiesmer, Lord, & Esler, 2010). One of the primary goals of applied behavior analytic intervention is to improve the communication skills of children with autism by teaching receptive discriminations. Both receptive discriminations and receptive language entail matching spoken words with corresponding objects, symbols (e.g., pictures or words), actions, people, and so on (Green, 2001). In order to develop receptive language skills, children with autism often undergo discrimination training within the context of discrete trial training. This training entails teaching the learner how to respond differentially to different stimuli (Green, 2001). It is through discrimination training that individuals with autism learn and develop language (Lovaas, 2003). The present study compares three procedures for teaching receptive discriminations: (1) simple/conditional (Procedure A), (2) conditional only (Procedure B), and (3) conditional discrimination of two target cards (Procedure C). Six children, ranging in age from 2-years-old to 5-years-old, with an autism diagnosis were taught how to receptively discriminate nine sets of stimuli. Results suggest that the extra training steps included in the simple/conditional and conditional only procedures may not be necessary to teach children with autism how to receptively discriminate. For all participants, Procedure C appeared to be the most efficient and effective procedure for teaching young children with autism receptive discriminations. Response maintenance and generalization probes conducted one-month following the end of training indicate that even though Procedure C resulted in less training sessions overall, no one procedure resulted in better maintenance and generalization than the others. In other words, more training sessions, as evident with the simple/conditional and conditional only procedures, did not facilitate participants’ ability to accurately respond or generalize one-month following training. The present study contributes to the literature on what is the most efficient and effective way to teach receptive discrimination during discrete trial training to children with ASD. These findings are critical as research shows that receptive language skills are predictive of better outcomes and adaptive behaviors in the future.
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McDowell, Logan S. "Video Modeling for Teaching Imitation to Young Children With Autism: A Treatment Comparison and Analysis of Potential Predictors of Success." FIU Digital Commons, 2015. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/2178.
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Imitation is a prerequisite for the development of several important abilities. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit a distinct deficit in imitation. There has been a considerable amount of research into the most effective ways to teach this crucial skill. Unfortunately, there are drawbacks to many prevalent teaching strategies including difficulty with implementation and lack of generalization. The present study sought to determine whether video modeling (VM) might function as a successful alternative for teaching imitation to young children with ASD.
The literature on VM has demonstrated that it can be a highly effective technique for teaching a variety of skills to individuals with ASD. Additionally, VM has been identified as easy to implement and has lead to improved generalization when compared to other treatments. However, there are still a number of questions about when, and for whom, VM is most effective. The current study begins to answer some of these questions by analyzing a treatment comparison between VM and live modeling (LM). Eight children were taught to imitate two equivalent behaviors each, one using VM and the other using LM. The trials to criterion required to learn the behaviors were then compared.
Results indicated that there was a significant difference between the two treatment types, and that six of the participants were more successful with VM. Neither social skills nor technological literacy were significant predictors of treatment success. However, pre-treatment imitative abilities were shown to significantly predict success. Those children with the fewest imitative abilities were shown to be more successful with the VM technique, while those children with more imitative abilities were more successful with LM. An additional analysis was conducted to evaluate the predictive relationship between social skills and imitation. Results indicated that social skills significantly predict imitative abilities. These results could have widespread implications for imitation training, as they verify the relationship between social skills and imitation, demonstrate that VM can be an effective treatment for teaching young children with ASD to imitate, and further indicate that a pre-treatment imitation assessment may help to identify the most effective and efficient treatment for each child.
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White, Jane P. "Assessing the Effects of Derived Relational Responding on Intraverbal Use of Same-Opposite and More Than-Less Than Relations in Children with Autism." Scholar Commons, 2014. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/5403.
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Relational Frame Theory provides an analysis of verbal behavior involving a focus on the development of relational operants which are seen as a basis for language. From this basis, a framework is provided for establishing relational networks in individuals who lack derived relational ability. Establishment of relational frames may increase the probability of responding relationally to novel instances and use of the specific relational frames during social interactions; therefore, training verbal relations in accordance with an RFT approach may enhance intraverbal responding and facilitate the emergence of untrained responses. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the emergence of specific relationships in the context of intraverbal responding as a collateral effect of training on relational networks in four children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Two participants demonstrated mastery of derived relational responding (DRR) without training, one participant demonstrated mastery of DRR following training, and a fourth participant demonstrated mutual entailment and some combinatorial entailment. Increases in vocal verbal behavior during generalization probes were observed, although increased use of all target relations was not observed in all participants. Further research is needed to evaluate specific deficits in derived relational responding among individuals with ASD, as well as the correlation between DRR and language ability.
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Rodriguez, Paloma. "Operant and Respondent Procedures to Establish Social Stimuli as Reinforcers in Children with Autism." FIU Digital Commons, 2013. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/961.
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According to the DSM-IV- TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), one of the core deficits in autism is in the impairment of social interaction. Some have suggested that underlying these deficits is the reality that individuals with autism do not find social stimuli to be as reinforcing as other types of stimuli (Dawson, 2008). An interesting and growing body of literature supports the notion that symptoms in autism may be caused by a general reduction in social motivation (Chevallier et al., 2012). A review of the literature suggests that social orienting and social motivation are low in individuals with autism, and including social motivation as a target for therapeutic intervention should be pursued (Helt et al., 2008). Through our understanding of learning processes, researchers in behavior analysis and related fields have been able to use conditioning procedures to change the function of neutral or ineffective stimuli, including tokens (Ayllon & Azrin, 1968), facial expressions (Gewirtz & Pelaez-Nogueras, 1992) and praise (Dozier et al., 2012). The current study aimed to use operant and respondent procedures to condition social stimuli that were empirically shown to not be reinforcing prior to conditioning. Further, this study aimed to compare the two procedures in their effectiveness to condition social stimuli to function as reinforcers, and in their maintenance of effects over time. Using a multiple-baseline, multi-element design, one social stimulus was conditioned under each procedure to compare the different response rates following conditioning. Finally, the study sought to determine if conditioning social stimuli to function as reinforcers had any effect on the social functioning of young children with autism. Six children diagnosed with autism between the ages of 18 months and 3 years participated. Results show that the respondent procedure (pairing) resulted in more robust and enduring effects than the operant procedure (Sd procedure). Results of a social communication assessment (ESCS, Mundy et al., 2003) before and after conditioning demonstrate gains in all areas of social communication, particularly in the areas of initiating and responding to joint attention.
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Christianson, Erika Nicole. "Program Evaluation of Behavior Management Training for Preschool Teachers: Child Outcomes." TopSCHOLAR®, 2013. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/1305.
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Due to the immense challenges faced by young children who exhibit emotion regulation problems, prevention programs have been designed to train teachers on strategies useful for improving classroom behavior. The current study examines the effects of a prevention program implemented in a blended Head Start/daycare setting and evaluates the outcomes of the training on children’s cognitive/preliteracy skills, selfregulation, and social competence in the fall and spring following teacher training. The intervention group (Western Kentucky University Child Care Center) and control group (Bryant Way Child Care Center) were part of a blended Head Start/child care preschool program. Children’s self-regulation, social competence, and cognitive/preliteracy skills were assessed in the Fall and Spring of the school year. Children in the intervention group exhibited better cognitive/preliteracy skills as shown by results on Woodcock- Johnson subtests. Teacher ratings on the ERC showed that girls improved in teacher reported self-regulation, the control group received higher scores on teacher rated lability than did the intervention group, and boys were rated higher on the lability scale than were girls. In addition, Head Start children were rated higher in emotional lability than were daycare children. Teacher ratings on the SCBE scale indicated that children received higher teacher ratings of social competence in the Spring than in the Fall and girls were rated higher than were boys. Additionally, children received lower internalizing behavior problem ratings in the Fall than in the Spring, Head Start children were rated higher in internalizing behavior problems than children in daycare, and boys in the control group received higher ratings of internalizing problem behaviors than those received by any other group. Furthermore, children in the control group were rated higher than children in the intervention group in externalizing problem behaviors in both Fall and Spring, but neither group showed a significant change in externalizing problem behaviors from Fall to Spring. Self-regulation enables children to inhibit inappropriate emotional outbursts as well as control their reactions to situations. Understanding children’s self-regulation skills is of vast importance to individuals in the field of education as the information provides practitioners the opportunity to improve children’s self-regulation in the preschool years.
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Padover, Jessica. "Reducing Problem Behavior in Children with Autism by Implementing Relaxation Exercise Interventions at the Onset of Precursor Behavior." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2018. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/1169.
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Many children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in problem behaviors (e.g., aggression and self-injurious behavior) that present safety concerns for both the children themselves and others around them. Previous research has shown that treating precursor behaviors that precede problem behavior may prove to be an alternative, safer method for preventing and treating problem behavior. The present study used a multiple baseline design across subjects (n = 4) to assess the efficacy of relaxation interventions on reducing precursor behavior and preventing problem behavior in children with ASD. Researchers first identified precursor behaviors for all participants through observation. During the intervention phase, all four children were taught deep breathing relaxation exercises. After participants received relaxation training, researchers cued relaxation exercises when precursors occurred, and the frequency of precursor, problem, and on-task behavior was observed. Results showed that problem behavior decreased in all participants following the relaxation intervention. Additionally, for the majority of participants, precursor behavior decreased and on-task behavior increased post-intervention. Implications for practice and future research on interventions that target precursor behaviors are discussed.
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Svensson, Jennifer. "Utvecklande ledarskap i historien : En studie i nutida militär ledarskapsteori under Senkarolinsk tid." Thesis, Försvarshögskolan, 2013. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:fhs:diva-4060.
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Denna studie behandlar ämnet ledarskap och inriktar sig på den militära ledarskapsteorin Utvecklande ledarskap. Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka om Karl XII:s framgångar som ledare kan förklaras genom en modern ledarskapsteori såsom Utvecklande ledarskap. Detta görs genom att undersöka om de eftersträvansvärda ledarkaraktäristika som nämns i Utvecklande ledarskap även går att finna i återberättelser om Karl XII:s ledarskap under den Senkarolinska tiden. Teorin Utvecklande ledarskap har analyserats gentemot dess föregångare Transformational leadership för att få en djupare förståelse för vad den utvecklande ledarskapsteorin innebär samt öka utbudet på beskrivningar av eftersträvansvärda ledaregenskaper. Här identifieras tre kännetecken som sammanfattar teorins önskvärda ledaregenskaper: Föredöme, Personlig omtanke samt Inspiration och motivation. Dessa kännetecken prövas sedan mot återberättelser av Karl XII:s ledarskap för att påvisa att många av de önskvärda ledaregenskaper som nämns i de moderna ledarskapsteorierna även gick att finna i Karl XII:s ledarskap. Resultatet av studien blev att många av de karaktärsdrag som nämns i Utvecklande ledarskap också gick att finna hos Karl XII med skillnaden att innebörden av begreppen ändrats på grund av kulturella och religiösa förändringar med tiden. En sista skillnad är att dessa karaktärsdrag inte var nedtecknade i en teoretisk modell under den Senkarolinska tiden, då Karl XII regerade, vilket försvårade transferering och utbildning i ämnet.This study is about leadership and directed towards the modern leadership theory Developmental leadership. The paper tries to explain some of Karl XII’s success as a leader by examining if he followed some of the principles of Developmental leadership. This is done by researching if the desirable leadership traits mentioned in Developmental leadership can also be found in narrations of Karl XII’s leadership during the late Carolinian times. The theory of Developmental leadership has been analyzed in relation to its progenitor Transformational leadership in order to get a deeper understanding for what Developmental leadership means and increase the range of descriptions of desirable leadership traits. Three characteristics are identified that summarize the desirable traits of the theories: Role model behavior, Personal care and Inspiration and motivation. These characteristics are then tested against narrations of Karl XII’s leadership to prove that many of the desirable leadership traits mentioned in modern leadership theories also were to be found in Karl XII’s leadership. The results of the study was that many of the traits mentioned in Developmental leadership also were found in Karl XII’s leadership, though different in regards to the meaning of some of the traits that has been altered due to cultural and religious changes by time. One last difference is that these traits and characteristics not were written down as a theoretical model during the late Carolinian times, when Karl XII ruled, which hampered the transference of knowledge and education on the field of study.
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Rex, Catherine. "An Anti-Bullying Intervention for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/803.
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The effects of a video modeling intervention, given to six children with ASD, were evaluated through a multiple-baseline and multiple-probe design across children. The research targeted teaching children with ASD to assertively respond to physical bullying, verbal bullying, and social exclusion, as well as telling one’s mother. In baseline, the participants demonstrated inconsistent to no skills for responding to the bullying in the vignette movies (SAAS) and the generalization probe skits. During intervention the participants watched a video of a person assertively responding to bullying, and were assessed through VM questions and SAAS. Post-intervention the children participated in generalization probe skits. The researcher and a blind rater scored the participants’ responses using a four-point scale. A pre-intervention survey of bullying was also given to the parents to assess their child’s victimization. The results showed that video modeling effectively taught all of the participants to assertively respond to bullying and resulted in generalization for 4 of the 6 participants.
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Blanco, Villarreal Martha P. "THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JUSTICE PERCEPTIONS, CONSCIENTIOUSNESS AND WORKPLACE BEHAVIORS AMONG OLD AND YOUNG EMPLOYEES." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2019. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/836.
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This research addressed the influence employee age has on organizational justice perceptions (OJPs) and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) through conscientiousness. Given the valuable contributions of older employees in the workforce, the aim of this study was to investigate the processes by which age affects justice perceptions, the expression of conscientiousness traits, and workplace behaviors. Additionally, a theoretical framework was provided where the conservation of resource, equity, fairness, socioemotional selectivity, and conscientiousness at work theorieshelp explain the linkages from the integrative model. A total of 179 MTurk workers participated in this study, which required participants to answer questions about their workplace perceptions and behaviors. The primary scales used in this study measuring OJPs, conscientiousness, and OCBs were obtained from previous studies that found these measures to be reliable and valid. Using those scales, three main hypotheses were tested: Hypothesis 1 predicted age would moderate the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; Hypotheses 2 predicted conscientiousness would mediate the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; and Hypothesis 3 predicted employee age (moderating variable) would interact with justice perceptions (independent variable) and predict organizational citizenship behaviors (dependent variable), through conscientiousness (mediating variable). Results suggested that age does not moderate the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; however, conscientiousness mediates the relationship between OJPs and OCBs; and employee age only moderates the mediating effects of conscientiousness in the relationship between distributive justice perceptions and OCBs. Overall, this research provides preliminary findings to a model that had never been researched before, provides theoretical and practical implications, as well as directions for future research.
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Diaz, Alejandro Rene. "An Efficiency Evaluation of Procedures to Evoke Vocalizations in Children with Autism." FIU Digital Commons, 2018. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3771.
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Development of vocalizations in early learners with autism is critical to the acquisition of verbal behavior and other important life skills. The purpose of the present studies was to (1) evaluate the efficiency and efficacy of Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing (SSP) and standard Echoic Training (ET) procedures for the development and onset of verbal behavior in early learners with ASD to improve early intervention efficiency and (2) elucidate predictive characteristics or variables for the effective use of SSP. The present studies were comprised of a multiple-baseline (across behaviors) experimental design buttressed within a reversal design, also known more broadly as within-subject controlled experimental designs. It was found that SSP can have a greater treatment efficacy than ET, but any efficacy advantage is transitory. Shifting an SSP treatment to direct reinforcement contingencies once vocalizations are produced are likely the most effective strategy. SSP produces discrepant effects across learners, thus highlighting the need to assess a learner’s characteristics and assumed reinforcer effectiveness. It was also found that higher-functioning learners will benefit more greatly from ET as opposed to SSP.
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Miles, Anne. "An Analysis of Personality in Light of Socioeconomic Mobility." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2014. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/489.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the personality traits that are associated with socioeconomic mobility, specifically pertaining to individuals from working class backgrounds. Socioeconomic mobility is an important issue to examine due to the persistence of intergenerational poverty and the difficulty with which to resolve it. Extensive research explicitly shows the dilemma of intergenerational transmission of poverty exists and continues to persist regardless of revised policies. Many aspects each individual experiences have been proven to affect economic attainment, such as race, family background, parental efficacy, social discrimination, area of residency, welfare, education, and intelligence. Although these are recognized in this paper, they are, for the most part, ignored as determinants, as the focus is on the personality traits defining the upwardly mobile, and similar characteristics exist, even while disregarding the above ignored qualities. Mainly social identity theory and identity theory, but also motivational theory, personal efficacy theories, and other related theories, have determined social participation, perception of social class and poverty, control of emotions, impulse control, personal efficacy, social identity, motivation, victimization and dependence or the lack thereof, are all major determinants of mobility.
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Maharaj, Andre. "Exploring The Development of Social Responses in Children with Callous and Unemotional Traits: An Examination of The Impact of Hypothesized Reinforcing and Aversive Stimuli." FIU Digital Commons, 2014. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1174.
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Callous and unemotional (CU) traits in children with conduct problems have been indicated as precursors to adult psychopathy. The analysis of the sensitivity to rewards and punishment in this population may be useful in the identification of effective behavior modification programs and particularly the delineation of ineffective punishment procedures. Scores on the Child Psychopathy Scale, Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits, Contingency Response Rating Scale and the Sensitivity to Reward Sensitivity to Punishment – Children Revised scale were used to evaluate 20 children, aged 7-13, recruited from FIU’s Center for Children and Families. The sample comprised 14 males and 6 females displaying a range of psychopathic traits measured by the CPS, with scores from 9 to 46 (M = 28.45, SD = 10.73).
Sensitivity to punishment was examined using a behavioral task in which children endured various amounts of either white noise (type I punishment) or time-out from positive reinforcement (type II punishment) in order to gain access to a demonstrated reinforcer. The sample was stratified on the basis of the magnitude of psychopathy scores, and sensitivity to rewards and punishment were evaluated using a Behavioral Activation / Behavioral Inhibition framework by examining task performance: the frequency and duration of punishment conditions selected, electrodermal activity (skin conductance response), and parent-reported measures of child sensitivity to reward and punishment.
Results indicated that the magnitude of CU traits was directly proportional to hyposensitivity to punishment and hypersensitivity to reward. Children with elevated levels of CU traits elected to endure a greater frequency and duration type I punishment in order to maintain continued access to the reinforcer. Significant differences were not found between high- and low-psychopathy children in the selection of type II punishment. The findings indicate that although there may be a hyporeactivity to type I punishment in children with CU traits, the use of a type II punishment by the removal of a positive stimulus has demonstrated treatment efficacy. The difference in sensitivity to rewards and the types of effective punishment in children with CU traits may affect reinforcement based learning, leading to the ineffectiveness of traditional methods informing the development of social responses.
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Ramos, Gonzalez Andres, and Isak Regnér. "Coaches’ experiences of working with RIU dual career athletes." Thesis, Högskolan i Halmstad, Hälsa och idrott, 2020. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:hh:diva-41867.
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The purpose of the study was to examine coaches’ experiences of working with RIU (Riksidrottsuniversitet)-dual career (DC) athletes with foci on the coaches’ DC awareness, perceived challenges, resources, and strategies. The authors of this study conducted 9 interviews, including both men and women, ranging from 23 to 54 years of age (M=33.33, SD=10.20). Through combining the holistic athletic career model (Wylleman, 2019) and the athletic career transition model (Stambulova, 2003), semistructured interview guides were designed and applied by the authors. The results showed a lack of awareness regarding what the RIU concept entailed for the coaches, and their greatest challenge was to help their athletes remain focused on their practice. The coaches expressed that the most important resources were the coaches’ own professional support network, as well as the athletes’ support network, which would aid the coaches in their work. The coaches had difficulties with articulating what strategies they utilized when helping their student-athletes, though they could still explain situations in which that they had acted in certain ways to help ease the demands for the DC-athlete. These strategies were “planning together with the athlete” and “adjusting schedules in line with the student-athletes demands”. The results of the study highlight the need for a better communication between the coaches and the schools, in terms of optimizing the environment for the student-athletes.Syftet med studien var att undersöka tränares upplevelser av att arbeta med studentidrottare, med fokus på deras upplevda utmaningar, resurser och strategier. Författarna till uppsatsen genomförde nio intervjuer, vilket inkluderade både män och kvinnor från 23 till 54 års ålder (M = 33,33, SD = 10,20). Genom att kombinera Holistiska karriärutvecklingmodellen (Wylleman, 2019) och Karriärövergångsmodellen (Stambulova, 2003) designades semistrukturerade intervjuguider av författarna. Resultaten visade brist på insikt i RIU (Riksidrottsuniversitet) konceptet från tränarna och deras största utmaning var att hjälpa idrottare att behålla sitt fokus under träningarna. Tränarna uttryckte att den viktigaste resursen var tränarnas egna professionella stödnätverk, tillsammans med idrottarnas egna stödnätverk, vilket bidrog till att tränarna kunde behålla fokus på sin egen uppgift. Tränarna hade svårigheter att formulera de strategier som de använde sig av när de hjälpte sina studentidrottare. Dock, kunde de fortfarande förklara situationer när de hade agerat på särskilda sätt för att hjälpa underlätta kraven för studentidrottaren. Dessa strategier var “planering tillsammans med idrottaren” och “anpassa scheman i enlighet med studentidrottarens krav”. Resultaten av uppsatsen önskar belysa att det behövs en bättre kommunikation mellan tränaren och skolorna för att kunna optimera miljön för studentidrottare.
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Conklin, Shane P. "Autism spectrum disorder in kindergarten and transitional kindergarten: Teachers' self-perceived ability to meet the needs of students transitioning from early intervention behavior therapy programs." Scholarly Commons, 2016. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/39.
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This qualitative multiple case study addresses kindergarten teachers’ and transitional kindergarten teachers’ self-perceived abilities to meet the needs of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who participate in early intervention behavior therapy (EIBT) programs. Systems thinking was used to examine the participants’ interactions with the school site-based and EIBT-based support systems within which they were expected to operate. Personal interviews conducted at three intervals during the first five months of the 2015-16 school year rendered three emergent themes: participants initially reported feeling more confident meeting the academic versus the social/behavioral needs of their EIBT students, but that position reversed for two participants during the course of the study; participants reported in-class support aides provided by EIBT agencies were superior to aides provided by their school districts, and; participants preferred having a single ‘go-to’ support person at their school site to having a robust, wide-ranging support system. Contains recommendations for establishing subsystems that foster inner- and intra-support system communication and raising ASD awareness.
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Borgström, Juliana. "Cyclical Women : Menstrual Cycle Effects on Mood and Neuro-Cognitive Performance." Thesis, Högskolan i Skövde, Institutionen för biovetenskap, 2019. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:his:diva-17447.
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During roughly forty years of a woman’s life-span, the fertile female human body prepares itself monthly for the possibility of pregnancy. Science has shown that the fluctuation of the sex steroids progesterone and estrogen have a crucial role in the female body's physiology, determining the menstrual cycle and its general phases. This biological dance of hormones governing the cycle influences a lot of physical, mental and cognitive aspects of life for a fertile ovulating woman. Although the question of whether these changes also affect women's cognitive performance is still unclear, some evidence has been gathered that could bring us closer to answers. Recent research findings show that this hormonal interplay might have a significant role in cognitive and psychological development - modulating brain activity, cognitive performance, higher cognition, emotional status, sensory processing, appetite and more. This thesis aims to uncover to what extent the menstrual cycle affects brain functions, neurobiology, mood, well-being and cognitive performance in menstruating cisgender women.
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Shareef, Zeinab. "Ordflöde och läsförmåga hos studenter med och utan dyslexi : En undersökning av FAS, djurflöde och verbflöde." Thesis, Uppsala universitet, Logopedi, 2017. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-369667.
Full textAbstract:
Bakgrund och syfte. Ordflödestest undersöker en persons förmåga att generera så många ord som möjligt under en minut. Orden kan börja på en viss bokstav eller tillhöra en särskild kategori. FAS är ett vanligt ordflödestest där orden som ska genereras börjar på bokstäverna F, A och S. Exempel på kategoriska ordflödestest är djurflöde, som går ut på att säga så många djur som möjligt, samt verbflöde där instruktionen är att säga så många saker man kan göra (handlingar). Forskare har undersökt vilka mentala färdigheter som ligger till grund för ordflödesförmågan, framför allt planerande och reglerande (exekutiva) funktioner samt språklig förmåga. I forskning används ofta FAS och djurflöde för att undersöka olika delar av den språkliga förmågan. Även verbflöde har undersökts i dessa sammanhang, men inte i lika stor utsträckning. Däremot har verbflöde en större roll i forskning på planerande och reglerande funktioner hos äldre personer som har exempelvis Alzheimers eller Parkinson. Forskningen har lett till att ordflödestest används i kliniska sammanhang som en del i utredningen av dessa sjukdomar. I praktiken används även FAS och djurflöde vid utredningar av dyslexi, språkstörning och koncentrations-/hyperaktivitetssvårigheter (ADHD). Forskning har visat motstridiga resultat om vilka typer av ordflödestest som är nedsatta vid dyslexi och språkstörning, eller vilka mentala förmågor som är viktiga vid genomförande av ordflödestest. I denna studie undersöks FAS, djurflöde och verbflöde hos studenter inom högre utbildning med och utan dyslexi. Syftet är att utreda om ordflödesförmågan är nedsatt hos studenter med dyslexi. Studien undersöker om ordflöde kan bidra till att förklara spridningen i läsförmåga. Metod. I undersökningen deltog 42 studenter, varav 16 hade dyslexidiagnos och 26 kontroller utan dyslexidiagnos. Deltagarna genomförde test som undersöker läsförmåga, fonologisk förmåga, snabb benämning samt ordflöde av FAS, djur och verb. Resultat. Prestationen på ordflödesförmåga var signifikant nedsatt hos studenter med dyslexi jämfört med kontrollgruppen. En multipel regression med bakåteliminering genomfördes för att undersöka om FAS, djurflöde och verbflöde kunde förutsäga spridningen i läsförmåga när fonologisk medvetenhet och snabb benämning kontrollerades för. Regressionsanalysen visade att verbflöde, tillsammans med fonologisk medvetenhet, kunde förutsäga läsförmåga hos studenter med och utan dyslexi. Diskussion. Den nedsatta ordflödesförmågan hos studenter med dyslexi diskuteras utifrån faktorer som utbildning och andra mentala förmågor. Resultatet pekar på ett unikt samband mellan verbflöde och läsförmåga hos studenter med och utan dyslexi. De strukturer i hjärnan som aktiveras vid verbflöde är även strukturer som ligger till grund för andra mentala förmågor. Dessa mentala förmågor har även visats vara nedsatta hos personer med dyslexi. Generellt indikerar dessa nya fynd att verbflöde har en betydelse i förhållande till läsförmåga och dyslexi som behöver undersökas vidare. Resultatet diskuteras även utifrån ett kliniskt perspektiv.Verbal fluency is commonly measured in cognitive assessments and has been shown to measure aspects of verbal ability and executive function, as well as to involve specific cortical areas during performance. Verbal fluency tasks, in which participants generate words during a given time limit, have been used in research and assessments of neurobiological disorders and impairments. Dyslexia is a neurobiologically based reading disorder that is characterized by difficulties in word decoding and spelling. Research on verbal fluency in individuals with dyslexia shows that semantic and letter fluency is impaired. However, studies show inconsistent results. This study examines performance on semantic fluency (animals), action fluency (verbs), and letter fluency (FAS) in 42 students with developmental dyslexia (DD, n = 16) and a control group with typical reading development (TD, n = 26). Participants also perform a test battery that measures reading and phonological abilities, amongst others. Additionally, it is examined if verbal fluency performance can contribute to predicting reading ability, when phonological awareness and rapid automatized naming (RAN) are taken into account. Results show that verbal fluency performance was impaired in the DD group, and that action and letter fluency were relatively more impaired than semantic fluency. A backward elimination regression showed that action fluency and phonological awareness were significant predictors of reading ability, together explaining 48 % of the variance. The impaired verbal fluency ability is discussed in relation to factors such as education and cognitive abilities. Further, the findings point to a possible unique connection between action fluency and reading ability in students, in addition to phonological awareness. The possibility that the relationship between action fluency and reading may be partly explained by common neurocognitive underpinnings is discussed. These novel findings indicate that action fluency has a pertinent role in reading ability and dyslexia, which should be further examined.
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Okereke, Beverly Ngozi. "A Collaborative Approach to Address Student Behavior and Academic Achievement across Systems." CSUSB ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd/404.
Full textAbstract:
Academic achievement and in-classroom behaviors are two significant child outcomes that affect student success in school. According to Systems Theory, in order to truly understand the factors that affect these outcomes for children, one must look to the major systems that encapsulate the child (including their school and home environments). This project is a meta-analytic review that examined the effectiveness of measures representing each system in predicting child achievement and behavior: School-Wide Positive Behavior Supports (SWPBS) for the school as a system, level of parent involvement (high versus low) for the home system, and student motivation (intrinsic versus extrinsic) for the child system. Archival research was used to examine children who attended K-12 schools in various Westernized countries. A total of 15 studies were examined to compute the effect sizes which were combined to examine the relative strength of each factor on the two outcome variables. For academic achievement, it was found that effect sizes were very large for SWPBS (0.768) and student motivation (0.807), and were large (0.589) for parent involvement. For behavior, SWPBS was associated with a very large effect size (-0.780). In other words, SWPBS is strongly associated with both increased academic achievement and decreased problem behavior, whereas parent involvement and student motivation are strongly associated with increased academic achievement. A suggested systems approach including the school counselor is proposed that meshes the effects of these three child systems into a more fluid, collaborative model that address child academic achievement and behavioral concerns.
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Cunningham, Isabel L. "The Development of a Three Minute Realtime Sampling Method to Measure Social Harmony during Interactions between Parents and their Toddlers with Autism." Thesis, University of North Texas, 2018. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1248433/.
Full textAbstract:
Training parents of a child with autism to increase the frequency of their child's social behavior may improve the quality of parent-child interactions. The purpose of this methodological study was to develop a direct observation method for rapidly sampling social harmony between parents and their toddlers with autism during parent training interactions. The current study used a pre and post probe design, with benchmark comparisons to test the discriminability of the measurement protocol across two sets of data. The first set of data came from pre and post training videos from a parent training program for children with a diagnosis of autism or at risk for a diagnosis. The second set of data came from videos of typically developing toddlers and their parents. The results of the study show that the measurement system differentiated in the level of harmonious engagement between the benchmark sample and the sample including children diagnosed with autism. The results are discussed in the context of future directions and the utility of the measurement system for behavior analytic practices in parent training and other settings where rapport and complex interactional behaviors are an intervention priority.
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Rout, Helen. "Exploring the Determinants of Coach Identity throughout Coaches’ Careers and the Development of a Coach Identity Scale." Thesis, 2021. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/43468/.
Full textAbstract:
Objectives: There has only been a limited amount of research exploring coach
identity; thus, the understanding of determinants of coach identity remains limited. Scales to
measure coach identity to date have been narrowly focused on the prominence and emotions
that coaches attribute to their role. Therefore, the first aim of this thesis was to explore the
factors that contribute to the strength and development of coach identity with consideration of
all aspects of a coach’s career. Furthermore, the thesis aimed to develop a coach identity
scale that can measure the multidimensional aspects of coaching and examine the
psychometric properties of the scale.
Procedures: In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven expert
coaches, exploring the factors that helped them develop their identity and sense of being a
coach. In the next phase, to develop a survey, the determinants of coach identity obtained
from the first study were used to generate a pool of items for a coach identity scale. The items
were then reviewed by six academic experts to assess the content validity of the items. Five
expert coaches then evaluated the technical quality of the scale. The items that were
identified to have an issue by two or more coaches were modified. In the last phase, the
psychometric properties of the scale were assessed using a sample of 216 coaches. The Coach
Identity Prominence Scale (Pope & Hall, 2014a) was completed to assess convergent validity,
and the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (Kroenke et al., 2001) was completed to
explore discriminant validity. Two weeks after the completion of the first survey, the coaches
were contacted via Qualtrics with a request to complete the Coach Identity Development
Scale (CIDS) a second time to assess test-retest reliability.
Data Analysis: The interview data were analysed using an inductive thematic
analysis to identify the themes and patterns related to the development of coach identity. The
content validity of the items was analysed by an examination of frequencies of reviewers that
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agreed on each item being quite relevant (3) or highly relevant (4). In addition, the technical
quality of the scale was measured by considering the frequencies of an issue being identified
for each item. In the third study, the discriminant and convergent validity test, the test-retest
reliability of the scale was analysed using Pearson’ correlations. The factor structure of the
scale was analysed using exploratory factor analysis.
Results: Personal, social, environmental and career factors play a role in the
development of coach identity. Based on this, an item pool of 28 items was generated for the
scale. The critical analysis of the items by the academic researchers and expert coaches led
some items to be modified, some added, and some removed, with a final item pool of 28
items with content validity. The final study showed support for the convergent and
discriminant validity, overall internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the scale. The
results on exploratory factor yielded a six-factor solution, indicating that coach identity
contains six factors, including socio-personal development, social recognition, life coaching,
coach success, coach learning and coach motivation.
Conclusions: Coach identity is multidimensional, and various factors play a role in
the maintenance and development of coaches’ identity. This finding is consistent with the
complex and multidimensional nature of a coaching career. The CIDS shows adequate
psychometric properties and may enable further research into coach identity and its
correlates.
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Marmara, Joshua. "Examining Predictors of Body Appreciation and Positive Well-Being Among Young Adults: Perspectives from Positive Psychology." Thesis, 2022. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/44701/.
Full textAbstract:
Research examining factors that promote body appreciation and mental health through the positive psychology lens is in its infancy. Several factors that are inversely related to body dissatisfaction, including self-compassion and physical activity, can be facilitating factors for positive body image. However, research is required to confirm this, as well as to provide a broader and better-integrated model of multiple factors influencing positive body image and well-being than research to date has offered. The primary aim of the present research was to examine factors that contribute to positive body image and mental health in adults using a positive psychology framework; that is, adopting the perspective that optimal mental health is not simply the absence of symptoms, and that it can be achieved through promoting beneficial psychological constructs and processes rather than eliminating unhelpful ones. Factors examined included self-compassion and planned physical activity levels. This dissertation comprised three studies (cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental) designed to progressively build an evidence base to contribute to improvements in both theory and treatment. Results from this study indicated that factors including self-compassion and planned physical activity contributed to an enhancement in body appreciation and positive well-being; and prospectively, self-compassion and body appreciation showed partial support for a reciprocal model, though the effects over time were slightly stronger for self-compassion predicting body appreciation. However, there was limited support for the efficacy of a self-compassion meditation intervention, which must be interpreted with caution due to small effect sizes and some methodological limitations. Understanding how feeling good about one’s body – as opposed to not feeling bad about one’s body – has beneficial implications for one’s general well-being.
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Shimokawa, Raku. "Triad Relationships and the Development of Junior Tennis Players." Thesis, 2022. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/44404/.
Full textAbstract:
Introduction: Sport is a domain that can promote physical, psychological, social, and cognitive development in children. There are three main factors that can influence children’s developmental outcomes: distal ecological system (e.g., community, culture, policy), sport program design (e.g., personal and social life skill building activities), and positive youth development climate created by children’s relationships with peers (e.g., teammates), adults (e.g., coaching staff), and parents. A great number of studies have investigated the influences and processes of key relationships within youth sport. However, previous studies have usually investigated those relationships in dyads (e.g., coach-athlete relationship), and not in triads (e.g., athlete-coach-parent). To further our understanding of interpersonal relationships in youth sport and their impact on youth athlete development the key relationships should be investigated as triads. This approach would provide a holistic understanding of the relationships associated in youth sport.
Research question and aim: This study was conducted based on research question: what is the nature of the athlete-parent-coach triad relationship in junior tennis? Accordingly, the aim of this study was to identify the themes and commonalities that characterise the nature of the triad relationship in junior tennis.
Methodology: The current study employed a qualitative methodology and methods to collect and analyse the data. Interpretive Description was selected as the methodological orientation in designing the study, and the collection and analysis of data. Individual semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect the data. Six competitive junior tennis players aged between 12-15, six parents, and seven coaches were invited to participate in the interview. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was employed to generate the common themes across interview data. Results: Three overarching themes were developed: communication, sacrifice, and boundaries, as well as, six themes specific to dyad relationships: fun, mentorship, creating a team, interactions at tournaments, tennis tips from the parent, and adjusting the involvement were identified. Conclusion: It appeared that maintaining open communication channels between each member of the triad is an important nature of the athlete-parent-coach triad relationship. Especially, non-tennis related coach-athlete communication subjects (e.g., hobbies) were identified to contribute in creating a fun climate within the coach-athlete relationship. Coaches and parents were found to establish boundaries between members of the triad to maintain appropriate closeness between the members. However, there was a gap in perceived closeness between the coach and athlete. Coaches appeared to maintain professional relationship with their players while players appeared to perceive their coach as a mentor. Coaches and parents were identified to make time and financial sacrifices in supporting the junior tennis player. The findings of current study can be included when educating sport coaches and parents regarding how to better manage relationships in youth sport.
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Bourke, Matthew. "A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Mechanisms Influencing the Association Between Physical Activity, Affect, and Satisfaction with Life in Adolescents’ Daily Lives." Thesis, 2021. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/43470/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examined the within-person and between-person associations between
physical activity, affect and satisfaction with life in adolescents’ daily lives. Understanding
these associations is important because integral affect experienced during physical activity
may predict future participation in physical activity behaviours. Additionally, understanding
if adolescents who are more active experience more positive incidental affect and satisfaction
with life is important to illuminate the benefits of physical activity on wellbeing. Despite
growing recognition of the within-person and between-person associations between physical
activity, affect, and satisfaction with life, little is known about mechanisms that may
moderate or mediate these relationships. Therefore, the overarching aim of this thesis is to
investigate the mechanisms that may influence these associations.
A mixed-methods design was used to achieve this aim. Overall, 125 adolescents
participated in an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study. They were asked to report
their momentary behaviours, physical environment, social context, and affect on multiple
occasions each day for four-days. Additionally, participants were asked to complete a daily
diary each evening to report on their daily satisfaction with life and domain specific physical
activity. Participants also wore an accelerometer to assess device measured levels of physical
activity over the four days. Additionally, 15 participants completed semi-structured
interviews to identify factors that lead to experiencing more favourable affect whilst active.
Results from the EMA study showed that participants who engaged in more
recreational moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) on average than others reported
more positive valence, greater energetic arousal, and less tense arousal. Additionally,
adolescents reported feeling more energetic, but also more tense when participating in more recreational MVPA than usual. No domains of MVPA had a within-person association with
valence. Considering the social context and physical environment, adolescents reported more
positive valence and energetic arousal whilst outdoors than indoors and more energetic
arousal when with others than alone, indicating there may be some additional benefits to
being physically active in outdoors and with other people. Additionally, results showed that
being active was only inversely related to tense arousal when completed outdoors. Results
from semi-structured interviews added to these findings and indicated several social (e.g.,
doing physical activities alone or with others), environmental (e.g., doing physical activities
outdoors), and cognitive factors (e.g., finding activities fun and enjoyable) were perceived by
participants to influence their affective experience whilst active. Finally results from daily
diaries showed that adolescents were more satisfied with their life on days when they
accumulated more device-measured overall, light, and moderate-intensity physical activity
than usual. There was also an indirect between-person association between leisure-time
physical activity and device-measured vigorous intensity physical activity through energetic
arousal.
The results from this thesis show that recreational physical activities have the
strongest between-person association with subjective wellbeing in adolescents. Physical
activity guidelines for mental health that focus on recreational physical activities may be
warranted. More research is still needed, however, to fully understand the mechanisms that
explain why recreational physical activities are more strongly related to wellbeing. Results
also show that the context in which physical activities occur can influence the within-person
association with affect. Therefore, it is important to consider the physical environments and
social contexts physical activities are participated in when examining the within-person
association between physical activity and affect.
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Dawson, David. "Experiential and Organisational Factors Predicting the Mental Health of Emergency Paramedics: Beyond the Trauma." Thesis, 2021. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/42952/.
Full textAbstract:
This research aimed to investigate the prevalence and distribution of mental health conditions across the paramedic workforce, to compare levels with the general population and to assess the association of stressors with scores on measures of mental health.
A survey was constructed to assess general psychological health, depression, anxiety, stress, suicidality, posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep health and the frequency and severity of stressor variables. Impact scores for stressor variables were generated by multiplying frequency and severity scores. Participant and workplace sociodemographic variables were measured. The survey was distributed within Ambulance Victoria in September 2010. Only data from 879 participants that transported emergency patients was analysed.
The ANOVA procedure and chi-square tests were employed to compare means and prevalences of psychological health scores within the paramedic sample according to sociodemographic variables. Independent-sample t-tests and chi-square tests for independence were used to examine means and prevalence rates by comparing this paramedic sample with general population statistics and other paramedic populations. Logistic and multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate associations between stressor impact scores and mental health conditions.
Key findings were the higher levels of suicidal thinking and planning, PTSD, substandard sleep health and poor general psychological health compared to the general population. The level of PTSD was comparable to other paramedic populations while suicidality was higher: there were mixed findings on the other measures. Regression analyses found that stressors related to the organisation, the broader work context and shift work were significantly associated with measures of mental health while, with the exception of anxiety, emergency work was not. There were no meaningful differences in levels of mental health conditions within groups across the paramedic workforce except that PTSD caseness was higher outside the major cities and, higher levels of suicidality were reported in three ambulance service regions.
The higher levels of suicidality in this paramedic sample is a new finding although further research is needed to determine its nature and sources. Many stressors associated with mental health are not emergency work related but are instead associated with the organization and aspects of the broader working environment, suggesting that some stressors may be amenable to being managed. The lack of meaningful differences within this paramedic sample indicates that targeting mental health interventions is not practical, and should instead be directed across the entire workforce.
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O'Brien, Siobhan. "An investigation of middle primary children’s wellbeing using the Reading WELL home reading program." Thesis, 2022. https://vuir.vu.edu.au/43936/.
Full textAbstract:
This project investigates the effectiveness of The Reading WELL (Wellbeing Everyday through Learning and Literature) home reading program. The study is set within the homes and families of two communities in metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, and involved 142 parents and children in Year 3–4 classrooms.
The project endeavoured to capture the interactions and aesthetic engagement that occurred between parent and child during the shared reading of narrative texts. With the aim of introducing knowledge around 3 wellbeing topics of body image, resilience and self-esteem, the focus of the research engaged developmental bibliotherapy using open- ended discussion prompts that specifically addressed the 3 topics to support the development of children’s wellbeing.
Developmental bibliotherapy includes the use of books to “heal the mind” (Catalano, 2008; Halstead, 2009). Through reading, a reader makes connections to text and relates to characters in a non-threatening way. Via four stages: identification, catharsis, insight and universalisation, children are encouraged to draw on relevant experiences from their own lives. The four resources model (Luke and Freebody, 1997) underpinned the theoretical framework and The ORIM Framework (Nutbrown, Hannon & Morgan, 2005) opportunities, recognition, interaction and modelling (ORIM) acted as a taxonomy that captured the shared reading engagement (Department of Education, 2018; Ludwig, 2003).
The Reading WELL book collection consisted of 37 book titles. A Reading WELL kit was located in a class for a school term and the children self-selected one book each week to take home to read. Each participating child received a Reading WELL journal. After reading, the journal was completed by the parent and child. As the main form of data collection, the contents of the journal included the study information, tips on shared reading, the titles of each book and 10 journal entries that included space to record the discussion that occurred after reading, acting as a reflection record for each book. The Reading WELL program was also mapped to the Victorian curriculum English, Personal and social capabilities, and Health and physical education curriculum areas. Attained through semi-structured interviews with parents and teachers and the Reading WELL journals, the project outcomes consider whether the reading engagement of a child increases based on the transactional/aesthetic response (Rosenblatt, 1994, 1995) focused on the text responses that illuminate reading connections from life to text and text to life (Davis, 1992; Mantei & Fahy, 2018; Nikolajeva, 2014). The outcomes consider the feasibility of the program and whether the Reading WELL is a sustainable and accessible way for parents and children to engage with reading as a regular form of home literacy.
The outcomes also show how children’s reading engagement has impact on wellbeing and the 3 topic areas: body image, resilience and self-esteem. This is presented as a series of re-storied narratives using Barkhuizen’s (2008) story, Story, and STORY model. The re-storied narratives illustrate how cultural literacy, funds of knowledge and parent–child relationships influence children’s development and wellbeing. The re- storied narratives utilise arts-based (re)presentation research, with 10 re-storied titles that provide interpretations of the participants lived experiences. It is envisioned that these Reading WELL narratives will become a published version of the Reading WELL that supports children’s wellbeing development through the integrated use of developmental bibliotherapy and research-based insight into the body image, resilience and self-esteem topic areas.
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Maczewski, Mechthild. "Understanding how information and communication technologies matter to youth : a network of developmental, social and technological dynamics." Thesis, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1828/994.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation explores the questions: (l) how use of specific information and communication technologies (ICT) matters to youth, (2) how use of these ICT is experienced by youth and (3) how youth conceptualize their relations to ICT in their daily lives. It provides a networked perspective that emphasizes youth's experiences of ICT in contexts. This networked perspective focuses on the dynamic connections between adolescent development, societal change and technological innovations when understanding youth's ICT use. Such a perspective positions youth as nexus in online and offline relational networks. It recognizes youth as actors who experience intense emotions when using ICT and who learn skills to navigate and negotiate these networks. Simultaneously, it situates youth's experiences of ICT use as emergent from adolescent, societal and technological contexts and within continuous cultural change.
Methodologically, this study draws on multi-sited ethnographic research practices (Marcus, 1998; 2005) as well as being guided by the notion of congruency between site, methodology, and phenomenon (Oberg, 2003). Data was primarily gathered through four interviews held with six youth aged 16-18, two focus groups, and the researcher's immersion over five years in the Computer Human Interaction Software Engineering Lab (CHISEL).
Three themes of how ICT use matters to youth emerged: Fun, Convenience and Connections. These themes illuminate how ICT have multiple ways of mattering for young people within their unique life contexts, such as providing continued connections to peers after school and shifting spatial and temporal boundaries. Patterns of emotional experience emerged that encompassed simultaneous existence of contradictory emotions (e.g., stimulating and overwhelming) when engaged in a specific activity such as instant messaging. Examples of Self-ICT relations are: "We're immersed" and "I feel empty without it." These conceptualizations are linked to networked theories of self that constitute ICT as in relation to self.
This dissertation concludes by applying a networked perspective to understanding youth's ICT use as well as stepping back in order to raise larger cultural questions. It argues for the importance of recognizing the complexities that shape human — ICT connections in order to assist youth in learning skills to negotiate their emergent sense of self successfully.