To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Developmental psychology and ageing.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Developmental psychology and ageing'
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Developmental psychology and ageing.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Molnar, Tamas. "Improved usability of electronic government services for the ageing population." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät II, 2014. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/16928.
Full textAbstract:
Die Fragestellung dieser Arbeit ist ob derzeit angebotene e-Government Systeme von älteren Nutzern angenommen werden und wie solche aufgebaut werden müssen, damit diese Nutzergruppe solche Systeme als eine nützliche Alternative zu Behördengängen annimmt. In unserer Forschung haben wir erforscht wie solche Anwendungen, welche von der Verwaltung für die gesamte Bevölkerung angeboten werden, aufgebaut werden sollten, damit diese von der gesamten Bevölkerung erfolgreich genutzt werde können. Zur Beantwortung dieser Fragestellung wurde eine dreistufige Forschung durchgeführt, welche an das ISO 9241-210 Entwicklungsmodell angelehnt ist. Die Forschung wurde parallel in Deutschland und Ungarn in Kooperation mit dem Fraunhofer FOKUS, dem Bundesministerium des Innern, der Bundesdruckerei und der Corvinus Universität Budapest durchgeführt. In der ersten Phase wurden die Erwartungen und Vorkenntnisse der Zielgruppe erforscht um die Eckpunkte und Prämissen festlegen zu können. Diese Erkenntnisse ermöglichten in der zweiten Phase die fundierte Auswahl einer Anwendung, welche als Basis für Nutzertests genutzt werden konnte. Die Testanwendung war das AusweisApp des elektronischen Personalausweises. Bei diesen Tests wurden die Nutzerfehler erfasst und die Akzeptanz durch die ASQ Methode gemessen. Anhand der gewonnen Erkenntnisse konnte die Guideline IGUAN entwickelt werden, welche eine standardisierte Herangehensweise zur Akzeptanzsteigerung darstellt. Dieses Konzept beinhaltet neben den speziellen, an ältere Nutzer angepassten Anforderungen, einem Kriterienkatalog, sowie die Abbildung der Prozesse wodurch eine Erhöhung der Akzeptanz für Ältere ermöglicht wird. In der dritten Phase der Forschung konnte die Guideline durch eine iterative Prototypentwicklung evaluiert und geprüft werden. Wir konnten beweisen, dass Verbesserungen beim Interface e-Government Anwendungen an die alternde Gesellschaft näher bringen, die Motivation erhöhen und das Nutzerempfinden nachhaltig verbessern.Our research focuses on the question of acceptance of current e-government systems by elderly users. It describes how such systems should be designed and offered for this user group in order to provide an acceptable alternative to offline processes. In order to answer our research question, the research was structured into three phases along the development model of the ISO 9241-210. This enabled to identify not only the main factors of acceptance, but also the expectations of elderly users. Our research was conducted in parallel in Germany and Hungary in cooperation with the Fraunhofer FOKUS, the Federal Ministry of Interior, the Bundesdruckerei and the Corvinus University Budapest. The first phase of our research provided results about the expectations and previous experience of the users with e-government systems. This set the premises for the next phases of our research and provided us with information about the theoretical acceptance of systems by the age group. The results made it possible to select an application in the second phase, which was used as a model in the remaining phases. The selected application was the AusweisApp of the electronic ID card. The test measured the encountered errors and the acceptance of the system with the ASQ method. The obtain results allowed us to develop a generalised solution, the IGUAN guideline. This guideline makes a standardised approach to the usability improvement process possible. It contains the special requirements of elderly users, and a catalogue of criteria, which helps to develop an application in line with the set requirements. The third phase of our research was used a proof of concept for the IGUAN. The guideline was evaluated and tested with an iterative prototyping. We could therefore demonstrate that improvements in the interface make e-government application possible which are perceived useful and easy to use by elderly users. These improvements will measurably increase the user motivation and experience.
2
Ashman, Ori. "Lifespan development: a social-cultural perspective." Thesis, Ashman, Ori (2006) Lifespan development: a social-cultural perspective. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2006. https://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/150/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores some of the social factors that may affect individuals as they age. A lifespan developmental perspective is employed in investigating the effects of societal aging stereotypes on will-to-live and risk-taking skills. Results suggest negative aging stereotypes may have deleterious effects on the elderly, but not young individuals in terms of will-to-live, but have no effect on risk-taking abilities. Furthermore, a cross-cultural analysis of Americans and Japanese reveals robust differences in self-concept between countries, which in turn partially mediate the effects of culture and age on control strategies. It appears culture and age may play important roles in determining individuals' self-concept, motivation, and regulation of behavior.
The first part of Study 1 examined whether stereotypes of aging contribute to decisions the elderly make about when to die. Elderly and young participants (n = 64) were subliminally primed with either negative or positive stereotypes of old age using a computer, and then responded to hypothetical medical situations involving potentially fatal illnesses. Consistent with my prediction, the aged participants primed with negative stereotypes tended to refuse life-prolonging interventions, whereas those primed with positive age stereotypes tended to accept the interventions. This priming effect did not emerge among the young participants for whom the stereotypes were less relevant. The results suggest that socially transmitted negative stereotypes of aging can weaken elderly will-to-live, or at the very least, willingness to pursue medical intervention.
The second part of Study 1 examined whether the older adults demonstrate similar risk-taking skills to the younger adults, and whether this ability is preserved, even after exposure to age stereotypes. Sixteen young and 16 older participants were tested on a risk-taking decision task following exposure to subliminal aging stereotypes. In all conditions, both the old and young participants systematically and equivalently increased their willingness to take risks as risk level decreased. Furthermore, response times were an inverted U shape curve with slower response times recorded at the medium risk level and faster times as risk levels shifted up or down. The findings suggest the ability to make decisions based on risk level is maintained into old age.
Study 2 investigated results reported by a number of studies finding that primary control remains stable in old age, is lower in Asian countries, and that secondary control increases in old age and is higher in Asian countries. I examined whether these patterns may be due to the mediating influence of an interdependent self-concept. In a sample of 557 young and older adults in Japan and the United States, primary and secondary control, age, and interdependence were studied. I found that interdependence partially mediated the influence of culture on secondary control and interdependence partially mediated the influence of age on both primary and secondary control. Findings suggest that interdependence is an important factor that should be considered in trying to understand the determinants of control crossculturally and developmentally.
3
Ashman, Ori. "Lifespan development : a social-cultural perspective /." Ashman, Ori (2006) Lifespan development: a social-cultural perspective. PhD thesis, Murdoch University, 2006. http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/150/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores some of the social factors that may affect individuals as they age. A lifespan developmental perspective is employed in investigating the effects of societal aging stereotypes on will-to-live and risk-taking skills. Results suggest negative aging stereotypes may have deleterious effects on the elderly, but not young individuals in terms of will-to-live, but have no effect on risk-taking abilities. Furthermore, a cross-cultural analysis of Americans and Japanese reveals robust differences in self-concept between countries, which in turn partially mediate the effects of culture and age on control strategies. It appears culture and age may play important roles in determining individuals' self-concept, motivation, and regulation of behavior.
The first part of Study 1 examined whether stereotypes of aging contribute to decisions the elderly make about when to die. Elderly and young participants (n = 64) were subliminally primed with either negative or positive stereotypes of old age using a computer, and then responded to hypothetical medical situations involving potentially fatal illnesses. Consistent with my prediction, the aged participants primed with negative stereotypes tended to refuse life-prolonging interventions, whereas those primed with positive age stereotypes tended to accept the interventions. This priming effect did not emerge among the young participants for whom the stereotypes were less relevant. The results suggest that socially transmitted negative stereotypes of aging can weaken elderly will-to-live, or at the very least, willingness to pursue medical intervention.
The second part of Study 1 examined whether the older adults demonstrate similar risk-taking skills to the younger adults, and whether this ability is preserved, even after exposure to age stereotypes. Sixteen young and 16 older participants were tested on a risk-taking decision task following exposure to subliminal aging stereotypes. In all conditions, both the old and young participants systematically and equivalently increased their willingness to take risks as risk level decreased. Furthermore, response times were an inverted U shape curve with slower response times recorded at the medium risk level and faster times as risk levels shifted up or down. The findings suggest the ability to make decisions based on risk level is maintained into old age.
Study 2 investigated results reported by a number of studies finding that primary control remains stable in old age, is lower in Asian countries, and that secondary control increases in old age and is higher in Asian countries. I examined whether these patterns may be due to the mediating influence of an interdependent self-concept. In a sample of 557 young and older adults in Japan and the United States, primary and secondary control, age, and interdependence were studied. I found that interdependence partially mediated the influence of culture on secondary control and interdependence partially mediated the influence of age on both primary and secondary control. Findings suggest that interdependence is an important factor that should be considered in trying to understand the determinants of control crossculturally and developmentally.
4
Hayes, Tracy. "Making sense of nature : a creative exploration of young people's relationship with the natural environment." Thesis, University of Cumbria, 2018. http://insight.cumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/3732/.
Full textAbstract:
Can you imagine a world where no-one goes outside? Our world is under threat from human activities, from what we do, and the way we do it. This will have a huge impact on our future lives, and we need to think about how we protect places and the people, animals and plants found there. Whilst, there is a widely-recognised need to address this threat, there is a specific focus on how we can involve young people in this process. Within this, there is additional concern about how little time children and young people spend outside. My qualitative study responds to these concerns by exploring young people’s relationship with nature, and how this may be developed through the projects we offer them. The participating projects have been spread across England, from south-east to north-west, including rural, coastal and urban environments. The young people, aged between 11 and 25, were from diverse backgrounds, with a wide range of individual needs. This transdisciplinary research has used an innovative blended methodology, combining hermeneutics, (auto)ethnography and action research (HEAR) to explore the topic. I have been creative in my approach, preferring everyday language and making use of stories. I have listened to and observed people’s stories, and created new stories based on these experiences. My work emphasises the importance of communication, how we talk to and with people, and how we talk about the natural environment. Contributions to practice include the development of a new toolkit providing guidance for practitioners on how to work effectively outdoors, with young people identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities. Contributions to knowledge include a new conceptualisation of the different forms of story, and a new methodological approach (HEAR) to explore outdoor learning experiences. These outcomes are founded in young peoples’ perspectives and grounded in practice.
5
Walker, Ruth Virginia. "Expanding Our Conceptualization of Ageism: Moving Toward an Intersectional Lifespan Approach." University of Akron / OhioLINK, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1467905345.
Full text
6
Barnes, Sarah Kathryn. "Mechanisms underlying developmental programming of ageing." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.607983.
Full text
7
Tones, Megan Jane. "Patterns of engagement in workplace learning amongst employees from social sectors." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2009. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/31248/1/Megan_Tones_Thesis.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Continuous learning and development has become increasingly important in the information age. However, employees with limited formal education in lower status occupations may be disadvantaged in their opportunities for development, as their jobs tend to require more limited knowledge and skills. In mature age, such workers may be subject to cumulative disadvantage with respect to work related learning and development, as well as negative stereotyping. This thesis concerns work related learning and development from a lifespan development psychology perspective. Development across the lifespan is grounded in biocultural co-constructivism. That is, the reciprocal influences of the individual and environment produce change in the individual. Existing theories and models of adaptive development attempt to explain how developmental resources are allocated across the lifespan. These included the Meta- theory of Selective Optimisation with Compensation, Dual Process Model of Self Regulation, and Developmental Regulation via Optimisation and Primary and Secondary Control. These models were integrated to create the Model of Adaptive Development for Work Related Learning.
The Learning and Development Survey (LDS) was constructed to measure the hypothesised processes of adaptive development for work related learning, which were individual goal selection, individual goal engagement, individual goal disengagement, organisational opportunities (selection and engagement), and organisational constraints. Data collection was undertaken in two phases: the pilot study and the main study. The objective of the pilot study was to test the LDS on a target population of 112 employees from a local government organisation. Exploratory factor analysis reduced the pilot version of the survey to 38 items encompassing eight constructs which covered the processes of the model of adaptive development for work related learning.
In the main study, the Revised Learning and Development Survey (R-LDS) was administered to another group of 137 employees from the local government organisation, as well as 110 employees from a private healthcare organisation. The purpose of the main study was to validate the R-LDS on two different groups to provide evidence of stability, and compare survey scores according to age and occupational status to determine construct validity. Findings from the main study indicated that only four constructs of the R-LDS were stable, which were organisational opportunities – selection, individual goal engagement, organisational constraints – disengagement and organisational opportunities – engagement. In addition, MANOVA studies revealed that the demographic variables affected organisational opportunities and constraints in the workplace, although individual goal engagement was not influenced by age.
The findings from the pilot and main study partially supported the model of adaptive development for work related learning. Given that only four factors displayed adequate reliability in terms of internal consistency and stability, the findings suggest that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are less relevant to work related learning and development. Some recent research which emerged during the course of the current study has suggested that individual goal selection and individual goal disengagement are more relevant when goal achievement is impeded by biological constraints such as ageing. However, correlations between the retained factors support the model of adaptive development for work related learning, and represent the role of biocultural co-constructivism in development. Individual goal engagement was positively correlated with both opportunity factors (selection and engagement), while organisational constraints – disengagement was negatively correlated with organisational opportunities – selection. Demographic findings indicated that higher occupational status was associated with more opportunities for development. Age was associated with fewer opportunities or greater constraints for development, especially for lower status workers.
8
Miller, Sue G. "Interpersonal psychotherapy for depressed retirees: Developing and testing a clinical treatment manual." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2012. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/477.
Full textAbstract:
Most workers adjust well to retirement, but some experience depression due to poor adjustment. No evidence-based treatments were identified that targeted the developmental needs of this complex transition. In phase 1, a treatment manual (IPT-RM) was developed. The manual comprised an adaptation of Interpersonal Psychotherapy. In phase 2, a pilot study was conducted to determine the treatment’s feasibility. A series of non-experimental AB singlecase studies was conducted with nine retirees. All research participants’ depressive symptoms receded into the non-depressed range by the end of the study. The IPT-RM treatment manual was developed to a Stage 1 level, which incorporated peer-reviewed literature and clinical knowledge. Practical implications of the research for future activities include (a) prevention: conduct psychosocial retirement preparation workshops and other delivery formats, such as internet, DVD, and print media and (b) intervention: train psychologists in issues related to retirement adjustment. Future research could trial IPT-RM at a Stage 2 level of evidence-based treatment manual development. Furthermore, a retirement adjustment scale could be developed to predict which retirees are at greatest risk of experiencing depression due to a poor adjustment to retirement.
9
Campioni-Noack, Maddalena. "Developmental conditioning confers vulnerability in the adult and ageing nervous system." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2005. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1444362/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis looks at the condition under which sympathetic neurons (SCG) develop in order to understand the causes of selective vulnerability during ageing and therefore shows how pre-treatment in vivo with NGF at a specific point during development affects SCG neurons. In summary, results show that following pre-treatment in vivo there is an increase in neuronal number, with differential effect on different subpopulations of neurons (MCA versus iris projecting neurons). MCA-projecting neurons (a vulnerable subpopulation of SCG neurons) increase in growth and innervation of specific target tissues following NGF pre-treatment in vivo, showing a maintained plasticity after termination of development and therefore a potential target site for future therapeutics. NGF pre-treatment in vivo also increases neuronal survival time throughout life, showing that the limited supply of NGF in real life prime neurons to a reduced potential. The results on survival also show a difference in the mode of action between the two major survival pathways (PI3-K and ERK), with PI3-K being the predominant in adult life and ERK acting mainly in early life. This shows a double survival mechanism which is plastic and capable of shifting predominance according to factors such as NGF stimuli and/or ageing. Furthermore if the NGF pre-treatment in vivo is applied after termination of development, neurons show plasticity by developing an 'addiction' or dependance to NGF pre-treatment termination results in death of the neurons. Preliminary results show increase in Akt activity which is downstream of PT3-K, and is activated in NGF-dependent survival of SCG neurons (Pierchala et aL, 2004). Biological consequences of Akt activation are survival, increase in cell number and growth, which are all characteristics relevant also to cancer-cell growth. Further preliminary results show an inhibition of GSK-3p pathways, which is downstream of Akt and is determinant for cytoskeletal rearrangement, glucose metabolism and cell survival regulation of GSK-3p has been widely studied in relation to Alzheimer's disease. In conclusions this research shows that sympathetic neurons are plastic and by priming mem with NGF, at a critical point during development, their survivability is increased. These results support the existence of a sensitive mechanism for adjusting neuronal capacity to resist cell death in response to neurotrophic factor deprivation.
10
Richardson, Cassandra. "Awareness in ageing." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2008. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/66450/.
Full textAbstract:
Deficits in awareness are found in diseases of ageing, and with acute and traumatic brain injury. Despite investigations of awareness in ageing patient populations, little is known about any potential effects of normal ageing on awareness. The Hierarchies of Processing model (Stuss, Picton & Alexander, 2001) provided a theoretical framework for an investigation of different types of awareness in healthy ageing. Four empirical studies are reported in this thesis. An investigation of sensory processing using ERP components found that older adults had reduced attentional capture of auditory stimuli and allocated less attention to processing target stimuli. However, behavioural performance was equivalent across groups, indicating that the underlying differences found in sensory processing did not significantly impact on functioning. Age-related differences were also found in ERP components associated with performance monitoring: error detection; error processing; and, in reaction times. However, again, behavioural performance was similar, and indicated that older adults were able to compensate for underlying brain changes. In the third study, there were no age differences in any of the measures of awareness specifically focusing on current functioning and abilities, which suggested that awareness of abilities, did not alter as a function of healthy ageing. The final exploratory study found that the different levels of awareness were related, and, that the pattern of relationships was similar for younger and older adults. Normal healthy ageing was associated with subtle differences in some processes underlying different types of awareness, but without any functional impairment. It was concluded that older adults may adapt to underlying brain and cognitive changes occurring during later life.
11
Harvey, Jessica. "Ageing and health literacy." Thesis, Canterbury Christ Church University, 2018. http://create.canterbury.ac.uk/17653/.
Full textAbstract:
Background: Older people are more likely to have poorer health literacy skills, experience more health problems and worse health outcomes compared to younger people. Aims: The aim of the study was to explore whether age differences between older people’s and younger people’s performance on a health literacy task would reduce with multimodal health information, presented by video, compared with unimodal information presented by audio and text on its own. Method: 24 older adults and 25 younger adults completed a test predictive of intelligence and an experimental task where they were shown information about health conditions presented by video, audio and text and then asked forced-choice questions on its content. Older adults also completed a cognitive screening test. Results: No significant differences in performance between the age groups were found for video stimuli presentation. Conversely, older adults performed significantly worse than younger participants when shown the audio and text-based stimuli in isolation. The pattern of findings suggests the older group benefited more than the younger group from video stimuli. Conclusions and implications: Older people may benefit more from receiving multimodal health-improving information. Clinicians have a responsibility to communicate health advice in ways most accessible to the older population. Additional work is needed to further investigate how presenting health information to more than one sensory channel could improve older people’s health literacy and health outcomes.
12
Brümmer, Laura. "Ageing and emotion regulation." Thesis, University of Southampton, 2009. https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/153301/.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis commences with a review of trends in declining psychological disorders as a person ages. These findings are understood in terms of differences between older and younger adults’ emotion processing. Socio-emotional selectivity theory is introduced as one account of these age differences. Literature is reviewed which illustrates how certain emotion regulation strategies are utilised differently in older and younger adults. The consequences of these emotion regulation strategies on affect, cognition and mental and physical health are illustrated. Inconsistencies and gaps in the literature are discussed and suggestions made for future research. Following from this, the empirical paper examines the use of emotion regulation strategies across the life span and the effect of these strategies on emotional awareness and psychological distress. A cross sectional design was used and the findings suggest that older adults make greater use of the emotion regulation strategy, suppression compared to younger and middle aged adults. This greater use of suppression by older adults was not related to greater reporting of psychological distress. By contrast, younger adults who reported high levels of suppression also reported higher levels of psychological distress. Older adults reported less anxiety and stress than younger adults, with no age differences in depression. Contrary to predictions, we found no relationship between suppression and emotional awareness. These data suggest a decoupling of the use of emotional suppression and psychological distress with age. These findings were understood in terms of differences in types of stressors experienced with age and a shift towards emotion regulation goals.
13
Goldstone, Aimée. "Functional connectivity of the ageing brain." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2017. http://etheses.bham.ac.uk//id/eprint/7651/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis investigated the impact of advancing age on modifying the functional connectivity (FC) of both typical cortical resting-state networks and subcortical structures in the human brain. Furthermore, it explored how any differences in FC may be associated with changes in sleep quality, also thought to be affected by age, and how such interactions may contribute to typical cognitive disruption associated with older age. The results suggest that older age is associated with the heterogeneous, spatially specific re-organisation of resting-state networks (RSNs), as well as indicating gender-specific spatial re-organisation. Investigation of thalamic FC revealed that older adults exhibited greater thalamo-sensory and thalamo-hippocampal FC, which was related to cognitive performance on RT and memory tasks, respectively. Investigation into participant’s sleep patterns provided evidence that sleep quality was more variable amongst the older participants. Furthermore, older adults that slept the longest each night were found to exhibit patterns of thalamic FC which were associated with better cognitive performance, than seen in older shorter sleepers. These results provide preliminary evidence that sleep may be associated with more ‘preferable’ patterns of FC in older adults which may be beneficial for cognitive function.
14
Norris, Jade Eloise. "Numerical cognition in ageing : investigating the impact of cognitive ageing on foundational non-symbolic and symbolic numerical abilities." Thesis, University of Hull, 2015. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:13762.
Full textAbstract:
Healthy ageing is associated with a gradual decline in several cognitive functions, including processing speed, inhibitory control, memory, executive functions, and problem solving. However, the trajectory of ability in numerical cognition in older age remains unclear. Some research investigating exact skills such as arithmetical problem solving have found declined numerical abilities in older age due to reduced access to effective strategies. However, other research has indicated stable or even enhanced mathematical and arithmetical abilities in older age. Furthermore, limited research is available on the impact of ageing on foundational numerical abilities. The effect of cognitive ageing on such foundational abilities poses an interesting question due to the innate, evolutionary nature of foundational numerical skills. It is possible that such automatic, innate and primitive abilities may be spared in ageing, alongside emotional processing, autobiographical memory, and vocabulary and verbal skills. Available studies investigating basic numerical abilities in ageing present contradictory results and methodological variation. Furthermore, although a limited number of studies have investigated foundational non-symbolic abilities in ageing, the effect of older age on foundational symbolic abilities is yet to be directly tested. The thesis therefore explicitly investigated the impact of healthy ageing on foundational non-symbolic and symbolic numerical processing with a series of experiments. Chapter 2 presents the first study to use classic numerosity discrimination paradigms to compare the non-symbolic and symbolic foundational numerical skills of a group of younger and older adults. Chapter 3 served to further investigate enhanced symbolic numerical abilities in older age found in chapter 2 using a number priming paradigm. The impact of life experience using numbers on foundational numerical skills in older age was studied in chapter 4, whereby older adults with a degree in mathematics were compared with those without explicit further mathematical education. The final two experimental chapters of the thesis examine the reliable measurement of the Approximate Number System in ageing, considering the impact of inhibitory control and mathematical achievement on acuity. Chapter 5 compares non-symbolic acuity in younger and older adults when using either spatially separated or intermixed non-symbolic dot displays. Finally, chapter 6 directly studies the impact of perceptual variables on ANS acuity in ageing, specifically focusing on total cumulative area, dot size, and convex hull (perimeter) congruency. The series of experiments presented in the thesis indicate that foundational numerical abilities are preserved in healthy ageing. Specifically, non-symbolic numerical abilities remain stable in older age, whereas foundational symbolic abilities are enhanced, possibly due to lifetime exposure to and experience with symbolic numbers. Furthermore, the thesis demonstrates the importance of task design in measuring non-symbolic numerical abilities in ageing, identifying methodological aspects which may lead to poorer acuity in older adults as a result of decline in other cognitive functions (e.g. inhibitory control). The thesis therefore contributes to the literature regarding numerical cognition in ageing, with foundational numerical abilities found to be preserved in healthy ageing. Preservation of such abilities in healthy ageing poses implications for pathological ageing, in that declined foundational numerical skills may serve to indicate pathological processes.
15
Tsivilis, Dimitris. "Associative memory in amnesia and normal ageing." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 1998. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.367235.
Full text
16
Gannon, Monte. "Validity of the Developmental Checklist of the Developmental Observation Checklist System." TopSCHOLAR®, 2007. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/397.
Full textAbstract:
This study investigates the use of the Developmental Checklist (DC) of the Developmental Observation Checklist System (DOCS; Hresko, Miguel, Sherbenou, & Burton, 1994) as a screening measure for children birth to three years of age. Kentucky regulations require the use of the DC for screening in the KEIS-First Steps program, yet there is little information regarding the effectiveness of the measure as a screening tool. Evaluation data are presented for 51 children between the ages of 2 and 35 months on the DC and the Battelle Developmental Inventory, 2nd Edition (BDI-2; Newborg, 2005). The DC and BDI-2 domains evidence no significant correlations for this sample. However, significant moderate to strong intracorrelations were evidenced within each measure. Analysis of contingency table components using the BDI-2 as the criterion measure yield specificity (percentage of true negatives) and sensitivity (percentage of true positives) for cutoff standard scores of 94, 85, and 77 on the DC. The number of accurate referrals and accurate nonreferrals comprise the classification consistency between the two measures. Adequate sensitivity (above 80%) is evidenced at the most liberal cutoff for the DC (standard score < 94) at both BDI-2 placement criterions (I'A and 2 SD below the mean) for all domain comparisons. However, there is a cost of less than adequate specificity at this level (94 or below). Good sensitivity was also evidenced for one additional comparison, the Adaptive/Social comparison at the 2 SD BDI-2 criterion with the 85 cutoff on the DC. Classification consistency was not evident at 1 Yi SD on the two domains criterion on the BDI-2 for even the most liberal DC cutoff score (standard score <94). However, sensitivity levels are adequate for all domain comparisons at the liberal cutoff standard score of < 94. The results indicate concern for the use for the DC with the BDI-2 using anything but the most liberal cutoff on the DC. A discussion of practical implication for use of the DC questions the use of the DC with the BDI-2 and provides suggestions for further research with the DC.
17
Johnson, Shane Douglas. "Memory monitoring abilities, prefrontal cortex functioning and ageing." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2001. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.368628.
Full text
18
Vila, Victor Christian. "Social Networks, Health & Hispanic Gay Men Living in South Florida." FIU Digital Commons, 2017. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3194.
Full textAbstract:
Aging Hispanic populations are expected to increase in the United States (U.S.) to 21.5 million by 2060 according to the National Council on Aging (NCA) (2014). Although actual estimates vary, Gates (2013) asserts that over one million Hispanics identify as gay or bisexual and their unique needs must be explored (Clover, 2006; Cohn & Taylor, 2010; Fenkl, 2014). Unfortunately, few studies examine aging Hispanic men who identify as gay or bisexual according to the National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) (2013). The objective of the current study was to extend the limited research on aging gay/bisexual men in the southeastern U.S. (e.g., Fenkl, 2014) by focusing on Hispanic gay/bisexual men in South Florida. The current study identifies social networks that serve to help this population’s health and well-being concerns related to aging. Findings from the 20 male participants in the current study provided evidence that there are unique health concerns associated with aging within this population. The current project has the potential to help health care providers, social service providers and policy makers, with an increased understanding of the special needs and challenges experienced by aging gay ethnic minorities in communities throughout the U.S.
19
Cimini, Katharine L. "Cognitive Developmental Differences in Source Monitoring." W&M ScholarWorks, 1992. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539625773.
Full text
20
Price, Jessica Mary. "The use of focus cues in healthy ageing." Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2008. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/500/.
Full textAbstract:
It is known that general processing resources decline with age (Craik, 1983), yet language comprehension typically remains well preserved in normal aging (Wingfield & Grossman, 2006). It is well known that placing a concept within the scope of focus either with syntactic devices or prosody increases the salience of the text information (e.g., Birch & Rayner, 1997; Cutler & Fodor, 1979; Baker & Wagner, 1987; Cooreman & Sanford, 1996; Sturt, Sanford, Stewart & Dawydiak, 2004). Since information structuring cues are used over a lifetime, it is possible that it is preserved as a cue in older adults and that it may be used to offset other processing difficulties. However, focus may be considered a linguistic equivalent of devices for manipulating selective attention, and there is evidence that older people have difficulties with some selective attention tasks, and have difficulties with the inhibition of irrelevant stimuli. It is thus difficult to predict how older people might respond to focus cues during language processing. There is no evidence regarding this question, and the present thesis contains work aimed at an answer. This thesis presents a series of studies, including sentence continuation studies, self-paced reading studies, delayed probe recognition and eye-tracking studies, and one change detection study investigating the effect of focus and related cues on an older age group. The main findings are older adults showed in some cases larger effects of focus and subordination, in terms of reading times, change detection and probe recognition rates, than did their younger counterparts. However, older and younger participants have different processing patterns based on the proper name/role description contrast, unlike the findings from the information structuring cues. These findings are discussed in relation to existing research on how healthy adult ageing modulates language processing.
21
Morgan, Jane Louise. "Stimulus equivalence and developmental dyslexia." Thesis, Bangor University, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.362133.
Full text
22
Campos, Ivy. "Do developmental assessments impact parental stress?" FIU Digital Commons, 2005. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/1989.
Full textAbstract:
This study is a preliminary exploration of whether parental stress can be influenced by receiving the developmental assessment information about a target child. The study consisted of 25 self-referred families who sought developmental assessments from the Youth and Family Development Program (YFDP) at Florida International University, with children between 4 to 12 years of age. All parents contacting YFDP for developmental assessments completed a pre-test (Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) over the telephone. Participants (both parent and child) completed an assessment battery during Weeks 1 and 2, and a final feedback session (Week 4) was provided for the parent on the results of these assessments. The participants were contacted four weeks (Week 8) after the feedback session to complete the post test (PSISF). Results of the pre and post-test were compared. As expected, parents' stress was significantly lower at one month following the developmental assessment intervention compared to stress at intake, across domains of parent distress, difficult child, parentchild dysfunction, and total parenting distress. Implications for using developmental assessments in parent interventions are discussed.
23
Craig, Ronald Keith. "Conceptions of weight : a developmental study /." The Ohio State University, 1992. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1487775034179184.
Full text
24
O'Brien, Alexis. "Psychological aspects of ageing in people with intellectual disabilities." Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.269877.
Full text
25
Mok, Robert. "Working memory in healthy ageing." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2016. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:36594546-962e-4f81-ad91-589dcd96f029.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis is concerned with the age-related changes in working memory (WM), and the inter-individual differences in cognitive and neural mechanisms that correspond to healthy versus poor ageing of WM function. The first half of this thesis focusses on the age-related decline in WM and whether preserved top-down attentional control could mitigate such deficits. In Chapter 2, I present a functional MRI study showing that older adults reliably recruit brain networks that subserve cognitive control, which work in concert with the task relevant sensory areas during effective selective WM. In Chapter 3, I show that older adults retain flexible control over WM representations, and this ability corresponded to the reliable recruitment of neural signals of orienting attention qualitatively similar to those observed in younger adults. Magnetoencephalographic recordings showed that the neural dynamics during orienting attention within WM was predictive of good performance, demonstrating that the more efficient the process of orienting within WM to select the target item, the better the memory representation can be preserved for upcoming behaviour. In the second half of this thesis, I explored whether WM for affective content has a special status in healthy ageing. In Chapter 4, I developed an emotional WM precision task to measure WM abilities for emotional content appropriate for elderly adults. In Chapter 5, I tested a group of young and older adults on WM and perceptual-matching abilities for emotional faces. The results suggest that older adults show a general impairment in task performance, but possibly with some preservation in the ability to maintain emotional content in WM. There were marked differences in how the emotional information was processed between age groups, in which older adults have a tendency to represent negative stimuli as less negative than younger adults in perception and WM, and tended to show a positive interpretation of the valence of more ambiguous emotional stimuli. In Chapter 6, I summarise the findings presented in this thesis, discuss the implications of the key findings, and consider some suggestions for future studies that aim to elucidate the mechanisms of WM in healthy ageing.
26
Allen, Michael John. "Developmental aspects of handwriting acquisition." Thesis, Staffordshire University, 2011. http://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/1880/.
Full textAbstract:
This research set out to examine the changes in handwriting in children from the earliest learning experiences at about five years old through to the time that they leave education in late adolescence. The aims were to explore the changes that occur in handwriting, both of features used and their variability, to establish when they occur and to determine what the consequences are for the process of individualisation. A coding scheme was devised that was used to establish detailed changes in feature use of particular letters in the handwriting of children. The scheme was tested and then revised to give a practical tool to use in the examination of large numbers of handwriting samples in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that followed. In the cross-sectional study three handwriting tasks (normal composition, neat copying and fast copying) were completed by 144 participants from six different age groups. Firstly, the results showed that, there are underlying higher order dimensions of handwriting that emerge from some of the individual features. Secondly, across all tasks, the variability of handwriting increased from the younger children and peaked at about 10-11 years old and then decreased. Within this general trend, there was also evidence that writing faster than normal led to increased variability in letter formation for younger children, but reduced variability for older children. Thirdly, some individualisation was present even in the youngest children, but the extent of this increased such that by late adolescence it was nearly almost complete. In the longitudinal study handwriting samples from a smaller number of children were obtained over three years. The findings were similar to those obtained in the cross-sectional study. The implications of this for handwriting acquisition in particular and skill acquisition in general are considered. The research concludes that there is potential to extend the approach used in this research to clarify higher order dimensions of handwriting production, that the variability of handwriting is a good measure for determining handwriting development in children, that this variability increases up to the age of 10-11, and then declines, and that the handwriting of each child progressively develops its own style away from that of his or her peers.
27
Erskine, James Anthony Keith. "Wisdom, ageing and counselling psychology : a preliminary investigation of wisdom." Thesis, Regent's University, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.646071.
Full textAbstract:
Seventy-one participants wrote down their wisest general and practical life advice. These transcripts were then rated for wisdom by twenty independent raters, and analysed using thematic content analysis. Participants also completed questionnaire measures of wisdom (3-Dimensional Wisdom Scale, 3DWS, Ardelt 2003) mental and physical health in order to examine convergent and divergent validity for this new method of eliciting wisdom. Participants were chosen to test whether their age or background would affect wisdom. Specifically 59 participants had no psychological background in training (degrees/courses) or occupation (worked in non-psychological professions). Of these non-psychologists, 20 were young (18-30) 18 were middle aged (31-64) and 21 were older adults (over 65). The remaining 12 participants were counselling psychologists in training with at least 5 years psychology teaching and 100 clinical practice hours. Results indicated this method of eliciting wisdom correlated positively and significantly with Ardelts (2003) 3DWS. Our younger sample was significantly less wise than our middle aged, older or counselling psychologists. The counselling psychologists were significantly wiser than the young and middle aged samples, and showed a trend towards being wiser than older adults (p=.09). Qualitative analysis indicated the main general wisdom themes were persistence in the face oflifes' obstacles, do unto others as you would have done to you, look after your health, and be independent. Younger and older adults saw persistence in the face of difficulty as most important. For middle aged concerns about money predominated. For counselling psychologists the most important concerned being independent. The main themes from practical wisdom were: looking after money, the value of education, being independent, and working hard. For young the most important was gaining education and avoiding danger. For middle aged the most important was looking after your health. For older adults it was education. For counselling psychologists it was being independent.
28
Bai, Wenyu. "Developmental strategies and styles and their measurement." W&M ScholarWorks, 2005. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539618521.
Full textAbstract:
Developmental styles and strategies (DSS) are preferences and repeated patterns in intentional self-development. A taxonomy of DSS based on the convergence of talent development and Sternberg's Triarchic Model of Intelligences was proposed to distinguish school learners, street learners, talent developers (specialists), and all-knowers (generalists). This study explored the reliability of the researcher-developed Educational Developmental Style and Strategy Scale, the relationships of age, gender, birth order, ethnicity, and SES to developmental DSS adoption, and the characteristics of five types of DSS adopters (i.e., street learning specialists, street learning generalists, school learning specialists, school learning generalists, the neutral group). Eighty out of 160 students at a governor's school for science and technology completed the survey.;The major findings were the following. (1) The reliability coefficient for the Specialist-Generalist Subscale (SGS) was .79, and that for the Street Learning-School Learning Subscale (SLSLS) was .76. (2) There were no statistically significant differences among the five types of DSS adopters in age, gender, ethnicity, number of siblings, birth order, and parental education. (3) There were no statistically significant differences across five groups in most measures in the questionnaire. The five groups did not differ significantly in books at home and amount of reading, strengths during childhood, Holland personality types, educational aspirations, developmental ideals and parental expectations, contributors to educational growth, contributors to strength development, source of influence on students' development, amount of time spent on activities weekly, taking private lessons, parents' ability to give good advice on students' development, parents' knowledge in students' areas of interest, the freedom to make decisions on one's own development, having different values from peers, have interests different from peers, not following the crowd, grade-orientation, importance of schooling, diversification strategy, opportunity-orientation, spending efforts on the nearest goal, basing their career choices on their missions rather than on competences and interests, having private projects, considering school as an extra burden, ability to learn on one's own, and having highly developed talents.;There were some significant differences found in some areas. Generalists had more books at home than specialists had. Generalists were more likely to have military, political, and sports books. School learners were more likely to have science books and less likely to have social science books. School learners' mean school rank in percentile was significantly higher than that of street learners. School learning generalists were different from street learning generalists and school learning specialists in perceiving whether their interests were shared by their classmates.
29
Clements, Andrea D., and M. Byous. "Introductory Psychology Need Not Be a Prerequisite for Developmental Lifespan Psychology." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 1999. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/7315.
Full text
30
Saros, Nicole. "Consultation for Children with Developmental Delays." Thesis, McGill University, 2008. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=95674.
Full textAbstract:
The primary objective ofthe present study was to examine the effectiveness of problem-solving consultation and videotape therapy in reducing externalizing behavior problems in children with developmental delays. Multiple measures were used to determine intervention efficacy (e.g., observations ofparent-child interactions, recorded frequency of childrens' behavior, and ratings from responses on standardized parent questionnaires). A second objective was to explore the relationship between parent and child behavior, The researcher evaluated the quality of parent-child interactions, in terms of childrens' behavior problems (e.g., compliance) and parents' skills (e.g., praise), prior to and following participation in the intervention program. The relationships between parent adjustment variables (e.g., parent stress and depressive symptoms), externalizing behavior problems in children, and the quality of parent-child interactions were assessed. Parent adjustment was measured by self-report with standardized questionnaires that evaluated parent stress and depression. The twelve-week intervention program was provided to 22 children, parents, and teachers. A multiple-baseline research design was used and standardized measures were completed by parents at pre-and postintervention.[...]Le premier objectif de la présente étude était d'examiner l'efficacité de la consultation utilisant un système de résolution des problèmes avec la thérapie base sur des vidéos pour la réduction des problèmes de comportement chez les enfants avec un retard développemental. Des mesures multiples ont été utilisées pour déterminer l'efficacité d'intervention (par exemple, observations des interactions de parent-enfant, la fréquence enregistrée du comportement des enfants et les estimations des réponses de parent sur les questionnaires normalisés). L'investigateur a évalue la qualité des interactions de parent enfant, spécifiquement en termes de problèmes du comportement des enfants (par exemple : conformité) et les compétences de parents' (par exemple, éloge), avant et âpres la participation au programme d'intervention. Le rapport entre les variables d'ajustement émotionnel de parent (par exemple, effort de parent et symptômes dépressifs), les problèmes de comportement chez les enfants et la qualité des interactions de parent-enfant ont été évalues. L'ajustement émotionnel de parent a été mesure par rapport individuel avec des questionnaires normalises qui a permis d'évaluer la dépression et l'angoisse de parent. Le programme d'intervention de douze semaines a été fourni a22 enfants, parents, et professeurs. Un protocole expérimental de multiple ligne de base a été employé et des questionnaires normalises ont été utilises avant et après l'intervention, les questionnaires ont été remplis par les parents.[...]
31
Garrad-Cole, Frances. "Developmental aspects of temporal visual attention." Thesis, Bangor University, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.288135.
Full text
32
Saunders, Jessica Faye. "Social Comparison in Eating Disorder Recovery: A Mixed-Methodological Approach." FIU Digital Commons, 2018. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3818.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation examines social comparison tendencies in young women during eating disorder (ED) recovery. Study one drew on a photo-elicitation method (“PhotoVoice”) and semi-structured interviews to examine this relation. Thirty U.S. women, ages 18-35, in self-defined recovery from disordered eating, used photography to capture personally-meaningful social and cultural influences on their recovery. Participants then shared these photographs with the research team and described them in detail. Photographs and interviews were examined for social comparisons using thematic analysis, and two broad categories emerged: recovery-promoting and recovery-hindering comparisons. The presence of both “upward” and “downward” comparisons that both support and hinder recovery suggests that social comparisons during the recovery process are more nuanced than previously known.
Study two drew from this qualitative data to revise and validate an existing measure of food and body comparisons for women in ED recovery. Women from across the U.S. (n = 183) completed measures of body, eating, and exercise social comparison general comparison orientation, and body dissatisfaction and disordered eating in one online session. After removing four items based on prior research and theory, the revised model fit the data well. Results suggest that body, eating, and exercise social comparisons continue to correlate with body dissatisfaction and disordered eating during recovery, but there are nuances in the content of the comparisons. Study three used this revised measure of social comparison to examine how the interrelations among thin ideal internalization, social comparison, and disordered eating outcomes vary throughout the disorder and recovery processes. An additional 78 women with an active ED, and 178 healthy-control women completed the above-mentioned measures, along with a measure of thin-ideal internalization. Multi-group path analysis showed that the relations among these constructs change between disordered eating and recovery.
Study four drew from the same interviews explored in study one, returning to the interviews and photographs to highlight the key areas of potential change for clinicians and policymakers. Participant responses clustered into six themes: healthcare practice and access, health insurance reform, education, objectification of the female body, and mental health stigma. Direct suggestions and implications are discussed.
33
Johnson, Anna C. "How Adult Children Experience Parent Dependency in a Caregiving/Care-Receiving Dyad." ScholarWorks, 2011. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1060.
Full textAbstract:
Despite plentiful research on the physical, psychological, and emotional demands on adult child caregivers, there are few studies that highlight developmental issues in the adult child/dependent parent dyad. This study was designed to highlight the dependency factor in this dyad, thus addressing the gap in the literature. With family systems theory, attachment theory, and role conceptualizations constituting the bases for the study, research questions addressed how adult child caregivers experience parental dependency and how dependency affects the caregiving/care-receiving dynamic. Ten volunteer participants were interviewed, and the results were analyzed using a variation of the van Kaam method of data analysis in which themes emerged from qualitative phenomenological data. Results of this study revealed 6 main themes; in descending order of the number of participants endorsing each, the themes were as follows: caregivers did not receive enough help from family/friends (n = 10), caregiving evolved on its own (n = 8), expectations changed (n = 8), roles changed (n = 8), dementia caused changes (n = 7), and new relationship provided benefits (n = 5). The first 2 themes indicated the ways in which adult child caregivers experience parental dependency. The remaining 4 themes illuminated participant-reported changes following the addition of dependency to the adult child/parent dynamic. Findings from this study can influence social change by promoting appropriate support interventions that support the physical and mental health of the caregiver population.
34
Watson, Deborah. "Treatment practices of childhood sexual abuse: A developmental psychopathology perspective." ScholarWorks, 2008. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/628.
Full textAbstract:
Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) occurs in up to 9.9 % of the general population. Clinical implications of CSA are lasting and warrant treatment utilizing suitable approaches. Although the developmental psychopathology model encourages clinicians to evaluate disorders in the context of risk/protective factors, cultural issues and development, there is a gap in current research regarding the utilization of developmental theory among clinicians working with this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine consistent patterns in treatment practices employed by therapists with CSA patients. The primary research question in this study was to determine how closely therapists' actual treatment practice with CSA females paralleled the developmental psychopathology model. The study utilized a grounded theory approach to generate a model of practice drawn from structured interviews with 20 therapists recruited through a snowballing sample. A sequence of open, axial and selective coding of these data revealed three themes including empowerment, consistency and support. Results indicate most participants were trained in developmental theory and, developed model based skills over time while intuitively utilizing this model and that progressing clients had therapists that utilized this model. Recommendations include required undergraduate training in this model. This information will contribute to the existing literature on developmental theory and, can enhance social change initiatives through increased reliance on therapist intuition which in turn can produce patient care more aligned with developmental needs. In addition this information can be used for the development of effective model based interventions and preventions so as to decrease CSA's harmful societal impact.
35
Beurkens, Nicole M. "The impact of symptom severity on parent-child interaction and relationships among children with autism." ScholarWorks, 2010. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/812.
Full textAbstract:
Recent estimates indicate that 1 in 100 children in the United States is diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Although research has demonstrated the bidirectional nature of parentchild relations, the effect of child autism symptom severity on parent-child interaction and overall relationships has not yet been explored. This study examined the impact of child symptom severity in children ages 4-15 years, as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), on parent-child interaction, as measured by the Dyadic Coding Scale (DCS), and parent-child relationships, as measured by the Parent Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI). The bidirectional model of socialization informs the study, as it recognizes the mutual impact that parents and children have on one another in the context of parent-child relations. The sample included 25 parent-child dyads, each consisting of a child diagnosed on the autism spectrum and his/her primary parent. Relationships between autism symptom severity, parent-child interaction, and parent-child relationships were explored using multivariate regression analysis. Significant inverse relationships were found between autism symptom severity and parent-child interaction, but no relationship was found between symptom severity and parent-child relationship. Understanding the negative influence of autism symptom severity on parent-child interaction and the lack of impact on overall relationship allows for more effective treatment planning and monitoring of progress over time. Efforts to improve interactions and relationships for these children will lead to significant social change by increasing the effectiveness of treatment programs, enriching family relationships, and improving outcomes across the lifespan.
36
Somers, Patricia A. "Predictors of placement duration for foster and adopted children with special needs." ScholarWorks, 2009. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/691.
Full textAbstract:
Foster and adopted children with special needs have high rates of placement instability. This has been associated with their increased risk of having special needs, particularly reactive attachment disorder which results from severe disruptions in early relationships. Child welfare agencies report inadequate knowledge of specific placement predictors and assessment measures, although research has shown that placement duration is partly a function of successful parent-child match. Using Bowlby's attachment theory as the theoretical framework, this quantitative study examined the contributions of foster and adoptive parents' own attachment characteristics, the child's type of special need, and the child's age at the time of placement in predicting placement duration. A convenience sample of 108 foster and adoptive parents completed three self-report instruments: the Parental Bonding Instrument measuring parental care and protection, the Relationship Scales Questionnaire measuring avoidance and anxiety related to relationships, and a researcher-created demographic questionnaire. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine whether parental attachment characteristics, age at placement and type of special need affect the dependent variable of placement duration. The overall model significantly predicted child placement duration in foster or adoptive homes. Reactive attachment disorder status and the child's age at the time of placement contributed significantly to the prediction model. Implications for social change include the expeditious termination of parental rights, and the need for early, well-matched permanent placement, facilitated by child welfare agency use of objective attachment measures.
37
Diederich, Marcia C. "Cultural determinants in Chinese and American preschool children's understanding of physical laws and social rules." Menomonie, WI : University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2008. http://www.uwstout.edu/lib/thesis/2008/2008diederichm.pdf.
Full text
38
Olson, Richard K., Reinhold Kliegl, Brian J. Davidson, and Gregory Foltz. "Individual and developmental differences in reading disability." Universität Potsdam, 1985. http://opus.kobv.de/ubp/volltexte/2009/3991/.
Full textAbstract:
I. Introduction
A. Theoretical Framework and Selection of Tests
B. Related Studies of Reading Disability Subtypes
C. Overview of Specific Questions and Article Outline
II. Selection criteria nd performance on standardized measures
III. Group differences between disabled and normal readers
A. Phonetic Memory
B. Picture-Naming Speed and Automatic Responses to Print
C. Phonological and Orthographic Skill
D. Easy Regular and Exception Word Reading
E. Difficult Regular and Exception Words
IV. Individual diferences in reading disability
A. Phonological Skill, Orthographic Skill, and the Regularity Effect
B. Phonological Skill, Orthographic Skill, and Spelling Errors
V. Eye movement reading style
A. The "Plodder-Explorer" Dimension of Eye Movement Reading Style
B. Eye Movements, Coding Skills, and Spelling Ratings
C. Verbal Intelligence and the Plodder-Explorer Dimension
D. Eye Movements in a Nonreading Task and the "Visual-Spatial" Subtype
VI. Distribution and etiology of reading disabilities
A. Distribution Issues
B. Etiology of Reading Disabilities
VII. Summary and new directions in research
39
Hirsch-Pemberton, Robert Gray. "When is a developmental issue not a developmental issue? : the case of the conservation task controversy." Thesis, University of Edinburgh, 1988. http://hdl.handle.net/1842/18965.
Full text
40
Gotham, Heather J. "Alcohol involvement and developmental tasks during young adulthood analyses based on a developmental psychopathology perspective /." free to MU campus, to others for purchase, 1999. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/mo/fullcit?p9953860.
Full text
41
Boddy, Christopher Ryan. "Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder (ASAD): Developmental Implications and Clinical Correlates." NSUWorks, 2013. http://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_stuetd/11.
Full textAbstract:
Separation anxiety (SA) is often thought to occur exclusively during childhood; however, recent research has identified a putative diagnosis of Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder (ASAD), which mirrors separation anxiety often exhibited during juvenile years. Several studies have suggested that exposure to certain parental features during childhood may lead to the development of ASAD, including parental depression, parental anxiety, and parental overprotection. This study aimed to address these hypotheses by examining retrospective report of exposure to specific parental features among a population of adults diagnosed with ASAD and to elucidate important clinical correlates related to ASAD, such as impairment in daily functioning.
The present study used a survey design which was nationally representative and based on the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication and which consisted of a population of 436 participants with a lifetime diagnosis of ASAD and 2,438 participants with no history of a DSM-IV diagnosis. Participants were asked to respond retrospectively about their exposure to the above-mentioned parental features during childhood. Chi square tests revealed that participants with a diagnosis of Adult Separation Anxiety Disorder endorsed exposure to significantly more parental anxiety and parental depression. Additionally, chi square tests indicated that these individuals reported more features related to preoccupied attachment. Using survey participants with a diagnosis of ASAD or subclinical levels of ASAD, the effects of treatment on daily functioning, as well as the level of functional impairment associated with ASAD was measured. Individuals with a history of treatment for ASAD reported significantly more functional impairment in the area of work than those without treatment. An independent-samples t-test revealed that respondents with a diagnosis of ASAD endorsed significantly more parental overprotection than did respondents with no diagnosis. Last, the continuity hypothesis, which states that juvenile symptoms of separation anxiety continue into adulthood, was explored. A chi square goodness-of-fit test was used to determine whether these data fit the continuity hypothesis model. Results did not support the continuity hypothesis, as the number of participants who endorsed childhood separation anxiety was significantly lower than the expected count.
Future research should aim to identify efficacious treatments for ASAD, as few studies to date have demonstrated effective means of treating patients with this disorder.
42
Raleigh, Linda. "Developmental coordination disorder : a contextualised perspective." Thesis, City University London, 2013. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/2517/.
Full textAbstract:
This research project investigated the lived experience of DCD in the daily lives of young adult students. The participants were eight students aged between 19 and 22 years of age who self-reported DCD. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to capture the students’ accounts of their daily lives and the data analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Six master themes emerged that illustrated the lived experience of DCD: DCD in Transition, DCD in Functional Context, DCD in Social Context, DCD in Psychological Context, DCD and Support, and finally DCD and Young Adult – Dynamic Self. Relationships among these structural, functional, interpersonal and personal themes highlighted the embedded nature of DCD in the students’ lives. Evocative accounts of the students’ lifeworld are presented which portray the impact of DCD on the students’ academic, social and emotional lives. A particular feature that emerged of the students’ lifeworld was the impact of DCD on the students’ developing identity. It is argued that this contextualised account of DCD provides a complex and rich understanding of the impact of DCD in the students’ lives.
43
Tilgner, Katharina Dorothea. "Mechanisms of renal ageing in a rodent model of developmental programming arising from early catch-up growth." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2016. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/mechanisms-of-renal-ageing-in-a-rodent-model-of-developmental-programming-arising-from-early-catchup-growth(b8b5cc8e-c807-41c1-a781-3fb60f1b03d3).html.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines the underlying mechanisms of how in utero growth restriction (IUGR), followed by postnatal catch-up growth, predisposes the offspring to accelerated renal ageing. Advanced renal ageing following in utero nutritional deprivation has been indicated in large population cohort studies, such as the Dutch Hunger Winter or the Leningrad Siege. To address potential mechanisms contributing to accelerated renal ageing, an established rodent model was used in which IUGR is achieved by dietary protein restriction in pregnant Wistar rats. An enhanced nutritional plane after IUGR has been shown to be particularly detrimental to offspring metabolism. To enhance post-natal overfeeding, the offspring were suckled by control dams and also reduced to 4 (males) per litter known as recuperated animals). To investigate the potential role of hypertension and vascular dysfunction, blood pressure was measured in vivo in 3 month old offspring, using radio telemetry, and vascular function was assessed in renal and peripheral resistance arteries in vitro on a wire myograph. No differences between control and recuperated groups were found although control blood pressure was higher and endothelium dependent relaxation impaired compared to historic controls. There was no evidence of enhanced sympathetic activation in the recuperated group. As mitochondrial dysfunction has previously been implicated, renal mitochondrial function in 3 month old animals we determined whether dietary supplementation coenzyme Q10 (CoQ) could restore renal mitochondrial function, however CoQ had a detrimental effect and did not restore activity. Renal function was assessed by measuring proteinuria, creatinine clearance and plasma renin. Renal morphology and inflammation were assessed by electron microscopy, ED-1, CD-3 and a periodic acid schiff (PAS) stain. There were no signs of early programmed differences in renal function. Enhanced renin gene and protein expression in recuperated animals at 3 months did suggest alterations in renin-angiotensin system (RAS) activity. Accelerated renal ageing in offspring of IUGR rats followed by catch up growth is not due to raised blood pressure or vascular dysfunction and is not reversible with an antioxidant strategy at 3 months of age.
44
Ryan, Melissa-Sue, and n/a. "Ageing and emotion : categorisation, recognition, and social understanding." University of Otago. Department of Psychology, 2009. http://adt.otago.ac.nz./public/adt-NZDU20090309.150008.
Full textAbstract:
The present thesis investigated age differences in emotion recognition skills of 146 older adults (age range 60-92 years) and 146 young adults (age range 18-25 years) in four experiments. Experiment 1 assessed participants� ability to categorise facial expressions of sadness, fear, happiness, and surprise. In Experiments 2 and 3, participants were asked to identify six emotions (happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, anger, disgust) from still and dynamic faces, alone and in combination with vocal expressions. Finally, Experiment 4 compared performance on these standard emotion recognition paradigms to that of more ecologically-valid measures; the Faux Pas and Verbosity and Social Cues Tasks.
Across the four studies, there was evidence of an age-related decline in emotion recognition skills. Older adults were overall less sensitive to perceptual differences between faces in Experiment 1 and showed a loss of categorical perception effect for fearful faces. Older adults were less accurate than young adults at recognising expressions of sadness, anger, and fear, across types of expression (voices and faces). There were some differences across modalities, with older adults showing difficulties with fear recognition for faces, but not voices, and difficulty in matching happy voices to happy faces but not for happy voices and faces presented in isolation. Experiment 2 also showed that the majority of older adult participants had some decline in emotion recognition skills.
Age differences in performance were also apparent on the more ecologically-valid measures. Older adults were more likely than young adults to rate the protagonist as behaving inappropriately in the Faux Pas Task, even with the control videos, suggesting difficulty in discriminating faux pas. Older adults were also judged to be more verbose and to offer more off-topic information during the Verbosity Task than young adults and were less likely to recognise expressions of boredom in the Social Cues Task.
These findings are discussed in terms of three theoretical accounts. A positivity bias (indicating increased recognition and experience of positive emotions and reduction for negative emotions) was not consistent with the older adults� difficulties with matching happy faces to voices and relatively preserved performance with disgusted expressions. Age-related decline in cognitive processes did not account for the specific pattern of age differences observed. The most plausible explanation for the age differences in the present thesis is that age-related neurological changes in the brain areas that process emotions, specifically the temporal and frontal areas, are likely to contribute to the older adults� declines in performance on emotion categorisation, emotion recognition, and social cognition tasks. The implications for everyday social interactions for older adults are also discussed.
45
Ramsay, Ronald. "Visual processing deficit explanations of developmental dyslexia." Thesis, University of Dundee, 1988. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.263484.
Full text
46
Webber, Troy A. "Fetal Testosterone: Developmental Effects on Externalizing Behavior." Scholar Commons, 2015. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7376.
Full textAbstract:
Fetal testosterone (FT) exposure influences sexual differentiation and may promote well-established sex differences in externalizing (EXT) behavior. Although puberty may be a critical period for these effects, it is unknown how FT exposure influences EXT as a function of pubertal development. We used a longitudinal, multi-sample design to test the relationships between two proxy indices of FT exposure and EXT as a function of age and pubertal development (approximately ages 6, 9, 11, 14, and 16). Twin data were used to approximate FT exposure (TT-FT) because testosterone is thought to cross the intrauterine membrane and cause variability in co-twin gonadal hormone exposure, with increasing exposure for males and participants with male co-twins. Increasing number of older siblings may also approximate increasing FT exposure (SI-FT), although existing research has yet to disentangle possible postnatal socialization effects from potential FT exposure using this variable. Given that biologically related siblings share a fetal and social environment while non-biologically related siblings simply share a social environment, we tested the independent effect of SI-FT on EXT using a sibling adoption design. Across four independent samples, SI-FT and TT-FT predicted externalizing for males alone. SI-FT predicted EXT over-and-above socialization influences and interacted with pubertal development in two independent samples, with elevated EXT for those in mid-late puberty that were exposed to increased FT. TT-FT predicted EXT differentially as a function of developmental period. Our data are consistent with the notion that exposure to FT promotes sexually differentiated, sexually selected behavior during reproductively relevant periods.
47
Biundo, Roberta. "Lexical-semantic parameters as robust endophenotypes of abnormal cognitive decline in ageing." Thesis, University of Hull, 2010. http://hydra.hull.ac.uk/resources/hull:5713.
Full textAbstract:
The objective of this dissertation was to characterise the relative contribution of genetic influences to individual differences in cross sectional performance and decline of semantic-lexical abilities and to investigate whether these linguistic effects indicating semantic degradation are sensitive indicators of medial temporal atrophy in early Alzheimer's disease and in patients with mild cognitive impairment of amnestic type (aMCI). The effect of ApoE status in the genetic profile of these groups on deterioration of semantic abilities was studied to verify whether there was any relationship between variation in lexical factors and genetic variability. Oral generation of words belonging to two categories (animal and fruits) during a fluency tasks was required. In AD patients there was an effect of genotype but, although strong, this was diluted by the advanced cognitive deterioration and could only be seen as a tendency to be stronger in ε4 carriers. The words produced by the aMCI carriers were significantly earlier acquired than those of non-carriers and controls. These behavioural findings confirmed evidence from other recent studies and showed that a significant proportion of phenotype variability in performance on fluency tasks was influenced by genetic factors. Impairments in semantic tasks in the ε4 allele carrier population might indicate either that individuals who will develop AD never fully develop semantic skills, or that the neuroanatomical substrate of semantic abilities is selective sensitive to the earliest effects of the AD neuropathology. On the basis of this result it seemed reasonable to hypothesise that the presence of the “semantic endophenotype” in people carriyng the ApoE vulnerability mutation might be associated with atrophy in areas early affected by neuropathology due to AD and involved in semantic memory retrieval. Using lexical semantic competency in aMCI carriers as an endophenotype, grey matter volume loss in aMCI ε4 carriers/non-carriers and in controls was compared and the residual volume correlated with allele burden and with age of acquisition values for words produced in a category fluency task. Direct group comparisons showed that carriers had grey matter volume loss which was generally confined to limbic regions and medial temporal structures, and non-carriers had greater atrophy in temporal and parieto-occipital neocortex. aMCI subjects had significantly impoverished lexical semantic output compared to controls, more marked in aMCI carriers. A voxel based correlation analysis showed that greater volume loss in parahippocampal gyrus and thalamus was associated with a tendency to retrieve earlier acquired words in the category fluency task. The results suggest a relatively specific impact of ApoE 4 burden and underline the value of linguistic assessment in preclinical diagnosis. The detrimental role of this mutation found in aMCI individuals was also assessed at the larger stage in the disease process by direct comparisons in minimal to mild AD ε4 carriers/non-carrier patients. VBM comparison analysis confirmed the observation done in the genetically determined aMCI subgroups. AD ε4- carriers showed greater atrophy in mediotemporal structures compared to non-carriers whose grey matter volume loss was more widespread in more neocortical areas. Finally, an age, gender and education based norms for AoA, Typicality and Familiarity was built up in order to create a valid psychometric instrument able to detect and monitor subtle semantic deficits in ApoE ε4 carriers over time.
48
Sorenson, Dianna Lee Spies. "Developmental aspects of pregnancy: Correlates of self-satisfaction." Diss., The University of Arizona, 1990. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/185080.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this research was to explore and describe the relationships among four concepts within a proposed nursing theory. The research questions which directed the research focus on the relationships among the concepts self-satisfaction, affirmatory communication, pregnancy timing synchrony and physical symptoms in pregnancy; and the combination of variables that best explain self-satisfaction experienced among pregnant women. A descriptive-correlational design was used to address the research questions. Purposive sampling was used to obtain a sample of 210 women who attended prenatal education classes in a Southwestern urban area. The instruments used to measure self-satisfaction in this research were: Index of Well-Being, Self-Esteem Scale," Myself as Mother-SR. Affirmatory communication was measured by the Affirmatory Communication in Pregnancy Instrument and the Personal Resources Questionnaire. Pregnancy timing synchrony was measured by the Pregnancy Timing Instrument. Physical symptomotology was measured by the Physical Symptoms Checklist-SE. Acceptable levels of reliability and validity were obtained for the instruments. The relationships were explored using correlational analysis, canonical correlation, multiple regression, and residual analysis. Positive correlations were found between affirmatory communication (measured with two variables), pregnancy timing synchrony and self-satisfaction. Negative relationships were identified between physical symptoms and self-satisfaction. The canonical correlation between the combined self-satisfaction measures and the combined pregnancy-related experiences measures yielded an Rc of.71 (Rc2 =.50). The largest predictors of self-satisfaction were affirmatory communication and pregnancy timing. Similar, but not parallel results were found when each measure of self-satisfaction was individually utilized as a criterion measure in multiple regression equations. The results indicate that childbearing experiences can be assessed from a life-span developmental perspective which includes an emphasis on developmentally relevant psychological and physical aspects of the pregnancy experience. Although in its infancy, the mid-level theory used to guide this research demonstrates relevance for gaining an understanding about factors that enhance self-satisfaction during pregnancy.
49
Morgan, Brett Bethany Rowan. "The negotiation of midlife : exploring the subjective experience of ageing." Thesis, University of Essex, 2010. http://repository.essex.ac.uk/2394/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores the subjective experience of ageing with a particular focus on midlife. I argue that midlife signifies an important phase of transition in the life course which is often characterised by essential changes in personal circumstances. Although many of these changes are anticipated their impact can still come as a surprise, reawakening old psychological threats and anxieties as well as creating new ones. The death of parents, children leaving home, changes at work and an awareness of an ageing body: these changes are usually anticipated at a practical level but can create a sense of emotional instability and insecurity. The three central themes of this thesis include the way the ageing process is experienced physically and how this in turn, effects the individual psychologically, the way personal and family relationships change during this period and the impact this has and finally how people evaluate their lives and compare this evaluation to their imagined sense of what they thought their lives would be like. I highlight how the social experiences and cultural expectations which influence attitudes and pragmatic reactions to ageing are necessarily intertwined with unconscious psychic processes, conflicts and ambivalence. My method involves interviewing twenty-two men and women aged between thirty-nine and fifty-eight years old using a psycho-social approach. This method focuses on how individuals emotionally and psychically deal with age-related changes. I conclude that midlife is a time of complex emotional and psychical conflict which is triggered and challenged through a culmination of natural and anticipated losses. In order for people to negotiate midlife and move forward in a positive and productive way they must first acknowledge and then accept the natural losses and disappointments that life inevitably brings.
50
Bonner, Lesley. "Are there developmental differences in face processing?" Thesis, University of Glasgow, 2004. http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4314/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis examines whether there are developmental differences in face processing. Performance on face processing tasks improving steadily with age, however, there is no consensus over whether this improvement is quantitative or qualitative in nature. This research aims to determine whether children process faces in the same way as do adults and become more efficient as they get older, indicative of quantitative improvements, or, whether children process faces differently from adults and undergo a qualitative shift that can account for the observed improvement with age. The experiments in this thesis investigate whether there are developmental differences in face processing in three specific areas. The first strand examines whether children show advantage for recognising familiar faces from the internal features. The second strand explores whether children show the same difficulties, as do adults, when trying to recall the names of familiar people. Finally, the third strand draws these two areas of research together and examines how children and adults process and remember unfamiliar faces and explores how face representations change as unfamiliar faces become more familiar. In each of these experiments, the aim is to determine whether age-related differences on these tasks can be attributed to quantitative or qualitative change. The results show that when age-appropriate stimuli are used, the same pattern of results is obtained in children aged 7-12 years and adults, indicating gradual quantitative improvement on these tasks with increasing age.