Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences - Theses
Permanent URI for this collection
Search Results
1 - 3 of 3
-
ItemLinguistic politeness in middle childhood: its social functions, and relationships to behaviour and development( 1997-07)This research compared Brown and Levinson’s “face saving” account of linguistic politeness with the everyday or social normative account in the context of children’s requesting skills. The research also explored the relationship between children’s politeness skills and their behavioural adjustment. The subjects comprised four groups of ten-and-a-half year old children: a comparison group without behaviour problems, a hostile-aggressive group; an anxious-fearful group; and a comorbid group. All the children were selected from the Australian Temperament Project subject population based on parents’ ratings of the children on the hostile-aggressive and anxious-fearful subscales of the Rutter Child Behaviour Questionnaire. Study 1 found that all the groups of children discriminated between others on the power and distance dimensions in ways consistent with social norms, e.g. adults are judged as more powerful than children. Study 1 also showed that the hostile-aggressive and comorbid groups were significantly less likely to discriminate between others on these dimensions compared to the comparison group. Study 2 showed that for all the children studied politeness as a normative way of speaking was marked by use of please whereas face saving politeness was marked by the use of question directives and hints compared to other request forms. Further, Study 2 showed that there were no differences between children with and without behaviour problems in their use of please to mark different ways of asking.
-
ItemMeasurement and development of executive function( 2001)Executive function is an umbrella term that encompasses the cognitive skills necessary for purposeful, goal directed activity (Lezak, 1995). In order to operationalise this complex psychological construct, a model of executive function was proposed that incorporates four inter-dependent and inter-related subdomains (attentional control, cognitive flexibility, goal setting, information processing). Intact executive functioning is critical for new learning and adaptive functioning, and therefore understanding the normal development of these processes is of clinical significance. Previous research has shown that executive processes are functional in early childhood, but the developmental trajectory of these skills during middle childhood was not clear. A battery of tests (Tower of London, Contingency Naming Test, Rey Complex Figure) was assembled and standardised to investigate the development of executive subdomains in middle childhood. Scoring systems were devised that enabled a detailed analysis ofperforn1ance. Normative and developmental studies verified that the selected tests were age appropriate and sensitive to developmental changes, while clinical validity studies confirmed that the tests were sensitive to executive deficits. Examination of the developn1ental data demonstrated that the executive subdomains matured at different rates. It was also established that most executive function development occurs within middle childhood, with the exception of the attentional control subdomain that matures substantially in innll1cy and early childhood. For processes within the cognitive flexibility, goal setting, and information processing subdomains, a critical period of development was identified between 7 to 9 years of age. A major transition between developmental stages was observed between 11 to 13 years of age, reflected in performance fluctuations.
-
ItemNeurodevelopment in children with single-suture craniosynostosis: the early years( 2010)Craniosynostosis is a common developmental disorder characterised by premature, pathological fusion of one or more of the fibrous connections, or sutures, that normally separate the bony plates of the skull during early development. Premature sutural fusion, typically occurring in utero, results in anomalous skull growth, and may have consequences for the developing brain. Most cases of single-suture craniosynostosis (SSC) require surgery, preferentially performed within the first year of life, to release the fused suture and reshape the deformed skull and improve brain growth potential. The exact mechanisms by which brain development is disrupted in SSC are uncertain. Research suggests that children with all forms of SSC are at heightened risk for neuropsychological problems; however, the nature, extent and risk factors (e.g., genetic, environmental, severity of skull deformity) for these disturbances, are yet to be established. The aim of this study was to examine the impact that SSC may have on neurodevelopmental skills during infancy and to use a theory-driven approach to explore the possible contributory factors to developmental progression during infancy. Participants included 30 infants with SSC (16 metopic, 14 sagittal). Participants were assessed on the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development – Third Edition (BSID-III) during early infancy when they were between 5 and 15 months of age. Fifty-three percent (n=16) of these infants were also assessed in late infancy when they were between 17 and 33 months of age and at least six months post-surgical intervention. During both early and late infancy, children with craniosynostosis demonstrated significantly poorer gross motor skills compared to the normative sample, but other skills were in line with normal population expectations. Factors including subtype of craniosynostosis, severity of deformity, social risk and age at surgery, were not shown to be significantly associated with developmental level during early or late infancy. The impact of genetic variables on early development was unclear in the current sample. This study has provided important insights into the functional significance of disruption to typical brain growth in infants with SSC. Findings indicate that SSC is a condition associated with developmental delay during early infancy prior to surgical intervention, with developmental concerns remaining evident post-surgically in late infancy. Findings support recommendations for the close monitoring of the development of these children during early life.