A Comparison of the Effects of Peer Networks and Peer Video Modeling on Positive Social Interactions Performed by Young Children with Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this study was to compare the relative effect of peer network versus peer video modeling on the positive social interactions performed by young children with developmental disabilities in an inclusive classroom setting and determine whether or not the effect of the best treatment generalized to the playground setting.

Ph.D. dissertation

Comparison of PIPRT and VMO to Increase Social Play Skills in Children with Autism

The purpose of this study was to use an alternating treatment design to determine whether PIPRT intervention or a VMO intervention would be effective to increase social play skills in two settings for four young children with autism. The PIPRT and VMO interventions were both implemented in the classroom prior to structured play centers and on during recess on the playground.

Ph.D. dissertation

Colored Overlays and Symbol Identification in Preschool Children with Disabilities

This study involved an examination of the efficacy of extra-discriminative color cues in the establishment of letter recognition skills of preschool age children with disabilities.

Ed.D. dissertation

Effects of a Social Story Intervention with a Modified Perspective Sentence on Preschool-Age Children with Autism

The purpose of this study was to use a multiple baseline design to determine whether a Social Story intervention with a modified perspective sentence would be effective to increase verbal social initiations and decrease maladaptive behaviors in two settings for four young children with autism.

Ph.D. dissertation

Effects of Social Stories on the Prosocial Behavior of Preschool Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Social Stories are a popular intervention for preschool children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), but little research on Social Stories has been conducted with this population. This study investigated the effects of Social Stories on the pro-social behavior of three preschool children with ASD in an inclusive setting.

Independent faculty research

Examining Play Among Young Children in Single-Age and Multi-Age Preschool Classroom Settings

Advocates for multi-age classrooms claim multi-age groupings benefit children (Brynes, Shuster, & Jones, 1994). Currently, there is a lack of research examining play among students in multi-age classrooms. If indeed there is a positive benefit of play among children, research is needed to examine these behaviors among and between young children in single-age and multi-age classrooms. The purpose of this study was to determine if young children benefit from increased play opportunities.

How Mood Affects Children's Recognition of Others' Emotions

We examined how the induction of positive, neutral, and negative mood influenced 87 five-to-eight-year-old children's performance on two types of emotion recognition tasks: a context-based task (a task in which the child must derive an emotional expression from a sentence.

Intra-Relatedness of Theory of Mind and Epistemology in Young Children

Collapsing Two Cognitive Constructs: this was a study of the relationship between language in preschool children and cognitive concept formation.

Ph.D. dissertation

The Effects of Linking Assessment, Early Intervention, and Family Training to Prosocial Behaviors in an Inclusive Preschool Classroom

The purpose of this study was to investigate the utility of linking assessment to curriculum using a transdisciplinary approach to promote pro-social behaviors in preschool-age children with disabilities.

Independent faculty research

The Effect of Selective Attention on Preschool-Age Child Behavior

This study examined the functional relationship between teacher selective attention and child classroom performance.

Ph.D. dissertation