Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

Psychology

Date of Award

8-2019

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Wallace E. Dixon Jr.

Committee Members

Alyson J. Chroust, Eric W. Sellers

Abstract

Many studies have examined the relationship between a child’s temperament and its effect on his or her early language development. However, few studies have investigated the detrimental effects a child’s negative affectivity may have on their language development and potential ways these effects may be limited through parental behaviors. The current study aimed to investigate if physical or verbal maternal scaffolding behaviors moderated the effect negative affect has on language development. Although it was expected that maternal encouragement of physical activity would play a moderating role in the relationship between temperament and language development, no such relationship was found. One explanation for these findings is the operationalization of maternal scaffolding behaviors in the present study; previous studies have also included instances of emotional and motivational scaffolding. Future efforts should aim to incorporate a broader range of potential scaffolding behaviors in their coding protocols.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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