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Empirical Researches

Animated Characters or Real Photographs?

The Effect of the Picture Book Style on Children's Willingness to Taste Green Leafy Vegetables

University of Reading,

Master Thesis

Children of 3 to 4 years old have been subjected to a 2-weeks reading intervention with their parents, continuing with taste tests in the University of Reading. 

 

Participants read a specific style of the exposure book explaining a single target often disliked vegetable. Later, in the individual taste tests, they interacted with both target and distracter vegetables where their willingness to taste them was measured with a record sheet.

 

Findings show no significant effects of picture book exposure on participants’ liking the look of the target vegetables, expectations of target tastiness, order of touch and taste and target amount consumed, regardless the book style. However, exposed book style was found to be significantly associated with their liking the looks of the vegetables and their expectations of tastiness. 

Peer Influences on Aggressive Behavior of Young Children

Berkshire Anxiety Clinic, Reading, England

2012

 

 

Consistent with Social Information Processing Theory (SIP) (Dodge, 1980; Dodge, 1986), research indicated that peer group homophily is directly associated with hostile attributional biases which specifically occurs in the context of reciprocal friendships (Halligan & Philips, 2010). Group membership modulates empathy and prosocial emotions (Batson, et al., 1997; Simon, Stürmer & Steffens, 2000; Stürmer, Snyder & Omoto, 2005; Xu, Zuo, Wang & Han, 2009).

 

On one hand, neuropsychologists identified pain related empathy in the brain (anterior cingulate cortex and anterior insula/fronto-insular cortex), while one is watching other suffering pain - pain related brain activation - (Hein & Singer, 2008; Hein, et al., 2010; Singer, et al., 2006). On the other hand social psychological researches observed empathy by the measure of in-group helping in different context such as, racial group membership, sexual orientation, AIDS patients and soccer fans.

 

Psychiatric Developmental Histories of Post-Natal Depressed Mothers and the Offsprings

Berkshire Anxiety Clinic, Reading, England

2013

 

 

The aim of the study was to determine the developmental risk pathway to depression through the psychiatric development of the offspring. Mothers were assessed at two moths postpartum, with further assessments made when the child was 18 months, 5, 8, 13, and 16 years old (Murray & Cooper, 2007).  Murray & Cooper, 2007, found that, adolescents exposed to maternal PND, show elevated rates of affective disorders by 13 years of age (Murray & Cooper, 2007). After 4 years, Murray, et al., 2011 stated that, offspring of postnatally depressed mothers are at risk for depression by 16 years of age.

 

Referring to that study, In the present study,  a subset of cases from the original large sample was observed. The dataset consisted of 21 postnatally depressed mothers and 43 now-adult children.

The list for offspring’s diagnostic conditions assessed by their GPs by using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) was present, but not for the mothers’. Mothers' therapy session audio recordings were listened, and the SCID criteria was re-assessed. 

Ultimately we agreed upon a final diagnosis list consisting of 23 depressive episodic histories – past or current –. Apart from major depressive disorder symptoms, each patient had either specific or social phobia, or both. Also, the majority had obsessive-compulsive disorder, agoraphobia and/or general anxiety disorder, which were consistent with the original diagnosis.

 

 

 

İşte üzerinde çalıştığım proje/araştırmaların özetleri. Daha fazla bilgi veya tartışmak için iletişime geçebilirsiniz.

Just a sample of the researches that I was involved in. To discuss more possible work >>

Araştırma|02
E. Research |02

 

Tavşan Dudak Sendromunda anne-bebek ilişkisi / yakın iletişimi

Araştırmalar, tavşan dudak sendromu yaşayan bebeklerin, sosyal, bilişsel, duygusal ve davranışsal bir çok problemle karşılabilecekleri riskinden bahsetmektedir. Dudak düzeltme operasyonunda evvel gerçekleşen erken anne-bebek etkileşiminin dengesiz bir seyirde ilerlediği gözlemlenmiştir. Annenin bebeğe doğru olan bakış açılarını inceleyen çalışmalar, doğumdan sonraki ilk 9 ayda, tüm bebeklerin annelerinin, özellikle bebeğin dudaklarına bakış sürelerinde artış saptamıştır. Bunun yanında, tavşan dudak sendromu ile doğan bebeklerin annelerinin bu süreç içerisinde, bebeğin dudakalarına bakmaktan kaçındıklarını ve bebeğin yüzünün geri kalan kısmına daha çok konsantre olduklarını ortaya çıkarmıştır. İngiltere'de benim de araştırma ekibinde bulunduğum bu çalışma, bu tür sendromlu bebeklerin annelerinin, ilk 9 ayda nereye tam olarak baktıklarını araştırmıştır. 

 

Geçerlilik-güvenilirlik çalışmaları, bir anne-bebek çiftine 5 ziyaret yapılmasını ve her biri için 3 dakikalık bakışmalarını kaydetmenin yeterli olduğunu ortaya çıkarmıştır. Özel bir video kodlama sistemi sunan bilgisayar programı sayesinde, 21 anne-bebek çiftinin bakışmaları kodlanmıştır. Tavşan-dudak sendromu olan bebeklerin annelerinin bebeklerinin dudaklarına bakmayıp, bakışlarını yüzünün diğer bölgelerine götürdüğü bu çalışmada da onaylanmıştır. Fakat spesifik olarak bir bölgeye bakıyorlar mı? bu hala araştırma konusudur.  

Çalışma hala Winnicott Research Unit, Reading, İngiltere'de bir grup uzman tarafından sürdürülmektedir. 

 

Uzm. Psk. Ruti Asa

2013

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

Winnicott Araştırma Ünitesi, Reading, İngiltere

Winnicott Research Unit, Reading, England

Mother-Infant Attachment in Cleft-Lip Syndrome

Research indicates that young people with a cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) are at increased risk for a range of social, cognitive, emotional and behavioral problems  (Hunt et al., 2005) The early interactions (before lip repair) between mothers and their CLP infants have been found to be markedly impaired (Murray, et al., 2008; Field & Vega-Lahr, 1984; Speltz, et al., 1994).

 

The past study where researchers have been focused on maternal gaze within the baby’s face, showed that, all mothers during the first 9 weeks of the baby’s life show an increase in the amount of time spent looking at the baby’s mouth (Murray, et al., 2012). On the other hand, mothers of babies with CLP spent a significantly lower amount of time looking at the baby’s mouth, concentrating more on the rest of the face when compared to control mothers. As mothers of babies with CLP seem to look at their baby’s mouth less than control mothers do, researchers now wondered whether the area where those mothers of CLP babies actually looked at was the face except mouth or baby’s body (or elsewhere). Thus, they needed to know the amount of time mothers (CLP) spent looking at their baby’s face versus the amount of time spent looking at the baby’s body, or elsewhere.

 

Reliability studies resulted that coding of a total of 3 minutes of recording per one visit of a dyad should be reliable to generalize the results.  Data was consisted of eye-tracking recordings of 9 index and 20 control dyads including two couples of twins with 5 visits to code for each dyad. 

Research is still on its way in Winnicott Research Unit, Reading, England.

 

Ruti Asa, MSc. MBPsS.

2013

 

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