Dynamical systems approaches to emotional development

Within the last 20 years, transitions in the conceptualization of emotion and its development havegiven rise to calls for an explanatory framework that captures emotional development in all itsorganizational complexity and variability. Recent attempts have been made to couch emotionaldevelopment in terms of a dynamical systems approach through utilization of principles like selforganizationand emergence. In this article, we review and evaluate these attempts, both at the levelof theoretical framework and empirical instantiation. We trace the dynamic systems approach toemotional development from theoretical origins in the work of Fogel and WolV to the more recentframework of Lewis. We also chart its empirical applications from the standpoint of research strategyspeciWc to the approach. We also explore the challenges this approach faces in promoting itsframework as both unique and benefcial to the study of stability and change in emotion

Body size stereotyping and internalization of the thin ideal in preschool-age girls

Despite the multitude of negative outcomes associated with thin-ideal internalization for girls and women living in westernized societies, we know very little about how early in development thin-ideal internalization occurs or how it might manifest in very young children. This cross-sectional investigation assessed body size stereotyping and thin-ideal internalization in 55 preschool girls (ages 3-5 years) from the Southwestern U. S. using a new method of assessment that is more sensitive to the cognitive developmental stage of this age group. Results suggest that girls as young as 3 years old are already emotionally invested in the thin ideal. Discussion considers moving beyond the demonstration of fat stigmatization per se to measure how personally invested preschool children may be in beauty ideals

The role of locomotion in psychological development.

The psychological revolution that follows the onset of independent locomotion in the latter half of the infant's first year provides one of the best illustrations of the intimate connection between action and psychological processes. In this paper, we document some of the dramatic changes in perception-action coupling, spatial cognition, memory, and social and emotional development that follow the acquisition of independent locomotion. We highlight the range of converging research operations that have been used to examine the relation between locomotor experience and psychological development, and we describe recent attempts to uncover the processes that underlie this relation. Finally, we address three important questions about the relation that have received scant attention in the research literature. These questions include: (1) What changes in the brain occur when infants acquire experience with locomotion? (2) What role does locomotion play in the maintenance of psychological function? (3) What implications do motor disabilities have for psychological development? Seeking the answers to these questions can provide rich insights into the relation between action and psychological processes and the general processes that underlie human development

The role of locomotion in psychological development

The psychological revolution that follows the onset of independent locomotion in the latter half of the infant’s first year provides one of the best illustrations of the intimate connection between action and psychological processes. In this paper, we document some of the dramatic changes in perception-action coupling, spatial cognition, memory, and social and emotional development that follow the acquisition of independent locomotion. We highlight the range of converging research operations that have been used to examine the relation between locomotor experience and psychological development, and we describe recent attempts to uncover the processes that underlie this relation. Finally, we address three important questions about the relation that have received scant attention in the research literature. These questions include: 1) What changes in the brain occur when infants acquire experience with locomotion? 2) What role does locomotion play in the maintenance of psychological function? 3) What implications do motor disabilities have for psychological development? Seeking the answers to these questions can provide rich insights into the relation between action and psychological processes and the general processes that underlie human development

Characterization of a Subtropical Hawksbill Sea Turtle (<i>Eretmocheyles imbricata</i>) Assemblage Utilizing Shallow Water Natural and Artificial Habitats in the Florida Keys

<div><p>In order to provide information to better inform management decisions and direct further research, vessel-based visual transects, snorkel transects, and in-water capture techniques were used to characterize hawksbill sea turtles in the shallow marine habitats of a Marine Protected Area (MPA), the Key West National Wildlife Refuge in the Florida Keys. Hawksbills were found in hardbottom and seagrass dominated habitats throughout the Refuge, and on man-made rubble structures in the Northwest Channel near Cottrell Key. Hawksbills captured (N = 82) were exclusively juveniles and subadults with a straight standard carapace length (SSCL) ranging from 21.4 to 69.0cm with a mean of 44.1 cm (SD = 10.8). Somatic growth rates were calculated from 15 recaptured turtles with periods at large ranging from 51 to 1188 days. Mean SSCL growth rate was 7.7 cm/year (SD = 4.6). Juvenile hawksbills (<50 cm SSCL) showed a significantly higher growth rate (9.2 cm/year, SD = 4.5, N = 11) than subadult hawksbills (50–70 cm SSCL, 3.6 cm/year, SD = 0.9, N = 4). Analysis of 740 base pair mitochondrial control region sequences from 50 sampled turtles yielded 12 haplotypes. Haplotype frequencies were significantly different compared to four other Caribbean juvenile foraging aggregations, including one off the Atlantic coast of Florida. Many-to-one mixed stock analysis indicated Mexico as the primary source of juveniles in the region and also suggested that the Refuge may serve as important developmental habitat for the Cuban nesting aggregation. Serum testosterone radioimmunoassay results from 33 individuals indicated a female biased sex ratio of 3.3 females: 1 male for hawksbills in the Refuge. This assemblage of hawksbills is near the northern limit of the species range, and is one of only two such assemblages described in the waters of the continental United States. Since this assemblage resides in an MPA with intensive human use, basic information on the assemblage is vital to resource managers charged with conservation and species protection in the MPA.</p></div

Hawksbill turtle sighting locations in the western KWNWR, 2001–2011.

<p>Hawksbill turtle sighting locations in the western KWNWR, 2001–2011.</p

Straight standard carapace length (SSCL) size-class distribution of hawksbill turtles for all captures in the Key West National Wildlife Refuge, 2002–2011.

<p>Straight standard carapace length (SSCL) size-class distribution of hawksbill turtles for all captures in the Key West National Wildlife Refuge, 2002–2011.</p