Description:

Generally I am interested in parent-child relationships such as attachment and child guidance

At present my research focuses on the assessment of child guidance techniques used by parents.  We are developing two methodologies.  One relies on coding parents' responses to open-ended questions about what the parent might do give a particular scenario requiring child guidance.  The other also presents scenarios but requires that parents rate possible parent responses and justifications.  We anticipate that these measures will be more valid than most other non-observational techniques that currently exist and that they may be used to assess risk for abuse or neglect.

Recent thesis and dissertations I have supervised include an examination of aspects of parental style as a mediator of the effects of parental depression on child adjustment; the effects of the father-daughter relationship on risky behaviors of adolescents; the effects of brief psychoeducation on adolescents' depression and perception of parents.

My other research interests focus on children's understanding of mental processes and metaphor, development of an observational measure of attachment style in school-aged children, examining how young children cope with exposure to parental discord, and how this contributes to psychopathology, studying the efficacy of psychotherapy for children diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder.  My applied interests include child and family psychotherapy, psychotherapy for attachment disorders, and parenting plan and parental competence evaluations. I am also interested evolutionary theory and nonhuman primates' understanding of mind, and have written occasionally on that topic.

 

Field Of Study:

Parent-child relationships (especially attachment, attachment disorders, and child guidance), cognitive-emotional interaction in children, cognitive development, developmental psychopathology 

Courses:

Psych 240 - Developmental Psychology
Psych 336 - Child & Adolescent Psychological Disorders, Psych 540 - Advanced Developmental Psychology
Psych 534 - Applied Clinical Methods
Psych 545 - Field Placement in Developmental Psychology
Psych 546 - Theories of Psychological Development Psych 649 - Seminar in Developmental Psychology Psych 536 - Advanced Child and Adolescent Psychological Disorders

Hobbies:

Wooden boats, wood work, sailing, skiing, playing the concertina, reading

Education:

Clinical re-specialization, The University of Montana, 1992, Child Clinical emphasis

Ph.D., The University of Georgia, 1977, Developmental Psychology. 

M.S., The University of Georgia, 1974, Developmental Psychology

B.A., Bucknell University, 1970, Psychology

Selected Publications:

 

Silverman, P. (2006). The cascade effect of poverty. The Prevention Connection, 11 (2), 1-3.

Cook, W.J., Painter, L.T., & Silverman, P. (2004). The application of therapeutic storytelling techniques with preadolescent children: a clinical description with illustrative case study. Psychotherapy and Private Practice, 11, 243-248.

Painter, L.,Cook, W.J., & Silverman, P.S. (1999). The effects of therapeutic storytelling and behavioral parent training on noncompliant behavior in young boys. Child and Family Behavior Therapy, 21, 47-66.

Silverman, P,1997, A pragmatic approach to the inference of animal mind In R. W. Mitchell, N. S. Thompson, & H. L. Miles (Eds.) Anthropomorphism, Anecdotes and Animals: The Emperor's New Clothes. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press

Silverman, P., & Retzlaff, P., 1986, Cognitive state regression through hypnosis: Are earlier cognitive states retrievable? International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 34, 192-204

Silverman, P., 1986, Can a pigtail macaque learn to manipulate a thief? In R. W. Mitchell & N. S. Thompson (Eds.) Deception: Perspectives on human and nonhuman deceit. NY: Suny Press.

Silverman, P. 1983 Attributing mind to animals: The role of intuition Journal of Social and Biological Structures, 6, 231-247

Recent Presentations:

Campfield, D., Silverman, P., Wallace, K. & Fiore, C. (2005). Perceived experience of abuse and shelter stay of battered women and their children. Poster presentation: 10^th Annual Family Violence Conference, San Diego, CA,  9/2005

Campfield, D., Wallace, K., Silverman,P., Fiore, C. Battered women: perceived impact of abuse on parenting and parent child relationships. Poster presentation: Oklahoma University Health Science Center Research Conference, Oklahoma City, OK,  6/2007.

Simon-Thomas, J., Kamman, T.J., Silverman, P. & Rothman, W.M.. (2001), Child coping moderates the effects of interparental conflict on child adjustment. Poster presented at Society for Research in Child Development, Minneapolis, MN.

Simon-Thomas, J., Pray, N., Silverman, P., & Fiore, C. (2000). Flagship Evaluation Report. (Presented to the Montana Interagency Coordinating Council), Helena, MT.

Byrne, C., & Silverman, P. (1999). Examination of a humanistic immersion intervention with an autistic child. Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association.

Rothman, W., Kamman, T., Simon-Thomas, J., McLean, D., Meyers, V., Planalp, C., Pyfer, L., & Silverman, P. (1999). The relationship between regulation of emotional complexity and the use of denial as a coping strategy in children. Poster presented at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Fort Collins, CO.

Silverman, P., Kamman, T., & Terwilliger, L. (1999). Effects of emotional understanding and parental discord on children psychological adjustment. Poster presented at Society for Research in Child Development.

Simon-Thomas, J., Kamman, T., Terwilliger, L., McLean, D., & Silverman, P. (1999). Young children’s coping responses to fictitious and recalled parental conflict as predictors of behavioral adjustment. Poster presented at Rocky Mountain Psychological Association.

Langley, R., Henrie, D., Slut ky, K., Ziegler, S., Kamman, T., & Silverman, P. Children's understanding of emotion: an ongoing study. Montana Psychological Association, May 2, 1998. Painter, L., Silverman, P., & Cook, W. Effects of therapeutic storytelling and parent training on childhood psychopathology. Poster presentation at the Joint RegionalConference, WPA-RMPA, Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 16-19, 1998.

Silverman, P., Magnuson, L., & Reams, R. Psychotherapy outcomes among severely disturbed foster children. Poster presentation at the Joint Regional Conference WPA-RMPA,Albuquerque, New Mexico, April 16-19, 1998.