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Cost Effective And Sequential Methods For Teaching Educational Paraprofessionals To Implement Behavior Management Strategies In Preschool Classrooms, Natalie Jan Slider Jan 2004

Cost Effective And Sequential Methods For Teaching Educational Paraprofessionals To Implement Behavior Management Strategies In Preschool Classrooms, Natalie Jan Slider

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the efficacy of cost effective and sequential training methods for teaching educational paraprofessionals to implement behavior management strategies in preschool classrooms. Investigation of the effects of increasingly complex and time consuming methods of training on both paraprofessional and student behaviors were evaluated. Training methods employed included written take-home manuals and summary cards, modeling videotapes, and performance feedback. Training materials included three behavior management strategies (e.g., instruction-giving, praise, and time out) that have shown to have extensive support in the empirical literature (Brophy, 1981; Budd, Riner, & Brockman, 1983; Flanagan, Adams, & Forehand, 1979; O’Dell, Krug, Patterson, & …


Utility Of The Implementation Of Programmatic Systems To Reduce And Eliminate Restraint Use For The Treatment Of Problem Behaviors With Individuals With Mental Retardation, Yemonja Smalls Jan 2004

Utility Of The Implementation Of Programmatic Systems To Reduce And Eliminate Restraint Use For The Treatment Of Problem Behaviors With Individuals With Mental Retardation, Yemonja Smalls

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Persons with mental retardation continue to remain one of society’s most vulnerable groups as the number of individuals served increases and non-proportional resources are allotted to take of their needs. With results of national investigations indicating widespread indiscriminate abuse of restraints and overmedication to manage dangerous behaviors, federal mandates have been initiated to ensure ethical, safe and clinically sound use of these techniques. This study addressed the implementation of systemic changes that included a restraint education program and policy changes, careful monitoring and review of restraint and behavioral programming by oversight review bodies, and intense training of preventative and de-escalation …


The Effects Of Auditory Distraction On Attention Performance In Asymptomatic College Students With A History Of Mild Head Injury, John H.,Ii Denning Jan 2004

The Effects Of Auditory Distraction On Attention Performance In Asymptomatic College Students With A History Of Mild Head Injury, John H.,Ii Denning

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: The majority of individuals experiencing a mild head injury (MHI) recover fully experiencing few residual symptoms. Some individuals who fully recover have shown evidence of residual, albeit subtle, brain functioning disturbances on tasks requiring high levels of cognitive effort. Also, memory complaints in MHI patients may be related to these subtle difficulties when cognitive resources are overwhelmed. This study assessed a group of asymptomatic college students with a history of MHI to determine if there were any residual attention difficulties as well as increased memory complaints. Method: One-hundred twelve college students with and without a history of MHI were …


The Relation Between Knowledge Of Adhd And Treatment Acceptability In A Multi-Disciplinary Pediatric Clinic, Rebecca Owen Currier Jan 2004

The Relation Between Knowledge Of Adhd And Treatment Acceptability In A Multi-Disciplinary Pediatric Clinic, Rebecca Owen Currier

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Behavior modification and medication have been proven to be the most effective interventions for children with ADHD. For these treatments to be effective, utilization of mental health care services as well as compliance with treatment recommendations is necessary. There has been shown lower care utilization among minorities for the treatment of behavioral disorders. In addition, lack of adherence among these populations to ADHD treatment is not explained by SES, parenting stress, or family coping. An alternative explanation may be parental knowledge of ADHD and opinions of commonly used treatments. The present investigation examined the effect of a brief knowledge intervention …


The Relationship Between Social Behavior And Mealtime Behavior Problems In Individuals With Severe And Profound Mental Retardation, David E. Kuhn Jan 2004

The Relationship Between Social Behavior And Mealtime Behavior Problems In Individuals With Severe And Profound Mental Retardation, David E. Kuhn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

One of the defining features of mental retardation is a problem in adaptive functioning. An area of adaptive skills commonly deficient in this population is social functioning, often characterized as behaviors that provide individuals with the means to interact effectively and appropriately with others. Researchers in this area have generally focused on improving appropriate social behavior and/or decreasing behavioral excesses that interfere with social interactions. Few studies have examined the effects of improving social behavior on collateral behaviors. The current study examined the relationship between social behavior and feeding and mealtime problem behavior in individuals with mental retardation. Individuals across …


Identifying Students At Risk For Academic Failure: The Application Of A Prereferral Screening Model Including Responsiveness To Intervention, Susan Lockhart Gatti Jan 2004

Identifying Students At Risk For Academic Failure: The Application Of A Prereferral Screening Model Including Responsiveness To Intervention, Susan Lockhart Gatti

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Increasing demands are continually placed on our education system to improve the educational outcomes of all children. To provide the best services to our children, appropriate screening, assessments, and intervention services need to be implemented within the school setting. The current study evaluated the relationship of a screening procedure (Screening to Enhance Educational Performance, STEEP; Witt, 1996) using curriculum-based measurement (CBM) and compared the results of the screening procedure to other commonly used problem nomination procedures for second, third, and fourth graders. The data were obtained from archival sources that resulted from a service and training project conducted jointly by …


Behavior Analysis In Child Welfare: A Preliminary Program Evaluation, Carole Marie Van Camp Jan 2004

Behavior Analysis In Child Welfare: A Preliminary Program Evaluation, Carole Marie Van Camp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The Behavior Analysis Services Program provides behavioral services, in the form of parenting classes and individualized assessments and treatments, to children and caregivers receiving child welfare services throughout the state of Florida. The program has many goals, including decreasing placement disruptions and increasing parenting skills. This study was a preliminary evaluation of the program that is now in its fourth year. First, characteristics of both foster children and foster parents that were associated with differential levels of placement disruptions were identified. Results identified several characteristics (i.e., being of a certain age, or having been in care for a certain amount …


The Effects Of A Recess Or Break And Stimulant Medication On The Classroom Behavior Of Children With Adhd, Andrea Ridgway Jan 2004

The Effects Of A Recess Or Break And Stimulant Medication On The Classroom Behavior Of Children With Adhd, Andrea Ridgway

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Only two empirical studies of recess have been extended to children with a diagnosis of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and only one has included a single-case analysis. In addition, no studies have been found that specifically evaluated the effects of a quiet, indoor break on the classroom behavior of children in general, and children with ADHD in particular. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a recess, break, and continuous classroom schedule on the subsequent classroom behavior of children with a diagnosis of ADHD both when participants did and did not receive stimulant medication. …


The Effect Of Observational Method And Task Complexity On Neuropsychological Test Performance, Linda S. Lindman Jan 2004

The Effect Of Observational Method And Task Complexity On Neuropsychological Test Performance, Linda S. Lindman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Neuropsychologists are often called upon to conduct psychological examination in the presence of an observer in litigation cases despite research clearly demonstrating altered performance on neuropsychological tests under such conditions. Past research into the social facilitation effect suggests attentional conflict (Baron, 1986; Manstead & Semin, 1980) and increased anxiety (Guerin & Innes, 1982; Guerin, 1983) when observers are present and cannot be monitored. However, this research has found conflicting results depending upon the complexity of tasks and differences in observation condition. Meta analyses point to task complexity (Bond & Titus, 1983) and evaluation apprehension (Guerin, 1986) as important moderators of …


Psychological And Neuropsychological Correlates Of Postconcussional Disorder, Joy Helena Wymer Jan 2004

Psychological And Neuropsychological Correlates Of Postconcussional Disorder, Joy Helena Wymer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Chronic symptoms of Postconcussional Disorder (PCD) occur in a significant minority of mild brain injury patients. The latest research suggests an interactionistic perspective as the most logical and empirically supported pathogenesis for the development and maintenance of PCD. The interactionistic perspective implicates organic factors in the development of acute symptoms of PCD, and psychological factors in the maintenance of chronic symptoms. Possible psychological factors relevant in the maintenance of PCD symptoms include a grief response, a coping hypothesis, and the development of dysfunctional coping loops. Providing support for a psychological etiology of symptom maintenance is research indicating reduction of chronic …


The Effects Of Memory Knowledge On Attributions Of Forgetfulness In Younger And Older Adults, Susan K. J. Brigman Jan 2004

The Effects Of Memory Knowledge On Attributions Of Forgetfulness In Younger And Older Adults, Susan K. J. Brigman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between memory knowledge and peoples' perceptions of forgetful younger and older adults in two ways. First, using an experimental approach, younger and older research participants were assigned to one of three information conditions: control (received no information about memory and aging), grandparent (received information about grandparent-grandchild relationships), and memory aging (received information about normative age-related changes in memory functioning in later adulthood). One week later, participants read six vignettes describing fictitious persons experiencing everyday instances of forgetting who were either younger (23-35 years of age) or older (63-75 years of age). Following Erber, Szuchman, and …


Effects Of Family Violence And Parental Psychopathology On The Psychological Outcome Of Urban Adolescents Exposed To Community Violence, Shannon Self-Brown Jan 2004

Effects Of Family Violence And Parental Psychopathology On The Psychological Outcome Of Urban Adolescents Exposed To Community Violence, Shannon Self-Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research has documented an association between adolescents’ exposure to community violence and a range of mental health problems. However, some violence-exposed youth maintain high levels of adaptive behavior and exhibit good psychological functioning. Thus, it appears that protective and/or risk factors are involved in the community violence-psychological outcome relation, which mitigate the conditions under which community violence exposure leads to adverse adolescent outcome. According to the ecological transactional model, protective and/or risk factors may exist within the family that influence adolescent outcome in response to community violence exposure. The purpose of this study was to delineate the relations among …


Analysis Of Factors That Affect Responding In A Two-Response Chain In Children With Developmental Disabilities, Stephanie Ann Contrucci Kuhn Jan 2004

Analysis Of Factors That Affect Responding In A Two-Response Chain In Children With Developmental Disabilities, Stephanie Ann Contrucci Kuhn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Behaviors that are appropriate, inappropriate, or a combination of both can be linked together in a behavior chain. When the contingencies for one response change (e.g., reinforcement is withheld for the last response in the chain; the last response is reinforced even if it occurs without the other responses in the chain) or the environmental conditions change (e.g., access to the reinforcer is available independent of responding), the other responses in the chain may be affected. Little is known about these types of effects on behavior chains. Several operant processes may disrupt behavior chains. The purpose of this study was …


The Diagnosis Of Dementia In Persons With Mental Retardation: Validating Methods Of Assessment, Joanne Bielecki Jan 2004

The Diagnosis Of Dementia In Persons With Mental Retardation: Validating Methods Of Assessment, Joanne Bielecki

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The usual assessment instruments for the diagnosis of dementia are often difficult to use among individuals with mental retardation. This study investigates whether a modified method based on Visser et al. (1997) can identify a dementing process. Ninety individuals diagnosed with severe and profound mental retardation were studied. One half of the participants were diagnosed with Down's syndrome. The participants were equally assigned to one of three groups based on perceived risk of dementia. A differential prevalence design was used. Both cross sectional and longitudinal analyses were utilized in this study. Results indicate that the Visser et al. (1997) method …