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Exploration Of The School Mindfulness Project On The Executive Functions Of Elementary School Students, Jessica Brooke Savaiano
Exploration Of The School Mindfulness Project On The Executive Functions Of Elementary School Students, Jessica Brooke Savaiano
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
This study investigated the relationship between The School Mindfulness Project and the executive functions of elementary school students. Participants were teachers from an urban elementary school. Dependent t-tests were used to examine changes in executive functioning from pretest to posttest. The results did not show significant improvements in executive functions for the intervention group. Implications, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.
Executive Functioning In Persons Undergoing Hemodialysis, Alexandria Diguiseppe
Executive Functioning In Persons Undergoing Hemodialysis, Alexandria Diguiseppe
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a condition in which damaged kidneys cannot properly filter blood throughout the body. This results in excess fluid and waste products to remain in the bloodstream, which can lead to other health complications if not treated. Kidney failure occurs when an individual has 10-15% of optimal kidney functioning, resulting in toxic levels of waste in the bloodstream. Recent literature has demonstrated that individuals receiving dialysis have poorer cognitive functioning compared to the general population, especially in regard to executive functioning. The purpose of the current study was to identify the executive functioning abilities in a …
The Development Of An Integrated Anger Management Protocol, Gerald W. Smith
The Development Of An Integrated Anger Management Protocol, Gerald W. Smith
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
This thesis describes the rationale for and development of an anger management protocol that can be used with middle and high school students. The protocol is based primarily on the anger management work of Goldstein (1999) and Larson and Lochman (2002) integrated with the Holarchichal Model of Executive Functions (McCloskey, 2008). The protocol also integrates the Collaborative and Proactive Solutions model of Greene and Ablon (2001) and mediated learning principles. This integrated anger management protocol primarily draws upon internally based executive function interventions involving goal-setting and increasing self-awareness and self-realization. This thesis discusses the methodologies in developing the protocol, a …
The Role And Implications Of Executive Functions During The Transition To Middle School, Susan Niznik
The Role And Implications Of Executive Functions During The Transition To Middle School, Susan Niznik
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
The current study analyzed the relationship between executive functions and academic performance in middle school. In particular, this study analyzed the relationship between BRIEF Index and Scale scores that were compiled on a group (N = 54) of seventh graders by two seventh-grade ELA teachers and the students’ final grades in ELA, Math, Science, and Social Studies. The results showed statistically significant correlations between most of the BRIEF Indexes and Scales and the final grades, with the Metacognitive Scales showing the highest correlations. In contrast, the results showed much higher incongruence index values than expected, given the high correlations that …
The Impact Of Psychostimulants On The Executive Capacities Of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Theresa C. Mcmahon
The Impact Of Psychostimulants On The Executive Capacities Of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Theresa C. Mcmahon
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
The current study compared executive-skill and executive-function deficits resulting from teacher ratings of two clinical groups of students diagnosed with ADHD (ADHD-Med, ADHD-NoMed) with ratings of demographically- matched control groups. In addition, teacher ratings of the ADHD-Med group and the ADHD-NoMed group were compared. The data for both clinical groups and their respective matched control groups were part of the data collected during the standardization of the McCloskey Executive Function Scale – Teacher Report (MEFS-TR). Analyses examined teacher responses to all of the items of the seven Self-Regulation, the Self-Realization, and the Self-Determination Clusters of the MEFS. Congruent with the …
Executive Capacities For Students Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Learning Disability, Kate Boccella-Perras
Executive Capacities For Students Diagnosed With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Learning Disability, Kate Boccella-Perras
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
All students in this study were rated by teachers with the McCloskey Executive Function Scale (MEFS) to identify executive function deficits (EFDs; not knowing when) and executive skill deficits (ESDs; not knowing how). Significantly larger proportions of students in the ADHD-diagnosed (ADHD) group than in the matched control group were rated by teachers as having either an EFD or an ESD within all seven self-regulation clusters, with more deficits identified within the Academic Arena than within the Self/Social Arena. In contrast, significantly larger proportions of students in the LD-classified (LD) group than in the matched control group were rated by …
Student And Teacher Perceptions Of The Relationship Between Self-Regulation Executive Functions And Playing Team Sports, Rebecca T. Edelsberg
Student And Teacher Perceptions Of The Relationship Between Self-Regulation Executive Functions And Playing Team Sports, Rebecca T. Edelsberg
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
Executive functions (EF) are the directive capacities of the human brain that are responsible for a person’s ability to engage in purposeful, organized, goal-directed behavior and to cue and direct perceptions, feelings, thoughts and actions in specific ways. There has been a growing body of research indicating that sports such as soccer, basketball, and baseball require the effective use of self-regulation executive functions that cue and direct attention, inhibition, shifting, flexibility and working memory. The objective of the study was to investigate student athletes’ perceptions of the relationship between playing sports and their effective use of executive functions and teacher …
The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Executive Functions In High School Aged Students, Julia Barta
The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Executive Functions In High School Aged Students, Julia Barta
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
Childhood adversity and executive function deficits pose significant concerns for those who experience these issues directly, as well as the educators, parents, medical providers, and communities in which they live. Much research has outlined negative physiological effects on typical brain development and health, as well as negative behavioral, social, and emotional outcomes stemming from early life trauma. Similarly, individuals with executive function deficits are more likely to struggle with behavior, emotions, and cognition. Little is known about the self-reported relationship between early life trauma and executive function. This study was designed to learn more about the relationship between adverse childhood …
Executive Functions And Word Reading Fluency: A Brief Intervention With Economically Disadvantaged Secondary Students, Vanessa Kim
Executive Functions And Word Reading Fluency: A Brief Intervention With Economically Disadvantaged Secondary Students, Vanessa Kim
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
This study evaluated the use of a brief intervention that was designed to assist economically disadvantaged secondary students increase their capacity for attention to orthography and increase their ability to shift between rapid sight word recognition and decoding of unknown words in order to improve their word reading accuracy and fluency. The participants (N = 14) were eighth and ninth grade students enrolled in an urban public high school and receiving special education services. The study used analysis of variance for repeated measures and paired measures t-tests to analyze pre- and post-test data. The results indicated significant findings (p < 0.5) in the students’ improvements in their sight word reading fluency and their ability to inhibit impulses and shift cognitive sets with accuracy and speed following the 8-week reading intervention. The findings suggest that exposure to repeated word fluency drills that target attention to orthography and shifting from sight word recognition to decoding may have influenced the students’ self-monitoring skills and offer further support regarding the hypothesized role of executive functions in the act of reading.
The Role And Implications Of Executive Functions On Learning And Performing Math In High School Algebra I Students, Heather Lynn Rickmers Tacovsky
The Role And Implications Of Executive Functions On Learning And Performing Math In High School Algebra I Students, Heather Lynn Rickmers Tacovsky
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
Current research is largely lacking in the areas of math, math learning deficits, and math-specific interventions. Even less available is research and interventions specific to high school learners. Some research addresses these areas with a specific focus on executive functions and how they may relate to student learning and performance. The present study sought to determine the relationship between three specific executive functions, Shift, Inhibit, and Working Memory, on learning and performance in math. Other executive functions, as measured by BRIEF rating scales and including Planning and Organization, Initiate, and Monitor, were also reviewed. Results of the present study found …
An Analysis Of Teacher’S Judgements Of Student’S Executive Functions And Percieved Academic Competency Across Age Groups, Evan Skolnik
An Analysis Of Teacher’S Judgements Of Student’S Executive Functions And Percieved Academic Competency Across Age Groups, Evan Skolnik
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
In the school setting, well-developed executive functions are associated with the metacognitive skills important for learning and are positively correlated with measures of student achievement across children and adolescents; however, development of executive skills has been shown to be inconsistent with chronological age among children. The current study examined if teachers’ ratings of students’ executive functions differ significantly among groups of students whose academic competence is judged to be above average, average, and below average and if these ratings differ significantly by age. Further, the study sought to determine if the relationship between teachers’ ratings of executive functions and teachers’ …
Executive Functions In The Schools: What Do Teachers Know About Executive Functions And How They Impact Student Progress?, Larissa Morgan-Borkowsky
Executive Functions In The Schools: What Do Teachers Know About Executive Functions And How They Impact Student Progress?, Larissa Morgan-Borkowsky
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
The current study surveyed middle school teachers on their knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations regarding executive functions in relation to students’ academic success. The results of this study indicated that teachers perceived themselves as knowledgeable of executive functions. A disconnect was found between teacher responses to an open-ended question regarding abilities and skills required for academic success and their endorsements of specific questions regarding executive functions. Motivation, problem-solving, and basic academic skills were indicated as being most important for success, but two of these are considered capacities students possess intrinsically. When asked about specific executive functions however, they rated them …
Self-Regulation: The Link Between Academic Motivation And Executive Function In Urban Youth, Sara Ferry Walker
Self-Regulation: The Link Between Academic Motivation And Executive Function In Urban Youth, Sara Ferry Walker
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
The present study investigated the relationship between academic motivation and executive function skills through teacher reports of prototypical students, perceived to lack motivation. Second, the study examined the effect of grade level (i.e., elementary, middle, high) on both teacher-perceived academic motivation and executive function skills for these prototypical students. It was hypothesized that there were significant relationships between executive function processes and academic motivation. It was also hypothesized that due to the decline in academic engagement during adolescence, middle school and high school teachers would perceive higher levels of executive dysfunction and deficits in academic motivation than would elementary teachers. …
Program Evaluation Of An Executive Functions Intervention At A Middle School Setting, Minu S. Poulose
Program Evaluation Of An Executive Functions Intervention At A Middle School Setting, Minu S. Poulose
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
Executive functions play an important role in children’s cognitive, academic and social functioning. The present study investigated the changes in executive functions in students who were enrolled in an academic support period everyday for forty-five minutes. Participants included twenty-six eighth-grade students eligible for Special Education and Related Services in a suburban middle school in New Jersey. The study used archival data consisting of items from the 44-item Executive Functions (EF) Rating Scale, a questionnaire that was completed by middle school special education teachers. To examine differences within groups, repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were conducted to examine teacher ratings …
The Implications Of Executive Function And Prototypical Student Performance In Middle School, Sabrina Anne Hartman
The Implications Of Executive Function And Prototypical Student Performance In Middle School, Sabrina Anne Hartman
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
Over the course of the past 25 years, “executive functions” have been investigated more and more frequently in relation to cognitive functioning across the lifespan. Within that time frame, researchers have examined various changes that are specific to the adolescent brain. The research has begun to elucidate the relationship between executive functioning and the developmental period of adolescence. Previous studies have examined the utility of using specific rating scales as a means to assess executive functioning across the lifespan, with most of these utilizing scale level analyses. Given the lack of specificity regarding what elements exactly comprise “executive functioning,” the …
Profiling Executive Dysfunction In Adolescents With Autism, Nicole R. Rogers
Profiling Executive Dysfunction In Adolescents With Autism, Nicole R. Rogers
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
Executive Functions (EF) have been assigned a causative role in a number of disorders, including schizophrenia, Tourette syndrome, autism, obsessive compulsive disorder, violent and criminal behavior, and nearly all learning disabilities. While the term executive functions in the professional literature easily yields more than 150 references, empirical research in which executive functions are studied and linked with specific disorders, such as autism, continues to help answer long-held questions about the disorder and adds to the literature base in order to better understand and treat the disorder. The purpose of this study was to review archival data collected using the Behavior …
An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Personality Traits And Cognitive Functioning In Neuropschological Outpatients In Community Based Treatment, Stacey Rivenburg
An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Personality Traits And Cognitive Functioning In Neuropschological Outpatients In Community Based Treatment, Stacey Rivenburg
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
This study examined whether behavioral disturbances in obsessive compulsive personality disorder and borderline personality disorder were related to executive functioning. An archival database was used; this consisted of 104 subjects who had been given the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III) and the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) at a local neuropsychology practice. Comparisons in executive functioning abilities were made between groups of subjects identified as reporting obsessive compulsive personality disorder traits or borderline personality disorder traits, and also between groups of subjects identified as reporting both obsessive compulsive personality traits and borderline personality traits. Findings concluded that a relationship does …
The Relevance Of Executive Functions In Academic Production In Middle School, Norina Bobik
The Relevance Of Executive Functions In Academic Production In Middle School, Norina Bobik
PCOM Psychology Dissertations
The present study investigated the role that executive function plays on academic production in middle school from a prototype perspective. It was hypothesized that middle school teachers' prototypical ratings of the executive function capacities of middle school students who are academically successful would differ significantly from these same middle school teachers' prototypical ratings of the executive function capacities of middle school students who are academically unsuccessful. The study used archival data consisting of items from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), a questionnaire that was completed by middle school teachers during a professional in-service workshop at four large …