Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Expertise And Information Relevance On Information Search Strategy., Jason Lebsack

Student Work

Differences between experts and novices have been the focus of a variety of studies throughout the psychological literature. In general, task outcome differences have been found between experts and novices, but further study is needed to understand the mechanism for explaining these outcome differences. This study investigated taskprocessing differences between experts and novices, specifically, the use of relevant and irrelevant information. Forty human resource professionals served as experts and 40 undergraduate students served as novices in this study. Participants made two hiring decisions. Using an information board format, participants examined eight attributes across six candidates for the job of museum …

Base Closure Impacts And The General Effects Of Military Installations On Local Private Employment, Patrick E. Poppert

Doctoral Dissertations

This empirical study explores the general effects of military installations on local employment, and the special case of closure under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) proceedings of 1988, 1991, 1993, and 1995. Employment impacts are modeled in a partial adjustment construct, and both random and fixed effects specifications of the disturbance term are evaluated. The analysis also includes both levels and changes forms of the model. The latter approach facilitates decomposition of defense personnel changes into its positive, negative, and BRAC related components. These components are examined for asymmetrical effects attributable to the public goods and community infrastructure vacuum …

Fashion, Advertising, And Class Delineation: A Study Of Ready-Made Fashion’S Effects On Class Barriers, Sarah Johnston

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Eeg Coherence And Amplitude Effects Of Rhythmic Auditory And Visual Stimulation With An Emphasis In Computational Methods, Jon Alan Frederick

Doctoral Dissertations

The photic driving response, the effect of a flashing light stimulus on the cortical EEG, has proven to be a sensistive neurometric that varies with differences in perception, mood, and physiological states. The diverse effects of photic stimulation have made commercially available "brainwave syncronizers" popular among consumers and even among some clinicians. It is common in the design of these devices to combine a rhythmic auditory stimulus with the visual stimulus. However, little if any experimental evidence supports the assumption that auditory stimulation enhances the photic driving effect. Therefore, this study compared the amplitude and coherence effects of three stimulation …

Physiological And Cognitive Factors In Asthma And Panic Disorder: Application Of The Cognitive And Dyspnensuffocation Fear Theories, Diana M. Dorhofer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, the relationship of anxiety with asthma has been investigated in the psychological literature, revealing that individuals with asthma are more likely to develop panic disorder than are individuals without asthma (e.g., Carr, 1998). Two theories (dyspnedsuffocation fear theory and cognitive theory) have been used to explain how asthma symptoms are affected by panic attacks or panic disorder. The present study examines both theories, as well as a hypothesis developed by Carr (1 998) that suggests that the presence of panic disorder in individuals with asthma may lead to better lung functioning in response to stressful stimuli than for individuals …

The Egyptian-Syrian Unity, 1958-1961, Nael Mohamed Shama

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Comparative Study Of Bureaucratic Corruption In Egypt And France, Radwa Abdel Wahab Al Gaaly

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

First And Second Generations Of Urban Black Mayors: Atlanta, Detroit, And St. Louis, Harold Eugene Core

Masters Theses

This research attempts to create an understanding of generationality as it applies to successive black mayors in the urban setting. At a glance, the first black mayors of Atlanta, Detroit, and St. Louis received criticism for being anti-white and using racial conflict to accomplish their goals of diversifying the decision-making elites in each city. The black mayors immediately following in each city were criticized in the black community as being too accommodating to white interests as they attempted to find racial balance in the decision-making elite.

This research uses literature to establish the nature of early black mayors as believing …

A Geostatistical Screening Strategy For Assessing Contaminated Sediment, Yasuyo K. Makido

Masters Theses

Many environmental problems involve the collection and interpretation of spatial data. Screening methods attempt to develop efficient test procedures to determine the presence and absence of contaminants in samples. Screening methods can reduce monitoring costs and effectively identify contamination problems. Adaptive sampling has the flexibility to adjust for follow-up sampling based on the observed patterns in the population. Geostatistical method is employed for the adaptive sampling scheme. Geostatistics are statistical methodologies that use spatial coordinates to help formulate models used in estimation and prediction.

This study seeks to map Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) concentrations in sediment in Lake Allegan and Morrow …

The Effect Of Cultural Affiliations On Attitudes, Beliefs, And Reactions To The Fighting Sioux Nickname Issue Between Northern Plains American Indian And Majority Culture College Students, Angela Larocque

Theses and Dissertations

The main puqjo.sc of this study was to compare the effect of cultural affiliation on altitudes, beliefs, and reactions to the Fighting Sioux Nickname and logo issue for 60 Nonhem Plains American Indian college students and 61 non-Indian college students at the University of North Dakota. Subjects completed a demographic questionnaire and the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux Nickname Attitudes, Beliefs, and Reactions (UNDFSNABR) survey. In addition, American Indian subjects completed the Nonhem Plains Bicuhuralism Inventory (NPBI), Using the Northern Plains Biculluralisin Inventory (NPBI) to identify cultural identification among American Indian participants, the hypotheses of the current study were;: …

A Role And Reference Account Of Information Structure In Somali, Jennifer Girard

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a study of focus structure in Somali within the framework of Role and Reference Grammar (RRG). Focus is an important phenomenon in Somali, and this thesis investigates the different types of focus which occur in Somali, the effects of the focus markers on other features in the language, and the interaction between syntax and focus structure. Data on Somali focus structure was collected in consultation with three native speakers of Somali, and also gathered from previous research on the Somali Language. Although word order in Somali is relatively free, focus structure is correspondingly rigid, a finding which …

The Analysis Of Selective Information Processing And Neuropsychological Functioning In Individuals At-Risk For Eating Disorders: The Use Of A Pictorial Adaptation To The Stroop Paradigm, Using Print Media Advertisements, Kristine L. Lokken

Theses and Dissertations

There is evidence that women with bulimic symptoms are characteristically impulsive and have difficulty inhibiting various behaviors. Neuropsychological profiles of women with bulimic symptoms show patterns of impulsivity, inefficient problem solving ability, and an inability to inhibit irrelevant information. Women with bulimic symptoms also express substantially greater acceptance and internalization of sociocultural mores of thinness, and are more vulnerable to negative influence from laboratory exposure to stimuli representing “thin ideal” stereotypes. The present study examined a possible common link between the characterological and neuropsychological features of women with bulimic symptoms and their susceptibility to negative influence from mass media representations …

Personality Differences Of First-Year Law Students Using The Theory Of Mental Self-Government, Charles Angelo Licata

Masters Theses

Thinking styles are described as ones conscious attempt to develop an awareness of stimuli within the surrounding environment. They reflect on the way we perceive, interpret, and integrate information, as well as influence the quality of information we supply to others. At the same time, personality traits have become important factors in understanding the preferences people may feel towards their careers, lifestyles, and quality of life. Furthermore, Myers and Briggs (1984) linked personality to the way we perceive and think about the environment by developing a new model of personality and thinking, which was based on the research and theories …

Pecos Revisited: A Modern Analysis Of Earnest Hooton’S, The Indians Of Pecos Pueblo, Katherine Elizabeth Weisensee

Masters Theses

The extensive data recorded by Earnest Hooton (1930) during his years of work on the analysis of the remains recovered from Pecos Pueblo provides an excellent database for reconsidering his conclusions within a modern context. The first issue addressed in re-examining Hooton’s data relates to the sex estimations made for the Pecos sample. Researchers, specifically Ruff (1991), questioned the highly biased sex ratio that Hooton reported for the sample. Using the craniometric and postcranial metrics data that Hooton collected it was possible to re-evaluate Hooton’s sex estimations by utilizing discriminant functionanalysis in order to establish a more accurate sex ratio …

The Prehistoric Use Of Hubbards Cave, Warren County, Tennessee, Erin Elizabeth Pritchard

Masters Theses

Hubbards Cave, in Warren County, Tennessee, contains evidence of a prehistoric gypsum mine. Such evidence is rare in the southeastern United States and few caves have been identified as prehistoric mineral extraction locations. Evidence of mining at Hubbards was documented using a total station laser transit and ArcView ã GIS program in order to identify and evaluate prehistoric activities throughout the cave. While much of the archaeological evidence pertaining to the prehistoric occupation of the cave has been removed as a result of later saltpeter (KNO 3) mining, traces of prehistoric evidence are documented in an attempt to interpret prehistoric …

Word Order And Information Structure In Russian Syntax, Elena V. Rodionova

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis attempts to explain variability of word order in Russian declarative sentences. I argued that Russian word order is not "free" but encodes different types of focus: predicate, sentence, and narrow. Chapter 1 of this thesis critiques several theories of grammar that attribute alternative word orders in Russian primarily to differences in style. Chapter 2 discusses the advantages of Lambrecht's information structure theory and Role and Reference Grammar as a theoretical framework for my research. Chapter 3 presents the empirical core of the paper, a detailed revision of Krylova and Khavronina's (1986) classification of Russian word order types into …

A Study Of Native American Ged Graduates At Four Tribal Community Colleges In North Dakota, Karen Starr Gillis

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the General Educational Development (GED) graduates of four tribal colleges in North Dakota. The purpose was to provide answers to five research questions and to determine baseline data on Indian education in an area not fully studied. The study will assist in closing the gap between research already conducted with Hispanics and African American populations.

The study accumulated data on participants in GED programs at the four adult education and/or testing centers at the tribal colleges in North Dakota for the years 1990–1999. The participants were analyzed using a set of variables that was specific to …

Nonmarket Valuation And Land Use: Two Essays, Robert W. Paterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The research presented here consists of two essays that describe applications of non-market valuation techniques to current land use issues. The individual studies were designed to address important methodological and policy issues, respectively. In the first essay, Geographic Information System (GIs) data are used to develop variables representing the physical extent and visibility of surrounding land use/cover features in a hedonic model of a rural/suburban housing market. Three equations are estimated to determine if views affect property prices, and, further, if omission of visibility variables leads to omitted variable bias. Results indicate that the visibility measures are important determinants of …

The Role Of Human Rights Groups In Promoting The Democratization Process In Egypt, Mona Ali El Roby Fathalla

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Intellectual Test Performance Across Native American And European American Children, Austin P. Keith

Theses and Dissertations

Differential scoring across Native American and European .American groups on the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children - Third Edition (WISC-IIi) was examined while controlling for Full Scale IQ and age. Comparisons were made across the groups on Verbal IQ and Performance IQ, individual subtests, individual subtest items and two composite index scores. Results indicated no significant scorino differences between the two groups on Performance IQ or, on the Perceptual Organization Index, Significant scoring differences were also not evident on the Coding, Picture Arrangement, Arithmetic, Block Design, Vocabulary-, Object Assembly and Comprehension subtests. Significant scoring differences were found across the groups …

Factors Affecting Consumer Valuation Of Environmentally Labeled Forest Products, Kelly Ann O'Brien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The recognition and acknowledgement of how personal purchasing decisions affect the environment may increase the desire to buy products advertised as "environmentally-friendly." Effective and credible advertising and marketing of products deemed ecologically sound, as well as, the specific environmental qualities embodied by such products presumably weighs on the effectiveness of environmentally conscious shopping. To that end, consumers are unable to fully utilize purchase power as a means of protecting the environment if they are unaware that such options exist. The public's apparent willingness to use its purchasing power as a means to protect the environment provides an opportunity for manufacturers …

Two Studies Of Mixtec Languages, Inga Mckendry

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of two independent papers and a text. One paper is centered on Mixtec languages as a whole, the other paper and the text present the variety of Mixtec spoken in the southeastern portion of the district of Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, Mexico.

The first paper builds on work published by Stephen A. Marlett in which it is posited that nasalization is a feature of the morpheme rather than the syllable. Data not included in Marlett's study, which corroborates his findings, are presented. Also in the light of these data, modifications to his analysis are suggested. This paper also presents …

Hindi-Urdu: Stress Accent Or Non-Stress Accent?, Lars O. Dyrud

Theses and Dissertations

The Hindi-Urdu stress system has been a problematic topic for over a century. Hayes (1995) says, '... this topic has its empirically dismaying aspects: the published descriptions almost all disagree with one another, and seldom mention the disagreement.'

The literature today divides languages between 'stress accent' languages and 'non-stress accent' languages. According to Beckman (1986), 'stress accent' languages are those that use phonetic attributes other than pitch to indicate a prominent syllable, while 'non-stress accent' languages are those that use only pitch to mark a prominent syllable.

In the past, several quantitative studies of phonetic correlates of stress in Hindi-Urdu …

The Implementation Of The Least Restrictive Environment Provision Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (Idea) For Secondary Students With Learning Disabilities On Guam, Nieves P. Flores Edd

Dissertations

This study examined the implementation of the least restrictive environment (LRE) provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) for secondary students with learning disabilities on Guam. The research questions for the study addressed the following areas: (a) perceptions of the definition of LRE, (b) factors influencing the implementation of LRE, and (c) determination of LRE in relation to the national trends and literature. This research utilized the qualitative method of collecting and analyzing data that included interviews and review of written documents. Parents and school personnel from the secondary schools, involved in the implementation of the least restrictive …

Expenditure Control And Traditional Budgets: Comparing Two Implementations, Angela Lauria Gunnink

Masters Theses

My research will entail examining the budget processes of Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Fairfield, California. The difference between these two cities and their budgets is that Fairfield implemented an expenditure control budget, and Kalamazoo operates with a traditional budget. The purpose of this Master’s Thesis is to compare and contrast Fairfield's performance with their expenditure control budget to Kalamazoo, a city of approximately the same size in terms of population, square mileage, and local governance as Fairfield, but operates with a traditional city budget.

This study revisits the empirical claims made by Osborne and Gaebler (1992), which illustrates Fairfield, California as …

Using Performance Analysis To Increase Staff Compliance With Acquisition Programs For Children With Autism, Scott Traynor

Masters Theses

Improvement in the rate of learning on acquisition programs for individuals diagnosed with autism often depends on the quality of instruction delivered by direct-care staff The present study evaluated the effectiveness of a performance analysis on targeting environmental variables that were maintaining less than optimal staff performance for a least-to-most prompting procedure used to teach a hand-washing task to preschool children diagnosed with autism. Direct observations of technician/child dyads were followed by informant interviews with technicians, supervisors, and other key staff members that pinpointed variables that were maintaining/hindering staff compliance with a prompting procedure designed to promote child acquisition of …

Involvement In Sports And Engagement In Delinquency: An Examination Of Hirschi's Social Bond Theory., Randy Hass

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sports have been proposed as a means of reducing participation in delinquency. One criminological theory that would support this hypothesis is Travis Hirschi's social bond theory. The involvement element of that theory proposes that engaging juveniles in non-delinquent activities reduces engagement in delinquency. However, the relationship between sports and delinquency has not been adequately tested. Data from the first wave of the National Youth Survey were examined by ordinary least squares regression to determine if there was evidence supporting school sponsored sports programs as a means of reducing delinquency. No evidence was found to support the research hypothesis. Involvement in …

The Effects Of Inclusion On Learning-Disabled Students' Self-Esteem, Ruth Ann Cardoza

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study was to determine whether Learning Disabled students who receive all their instruction in regular education would receive significantly higher self-esteem scores than students who receive services from special education resource. The instruments employed were the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory and the Pier-Harris Self-Concept Scale in order to determine any significant differences in self-esteem between the two groups. The sample consisted of 30 bilingual Mexican-American children ages 8–12. The subjects were from public schools in the southern region of Texas on the Mexico-Texas border. Data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, T-test, and two-way factorial analysis of variance with repeated measures. …

The Battle To Be Mayor: A Case Study Of Interethnic Conflict In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Adrian Cruz

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Mexican Americans and Anglos have lived in Texas for generations now. Historical data has shown that Anglos have dominated the political and economic structures in the state. A case study was conducted of the 1998 mayoral election that took place in a city located in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The study investigated if there was evidence of Anglos supporting one candidate and Mexican Americans supporting the other.

Male Visual Dominance Continues: A Global Study Of Images Of Men And Women In 750 Online Newspapers In 74 Nations., Kelly Blake Price-Rankin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined how women were represented globally in online newspapers. Depiction of men and women in online newspapers was investigated via cropping of photographs. The photograph was examined to determine if emphasis was placed on the face or body of the human image.

The researcher used the Body Index Scale coding instrument. A simple random sample of 1,969 published photographs in 750 global online newspapers was examined.

A major finding was that men dominate the front screens on global online newspaper Web sites. The data concluded men were cropped with an emphasis on the head, emphasizing intellect. Women were …