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A Comparison Of Reading Interventions Based On Preference To Reading Interventions Identified By Brief Experimental Analysis, Debborah Eda Smyth Dec 2008

A Comparison Of Reading Interventions Based On Preference To Reading Interventions Identified By Brief Experimental Analysis, Debborah Eda Smyth

Dissertations

The available literature on children's acceptability of interventions is rather sparse and offers little support for the link between acceptability and effectiveness (e.g., Foxx & Jones, 1978; Shapiro & Goldberg, 1986; Turco & Elliot, 1990). The present study compared the effects of treatment preference to treatment effectiveness using a brief experimental analysis to select skill-based oral reading fluency interventions. The use of a brief experimental analysis (BEA) (Daly, Martens, Hamler, Dool, & Eckert, 1999) has been demonstrated to be an effective procedure for selecting oral reading interventions. However, the studies on brief experimental analysis to date have not examined student …


Generalization Effects Of Social Story Interventions For Individuals With Asperger's Disorder, Jennifer Alphonso Abraham Dec 2008

Generalization Effects Of Social Story Interventions For Individuals With Asperger's Disorder, Jennifer Alphonso Abraham

Dissertations

Social Stories™ (Gray, 2004) is a relatively new intervention designed to teach appropriate skills to individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Although there is preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of Social Stories it has typically been implemented in one target setting. As a result, there are little data to support whether or not the effects of Social Stories will generalize to other settings. The current study examined the effectiveness of Social Stories for increasing appropriate behaviors exhibited by four children diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder. Generalization effects across settings were assessed using a typical Social Story (Train and Hope) format and …


An Examination Of Napping And Psychosocial Functioning In Preschool Children, Brian Kenneth Crosby Dec 2008

An Examination Of Napping And Psychosocial Functioning In Preschool Children, Brian Kenneth Crosby

Dissertations

The objectives of this study were to examine racial differences in the sleep distribution of 4- to 5-year-old children, to assess the relationship between napping and psychosocial functioning, and to determine if there are racial differences in the relationship between napping and psychosocial functioning. The sleep behavior of 67 children (52.2% non-Hispanic White; 55.2% male) 4 to 5 years old from a community sample was assessed through caregiver-report and actigraphy. Psychosocial functioning was examined through caregiver-report and laboratory tasks designed to assess aspects of behavioral and emotional functioning. Results indicate that, compared to White children, Black children nap significantly more …


The Role Of Racial Attitudes And Identity In Black Client-White Counselor Dyads, Tara Michelle Ferguson Dec 2008

The Role Of Racial Attitudes And Identity In Black Client-White Counselor Dyads, Tara Michelle Ferguson

Dissertations

The therapeutic alliance has become an important area of investigation in the psychotherapy literature due to its demonstration of a moderate and consistent relationship with therapy outcomes. Some researchers have suggested that barriers to alliance formation may exist in cross-ethnic dyads due to different worldviews, race related socialization experiences, and racial attitudes. Although past research has indicated that racial identity and attitudes played a role in predicting various counseling processes, no studies in this area have examined their influence in actual counseling dyads. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of Black racial identity and attitude …


Ncaa Division I Head Softball Coaches' Confidence, Openness And Stigma Tolerance Toward Sport Psychology Consultants, Laurie Ann Neelis Dec 2008

Ncaa Division I Head Softball Coaches' Confidence, Openness And Stigma Tolerance Toward Sport Psychology Consultants, Laurie Ann Neelis

Dissertations

This study used a mixed-method to look at NCAA division I head softball coaches confidence, openness, and stigma tolerance about sport psychology principles and consultants, as well as what sport psychology principles, time of year used, and what a Sport Psychology Consultant (SPC) can do to help division I head softball coaches have more success with their teams. These variables were measured through the use of the Sport Psychology Attitudes - Revised Coaches instrument developed by Zakrajsek and Zizzi (2007). For the qualitative component, the researcher developed five inquiries that allowed for a more in-depth response from the coaches concerning …


Religious Orientation And Religious Coping In Adolescents With And Without A Chronic Illness, Jacqueline Beine Brown Aug 2008

Religious Orientation And Religious Coping In Adolescents With And Without A Chronic Illness, Jacqueline Beine Brown

Dissertations

Religion plays an important role in most people's lives and can greatly affect how individuals cope and interpret stressful situations. However, very little is known about how adolescents incorporate religion into their lives (e.g., is it central or peripheral to their lives, do they utilize religious coping). Furthermore, given the additional stressors experienced by adolescents who have a chronic illness, it is likely their religious orientations and religious coping strategies are different from their healthy peers. Thus, the present study was designed to examine the constructs in both typically developing and chronically ill adolescents. Additional constructs of hope, general coping, …


The Effect Of Writing As Exposure Therapy On Ptsd Symptoms, Daniel Scott Debrule Aug 2008

The Effect Of Writing As Exposure Therapy On Ptsd Symptoms, Daniel Scott Debrule

Dissertations

The majority of empirically supported treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder involve some form of exposure, which desensitizes an individual to traumarelated information. Theoretical work has suggested that the mechanism of exposure may explain the tendency for writing to lessen symptoms, and empirical evidence of writing and PTSD symptoms suggests that modifying the writing paradigm may result in better symptom relief. The present investigation aimed to compare the efficacy of an exposurebased writing intervention to the standard writing paradigm. A total of 68 undergraduates that were screened for PTSD symptoms were randomly assigned to write about their most severe trauma for …


Increasing Narrative Coherence In The Bereaved: The Effect Of Narrative Review On Grief Reaction, Stefanie Suzon Boswell Aug 2008

Increasing Narrative Coherence In The Bereaved: The Effect Of Narrative Review On Grief Reaction, Stefanie Suzon Boswell

Dissertations

In order to investigate the utility of an experimental expressive writing intervention designed to increase narrative coherence (write about loss combined with review of previous narratives) as a potential bereavement intervention, it was compared to a standard expressive writing intervention (write about loss with no opportunity for review), and two trivial writing conditions (one with and one without opportunity for review). Although all writing groups experienced beneficial effects across time, participants in the experimental and standard conditions reported significantly greater personal growth as a function of time when compared to control participants.


The Use Of Personality Assessments In Designing Environmental Enrichment For Garnett's Bushbabies (Otolemur Garnettii), Lauren Elizabeth Highfill Aug 2008

The Use Of Personality Assessments In Designing Environmental Enrichment For Garnett's Bushbabies (Otolemur Garnettii), Lauren Elizabeth Highfill

Dissertations

Recently the study of animal personality has become an important and credible topic of research and a number of studies have revealed personality traits in a variety of species. The consideration of individual animal personality traits is important for animal management and welfare. For example, ensuring inter-individual compatibility in group housing animals may serve to ensure the safety of the whole group. To date, no formal research has been conducted on whether the assessment of individual personality traits could be used as a tool for individualizing environmental enrichment interventions. The goal of environmental enrichment is to increase the rate of …


Health Anxiety And Cognition: Chronic Awareness Of Health Concerns Or Situational Activation Of Latent Dysfunctional Assumptions About Illness?, Desmon Craig Mitchell Aug 2008

Health Anxiety And Cognition: Chronic Awareness Of Health Concerns Or Situational Activation Of Latent Dysfunctional Assumptions About Illness?, Desmon Craig Mitchell

Dissertations

Rationale: This study investigated if health anxious individuals have chronically aroused illness-related concerns or if these concerns remain latent, only to be activated when first primed by illness-related stimuli. To test these alternatives this study examined whether participants, with varying levels of health anxiety, differed as to their (a) performance on an emotional Stroop task that included health-related words, (b) memory tasks (free recall and recognition tasks), and (c) the participants' dream content, after either being exposed, or not exposed, to an illness-related trigger. Hypotheses: If illness concerns are chronically activated in health anxious individuals, then participants will perform worse …


The Influence Of Species And Context On Human-Dolphin Interactions, Deirdre Breen Yeater May 2008

The Influence Of Species And Context On Human-Dolphin Interactions, Deirdre Breen Yeater

Dissertations

Anthropogenic activities pose a threat to marine mammals around the world. Cetaceans that use coastal waters are at particular risk for potential disturbances caused by vessel traffic and human swimmers. Although many cetacean species are found near the coast of Utila, Honduras, little is known about their behavior or the effects of anthropogenic activities on their behavior. Whether the presence of boats and human swimmers led to short-term changes in dolphin behavior was investigated for three commonly sighted species of dolphins; rough-toothed (Steno bredanensis), spinner (Stenalla longirostris), and bottlenose (Turslops truncatus). The dolphins' behavioral activities, with and without other boats …


Defining Acquaintance Rape: College Students' Perceptions Of Sexual Consent And Coercion, Sara Elizabeth Buck Doude May 2008

Defining Acquaintance Rape: College Students' Perceptions Of Sexual Consent And Coercion, Sara Elizabeth Buck Doude

Dissertations

Perceptions of rape have evolved dramatically over the past decade. Prior to the second wave of the feminist movement, rape was perceived to be committed by a psychotic man against a woman. The feminist movement brought the term "acquaintance rape" into the popular lexicon and into the forefront of women's consciousness. As a result, throughout the 1970s and 1980s state governments enacted laws to prohibit "sexual assault," or expanded existing rape laws to include a variety of relationships or sexual acts. However, public perceptions of rape did not evolve as rapidly. Despite legislative efforts, there is no universally understood definition …


Future Psychologists' Perceptions Of Managed Care, Michele Renae Boyer Blood May 2008

Future Psychologists' Perceptions Of Managed Care, Michele Renae Boyer Blood

Dissertations

This study was designed to examine future psychologists' perceptions of managed care, as well as their managed care related training and work experience. Data for this project were gathered electronically via a specially designed website. Participants were 119 future psychologists completing predoctoral internships in university counseling centers (n = 61) and hospitals (n = 58). Variables examined included predoctoral interns' attitudes towards managed care and their perceptions of the importance of knowledge in three critical domains relevant to service provision in the contemporary marketplace (i.e., general reimbursement, risk management, misdiagnosis). One measure, the Demographic and Practice Information Form (DAPIF), was …