Digital Commons Network^™

Fostering Friendship And Acceptance In An Inclusive Summer Day Camp, Emily Villani

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Historically, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDDs) have faced barriers to social inclusion and forming friendships - essential life factors. Research has indicated the importance of reducing social barriers to inclusion and highlights the benefits of improving social skills and fostering positive attitudes about IDDs for facilitating friendship formation and inclusion. With the goal of fostering friendships, the S³ summer camp offered 22 youth (aged 9-14) with and without IDDs accessible and inclusive STEM education and a one-week social skills training package which included disability awareness lessons. Analysis examined the effects of this training package on participants’ friendship …

Economics Or Culture? Measuring Economic Thinking And Cultural Enrichment Beliefs About Immigration., Paolo Aldrin Palma

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present work attempts to distinguish people’s economic concerns about immigration from their (anti-)diversity attitudes, and examines how these economic concerns influence attitudes towards immigrants. To do this, we develop a scale to assess economic thinking and cultural enrichment beliefs about immigration (ETI/CBI). Economic thinking was associated with personality and ideological traits related to viewing the world as competitive and anti-diversity attitudes. Cultural enrichment beliefs on the other hand, were associated with traits associated with a preference for equity and pro-diversity orientations. Furthermore, economic thinking was associated with greater preferences to reduce immigration for all migrant groups except economic migrants, …

Perception And Attitudes Of Canadians Living With Parkinson’S Disease Towards Using Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (Adas), Anupradi Sultania

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are becoming increasingly prevalent commercially and have potential to increase road safety for at risk populations, such as those with Parkinson’s disease (PD). This thesis presents the results of a survey study (n= 153) exploring the perception and attitudes of Canadians living with PD towards using ADAS. Most participants had a favourable perception of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use towards ADAS. Most participants found ADAS slightly, quite or extremely beneficial, good, rewarding and pleasant. Perceived ease of use and previous experience were determinants for intention to use ADAS in the next year. Perceived …

More Than Just Virtual Communication: Examining Canadian Volunteers’ Virtual Contact Experiences With Refugees, Maria Besselink

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Canada plays a key role in addressing the ‘global refugee crisis’ as it accepts more refugees per capita than any other country. Although Canadians increasingly view support for immigration and multiculturalism as integral components of their national identity, the number of immigrants and refugees Canada accepts yearly is an increasingly polarized issue. In line with the Intergroup Contact Hypothesis, the current study investigated how Canadian volunteers’ repeated virtual contact experiences with refugees affected their generalized attitudes towards refugees over time. Our findings did not suggest that the quality and quantity of participants’ virtual contact experiences affected their attitudes. The findings …

Development Of A New Measure Of Political Ideology, Vanessa M. Sinclair

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Ideology is central to political psychology, but despite recent renewed interest in studying political ideology, its measurement is inconsistent. Ideology scales are numerous and heterogeneous in content. Further, there is disagreement on whether ideology is unidimensional multi-dimensional, and what the nature of these dimensions are. These inconsistencies limit the generalizability of conclusions made about ideology as it relates to political views and behaviour. There is a clear need for a conceptual model that is grounded in theory, and for a well-validated scale that organizes and quantifies ideology. Chapter 1 reviews the state of ideology measurement and identifies plausible dimensions supported …

Community Attitudes And Wind Energy Development Types: A Comparative Study In Ontario And Nova Scotia, Sara M. Wilson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Wind turbines will continue to be an important part of the green energy transition in Canada. However, opposition to onshore wind projects from potential host communities has increased over time, and install rates are flattening. Dimensions such as NIMBYism, place, distance from turbines and connections to landscapes have proved relatively inadequate for explaining community attitudes. The value of community-based development models over developer-led models has had recent traction, however limited empirical investigation has been done. I used a mail-out mail-back survey in Ontario (n=192) and Nova Scotia (n=170), to communities with (n=172) and without (n=190) a community-based development model. Using …

Translating Developmental Origins Of Health And Disease In Practice: Health Care Providers' Perspectives., Monica L Molinaro, Marilyn Evans, Timothy Regnault, Barbra De Vrijer

Paediatrics Publications

Currently, there is limited knowledge on how health care providers perceive and understand the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), which may impact how they inform patients and their families throughout the perinatal period. This qualitative descriptive study explored if and how health care providers counsel on in utero programming and future health outcomes with parents, both preconception and during pregnancy. One-on-one, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 health care providers from varying health disciplines including obstetrics and gynaecology, midwifery, paediatrics, endocrinology and internal medicine. Audiotaped interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Three themes were …

Examining The Correlates Of Adolescent Food And Nutrition Knowledge, Rachel Brown, Jamie A. Seabrook, Saverio Stranges, Andrew F. Clark, Jess Haines, Colleen O’Connor, Sean Doherty, Jason A. Gilliland

Paediatrics Publications

Food literacy is a set of skills and knowledge that are integral to diet. It is common among teenagers to not have basic food literacy skills needed to consume a healthy diet. This study examined: (1) the current state of food and nutrition knowledge among adolescents 13–19 years of age in the census metropolitan area of London, ON, Canada; and (2) correlates of food knowledge and nutrition knowledge among adolescents. Data for this study were drawn from baseline youth and parent survey data collected from a larger population health intervention study. Statistical analysis of the survey data indicates that higher …

Systematic Review Of Stem Attitude Measures, Meagan Koufis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The aim of this review was to identify measurement tools used to assess students’ attitudes towards science, technology, engineering, and/or mathematics (STEM) in publications, and evaluate their usefulness and appropriateness based on reported psychometric properties. Researchers look to also evaluate the content/subject area coverage as well as the attitude construct coverage of identified measures. Electronic databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles that utilized a STEM attitude measurement tool with elementary or high school students. Publications were examined for reported psychometric properties of tools and the quality of each measure was evaluated using the psychometric grading framework (PGF). A total of …

Perspectives Of Canadian Midwives On Nutrition For Pregnancy, Yvana T. Sawaya

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Limited data exists on Canadian midwives’ experiences with nutrition for pregnancy. An anonymous e-survey was distributed via midwifery associations’ e-newsletters, social media, and clinics’ public e-mail addresses to explore Canadian midwives’ nutrition attitudes, education, and recommendations.

Almost all (99.4%) of the 161 respondents provided nutrition advice to pregnant women and almost two-thirds (63.7%) received nutrition training. Midwives had positive attitudes towards nutrition (median=5 on scale where 1=very unimportant and 5=very important) and their comfort levels in advising on nutrition topics ranged from moderate to high. An average of 85.3% of their recommendations aligned with Health Canada pregnancy guidelines and relevant …

Promoting Mentally Healthy Classrooms: Evaluation Of Online Mental Health Literacy Instruction In Pre-Service Teacher Education, E. Robyn Masters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

To better understand how to prepare large numbers of pre-service teachers for their role in creating and leading mentally healthy classrooms, this program evaluation explores outcomes related to an online mental health literacy course at a large central Canadian university. The course was delivered to 275 teacher education students simultaneously over 10-weeks and 20-hours of online instruction and professional reflection. Results indicated significant improvement in self-reported levels of mental health literacy, stigma toward mental illness, and self-efficacy for teaching students with diverse challenges. Qualitative reviews of participant feedback identified the most valuable aspects of the course and the ways in …

Modern Homonegativity And Lgbtq Activism: The Role Of Identity And Behaviour In Attitude Formation, Sarah E. Moroz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Although reported prejudice toward sexual minorities seems to be decreasing over time, sexual minorities themselves continue to report many experiences of prejudice and discrimination. One potential explanation for this discrepancy in the sexual prejudice literature is that explicit prejudice is being measured in a manner that is no longer culturally relevant, as proposed by Morrison and Morrison (2003) in the development of their Modern Homonegativity Scale. Modern homonegativity (MH) is characterized by negative attitudes toward behaviours and policies that benefit LGBTQ people, rather than a negative attitude toward homosexuality itself. The present work aimed to further the field’s understanding of …

Physiotherapy Students’ Attitudes Toward Working With People With Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Survey, Susan W. Hunter, Jessica Armstrong, Mark Silva, Alison Devine

Physical Therapy Publications

Aims: To understand personal, educational and clinical experiences and the attitudes of physiotherapy students towards people with dementia.

Methods: Online survey questionnaire. Physiotherapy students in the last year of a two-year Masters of Physical Therapy (MPT) entry-to-practice degree program (n = 59) were surveyed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data.

Results: Fifty-five students participated (93%). The majority of students (n = 52/55, 77%) had at least one clinical placement working with people with dementia. Overall, 53% (n = 29/55) felt their academic training was sufficient to effectively work with people with dementia. Moreover, …

"C.H.A.M.P. Families": Description And Theoretical Foundations Of A Paediatric Overweight And Obesity Intervention Targeting Parents-A Single-Centre Non-Randomised Feasibility Study., Kristen Reilly, Trish Tucker, Jennifer D. Irwin Phd, Andrew Johnson, Erin S Pearson, Dirk E Bock, Shauna M. Burke

Paediatrics Publications

Childhood obesity represents a significant global health challenge, and treatment interventions are needed. The purpose of this paper is to describe the components and theoretical model that was used in the development and implementation of a unique parent-focussed paediatric overweight/obesity intervention. C.H.A.M.P. Families was a single-centre, prospective intervention offered to parents of children aged between 6⁻14 years with a body mass index (BMI) ≥85th percentile for age and sex. The intervention included: (1) eight group-based (parent-only) education sessions over 13-weeks; (2) eight home-based activities; and (3) two group-based (family) follow-up support sessions. The first section of the manuscript contains a …

First-Impression Attitudes Towards People From Minorities And Different Cultures In Relation To Empathy And Self-Esteem, Lina Saadeddin

Brescia Psychology Undergraduate Honours Theses

The current study investigated first-impression attitudes in university students towards people from minorities and different backgrounds and the relationship these attitudes had to their empathy and self-esteem. Thirty-five students from the Introduction to Psychology course at Brescia University College took part in the study. The participants rated eighteen pictures of people based on first-impression on the First Impression Judgment Scale. Twelve of the pictures presented were of six people, one set of six pictures with a cultural identification and the other six pictures were casually posed with no cultural identification. Also, the last six pictures were of neutral people, added …

Perception And Construction Of Individuals At The Intersect Of Race And Immigration Status, Paolo Aldrin Palma

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Although perceptions of intersectional group identities (e.g., race and gender) have gained focus in recent years, an oft-ignored group in this line of work are immigrants. Across three studies, attitudes and stereotypes of different groups as a function of race and immigrant status, and how experiences of racism affect people’s attitudes towards immigrants, were examined. Study 1 found attitudes and stereotypes clustered around target race, not immigration status (n = 498) though people’s attitudes were most favourable for Canadians with no attached race label. Study 2 found that experiences of racism affected attitudes towards immigrants expressed by a representative …

The Heart Of Ideology: Bringing Compassion Into The Political Sphere, Vanessa M. Sinclair

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Individual differences are pivotal in predicting sociopolitical views, which in turn guide behaviours like voting decisions, career choices, or engagement in activism. Compassion, a trait related to empathy and prosocial behaviour, has shown promise in predicting reduced hostile, anti-egalitarian attitudes. Certain kinds of political beliefs can be termed hierarchy-legitimizing in that they perpetuate or enhance existing societal hierarchies, such as economic inequality or racial discrimination. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between compassion for others and hierarchy-legitimizing viewpoints, as mediated by the characteristic of Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). A sample of 590 undergraduate students completed measures …

Effects Of Value Reasoning On Stigmatization Of People With Schizophrenia, Yixian Li

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Effective interventions are much needed to reduce stigma against those with mental illness. Two experimental studies were conducted to examine the effectiveness of value-based reasoning interventions in reducing mental illness stigma, and the extent to which relationships between values and social distance are mediated by attitudes and subjective norms. In study 1, writing about reasons related to values was found ineffective in influencing responses to a hypothetical person with schizophrenia. In study 2, there was some evidence suggesting that considering why self-transcendence values are more important than self-enhancement values led to more positive attitudes towards behaviors reflecting less social distance …

A Pure Representationalist Account Of Belief And Desire, Stephen Pearce

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

According to the traditional view, beliefs and desires are mental representations that play particular functional roles. A belief that P is state which represents P and plays the belief-role, while a desire that P is a state which represents that P and plays the desire-role. In this dissertation I argue that the traditional view has trouble accounting for (a) role that belief and desire play in the causal and rational explanation of behaviour and (b) our knowledge of our own conscious, occurrent beliefs and desires. In its place I argue for Pure Attitude Representationalism (PAR), which holds that beliefs …

Food For Health: An Investigation Of Infant Feeding Practices, Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy, And Perceived Barriers And Facilitators, Jessica W. Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Exclusive breastfeeding is associated with numerous health benefits for both mother and child, and is recommended for the first 6 months of an infant’s life. The purpose of this prospective study was to examine, using a survey-based design, the breastfeeding practices, self-efficacy, and perceived barriers and facilitators of primiparous mothers in London, Ontario. A total of 71 women (M_age = 30.0, SD = 4.3) participated in the study. Women (breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding) were asked to complete online surveys at three time points: < 4 weeks postpartum, 3 months postpartum, and 6 months postpartum. Results indicated that rates of exclusive breastfeeding decreased over time, whereas partial and non-breastfeeding rates increased. Women in the exclusive breastfeeding category reported the greatest levels of breastfeeding self-efficacy at all time points. Lastly, participants identified a number of breastfeeding-related facilitators (e.g., partner support, community services) and barriers (e.g., insufficient milk supply, latching difficulties).

Reporting Sexual Violence In School: Pre-Service Teachers’ Attitude And Behaviours, Ronit Futerman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present study examined pre-service teachers’ attitudes and behaviours toward reporting students’ disclosure of sexual violence. Sexual violence is a broad term that describes any violent, physical or psychological act, carried out through sexual means or by targeting sexuality (Baker, Campbell & Straatman, 2012). Teachers play a significant role in recognizing and reporting acts of victimization, as they are among those who are trained to detect and label signs of victimization (Anagnostopoulos, Buchanan, Pereira & Lichty, 2009). For the purpose of this study, a sample of 190 University of Western Ontario Bachelor of Education students completed a questionnaire measuring attitudes …

The Relation Of Social Dominance Orientation To Moral Decision-Making Using A Process Dissociation Approach, Nicole Sj Dryburgh

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Two studies were conducted to investigate the relation between individual differences in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and moral inclinations when responding to situations of moral conflict. In Study 1 the correlation between scores on SDO and deontological and utilitarian parameters was investigated. The results showed that SDO was significantly negatively related to deontological parameters, (r(49) = -.354, p = .013), and unrelated to utilitarian parameters (r(49) = -.104, p = .479). In Study 2 we attempted to replicate the results of Study 1 and investigate whether increasing the salience of harm in dilemmas would increase levels …

The Relation Of Social Dominance Orientation To Moral Decision-Making Using A Process Dissociation Approach, Nicole Sj Dryburgh

Undergraduate Honors Posters

Two studies were conducted to investigate the relation between individual differences in Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and moral inclinations when responding to situations of moral conflict. In Study 1 the correlation between scores on SDO and deontological and utilitarian parameters was investigated. The results showed that SDO was significantly negatively related to deontological parameters, (r(49) = -.354, p = .013), and unrelated to utilitarian parameters (r(49) = -.104, p = .479). In Study 2 we attempted to replicate the results of Study 1 and investigate whether increasing the salience of harm in dilemmas would increase levels …

Elementary Students' Beliefs About The Causes Of Learning Difficulties: A Comparison Between Canada And Saudi Arabia, Huda Saleh Felimban

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In this cross-cultural comparison, students from inclusive schools in Canada and Saudi Arabia shared their beliefs about the causes of and factors associated with learning difficulties. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with 36 Canadian and 62 Saudi elementary students in Grades 5 and 6. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Six categories emerged: Lack of Knowledge, Achievement, Academic Skills; Cognitive and Social-Emotional Barriers; Lack of Attention and/or Motivation and Behavioural Issues; Home and Parental Concerns; Teacher-Related Issues; and Physical/Sensory Disabilities and Innate Conditions. Results showed that participants from both countries had a general understanding of the factors …

On The One Hand And On The Other: The Effect Of Embodying Balance And Uncertainty Orientation On The Confirmation Bias, Jeffrey Rotman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The moderating effects of embodied cognition and uncertainty orientation were examined in relation to the confirmation bias. Specifically, the alternate movement of both hands palms up, which often accompanies the expression “on the one hand, and on the other” relating to the weighing of an argument, was manipulated. Uncertainty orientation distinguishes between people who are uncertainty-oriented (UOs), that confront uncertainty with the intention of resolving it; and people who are oriented toward certainty (COs), in that they attempt to maintain certainty, by creating a predictable environment. Significant interactions were found between uncertainty orientation and the embodiment manipulations for selective exposure, …

Carving Cognition At Its Joints: Insights From The Interaction Between Explicit And Implicit Social Cognition, Kurt R. Peters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The distinction of cognition into kinds of cognitive process has proven theoretically fruitful and empirically compelling, but there remain significant challenges in deciding how best to carve cognition. First, it is unclear how to design measurement procedures that select distinct kinds of cognitive processing as exclusively as possible and, conversely, how to interpret the results of different kinds of measurement procedure. Second, the distinction between kinds of cognition must be specified with enough precision to derive empirically testable and falsifiable predictions. Third, there must be a reasonable explanation, ultimately compatible with phylogenetic evidence, for the existence of the specified distinction …

Does Anyone Really Like Horror Movies? Personality And Automatic Affective Reactions To Frightening Films, Michael E. Battista

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

I sought to explain why many people willingly expose themselves to apparently unpleasant media, such as horror movies. Participants (N = 133) completed a modified version of the Affect Misattribution Procedure (AMP; Payne et al., 2005), which assessed initial affective reactions to screenshots from movies that were either frightening or neutral. The time between exposure to the screenshots and assessment of affect was either short (100 ms) or long (1000 ms). Explicit attitudes about the movies and about the horror genre were also assessed, in addition to the following personality variables: The Big Five, Machiavellianism (from the Supernumerary Personality …

Show Me That You Want Me Too : Social Attention And Face Preferences In Person Perception, Kevin M. Purring

Digitized Theses

Recent findings in the face processing literature demonstrate that responses to aesthetic facial attractiveness are qualified by the extent to which the face shows positive social interest in the viewer. This may reflect an unconscious process that facilitates the allocation of social effort to the most attractive individuals who appear likely to reciprocate one’s own interest. The present study was designed to probe the general mechanism by which these cues shape face preferences by testing the predictions of an arousal-based account of current findings against those of an engagement-based account in a novel extension of the typical face rating paradigm …

Attitudes And Play Interactions Of Typically Developing Children Toward Children With Special Needs, Hila Balilty

Digitized Theses

Kindergarten children’s play interactions and attitudes toward children with special needs were examined. Observations of 25 children with and without special needs in the classroom and one-on-one interview sessions of 19 typically developing children provided data for this study. Results of the play observations showed that typically developing children interacted significantly less with peers with special needs and peers in inclusive groups as opposed to typically developing peers. An examination of the play patterns of children with and without special needs revealed similarities and differences between both groups’ type of participation, type of play, quality of play and type of …

Attitudes And Play Interactions Of Typically Developing Children Toward Children With Special Needs, Hila Balilty

Digitized Theses

Kindergarten children’s play interactions and attitudes toward children with special needs were examined. Observations of 25 children with and without special needs in the classroom and one-on-one interview sessions of 19 typically developing children provided data for this study. Results of the play observations showed that typically developing children interacted significantly less with peers with special needs and peers in inclusive groups as opposed to typically developing peers. An examination of the play patterns of children with and without special needs revealed similarities and differences between both groups’ type of participation, type of play, quality of play and type of …