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The Effects Of Delayed Timeout, Delayed Timeout With Rule, And Immediate Timeout On Shape Choosing Behaviors, Mallory Alyse Garrett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The possibility of using a delayed consequence has great potential for parents, educators, and behavior analysts who are looking for effective methods to reduce problem behavior. In some situations, it may be difficult or even impossible for caregivers to administer timeout immediately following an instance of problem behavior due to practical constraints (e.g., being in a public place or not having sufficient staffing). In such cases, a delayed timeout procedure could have some advantages. If effective in reducing behavior, delayed timeout would add an important option to the arsenal of professionals tasked with addressing these challenges, particularly in settings where …

Contributions Of Appetitive And Aversive Motivational Systems To Decision-Making, Heather E. Soder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Optimal decision-making entails outcome evaluation, comparing received costs and benefits with predicted costs and benefits. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), a brain area with major connections to the appetitive and aversive motivation systems, may provide the neural substrate of this evaluation process. One way to measure the relative contribution of these systems on decision-making is to measure individual differences in risk-taking behaviors. For individuals who make risky choices, this evaluation step may be biased: some show a preference for immediate, short-term rewards (increased appetitive system), while devaluing the long-term consequences of their choices (decreased aversive system). However, most studies supporting …

A Component Analysis Of Response Interruption And Redirection For Vocal Stereotypy In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Katherine Peña

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Response Interruption and Redirection (RIRD) was compared to no-interaction, continuous neutral sound, and contingent neutral sound in order to determine the mechanism by which RIRD functions to suppress vocal stereotypy in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. A neutral sound was determined through the use of a preference assessment of various sounds. Use of a neutral sound did not suppress vocal stereotypy in participants. Manipulating the amount of time with a sound playing did not have an effect on vocal stereotypy either. These results suggest that it is unlikely that RIRD suppresses vocal stereotypy through an extinction-like effect. Rather, it …

The Sounds Of Silence; Or, Isabella’S Counter Discourse In Measure For Measure, Gina Vivona

Theses and Dissertations

This argument reshapes the thinking about masculine dominance in Measure for Measure, and considers the patriarchy as a series of socially constructed, hence artificial, rules and regulations. It also explores how Isabella’s discourse and celibacy empower her to defy the constraints of early modern paradigms and achieve individual freedom.

The Crime And The Criminal: Perceptions Of Crime Seriousness, Amanda Stephens

Honors College

Crime in the United States has been and will continue to be a public problem (Saad, 2007). Thus, it is important to know how the public perceives different types of crime. For the focus of this study, perceptions of crime seriousness will be analyzed based on the race of the criminal and the type of crime committed (white-collar vs. non-violent property crime) as the variables of interest. This exploratory research will be used to discover the relationship between the factors of a specific crime and the public’s perception of the seriousness of that crime in terms of seriousness and punishment. …

Reductions In Mesolimbic Dopamine Signaling And Aversion: Implications For Relapse And Learned Avoidance, Mykel A. Robble

Dissertations (1934 -)

The ability to adjust behavior appropriately following an aversive experience is essential for survival, yet variability in this process contributes to a wide range of disorders, including drug addiction. It is clear that proper approach and avoidance is regulated, in part, by the activity of the mesolimbic dopamine system. While the importance of this system as a critical modulator of reward learning has been extensively characterized, its involvement in directing aversion-related behaviors and learning is still poorly understood. Recent studies have revealed that aversive stimuli and their predictors cause rapid reductions in nucleus accumbens (NAc) dopamine concentrations. Furthermore, a normally …

Local Immigration Enforcement Entrepreneurship In The Punishment Marketplace, Daniel L. Stageman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The contemporary neoliberal economic order plays a significant role in American social organization and policy-making. Most importantly, neoliberal ideology drives the creation and imposition of markets in public goods and services and the valorization of free market ideology in cultural life. The neoliberal ‘project of inequality’ is in turn delimited and upheld by an authoritarian system of punishment built around mass incarceration, surveillance, and an unprecedented level of social control directed at the lowest strata of American society – a group that includes both the urban underclass, and unauthorized immigrants.

This study lays out the theory of the punishment marketplace …

What Impact Is Felony Disenfranchisement Having On Hispanics In Florida?, Angel E. Sanchez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research produces original empirical estimates of Hispanics in Florida’s Dept. of Corrections (FDOC) and uses those estimates to measure the impact felony disenfranchisement is having on Hispanics in Florida. Research institutions find that data on Hispanics in the criminal justice system, particularly in Florida, is either lacking or inaccurate. This research addresses this problem by applying an optimal surname list method using Census Bureau data and Bayes Theorem to produce an empirical estimate of Hispanics in FDOC’s data. Using the Hispanic rate derived from the empirical FDOC analysis, the rate of Hispanics in the disenfranchised population is estimated. The …

A Dark Reflection Of Society: Analyzing Cultural Representations Of State Control In Black Mirror, Carl Russell Huber

Online Theses and Dissertations

Recognizing the importance of visual criminology and media studies in contemporary academic criminal justice studies, I attempt to contribute to the field by analyzing three themes found in Channel 4’s Black Mirror in relation to cultural fears of state control and the progression of technology. The themes, including state power and coercion, the spectacle of punishment, and panoptic surveillance, are placed in a popular criminological framework in order to examine the attitudes and beliefs of the culture in which they were produced and for whom they are intended. I conclude that Black Mirror provides a social commentary on the themes …

The Influence Of Social Support And Mental Illness On Punishment For Rule Violations Among Male Prisoners, Missy T. Malone

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mental illness among prisoners is higher than the general population (James & Glaze, 2006). The purpose of this exploratory-descriptive study was to investigate the social support and mental health factors that best predict punishment severity for institutional rule violations among prisoners. I conducted a secondary data analysis on 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau for the Bureau of Justice Statistics. The survey participants in this study consisted of a sample of 11,569 male prisoners. Bivariate analyses of interrelationships were conducted to assess whether significant relationships exist between the severity of punishment …