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Edith Cowan University

Theses/Dissertations

1999

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The Effects Of Nationality And Educational Background On World Music Preference Of A Sample Of Expatriate Students In Singapore, Karen Ann Niedermeyer Jan 1999

The Effects Of Nationality And Educational Background On World Music Preference Of A Sample Of Expatriate Students In Singapore, Karen Ann Niedermeyer

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to examine expatriate students' World music preferences and investigate the relationship between the number of years students have spent in international school education and their preferences for World music, and their ability to identify its origins. The researcher was of the view that two prime determinants probably influence World music preferences: a) the length of stay in an international school. b) positive cultural exposure in a harmonious, multi-cultural society. The research methodology used in examining the above determinants on World music preferences involved two separate tests, taken consecutively. Firstly, The World Music Preference Inventory …

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Strategies For Tutoring Written Expression In Students With Adhd And Learning Difficulties, Josephine Bishop Jan 1999

Strategies For Tutoring Written Expression In Students With Adhd And Learning Difficulties, Josephine Bishop

Theses : Honours

ADHD and learning difficulties are associated with limitations in working memory capacity which may disrupt performance of writing skills. This thesis investigated teaching strategies to improve story-writing skills in five students with ADHD and learning difficulties in writing. The strategies were based on the view that these students would write more effectively if the task imposed fewer constraints on working memory capacity (the ability to store information while performing a task). Students were taught to write stories under time constraints using the PW2R approach of five minutes to plan, five to draft and five to review. Students planned orally during …

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Managing Mountain Bike Impacts In The South West Of Western Australia : Combining Biophysical Impact Studies With Rider Preferences For Better Trail Design, Ute Goeft Jan 1999

Managing Mountain Bike Impacts In The South West Of Western Australia : Combining Biophysical Impact Studies With Rider Preferences For Better Trail Design, Ute Goeft

Theses : Honours

This thesis examines the environmental impacts of mountain bikes on trails in the southwest of Western Australia and the preferences, perceptions, trail use and demographics of mountain bike riders in that region. This information is important for resource managers and trail developers to ensure that the trails that are provided and planned for mountain bike use in the region are environmentally appropriate and acceptable to users. The environmental impacts were examined through biophysical studies, which investigated soil loss, soil compaction and vegetation damage on and adjacent to mountain bike trails over a period of six months. A mountain bike racing …

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Self Concept: Mothers And Their Children, Leanne D. Wood Jan 1999

Self Concept: Mothers And Their Children, Leanne D. Wood

Theses : Honours

Over the past 30 years divorce has been on the incline, resulting in more children living in one parent families, the majority headed by single mothers. The study of the impact of divorce and outcomes for children and their mothers has become increasingly important. According to many researchers, the study of self-concept is considered to be one of the best indicators of a person's psychological adjustment and wellbeing (Hattie, 1992; Ford, 1985). Studies have neglected to consider self-concept as a major focus and consider the relationship between the child's self-concept and their mother's self-concept. This study focuses on single mothers …

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Culture As Commodity: The Home As Spectacle In Popular Culture, Jillian E. Benn Jan 1999

Culture As Commodity: The Home As Spectacle In Popular Culture, Jillian E. Benn

Theses : Honours

This study proposes to examine representations of the home in the media. The media play a significant role in the culture of Australians, who are obsessed with the suburban home and its cultural and social meanings. The place of the home within popular thought and culture and the subsequent ideologies and meanings associated with the home are questioned in this dissertation. The major theme to emerge is that the contemporary suburban home is a spectacle. This project interprets, evaluates and contributes to current theories and debates surrounding the concept of suburbia. It is an original contribution to the perception of …

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Suck My Dick: G.I. Jane, Demi Moore And The Action Heroine, Matthew Mckeown Jan 1999

Suck My Dick: G.I. Jane, Demi Moore And The Action Heroine, Matthew Mckeown

Theses : Honours

The content of my thesis sits at the tail end of about three decades of feminist criticism that has examined women's place in film texts. During which, theoretical work has been done studying the types of roles given to women, how they are constructed visually and narratively across different genres. This thesis then sets out to examine the action genre and the room it makes for the central female protagonist. How does this genre, largely ignored by critics and academics and inherently masculine and dominated by males, allow for a central female heroine? What room is there for any femininity, …

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Nene Gare, A Biographical Study: Australian Novelist, 1919-1994, Rosina Squarcini Jan 1999

Nene Gare, A Biographical Study: Australian Novelist, 1919-1994, Rosina Squarcini

Theses : Honours

This thesis undertakes an introductory biographical study of Australian writer, Nene Gare, and a critical reading of her work with special reference to The Fringe Dwellers. The author of this study has sought to establish the basis for that novel's positive literary reception. The research has been directed at correcting, in part, the comparative neglect of this writer. Nene Gare's life and work has been surveyed in the belief that this study will contribute to the current knowledge of twentieth-century Australian fiction writers as well as showing the critical reception to Nene Gare's work as a part of Australian …

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Short-Term Memory For Nonsense Strings In Children With Reading Disabilities, Linda K. Lane Jan 1999

Short-Term Memory For Nonsense Strings In Children With Reading Disabilities, Linda K. Lane

Theses : Honours

A large body of evidence exists that demonstrates strong correlations between reading ability, phonological awareness and memory. The current study was designed to compare the performance of 24 10-year-old students with reading disabilities and a group of 24 8-year-old average readers, who were matched according to reading age. These students were given a decoding task requiring the recall of nonsense strings. This task was designed to measure working memory for phonological elements. An ANOVA yielded a significant main effect for group in favour of the older students, and a main effect for total errors and vowel and space location. Participants …

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Children's Reactions To Aggressive And Submissive Peers, Natalie Honey Jan 1999

Children's Reactions To Aggressive And Submissive Peers, Natalie Honey

Theses : Honours

The purpose of this study was to investigate children's attitudes towards aggressive and submissive peers. A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design was used to test the hypotheses. The three between-subjects variables were (a) the label given to the target child (aggressive/submissive) in a vignette, (b) the nature of the behaviour displayed in a critical incident (aggressive/nonaggressive response) as described in a vignette, and (c) the sex of the participants. A sample of 169 Year 6 and 7 students was divided into four groups containing at least 20 girls and 20 boys. A survey was administered to measure the …

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Effects Of Letterland On Phonemic Awareness And Retrieval Of Phonological Information From Long Term Memory, Dianne Hodgson Jan 1999

Effects Of Letterland On Phonemic Awareness And Retrieval Of Phonological Information From Long Term Memory, Dianne Hodgson

Theses : Honours

This study examined whether a pictorial mnemonic based program called Letterland, with and without fluency training, improved accuracy and fluency of decoding letter-sounds for children experiencing difficulties learning to read. A single subject experimental ABCDA research design was used with four Year 1 students experiencing difficulties with reading. After baseline (A), the first intervention (B) taught seven Letterland characters and letter-sounds without fluency training over 6 sessions, the second intervention (C) taught seven new letters using Letterland and including fluency training, and the third intervention (D) reviewed all 14 letters with fluency training. Testing involved CVC real words and …

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The Effects Of Moulting On Muscle Fibre Characteristics Of The Yabby, Cherax Albidus, Tina Marie Lamey Jan 1999

The Effects Of Moulting On Muscle Fibre Characteristics Of The Yabby, Cherax Albidus, Tina Marie Lamey

Theses : Honours

In order to grow, crustaceans must shed their exoskeleton in a process known as "moulting'. Although this process is short and intermittent, it remains dominant over the life of a crustacean. Physiological changes in the period between moults (intermoult) are comparatively quiescent as opposed to the periods directly before and after the actual moult, known as premoult, and postmoult respectively (West, 1997). Moulting is associated with distinct physiological changes including the breakdown of muscle (Musgrove and Geddes, 1985). This muscle breakdown, known as atrophy is the diminution in size of the actual muscle mass and is very specific, occurring to …

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Parliament Or Protest? : The Parliamentary Impact Of The Greens (Wa) In The Legislative Council : May 1993 To May 1999, Stewart Murdo Jackson Jan 1999

Parliament Or Protest? : The Parliamentary Impact Of The Greens (Wa) In The Legislative Council : May 1993 To May 1999, Stewart Murdo Jackson

Theses : Honours

From their beginnings as a protest party in the early 1970s to their election to the federal parliaments of countries around the world, the Greens have largely been seen us the political wing of a direct action movement. As a political organisation, however, Greens are now making a transition away from an exclusive focus on direct action to mainstream parliamentary activity. The key benchmark in assessing the success or otherwise of the Greens remains the environment, and their capacity to effect changes to the benefit of the environment. This thesis, then, addresses the central question in the evolution of the …

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The Perception Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Values : Is Value Incongruence Related To Social Distance?, Lauren Jennifer Breen Jan 1999

The Perception Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Values : Is Value Incongruence Related To Social Distance?, Lauren Jennifer Breen

Theses : Honours

This review examines prejudicial actions directed towards outgroups as a function of personal values and the perception of the values held by other groups. Prejudice is a result of social and cognitive categorisation. Although it is well learned, prejudice is not inevitable, if individuals attend to and control their prejudicial thoughts. Pleasurable interaction, cooperation, equal status, and making humanitarian values conspicuous serve to reduce intergroup conflict. It was proposed that values motivate approach and avoidance behaviours directed at outgroups, and both belief congruence theory and expectance-value theory arc relevant in explaining such behaviour.

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The Sacrifice Of Les Murray, Jill Reading Jan 1999

The Sacrifice Of Les Murray, Jill Reading

Theses : Honours

Les Murray's vivid and evocative poetry has made him a major Australian literary figure. Critics routinely note the sophisticated, often highly wrought nature of Murray's poetic language and acclaim his technical virtuosity, including gifts for pun, paradox, aphorism, idiom and metaphor. The themes of both Murray's poetry and his non-fiction prose often revolve around the divisions he sees in Australia between cultures, between society and people, and within individuals themselves. Despite his efforts to bring healing to these schisms, however, the poet is criticised for his frequent dogmatism and didacticism, which mark his work as divisive. Although Murray professes to …

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Loneliness Underneath Laughter : Aspects Of Alienation In The Early Plays Of Tom Stoppard, Steven Hounsome Jan 1999

Loneliness Underneath Laughter : Aspects Of Alienation In The Early Plays Of Tom Stoppard, Steven Hounsome

Theses : Honours

This thesis investigates the various states of alienation that exist in the early plays of the British dramatist Tom Stoppard. By first defining alienation (and discussing the areas of contention which surround the concept), it proceeds to argue that whilst Stoppard has been greatly revered as a comic writer his works are equally consequential for their sensitivity and insight. They depict a prolificacy of characters who fail to assimilate with their society, can no longer relate to those around them and, as is often the case, reach for, but never manage to grasp a sense of their own identity. The …

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Smoking : An Exploration Of Message Framing And Death Anxiety, Ian James Parker Jan 1999

Smoking : An Exploration Of Message Framing And Death Anxiety, Ian James Parker

Theses : Honours

The focus of this thesis is the replication and extension of research by Tversky and Kahneman (1981) who found that how a message is worded or framed can significantly affect decisional choice. Tversky and Kahneman (1981) demonstrated that a message framed in terms of "lives saved" was favoured over one which read "lives lost" notwithstanding that the net sum of survivors was equal in both instances. The authors referred to the effects of message framing on decision making as Prospect Theory. This thesis studied Tversky and Kahneman's (1981) research applied to the issue of smoking. The preference for a positive …

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Repetition Priming And Melody : Implicit Memory For Music, Jacqueline Landre Jan 1999

Repetition Priming And Melody : Implicit Memory For Music, Jacqueline Landre

Theses : Honours

The present study investigated the existence of repetition priming for melody and the extent to which that priming would be affected by the manipulation of frequency. A group of 62 university students and 2 members of the public listened to 20 high frequency and 20 low frequency melodies in the first phase of a repetition priming experiment. Participants were required to name as many melodies as they could as quickly as possible. The same melodies were then re-presented immediately in the second phase of the experiment along with another group of 40 melodies matched in frequency to those in the …

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Head Stabilisation During Running In Place Of Children With Varying Motor Proficiency Levels, Craig Atkins Jan 1999

Head Stabilisation During Running In Place Of Children With Varying Motor Proficiency Levels, Craig Atkins

Theses : Honours

Understanding head motion in children may contribute to development of effective strategies to improve coordination of children. The purpose of this study was to investigate head motion in children during stationary running. Twelve healthy 8-year-old children participated in this study and underwent a running proficiency test based on the Test for Gross Motor Proficiency (TGMO). Subjects were then videotaped while running for one minute "on the spot". Reflective markers were digitised for analysis of head motion relative to the external environment, and relative to the trunk. Resultant and component head angular velocities were calculated for each subject over five consecutive …

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Is There A Need For Speed? : Risky Driving Behaviour And Young Male Drivers : A Review Of The Literature, Catherine A. Ferguson Jan 1999

Is There A Need For Speed? : Risky Driving Behaviour And Young Male Drivers : A Review Of The Literature, Catherine A. Ferguson

Theses : Honours

Young male drivers have been identified as a high risk for Motor Vehicle Accident. This paper reviews three components for accident risk: the driving environment, society and individual factors associated with accident histories. Possible predictors for identifying young men at risk for accident involvement are driving behaviour, driving attitude and sensation seeking. Protective factors to reduce the incidence of risky driving in youth might include legal restrictions, increased education and training. The paper recommends that future research tests the above predictors for a relationship with accident involvement in young men.

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Internet Resource Management And Pricing, Christopher J. Clark Jan 1999

Internet Resource Management And Pricing, Christopher J. Clark

Theses : Honours

Originally conceived and funded as a research project, the Internet has grown into a commercial, global and integrated service network. This has changed the nature of traffic on the Internet with the increasing use of things like video conferencing and time critical transactions. These forms of Internet usage place high demands on bandwidth. Added to this is the fact that the number of users is increasing at a dramatic rate and shows no signs of slowing. This is leading to a 'tragedy of the commons' where endemic congestion will reduce the value of the Internet to everyone. It also implies …

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Population Dynamics Of The Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon Obesulus) On Ellen Brook Reserve, Craig Pentland Jan 1999

Population Dynamics Of The Southern Brown Bandicoot (Isoodon Obesulus) On Ellen Brook Reserve, Craig Pentland

Theses : Honours

The small, enclosed section of Ellen Brook Reserve provided the unique opportunity to observe a population of southern-brown bandicoots (lsoodon obesulus) in the absence of exotic predators. The reserves small-enclosed size enabled it possible to trap the whole area (excluding the ephemeral swamps) and so emigration and immigration could be excluded. This enabled good population size estimates, and inferences on the loss of individuals due to mortality could be more strongly argued for. An understanding of the population structure, dynamics, size and density, and body condition of I. obesulus in Ellen Brook Reserve, will provide important information, for …

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Success Stories : A Means Of Enhancing The Personal-Professional Development Of Teachers, Elizabeth Kirstie Thorburn Jan 1999

Success Stories : A Means Of Enhancing The Personal-Professional Development Of Teachers, Elizabeth Kirstie Thorburn

Theses : Honours

This thesis details my experiences and findings as u teacher-researcher of narrative inquiry. To address the effectiveness of teacher story sharing as a means or enhancing teacher personal-professional development, I formed a 'story group' with four teacher participants, three of whom were at the pre-service level. The participants collaboratively engaged in the narrative processes of story sharing, story writing, reflection and story critiquing with myself shifting between the roles of researcher, facilitator and participant. Hence, the participants engaged in research about their peers, as well as about themselves, and their practice. In this way, knowledge was shared and jointly constructed, …

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Child Abuse : Creating The Public In The Public Service Advertisement, Mark Brennan Jan 1999

Child Abuse : Creating The Public In The Public Service Advertisement, Mark Brennan

Theses : Honours

This thesis seeks to examine the discursive construction of the public. Unlike studies before it, it explores a site that has yet to be analysed in depth- the public service advertisement. While the characteristics of this genre are understood in cultural common sense, what has been neglected is a consideration of how these advertisements can be understood to address an entity that is amorphous and unknowable. This study argues that such an address is only possible in this genre through the discourse of childhood. By employing an interdisciplinary approach that includes cultural and-media studies, political theory and sociology, the history …

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Transforming The Mediasphere : Sweden, A Case Study Of Conflicting Discourses In Socialist And Capitalist Broadcasting Values, Kent Ingemar Svensson Jan 1999

Transforming The Mediasphere : Sweden, A Case Study Of Conflicting Discourses In Socialist And Capitalist Broadcasting Values, Kent Ingemar Svensson

Theses : Honours

Sweden has undergone major changes in its mediasphere during the last twelve years, during which two oppositional forces have been particularly at work, capitalist and socialist. Goth those forces have influenced the direction in which the national mediasphere is transforming. The challenges of these political discourses, and responses from the parties involved regarding the role of the media in society, has been increasingly visible since the late 1950s, when the public service monopoly was first called into question. The Swedish socialist government has promoted and protected its non - commercial public service monopoly, through which they could mould national identity …

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Automatic Recall Of Multiplication Facts And Number Sense, Maxine D. Jolly Jan 1999

Automatic Recall Of Multiplication Facts And Number Sense, Maxine D. Jolly

Theses : Honours

The development of students• Number Sense has become a recent focus in primary mathematics education. Students also often learn the multiplication tables by rote in order to develop automatic recall of multiplication facts. One view of mathematics learning suggests that automatic recall of number facts is an important step to developing number sense, while another view suggests that rote learning to develop automatic recall of multiplication facts may interfere with the constructivist learning environment that is required to develop number sense. This study examined whether automatic recall was associated with good number sense or not, and explored factors associated with …

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The Relationship Between Values And Religiosity In Adolescents, Paul F. Russell Jan 1999

The Relationship Between Values And Religiosity In Adolescents, Paul F. Russell

Theses : Honours

The current work examined the areas of religiosity, values and adolescent development. The recent literature with regard to the nature of religiosity as a measure of an individual'' commitment to a particular religion was explored. The issues of measurement and definition were outlined, and a position was taken as to the multi-dimensionality of religiosity. The recent work on values by Schwartz (1992) was also explored. Values were defined and the theory of a universal set of values, as well as the relationship of values to each other was outlined, along with the organisation of those individual values into value types. …

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The Defendant And The Criminal Trial : Does Providing Knowledge About The Criminal Justice System Help?, Daniel B. Hurley Jan 1999

The Defendant And The Criminal Trial : Does Providing Knowledge About The Criminal Justice System Help?, Daniel B. Hurley

Theses : Honours

Defendants are required to make many decisions during their encounter with the criminal justice system (i.e., plea, venue, representation, bail and, possibly, appeal). The assumption exists that defendants possess sufficient organizational and pragmatic knowledge of the system to make these decisions. However, research suggests that many defendants lack sufficient knowledge of the criminal justice system to make these decisions, and that this lack of knowledge may lead to feelings of anxiety. As a consequence of these findings, many defendants may be unable to effectively participate in the criminal justice system. By way of remedying this situation, it has been argued …

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Training Methods For Shunting Inhibitory Artificial Neural Networks, Son Lam Phung Jan 1999

Training Methods For Shunting Inhibitory Artificial Neural Networks, Son Lam Phung

Theses : Honours

This project investigates a new class of high-order neural networks called shunting inhibitory artificial neural networks (SIANN's) and their training methods. SIANN's are biologically inspired neural networks whose dynamics are governed by a set of coupled nonlinear differential equations. The interactions among neurons are mediated via a nonlinear mechanism called shunting inhibition, which allows the neurons to operate as adaptive nonlinear filters. The project's main objective is to devise training methods, based on error backpropagation type of algorithms, which would allow SIANNs to be trained to perform feature extraction for classification and nonlinear regression tasks. The training algorithms developed will …

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The Legal Issues In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice And Jonson's Volpone, Felicia A. Matthew-Stubbs Jan 1999

The Legal Issues In Shakespeare's The Merchant Of Venice And Jonson's Volpone, Felicia A. Matthew-Stubbs

Theses : Honours

The aim of this thesis is to explore the legal issues within William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and Ben Jonson's Volpone. I will attempt to discover the extent to which both plays can be seen as indicative of English jurisprudence applicable to Early Modern England. I shall commence by investigating The Merchant of Venice through outlining the process of signing and sealing a contract, defining the roles of The Court of Chancery and The Court of Common Law and relating the judgements made by Portia and the Court to statutes, precedents and procedures applicable to the sixteenth and seventeenth …

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Age Discrimination In Hiring Practices Against Older Adults In Western Australia : The Case Of Accounting Assistants, Eyal Gringart Jan 1999

Age Discrimination In Hiring Practices Against Older Adults In Western Australia : The Case Of Accounting Assistants, Eyal Gringart

Theses : Honours

The percentage of older adults in the Australian population is predicted to increase from about 18 at the end of this century to about 33 per cent by the year 2050. One anticipated consequence of this significant ageing of the population is that increasing numbers of older adults may be required in the workforce. Still, age discrimination in hiring places older adults at a disadvantage. Local measures of actual discrimination are needed in order to formulate appropriate policies and interventions to combat such negative attitudes. Evidence suggest that, contrary to employers perceptions, older adults are willing and able to work …

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