Digital Commons Network^™

An Examination Of Reward-Based Crowdfunding Performance And Success, Matthew Alan Grace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reward-based crowdfunding (RBCF), where fundraisers raise funds from a crowd of investors in return for a reward, has carved a niche as a proven option for not just entrepreneurs seeking early-stage funding, but also for established firms looking to presell or market a new product or service. Establishing crowdfunding performance and success factors is important for researchers and practitioners alike. Fortunately, a large portion of the RBCF academic literature is immediately applicable to entrepreneurs, with very little additional interpretation required. However, important questions about RBCF remain. The first paper in this three-part dissertation, a systematic literature review, examines some of …

Saudi Parents As Advocates For Their Young Children With Disabilities: Reflections On The Journey, Sadeem A. Alolayan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although special education advocates have played an essential role in obtaining rights for individuals with disabilities, there is still much unknown about their motivations, challenges, roles, and the meaning they made from their experiences. Research into Saudi parent advocates of children with disabilities and their complex daily life issues have seldom been investigated, with rare studies that focus solely on Saudi early intervention services needs and supports. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of Saudi parents of children with developmental disabilities who are special education advocates in their communities. One of the goals of this study was to …

The Impact Of Cannabis On Motivational Processes For Smoked Tobacco And Cigarettes, Claire M. Gorey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cannabis and tobacco are very commonly used across the United States. Given the high prevalence of their dual use, an important health consequence of cannabis is its impact on tobacco usage rates. After all, cigarettes are a leading cause of death in the United States. Theoretical models of drug abuse suggest that cannabis cues and intoxication may be responsible for enhanced smoked tobacco/cigarette motivation. Therefore, the present research sought to assess these routes via two studies. In study 1 (validation & cross-drug cue effects), researchers validated a set of realistic cannabis images among a sample of participants residing in the …

An Evaluation Of Student Participation In The Student Alumni Association Program At The University Of South Florida, Latoya Wider

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper is an evaluation of undergraduate college students’ participation in the Student Alumni Association (SAA) at the University of South Florida. I evaluated benefits of participating in the program, why students do not participate in the program, and if participation affected students’ persistence through college. Undergraduate students and alumni who are or once were members of the SAA participated in focus groups and interviews to evaluate their involvement in the program. Questions addressed benefits of being involved in SAA, why students do not participate in SAA, and factors that contribute to students’ involvement or lack of participation in SAA. …

Development And Validation Of A Scale To Measure Songwriting Self-Efficacy (Sses) With Secondary Music Students, Patrick K. Cooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social cognitive theory was developed to explain how individuals learn, in part, by witnessing the behavior of others. Self-efficacy is a construct within social cognitive theory which indicates the beliefs that an individual can be successful at a task under specific situational demands. The sources of self-efficacy include self-evaluating past experiences to predict future success, comparing our abilities to those around us, the verbal and social feedback we get from others, and the physiological feelings we experience when engaged in or thinking about the task. Measures of self-efficacy have been shown to be accurate predictors of successful learning outcomes, achievement, …

Influencing Motivation For Alcohol Through Social Bonding, Bryan Benitez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human survival depends upon the ability to cooperate by forming affiliative social bonds. Social bonding should therefore be a powerful motivating force in practically all human decision making. Past research demonstrates that social bonding and motivation for alcohol consumption share similar psychological and neurobiological pathways. In this study, we attempted to reduce alcohol motivation by enhancing perceptions of social bonding prior to and during the hours and days when alcohol consumption was most likely. In a predominantly female college student sample, we found mixed support for our hypotheses that a novel social bonding manipulation delivered through mobile technology would satiate …

“Just Joking”: Women’S Cardiovascular Responses To Sexist Humor, Samantha Shepard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ambiguity inherent to humorous communication may make women minimize experiences of sexist jokes, which may have downstream emotional and motivational consequences. The present thesis study tested whether the manner in which sexism is communicated, as a statement or joke, would reflect the motivational intensity model in cardiovascular responses during a performance-based task. Additionally, the present studies tested whether blatant and humorous sexism differentially affects emotional responses, evaluations of a male speaker, reporting of sexist misconduct, and ingroup identification. Using an online chat paradigm, participants were randomly assigned to receive one of three messages: a sexist joke, blatantly sexist statement, …

Alcohol Expectancy Associates As A Probe Of The Motivational Processes That Lead To Drinking, Daniel C. Faraci

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Consistent with theory, within-person alcohol expectancies monitored across a day predicted alcohol consumption levels later that day. These correlational findings could have been a function of any number of "third variables" including social influences or temporal cycles in affective state. To strengthen the inference that changes in expectancies validly reflect changes in the motivation to drink, we experimentally manipulated expectancy activation and measured subsequent changes in expectancy reports. The evening before expectancy monitoring, participants were informed that later the next day—a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday—they would be participating in a solitary taste-test of either alcohol or soft drinks. Alcohol expectancies …

Online Mmorpg Games In China: Player Motivations And The Mediating Role Of Flow, Jiaxin Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs) are gaining popularity and are being used widely in China. The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between the motivation and the experience of MMORPG players, and the effects of playing MMORPG through an extensive online survey of more than 300 Chinese participants (n = 305). Specifically, the findings support the complex relationship between variables, including the direct effects on motivation and flow, on the time the players invest in MMORPG games, and the mediated effects on motivations through flow. In addition to the importance of direct and indirect effects on …

Behavioral, Affective, And Cognitive Engagement Of High School Music Students: Relation To Academic Achievement And Ensemble Performance Ratings, Joel E. Pagán

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine the relation between student engagement, academic achievement, and music ensemble performance ratings. The study was guided by two research questions: how do students’ varying degrees of student engagement relate to their academic achievement and their ensemble’s performance rating, and to what extent do behavioral, affective, and cognitive engagement predict ensemble performance ratings? Participants were 259 high school band students who completed the Classroom Engagement Inventory in Music. They were also asked to report their GPA, and the researcher recorded their ensemble’s performance rating. Results suggested that higher levels of student engagement were …

A Motivational Interviewing Intervention To Increase Utilization Of Smoking Cessation Services Among Veterans Undergoing Substance Use Treatment, Nicole S. Menzie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Smoking remains the single most preventable cause of death worldwide and primary cause of several types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and respiratory illness (USDHHS, 2014). Although the prevalence of smoking among the general population continues to decline, the prevalence of smoking among the veteran population remains high. In addition, the prevalence of smoking among veterans with substance and alcohol use disorders is 2 to 3 times higher than in the general population. Over the years, the VA has implemented empirically-based treatments for smoking cessation to address the cigarette smoking epidemic. These services, however, are greatly underutilized. Motivational interviewing (MI) has …

A Qualitative Study Examining The Learning Orientations Of Adult Doctoral Students In A College Of Education Using Houle’S Typology As A Framework, Kristeen Tiffanee Bulluck

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Houle conducted one of the first studies about adult learner participation. In 1961, Houle wrote The Inquiring Mind, which describes three distinct learning types: goal-oriented, activity-oriented, and learning-oriented learning. For more than fifty years, The Inquiring Mind has been read, referenced, and reviewed. Several scholars during the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s have added dimensions to Houle’s typology including: Sheffield (1964); Burgess (1971); Boshier (1971); Houle (1983); Gordon (1993); and Brockett and Donaghy (2011). What is missing in the current research is that no one has synthesized all of the literature and directly asked learners of today if the …

Writing Groups In Eighth-Grade Honors Language Arts: Student And Teacher Perceptions, Jennifer Sara Meister Denmon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative case study, I investigated eighth-grade honors students’ and their language arts teacher’s perceptions of the support provided in writing groups, the climate in writing groups, and student and teacher support that enhanced students’ motivation to write in writing groups. Eleven study participants engaged in the inquiry, 10 middle school students and one language arts teacher. I collected data during the fall semester of 2014. Data were individual interviews, classroom observations of participants in writing groups, and program-related documents. The main aim in this investigation is to discover middle school students’ and their teacher’s perceptions of the support, …

The Influence Of Individual Differences On Emotional Processing And Emotional Memory, Patricia Lynn Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emotional material is better remembered than neutral material and some suggest this is reflected in different Event Related potentials (ERPs) to affective stimuli by valence. Inconsistent results may be due to individual differences, specifically the behavioral inhibition/behavioral activation (BIS/BAS) motivational system. This study sought to examine the relationship between motivational systems, emotional memory, and psychophysiological response to emotional pictures. While using EEG recording, subjects were shown 150 affective pictures and given a recall and yes/no recognition task after a 20 and 30-minute delay, respectively. Overall, differences were found by valence, but not consistently based on individual trait. Controlling for arousal …

Creativity-Based Music Learning: Modeling The Process And Learning Outcomes In A Massive Open Online Course, Nicholas Michael Stefanic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While developing creativity is an important goal of many educational endeavors, creating music, from a music education perspective, is a powerful pedagogical tool. Beyond comparing the relative creativity of individuals' musical creative products (e.g., melodies, songs, lyrics, beats, etc.), research in musical creativity must consider how engaging in the creative process can be an effective teaching tool, what I have termed creativity-based music learning. If music teachers are to develop students' abilities “to experience music as meaningful, informed by sensitive discernments and broad understandings, in each particular musical role engagement in which one becomes involved” (Reimer, 2003, p.214), then we …

An Examination Of Motives, Experiences, And Behaviors Of Mmorpg Players, Theresa Lynn Woods

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are growing in popularity and use worldwide. This study seeks to explore the motivations and experiences of MMORPG players through an extensive online survey with more than a thousand participants (n=1,422). The findings support a complex relationship between the variables, including the direct effects of motivations and flow on the time invested by players in MMORPG play, as well as the mediated effects of motivation via flow. Causal relationships are examined in addition to the significance of direct and indirect effects on frequency of play, yielding several significant results, including (1) the overwhelming importance …

Playing In Trelis Weyr: Investigating Collaborative Practices In A Dragons Of Pern Role-Play-Game Forum, Kathleen Marie Alley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive case study examined adolescents' and emerging adults' literate and social practices within the context of a role-play-game (RPG) forum, investigating the ways participants read and collaboratively composed within this space. As a researcher, I was interested in how this space functioned and how the interactions between members impacted their composing processes, with particular attention to the role of online spaces and popular culture in adolescents' motivation to engage in this forum. This study was guided by three research questions: (1) In what ways is Trelis Weyr, an RPG forum, organized as a virtual environment?; (2) In what ways, …

Knowledge, Involvement And Emergency Preparedness, Season Groves

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research formed a descriptive frame of the current levels of emergency preparedness and applied Hallahan's Issues Processes Model to examine the relationship between knowledge, involvement, and emergency preparedness among the participants. The variables were measured in the context of self-perception. The research method involved a survey of students who are just becoming responsible for their personal emergency preparedness. The results suggest that students lack overall emergency preparedness measures and show that self-perceived knowledge is positively related to self-perceived emergency preparedness. Yet, higher self-perceived knowledge is negatively related to actual emergency preparedness actions. Thus, the more knowledgeable the participants believed …

Examining The Attitudes And Outcomes Of Students Enrolled In A Developmental Mathematics Course At A Central Florida Community College, Leila Sisson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Examining students' attitudes toward mathematics has become extremely popular. This study examined the attitudes and outcomes of Beginning Algebra students at a central Florida community college. Quantitative methods were used to examine the students' initial composite attitudes toward mathematics. The initial composite attitude was used to examine the relationship between CPT scores and State Competency Exam scores. Further analysis was conducted to examine completers' and non-completers' initial attitudes. The composite change score was determined and quantitative methods were used to examine interactions between class sections, age, gender, and ethnicity.

The study began with 217 students and ended with 158. The …

The Influence Of Apathy And Depression On Cognitive Functioning In Parkinson’S Disease, London C. Butterfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Depression and apathy are two of the most common psychiatric symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) with prevalence estimates at higher rates than in medical populations with similar levels of disability. Several studies have provided evidence to suggest that apathy and depression are independent clinical phenomena that may differentially affect cognition. Recent research suggests that apathy may account for cognitive deficits over and above that of depression, especially in the domain of executive functioning. However, few studies have examined the independent influence of depression and apathy on cognitive abilities in patients diagnosed with PD using sensitive measures of specific cognitive domains. …

Factors Perceived To Contribute To Mathematics Avoidance Or Mathematics Confidence In Non-Traditional Age Women Attending A Community College, Jo Ann K Rawley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past decade, the number of students entering postsecondary institutions immediately after high school has been decreasing, while the number of non-traditional aged students, defined as adults over 25, has substantially increased, with women making up the majority of this adult student group. Mathematics education is an area where non-traditional age women tend to have difficulty. Fifteen individual interviews were conducted with non-traditional age women enrolled in a community college, 10 identifying mathematics as the subject they would least enjoy and 5 identifying mathematics as the subject they would most enjoy. Data were analyzed by comparing the women's stories …

Perceptions Of Group Exercise Participants Based On Body Type, Appearance And Attractiveness Of The Instructor, Jennifer Mears

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Physical activity reduces the risk for disease, improves overall health, and quality of life. Group exercise classes are large contributors for meeting physical activity recommendations. Improving long-term adherence to group exercise classes is essential in order to receive health and fitness benefits. Many contributing factors affect adherence rates including the role of the instructor. The instructor has great influence over the decision to return to a group exercise class. It is important to find out what qualities and characteristics are preferred among those who take classes to increase long-term adherence. Another important factor relating to adherence is body type, appearance …

Clarifying The Cohesion-Performance Relationship In Teams: Backup Behavior As A Mediating Mechanism, Matthew S. Prewett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between team cohesion and team performance has been extensively studied, but behavioral mediators of this relationship have not been adequately assessed. This study proposed that backup behavior mediates the relationship between team cohesion and team performance. In addition, it was also hypothesized that team goal commitment would moderate the relationship between team cohesion and team backup behavior. 138 participants forming 46 teams of three were assigned to one of fours conditions to test this framework: high cohesion/high goal commitment, high cohesion/low goal commitment, low cohesion/high goal commitment, and low cohesion/low goal commitment. Results indicated no significant differences between …

Examining The Attitudes Toward Mathematics Of Preservice Elementary School Teachers Enrolled In An Introductory Mathematics Methods Course And The Experiences That Have Influenced The Development Of These Attitudes, Joy Bronston Schackow

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The reform movement in mathematics education has recognized affective factors as an important area where change is needed. This study examined the attitudes toward mathematics of preservice elementary teachers entering an introductory mathematics methods course. The methods course utilized constructivist instructional methods, such as the use of manipulatives, cooperative group work, problem solving, and calculators. Qualitative methods were used to explore participants attitudes toward mathematics and the experiences that have led to the development of these attitudes. The study sought to determine the extent to which preservice teachers attitudes toward mathematics changed during the methods course and the correlation between …

Organizational Citizenship Behavior: A Career Development Strategy, Martha J. Sutton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goals of the present study were to 1.) develop a model of career related factors that could be related to organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB); and 2.) determine if the proposed relationships between the career focused variables and OCB differed across rating source. A total of 262 volunteers from a Corporation and University completed a survey in either online or by paper and pencil that included demographics and measures of: job involvement, career motivation, occupational commitment, perceptions of career plateau, career stage, and OCB. Ratings of OCB were obtained from approximately 195 participant supervisors and/or coworkers.

Correlational and multiple regression …

Self-Determination Theory And Locus Of Control As Antecedents Of Voluntary Workplace Behaviors, Kimberly E. O'Brien

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Antecedents of organizational citizenship behaviors and counterproductive work behaviors have been studied in depth, focusing on both individual differences and environmental variables. However, motivation has been largely overlooked as a contributor to these voluntary behaviors. Self-Determination Theory, a motivational framework, posits that environmental support in the form of fulfilled basic psychological needs leads to activities geared towards growth and development, whereas a lack of environmental supports thwarts these attempts towards self-growth. It is hypothesized that environmental support will account for unique variance above and beyond previously studied antecedents of voluntary workplace behaviors. This was supported using hierarchical regression. It was …

Hypocrisy Induction To Alter Selection Decisions Among Aversive Racists: Analyzing The Role Of External Motivation To Respond Without Prejudice, Andrew Biga

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study will examine the effects of hypocrisy induction on selection decisions for two populations: Aversive Racists and truly non-prejudiced individuals. Aversive Racists are operationally defined as individuals who are low in explicit prejudice and high in implicit prejudice, whereas truly non-prejudiced individuals are defined as being low in both explicit and implicit prejudice. These two groups of people will differ on their ratings of job applicants, so that Aversive Racists will rate Black applicants lower than White applicants (with comparable job credentials) while truly non-prejudiced individuals will rate them similarly. The induction of hypocrisy will serve as a …