Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Experimentally-Induced Perceived Discrimination On Substance Use, Kimberlye Elise Dean

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Substance use disorders (SUDs) are among the most debilitating psychiatric disorders. Although prevalence rates of SUDs are similar between White and Black adults, these groups experience differential treatment outcomes (e.g., Black adults with SUDs are more likely to report greater pre- and post-treatment substance use). Examining culture-specific correlates of racial differences in substance use is vital to improve understanding of the etiological and maintaining mechanisms of SUDs among Black adults. Perceived racial discrimination (PRD) is prospectively related to various substance use-related outcomes. Thus, some may use substances to alleviate psychological distress (e.g., anxiety) associated with PRD, which may over time …

Validation Of The Dual-Factor Model Of Mental Health In College Students: An Investigation Of Group Characteristics, Ashley Perle Galsky

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The dual-factor model of mental health proposes that symptoms of mental illness and markers of mental wellness can occur simultaneously, while functioning as discrete factors that contribute to mental health and adaptive functioning (Keyes, 2005). The current study investigated the utility of the dual-factor model of mental health (cf. Greenspoon & Saklofske, 2001; Suldo & Shaffer, 2008; Suldo, Thalji, & Ferron, 2011) in college students (N = 1,023). Using self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, inattention, and hyperactivity/impulsivity as indicators of psychopathology, in combination with self-reported subjective well-being (SWB) as an indicator of wellness, participants were classified into one …

A Longitudinal Study Of Two Teacher-Report Screening Measures For Student Mental Health: Comparing The Swtrs And Saebrs, Anthony Joseph Roberson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study compared the comparative utility of two teacher-report universal screeners for student mental health, the Student Wellbeing Teacher-Report Scale (SWTRS) and the Social, Academic, and Emotional Behavior Risk Screener (SAEBRS), across two occasions during the school year. Both instruments measure aspects of academic, social, and emotional student behavior from the teacher’s perspective but differ in their inclusion of both positive and challenging behaviors (i.e., SAEBRS) or positive behaviors only (i.e., SWTRS). Results suggest that both have strong concurrent and predictive validity characteristics in identifying student risk but differ in which outcomes they are better at predicting.

Derivational Development: Derivational Word Processing In Three English-Speaking Populations, Lisa Suzanne Kemp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Native-English speaking adults use morphological decomposition to understand complex words (e.g. farmer becomes farm-er). Whether decomposition is driven by semantic organization is still unclear. It is also unclear whether ESL adults and elementary age children use the same word processing strategies as native speaking adults. This study tested an identical experimental procedure across three English-speaking populations: native speaking adults, non-native speaking adults and elementary age children. The first task tested how readers use base and suffix information in complex words and nonwords when the word featured only a base word, only a suffix, both a base and …

Addressing Racial Disparities In Parent Training Enrollment: An Examination Of Help-Seeking For Child Behavior Problems Among African American Mothers, Kasia Plessy

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The consideration of African American mothers’ mental health help-seeking attitudes and intentionsis important when developing culturally sensitive parent training programs and potentially help bridge a critical knowledge and service gap for this population. The purpose of this study is to examine the parental help-seeking for child externalizing behavior problems in order to delineate variables that might influence BPT enrollment among African American families. To address the lack of research considering cultural factors, this study examines the influence of racial group identification, cultural childrearing values, and mental health stigmatization on African American mothers’ problem recognition and willingness to engage in behavioral …

Attention As A Mechanism For Object-Object Binding In Complex Scenes, Kacie Mennie

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The current study attempted to determine whether direct binding between objects in complex scenes occurs as a function of directed attention at encoding. In Experiment 1, participants viewed objects in one of these different types contexts: unique scenes, similar scenes, or arrays with no contextual information. Critically, only half of the objects were attended for each encoding trial. Participants then completed an associative recognition task on pairs of items created from the previously studied scenes. Test pairs consisted of two attended or unattended objects, and were associated with a unique scene, a similar scene, or an array. Evidence of binding …

Thelonious Monk's Prototypical Style: Close And Distant Readings Of Jazz Stylings, Connor Davis

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Thelonious Monk’s style has been considered non-conformist, modernist, technically stilted, intentionally unconventional, even incompetent. His performing is idiosyncratic, to say the least. However, by what metric is his performing idiosyncratic, or, framed another way, in what ways do Thelonious Monk’s performances deviate from the prototypical performance? Situated within family resemblance theories of prototypicality, I utilize supervised and unsupervised machine learning approaches to categorize jazz solos based on their melodic usage of standard jazz language (novel corpus of 530 jazz solo improvisations). Using these distant readings to determine which solos are prototypical, I perform a close reading of these prototypical solos …

Developmental Regression In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Associated Factors And Outcomes, Jasper Abarte Estabillo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is an increasingly common neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in socialization skills and the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors. In addition to a number of medical and psychological comorbidities, ASD is associated with a complex phenomenon: developmental regression (i.e., loss of skills in developmental domains). Although present in other disorders (albeit rare), developmental regression is prevalent among individuals with ASD. Thus, interest in studying the phenomenon has grown. However, research on associated risk factors and outcomes is limited and findings have been inconsistent. The current study had two aims: (1) examine potential factors associated with …

Empathic Responsivity And Callous-Unemotional Traits Across Development, Julia Elizabeth Clark

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with deficits in empathy and emotional responses to others. Specifically, CU traits are consistently correlated with under-reactivity to others’ distress cues. However, it is unknown whether CU traits are also associated with more general deficits in emotional reactivity (e.g., to situations involving threat to the self). Further, the relationship between CU traits and the ability to accurately identify others’ emotions is not well established, and prior work often has not considered possible developmental changes in this relationship. To address these questions, the current study recruited a school-based community sample of children from kindergarten, third, and …

An Examination Of The Effects Of Post-Identification Feedback On Jurors, Daniella Cash

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Post-identification feedback (PIF) occurs when witnesses are given feedback following their identification choices. This feedback has been shown to alter witnesses’ retrospective judgments regarding their witnessing experience (e.g., they are more confident that they made a correct identification). PIF effects are robust; they impact witnesses’ memory of their experience, and also appear to act as confirmation to jurors who are asked to assess witness reliability. A current recommendation for eyewitness procedures is that identifications should be recorded and shown to jurors at trial, but this might be harmful if jurors are also negatively impacted by this suggestive feedback. The goal …

Examining Two Self-Assessment Measures Of Teacher Multicultural Competence And Their Predictive Value To Student Behavior Outcomes, Melissa Jo Hamilton Grisdale

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Multicultural competence is a construct that has been discussed in the education literature as an essential skill for teachers' success in reaching all children in the classroom. The current study advances the literature on multicultural competence, specifically pertaining to teachers within their classrooms. Additional evidence was found building upon the technical adequacy of two, theoretically different, measures of teacher multicultural competence. Teachers who received a greater number of hours of multicultural training had significantly higher self-efficacy regarding engaging in culturally responsive teaching practices, than those who had received fewer hours. This study also replicated previous research (Hamilton, 2016) finding that …

Modeling Melodic Dictation, David John Baker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Melodic dictation is a cognitively demanding process that requires students to hear a melody, then without any access to an external reference, transcribe the melody within a limited time frame. Despite its ubiquity in curricula within School of Music settings, exactly how an individual learns a melody is not well understood. This dissertation aims to fill the gap in the literature between aural skills practitioners and music psychologists in order to reach conclusions that can be applied systematically in pedagogical contexts. In order to do this, I synthesize literature from music theory, music psychology, and music education in order to …

Examining Successful Aging And Resilience After Disasters, Katie Elizabeth Stanko

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Resilience, a psychological adaptive process and outcome, is the ability to return to normal functioning after a traumatic event, such as a natural disaster. Successful aging entails biological, psychological, and social factors. The Great Flood of 2016 in the greater Baton Rouge area caused catastrophic structural damage to thousands of homes and businesses. Some of these individuals had previously moved to the Baton Rouge area after receiving catastrophic damage during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In this study, I investigated the role that age group (younger, middle-aged, older) and disaster exposure group (control, single exposure, double exposure) had on post-disaster well-being. …

Forget Me Not: Are Stronger Memories More Susceptible To Retrieval-Induced Forgetting?, Laura Lee Heisick

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Successfully retrieving information sometimes causes forgetting of related, but unpracticed, information, termed retrieval-induced forgetting (RIF). One explanatory mechanism of RIF suggests related, but currently irrelevant, information is inhibited during retrieval, resulting in poorer memory for competing representations. Critically, this perspective suggests stronger memories are more susceptible to RIF because stronger representations produce additional competition when unpracticed. To resolve this competition, strong competing items are inhibited, resulting in the counterintuitive prediction that stronger memories are more likely to be forgotten. The aim of the current experiments was to replicate and extend recent work suggesting non-typical objects and own-race faces, both of …

An Examination Of The Technical Adequacy, Classification Accuracy, And Usability Of The Ssis Sel Screening/Process Monitoring Scales In Elementary School Populations, Shelby Mccoy Byrd .

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Social emotional skills and competencies are integral to student success at home, school, and in the larger community. Extant research also consistently demonstrates that social emotional skill deficits are associated with various adverse outcomes. Universal screening for social emotional and behavioral risk in schools facilitates early identification and targeted intervention, with the primary goal to mitigate and reduce these potential adverse outcomes for students. Research on the technical adequacy and classification accuracy of universal screening is essential to this process to ensure efficient and accurate identification, as well as subsequent implementation of social emotional interventions targeting deficits in skills.The purpose …

The Mechanism Of Directed Forgetting In Visual Working Memory, Katherine Camille Moen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of the current study was to determine if forgetting in visual working memory (VWM) depends on the strength of the memory representations, and to examine different potential mechanisms of directed forgetting in VWM. The strength of memory representations varies depending on factors during encoding and maintenance, which may impact the likelihood of successful forgetting. Experiment 1 manipulated encoding time and cue onset, and utilized eye tracking in order to determine the extent of directed forgetting in VWM. Results support evidence for partial forgetting, and revealed that the strength of memory representations does not impact the likelihood of successful …

Process Dimensions Of Intervention Implementation: Evaluating The Quality Of Professional Development Delivered To Teachers, Sarah Petters Fletcher

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

It is well-established that having a high-quality teacher can lead to long-lasting, significant effects on students’ achievement. We know that teacher effectiveness reliably has an impact on student outcomes, but what impacts teacher effectiveness? One regularly recommended and prominent method for improving teacher effectiveness is through coaching. However, to date, the active components of coaching interventions have yet to be adequately specified, measured and investigated. The primary aim of the proposed study is to address this gap in the teacher coaching literature by examining which aspects of a coaching intervention, Making the Most of Classroom Interactions (MMCI), may lead to …

Internal Versus External Predictors Of Physical Activity In Youth, Paige Marie Ryan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Physical activity (PA) participation has been linked to broad health benefits including reduced risk of chronic diseases (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2008). PA participation is important for youth as it sets the precedent for continued engagement and improved long-term health. Nonetheless, adolescents have some of the lowest rates of physical activity, and subsequently obesity rates in youth have exponentially increased in the past few decades (CDC, 2013). Therefore, determining predictors of PA for adolescents is of vital importance. Many studies focus on barriers to PA in youth, but few include both facilitating and inhibiting factors of youth PA participation. …

Rule-Governed Behavior: Teaching Essential School Readiness Skills Via Rule-Following To Children With Autism, Rachel Lorraine Bradley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Rule-governed behavior (RGB) is behavior that is controlled by verbal descriptions of contingencies rather than by direct contact or a history of direct contact with the contingencies. Humans rely on RGB to navigate a multitude of life experiences, and in doing so, we avoid direct contact with destructive or harmful contingencies or contingencies that would be inefficient to contact. However, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) do not naturally demonstrate RGB, leaving them at increased risk of contacting dangerous consequences. Thus, acquiring RGB is a critical concern that affects the development and wellbeing of individuals with ASD. The current study …

Examining The Role Of Job Resources As Moderators In The Relationship Between Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, And Quit Intention In Teachers, Leanna Becnel Cupit

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

Teacher attrition is a major problem facing education today. Some literature reports as many as half of all teachers leave the profession within the first five years. The current study sought to examine the role of resources as moderators to the impacts of job stress and job satisfaction on quit intention in early career teachers. Drawing from conservation of resource theory, findings from this study show that high levels of job stress and low levels of job satisfaction are related to increased quit intention. However, results from this study showed no difference in the stress, satisfaction, and quit intention …

Experimentally Examining The Proposed Relationships Among “Rehearsal-Based” Effects, Corey Ian Mcgill

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite the importance of rehearsal to most models of verbal working memory, its role has been recently called into question. Much prior work in support of rehearsal models has centered on the experimental effects of word-length, phonological-similarity, and irrelevant sound on serial order recall performance and the interaction of all three with concurrent articulation. However, recent research has suggested that confounding effects of stimuli, such as orthographic neighborhood, may be the true cause of the word-length effect. While these findings alone have significant implications for modern models of rehearsal, to understand them within the context of modern theories of working …