Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Development Of Differential Object Marking In Spanish-English Bilingual Children, Mariluz Ortiz Vergara

Open Access Theses

In monolingual development, the acquisition of differential object marking (DOM) is completed by three years of age (Rodríguez- Mondoñedo, 2008). However, among bilingual speakers, the development and use of the marker at a young age is less predictable. Spanish marks animate and specific direct objects with the preposition-a; English in contrast does not. Based on previous studies documenting transfer in areas where Spanish and English differ, it was predicted that bilingual children would experience difficulties with the use of the preposition both in matrix and left dislocated sentences (CLLD) (Montrul, 2004, Montrul & Bowles, 2009). This study tested 14 simultaneous …

The Origins Of Reading: Using The Ipad To Study 2- To 4-Year-Old's Learning Of Sound/Print/Object Relations, Ashley Catherine Vance

Open Access Theses

This thesis looks at the origins of reading (before the age of 5) through the lens of early language development. We used an iPad to test if children can make the connection between printed words and the spoken word or their visual referent. Using a forced choice procedure, inspired by the traditional Preferential Looking Paradigm, we tested 30 children, ages 2-4 years. Results suggest that children as young as 2 years of age can indeed make spoken word-to-print connections. Specifically, by emphasizing or exaggerating text differences, we were able to get children (2-4 years of age) to correctly tap the …

International Standardization Compliance In Aviation, Tyler Brogden Spence

Open Access Theses

The commercial aviation industry is global in the sense that passengers travel around the world from destination to destination. It is also global in that the states of the world (countries) regulate the industry domestically and internationally. There is a unique stage where the world comes together to promote aviation, discuss ideas and establish international standards. This stage is the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The 191 current member states signed treaties acknowledging their commitment to abiding by the standards and practices established by ICAO. No state is 100 percent compliant with international standards, however, and the purpose of this …

Parents' Marital Discord Moderating The Genetic And Environmental Influences On Externalizing Problems, Amber Marie Jarnecke

Open Access Theses

Jarnecke, Amber M. M.S., Purdue University, December 2013. Parents' Marital Discord Moderating the Genetic and Environmental Influences on Externalizing Problems. Major Professor: Susan C. South.

Parental marital discord is related to children's externalizing problems at various ages. However, little is known about the mechanisms that explain these associations. The current study assesses the impact of parental marital discord on the etiology of

offspring externalizing problems at different ages. Specifically, biometric moderation models were used to test the hypothesis that parental marital discord moderates genetic and environmental influences on offspring externalizing problems at age 11 and age

17. Results suggest that …

The 'X It Up' Verb Construction: A Syntactic And Sociolinguistic Approach, Ryan Hubble

Open Access Theses

This thesis focuses on a unique and, as of yet, unstudied particle verb construction in English, referred to as the `X it up' construction (e.g. I partied it up last night). Syntactic and sociolinguistic perspectives are taken to explore this phenomenon. In the area of syntax, it is proposed that the `it' in the construction is non-referential and that `it' is an (object) expletive. It is further proposed that the construction is unergative. These hypotheses are confirmed via syntactic tests, and a potential syntactic representation based on Basilico's (2008) particle verb analysis is offered as a structure in which the …

Pragmatic Transfer In Japanese Requests In Emails, Takako Noda

Open Access Theses

The speech act of request is known as a face threatening act (FTA) in the sense of Brown and Levinson (1987) and is considered a speech act that may negatively affect human relationships when it is used against cultural norms and constraints. Requests have been investigated in various languages, including English and Japanese (e.g., Hill et al., 1986; Fukushima, 1996; Gagné, 2010). Studies about interlanguage pragmatics, such as Matsuda et al. (2008) and Wada et al. (2008), showed characteristics of requests made by learners of Japanese. However, these studies all focused on the oral speech act, and there are few …

Understanding Chinese Hospitality Management Master's Students' Satisfaction With Their Education, Yanbin Li

Open Access Theses

The purpose of the present research was to understand Chinese students' expectations and experiences with their Master's education in hospitality-related programs in the U.S. Three groups of persons could potentially benefit from the results of the study: university administrators, professors, and graduate students of hospitality management programs (both current and future students). In-depth interviews were conducted with twenty-one Chinese Master's students in a Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) program at a Midwest research university. Content analysis was performed to identify themes regarding students' expectations, experiences and satisfaction with their graduate programs.

When comparing Chinese hospitality management Master's students' expectations and …

Psychopathy As A Disorder Of Communion: Investigating An Overlooked Deficit, Emily Dubose Sherman

Open Access Theses

Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is robustly linked to interpersonal difficulties, delinquency, aggression, and general antisocial conduct. Previous research has explored a number of potential deficits underlying these behaviors including reduced fear, impaired emotional responding, and poor response modulation. Drawing from extant personality work that has demonstrated the importance of interpersonal antagonism as a core feature of psychopathy, the present project examines deficits in social closeness as potential core features of the disorder. This possibility was examined in 195 undergraduate students (49% male) via a multi-method approach. In addition to several psychopathy instruments, participants completed self-report measures of social …

Perception And Attitude About Breast And Cervical Cancer Screening Among Muslim Women In A Midwest University Campus, Tahira Yeasmeen

Open Access Theses

Early detection of breast and cervical cancer through mammograms and Pap smears can improve survival rates. Muslim women in the United States are faced with traditional beliefs and diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds that may affect their knowledge and perceptions about these cancer screening practices. The objective of this study is to determine the overall health status and participation rates, knowledge, and perceptions about, and barriers to, breast and cervical cancer screening among a controlled population of Muslim women. Data were collected from Muslim women residing at or near Purdue University and the Greater Lafayette area via an online questionnaire …

Visitor Perspectives Of The Authenticity At A Heritage Destination: South Luogu Hutong In Beijing, China, Xiaolin Shi

Open Access Theses

The present study examined visitors' perceptions of authenticity at the South Luogu Alley, a famous Hutong with more than a 700-year history in Beijing. The reconstruction of many historical heritage sites raises the issue about authenticity in tourism. After reconstruction, many Hutongs combined with traditional Chinese style and Western style in terms of architectural design, restaurants, tourism souvenirs, and activities. However, visitors' perceptions toward authenticity at Hutongs continue to be mostly unknown. The study applied a self-administered questionnaire to collect the data from July, 2012 to August, 2012 at the South Luogu Alley. Visitors were asked to rate the authenticity …

Testing The Boundary Conditions Of Justice Climate Effects: The Moderating Role Of Moral Identity And Corporate Social Responsibility, Meghan Ann Thornton

Open Access Theses

While the lion's share of organizational justice research focuses on individual perceptions, researchers have recognized the value of group perceptions in understanding justice phenomena. Justice climate (i.e., shared perceptions of fairness among workgroup members) has often been studied using facet-specific and source-specific justice climates (e.g. procedural justice climate, supervisor justice climate) demonstrating the predictive power of group level perceptions of fairness. However, little research has explored the boundary conditions of justice climate effects. In this study, I propose that overall justice climate has a significant impact on group prosocial and deviant behaviors. I also propose that group perceptions of corporate …

Assessing Tourist Experience Satisfaction With A Heritage Destination, Yuan Yao

Open Access Theses

The research is concerned with understanding the relationships among heritage motivation, travel experience, and overall satisfaction. It attempts to uncover how tourist motivation, destination attribute performance, and tourist emotional involvement interact and, at the same time, contribute toward a satisfying heritage tourism experience. The empirical research was conducted at the city of Nanjing, China, as a case of a heritage destination. People who were visiting Nanjing were randomly and voluntarily selected to participate in the self-administrated survey. A total of 282 valid questionnaires were collected with a response rate of about 55%. Factor analysis and mediation analysis were conducted by …

Identifying Ditch Geometry And Top Of The Bank Location Using Airborne Lidar Point Cloud, Naime Celik

Open Access Theses

The geometry of agricultural drainage ditches is very important in crop production as it impacts drainage of cropland and affects vegetation and soil erosion along the banks of the ditches. Thus, implementation of water conservation and management practices in engineered and natural ditches necessitates determination of ditch geometry along the reach of the ditch. This study explores the use of airborne commercial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology to identify the top of the ditch banks. The method was developed to obtain the normalized cross sectional shape of the ditch using one-dimensional spline fits to ground classified points from the …

How Population Density Influences Agricultural Intensification And Productivity: Evidence From Ethiopia, Anna Leigh Josephson

Open Access Theses

We use household-level panel data to estimate how population density impacts agricultural intensification and farm income in Ethiopia. We hypothesize that increases in population density affect agricultural intensification and farm income directly through information flows, institutional development, and reduction in transactions costs. Increases in population density also affect agricultural intensification and farm income indirectly through farm size, agricultural wage rates, and staple crop prices. We find that increases in population density lead to lower farm sizes, which has major implications for agricultural intensification and household well-being. Our analysis indicates that increases in population density cause farmers to purchase more inorganic …

Stories Of Journalistic Careers: From Serial Killers To The Changing Nature Of Journalism, Linda Hughes-Kirchubel

Open Access Theses

A career narrative is a story that helps a person define who she is, and how she should act, within the context of career (Meijers & Lengelle, 2012). This thesis is an analysis of three distinct, yet related, career narratives: a metanarrative, a mesonarrative, and a micronarrative. I examine the field of journalism through metanarratives that reflect the sea-change brought about by the advent of the Internet and the production of on-demand news (see 111th Congress, 2009; Rainey & Wellman, 2012; Weldon, 2008). Using the story of two serial killers, I show how the industry has begun to think differently …

Preschool Language And Phonological Proficiencies In Predicting Stuttering Recovery Or Persistence, Caroline E. Spencer

Open Access Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between expressive and receptive language, phonological, and verbal working memory proficiencies in the preschool years and eventual recovery from or persistence in stuttering. Participants included 40 children who stutter (CWS). At ages 3-5 years, participants were administered the Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language, 3rd edition (TACL-3), the Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test, 3rd edition (SPELT-3), Bankson-Bernthal Test of Phonology--Consonant Inventory subtest (BBTOP--CI), Test of Auditory Perceptual Skills--Revised (TAPS--R) auditory number memory and auditory word memory subtests, and the Dollaghan & Campbell Nonword Repetition Test (NRT). Stuttering behaviors were tracked …

Attitudes Towards The Use Of Violence And Partner Directed Aggression, Joel G. Sprunger

Open Access Theses

The present prospective study examined implicit and explicit attitudes toward the use of violence and their capacity to predict past and future partner-directed aggression in a nonclinical sample. Implicit violence attitudes were measured using a modified version of the Implicit Association Test. A battery of commonly-utilized explicit self-report measures indexed explicit attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV). Measurement of violence attitudes occurred prior to engaging in the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations behavioral aggression paradigm. Participants (N = 81) were randomly assigned to conditions of imagined provocative (n = 48) or non-provocative (n = 33) relationship scenarios and given the …

A Mechanism Design Approach To Bandwidth Allocation In Tactical Data Networks, Ankur Mour

Open Access Theses

The defense sector is undergoing a phase of rapid technological advancement, in the pursuit of its goal of information superiority. This goal depends on a large network of complex interconnected systems - sensors, weapons, soldiers - linked through a maze of heterogeneous networks. The sheer scale and size of these networks prompt behaviors that go beyond conglomerations of systems or `system-of-systems'. The lack of a central locus and disjointed, competing interests among large clusters of systems makes this characteristic of an Ultra Large Scale (ULS) system. These traits of ULS systems challenge and undermine the fundamental assumptions of today's software …