Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Nature Relatedness: Investigating Differences Among Rural, Suburban, And Urban Populations In Connection To Nature Scores, Elizabeth K. Skinner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study examined the Nature Relatedness scores of people from rural, suburban, and urban populations to investigate differences among these populations. Survey participants also reported on whether or not they were currently raising children under the age of 18 in their home, how many outdoor activities they participated in as children and currently as adults, and their hours of screen time per day. These variables were examined to measure their impact on Nature Relatedness scores. Results showed significant differences in the Nature Relatedness scores of people from rural and urban, and urban and suburban populations. This study found that people …

Chronic Pain Acceptance: Optimism Mediates The Relation Between Dispositional Mindfulness And Pain Acceptance, Kelli Miles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Chronic pain is associated with many indicators of maladjustment. We expected that five individual components of dispositional mindfulness would be positively associated with pain willingness (Hypothesis 1) and activity engagement (Hypothesis 2). A mediational hypothesis was tested, whereby dispositional mindfulness would be positively associated with optimism and optimism would in turn be positively associated with both pain willingness and activity engagement (Hypothesis 3). Both Hypothesis 1 and 2 were partially supported. Acting with awareness and nonjudging were the only mindfulness components that were positively associated with pain willingness. Other components of mindfulness were either negatively associated with pain willingness …

Megachurches And Economic Development: Pastoral Interpretations Of Internal And External Expectations On Church Behavior, Ashley E. English

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

What sorts of economic development activities do megachurches engage in, and what rationale do leaders give for this behavior? This study provides theoretical guidance for answering this research question through an investigation of megachurches’ extra-role behaviors (ERB) in economic development activities. ERB is a “behavior that attempts to benefit the organization and that goes beyond existing role expectations” (Organ, Podsakoff & MacKenzie, 2006, p. 33). This field study includes an online survey completed by 42 megachurch senior or executive pastors in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown Metropolitan Statistical Areas and 23 follow-up telephone interviews. The researcher used these data …

Loving Thyself And Well-Being: What Does God Have To Do With It?, Derek De La Peña Ph.D.

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

The current study is both exploratory and conceptual in nature and considers the controversial topic of “self-love” from both Christian and positive psychology viewpoints. Adaptive and maladaptive concepts of self-love are considered with Christian participants (n = 467) who listed God as the most important factor to happiness (Type I, n = 133) and a second group (Type II, n = 334) who considered some other factor as more important. Statistical significance was evident between groups with Type I participants scoring higher for meaning in life, engagement, and life-satisfaction measures in addition to a number of biblically-based character qualities (e.g. …

Hate Speech, Prejudice, And Biblical Interpretations, Dianne Dentice

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

There has been a long legacy of hate speech, prejudice, and the use of various scriptures from the Bible to uphold anti-Semitic and race based ideologies in the United States. The institution of slavery was based on economic gain for white plantation owners and the southern aristocracy prior to the Civil War. In order to justify enslavement of Africans, rhetorical devices were used to assure inferior status. Many white Christians believed their slaves could be controlled by conversion to Christianity and some actually believed they might even be able to achieve salvation if they did what they were told and …

Existential Anthropology And The Transformation Of The Existential Situation Into Religious Meaning: The Rise And Similarities Of Religion And The Arts, Patrick Scott Smith, M.A.

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

The social forming elements to the existential situation provide the basis from which springs all things human, where seemingly disparate functions within the social dynamic—in this instance, art and religion—find common genesis. An aspect of the existential situation is the development of complete memory and awareness because of the human state of physical vulnerability. In the following essay, starting with remembrance, we will see how the existential complex itself helps to form notions of art and religion; how impediment-to-will and exertion become essential elements to the formulation of religious ritual and fashion; and finally, we will take a look at …

The Journey Of A Spiritual Migrant: An Autoethnography On Leaving American Evangelicalism, Joel Mcreynolds

The Journal of Faith, Education, and Community

The support of Donald Trump by many evangelical Christian voters during the 2016 election was seen as a betrayal of core beliefs by the author, who grew up in a non-denominational evangelical church during the 1990s and 2000s. The cognitive dissonance experienced by the author after the 2016 election plunged him into a whirlwind reconsideration of his Christian upbringing. Using autoethnography, a research method that employs self-reflection and personal experience as a qualitative research tool, the author analyzes his own social media posts, journal entries, and creative writing to trace his exit from American Evangelicalism in this deeply personal account. …

Preservice Teachers Knowledge Of Adolescent Suicide, Annette N. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teacher preparation programs have a responsibility to prepare future teachers to teach

and mentor students through their academic years. With the rise of suicide in school age children, responsibility has fallen to teachers to better recognize and understand students who may be suicidal. This study sought to answer the question: to what degree does teaching certification, teaching experience, and suicide awareness embedded coursework predict preservice teachers’ knowledge of suicide awareness and prevention? Data from the Adolescent Suicide Behavior Questionnaire and a demographic survey which asked about participants’ preservice training was sent to universities and colleges in Texas with an undergraduate …

Effective Design Features For The Management Of Behavioral Health Patients In General Emergency Departments Of Hospitals, Rheena Ware Luchansky

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated nursing staff members perspectives of their existing Emergency Department (ED) and their ability to care appropriately for behavioral health patients within the environment. The study involved three rural hospitals in eastern Texas that may not always have the proper resources to care effectively for this vulnerable patient population. The researcher administered a paper-based survey utilizing a Likert-scale response system to nursing staff across all facilities and received participation from 56 respondents. Survey questions were designed to investigate the current ED environment and identify design features available to assist with caring for behavioral health patients. Data gathered revealed …

Implicit Memory And Online Advertisement Priming, Matthew L. Custard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Implicit Memory research has been investigating the attentional requirements needed for something to be encoded and accessible through implicit memory. So far, previous research has produced mixed results on attentional requirements for perceptual implicit memory, some studies citing evidence for the need of attention, others citing the opposite. As well, research has been consistent in producing results showing that conceptual implicit memory has higher attentional demands than that of its perceptual counterpart. Adopting Transfer-Appropriate Processing framework, the current paper investigates attention requirements for both a perceptual task (picture identification) and a conceptual task (category exemplar generation). Participants examine webpages with …

Visitor Characteristics, Attitudes, And Management Preferences Of The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, Samuel J. Rhodes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex (BMWC) encompasses 3 federal wilderness areas and spans over 1.5 million acres of iconic mountains and valleys in northwestern Montana. Here visitors can find a plethora of recreation opportunity that give access to some of the most rugged country that can be found in the lower 48 states. However, managing wilderness areas comes with the challenge of both preserving the natural resources found within their borders and enabling opportunities for recreational experiences. Wilderness social scientists always have striven to determine the type of visitors coming to wilderness, and see what sorts of experiences they pursue. …

Power In The Counseling Relationship: The Role Of Ignorance, Izaak L. Williams, Peg O'Connor

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

This article explores the role of therapist self-disclosure in clinical settings. Distinctions are made between the enmeshed concepts of privacy, secrecy, and confidentiality to elucidate the role of ignorance in maintaining the power dynamics in therapeutic relationships. While some measure of privacy is essential to counseling practice, secretive behavior (in which the counselor divulges too little about themselves) can have a negative impact on the therapeutic relationship and the client’s therapeutic outcomes. There is, therefore, an under-appreciated and delicate balancing act between withholding information to protect the client and the counselor and revealing enough personal details to empower the client’s …

“Are We Getting There? Human Services Community College Students’ Experiences With Evidence Based Practice (Ebp) In Field Placement”., Anya Y. Spector, Krimili Infante

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Community college students’ experiences with Evidence Based Practice (EBP) in the field placement are not well understood, despite the importance of EBP for students’ future social work academic training and job performance. This longitudinal, qualitative, exploratory study examines journal entries of second year community college students at two time points, in the beginning and at the end of the field placement, where students reveal the types of EBP skills and experiences that they engage, as well as their perceptions of their experiences along the way. This study helps to shed light on the experiences with specific interventions and practices that …

Consequences Of Self-Interested Behavior: Pedagogical Questions And Dilemmas Relating To Cases Of A Closed Adoption And A Regional Landfill Proposal, J Forbes Farmer

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Abstract

The motive of self-interest is the driving factor behind many situations faced by those who have chosen the human services profession. In this article, the author provides two of his own fact-based human service cases (one involving case work and the psychological needs related to a closed adoption and one about community organization and advocacy related to a proposed regional landfill) that can be studied and debated in social work classes. The cases reflect the double identity of contemporary social work. The questions after each case require the students to reflect on and talk about the ramifications of self-interested …

Exposing Preservice Teachers To Emergent Bilinguals, Deborah J. Williams Ed.D., Jim Ewing

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This study followed a case study design and employed qualitative methods to explore monolingual preservice teachers’ (PSTs) attitudes toward learning to teach emergent bilinguals (EBs) in a dual language school. We sought to support and observe PSTs as they applied strategies learned in methodology courses to students in the field. Three overarching themes emerged from PSTs’ videotaped focus group interviews, weekly reflections, and field notes. Responses that supported Theme 1 suggested PSTs desired to teach EBs for a variety of reasons and Theme 2 supporting responses showed that PSTs confidence levels increased as they interacted with EBs. Responses that supported …

Stress Inoculation Training In Rotc Cadets, Ashley N. Doss Ph.D

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 1,100 ROTC facilities are housed at university campuses across the United States (Today’s Military, 2017; Guide to Understanding ROTC Programs, 2017). ROTC provides individuals with the ability to dedicate time and service to leadership training and complete studies in a specified degree field. Poor stress management can significantly impair academic performance and persistence. This study was designed to answer the following questions: 1) can Stress Inoculation Training predict academic performance above and beyond personality and psychological variables in freshmen and sophomores enrolled in a military science program?”, and 2) “Can Stress Inoculation Training predict academic retention above and beyond …

Professional Ethics, Decision-Making, And Interdisciplinary Collaboration: An Exploration Of Teacher Preparation Programs And Practice, Brittany Mccreary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The first purpose of this research was to explore the prevalence, methods of instruction, and perceived value of professional ethics, ethical decision-making, and interdisciplinary collaboration in teacher preparation programs throughout the U.S. These factors were addressed using the Ethics Training and Curriculum Survey (ETCS). Participants for the ETCS included teacher educators (n = 977) from CAEP accredited preparation programs. Survey results suggest that professional ethics is widely addressed throughout CAEP accredited programs, but that instruction in ethical decision-making varies considerably. To connect these findings with practice, a second purpose of this study was to explore how educators make ethical …

Electrical Brain Activity And The Examinee's Level Of Effort During Performance Validity Tasks, Roselia Juan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many people who intend to obtain benefits from an assessment may resort to performing poorly on assessments. Previous literature has found that cognitive deficits and long-term symptomatic complaints are reported by individuals with mild Traumatic Brain Injuries. Limited studies have investigated how brain activity measured via Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG) relates to mental effort during cognitive tasks. The purpose of this study was to investigate electrical brain activity, as measured by Peak (PK) frequency, on frontal brain areas (i.e. locations F3-F4) in individuals giving poor mental effort. Measures of effort, in this study, include the Test of Memory Malingering, Rey 15-Item …

Connecting Youth To Public Lands Through The Social Change Model Of Leadership Development: The Yosemite Leadership Program, Amanda J. Dworak Rowland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the success and outcome of the Yosemite Leadership Program (YLP) through its foundation in the Social Change Model of Leadership Development. There are research studies of collegiate programming and the Social Change Model (SCM); however, a literature review uncovered the limited amounts of research around leadership programming connecting collegiate students to their gateway public lands sites. The goal of this research was to identify how the SCM could be used to implement methods and practices of leadership development with college students in partnership with a public lands agency. The specific leadership development themes that were explored …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Student Persistence In A Bachelor Of Science In Forestry Program, Maxwell Holmes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educational leaders in forestry have been challenged to increase and diversify the pipeline of ‘society ready’ foresters. To meet these challenges, leaders must shift their focus to student retention. By understanding the factors that influence student engagement and persistence, these leaders will be better positioned to support students in forestry programs, thus positively impacting retention. This qualitative case study investigated student persistence of second-year forestry students in an undergraduate forestry program. The study was guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Social Capital Theory and explored the malleable psychosocial mechanisms of self-efficacy, sense of belonging, emotion, and well-being proposed by Kahu …

Ethnic-Racial Socialization In Early Childhood: The Implications Of Color-Consciousness And Colorblindness For Prejudice Development, Flora Farago, Kimberly Leah Davidson, Christy M. Byrd

Faculty Publications

This chapter outlines how early childhood teachers can bring children into conversations surrounding race and racism by drawing on literature on how parents of color discuss these topics. Although educators’ practices surrounding race and racism remain largely unexplored, decades of developmental psychological research indicate that parents of color engage in ethnic-racial socialization practices that are beneficial for children (Hughes et al., 2006). The established dimensions of parental ethnic-racial socialization include (1) cultural socialization, or teaching children about their ethnic heritage and instilling ethnic pride; (2) preparation for bias, or teaching children about racism and preparing them to face discrimination; (3) …

Risk-Taking, Thinking Styles, And Criminality: A Fuzzy-Trace Theory Perspective, Adrienne Machann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Preferred modes of thinking, otherwise known as biases, have been well documented in adult reasoning and decision-making (Evans, 2003; Gilovich, Griffin, & Kahneman, 2002; Reyna & Brainerd, 2011; Tversky & Kahneman, 1986). Researchers have explained these biases by proposing that the basis for them is a system of thought that relies mostly on intuition and “gut feelings” rather than logical analysis of the situation (Reyna & Brainerd, 2011; Tversky & Kahneman, 1986). According to standard dual-process theories, intuition is described as a thought process so quick, it is automatic and, at times unconscious; conversely, analytical thinking is slow and steady, …

The Moderating Effects Of Adaptive Coping Styles And Locus Of Control On Stress Outcomes By Reported Level Of Masculinity, Technology At Work, And Level Of Perceived Stress, Dawn Lowe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of adaptive coping styles and locus of control on reported stress outcome. Findings suggest that perceived stress, time spent using technology at work, and level of masculinity significantly predict job productivity and somatic symptoms. Only perceived stress and level of masculinity significantly predicted sleep quality. Internal Locus of Control and Adaptive coping with initial independent variable composites did not have significant moderation effects. When independent variables were separated, three significant moderations were found. Individual’s with high Internal Locus of Control and more time spent using technology at work reported improved sleep quality. Also, when Internal …

Teacher’S Attitudes And Willingness To Refer Sexual Minority Students To Special Education, Diane' Forney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that cultural minority students are over-represented in special education services based on teacher bias and attitudes towards these cultural minority students. A cultural minority that has not been as widely researched is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ). The purpose of this study is to determine if teacher’s bias and attitude towards LGBTQ students interferes with their ability to make special education referrals for sexual minority students (Hebl, 2000), who are students identified as LGBTQ. For the purpose of this study, a variety of teachers were asked to complete, two qualifying questions, a detailed demographic questionnaire, …

Outdoor Education’S Relationship To Adolescent Behavior And Academic Performance In Two East Texas Middle Schools, Trenton Stiefel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, a key part of a child’s development was their exposure to and relationship with the world outdoors – nature. The current movement to promote the inclusion of environmental and outdoor education into curricular and extracurricular activities stems from the mounting evidence that experiences in the outdoors may improve a child’s behavior and mood, as well as improve their academic performance. This mixed-methods study hoped to discover whether or not, on average, children improve their academic performance and/or their individual behavior in school when provided with outdoor education learning experiences. The mindset used in outdoor education research may have to …

Using The Forestry Reclamation Approach For Reclaimed Surface Mineland In The Western Gulf: Effects On Pinus Taeda Seedling Growth And Survival, Cassie Phillips, Jeremy Stovall, Hans Williams, Kenneth Farrish

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While land reclamation efforts of surface mines have considerably increased soil stability since the implementation of SMCRA (Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act), research suggests that resulting soil compaction hinders the productivity of forests post-mining. The Forestry Reclamation Approach (FRA) was developed to improve forest health in the Appalachian region through a five-step process that minimizes soil compaction and establishes a productive forest. The FRA has not yet been tested in the western Gulf Coastal Plain (GCP). The higher clay content of some GCP soils and the dearth of coarse fragments (e.g. cobbles, stones and boulders) may affect reclamation practices …

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Open Access, And Predatory Publishers, R Philip Reynolds

Librarian and Staff Presentations

Presentation to help librarians and faculty to identify the warning signs of predatory publishers. Examples of emails from predatory publishers are included.

“Pretty Is As Pretty Does:” Child Beauty Pageants In Deep East Texas, Taryn Lenert

Undergraduate Research Conference

Introduction

Do child beauty pageants affect contestants’ perception of gender norms, gender performance, and confidence? To answer this question, three observations of pageants, three face-to-face interviews, and survey responses from two East Texas pageant Facebook groups will be analyzed through the lens of West and Zimmerman’s theoretical concept of doing gender (1987). Deep East Texas is unique due to the fact that much of its culture originates in old southern views of beauty, the norm of hyper-femininity, and the importance of traditional gender roles in both public and private life.

Impact Of Heart Rate Intensity On Shooting Accuracy During Games In Ncaa Division I Women Basketball Players, James Hutson, Courtney Elliott, Casey Pederson

Undergraduate Research Conference

Shooting accuracy in basketball is key to winning games. While there are various factors as to why a team either makes or misses their shots, the intensity of play is likely a contributing factor. A player who has played the majority of the game would likely have a higher, more intense heart rate (HR). Depending on the athlete, this could impact shooting accuracy. Examining the relationship between HR intensity and shooting accuracy has not been looked at in a real game setting before. Therefore, we set out to determine the impact heart rate intensity has on shooting accuracy in a …

Extraction And Quantification Of Hydrolyzable Tannins In Acorns From Different Species Of Oak Trees (Quercus Spp.), Sarah Browning, Marshall E. Woodruff

Undergraduate Research Conference

Do white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) prefer to eat certain types of acorns based on tannin content?

Hydrolyzable tannins consist of gallate groups connected via ester linkages to a carbohydrate (D-glucose)

The Prussian Blue method was used to determine hydrolyzable tannin content