Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Relationship Between Resting-State Frontal Alpha Asymmetry And Autism Characteristics Among Neurotypically Developing And Autistic Children And Adolescents, Jarryd Osborne

Theses - ALL

Autism is a heterogenous neurodevelopmental diagnosis associated with deficits in social communication and the presence of repetitive behaviors and sensory differences. While diagnostic criteria are behavioral, these behaviors are thought to arise from atypicalities in the brain. While many studies investigating autism have focused on understanding the neural processes underlying task performance, few have focused on understanding the brain at rest. This is critical, however, as the state of the brain before a stimulus is presented (i.e. its resting state) impacts how it responds to incoming information. Frontal alpha asymmetry, the comparison between alpha frequency power in the left and …

Criticism Of Parasocial Interaction Theory In Public Relations Research: A Fan Studies Application Through Bts Army Autoethnographies And Situational Theory Of Publics, Emma Carroll Hudson

Theses - ALL

This thesis investigates the reliability and ethics of parasocial interaction theory (PSI) for public relations (PR) practitioners to rely on when creating content or campaigns for fans. Drawing on literature from fan studies and public relations theories, this research proposes situational theory of publics as an alternative theory when researching the motivations and passions of fandom communities. The researcher employs a qualitative multimethod design that integrates individual in-depth interviews (IDIs) with PR practitioners in fan engagement specialist roles and autoethnographic essays written by BTS’ ARMY–a fandom that supports popular K-pop group Bangtan Soyeondan (BTS). The interviews and essays are coded …

Innovating Chinese Folklore: The Modernization Of The Eight Immortals Through Illustration And Licensing, Xiaodi Zhang

Theses - ALL

This thesis explores the traditional Chinese folk story "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" and its related works, aiming to identify strategies for the preserving and advancing this folk-art form. The initial focus of this thesis is to analyze the folktale "The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea," which involves a description of each of the Immortals, their distinct personalities, and their individual magical objects. Through the analysis of artistic works associated with this folk tale, this thesis reveals the potential of integrating them with modern technologies and reimagining the characters, resulting in consistently generating engaging artworks. This approach effectively facilitates the …

Innovating Chinese Folklore: The Modernization Of The Eight Immortals Through Illustration And Licensing, Xiaodi Zhang

Theses - ALL

This thesis explores the traditional Chinese folk story "Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea" and its related works, aiming to identify strategies for the preserving and advancing this folk-art form. The initial focus of this thesis is to analyze the folktale "The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea," which involves a description of each of the Immortals, their distinct personalities, and their individual magical objects. Through the analysis of artistic works associated with this folk tale, this thesis reveals the potential of integrating them with modern technologies and reimagining the characters, resulting in consistently generating engaging artworks. This approach effectively facilitates the …

Focus In Kenyan Maay, Chiara Di Maio

Theses - ALL

In this thesis, I describe and also analyze focus in Kenyan Maay, an under-described Cushitic language. Since focus in Somali, a closely related language, has been described and analyzed in detail, its characteristics are compared to focus in Kenyan Maay to develop its description and morphosyntactic analysis. Significant variation was observed between the two speakers I worked with, so my goal is to account for both varieties (Kenyan Maay Bu’aale and Kenyan Maay Baidoa).

Focus In Kenyan Maay, Chiara Di Maio

Theses - ALL

In this thesis, I describe and also analyze focus in Kenyan Maay, an under-described Cushitic language. Since focus in Somali, a closely related language, has been described and analyzed in detail, its characteristics are compared to focus in Kenyan Maay to develop its description and morphosyntactic analysis. Significant variation was observed between the two speakers I worked with, so my goal is to account for both varieties (Kenyan Maay Bu’aale and Kenyan Maay Baidoa).

Variation Of English Intensifiers With Formality On The Internet, Joshua Baumgarten

Theses - ALL

Intensifiers are a class of adverbs that are noted to change relatively rapidly when compared to other parts of English. Frequently, their role as intensifiers results from the process of grammaticalization in which they take on this emphatic function. Over time, certain intensifiers have adopted indexicality, often carrying connotations of informality and femininity. Very, on the other hand, stands out from the other most frequent intensifiers (really, pretty, and so) due to its classification as a formal intensifier, evidenced by its favored usage in formal speech and written text. In the present study, the perceived formality or informality of these …

Variation Of English Intensifiers With Formality On The Internet, Joshua Baumgarten

Theses - ALL

Intensifiers are a class of adverbs that are noted to change relatively rapidly when compared to other parts of English. Frequently, their role as intensifiers results from the process of grammaticalization in which they take on this emphatic function. Over time, certain intensifiers have adopted indexicality, often carrying connotations of informality and femininity. Very, on the other hand, stands out from the other most frequent intensifiers (really, pretty, and so) due to its classification as a formal intensifier, evidenced by its favored usage in formal speech and written text. In the present study, the perceived formality or informality of these …

Methodological Analysis On Settler Territoriality And The Rise Of The Yellowstone Wild Bison Advocacy Movement, Red G.R. Burkett

Theses - ALL

Bison bison, also known as the North American Buffalo, are a keystone species of endemic megafauna in the Great Plains prairie ecosystem. Bison were driven nearly to extinction in the late 19th century when millions of buffalo were massacred by settlers in order to starve Indigenous civilians and force them onto federally-managed Reservations as a step in the centuries-long ethnic-cleansing of Turtle Island. Such genocidal methods were a primary tool in erasing the land claims of Indigenous nations and colonizing the territories of Indigenous communities who depended on bison as a primary source of food and materiel for social reproduction. …

Methodological Analysis On Settler Territoriality And The Rise Of The Yellowstone Wild Bison Advocacy Movement, Red G.R. Burkett

Theses - ALL

Bison bison, also known as the North American Buffalo, are a keystone species of endemic megafauna in the Great Plains prairie ecosystem. Bison were driven nearly to extinction in the late 19th century when millions of buffalo were massacred by settlers in order to starve Indigenous civilians and force them onto federally-managed Reservations as a step in the centuries-long ethnic-cleansing of Turtle Island. Such genocidal methods were a primary tool in erasing the land claims of Indigenous nations and colonizing the territories of Indigenous communities who depended on bison as a primary source of food and materiel for social reproduction. …

Evaluating Evidence Of Episodic Tendencies During Semantic Fluency, Rebecca Anne Wilder

Theses - ALL

While semantic organization has been widely observed in episodic memory tasks, episodic organization has yet to be observed in the semantic fluency task, due to structural differences between test paradigms. Episodic memory effects require an opportunity for target information to first be learned and later retrieved. Semantic fluency tasks, which are designed to measure retrieval capacity for facts, are typically limited to a single test-phase format. In semantic fluency tasks, participants are presented with a semantic retrieval cues (i.e. category prompts) and asked to list as many items as they can think of that fit the classification. The repeated fluency …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Students’ Writing Skills: An Examination Of The Agreement Between Teachers’ Judgments And Curriculum-Based Measurement In Written Expression, Emily Ann Watts

Theses - ALL

Nearly 75% of students in the United States of America are not meeting grade-level standards in the area of writing (NCES, 2012; Persky et al., 2003), despite this skill impacting students’ performances in other academic areas (Ray et al., 2016), and limiting students’ access to higher education (Addison & McGee, 2010), and opportunities for jobs in the adult workforce (National Commission on Writing, 2005). Because difficulties with early writing skills are associated with later writing skills deficits (Juel, 1988), it is crucial that educators accurately identify students in need of additional support in order to provide them with appropriate instruction. …

Does Working Memory Predict Preference To Use Inherent Explanations In Scientific Observations? A Bayesian Item Response Theory Approach, Sepideh Namvarrad

Theses - ALL

Understanding the cognitive processes that help people generate explanations is one of the fundamental questions in cognitive science and philosophy. In this study, we try to examine the extent to which working memory capacity can predict peoples’ preference for scientific explanations under uncertainty. Specifically, we distinguish between possible explanations in terms of their focus on inherent vs. extrinsic entities associated with an observation. According to past findings, inherent vs. extrinsic properties of a phenomenon are different in terms of the ease of accessibility for cognitive processes. The results of this research indicate a significant association between people’s tendencies to choose …

Crisis Communication In The Public Sector: Influences On Stakeholders’ Experience Of Psychological Effects As U.S.-Russia Tensions Rise, Elisabeth Shirk

Theses - ALL

As war in Ukraine rages on and the U.S.-Russia relationship becomes increasingly hostile, the need to better understand public sector communication in times of international crisis is once again rising. For years, the public and private sectors have been treated largely the same in crisis communication research and practice. In the context of international crisis, specifically rising tensions between the U.S. and Russia, this study looks at where these differences lie and what that might mean for future research and practice.

In contribution to this broader topic, this study looks at the influence of domestic stakeholders’ perceptions of the Biden …

Living In The Fast Lane: The Role Of Temporal Processing In Adhd Risk-Taking Behaviors, Ashley Schiros

Theses - ALL

Background: Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, prevalent in the college student population, that is associated with temporal processing deficits and functional impairments, namely engagement in risky behaviors (ERB; e.g., binge drinking). An existing theoretical framework purposes that aberrant temporal processing and subjective experience of time passing slowly, experienced in individuals with a fast internal clock (e.g., individuals with ADHD), increases the likelihood of ERB. The primary aim of this project is to improve our understanding of the relationship between objective temporal processing deficits and the subjective experience of time passage among people with elevated ADHD symptoms. Method: …

Examining Student Adherence Within A Cover-Copy-Compare Intervention, Kaytlin Ann Nelson

Theses - ALL

The Cover-Copy-Compare intervention is a self-management strategy developed to improve students’ academic performance, particularly in the area of spelling. In academic intervention research, it is often assumed that students are completing an intervention as intended, yet this is seldom examined during intervention implementation or subsequent data analysis. The aim of this study was to retrospectively examine students’ Cover-Copy-Compare permanent products to assess their ability to adhere to the intervention and to examine whether intervention adherence influences intervention effectiveness. Data for the present study were selected from two larger randomized control trials that examined the efficacy of the Cover-Copy-Compare intervention on …

Tools To Educate The Next Generation Of Storytellers To Help Them Document Past Conflicts To Build A More Peaceful Future, Tracy Mack-Jackson

Theses - ALL

Uncovering where we came from may help the human race avoid past mistakes and build a more peaceful future. Multimedia oral histories, period photographs, and photographic exploration of historic locations are tools that allow us to educate future generations and work to prevent conflicts. The power of storytelling runs deep within us as a society, and discovering the tools to help us tell these stories is vital for young people to create a voice for themselves. Visual journalism can be at the forefront of this education. This project focuses on three educational resources young storytellers can use to capture historical …

A Closer Look Into Treatment Integrity: Examining The Effects Of Student Intervention Adherence On Intervention Outcomes, Alec Ryan Goldstein

Theses - ALL

It is widely accepted that treatment integrity is an important component in evaluating the validity of an intervention (Collier-Meek et al., 2013), and empirical research has demonstrated a positive relationship between high treatment integrity and intervention outcomes (Hengeller et al., 1997; Huey et al., 2000; Noell et al., 2002; Scott et al., 2019; Wilder et al., 2006). Participant adherence, a foundational dimension of treatment integrity (Sanetti et al., 2021), should also be examined in order to make valid conclusions regarding intervention effectiveness. The current study sought to descriptively explore students’ adherence to a performance feedback, goal setting, and self-graphing intervention …

The Association Between Child Behavior Problems And Parenting Stress In Families Of Children With Disabilities In The United Arab Emirates (Uae): Family Resilience Processes As Protective Factors, Sara Alansaari

Theses - ALL

No abstract provided.

Generation Z And Media Literacy: Young People’S Perceptions Of Media Literacy Education, Alanna Eavan Powers

Theses - ALL

No abstract provided.

Watering The Desert, Draining The Oasis: Navigating Drought, Development, And Irrigation Politics In The Draa Valley, Morocco, Jamie Fico

Theses - ALL

No abstract provided.

The Sneaker Value: A Disquisition Into Sneaker Resale Market, Xincheng Ding

Theses - ALL

The secondary market for sneakers has proliferated in recent years. In the secondary market of sneakers, it is typical for the resale price of sneakers to be higher than the retail price. Using the theory of planned behavior as a theoretical framework, this study will examine how the economic, hedonic, symbolic, and social values of sneakers influence consumer attitudes and subjective norms. In addition, this study will examine the relationship between social media hype and perceived behavioral control. Finally, this paper examines how TPB components (subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and attitudes) influence consumers' purchase intentions. To achieve this research …

Differential Evaluation Of Straight And Gay Men For Nonverbal Effeminate Behavior, Art D. Marsden

Theses - ALL

The purpose of this study was to determine how violation of gender-based expectancies might influence attitudes toward men who differ by sexual orientation (i.e., straight or gay). While other studies have examined attitudes toward gay and straight men who differ by gender expression, their designs may have been susceptible to demand effects; this study was specifically designed to avoid such methodological issues. This research was informed by Expectancy-Violation Theory (EVT) and the Black Sheep Effect, which together suggest that an effeminate straight man should be evaluated by other straight men more negatively than an effeminate gay man because the former …

The Maay Maay Nominal System And Its Tonology, Katrina Smith

Theses - ALL

The aim of this thesis is to explore the tonology of the nominal system in Kenyan Maay Maay (KMM). In particular, this thesis describes the structure of nouns and noun phrases and outlines an analysis of tonal alternations based on a combination of word shape and grammatical gender that have not previously been discussed. The goal is to understand the nature of the language's prosodic system and how it may have developed. This thesis complements research on other Maay dialects that report rather different prosodic properties, ranging from not having a tonal system (Comfort & Paster 2009; Paster 2006; Paster …

The Psychological Empowerment Impact Of Twitter Microblogging: The Case Of #Stopasianhate During Covid-19 Pandemic, Natnaree Wongmith

Theses - ALL

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in anti-Asian hate incidents across the US (Misra et al., 2020). As a response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and racism resulting from the pandemic, #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate have been employed to shed light on the issues. Twitter can effectively assist protestors to participate in the movement by facilitating collective effort, efficiently disseminating the information, and encouraging the discussion about a topic (Chon & Park, 2020). Social media has been recognized for its contribution to one's empowerment in various domains, allowing the marginalized group to regain their sense of power …

The Harder The Battle, The More We Talk: The Effects Of Perceived Risk Of Player Death On Social Presence And Enjoyment In Mobile Fps Game, Heejae Lee

Theses - ALL

Even though the relationship between presence and game enjoyment has been explored, there are unsolved theoretical questions regarding the degree to which social presence may be generated in games. Drawing on (social) presence theory, this study investigated the effects of the perceived risk of player death on game enjoyment. Specifically, the current study examined whether there is a relationship between the perceived risk of player death and communication between players; if this communication will serve as a trigger for a social presence; and if social presence will increase game enjoyment. Results from a self-report survey (N = 128) indicated that …

Ideological And Strategic Influences On Hezbollah's Decisions To Deliver Social Service Provisions, Morgan Mcminn

Theses - ALL

Hezbollah is a unique organization that acts as a transnational group, an insurgent group and a major political party in Lebanon. Since the founding of Hezbollah, they have found social service provisions to be an important aspect of their organization and have had immense control over the territory, acting as a state within the state of Lebanon. Hezbollah offers an organizational structure, a conflict resolution mechanism, healthcare, education and much more to their primarily Shi'a constituents, however to other sects as well. My master's thesis seeks to examine the reasons that Hezbollah does offer these social service provisions. Through the …

The Impact Of Live Streaming E-Commerce Features On Chinese Consumers' Attitude And Purchase Intention, Tianmeng Yan

Theses - ALL

In recent years, live streaming e-commerce has been gaining popularity among Chinese consumers as a new social trend. Compared to traditional e-commerce, the shopping model of live streaming service plus e-commerce demonstrates some benefits of social media features, encouraging consumers to engage in live shopping. This study aims to predict how different live streaming e-commerce features (visibility, interactivity, price discount, and celebrity endorsement) influence Chinese consumers' attitude and purchase intentions. It also examines how TPB components (subjective norm, perceived behavior control, and attitudes) can affect Chinese consumers' purchase intention using a theoretical model combined with the TPB model and the …

A Gis Suitability Model Evaluating Habitat Characteristics Influencing Beaver (Castor Canadensis) Lodge Site Selection And Lodge Occupancy In Central Adirondacks, New York, Amanda K. Jacobs

Theses - ALL

The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) represents a quintessential example of an "ecosystem engineer." Yet the species' landscape-scale impacts on hydrology, geomorphology, and ecosystem ecology are not uniformly distributed through landscapes or time. Understanding beaver lodge site selection and lodge fidelity through time can help to predict where the greatest effects of beaver activity may occur. In this research project, I seek to understand the relationships between beaver habitat suitability, the habitat variables that currently define suitable areas, and lodge occupancy over time. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to model habitat suitability, I use hydrologic, vegetative, and physiographic variables to …

The Associations Between Closeness To Residential Mother And Father During Adolescence And Young Adult Depressive Symptoms And The Corresponding Moderation Of Biological Sex, Mckenna Quinn Farley

Theses - ALL

Past research has suggested that adolescent parent-child relationships may have an impact on adolescent and young adult mental health. However, there are gaps in the previous research regarding relationships between these areas. The goal of the present study is to examine the relationship between an individual's closeness to their residential mother and father in adolescence and their depressive symptoms in young adulthood. The study also looks at how the biological sex of the individual moderates this relationship, and further examines if parental closeness has any significant role in the relationship on young adult depression above the effect of adolescent depression. …