Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of Item Relatedness On Output Interference In Recognition Memory, Jennifer Sloane

Theses - ALL

In recognition memory tasks, output interference (OI) effects manifest as a decrease in performance over the course of a test list. While this interference effect has been shown in many different experimental contexts, it is unclear how it is influenced by different properties of study and test items. This work investigates the relationship between semantic similarity and OI in memory, comparing semantically related (animal names or emotion words) and unrelated items to better understand memory and decision processes. Because the related items share similar features and are more confusable, it was predicted that there would be a greater amount of …

Relationship Between Writing Self-Efficacy And Writing Fluency In A Performance Feedback Intervention, Brittany Eggleston

Theses - ALL

National assessments have shown that a significant number of students are writing at a level below proficiency (National Center for Education Statistics, 2012; Persky, Daane, & Jin, 2003). The primary purpose of this study was to increase our understanding of the role of writing self-efficacy in relation to elementary-aged students’ writing fluency outcomes when they are receiving a performance feedback intervention. The study used secondary data collected from two larger studies, resulting in a final sample of 138 third-grade students from two cohorts. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to examine whether students’ writing self-efficacy would predict their writing …

Reading Between The Pictures: Documenting Economic Hardship In A Neoliberal Age, Pamela Ann Barker

Theses - ALL

ABSTRACT:

This thesis is interested in the ways that documentary photojournalism of economic hardship has changed in response to a neoliberal context. Analysis is centered on photographer Anthony Suau’s photo essay “Struggling Cleveland,” captured for TIME magazine in 2008. Suau’s photographs of economic hardship break from a tradition of photojournalism that focused on drama and emotion. I consider what appears and does not appear in the photographs, with particular attention to how the neoliberal context influences the content and mode of address of the photos. The photographs are analyzed independently for the ways that neoliberalism appears within each frame and …

Is Marriage A Must? Hegemonic Femininity And The Portrayal Of “Leftover Women” In Chinese Television Drama, Anqi Peng

Theses - ALL

Abstract

This study focuses on the representation of “leftover women” in a Chinese television drama. “Leftover women” is a Chinese expression referring to unmarried women over 30 who have high education and income levels. Through a textual analysis of the “leftover women” images in the television drama We Get Married, this study explores how the femininity of “leftover women” is constructed and how these images reinforce or/and challenge hegemonic notions of femininity.

Keywords: Hegemonic femininity, “leftover women,” women representation, television dramas

Exploring Scale And Boundaries In Food System Assessments, Jane Christine Mulcahy

Theses - ALL

The local food movement in the U.S. has permeated popular culture and academia; it has even infiltrated non-profit work, urban and regional planning, and government entities. By its very name, the local food movement binds food activity to a scale – the local – that is nebulous and context dependent. Scale is a crucial part of the discourse and implementation of both local food movement efforts and food studies research – scale is used to conceptualize local food system (LFS) efforts as well as implement them. This thesis explores how scale is operationalized in LFS activities through food system assessments …

The People's Republic Of China And The Global Class War, Collin L. Chambers

Theses - ALL

This thesis attempts to provide a more sufficient understanding of post-reform China’s position in global political economic space than the understandings and conceptions that currently exist in geography and the broader critical social sciences and humanities. This thesis argues that post-reform China is best understood through the global class war framework. The global class war does not conceive post-reform China as “imperialist,” “neoliberal,” or even “capitalist.” Instead the framework understands post-reform China as a social formation that is simply attempting to arise within a global political economic system that is dominated by the global imperialist class camp. Additionally, the global …

Quinua Or Quinoa? Transformation, Certification, And The Contestation Of The Commodity Chain On The Bolivian Altiplano, Andria Maria Aguilar

Theses - ALL

The rise in popularity for quinua in the Global North, known as the quinua boom, has created an incredible transformation on Bolivia’s altiplano. Over a short period of time, quinua has transitioned from a subsistence crop to an international luxury commodity. By placing the boom in a wider historical context, and detailing two distinct commodity chains through which quinua might flow, I show that the “ecological harmony” championed by the organic commodity chain has not delivered all that it has promised. Despite the long list of standards designed to ensure that quinua is grown organically, the quinua boom has changed …

Chicago's Carceral Geographies: Public Housing And Prisoner Reentry In The City, Madeleine Rose Hamlin

Theses - ALL

The Chicago Housing Authority’s recently announced Reentry Pilot allows limited numbers and limited types of ex-offenders to live in Chicago’s public housing for the first time (officially). Through interviews with policymakers, advocates, resident leadership, and service providers, as well as ex-offenders enrolled in or waitlisted for the Pilot, this thesis explores how the various stakeholders envision the goals of this Pilot and what factors they identify that may limit its success. By reshaping housing policy not only for the limited number of ex-offenders included in the Pilot but indeed, by pushing for broader sets of reforms, the Pilot attempts to …

A Study Of Danmaku Video On Attention Allocation, Social Presence, Transportation To Narrative, Cognitive Workload And Enjoyment, Yuqian Ni

Theses - ALL

Danmaku video (video with overlaid comments) is a relatively new social TV format and is getting popular in China. This study conducted a 3-condition experiment to examine Danmaku video watching experience in terms of 5 aspects: attention allocation, social presence, transportation into narrative, cognitive workload and enjoyment. 61 Chinese college students from the Northeast region of US were recruited to participate the study. Result indicated out that Danmaku distracted some attention from the initial video content but fostered a feeling of joint viewing with others. The presence of Danmaku also had some effect on the enjoyment of watching videos, but …

Beyond Survival: Embodied Rhetoric And Resistance To Campus Sexual Violence, Logan Rae Gomez

Theses - ALL

Seeking to understand the culture of rape in the U.S., this project centers the stories of women of color on college campuses. In particular, I analyze Emma Sulkowicz’s Mattress Performance and the past, present, and future activist projects of Wagatwe Wanjuki. Positioning Sulkowicz and Wanjuki in the center of the conversation on sexual violence reminds us of the historical reality of rape for women of color. Collectively, Emma Sulkowicz and Wagatwe Wanjuki create discursive spaces for what Lisa Flores calls a “rhetoric of difference” and via Cherríe Moraga’s “theory in the flesh.” Throughout, I argue that we must analyze the …

The Impact Of Classroom Behaviors And Student Attention On Written Expression, Narmene Hamsho

Theses - ALL

This study sought to examine classroom behaviors and attention as predictors of writing performance among third-grade students receiving a Tier 1 performance feedback intervention. Information about the classroom behavior of 80 third grade students (39 males, 41 females) was collected before intervention began through use of two teacher report measures: the Academic Performance Rating Scale (APRS; DuPaul, Rapport, & Perriello, 1991) and the inattention factor on the Strengths and Weaknesses of ADHD Symptoms and Normal Behavior Rating Scale (SWAN; Swanson et al., 2006). Results indicated that the APRS and SWAN were significant predictors of writing fluency in the combined sample …

Immaterial Attachments: Performing Iphone And The Rhetorics Of Dematerialization, Codey Ryan Bills

Theses - ALL

Engaging with rhetorical studies, performance studies, and surveillance studies, this thesis attempts to outline the ideological construction of the experience of iPhone, underlining how this experience—and its performance—is imbricated with conceptions of social control. To do this, I begin with the cultural oscillation between extreme psychological attachment to Apple’s iPhone and its complementary disposability. How can an object generate such attachment, yet remain disposable? To get at this question, I examine how attachment and disposability are layered together in an experience of iPhone structured by rhetorics of dematerialization. These are visual and discursive fragments that, together, construct an ideological impulse …

The Romantic Baby Boomer: A Successful Aging Analysis Of Romantic Comedy Film Trailers, Annette Marie Schelling Masterson

Theses - ALL

On any given Friday night, theaters across the United States are filled with teenagers and young adults, often to see the new Blockbuster that has just been released. The film industry has responded by producing content specifically targeted to this demographic. Unfortunately, this has left a major portion of the population waiting for material that is relatable. Even when there is a character over the age of 50, they are regularly for comic relief or portrayed as weak and incapable. The recent trend of romantic comedies incorporating storylines for older adults is still underrepresented in academic research. This thesis set …