Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Choices In The Editing Room: How The Intentional Editing Of Dialogue Scenes Through Shot Choice Can Enhance Story And Character Development Within Motion Pictures, Jonathan Pfenninger

Masters Theses

This study examines the content of six feature length films, which showed in theaters in 2010 and 2011, from a communication perspective. Five of the scrutinized films are Academy Award winning and nominated films for Best Editing. The sixth film was the top grossing Christian feature film to be widely released within the two years. Utilizing Foss's rhetorical schema for the evaluation of visual imagery, this study examines and evaluates the composition of dialogue scenes within each film, identifying the functions of shot composition and movement choices within each film, individually. Through identification of a function, assessment and support found …

Between Men: A First-Person Documentary Video, Thomas C. Prutisto

Masters Theses

ABSTRACT

BETWEEN

MEN:

A

FIRST

PERSON

DOCUMENTARY

VIDEO

May

2014

THOMAS

C.

PRUTISTO,

B.S.,

ROCHESTER

INSTITUTE

OF

TECHNOLOGY

Directed

by:

Professor

Susan

E.

Jahoda

Planning For Balanced Growth And Balanced Budgets: Exploring A Mixed Methods Framework To Assess Urban Infill Capacity And Value In Context, Jennifer Stromsten

Masters Theses

Established communities pursue revitalization to transform struggling downtowns into vibrant hubs and walkable neighborhoods. Vacant and underused parcels can help communities grow sustainably by using excess capacity in existing infrastructure. However, many communities experience limited urban infill activity due to persistent bias favoring low-density development at the community’s edges. In small communities perceptions and processes can favor low-density growth. Infill development can be complicated due to site conditions and neighborhood context, yet planners work with ad hoc techniques and limited staff time. There is a need for efficient ways to identify suitable sites and generate information to use for community …

Testosterone, Dominance, And Depression In Recently Married Couples, Gabriela I. Quiñones-Torres

Masters Theses

Dominance refers to the wide set of behaviors individuals engage in with the intention of achieving or maintaining social status. Considering the relevance of these behaviors in the dynamics of close relationships, this study examined relations among testosterone, dominance, and the emotional health of a total of 225 opposite sex newlywed couples. An original measure of dominance was developed that accounted for both positive and negative manifestations, as well as situational and dispositional qualities of these status-promoting behaviors. Structural equation analyses revealed that dominance behaviors predict depression for both wives and husbands, and that positive and negative aspects of dominance …

An Investigation Of The Basis Of The Strength-Based Criterion-Shift, James E. Olchowski

Masters Theses

In recognition memory, participants often fail to change their criterion for making a “studied” response from one trial to the next based on learning strength, even when they are given obvious cues to identify each test item as studied often (“strong”) or studied a single time (“weak”) (e.g., Stretch & Wixted, 1998). In three experiments we tested the hypothesis that participants produce robust item-by-item shifts only when responding did not involve significant response interference (Simon, Acosta, Mewaldt, & Speidel, 1976). In our three experiments, participants studied lists of words studied once (weak) or five times (strong). In Experiment 1, both …

The City Of Minas: The Founding Of Belo Horizonte, Brazil And Modernity In The First Republic, 1889-1897, Daniel Lee Mcdonald

Masters Theses

The foundation of Belo Horizonte in the state of Minas Gerais in 1897 represents a pivotal moment in urban planning and the search for modernity in Brazil. This thesis argues that the decision to move the capital of Minas Gerais at the outset of the First Republic and the designing of the new city encompassed an evolving vision of modernity that helped establish the planned city as a means to transport Brazil into the future. It also situates the effort to build Belo Horizonte within the wider theoretical discourse on modernity and the development of urban spaces in Brazil. The …

The Link Between Insecure Attachment And Depression: Two Potential Pathways, Cassandra C. Devito

Masters Theses

A wealth of research demonstrates a strong link between insecure attachment and depressive symptoms. However, thus far no work has discerned different pathways to depression for each of the insecure subtypes: anxious and avoidant attachment. This work looks at the behaviors that couples engage in during a conflict interaction as a potential mediator for the attachment-depression relationship, with different behaviors mediating the link between anxious and avoidant attachment and depression. For anxiously attached individuals, it was predicted that lack of support and response from the partner (actual or perceived) would account for the relationship between their attachment and depressive symptoms. …

Why We Disagree: Morality And Social Categorization, Nathan Christopher Carnes

Masters Theses

Recent research has identified important functional differences between Prescriptive morality (based in approach motivation) and Proscriptive morality (based in avoidance motivation). The purpose of the present research was to understand the consequences of these moralities applied at the group level for social categorization, especially in response to threat. I measured social categorization with a novel method in which participants categorized same-race and cross-race morphed faces. Social Justice (which is Prescriptive morality applied to the group) was associated with more inclusive social categorization under conditions of threat compared to a control condition. Social Order (which is Proscriptive morality applied to the …

The Effects Of Varying Duration Of Reinforcement On Novel Selection-Based Mands Versus Topgraphy-Based Mands, Nicholas S. Acker

Masters Theses

In recent years, researchers have evaluated individuals' preferences for different mand modalities and its effects on the acquisition of novel mands during functional con1munication training (i.e., FCT; e.g., Falcomata, Ringdahl, Christensen, & Boelter, 20 I 0). In many of these studies, the modality of responding that Michael ( 1985) classified as selection-based responding, is preferred by participants (e.g., Falcomata et al., 201 0). Wraikat, Sundberg, and Michael (1991) suggest that topography-based responses may be preferable for the acquisition of complex language. However, selection-based verbal responses may have faster acquisition in learning initial verbal operants (Charlop-Christy, Carpenter, Le, LeBlanc & Kellet, …

A Comparison Of Two Variations Of A Stimulus-Stimulus Pairing Procedure On Novel And Infrequent Vocalizations Of Children With Autism, Andrew J. Bulla

Masters Theses

Despite the growth in a behavioral technology for the treatment of autism, a small population of individuals with autism fails to develop functional language. One procedure used for inducing vocalizations in non-verbal children is a stimulus-stimulus pairing (SSP) procedure. In an SSP procedure a vocalization is paired with a reinforcer over a period of time to establish the vocalization as a learned reinforcer, and any utterance of the target vocalization is believed to be automatically reinforced thus increasing the frequency of the vocalization. Past research has yielded mixed results with the SSP procedure, and more research is warranted to identify …

Examining The Effects Of Communication And Acculturation On Relationship Satisfaction And Postpartum Depressive Symptomatology In Latino Couples, Jessica Andrea Hughes

Masters Theses

The present study builds on prior research that has evaluated the longitudinal association between relationship adjustment and depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period by focusing on a group of women at high risk for perinatal depression, in this case, Latinos. Most studies have evaluated the association between relationship functioning and depressive symptoms during the postpartum period. However, depression occurs as frequently during pregnancy as in the postpartum period (Evans et al., 2001) and has been shown to be an important predictor of postpartum depression (Milgrom et al., 2008) in Caucasian samples. Since poor communication has been linked to …

Using Audio/Visual Media To Increase The Sociological Imagination Of An Adolescent Audience, Jon Cariba Phoenix

Masters Theses

Adolescence is a time of drastically increased sociological inequality. This thesis explores the possibility of using an educational sociology television show as a means to increase teen empowerment by developing their sociological imagination. After reviewing the causes of increased inequality during adolescence, I probe the link between sociology and empowerment by critiquing Mills’ conception of the sociological imagination. After finding his formulation incomplete, I use Bandura’s social cognitive theory to fill the gaps in the original framework and derive a new expanded sociological imagination focused on increasing efficacy. Efficacy is the social science construct most closely related to empowerment, and …

Michigan's Clay Bluffs: The Description And Comparison Of An Erosion-Dependent Natural Community, Nathaniel G. Fuller

Masters Theses

The clay bluffs of Michigan are a natural community found along the shores of the Great Lakes. Groundwater is found to be critical to sustaining the alkaline wetlands on the face of the bluff as well as the source of most erosion events. The clay bluffs are unusual in their vegetation, disturbance regime and geographical context. This thesis focuses primarily on describing seeping clay bluffs and exploring the comparison to other natural communities. The purpose of this is twofold, to better understand the ways in which natural communities are described as distinct from one another, and to assess the distinctness …

The Effect Of Local Element Density On Processing Of Visual Hierarchical Patterns: An Infant Erp Study, Sara M. Mosteller

Masters Theses

Previous research with infants, children, and adults has shown that global, or configural, information is processed before local, or featural, information in high density visual hierarchical patterns (Freeseman, Colombo, & Coldren, 1993; Ghim & Eimas, 1988; Kimchi, 1988; Navon, 1981; Navon, 1977). The current study used event-related potential to determine if a well documented bias toward global processing in infancy can be disrupted when the number and density of local elements is reduced through increasing the distance between elements. Infant responses were compared between high and low density conditions to global and local novel patterns and to familiar patterns. A …

Effects Of Health Expenditures On Population Age Distribution And Labor Force Participation Rates: Empirical And Comparative Analysis, Jassim M. H. Al-Jebory

Masters Theses

Baby boom and population aging are the main features of the world population that are leading to child and elderly people in the labor force. Categorizing the world into low and high-income countries, the baby boom and child labor can be found in low-income countries, while population aging and elderly people in the labor force can be found in high-income countries. The cause of these features is declining rates of population and labor force ages 15-64, which is the most productive and active proportion. Health expenditures is one of the main factors that is associated with undesired trends of population …

Failure Of Democratic Consolidation: The Three Year Interlude Of Military Rule (1958-1962) In Burma, Zaw Thein

Masters Theses

Many scholars believe that the period between 1948 when Burma won Independence and 1962 when the military took over the country from the elected civilian government as the parliamentary democracy era. During this era, there was a three-year interlude where the military leaders ruled the country as the Caretaker Government- a euphemism for the three-year military interlude. My argument is that this interlude happened due to the growing strength of the military as an institution and the decline of political parties in Burma. The strength of the military institution was due to the civil war that broke out just after …

Rhyme: A Tool For Word Learning, Kristen Elizabeth Thompson Mills

Masters Theses

To become successful readers, children must be able to recognize how changes in sound correspond to changes in word meaning. Rhymes, which contain minimal pair words that differ in their initial phoneme but share final vowels and codas (e.g., the cat in the hat), are often used in preschool and kindergarten classrooms as a tool to promote literacy and word learning. Although young language learners can generally discriminate minimal pair words, they often show difficulty when asked to assign them as labels for separate novel objects. The present experiment investigated the role of experience with rhyme on the mapping of …

Residential Rebuilding In Rural Haiti Natural Disaster Recovery Strategies, Mallory Lyn Barga

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on an appropriate and applicable way to recover from natural disasters in a place where indigenous resources, building and construction technologies, and manpower are unlike those in developed countries. Overtime, Haiti has suffered from a multitude of natural disasters that have had devastating long-term effects on the safety and health of the country. As a result, it has become apparent that Haitians expanded their housing off of existing relief shelters through improper building techniques. These improper techniques lead to insufficient structural stability of their homes and increased vulnerability to future disasters. The proposal for this thesis focuses …

Sexual Possible Selves In Emerging Adulthood, Kristin Michelle Anders

Masters Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore sexual-focused possible selves and strategies in a sample of undergraduate students at a large southeastern university. Sexual possible selves (SPS) address individualized expectations and fears regarding sex, along with the associated behavioral strategies used to attain or avoid these expected or feared selves. To date, there are no studies that examine the SPS of emerging adults. This study aims to fill this gap by examining the content of first year students’ SPS and behavioral strategies, and by considering whether SPS vary by sex, romantic relationship (RR) status, and indicators of socioeconomic status. …

Internalized Oppression, Restricted Affection, And Psychological Distress In Asian And Latino Men Who Have Sex With Men, Nicholas S. Bishop

Masters Theses

Research on internalized oppression in intersecting identities remains vitally important for the mental health of minority individuals. This study investigates the mediating effect of restriction of affectionate behavior on the relationship between multiple oppressions (i.e, internalized racism, internalized heterosexism, and internalized sexism) and psychological distress in 172 Asian (n = 57) and Latino (n = 115) men who have sex with men. Data were collected using online snowball sampling via Facebook and listservs. Findings revealed that internalized racism and internalized heterosexism were related to psychological distress, and that restrictive affectionate behaviors with other men fully mediated these relationships. That is, …

Neural Correlates Of Face Processing: Perceptual Narrowing And Categorization, Katherine Claire Dixon

Masters Theses

Perceptual narrowing is a developmental process that occurs between 6 and 9 months of age, during which infants transition from having more general perceptual abilities to more specific abilities. An example of this would be the other-species effect, in which infants experience a decline in the ability to individuate other species’ faces. It has been suggested that an infant’s growing ability to categorize could lead to a decline in their ability to discern individuals within other-species groups (Scott & Monesson, 2009), and that this difference is related to processing styles. In this study, 9-month-old infants were tested on their subordinate-level …

Relationships Among Constructive Communication, Self-Efficacy, And Motivation In Latino Men Who Smoke: A Path Analysis, Alexander Malik Khaddouma

Masters Theses

Previous authors have posited that the health and functioning of romantic relationships may play a role in individual partners’ motivation to engage in healthier behavioral patterns. This effect of romantic relationship functioning may be particularly applicable to Latino couples, given the cultural value of familismo (Galanti, 2003). Utilizing specific factors of Lewis and colleagues’ (2006) Interdependence Model, the present study tested a model of motivation for smoking cessation in which self-efficacy mediates the effect of perceived spousal constructive communication patterns on male partners’ motivation to quit smoking. The model was tested in a sample of 173 Latino couples who underwent …

Comparing Models Of Demographic Subpopulations, Jessica Jones Moehl

Masters Theses

Understanding specific multi-dimensional demographics of populations in the United States at high resolutions is made difficult by the restriction of data released by the Census Bureau because of privacy concerns. Efforts to model these subpopulations have been increasing in recent years. These modeled populations have applications in decision making at all levels of government as well as in academia and the private sector. Two models have shown promising techniques for incorporating multiple levels of data to model sub populations in a meaningful way. These models, the Copula Model by Kao et al. (2012) and the Penalized Maximum Entropy Model by …

Block 271, Reviving An Industrial Artifact, Jared Thomas Pohl

Masters Theses

Vacant industrial sites are scattered throughout our cities all across the country. These sites, these remnants of industry, are occupied by a very interesting category of buildings. They are artifacts from an industrial era that served very unique and specific functions. These service buildings suffered programmatic failure and have lost their vitality. They have entered a form of hibernation, waiting for the post-industrial epoch to wake them up.

The building stock under investigation makes up a large portion of the city’s structures. Identifiable by their heroic scale, clean articulated lines and tendency to be vacant, these service buildings raise arguments …

How Acoustic Salience Influences Infants’ Word Mapping, Qian Zhao

Masters Theses

Young language learners have the challenge of discovering which sounds in their complex auditory environment form acceptable object labels. During early word learning infants demonstrate both flexibility and constraint regarding what sounds form meaningful distinctions. Through language experience they hone in on the sounds and sound patterns that are meaningfully relevant in their native language. In the current study, I investigated the role that acoustic salience plays in early word learning. Using the Switch paradigm, 14-month-old infants were taught to associate two novel labels that differed only in pitch contour to two novel objects. Results from previous discrimination studies were …

Belgian Identity Politics: At A Crossroad Between Nationalism And Regionalism, Jose Manuel Izquierdo

Masters Theses

The cultural-linguistic divide that separates Belgium’s two main ethnic groups, the Walloons and the Flemings, has contributed to a national identity crisis. The tension between the groups is often blamed on their cultural-linguistic differences. However, the political parties have also influenced Belgian identity. There are historical, political, and economic factors that have provided the political parties substantial influence over national identity in Belgium. Since the parties are regionally based, the regions have affected territorial identity. Consequently, attachment to the nation has significantly declined among Belgians. Political party power is all too often ignored. This key factor is usually overshadowed by …

Optimal Location Of Cellulosic Ethanol Facilities And Their Impacts On Surface Water Quality In The Southeastern United States, Kevin Eric Cavasos

Masters Theses

Research suggests that by 2022, 10.5 billion of the 21 billion gallon annual production target for advanced biofuels mandated by the expanded 2007 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2) could originate in the Southeastern United States (US) (USDA 2010). This study applied a biorefinery siting and feedstock optimization model and a water quality model to examine the ex-ante impact of biorefinery locations on agricultural input use and nitrogen (N) loading into the region’s hydrological system. The objective of this research is to understand the potential implications of this level of cellulosic ethanol production and concomitant changes in land use on surface water …

Framing Urban Change: Gentrification Discourses In The Media Coverage Of The Gülbol Eviction In Berlin, Eric Daniel Gedenk

Masters Theses

This thesis examines gentrification discourses in Berlin by highlighting an extraordinarily large protest sparked by the eviction of the Gülbol family—long-time residents of Berlin who immigrated to Germany from Turkey. Media outlets chose to frame the event in very different ways. I analyze articles from various media sources in an attempt to discover how these sources chose to frame this event, then analyze how these frames are applied to the general gentrification discourse in Berlin. Non-traditional, or “advocacy” media outlets used technology to break away from mass media frames on the subject and frame the event as governmental oppression and …

Exploring The Potential To Penetrate The Energy Market For Tennessee-Produced Switchgrass, Fnu Shikha

Masters Theses

The need for alternative sources of energy which are renewable and environmentally friendly has focused attention on the development of biomass-based energy sector. Lignocellulosic energy crops such as switchgrass are considered potential feedstock for biomass-based energy because of wide range adaptability in conjunction with lower input requirements. However, the costs of the collection, storage, and transportation of the low density feedstock from farm to conversion facilities in the switchgrass supply chain pose a major barrier to the development of bioenergy sector.

The objective of the present study is to determine the optimal logistics configuration for Tennessee-produced switchgrass to penetrate the …

Assessing Survivability Of The Beijing Subway System, Yan Li

Masters Theses

The assessment of survivability is a common topic in critical network infrastructure research. In order to examine the critical components whose disruptions can cause huge system degradation, many measures have been approached to depict the characteristics of network systems. Serving more than ten million passengers a day, the Beijing subway system, which ranks third in the world for its length and annual ridership, raises survivability issues in the face of potential disruptions of network components along with its constantly increasing complexity. In this research, we provide an accessibility-based survivability measure with which to explore how potential outages of network components …