Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Audiovisual Speech Perception: A Speech Production Approach, Michelle A. Jarick

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of these studies was to test the main assumptions outlined in the Motor Theory of speech perception that (1) speech perception is linked to speech production, (2) audiovisual integration of speech occurs automatically and after the motor commands are activated, and (3) we perceive the intended gestures, which are extracted by a specialized ‘phonetic module’ in the brain. In Experiment 1, we used a Stroop-like paradigm, where participants viewed and listened to a speaker producing speech syllables (/aba/ or /aga/) in three conditions: audio-only, visual-only, and audiovisual. Participants were asked to ignore irrelevant speech stimuli, and to identify …

Gaining From Loss: Meaning Making And Resolution In Emerging Adults' Low Point Narratives As Predicted By Identity Development And Perceptions Of Parenting In Adolescence, Tara M. Dumas

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Past research suggests that difficult life events can disrupt the expected flow of life, often necessitating increased cognitive effort and reflection to assimilate into the greater life story. In the present longitudinal study, 104 emerging adults (M=26 years) narrated stories about their most difficult life experience. The relationship was examined between certain characteristics of the participants’ low point narratives (depth of learning and coherent positive resolution) at age 26 with their identity development, feelings of support, and parent-child relationships from late adolescence (M=17) to emerging adulthood. Depth of learning refers to the extent to which participants extract more sophisticated forms …

Narrowed Interpersonal Worlds: Gender Differences In Affiliation-Focus And Dominance-Focus, Oshrat A. Hodara

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this research is to investigate whether there are gender differences in the perceptions of affiliations of dominance behaviour over a large sample of social interactions. We were particularly interested in the variability of these perceptions and whether they differ in men’s and women’s perceptions of themselves and others. This research utilizes the framework of interpersonal theory, in which the two main features of people’s behaviour, affiliation and dominance, are proposed to be unrelated to each other and form a circumplex structure. In study 1, a subset of personality adjectives was selected, which demonstrated good circumplex structure. These …

Hemispheric Sensitivity To Thematic Role Information Derived From Active And Passive Verbs: An Event Related Brain Potentials Study, Christopher A. Schwint

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Recent research examining differences in the way the left (LH) and right (RH) hemispheres of the brain process language have used the visual half-field (VHF) paradigm to examine whether each hemisphere can independently process information from sentences. The current study expanded upon such work by using event related brain potential (ERP) measures to examine how the comprehension of thematic role knowledge, a process essential to successful sentence comprehension (MacDonald, Pearlmutter, & Seidenbeerg, 1994), is undertaken in each hemisphere. During language comprehension, agents (entities that initiate action in an event) depicted by nouns (e.g., cop) have been shown to be associated …

“Nous Sommes Tous Américains”: The Relationship Between Identification, Mortality Salience, And Responses To The “War On Terror”, Enoch S. Landau

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The present study sought to determine the conditions under which people were more or less likely to support restrictions on civil liberties in fighting the “War on Terror”. It was hypothesized that the more one identified with the victim of a terrorist attack, the higher their mortality salience (MS) would be, and the more likely they would be to support restricting civil liberties.

Study 1 piloted a questionnaire to measure MS. In Study 2, participants read a story about either a businessperson or a student who either went to the dentist for painful dental work, or perished in the attacks …

An Institutional Analysis Of Oil And Gas Sector Development And Environmental Management In The Yukon Territory, Jason C. May

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis investigates the ways in which oil and gas development priorities and concern for the environment are integrated within strategic planning and management frameworks, and how associated conflict is addressed, in a case study of the Yukon. Because substantial ground-based oil and gas activity is yet to occur in the territory, a thorough understanding of the institutions and institutional arrangements set to govern future oil and gas development is a valuable tool for gauging the capacity to integrate these priorities. Therefore, this thesis employs the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework to analyze the legislation, regulations, policies, and institutions …

The Relationship Between Homelessness And Women’S Health, Christine Paramonczyk

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Women are increasingly experiencing poverty in Canada (Townson, 2000). This study seeks to gain an understanding of how women experience an extreme form of poverty—homelessness—within Kitchener, a mid-sized city located within the Waterloo region in southern Ontario, and the relationship of this experience to health.

Employing social determinants of health (SDOH) theory, this study examines the relationship between homelessness in Kitchener and one focus group was held.

This study indicates that homelessness had an all-encompassing influence on women’s health. Women experienced both impeding and promoting factors influecing their access to housing, healthy food, employment, health care, income, and social support, …

Perceptions Of Change In The Urban Core: A Case Study Of A Satellite Campus In Kitchener, Ontario, Lindsay Woodside

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The university satellite campus is a recent planning instrument used to revitalize struggling downtown cores. The satellite model, however, is not without controversy. To gain an insight into the debate, this study focuses on the perceptions of groups involved in bringing the Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work satellite campus to downtown Kitchener, Ontario. Approaches to revitalization since World War II are examined together with the current downtown revitalization initiative in bringing university satellite campuses to downtowns. The strengths and weaknesses of the university and community dynamic are highlighted as they relate to the main university campus and host …

Ida Accessibility: Learning More About Whether Individual Development Accounts Can Work For Canada’S Poor, Molly Elliott

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) or matched saving accounts are programs designed to facilitate the building of capital and assets in low-income households. Based on the model of asset-based welfare policy, these programs propose to combat poverty through inclusion of the poor in asset building opportunities, which traditionally have been available to only middle and upper income households. Described as an anti-poverty strategy, Individual Development Accounts are growing in international popularity with asset-based policies already being included in Canadian income assistance programs. In order to better understand what some of the barriers might be to this anti-poverty program structure, this thesis …

Evapotranspirative Controls In A Low Arctic Tundra Environment, Daring Lake, Nwt, Canada, Shawn Lecompte

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Determining the extent to which changes in vegetation assemblages influence evapotranspiration in the Arctic could potentially contribute to a more realistic estimation of evaporation in a warming climate.

This project aims to determine whether variations in PET and AET rates measured at six tundra vegetation communities can be attributed to the differing vegetation. This will provide a more realistic estimate of change in the water and energy cycles, as well as evaporative processes for a warmer future, caused by enhanced global warming. Predictions of temperature and precipitation regarding future climate in Canada’s Western low Arctic vary greatly. The majority of …

“To Thine Own Self Be True”: A Narrative Analysis Of Social Group Disengagement And Associated Identity Implications, Catherine De Boer

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of individuals who had voluntarily disengaged from social groups that had once been central to their self-understandings. Theoretical underpinnings of the study proceeded from the distinction made by social psychologists between personal identity, self-definitions derived from an understanding of one’s self as unique, and social identity, self-definitions derived from an understanding and identification of one’s self as a member of social groups. The overarching aims were to: 1) determine if a disengagement process exists, and if so, to discover its defining characteristics and phenomenological aspects; 2) describe the shifts …

Who Has Seen What When? Pornography’S Contribution To The Social Construction Of Sexuality During Childhood And Adolescence, Bente Skau

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Pornography has a ubiquitous place in contemporary Canadian Society. With or without intention, children and youth are frequently exposed to pornographic images and depictions. There is little research detailing the types of exposure that occur and the impact of said exposure on this population. Through a detailed survey administered to approximately 450 first-year college and university students in Ontario, this retrospective and exploratory study answers the query, “when and to what type of pronography are children and young adults exposed and how does this exposure relate to subsequent sexual behaviours and attitudes?” Following a deatiled escription of pornography exposure, indicating …

A Comparison Of The Perceptions Of Risk And Health Between Old Order Mennonites And Mainstream Society In The Grand River Valley: A Cross-Cultural Analysis, Ewa Dabrowska-Miciula

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The role of culture in the geography of health and technological hazard perception research is an important and relatively recent avenue of research. This dissertation contributes to this research by exploring cross-cultural differences in health and risk perceptions and by examining the relationship between health and place. It involves an in-depth examination of perceptions and meaning of health, as they exist in the local context. It is the first geographical research conducted with individual members of the Old Order Mennonite community considering perceptions of health, technological hazard and understandings of environmental risk.

The studied communities are situated at an agricultural/industrial …

A Qualitative Study Of Experiences Of Aboriginal Caregivers Of Children With Developmental Disabilities, Joyce Ellen Clouston

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A qualitative study of 20 caregivers of Aboriginal children with developmental disabilities revealed that caregivers continue to be guided by values rooted in traditional Aboriginal societies where all children were considered gifts of the Creator. The lives of vulnerable children had purpose, they were treated with respect, and the self-growth of the caregiver was connected to care of the child. The needs of young families were supported within a web of relationships in family and community. Disruptions to traditional family relationships began in the colonial era with the negation of Aboriginal culture and spirituality, and continue in many communities in …

An Exploration Of Bullying As Experienced By Sudanese Refugee Youths, Aislinn Clancy

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The purpose of this research is to explore the experience of bullying among Sudanese refugee youths living in Kitchener-Waterloo. Voices in the literature assert that bullying is experienced differently by different social groups. This study proposes to understand the phenomenon of bullying from the unique perspectives of Sudanese refugee youths. As a White middle-class Canadian-born woman, I consider myself a partial outsider to this group. As a partial outsider, I use reflexive strategies to constantly reflect on the impact of my social location on the participants and on the whole research process. To understand how Sudanese youths experienced bullying, I …

Mothers Of Children Placed In Out-Of-Home Care: Everyday Realities And Child Placement Experiences, Nancy Colleen Freymond

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative study focuses on the everyday realities and child placement experiences of 31 mothers of children placed in out-of-home care in south western Ontario. The stories used in this analysis were collected for the Partnerships for Children and Families Project, a multi-year research project that is committed to developing an understanding of the lives and experiences of families and children who are served by Children's Aid Societies and/or children's mental health services. Twenty six mothers in this study were interviewed on one occasion, ranging from one to two hours in duration. Five mothers in this study had multiple interviews. …

The Role Of A Clergyperson Within An Assertive Case Management Outreach Team, Rachel Adrienne Lee Fayter

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mental health consumer/survivors living in urban poverty are generally marginalized and devalued by society. To aid in the process of recovery they require a holistic form of treatment to meet their physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual needs. The current exploratory study investigated the role of a pastor as part of a multidisciplinary team engaged in mental health outreach work and the impacts of this role for people experiencing urban homelessness. Multiple qualitative methods were used to collect data from different stakeholder groups. From multiple participant perspectives, the findings indicate that there are many unique spiritual, relational, and moral aspects of …

Embracing Life After Breast Cancer: Exploring The Holistic Health Of Survivors, Christine Yakiwchuk

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Health, from a holistic perspective, is more than physical well-being. The experience and treatment of breast cancer has an impact beyond physical health, with psychological, social, and spiritual factors playing a role in wellness. Physically, treatment such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy often have disruptive side effects such as, fatigue, breast soreness, nausea, vomiting, hair loss and weight gain, as well as the possibility of losing one or both breasts (Mustain et al., 2002). Psychologically and emotionally, women may experience anxiety, depression, anger, guilt, fear and repression, psychological distress and persistent fears of recurrence (Glanz & Lerman, 1992). The goal …

Role Changes And Birth Order In Female Adolescent Bereavement, Jennifer Joyce Evans

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis reports on the findings of a qualitative research study that explored role changes experienced by female adolescents after the death of a parent, with special attention paid to birth order. Seventeen women were recruited by convenience sampling for this study: nine were eldest daughters, three were middle daughters, and five were youngest daughters. All of the women lost a parent when they were between the ages of 11 and 17, and all were living at home with both parents at the time of the death. The findings were analyzed using a grounded theory method of coding (Glaser & …

Interviewing Children About A Repeated Event: Does Prior Practice In Describing A Specific Instance Of An Unrelated Repeated Event Improve The Amount And Quality Of Elicited Information?, Sonja P. Brubacher

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Five- to 6- and 7- to 8-year old (N=118) participated, in groups, in 4 sessions of the Laurier Activities over a 2-week period. The Laurier Activities centered around tasks such as listening to a story, completing a puzzle, mild physical exercise, relaxation, getting refreshed, and getting a surprise. Across sessions of these activities, instantiations of each task (e.g., the content of the story) were presented at different frequencies. Instantiations were fixed (the same every time), variable (changed every time), or “Hi/Lo” (the Hi frequency instantiation presented at 3 sessions, the Lo frequency instantiation presented at 1 session). …

Intra-Urban Spatial Accessibility: An Improved Methodological Approach, Jeremy W.E. Mcandrew

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The study of accessibility is commonly utilized to further the social equity debate. However, the accessibility literature is ingrained with, and perpetuates, a form of spatial error; aggregation error. The presence of this spatial error severely hinders the applicability of accessibility research in the study of our environment. This thesis seeks to eliminate forms of spatial error from the study of accessibility through the use of comprehensive high resolution spatial information. A service accessibility study is undertaken utilizing origin data collected at the parcel level, while destinations are represented by a diverse and detailed database identifying businesses which cater to …

Impacts Of Organized Sport On Family Life And Travel Demand, Jodi Murray

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In response to the rise in popularity of children’s organized sport there is a need to further our understanding of its impacts, both on family-life and on travel demand. Sport participation has become an integral part of raising children, and its typically rigid structure has significant impacts on many aspects of daily life and management. In order to meet the deamnds of a sport lifestyle, families depend on the “family van” as the main mode of transportation; thus increasing recreation travel. This thesis utilized mixed quantitative/qualitative methods to explore the relationship between youth hocky participation, family life and travel demand. …

Exploring The Impact Of The Media On The Arranged Marriage And Dowry System In Goa, India, Lisa Ann Hickman

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Indian women have been experiencing the arranged marriage and dowry system for centuries. The main objective of this study was to explore how television and cinematic programming impact tehse traditional and contextual issues. I used a phenomenological-hermeneutic research methodology, with a feminist pragmatist epistemology. I conducted a total of six personal inteviews with Hindu women from Goa, India. Three participants were married in the 1980s while the other three were married after 2000. Five themes emerged from the interviews that shed some light at the issues under exploration: a) media exposure betwen childhood and marriage; b) love vs. arranged marriage; …

'If You're The Alliance For Children And Youth, Where Are All The Children And Youth'?' How The Alliance For Children And Youth Of Waterloo Region Can Help Advance Youth Engagement, Shauna M. Fuller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Youth engagement (the meaningful participation and sustained involvement of a young person in an activity outside of him or herself; CEYE, 2003), in particular with organizations that affect young people’s lives, has positive effects on both youth and organizations (Driscoll, 2002; Hart, 1992; Zeldin, McDaniel, Topitzes, & Calvert, 2000). Research on youth engagement has identified that successful and sustainable youth engagement requires a combination of local, interagency, and political level structures (Caputo, 2000). Waterloo Region (Ontario, Canada) has isolated pockets of youth engaged in decision-making; however, no regional youth engagement initiative exists at the interagency and political levels. Regional efforts …

Social Anxiety And Rumination: The Effects Of Alcohol, Susan Reed Battista

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Previous reserach has found a positive relationship between social anxiety and rumination. A positive relationship has also been found between social anxiety and alcohol use in clinical samples. The current study investigated how alcohol affected levels of rumination in socially anxious and non-socially anxious individuals. It was expected that consuming alcohol would decrease levels of rumination in socially anxious individuals. Eighty male participants were recuited (38 high in social anxiety and 42 low in social anxiety). Most participants were White (86%), students (78%), who ranged in age from 19 to 69 (M=22 years). Individuals were randomly assigned to …

Gender Differences In Reward Allocation Among Boys And Girls Who Receive Allowance, Sarah Clift

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Gender differences emerge at a very young age in children. Through socialization boys and girls are encouraged to adopt gender stereotypes. Among adults, salary is an area where there are consistent gender differences, with females typically asking for and receiving less than males. The present study examined differences in reward allocation (i.e., pay) among 91 boys and girls who receive an allowance or “pocket money” in grades one through four, to try to determine whether the differences noted among adults appear with first early pay experiences. Children were asked to complete a series of five tasks regarding gender stereotypes, occupations, …

Using Measures Of Print To Predict Reading Ability And Children At-Risk For Reading Disabilities In Spanish-Speaking Second Language Learners, Amy K. Grant

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Due to the changing nature of Canadian society, there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of literature focusing on second language reading acquisition. In this particular study, Spanish-speaking students learning English as a second language (L2) were compared to students who speak English as a first language (L1) on various measures of reading ability and specifically on measures of print exposure, which assess extracurricular reading. Past literature on print exposure has found that print exposure questionnaires serve as significant predictors of variance in reading comprehension, word reading, among other variables (e.g., Cunningham & Stanovich, 1993). The current study …

Capturing The Variability In A Person’S Social World: Individual Differences In Interpersonal Behavior Across And Within Interaction Partners, Alana Greco

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current studies examined people’s (and, more peripherally, their perceptions of others’) interpersonal behavior using two different methodologies. This research utilizes the framework of Interpersonal Theory, which indicates that there are two orthogonal dimensions of interpersonal behavior—dominance and friendliness (Caron, 1969; Kiesler, 1983; Wiggins, 1982). People’s interpersonal behaviors were characterized by dimension scores for each interaction partner. In Study 1 a new, one-time measure was administered in the lab that assessed behaviors based on 45 specific interaction partners. In Study 2, a Palm Pilot was used to collect people’s interpersonal behaviors over multiple occasiosn of interactingwith the same interaction partners …

Assessing The Need For And Impact Of An Emotions Regulation Booster Program For Elementary School Aged Children, Angela Hammond

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

K-W Counselling Services has offered emotions management programs to children ages 6-15 in the Waterloo region for the last 10 years. This mixed methods study was conducted in two phases. Phase One explored whether the parents of children who had participated in S.T.E.A.M. or Temper Taming groups three years prior felt there was a need for a “booster program” to help refresh their child’s memory about the concepts. Twenty-two parents were interviewed, two of whom had two children in the programs. This meant that feedback was offered in relation to twenty four children participants. The parents were asked with open …

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Jamiacan Immigrant Youth In Two Southern Ontario Cities, Kathleen M. Hogarth

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Research done with immigrant youth in Canada has been largely focused on educational outcomes. The experiences of Jamiacan immigrant youth in Canada have not been explored in great depth in the literature. Canadian statistics show however that Jamiacan immigrant youth account for the largest grouping of Caribbean immigrant youth in Canada. Other data sources point to the fact that Jamiacan youth are more likely to be criminalized and face added challenges in society because of racial stereotyping. The goal of this thesis therefore was to explore the experiences of Jamiacan immigrant youth in Kitchener and Toronto, Ontario through an investigation …