Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Development And Validation Of A Basic Ground Skills Assessment For Equine-Assisted Services, Sarah J. Andersen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The equine-assisted services program at Utah State University produced and validated an assessment process used to test equines for suitability for equine-assisted services. Equine-assisted services incorporate the interaction of humans who face mental, physical, emotional, and/or social challenges and equines for therapeutic purposes. Recreational, physical, mental, social, and/or emotional goals are met through various equine-assisted services such as therapies, equine-assisted learning, and horsemanship.

Due to the potential for human injury while interacting with equines, it is important to ensure equines are assessed for safe behavior prior to participation in equine-assisted services. This is why our group developed and tested the …

Training Parents In Descriptive Assessment And Function Identification, Makenzie Sip

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

It is often difficult for parents to address their child’s problem behavior. Children with special needs can display more frequent and intense problem behavior. Therefore, professionals need to help parents of children with special needs identify how to decrease their child’s problem behavior. Professionals help to decrease problem behavior by performing assessments called descriptive assessments to identify why the problem behavior is happening, and then using these assessments to create an appropriate plan of how to prevent and respond to the problem behavior. We examined if parents could be taught the skills necessary to perform descriptive assessments and then use …

The Effectiveness Of A Video-Based Preference Assessment In Identifying Socially Reinforcing Stimuli, Rachelle N. Peterson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The following study was conducted to find out more about a video test that could identify social activities that are motivating for individuals with disabilities. Commonly tests can be administered to find what physical items, food, toys, games and so forth, are preferred but the process becomes infinitely more difficult when social activities and interactions are involved. Research has shown that participation in reinforcing social experiences is critical for development and crucial in social skill building. In this study, a video-based test was analyzed to see how effective it was in identifying these socially preferred activities in three individuals with …

Assessment Of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition: Possible Effects On Alpine Ecosystems Above 9000 Feet In Grand Teton National Park, Jennifer Hansen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Certain forms of nitrogen (N) in the atmosphere are pollutants with effects that mimic fertilizer application. If there is too much N, it can become a stressor, and the ecosystem may undergo drastic changes (e.g. certain plant species may decline or disappear). The N load at which a system starts exhibiting negative effects is dependent on the type and location of the ecosystem. Alpine ecosystems (i.e. above 9000 feet in Wyoming) may be particularly sensitive to low levels of atmospheric N input because of short growing seasons, sparse plant cover, and shallow soils that limit their ability to absorb the …

Facilitator Assessment Following A Stepfamily Education Course, Heather Sparks

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to evaluate effectiveness of the facilitators of a stepfamily education course, based upon facilitator self-report as well as participant report. Agencies in northern Utah that provide services to low-income minority families were used to recruit a sample of 152 facilitators and 1,134 participants of which 519 of the participants were male and 613 of the participants were females. Additionally, 21 of the facilitators were male and 131 of the facilitators were female. Requirements for participants included having been previously married with no children or having children from a previous relationship that formed a current …

Evaluating A Financial Assessment Tool: The Financial Checkup, Alena C. Johnson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to evaluate The Financial Checkup program. The program consisted of a booklet called The Financial Checkup and a 1-1 ½ hour workshop explaining the booklet. The booklet helps individuals evaluate their financial situation on an annual basis. It includes a net worth statement, an income and expense statement, financial ratios, a revolving savings worksheet, a retirement worksheet, a life insurance worksheet, a financial goals worksheet, and a budget worksheet. The Financial Checkup covers the topics of debt, savings, retirement, taxes, insurance, goals, and budgeting.

The stages of change model developed by James Prochaska was …

Internalizing Symptoms In Adolescents: Assessment And Relationship To Self-Concept, Sue Ann Dowd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Internalizing disorders cause serious psychological problems for many adolescents. The effects can be both debilitating and long lasting. However, assessment of internalizing disorders has been plagued by limited measurement strategies. Historically, individual measures were developed to assess the narrow-band symptoms that are subsumed under the broad construct of internalizing disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, and social withdrawal). Recently, the Internalizing Symptom Scale for Adolescents has been created. The Internalizing Symptom Scale for Adolescents is a short screening measure that includes newer models of affect such as the tripartite model of affect. Additionally, there has been limited research on the …

The Development Of An Instrument For The Assessment Of Obesity-Related Cognitions, David E. Christian

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This dissertation involved the design and validation of the Obesity Cognitions Inventory (OCI) which was intended to quantify cognitions associated with obesity. An initial pool of 117 items was refined through expert ratings, a pilot test involving 59 subjects, and a major test and validation using 217 subjects.

The resulting 56-item instrument contains scales measuring five types of cognitions: Personal Control, Dietary Restraint, Cost-Benefit Beliefs, Health Knowledge, and Self-Concept. Test-retest reliabilities for these scales range from .69 to .83 and Cronbach alphas range from .57 to .82. Concurrent criterion validity of the OCI was assessed through two methods (a) correlations …

Assessment-Based Treatment For Physically Abusive Parents: An Exploratory Study, Scott E. Blickenstaff

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Literature on child abuse supports the conception that physical abuse is a multidetermined behavior. Multifaceted treatment programs have shown some promise in dealing with the heterogeneity of abusive parents. Most of the reported comprehensive intervention programs have provided predetermined doses of a variety of treatment components to each subject. The intent of this study was two-fold: (a) to provide treatment components based on assessment of the parent and (b) to train the parent to a specified level of competency. A multiple baseline design was used in this clinical study of six agency-referred, physically abusive parents. Based on initial assessment and …

Energy Analysis Of Flat Water Recreation: An Economic Assessment, Craig Leon Howell

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Energy analysts believe that traditional economics and energy markets undervalue the only absolutely limited resource, energy. They have produced methods to supplement or supercede economics.

However, theoretical underpinnings of these methods include an energy theory of value which is shown to be too narrow to support workable economic models or numeraires. Sample rankings of recreational values on four Utah reservoirs, using energy analysis and economic methods, show that the two methods yield opposite rankings.

The Economics Of Information And Spatial Price Behavior: An Empirical Assessment Of Producer's Cattle Prices In The Western Region Of The Usa: 1973-1981, Maria Lourdes Del Rosario Juan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study is an empirical verification of the theories of the economics of information at the cattle producer's market in the U.S. Western Region. Weekly data on producer's price quotations were obtained from CATTLEFAX for 1973 through 1981. The three major objectives of the research are: first, to determine whether price dispersion exists in the cattle producer's market in the Western Region: second, if significant price dispersion are shown to exist, to determine the nature of the regional price distribution; and third, if price dispersion do exist, to determine the implications of the dispersion relative to competitive structure, efficient informational …

An Assessment Of Faculty Understanding And Attitudes Toward General Education At Utah State University, Scott H. Gittins

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The data used for the following thesis were collected from tape-recorded interviews of a sample of U.S.U. faculty, and from a course evaluation list which each of these participating faculty members were asked to fill out. Thirty-six faculty members were selected for the in-depth interviews, which was slightly more than five percent of the faculty. The study was done in conjunction with the Provost's General Education Evaluation Committee, as part of a larger evaluation of general education at U.S.U. Thirty-four of the U.S.U. professors were interviewed and 28 of these completed the course evaluation lists.

This thesis evaluates faculty conceptualizations …

Prediction And Assessment Of Liked And Non-Liked Teachers As Rated By Various Student Groups, Nancy Ladee Fleming

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to: (1) determine whether the test scores on the CPI and Teacher Inventory serve as predictors of "liked" and "non-liked" teachers, and (2) determine whether various student groups (minority, Anglo, disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged) rate "liked" and "non-liked" teachers differently on each of the three variables of the Teacher Inventory.

Ninety-two sophomore students, representing race and economic factors rated the 37 teachers of required sophomore subject matter classes on a Like-Dislike Scale and the Teacher Inventory. Two lists were thus generated: (1) teachers to whom various students rated as "liked" teachers, and (2) teachers to whom various …

The Development Of Equalization And Assessment In Utah With Special Reference To The Assessment Of Rural Lands In Cache County, Theodore R. Maughan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Uniformity of assessments and equity in the taxation of all tangible property within the state has long been the ideal of the people of Utah, yet the history of equalization and assessment is replete with the effective blocking - by pressure groups - of attainment of this ideal. Taxing officials, in general, and students of taxation, in particular, have repeatedly pointed out gross inequalities and rank injustices in our assessing system which should be corrected. But, selfish interest plus ignorance on the part of the taxpayer has permitted these abuses to remain in our taxing system. An accidental, hit-and-miss, guess …