Digital Commons Network^™

Retaining And Supporting Graduate Racially Minoritized Students: A Critical Analysis, Patricia Y. Gills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to critique the racial status quo of a school psychology graduate training program by gaining the perspectives of former and current racially minoritized students from the program. Additionally, this study aimed to utilize this information to provide implications for how to dismantle the racist and oppressive structures within the school psychology program. This study also aimed to analyze the success of research recommendations in helping racially minoritized students defeat the systemic barriers to completing a school psychology program. I conducted one-hour, semi-structured interviews of eight school psychology graduate racially minoritized students from the school psychology program. I …

Agency: What Does It Mean To Be A Human Being?, Richard N. Williams, Edwin E. Gantt, Lane Fischer

Faculty Publications

This paper will look at the results of what has been termed “the crisis of modernism” and the related rise of postmodern perspectives in the 19th and 20th centuries. It concentrates on what is arguably the chief casualty of this crisis – human agency – and the social science that has developed out of the crisis. We argue that modern and postmodern social science ultimately obviate human agency in the understanding of what it means to be a human being. Attention is given to the contemporary intellectual world and the way in which it has been deeply informed by neo-Hegelian …

The Interaction And Progression Of Adolescent Substance Use And Co-Occurring Mental Health Problems And Social Support: A Latent Growth Modeling Approach, Jeremiah D. Simmons

Psychology ETDs

Background: Few studies have examined a reciprocal parallel process longitudinal trajectory of adolescent substance use and mental health problems simultaneously, and none have described this parallel process for adolescents receiving outpatient substance use treatment. No studies have examined how social support may account for deviations outside the overall trajectories for substance use or mental health problems. Method: Secondary data analysis examined a longitudinal parallel process latent growth model between mental health and substance use problems among adolescents who received outpatient substance use treatment. Results: Findings suggest that mental health and substance use problems are associated both initially and longitudinally, and …

Evidence Of Impact Underpinning Life Education Programs, Katherine Dix, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, Toby Carslake, Shani Sniedze

Wellbeing

This rapid evaluation of core Life Education programs conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) in June 2021 is an independent investigation that demonstrates the evidence base underpinning Life Education programs in primary schools Australia-wide. It presents a national snapshot by drawing upon existing Life Education-specific evaluation data, existing ACER student wellbeing data, and accepted best practice in the field of student health and wellbeing education. The project addressed the key evaluation questions: How are core Life Education programs underpinned by evidence-based best practice, and how are core Life Education programs impacting primary-aged student wellbeing outcomes that align …

Racial And Gender Discrimination Predict Mental Health Outcomes Among Healthcare Workers Beyond Pandemic-Related Stressors: Findings From A Cross-Sectional Survey, Rachel Hennein, Jessica Bonumwezi, Max Jordan Nguemeni Tiako, Petty Tineo, Sarah R. Lowe

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Racial and gender discrimination are risk factors for adverse mental health outcomes in the general population; however, the effects of discrimination on the mental health of healthcare workers needs to be further explored, especially in relation to competing stressors. Thus, we administered a survey to healthcare workers to investigate the associations between perceived racial and gender discrimination and symptoms of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, and burnout during a period of substantial stressors related to the COVID-19 pandemic and a national racial reckoning. We used multivariable linear regression models, which controlled for demographics and pandemic-related stressors. Of the 997 participants (Mean …

Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing (Emdr) Practitioners’ Beliefs About Memory, Sanne T.L. Houben, Henry Otgaar, Jeffrey Roelofs, Ineke Wessel, Lawrence Patihis, Harald Merckelbach

Faculty Publications

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a widely used treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder. The idea behind EMDR is that lateral eye movements may mitigate the emotional impact of traumatic memories. Given the focus on changing patients’ memories, it is important that EMDR practitioners have detailed knowledge about human memory. We explored beliefs and ideas about memory in samples of EMDR practitioners (Study 1: n = 12; Study 2: n = 41), students (Study 1: n =35; Study 2: n = 24), and researchers (Study 2: n = 30). All groups seemed to be aware of the fallibility of …

Estimating The Associations Between Big Five Personality Traits, Testosterone, And Cortisol, Zachary Sundin, Lester Sim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Objective: Hormones are often conceptualized as biological markers of individual differences and have been associated with a variety of behavioral indicators and characteristics, such as mating behavior or acquiring and maintaining dominance. However, before researchers create strong theoretical models for how hormones modulate individual and social behavior, information on how hormones are associated with dominant models of personality is needed. Although there have been some studies attempting to quantify the associations between personality traits, testosterone, and cortisol, there are many inconsistencies across these studies. Methods: In this registered report, we examined associations between testosterone, cortisol, and Big Five personality traits. …

Semantic Network Activation Contributes To The Relationship Between Mood And Inhibition, James S. Maniscalco

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prior research has identified several relationships between mood and executive functions. Very broadly, these findings generally suggest that positive moods are associated with enhanced cognitive performance, particularly in working memory and learning. However, recent studies note that there are some instances in which negative moods may benefit select executive skills, such as those involved in divided attention and inhibition. In sum, these findings indicate that positive moods favor top-down, heuristic, or relational processing, whereas negative trait moods favor bottom-up, detail-oriented processing. However, a clear mechanism by which these effects occur has yet to be identified.

The most compelling theories that …

A Schema-Theoretic Approach To Hierarchy In Eighteenth-Century Tonality, Simon K. S. Prosser

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Prevalent modern-day theories of tonal hierarchy for eighteenth-century music, especially those influenced by the ideas of Heinrich Schenker, have been called into question by schema theorists such as Robert Gjerdingen and Vasili Byros, who argue from both cognitive and historical evidence that eighteenth-century tonal cognition was sequential or “windowed” rather than hierarchical. This dissertation seeks to recuperate the concept of tonal hierarchy in eighteenth-century music, drawing on research that reconstructs the implicit tonal theories of the partimento and thoroughbass traditions, as well as concepts of hierarchy from schema theory itself, to formulate a historically and cognitively grounded theory of tonal …

A Minority Within A Minority: Exploring Identity Development In Relation To Mental Health Outcomes Within The Black Deaf Community, Nekolas Milton

Doctoral Dissertations

Black Deaf people are a double minority group that faces discrimination on multiple fronts. There is little literature on the relationship of cultural identity development and mental health concerns of this marginalized group. This study employs a mixed method approach to examine this relationship and explore the extant culturally tailored interventions targeted towards Black Deaf adults in a clinical setting. There were two phases of this project. Phase 1 included qualitative interviews with service providers of black deaf people to ascertain the type of culturally tailored interventions that are in place for this population. 5 themes emerged: systemic issues, mental …

Aung San Suu Kyi’S Defensive Denial Of The Rohingya Massacre: A Rhetorical Analysis Of Denial And Positive-Image Construction, Idhamsyah Eka Putra, Hema Preya Selvanathan, Ali Mashuri, Cristina Jayme Montiel

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

In December 2019, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accused the Myanmar government of genocide against Rohingya Muslims. Represented by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar authorities denied such accusations. To understand how a political leader can deny ingroup wrongdoings, we unpacked Suu Kyi’s ICJ speech and analyzed her defensive rhetorical style through critical narrative analysis. We aimed to identify and describe the denial strategies Suu Kyi used as well as how she maintained a positive ingroup image to support her position. Our findings showed that Suu Kyi engaged in interpretative denial of genocide by arguing that …

Exploring Standardized Patients' Nonverbal Responses Toward Lgbtq Microagressions, Betty Ngo, Emily J. Noonan Phd, Laura Weingartner Phd

Undergraduate Research Events

Nonverbal behaviors play a significant role in the patient-doctor interaction as it provides cues to underlying unspoken emotions and concerns from the patient (Silverman, 2010). Nonverbal behaviors are most significant when they can be used to reinforce or contradict verbal responses. Thus, it is important for medical students to learn to identify patient non-verbal behaviors through their speech patterns, facial expressions, and body posture, and be able to relate these responses to a positive or adverse patient-physician interaction.

Rising third year medical students were video recorded taking health histories from standardized patients (SP; n = 84) of all gender identities. …

Service Utilization Among Latina Survivors Of Intimate Partner Violence, Alyssa Donovan

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is an international health issue disproportionately affecting women, which is associated with a range of severe physical and mental health sequelae (Black et al., 2011). Research has demonstrated that individual factors, such as violence severity, and systemic factors, such as poverty, affect whether women seek formal help, including mental health, police, and legal services, in response to IPV (Lelaurain, Graziani, & Monaco, 2017). Latina women have voiced many challenges to seeking formal help (Rizo & Macy, 2011). These include limited economic resources, language gaps in service provision, and factors related to immigration (Rizo & Macy, 2011). …

Exploring The Effects Of Smoking Cessation Interventions For Asians And Asian Americans: A Meta-Analytic Review, Amber T. Pham

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Cigarette smoking continues to be a leading health problem in the United States and worldwide. Despite high prevalence rates among some subpopulations of Asians and Asian Americans, little attention has been focused on identifying effective smoking cessation interventions for this group. A meta-analysis examining effect sizes was conducted to test the hypothesis that smoking cessation interventions, overall, improve quit outcomes among Asians and Asian Americans. Factors associated with intervention effectiveness were explored through moderator analyses. Results show that overall, smoking cessation interventions are efficacious for Asians and Asian Americans (OR = 2.33). Moderator analyses revealed high intensity treatments and treatments …

Parent And Child Language Profiles And Their Family And Clinical Predictors, Jesus Eduardo Solano-Martinez

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

A large number of households in the United States include linguistic minority and immigrant parents. These include parents of Latinx backgrounds and their children who have varying levels of English and Spanish proficiency. Research is needed to examine the nature of parent-child language proficiency patterns and differences and their links to family processes and mental health. To address this gap, a sample of 294 Latinx parent-child dyads of predominantly low-income and immigrant backgrounds were interviewed and reported their English and Spanish language proficiency levels. Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) uncovered four parent-child language profiles including three in which there was a …

Cortical Microstructural Changes Associated With Treated Aphasia Recovery, Allen J. Chang, Janina Wilmonskoetter, Julius Fridriksson, Emilie R. Mckinnon, Lorelei P. Johnson, Alexandra Basilakos, Jens H. Jensen, Chris Rorden, Leonardo Bonilha

Faculty Publications

Objectives

To investigate the hypothesis that language recovery in post-stroke aphasia is associated with structural brain changes.

Methods

We evaluated whether treatment-induced improvement in naming is associated with reorganization of tissue microstructure within residual cortical regions. To this end, we performed a retrospective longitudinal treatment study using comprehensive language-linguistic assessments and diffusion MRI sequences optimized for the assessment of complex microstructure (diffusional kurtosis imaging) to evaluate the relationship between language treatment response and cortical changes in 26 individuals with chronic stroke-induced aphasia. We employed elastic net statistical models controlling for baseline factors including age, sex, and time since the stroke, …

The Use Of Introspective Reports To Predict Subsequent Memory: Implementing Machine Learning For Judgment-Of-Learning Paradigms, Nathan Lloyd Anderson

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in machine learning have allowed for the use of natural language responses to predict outcomes of interest to memory researchers such as the confidence with which recognition decisions are made. The present experiments were designed to leverage this novel methodological approach by soliciting free-response justifications of judgments of learning (JOLs) whereby people not only assess the probability with which they will later recognize individual items but also (for some items) justify the reasoning behind their judgment. Across all experiments and conditions, regression models trained on justification language showed above-chance prediction of subsequent memory success and outperformed models trained …

Experiences Of Uc Santa Barbara Female Alumni Exposed To A Gender-Based Mass Shooting, Erin G. Carpenter

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past five decades, mass shootings have emerged as a highly politicized, social problem that generates considerable public sentiment and media attention (Elsass et al., 2014; Rocque & Duwe, 2018; Shultz et al., 2014). Moreover, the increase in mass shootings carried out on or near college campuses have led researchers to focus more intently on the predictors and consequences that characterize these types of attacks (Boykin & Orcutt, 2018; Elsass et al., 2014; Fox & Savage, 2009). One college mass shooting that has received limited empirical attention is the 2014 mass shooting that occurred in Isla Vista, a town …

Independent Contributions Of Structural And Functional Connectivity: Evidence From A Stroke Model, Lynsey M. Keator, Grigori Yourganov, Alexandra Basilakos, Argye E. Hillis, Gregory Hickok, Leonardo Bonilha, Chris Rorden, Julius Fridriksson

Faculty Publications

Altered functional connectivity is related to severity of language impairment in poststroke aphasia. However, it is not clear whether this finding specifically reflects loss of functional coherence, or more generally, is related to decreased structural connectivity due to cortical necrosis. The aim of the current study was to investigate this issue by factoring out structural connectivity from functional connectivity measures and then relating the residual data to language performance poststroke. Ninety-seven participants with a history of stroke were assessed using language impairment measures (Auditory Verbal Comprehension and Spontaneous Speech scores from the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised) and MRI (structural, diffusion tensor …

Am I Black Enough? – Identity And Belongingness Of Second-Generation African Students, Muna Yusuf

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Over the course of the past few years, research regarding Black students has continued to increase. However, a lot of the research regarding Black students has focused heavily on the experiences and outcomes of African American students. Due to the history in the United States, the term Black has become synonymous with African American, leaving out the experiences of many second-generation African children. This explanatory mixed-methods design study examined second-generation African students’ ethnic identity and sense of belonging within the Black community in their school system. This study also compared reported levels of belongingness in college experiences versus high school. …

Evaluating Outcomes Of Trauma-Sensitive Trainings In Schools: A Rapid Review, Laëtitia Sakponou

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Trauma-sensitive schools focus on forming supportive relationships and safe spaces which help build resilience in students. School psychologists have been providing professional development opportunities for school personnel. When evaluating a professional development training, collecting data on teacher acceptability is crucial to understanding factors impacting implementation integrity. The present study is a review of existing literature and seeks to understand how teacher feedback is evaluated and what factors teachers report as impacting implementation. Three publications were selected as participants to be analyzed. Synthesized themes found included the importance of providing foundational knowledge, the significant impact of system climate, and the value …

Exploring The Cultural Humility And Practices Of School Psychologists In Virginia, Bailey Brooks

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

This present study investigated the relationship between cultural competency and years of school psychology experience. In addition, this study determined how well school psychologists understand cultural humility. This study aimed to bridge the gap between school psychology research and that of other fields, as well as the paradigm shift from having a cultural competency lens to a cultural humble lens. Results of the present study indicated there is a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of appropriate assessments and interventions for racially and ethnically minoritized students and years of experience. Additionally, no statistically significant relationship was found between other sub-domains of …

"Like I Was An Actual Researcher": Participation And Identity Trajectories Of Underrepresented Minority And First-Generation Stem Students In Research Training Communities Of Practice, Jennifer Lynn Lindwall

Dissertations and Theses

Although calls for a more diverse workforce in biomedical fields have been widespread, racial and ethnic gaps in biomedical degree attainment remain. Contextualist perspectives seek to understand persistent STEM inequities by examining person-in-context experiences and how systemic factors filter into students' proximal contexts shaping their participation and science identity trajectories. Research training communities of practice aim to offer underrepresented minority and first-generation students support, guidance, and opportunities to learn the practices of science and construct their science identity. However, many students still choose to leave these programs. There is limited research on these students' science identity construction process and their …

Language As A Factor In Aviation Accidents And Serious Incidents: A Handbook For Accident Investigators Ed. 2, Elizabeth Mathews, Anthony T. Brickhouse, Joan Carson Ph.D., Enrique Valdes

Handbooks

The purpose of this handbook is to support accident investigators in the identification and consideration of possible language factors in aviation accidents and serious incidents. This handbook provides guidance, background information, and tools that will assist accident investigators in conducting a systematic review of possible language factors.

Does Working Memory Capacity Modulate The Relationship Between Intentional Mind-Wandering And Task Demand?, Stephen Ware

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Mind wandering (MW) is affected by multiple factors. Among those factors, the present study investigated the effects of working memory capacity on task demands on types of mind wandering. It was hypothesized that individuals with high working memory capacity (WMC) would show more intentional mind wandering in a low demanding task, and in this case, task performance would not be impaired. On the other hand, individuals with low working memory capacity would show more unintentional mind wandering in the high demand condition; therefore, task performance would be affected. Task demand was manipulated with verbal n-back tasks and WMC was measured …

Belonging And Bias : How Diatonicity And Response Bias Affect Pitch Memory In A Probe Tone Task, Jeff Bostwick

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Prior research (e.g., Krumhansl, 1979) using a delayed recognition task has found a memory advantage for standard (to-be-remembered) tones that belong to the key of a tonal context (diatonic tones) over those that do not belong to the key of a tonal context (nondiatonic tones). The advantage is purportedly due to the tonal context differentially supporting diatonic over nondiatonic tones. However, this research confounded a change in pitch with a change in diatonicity, raising the possibility that participants were responding to the diatonicity change rather than relying on memory for the standard tone’s pitch specifically. More recent studies (e.g., Frankland …

A Comparison Of Implicit And Explicit Error Detection And Their Effects On Purchase Intention And Judgments Of Quality, Rachel Fernandes

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In an online study of purchase intent based on Chinese menu inspection, explicitly noticing grammatical errors by hotspot click was more detrimental to judgments of quality than implicit detection by error estimation. When they estimated errors in a survey question (ordinal measure), participants who reported many (more than nine) errors had lower purchase intent and ratings of quality compared to those with few (about six) or no errors. However, with the more novel, continuous measure based on hotspot detection, participant purchase intent did not decrease as the number of errors noticed increased. Importantly, there were no differences between the hotspot …

Modeling Real And Fake News Sharing In Social Networks, Abishai Joy

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Online media is changing the traditional news industry and diminishing the role of journalists, newspapers, and even news channels. This in turn is enhancing the ability of fake news to influence public opinion on important topics. The threat of fake news is quite imminent, as it allows malicious users to share their agenda with a larger audience. Major social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, etc., are making it easy to spread fake news due to the minimal moderation/ fact-checking on these platforms.

This work aims at predicting fake and real news sharing in social media. Specifically, we employ a multi-level …

Simultaneous Bilinguals’ Comprehension Of Accented Speech, Sita Carraturo

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

L2-accented speech recognition has typically been studied with monolingual listeners or late L2-learners, but simultaneous bilinguals may have a different experience: their two phonologies offer flexibility in phonological-lexical mapping (Samuel and Larraza, 2015), which may be advantageous. On the other hand, the two languages cause greater lexical competition (Marian & Spivey, 2003), which may impede successful L2-accented speech recognition. The competition between a bilinguals’ two languages is the oft-cited explanation, for example, as to why bilinguals underperform monolinguals in native-accented speech-in-noise tasks (Rogers et al., 2006). To investigate the effect of bilingualism on L2-accented speech recognition, the current studies compare …

It’S Not You, It’S Me: Measuring Erotic Self–Focus, Evan Fertel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Research suggests the presence of a non-relational aspect of women’s sexuality wherein a focus on oneself may be linked to elevations in sexual desire/arousal. Some theorists have even asserted that women may be, in some ways, their own sexual objects. Building on a previous exploration of what is now termed Erotic Self-Focus (ESF; Fertel, 2015), the present study developed a refined measure of ESF to further assess the validity and nature of this new construct. An exploratory factor analysis revealed four factors: Arousal to Own Body, Self/Own-Gender Focus vs. Partner/Other-Gender Focus, Self-Focused Arousal – Physical, Self-Focused Arousal – Mental. Although …