Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Elementary Aged Students' Fluency Growth In Written Expression: Predicting Fluency Growth For Girls And Boys In General Education, Adrea J. Truckenmiller

Psychology - Dissertations

Research on evidence-based writing intervention practices as well as reliable and valid assessments of elementary-aged students' writing fluency has been lacking compared to other academic areas (i.e., reading). Performance feedback interventions targeting writing fluency are gaining empirical support (Eckert et al., 2006); however, growth trajectories for elementary-aged students' writing fluency over a short period of time and contributing variables have not been explored. The purpose of this study was to model students' writing fluency growth as it relates to: (a) instructional practices, (b) sex differences, and (c) individual student's initial level of writing fluency. A total of 133 third-grade students …

Positively Versus Negatively Charged Moral Emotion Expectancies In Adolescence: The Role Of Situational Context And The Developing Moral Self, Tobias Krettenauer, Megan Johnston

Psychology Faculty Publications

The study analyses adolescents' positively charged versus negatively charged moral emotion expectancies. Two hundred and five students (M = 14.83 years, SD = 2.21) participated in an interview depicting various situations in which a moral norm was either regarded or transgressed. Emotion expectancies were assessed for specific emotions (pride, guilt) as well as for overall strength and valence. In addition, self-importance of moral values was measured by a questionnaire. Results revealed that positively charged emotion expectancies were more pronounced in contexts of prosocial action than in the context of moral transgressions, whereas the opposite was true for negatively charged …

A Qualitative Study On Online Social Networks And Language Mistakes, Buket Akkoyunlu, Meryem Yılmaz Soylu

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to put the suggestions of the students for the solutions towards caring Turkish by examining their projects carried out by Primary School 7th and 8th grade students in the online social networks (Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs) in order to detect the wrong use of Turkish. The case study among the qualitative research methods was used. In the study, 7th and 8th grade students examined how Turkish (language) is used in the correspondences in the online social networks (Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs), detected the mistakes and presented solution suggestions towards the correct use …

The Most Ethical Of People, The Least Ethical Of People: Proposing Self-Determination Theory To Measure Professional Character Formation, Lawrence S. Krieger

Scholarly Publications

No abstract provided.

Language Acculturation Discrepancy In Latina/O Families And Its Relationship With Emotional And Behavioral Problems, Jonathan P. Muther

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study is an assessment of whether a language acculturation discrepancy (LAD) within families is most predictive of emotional and behavioral problems for Latina/o youth when relevant variables are controlled. A sample of predominantly Mexican American parent-child dyads was recruited to complete a language-based measure of acculturation and parent participants completed an assessment of their child's emotional and behavioral functioning. Results indicated a total difference value between parent-child levels of language acculturation to be most predictive of the outcome. Additionally, the child's level of language acculturation, independent of that of the parent, was also found to account for a …

Theory Of Mind Understanding In Narration: A Study Among Children From Different Socioeconomic Backgrounds In India, Nandita Babu

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

This study investigates the theory of mind understanding as reflected in the narratives of children from families of low as well as high socioeconomic-status (SES). A group of 30 Hindi-speaking children from six to seven years of age and their mothers participated in this study. Children were asked to narrate six stories prompted by pictures and standard verbal probes. In addition, they were also administered false-belief tasks to assess their theory of mind understanding. Later, their mothers were asked to narrate three stories to their children. Content analysis of the stories indicated the frequency of occurrence of words referring to …

Validation Of The Infant-Toddler Home Inventory Among Households In Low Income Communities At The Kenyan Coast, Penny Holding, Amina Abubakar, Elizabeth Obiero, Fons J. R. Van De Vijver

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

The aim of this paper is to describe the adaptations made to the Infant-Toddler version of the Home Observation Measure of the Environment for use in a low income Kenyan population. A total of 425 (214 girls) children aged 6-35 months were involved in this cross-sectional study. Focus groups and in-depth individual interviews were used to generate culturally appropriate modifications. Translations and back translations of the HOME were carried out using a Panel Approach. A significant number of items from the original HOME (N = 26) showed limited variability and were excluded from the final schedule. Two more items were …

The Effect Of Strategies On Relieving Initial And Recurring Tip Of The Tongue States, Cheryl Elizabeth Emery

Theses Digitization Project

One of the most common forms of memory failure is the phenomenon known as "tip-of-the-tongue" (TOT) where you can't quite articulate a particular word even though you know that you know it. Strategies for resolving this phenomenon were explored in two experiments. This thesis explored the effectiveness of different strategies for resolving the TOT experience.

The Plight Of “Big Black Dogs” In American Animal Shelters: Color-Based Canine Discrimination, Amanda Leonard

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

The paper begins by describing Big Black Dog Syndrome and its effects in shelters across the United States. I then discuss the physical and environmental factors that contribute to BBD Syndrome; Western symbolism associated with the color black, historical examples of black dogs as negative entities in Western culture, and the concept of “unconscious background checking,” which negatively impacts the adoption rates of BBDs. Lastly, I offer some suggestions as to how shelters in the United States can ameliorate the negative effects of BBD Syndrome.

Beyond Anthropomorphism: Attributing Psychological Properties To Animals, Kristin Andrews

Attitudes Towards Animals Collection

In the context of animal cognitive research, “anthropomorphism” is defined as the attribution of uniquely human mental characteristics to non-human animals. Those who worry about anthropomorphism in research are confronted with the question of which properties are uniquely human. As animals, humans and non-human animals1 share a number of biological, morphological, relational, and spatial properties. In addition, it is widely accepted and humans and animals share some psychological properties such as the ability to fear or desire. These claims about the properties animals share with humans are often the products of empirical work.

Pantomime In Great Apes: Evidence And Implications, Ann E. Russon, Kristin Andrews

Sentience Collection

We recently demonstrated, by mining observational data, that forest-living orangutans can communicate using gestures that qualify as Pantomime. Pantomimes, like other iconic gestures, physically resemble their referents. More elaborately, pantomimes involve enacting their referents. Holding thumb and finger together at the lips and blowing between them to mean balloon is one example. Here we sketch evidence of pantomime in other great apes, methodological concerns, and sophisticated cognitive capabilities that great ape pantomimes suggest.

Social Knowledge, Keith Jensen, Joan B. Silk, Kristin Andrews, Redouan Bshary, Dorothy L. Cheney, Nathan Emery, Charlotte K. Hemelrijk, Kay Holekamp, Derek C. Penn, Josef Perner, Christoph Teufel

Sentience Collection

The social milieus of animals can be complex, ranging from almost completely asocial to monogamous pairs (no mean feat) to entire societies. To adapt to a constantly shifting environment of individuals striving toward their own goals, animals appear to have evolved specialized cognitive abilities. As appealing and intuitive as the idea of social cognition is, just defi ning it is diffi cult. We attempted to delineate social cognition, speculate on its adaptive value, and come to an understanding of what we mean when we talk about complexity. Transitive inference was often brought up as an example of a cognitive ability …

Qualitative Behavioural Assessment And Quantitative Physiological Measurement Of Cattle Naïve And Habituated To Road Transport, C. A. Stockman, T. Collins, A. L. Barnes, D. Miller, S. L. Wickham, D. T. Beatty, D. Blache, F. Wemelsfelder, P. A. Fleming

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

The present study examined whether observers could distinguish between cattle that are naïve to road transport and the same cattle after becoming more habituated to transport. The behavioural expression of cattle was assessed through the method of qualitative behavioural assessment (QBA), and these assessments were correlated with various physiological parameters. Fourteen Angus steers were assessed during their first road trip and then again on their ninth trip, 15 days later. Blood samples were collected immediately before and after transport, and heart rate and core body temperature were measured continuously throughout each trip. Video footage recorded during each trip was edited …

Effects Of Bilingualism On Goal Representation And Maintenance, Amina Saadaoui

Theses Digitization Project

The main focus of this study was to examine whether the bilingual advantage in cognitive control is due to the bilinguals' ability to represent and maintain goal information in working memory. Cognitive control, also referred to as executive control, is the ability to inhibit one cognitive task while executing another task.

Why Altered States Are Not Enough: A Perspective From Buddhism, Igor Berkhin, Glenn Hartelius

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Transpersonal psychology has at times employed Buddhist terminology in ways that do not

reflect distinctions that underlie these tightly defined terms. From a Buddhist perspective,

attempts to equate Buddhist terms with language from other traditions are misdirected, and

produce results that no longer represent Buddhism. For example, it is an error to translate

certain Buddhist terms as referring to a shared universal consciousness; Buddhism explicitly

rejects this idea. Nor is it appropriate to assume that the generic, cross-traditional altered

state of nondual awareness postulated in some transpersonally-related circles is in any way

related to nirvana or other advanced states described …

The Cognitive Neuroscience Of Consciousness, Mysticism And Psi, Les Lancaster

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The greatest contemporary challenge in the arena of cognitive neuroscience concerns the

relation between consciousness and the brain. Over recent years the focus of work in this

area has switched from the analysis of diverse spatial regions of the brain to that of the

timing of neural events. It appears that two conditions are necessary in order for neural

events to become correlated with conscious experience. First, the firing of assemblies of

neurones must achieve a degree of coherence, and, second, reflexive (i.e. top-down, or reentrant)

neural pathways must be activated. It does not, of course, follow that such neural …

Clearing Up Rollo May’S Views Of Transpersonal Psychology And Acknowledging May As An Early Supporter Of Ecopsychology, Mark A. Schroll, John Rowan, Oliver Robinson

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This paper explores Rollo May’s 1992 reassessment of transpersonal psychology, in which he reverses

his 1986 and 1989 arguments against transpersonal psychology. Equally relevant, this paper shows

that May was actually interested in supporting what is now called ecopsychology. Schroll (following

Alan Drengson and Arne Naess) now refers to ecopsychology as transpersonal ecosophy. This paper

offers a thorough examination of several key concerns that May had regarding his reservations

toward accepting transpersonal psychology’s legitimacy, and includes May’s vigorous discussion with

Ken Wilber. Wilber’s discussion with Kirk Schneider’s 1987 and 1989 critique of transpersonal

psychology is also examined. Likewise Albert Ellis’ …

Yamato Kotoba: The Language Of The Flesh, Yukari Kunisue, Judy Schavrien

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

This inquiry builds on the work of such thinkers as David Abram and Maurice Merleau-

Ponty; like their work, it addresses the fact that people in the Western developed world,

through their acculturations, sacrifice intimacy with the natural world. The article explores

one remedial measure: the Yamato Kotoba language of the Japanese. This is a language

before the Chinese injection of spoken and written words, one that preserves the earlier

words better suited, the authors propose, to expressing the interpenetrating experience of

the person with—in this case the Japanese—natural setting. Such an intimacy appears, for

instance, in Basho’s Haiku. In …

\African-Centered Psychology, Education And The Liberation Of African Minds: Notes On The Psycho-Cultural Justification For Reparations, Karanja Keita Carroll, Dereef F. Jamison

Publications and Research

One means through which reparations can be provided to communities of African descent within America is through the creation and institutionalization of culturally enriching after-school programming, African-centered Saturday schools and independent Black educational institutions. Rather than looking to reparations as merely financial compensation for the descendants of the formerly enslaved, we can look to reparations as they relate to the building of educational infrastructures that will impact future generations of African descendants in America. This essay outlines the psychological and epistemological consequences of miseducation that many students of African descent experience within the Eurocentrically orientated education institutions they attend; The …

The Relationship Between Course Syllabi And Participant Evaluation Reactions Across Web-Based And Face-To-Face Courses, David Richard Glerum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A common form of training or education evaluation involves the examination of course participant reactions towards various aspects of the course for summative evaluation purposes. Participant reactions have been examined within the framework of a comparison between online and face to face courses often with a slight positive weight towards online courses (Sitzmann et al., 2006). Past research on this topic has denoted a need for studies examining the relationship between objective course characteristics and participant reactions. This paper seeks to examine the relationship between participant reactions of a sample of geographically disbursed teachers enrolled in a large, national professional …

Does Environmental Enrichment While Studying Improve Recall?, Jade-Isis A. Lefebvre, Jordan S. Lefebvre, Lionel G. Standing

Modern Psychological Studies

Previous research suggests that studying audio and visual stimuli in two different rooms increases verbal recall, as compared to studying twice in only one room (Smith, Glenberg, & Bjork, 1978). The present study utilized this paradigm, and also separated the room and modality factors as sources of environmental enrichment. In Experiment 1, subjects learned a list of 40 common English words twice, in either one or two different rooms, and were tested in a third room (N = 60). In Experiment 2, subjects learned the same word lists, using either one or two modalities (audition and vision), and again were …

Individual Differences In Hemispheric Lateralization Of Language Processing, Sarah Ann Van Dyke

Wayne State University Dissertations

Conclusions in the literature regarding the relationship between a lateralized bias in the processing of information and individual differences (e.g., biological sex, gender identity, ability, personality) are inconsistent. We compared two different measures of laterality: dichotic listening and lateralized semantic priming and their relation to sex, verbal and visual-spatial ability, gender identity, and personality.

Eighty-nine adults (44 women, 45 men) were administered the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, Bem Sex Role Inventory, and Big Five Inventory in addition to a dichotic listening task and a lateralized semantic priming task that compared ipsilateral and contralateral priming in order to determine the …

Estonians And Russians In Contemporary Estonia: Is The Soviet Past Still Dominating The Present?, Aksel Kirch, Tarmo Tuisk, Hanna-­‐Hulda Reinkort

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

The current article focuses on a study about Estonians and Russians living in Estonia. As a method we used Identity Structure Analysis (ISA) to investigate their patterns of identification with 'Estonians', 'Russians in Estonia', 'Russians in Russia', and 'Estonian Government'. The themes embraced constructions of the past, including the context of the Soviet Union's role in WWII. Findings suggest that alarming events on the streets of Tallinn (April 2007) appear to be related to the role of the Soviet Union in WWII inter alia, where its construction as 'occupier' of Eastern Europe (as opposed to 'liberator') forms a 'core evaluative …

Demographic And Offense-Related Variables In Pennsylvania Court-Ordered Placements For Juveniles, Kristen N. Asplin, Diane T. Marsh, Adeline Beighley

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

When making placement decisions for juvenile offenders, court officers often consider the types of charges listed against them. We examined the pattern of offenses charged to residents of 7 types of placements in 1 county in Pennsylvania over a period of 2 years. Consistent, predictable patterns were found across placements, with more restrictive placements assigned to juveniles with more severe offenses, although there remained a considerable degree of variation in offenses represented in each placement type. The pattern of placements was different between genders as well, with female offenders being placed in less restrictive care even more often than their …

The Effects Of School Home Communication And Reading Fluency In Kindergarten Children, Farjana Khan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many researchers have documented that reading fluency scores continue to be a national concern for the United States and have suggested that early reading failure has long-term detrimental effects on society. However, much less is known regarding specific interventions that could reduce this concern. Investigators in other studies have suggested the development of early school-home partnerships to improve reading scores. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a systematic school-home intervention to improve reading fluency scores. Following the theoretical foundation of emergent literacy theory and Joyce Epstein's framework, the research question focuses on the association …

Emotional Intelligence And Graduate Student Satisfaction At Online Institutions Of Higher Education, Christa Thompson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The effect of emotional intelligence (EI) among students in education settings could prove essential to determining the needs of student satisfaction leading to retention and graduation. However, lack of research has yet to determine whether EI is an important factor of student satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative survey study was to determine whether a relationship exists between EI in graduate students and satisfaction with their overall academic experience at their online institution of higher education. Participants included graduate students enrolled in a masters' or doctoral program at an online institution of higher education. They were surveyed to measure their …

Parent Perceptions Of Preadolescent Giftedness And Self Concept, Letitia Pickel

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Parent perceptions of preadolescent giftedness with regard to the social-emotional development and self-concept of their children were investigated for this study. This study utilized a qualitative approach through information provided by the parents of 21 preadolescent children, with IQ‘s of 110 and above, who participate in a suburban school districts gifted and talented / enrichment program. Interviews were conducted with each parent and included 7 open-ended questions that were intended to elicit personal views regarding their child‘s social-emotional development and self-concept. Information from these interviews, incorporated with the background and demographic questionnaire were examined for potential themes and patterns with …

The Social Construction Of Self, Kenneth J. Gergen

Psychology Faculty Works

This article evaluates the view that the self is social constructed. It explains that a social constructionist approach to the self is critical insofar as it targets many of the traditional conceptions of self under discussion in this volume. It analyses the primary use of the term self in psychological and mental discourse, suggesting many ways in which the sources of knowledge about the realm of the mental are open to question. It cites the work of Michel Foucault and others who develop a sustained critique of what may be the dark side of the construction of the self as …

The Effect Of Speaker-Specific Information On Pragmatic Inferences, Daniel J. Grodner, J. Sedivy

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Relational Being In Question: A Reply To My Colleagues, Kenneth J. Gergen

Psychology Faculty Works

I thank my colleagues for their generosity and their engaging reactions to my book. It is interesting, as well, to see the variations in the readings they give to the text. Churchill's initial view that I am not offering ontology is useful, as it speaks to a pervasive concern within the other commentaries that I am dismissing or dismantling cherished concepts of agency, experience, responsibility, and, indeed, physical reality. I underscore that the conception of relational being-just as these concepts-is a social construction. I do not wish to debate ontology but, rather, to explore how such constructions function, for good …