Digital Commons Network^™

Latter-Day Saint Returned Missionaries In The United States: A Survey On Religious Activity And Postmission Adjustment, Bruce A. Chadwick, Richard J. Mcclendon

Faculty Publications

Each year, approximately twenty to thirty thousand Latter-day Saint young adults leave to serve missions throughout the world. Once these young adults return home from their missionary service, most go on to further their education, begin a career, marry, and establish a family. Returned missionaries are a unique group in the Church and are often a point of interest. Parents, for example, note the challenges their missionary has as he or she makes the transition from the mission field to home. They sometimes observe their returned missionary confronting increased stress levels as he or she shifts from the singular focus …

Adapt: A Cognitive Architecture For Robots, Deryle W. Lonsdale, D. Paul Benjamin, Damian M. Lyons

Faculty Publications

The goal of the ADAPT project is to create a robot that can model its environment accurately in real time, and use that model to perform tasks and interact with people using natural language.

Resolving Automatic Prepositional Phrase Attachments By Non-Statistical Means, Deryle W. Lonsdale, Michael B. Manookin

Faculty Publications

Prepositional-phrase attachment is a topic of active research in the field of computational linguistics. Properly attaching prepositional phrases to their pertinent constituent proves straightforward for humans, but inferring these attachments in a cognitive modeling system becomes difficult. For example, in the sentence, ‘Ralph threw the frisbee to John,’ the prepositional phrase ‘to John’ will attach to the verb phrase ‘threw’. In another example, ‘Joe saw the dog with fur,’ the prepositional phrase ‘with fur’ will attach directly to the noun phrase ‘the dog.’ Humans would have little difficulty resolving these examples, but for computers this would be difficult.

A Computational Approach To Resolving Certain Issues In Spanish Stress Placement, David Eddington

Faculty Publications

Previous research into Spanish stress assignment suggests that accentuation involves learning and storing individual word tokens along with their inherent stress patterns, and analogizing on stored words when the need arises to determine the stress pattern of an unknown or unavailable word. Exactly what variables are most relevant to stress assignment has been hotly debated. In the present study, a number of analogical simulations were carried out to determine whether elements of the CV tier, syllable weight, phonemic representation, or a combination of these, best accounts for accentuation in Spanish.

Connections Between Teacher And Student Attitudes Regarding Script Choice In First-Year Japanese Language Classrooms, Dan Dewey

Faculty Publications

This study investigates connections between teacher and student attitudes related to the delayed (or immediate) introduction of Japanese script in the Japanese language classroom. Two groups of students completed questionnaires concerning their attitudes toward the immediate or delayed introduction of Japanese script and the use of romaji (romanized Japanese) in the Japanese as a second language classroom. The first group was introduced to Japanese script immediately, and romaji was not used in their textbook. The second group used a romaji textbook and was introduced toJapanese script at a later time and a slower rate. Teacher attitudes were also assessed using …

Redesigning The Teacher Education Technology Course To Emphasize Integration, Charles R. Graham, Richard Culatta, Mitchell Pratt, Richard West

Faculty Publications

Teacher education programs in the United States are trying to equip tomorrow’s teachers with the technology skills needed to impact learning in the classroom. During the past decade there has been a realization that teaching technology skills alone is not adequate– pre-service teachers must also learn how to integrate the use of technology into their curriculum. This paper describes BYU’s instructional technology course and the design process that a team of instructors went through to redesign the course in order to put greater emphasis on technology integration. An iterative redesign approach was used. Several iterations of the course redesign will …

Why Do Auditors Over-Rely On Weak Analytical Procedures? The Role Of Outcome And Insensitivity To Precision, Steven M. Glover, Douglas F. Prawitt, T. Jeffrey Wilks

Faculty Publications

Recent evidence from highly publicized frauds and from the Public Oversight Board’s Panel on Audit Effectiveness (2000) indicates that auditors sometimes over-rely on weak evidence supporting a clean audit opinion. In experiment 1 we examine whether a favorable outcome, together with insensitivity to factors relating to the strength of evidence, could lead to over-reliance on weak substantive procedures. In experiment 2 we examine whether an explicit ex ante prompt can sensitize auditors to the weaknesses of an unreliable substantive procedure. Our examination is conducted in the context of substantive analytical procedures that are performed to provide evidence during the substantive …

Fathering In A Beijing, Chinese Sample: Associations With Boys' And Girls' Negative Emotionality And Aggression, Chongming Yang, Craig H. Hart, David A. Nelson, Christin L. Porter, Susanne F. Olsen, Clyde C. Robinson, Shenhua Jin

Faculty Publications

Whether specific patterns of parenting are similarly associated with child outcomes in diverse cultural contexts has been a topic of inquiry for the past several decades. Most recently, attention has focused on Asian parenting and the indigenous meanings of parental control among specific Asian groups as contrasted with Western cultures (Chao & Tseng, 2002). Recent debates in this literature center on whether coercive parenting has similar meanings for mainland Chinese and North American children and their parents (e.g., Grusec, 2002; Lau & Yeung, 1996). To further address the question of whether there is a universal nature to parenting and its …

Reevaluating Course Completion In Distance Education—Avoiding The Comparison Between Apples And Oranges, Scott L. Howell, R. Dwight Laws, Nathan K. Lindsay

Faculty Publications

Critics of distance education frequently assert that completion rates are lower in distance education courses than in traditional courses. Such criticism comes despite sparse and inconclusive research on completion rates for distance and traditional education courses. This article reviews some of the existing research and then describes some of the caveats and complexities in comparing completion rates in traditional and distance education. Analysis reveals that numerous factors make comparison between these two formats difficult, if not impossible. Problems include limitations in the research design itself, differences in student demographics, and inconsistent methods of calculating and reporting completion. After exploring these …

Ten Efficient Research Strategies For Distance Learning, Thomas C. Wright, Scott L. Howell

Faculty Publications

Today's distance education administrator, frequently with an expertise in another academic discipline, is also supposed to be a distance education scholar. This expectation results from the recent interest in distance learning that nearly all institutions of learning and disciplines of study have shown. More research, studies, journals, and essays about distance education also exist than at any other time.

A distance education administrator and an education research librarian at Brigham Young University have teamed up to identify ten pragmatic research strategies to help new, busy, and even a few experienced distance education administrators stay current in their field and successful …

Analysis Of End-Of-Life Content In Critical Care Nursing Textbooks, Karin T. Kirchhoff, Renea L. Beckstrand, Prashanth Reddy Anumandla

Faculty Publications

Nurses have identified a need for improving their knowledge and skills in providing end-of-life care. Critical care nursing textbooks can serve as an important source of information on end-of-life care for critical care nurses. Hence, an analysis of end-of-life content in 14 critical care nursing textbooks was conducted. Critical care nursing textbooks used for review were published in 1995 or later and identified from the libraries at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Brigham Young University. The end-of-life content areas identified by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), under which the AACN end-of-life competencies for undergraduate nursing students can …

Analysis Of Weight-Related Advertisements And Nutrition Articles In Popular Women's Magazines, Jennifer Cardall Jacobson

Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to discover whether the weight-related messages and themes from food advertisements in women's magazines reinforce or contradict the messages communicated in nutrition-related articles focusing on weight control within the same magazines.

Design: Content analysis of 48 issues of weight-related content six popular women's magazines, 2001-2002. There were three magazines in each of two categories, "homemaking" and "health." All food and nutrition advertisements were analyzed (n=954), along with all nutrition articles (n=336). Advertisements and articles were identified as being either weight-related or non-weight-related. Type of food/product advertised, claims used to market the product, and …

Design And Development Of The Self-Efficacy For Musical Studies Scale, Kathryn Rae Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

Scale development in psychological studies is an area of intense growth (Clark & Watson, 1995). This report builds upon academic interest in the value of producing viable measurement tools. The purpose of this research project was to evaluate a self-efficacy measurement scale intended to determine individual music students' perceptions of capability. The areas of interest were four self-regulatory skill domains: strategy use, planning, monitoring, and evaluating in two music environments: independent practicing and performance.

This report describes the development and analysis of the Self-efficacy for Musical Studies (SEMS) scale. The report includes statistical analysis of the response data from formative …

A Challenge To The Orthodoxy Concerning Microfinance And Poverty Reduction, Ana Marr

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

As a response to many partial and simplistic theoretical and empirical studies, this paper presents a more comprehensive analytical framework to assess the success of microfinance in achieving its dual objectives of financial sustainability and poverty reduction. By giving center stage to the study of group dynamics and using principles of imperfect information and social psychology, the paper argues that microfinance not only has failed to solve the original problems of information asymmetries between borrowers and lenders but also, in its pursuit of financial sustainability, is destroying the very foundations of these schemes by disrupting the social fabric of communities, …

Attitudes Of Rural Branch Manages In Madhya Pradesh, India, Toward Their Role As Providers Of Financial Services To The Poor, Howard Jones, Marylin Williams, Yashwant Thorat, Abba Thorat

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

Discussions on banking reforms to reduce financial exclusion have referred little to possible attitudinal constraints, on the part of staff at both branch and institutional levels, inhibiting the provision of financial services to the poor. The research project, funded by the ESCOR (now Social Science Research) Small Grants Committee, has focused on this aspect of financial exclusion. The research commenced in May 2001 and was completed in April 2002. Profiles of the rural bank branch managers, including personal background, professional background and workplace, are presented. Attitudes of managers toward aspects of their work environment and the rural poor are examined, …

About The Sigma Staff, Sigma: Journal Of Political And International Studies

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Understanding Why Adult Participants At The World Senior Games Choose A Healthy Diet, Ray M. Merrill, Eric C. Shields

Faculty Publications

Identifying those seniors most likely to adopt a healthy diet, the relative importance they place on certain perceived benefits associated with a healthy diet, and whether these perceived benefits are associated with selected demographic, lifestyle, and health history variables is important for directing effective dietary health promotion programs. Methods: Analyses are based on a cross-sectional convenience sample of 670 seniors aged 50 years and older at the 2002 World Senior Games in St. George, Utah. Data are assessed using frequencies, bivariate analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple logistic regression analysis. Results Fruit and vegetable consumption was significantly higher in individuals …

Predictors Of General Medical Use Among Individuals Seeking Therapy For Marital And Family Problems, Jacob D. Christenson

Theses and Dissertations

A number of studies have examined variables associated with medical use. However, most of the studies deal with samples that are not easily generalizable to other populations. In particular, no study is known to have looked at general medical use among people seeking services for marital and family problems. In this study, medical use of participants from the marriage and family therapy services at Brigham Young University Comprehensive Clinic was investigated to determine the best predictors of general medical use. Best subsets multiple linear regression showed that the best overall predictors of general medical use were anxiety and hostility.

Full Issue Fall 2003

Inscape

No abstract provided.

New Appointments, Stanford University, University Of Pittsburgh, University Of Washington East Asia Library, University Of Hawaii, Karen Wei

Journal of East Asian Libraries

No abstract provided.

The Decay Of The American Dream: Tennessee Williams And The Glass Menagerie, Matthew Squires

Inscape

No abstract provided.

Forming The "Chain Of Chains": Rosalind And The Magic Of Love In As You Like It, Elisa Clements

Inscape

No abstract provided.

Earth Religions And Book Religions: Baroque Catholicism As Openness To Earth Religions, Anthony M. Stevens-Arroyo

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Globalizations: The First Ten, Hundred, Five Thousand, And Million Years, David Wilkinson

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Latin America And Liberation Theology, Dong Sull Choi

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Kroeber's Cultural Configurations, Sorokin's Culture Mentalities, And Generational Time-Series Analysis: A Quantitative Study Of Civilizations, Dean Keith Simonton

Comparative Civilizations Review

No abstract provided.

Spirituality And Self-Worth: The Role Of Religion In Shaping Teens' Self-Image, Brent A. Top, Bruce A. Chadwick, Richard J. Mcclendon

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

A Narrative Approach To Exploring Responsible Involvement Of Fathers With Their Special-Needs Children, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

This chapter briefly summarizes the main findings from research employing narrative methodologies on fathers of children with special needs conducted by me and my students (Brotherson & Dollahite, 1997; Dollahite, 2003; Dollahite, Marks, & Brotherson, 1998; Dollahite, Marks, & Olson, 2002; Marks & Dollahite, 2001; Olson, Dollahite, & White, 2002). This research is consistent with recent emphasis on narrative methods in the social sciences generally (Dollahite, Hawkins, & Brotherson, 1996; Josselson & Lieblich, 1993; McAdams, 1993; Riessman, 1993; Sarbin, 1986) and with recent narrative studies of fathers of special-needs children (Brotherson, 1995) and fathers and religion, (Latshaw, 1998; Marshall, Olsen, …

The Spiritual Self: Toward A Conceptualization Of Spiritual Identity Development, Timothy B. Smith, Justin B. Poll

Faculty Publications

Both researchers and practitioners have demonstrated considerable interest in identity development, and positive personal identities have been associated with numerous positive mental health outcomes. However, major theories of identity development have neglected the salience of spiritual identity, even though the early work of William James placed this as a central component of personality. This article reviews four major theories of identity development (cognitive, psychodynamic, systems, and narrative) and suggests spiritual identity parallels to these theories. A tentative model of spiritual identity development is presented. Implications for therapy and future research concerning spiritual identity development are discussed.

News: Religiousness Associated With Less Depression, Says Byu/U. Of Miami Study, Grant Madsen

Marriage and Families

No abstract provided.