Digital Commons Network^™

The Art Of Listening: A Conversational Approach To Lecture Recitals, Javor Bracic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Lecture recitals as the practice of pairing live music performance with verbal explication have been around since at least the end of the eighteenth century, but research on them is surprisingly scarce despite how ubiquitous they have become. What exactly are lecture recitals? Where did they originate? How are they conducted? Is there anything we could do to improve upon them?

In this dissertation I not only consider these questions but also propose a new kind of lecture recital I call a conversation concert. After a brief historical overview of lecture-recitalists from Johann Nikolaus Forkel to Rob Kapilow, I showcase …

Predictors Of Lexical Accessibility Of Common And Proper Nouns In Older Age: Evidence From The Tip-Of-The-Tongue State, Amy Victoria Vogel-Eyny

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

One of the notable language difficulties experienced by healthy older adults is word retrieval failure, specifically the tip-of-the-tongue state (TOT). A TOT occurs when one has a strong sense of knowing the word, such that the semantic content is accessed, but the entirety of the word’s phonology is temporarily inaccessible. Such retrieval difficulty is attributable, at least in part, to characteristics of the target word. Psycholinguistic features may uniquely influence the semantic and/or phonological stages of word production. An additional factor known to influence TOT-likelihood is noun type: proper nouns elicit TOTs more often than do common nouns. The discrepancy …

Effects Of Working Memory Load On Ensemble Versus Individual Object Processing, Clark Moore

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Ensemble perception is the ability of the visual system to summarize object groups by their statistical properties. At a fundamental level, past studies show clearly that ensembles are perceived, and statistical information is sent to working memory such that a subject may report on the averages (Ariely, 2001; Brady and Alvarez, 2011). Studies show that subjects are capable of reporting ensemble statistics for large groups of objects with high accuracy, inferring that this process bypasses the capacity limitations of attention and working memory (Chong and Treisman, 2003; Baijal et al., 2013; Huang, 2015; Epstein and Emmanouil, 2017, 2021). However, few …

Environmental Cues And The Sociospatial Imaginary: An Examination Of Spatial Perception And Meaning-Making In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Todd Levon Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What could be more ordinary or pedestrian than two people walking down an urban street and talking about what we see and what we make of it? Yet this simple, quotidian act of walking a street—seeing, perceiving and experiencing physical spaces, places and objects—and making meaning of what is encountered, is the basis of my dissertation. It is also my basis for claiming that I have learned a great deal—and much unexpectedly—about how differently different people see and interpret the urban streetscape. What are the various environmental cues that stand out to different individuals? What are the psychosocial imaginaries that …

Genomic And Ecological Dimensions Of Malagasy Reptile And Amphibian Biodiversity, Arianna L. Kuhn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A long history of isolation coupled with complex topographic and ecological landscapes makes Madagascar ideal for exploring the historical factors that have shaped patterns of population diversity and endemism. Many species-level studies have suggested Late Quaternary climate change may have influenced population dynamics in the tropics, but Madagascar’s ecologically unique biomes or individual species properties may have driven idiosyncratic responses to these shifts. Using community-scale population genetic data I implement a hierarchical approximate Bayesian computation (hABC) approach to evaluate the degree of synchronous population expansion during glacial cycles across herpetofaunal assemblages both within and across discrete biomes and taxonomic groups. …

Poems Of Debate And Praise: Women As Published Authors In Sixteenth-Century France, Anna Soo-Hoo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Non-fictional, published poetic exchanges between men and women in sixteenth-century France provide new perspectives into how women writers operated in a literary culture whose main producers and dominant voice were male. Contrary to the notion repeated by many critics that women of that period were supposed to stay out of the public sphere, my study finds that publishing a woman’s poems did not destroy her reputation, and there appears to have been no major backlash when a man decided to include poems by a female contemporary in his book. My study takes as its point of departure the notion that …

Predicting Stock Price Movements Using Sentiment And Subjectivity Analyses, Andrew Kirby

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In a quick search online, one can find many tools which use information from news headlines to make predictions concerning the trajectory of a given stock. But what if we went further, looking instead into the text of the article, to extract this and other information? Here, the goal is to extract the sentence in which a stock ticker symbol is mentioned from a news article, then determine sentiment and subjectivity values from that sentence, and finally make a prediction on whether or not the value of that stock will go up or not in a 24-hour timespan. Bloomberg News …

The Space Love Maps: A Blackgirl Legend In Three Plots, Loren S. Cahill

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This is a love story from one Blackgirl (Boylorn, 2016) from St. Louis to Blackgirls in Philadelphia. It radically traces love across plots of race, gender, time, space, and affect. This text will provide non-conventional maps for how Blackgirls, young and old, have been memory keepers, cultural workers, love pillars, freedom mappers, and actors since before the inception of American slavery (Brown, 2013; Hartman, 2019; Hooks, 1993; Nash, 2013; Walker, 2004). Specifically, it will argue that we have problematized the settler-colonial project of mapping (McKittrick, 2006) and moved away from viewing space as an entrenchment of empire. Further, we have …

Pedagogy And Love: Preservice Teacher Perspectives, Eleni Stellatos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis argues for the inclusion of positive discipline, culturally relevant pedagogy, and love in both preservice teacher and educational leadership programs. The significance of fostering relationships in a school community are discussed with qualitative data gathered from recent teacher preparation program graduates.

Prophecy, Emanation, And The Mediterranean Middle Ages, Alberto Gelmi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores the notion of prophecy as a semiotic construct in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam on a chronological span that runs from Late Antiquity to the 14^th century. It argues that theories of prophecy offer useful insights in the domain of rhetoric and not just in epistemology, as scholarship has predominantly contended. The first two chapters survey the trendsetting work of Augustine, al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, and Maimonides, arguing that their semiotic angle on prophecy depends on a structural affinity with the metaphysical template of emanationism as formulated by Plotinus and Proclus, whose teachings went often misrepresented or …

The Production Of Russian Vowels /I/ And /Ɨ/ By Russian-English Bilingual Children, Evgeniya Maryutina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study is the first to investigate the production of the Russian vowel contrast /i/-/ɨ/ by Russian-English bilingual children living in New York City. This contrast is interesting because the vowel /ɨ/ is not unanimously recognized as an independent phoneme, based on e.g. its limited occurrence and distribution (Kodzasov & Krivnova, 2010; Matusevich, 1976). Additionally, Russian-speaking children acquire /ɨ/ relatively late in production. Therefore, this contrast’s acquisition may be particularly challenging for bilingual children with more limited exposure and variability in their input and is an interesting test case and contribution to the debate regarding the contrast’s phonological status. In …

Improving The Accuracy Of Juror Self-Reports Of Bias During Rehabilitative Voir Dire, Natalie Gordon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The courts have long acknowledged pretrial publicity (PTP) as a source of juror bias. To safeguard defendants due process rights, jurors who harbor bias are frequently asked during voir dire if they can set aside their bias and be fair and impartial. Yet, jurors’ self-reports of their ability to be fair and impartial are largely inaccurate. For example, regardless of their level of exposure to PTP, jurors typically report an ability to be fair and impartial. Therefore, this method of so-called “juror rehabilitation” is ineffective. This project examines conformity pressures that may be inhibiting accurate self-reporting during juror rehabilitation and …

Using Fnirs To Identify Brain Regions Involved In Emotional Face Processing In Infants At High Risk For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Christian Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Faces provide an abundance of salient information, and within a few hours of being born, infants already show preferential attention to faces and face-like stimuli. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder consisting of social communication and interaction difficulties, and individuals with ASD show differences in the behavioral and neural processing of faces. Prospective studies with infants at high risk for ASD (HRA; by virtue of an older sibling with ASD) have begun to look at whether responses to faces could be an early marker of later ASD. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), the current study measured oxygenated hemoglobin …

Meeting Their Needs: The Algebraic Knowledge And Instructional Preferences Of Students With Learning Disabilities, Kayla Neill

Theses and Dissertations

Students with a learning disability (LD) are experts in their lived experiences within the classroom. Yet, little is known about the ways in which students with LD perceive their instruction in mathematics and whether this instruction meets their learning needs. Similarly, the mathematical thinking and content knowledge of students with LD is often excluded from the literature, particularly concerning algebraic concepts. Six high school students with LD from a large urban school district in the northeast United States participated in this two-part study. Semi-structured interviews were used to explore participants’ perceptions about their instruction within Integrated Co-Taught (ICT) mathematics classes. …

My Body, No Apologies, Maxine Montilus

Theses and Dissertations

“My Body, No Apologies” is a 20 - minute autobiographical dance film, conceived, choreographed and performed by Maxine Montilus, with text from Sonya Renee Taylor’s The Body is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love. The supporting paper examines the impact of family, history and societal forces on her Black female body.

The film premiered on the Hunter College Dance Department’s website, www.hunterdances.com/mybody, on Saturday, May 1, 2021.

Our House, Alina Mogollon-Volk

Theses and Dissertations

Our House is a documentary short film about the role personal archives play in our lives and how they are used to remember lost loved ones. Kevin Volk lost his father, Ernest, when he was just three years old. For years, his questions about Ernest were greeted with platitudes such as, “He would give the shirt off his back,” but very little substance. The film explores how family artifacts have given a window into the man who died of a heart attack at 46 years old and how it helped his son deal with the grief. The things we collect …

Impact Of Warnings On Gamified Personality Assessments, Sabrina Yu

Student Theses and Dissertations

Over the past several years, there has been a growing interest in using gamified and game-based assessments to measure individual differences (e.g., cognitive ability, personality) in both research and selection contexts. This interest, in part, stems from the research showing that gamified assessments are associated with more positive candidate reactions to selection processes and the potential to mitigate faking on personality assessments. To date, little research has examined the impact of gamification on faking overall and little research has combined gamification with a more traditional method of mitigating faking on personality assessments such as warnings. The purpose of this study …

Artist’S Tools: Reverse-Engineering Of Prototypes, Mi Tsung Chang

Open Educational Resources

Outputting the digital blueprint into a final fast prototype is important, but inputting a hand-made sculpture into the computer is as important in the creative process. There are many high-tech electronic devices that can help the artist generate form from his/her sculpture quickly. This process is called “reverse engineering of prototypes.” Touch Probes (Contact Method) The concept of the touch probe involves a measuring tip attached by several limbs with rotational joints. The design of the joints and limbs determines the reach of the touch probe. The measuring tip of the touch probe is used to measure the exact coordinates …

To What Extent Do Start-Ups See Themselves As Strategic Actors When Approaching Communications And Financing Within Their Companies?, Shanice Swaby

Student Theses and Dissertations

This capstone study explores entrepreneurial narratives centered around the role of communication within a start-up environment and to what extent strategic communication plays a role. I am addressing the following question: To what extent do start-ups see themselves as strategic actors when approaching communications and financing within their companies? To answer this question, I conducted seven oral histories with entrepreneurs within the Public relations, online sales, and real estate fields. The start-up companies varied in the amount individuals that are currently working for them. This study builds upon previous research about start-up companies and strategic communications. Past research was more …

Parental Beliefs And Knowledge, Children’S Home Language Experiences, And School Readiness: The Dual Language Perspective, Rufan Luo, Lulu Song, Carla Villacis, Gloria Santiago-Bonilla

Publications and Research

Parental beliefs and knowledge about child development affect how they construct children’s home learning experiences, which in turn impact children’s developmental outcomes. A rapidly growing population of dual language learners (DLLs) highlights the need for a better understanding of parents’ beliefs and knowledge about dual language development and practices to support DLLs. The current study examined the dual language beliefs and knowledge of parents of Spanish-English preschool DLLs (n = 32). We further asked how socioeconomic and sociocultural factors were associated with parental beliefs and knowledge, and how parental beliefs and knowledge related to DLLs’ home dual language experiences and …

Neo-Extracting Gilded Welfare States: A Comparative Study Of Extractivism And Latin American Welfare State Formation, Pabvitraa Ramcharan

Student Theses and Dissertations

This paper attempts to establish a stronger linkage between neo-extractivism and social welfare states in contemporary Latin America using both a micro and macro perspective. By emphasizing the human capital aspect of the welfare state’s role in promoting equitable redistribution and correcting market failures, this paper attempts to evaluate the extent to which extractive industries contribute to human capital formation. Due to the sectors’ large influence on the state and weak capacity to create employment, I develop the concept of the “gilded welfare state,” defined by the inability of extractive industries to ensure equal opportunity and generate formal employment despite …

Efficacy Of Hand Instrumentation Vs Power Instrumentation, Khrystyna Vyprynyuk, Annie Chitlall

Publications and Research

Dental hygienists face many challenges as they practice during a global pandemic. The strict implementation of a variety of new infection control guidelines needed to prevent the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 has changed the way many oral health professionals practice. On June 9, 2020, the American Dental Association’s (ADA) Advisory Task Force on Dental Practice Recovery issued guidelines that included the preferred use of hand instrumentation over ultrasonic instrumentation for plaque and calculus removal to reduce aerosol production.

As many clinicians are accustomed to using power instrumentation during periodontal therapy, this article will examine the effectiveness of hand instrumentation in the …

Hiring Candidates With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd): Effects Of Diagnostic Disclosure And Presence Of Asd Behaviors On Employability Ratings, Geetanjali Sugrim

Student Theses and Dissertations

Despite the increased prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses and organizational emphasis on workplace diversity, limited information is known about how disclosure of an ASD diagnosis and presence of ASD behaviors impact perceived employability in an interview setting. The purpose of this study was to evaluate these factors using an experimental design. Participants were 258 students (M_age = 21.9 years, SD = 5.1; 56% female; 75% non-White) at an urban public college who completed questionnaires on ASD knowledge and stereotypes and evaluated employability of vignette characters interviewing for a job interview. Vignettes varied across two dimensions: ASD disclosure …

The Social Contract Theory In The Face Of Empirical Morality: Integration And Its Consequences, Margaux F F Ramee

Student Theses and Dissertations

The following study experimentally investigated moral attitudes, both intuitive and reasoned, to assess the validity of the social contract theories of four prominent thinkers: Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and John Rawls. These social contract thinkers, though different in their proposals, all attempt to provide an answer to one long-withstanding question: which governmental structure is best? Their theories also interweave moral cognition with the governmental structure recommended. Thus, this research endeavored to contribute to the contemporary discussion of the social contract theory, encourage empirical investigation of the social contract theory, and provide a framework for future research of a …

Analysis Of Gaps In Feline Ectoparasiticide Purchases From Veterinary Clinics In The United States, Robert Lavan, Dorothy Normile, Imran Husain, Amita Singh, Kathleen Heaney

Publications and Research

Background: The study objective was to examine cat owner ectoparasiticide purchases in the United States and estimate the impact of purchase gaps on timely ectoparasite protection administration. These purchase gaps lead to periods of time when cats are unprotected from ectoparasites.

Methods: Ectoparasiticide purchase transactions for individual cats from 671 U.S. veterinary clinics from January 1, 2017 through June 30, 2019 were evaluated to determine time “gaps” between doses of ectoparasiticides purchased in a defined 12-month period. Ectoparasiticides examined were topically applied products that contained fluralaner, fipronil/(S)-methoprene/pyriproxyfen, imidacloprid/pyriproxyfen or selamectin as active ingredients. The duration of protection following administration of …

Monolingual And Bilingual Language Networks In Healthy Subjects Using Functional Mri And Graph Theory, Qiongge Li, Luca Pasquini, Gino Del Ferraro, Madeleine Gene, Kyung K. Peck, Hernán A. Makse, Andrei I. Holodny

Publications and Research

Bilingualism requires control of multiple language systems, and may lead to architectural differences in language networks obtained from clinical fMRI tasks. Emerging connectivity metrics such as k-core may capture these differences, highlighting crucial network components based on resiliency. We investigated the influence of bilingualism on clinical fMRI language tasks and characterized bilingual networks using connectivity metrics to provide a patient care benchmark. Sixteen right-handed subjects (mean age 42-years; nine males) without neurological history were included: eight native English-speaking monolinguals and eight native Spanish-speaking (L1) bilinguals with acquired English (L2). All subjects underwent fMRI with gold-standard clinical language tasks. Starting from …

The Paradox Of Retained Genetic Diversity Of Hippocampus Guttulatus In The Face Of Demographic Decline, Rupert Stacy, Jorge Palma, Miguel Correia, Anthony B. Wilson, José Pedro Andrade, Rita Castilho

Publications and Research

Genetic diversity is the raw foundation for evolutionary potential. When genetic diversity is significantly reduced, the risk of extinction is heightened considerably. The long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus guttulatus) is one of two seahorse species occurring in the North-East Atlantic. The population living in the Ria Formosa (South Portugal) declined dramatically between 2001 and 2008, prompting fears of greatly reduced genetic diversity and reduced effective population size, hallmarks of a genetic bottleneck. This study tests these hypotheses using samples from eight microsatellite loci taken from 2001 and 2013, on either side of the 2008 decline. The data suggest that the population has …

Be The Hammer, Jonathan M. Novick

Theses and Dissertations

John Young is an accomplished athlete, he has run marathons, long distance triathlons and other impressive feats all at the height of 4 feet 3 inches tall. Jon Novick, a fellow little person athlete, journeys into Young’s story sidestepping played out themes of inspiration and plunging into something deeper.

Dom Degradation By Light And Microbes Along The Yukon River‑Coastal Ocean Continuum, Brice K. Grunert, Maria Tzortziou, Patrick Neale, Alana Menendez, Peter Hernes

Publications and Research

The Arctic is experiencing rapid warming, resulting in fundamental shifts in hydrologic connectivity and carbon cycling. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a significant component of the Arctic and global carbon cycle, and significant perturbations to DOM cycling are expected with Arctic warming. The impact of photochemical and microbial degradation, and their interactive effects, on DOM composition and remineralization have been documented in Arctic soils and rivers. However, the role of microbes, sunlight and their interactions on Arctic DOM alteration and remineralization in the coastal ocean has not been considered, particularly during the spring freshet when DOM loads are high, photoexposure …

Academic Literacy For Deaf Postsecondary Students Through Integrated Reading And Writing Instruction, Sue Livingston

Publications and Research

Based on theoretical findings from the literature on the integration of reading and writing pedagogies used with hearing postsecondary students to advance academic literacy, this article offers a model of instruction for achieving academic literacy in developmental and freshman composition courses composed of deaf students. Academic literacy is viewed as the product of acts of composing in reading and writing which best transpire through reciprocal rather than separate reading and writing activities. Pedagogical practices based on theoretical findings and teacher experience are presented as a model of instruction, exemplified as artifacts in online supplementary materials and juxtaposed with practices used …