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Improving Routines : Self-Monitoring By Adolescents Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Meghan Ann Geary Jan 2013

Improving Routines : Self-Monitoring By Adolescents Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Meghan Ann Geary

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), though commonly diagnosed in childhood, continues to present with problematic symptoms through adolescence and adulthood (Barkley, Fischer, Edelbrock, & Smallish, 1990; Young & Amarasinghe, 2010). Despite the number of adolescents suffering from ADHD and the detrimental effects the symptoms can have on their lives, there is a paucity of research in interventions tailored to this population (Young & Amarasinghe, 2010). Additionally, an even smaller portion of this research addresses daily routines for adolescents, despite findings that maintaining routines are often very difficult for adolescents with ADHD (Bloomquist, 2005; Coghill et al., 2008; Pfiffner et al. 2007; Robin, …


Toward Digitizing The Human Experience : A New Resource For Natural Language Processing, Jerry Scott Weltman Jan 2013

Toward Digitizing The Human Experience : A New Resource For Natural Language Processing, Jerry Scott Weltman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A long-standing goal of Artificial Intelligence is to program computers that understand natural language. A basic obstacle is that computers lack the common sense that even small children acquire simply by experiencing life, and no one has devised a way to program this experience into a computer. This dissertation presents a methodology and proof-of-concept software system that enables non-experts, with some training, to create simple experiences. For the purposes of this dissertation, an experience is a series of time-ordered comic frames, annotated with the changing intentional and physical states of the characters and objects in each frame. Each frame represents …


Melancholic Epistolarity : Letters And Traumatic Exile In The Novels Of Three Francophone Women, Rosemary Harrington Courville Jan 2013

Melancholic Epistolarity : Letters And Traumatic Exile In The Novels Of Three Francophone Women, Rosemary Harrington Courville

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In her 1982 groundbreaking work on the epistolary form in novels, Janet Gurkin Altman gives a working definition of epistolarity which will be a guiding concept for this project; she defines it simply as: “the use of the letter’s formal properties to create meaning…” (Altman 4). Of course, to create meaning is a complicated endeavor. How does one create meaning from the letter’s formal properties? The contemporary authors who engage with epistolarity do so on several levels from the thematic to the structural. From novels that have several characters engaging in letter dialogues to one-sided exchanges that bear more resemblance …


Creating An Sli Performance Profile With Load, Christy Marie Seidel Jan 2013

Creating An Sli Performance Profile With Load, Christy Marie Seidel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this body of work was to gain a clearer understanding of the potential cognitive factors that may contribute to Specific Language Impairment (SLI). This study attempted to simulate a performance profile of SLI in typically developing children within a grammaticality judgment task, featuring structures historically difficult (third person singular –S and auxiliary BE) and easy (plural –S and progressive –ING) for individuals with SLI. Cognitive load was manipulated through the length of the sentences to be judged, and individual differences in phonological short term memory (PSTM) and working memory were measured (WM). For a successful simulation to …


An Original Composition, Symphony No. 1, "Eustace The Monk" And Compositional Techniques Used To Elicit Musical Humor, Samuel Howard Stokes Jan 2013

An Original Composition, Symphony No. 1, "Eustace The Monk" And Compositional Techniques Used To Elicit Musical Humor, Samuel Howard Stokes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Part I – “Symphony No. 1 – ‘Eustace the Monk’” is based on a figure from medieval legend. Although Eustace Busket is a historically documented person that lived c.1170-1217, the exact details of his life are shrouded in legend. Many of the details of the legend of Eustace were passed down through the anonymous Li Romans de Witasse Le Moine. The legendary tale of Eustace, who is reported to have learned black magic from the devil, became a Benedictine monk in order to corrupt the monastery, and later became a mercenary pirate, is the subject matter of this five-movement dramatic …


In Spite Of Yourself : The Asignifying Force Of Humor And Laughter, Kevin Michael Casper Jan 2013

In Spite Of Yourself : The Asignifying Force Of Humor And Laughter, Kevin Michael Casper

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In Spite of Yourself: The Asignifying Force of Humor and Laughter calls upon the interruptive moments of uncontrollable laughter to challenge rhetoric’s historical treatment of humor and laughter. Anyone who has ever suffered a fit of hysterical laughter at precisely the wrong moment, or has begun to laugh spontaneously at an inappropriate joke before stopping short, can attest to laughter’s uniquely uncontrollable force. Beyond all reason and control, laughter interrupts us and reminds us of the limits of the human subject. Because laughter does not signify meaning in the traditional communicative sense, it exerts an asignifying force irreducible to the …


Stopping The Tenture Clock : University Support On Scorn?, Margaret Singer Ruebsamen Jan 2013

Stopping The Tenture Clock : University Support On Scorn?, Margaret Singer Ruebsamen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe university Academic Administrators, Tenured Faculty, and Tenure-track Faculty at “RU/VH: Research Universities (very high research activity)” universities as designated by the Carnegie Foundation in the southeastern region of the United States based on demographic characteristics, as well as determine the knowledge and the perceptions of the three aforementioned groups regarding Stopping the Tenure Clock. Researcher-designed surveys were used to collect data. There were 49 participants identified as Academic Administrators, defined as employees who have administrative decision making authority over an academic unit at the level of department chair, director, or dean. Additionally, …


Sites Of Indigenous Language Practice : Geography Of American Indian Language Policy, Thomas Pierre-Yves Brasdefer Jan 2013

Sites Of Indigenous Language Practice : Geography Of American Indian Language Policy, Thomas Pierre-Yves Brasdefer

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

For over 1.9 million indigenous people in the United States, speaking their native language has become a rare opportunity. There are several obstacles standing in their way, from geographically separated communities to hundreds of years of contrarian policies and sometimes a collective lack of interest. Today, indigenous language use has become an integral part of self-determination and political sovereignty, sometimes more so than a communicative activity. This dissertation examines the political steps taken by American Indian communities around the United States to ensure that their languages can still be spoken into the twenty-first century, and analyzes the complex implications of …


Psychological Biases Affect Hedonic Ratings, Wannita Jirangrat Jan 2013

Psychological Biases Affect Hedonic Ratings, Wannita Jirangrat

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Psychological biases in consumer testing may lead to misinterpretation of results and lower experimental power. Reports on various hedonic scales associated with psychological biases induced by sample presentation are limited in the literature. An appropriate experimental protocol could enable sensory scientists to accurately determine if a product is more or less liked. Overall, in this study some drawbacks of hedonic scales were revealed and some recommendations were made under specific circumstances. A more powerful design (SPRCBD) helped minimize positional and First Serving Order (FSO) biases in consumer tests by extracting more explained variances, resulting in decreased Type-II error in the …


"Mi Mamá Es Cuatro Pies" : A Study Of The Use Of Calques In Hondurans And Salvadorans In Southern Louisiana, Alexandria Janine Bivin Jan 2013

"Mi Mamá Es Cuatro Pies" : A Study Of The Use Of Calques In Hondurans And Salvadorans In Southern Louisiana, Alexandria Janine Bivin

LSU Master's Theses

“Mi mamá es cuatro pies”: A study of the use of calques in Hondurans and Salvadorans in Southern Louisiana Keywords: calques, language proficiency, bilingual, lexical borrowing, arrival age In this study, I explored calques among Hondurans and Salvadorans in Southern Louisiana. The study has a total of twenty-four Spanish-English bilinguals separated into three groups based upon their age of arrival to the United States. Similar to but modified from that of Silva-Corvalán (1996), group I, is comprised of participants who arrived to the United States after the age nineteen. The participants in group II immigrated to the United States between …


Comparing Social Skills In Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorders According To The Dsm-Iv-Tr And The Proposed Dsm-5, Jennifer Susan Beighley Jan 2013

Comparing Social Skills In Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorders According To The Dsm-Iv-Tr And The Proposed Dsm-5, Jennifer Susan Beighley

LSU Master's Theses

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is currently defined using criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR). With the fifth edition of the DSM (DSM-5) forthcoming, one change the American Psychiatric Association has proposed is an increase in the number of overall symptoms necessary to meet criteria for ASD. Because social skills is well established as a core symptom of autism, the present study explores differences in social functioning using the Matson Evaluation of Social Skills in Youngsters-II (MESSY-II) in three groups of children ages 3-16 years including those diagnosed with ASD using the …


Government Spending And Child Well-Being : A Correlational Study Of The Organization For Economic Co-Operation And Development (Oecd) Countries, Rachel Suzanna Foretich Jan 2013

Government Spending And Child Well-Being : A Correlational Study Of The Organization For Economic Co-Operation And Development (Oecd) Countries, Rachel Suzanna Foretich

LSU Master's Theses

Children who live in poverty are more likely to suffer from avoidable illnesses, become teenaged parents, be involved in the criminal justice system, and mature into adults who live in poverty (Isaacs et al., 2011). This study examines the relationship between government spending as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 21 child well-being indicators. The samples in this study were collected from 30 Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) countries for the years 2009 and 2012. The major finding of this study reveals that there is a statistically significant relationship between government spending as a percent of …


"A Simple Zeal And Earnest Love To The Truth" : The Religious Journeys Of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess Of Suffolk, And Katherine Parr, Queen Of England, Megan Elizabeth Spruell Jan 2013

"A Simple Zeal And Earnest Love To The Truth" : The Religious Journeys Of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess Of Suffolk, And Katherine Parr, Queen Of England, Megan Elizabeth Spruell

LSU Master's Theses

This study focuses on the religious conversions of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk, and Katherine Parr, Queen of England throughout the English Reformation and attempts to explain why their conversions proceeded at different rates. Both women came from similar backgrounds, yet Parr’s conversion to Evangelicalism occurred much sooner than Willoughby’s. Although Willoughby and Parr’s reformist leanings are well researched, their conversion to the new faith is a topic which deserves further attention. Studying their individual conversions will not only add to the histories of their lives, but to the understanding of why they became such passionate advocates of reform. This …


Political Activism Among Dominican Women In Literature : Imagined Experiences And Rising Voices, Angela Rose Kanney Jan 2013

Political Activism Among Dominican Women In Literature : Imagined Experiences And Rising Voices, Angela Rose Kanney

LSU Master's Theses

My thesis examines the literary portrayal of women in Dominican politics as historical figures/actors and how Dominican women have also used the medium of literature to draw attention to these lesser known heroines and inspire future participation and involvement in public life. The creation of fiction out of history, through which authors imagine the inner lives and feelings and motivations of Dominican women protagonists, can add a new dimension to the study of women and gender in the Dominican Republic, especially when written by Dominican women authors. More specifically, I will explore the following issues and areas: 1) how the …


Blame : Marriage, Folklore, And The Victorian Novel, Corrie Kiesel Jan 2013

Blame : Marriage, Folklore, And The Victorian Novel, Corrie Kiesel

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Blame: Marriage, Folklore, and the Victorian Novel contends that the intersection of folk and legal discourses of responsibility and culpability shapes the way the Victorian novel imagines blame. Recent studies have drawn attention to the importance of official legal discourses such as trial testimony and standards of evidence to the development of narrative form during the nineteenth century. However, by attending to folk modes for establishing blameworthiness in Victorian novels, I show that folk and legal standards of culpability are mutually constitutive. The legal system is designed to identify the culpable in a fixed process – codified in slow-changing statutes …


"Give Me Something That Relates To My Life" : Exploring African American Adolescent Male Identities Through Young Adult Literature, Angelle Leblanc Hebert Jan 2013

"Give Me Something That Relates To My Life" : Exploring African American Adolescent Male Identities Through Young Adult Literature, Angelle Leblanc Hebert

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research suggests that when students realize a personal connection to their learning environment and feel their identities are supported, successful learning can take place (Nasir, 2012). Specifically, the use of texts that are meaningful to the lives of African American males can provide spaces for them to explore their unique identities (Tatum, 2009). Such texts can include young adult literature, which offers potential for motivating students to engage in reading, especially because of its themes relevant to teen readers. While much research exists about the various YAL books available, less is known about “what actually happens when teens read young …


Minding The Gap : A Rhetorical History Of The Achievement Gap, Laura Elizabeth Jones Jan 2013

Minding The Gap : A Rhetorical History Of The Achievement Gap, Laura Elizabeth Jones

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Minding the Gap: A Rhetorical History of the Achievement Gap arose as an inquiry into the rhetorical congestion around the phrase achievement gap in public discourse. Having been used in support of multiple, often competing, education agendas, the phrase seems versatile almost to the point of emptiness, and yet it seemingly retains its persuasive power. Examining the history of the phrase, I reveal that the notion of the achievement gap is rooted in the logic of segregation and the rhetoric of disability, and serves to construct students in ways that paradoxically undermine efforts to expand access to educational opportunity. Although …


Friends Of Bill F. : Alcohol, Recovery, And Social Progress In Southern Fiction, Conor Adam Picken Jan 2013

Friends Of Bill F. : Alcohol, Recovery, And Social Progress In Southern Fiction, Conor Adam Picken

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In “Friends of Bill F.: Alcohol, Recovery, and Social Progress in Southern Fiction,” I argue that many southern writers use the trope of drunkenness to investigate the South’s often hesitant stance toward social change. The overwhelming presence of hard drinking in southern fiction is so ubiquitous that it becomes nearly invisible, and what distinguishes twentieth century southern literary representations of alcohol from their antecedents is how overconsumption reflects a dis-ease in both the individual drinker and the region as a whole. Emerging from the concept of diseased drinking is the idea of recovery, and by foregrounding recovery language alongside depictions …


Using Writing Assignments In High School Geometry To Improve Students' Proof Writing Ability, Amanda Choppin Mcallister Jan 2013

Using Writing Assignments In High School Geometry To Improve Students' Proof Writing Ability, Amanda Choppin Mcallister

LSU Master's Theses

The Common Core State Standards encourage the use of writing in mathematics classrooms. This study was designed to create a template for high school teachers to use in a geometry class to improve students’ proof writing ability. The students enrolled in the class were asked to complete journal and expository writing assignments throughout the course. The assignments were scored with a rubric. To assess if growth was made in proof writing, the students were all given a test four times throughout the school year. All four tests were assessed using the same rubric. We provide evidence that the template was …


"A Woman For Many Imperfections Intolerable": Anne Stanhope, The Seymour Family, And The Tudor Court, Caroline Elizabeth Armbruster Jan 2013

"A Woman For Many Imperfections Intolerable": Anne Stanhope, The Seymour Family, And The Tudor Court, Caroline Elizabeth Armbruster

LSU Master's Theses

This study analyzes the life and historical image of Anne Stanhope, Duchess of Somerset. Anne lived throughout most of the Tudor period (1510-1587). Throughout her long life, she rose from a mere lady in waiting to a duchess and wife of the Lord Protector. When her first husband, Edward Seymour, fell from power and met his end on the executioner’s block in 1552, it was Anne’s actions that saved the Seymour family from disgrace. While England endured centuries of religious transformation and political turmoil, Anne not only survived but ensured that her family remained influential and close to the throne. …


Three From The Bottom : Examining Racial And Ethnic Identity Among Italian Americans In Bossier City, Jamie Rene Digilormo Jan 2013

Three From The Bottom : Examining Racial And Ethnic Identity Among Italian Americans In Bossier City, Jamie Rene Digilormo

LSU Master's Theses

This study examines the use of ethnic and racial labels as they are used in the construction of social identity among Italian Americans in Bossier City, Louisiana. In particular, the researcher is interested in how racial and ethnic identities are constructed through linguistic features, such as labels, and how these labels can often reflect the beliefs, values, or ideologies that influence the speaker. By examining which labels are used and how, it is possible to better understand what it means for each participant to be an Italian American today. The researcher relies heavily on Foucault’s notion of knowledge/power and the …


The Power Of Affective Factors (Self-Efficacy, Motivation And Gender) To Predict Chemistry Achievement With The Benefits Of Knowledge Surveys On Metacognition Level, Xin Wu Jan 2013

The Power Of Affective Factors (Self-Efficacy, Motivation And Gender) To Predict Chemistry Achievement With The Benefits Of Knowledge Surveys On Metacognition Level, Xin Wu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Self-efficacy, gender, and motivation are subjective predictors of students' academic achievement. Self-assessment prompted by knowledge surveys involves metacognition, i.e., students' awareness of how they learn. Knowledge surveys can be used to measure changes in students' achievement level and to assist students in content review and inspire reflection on one's ability to learn. In this work, I combined the above predictors into the survey to determine whether achievement in general chemistry can be foreseen. My proposed research will be conducted on 426 students enrolled in General Chemistry I classes (Chemistry for science majors) during a regular 15-week semester at Louisiana State …


(Un)Writing The Academic Other : Theorizing The "At Risk" Body, Jessica Lynn Exkano Jan 2013

(Un)Writing The Academic Other : Theorizing The "At Risk" Body, Jessica Lynn Exkano

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A dominant Western historical reproductive narrative has constructed our knowledge of the “at risk” student body. Sustained through a metaphor of family, historical representations construct at risk as a matter of familial inheritance, through genetics, culture, or socioeconomic status. While at risk labels have changed over time, historical memory of at risk remains centered on a deficit-view of the family, while absolving social responsibility. This linear conception of “at risk” discourse disallows an interrogation of other systemic factors that can challenge or sustain the historical construction of the “at risk” body. This dissertation draws upon poststructural, narrative, and curriculum theories …


Exploring The Underpinnings That Attribute To Low Performance On Standardized Tests By First Year University Freshmen At A Historically Black College And University, Jeffery Joseph Darby, Jr. Jan 2013

Exploring The Underpinnings That Attribute To Low Performance On Standardized Tests By First Year University Freshmen At A Historically Black College And University, Jeffery Joseph Darby, Jr.

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to examine and determine what factors contribute to the prevention of first semester freshmen students not succeeding on high stakes tests based on their opinions, and what variables are important to their performance at the university. The Personal Educational Academic Survey (PEAS), a 65 item Likert-type scale was designed to measure the students’ opinions regarding their academic knowledge acquired during their first semester in college in Academic Achievement and other courses at Langston University. The final response count was 216 representing a 35.47% response rate. The target population in this research study was …


Erotic Transgressions: Pornographic Uses Of The Victorian, Laura Helen Marks Jan 2013

Erotic Transgressions: Pornographic Uses Of The Victorian, Laura Helen Marks

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation argues that while pornographic film asserts itself as the rebellious cousin to the literary and cinematic canon, it nonetheless relies on a particular Victorianness, transgressing and drawing on its perceived repressions and perversions for pornography’s own ostensible subversiveness. Through an analysis of pornographic adaptations of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, this project shows that the rupture and rearticulation of social and corporeal propriety constitutes pornography’s persistent appeal. These predominantly American pornographic texts, spanning 1974—2012, appropriate canonical British …


Toward An Ideal Of Moral And Democratic Education: Afro-Creoles And Straight University In Reconstruction New Orleans, 1862-1896, Dana C. Hart Jan 2013

Toward An Ideal Of Moral And Democratic Education: Afro-Creoles And Straight University In Reconstruction New Orleans, 1862-1896, Dana C. Hart

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Straight University emerged as an integrated higher education institution in New Orleans in 1870 and promoted education and training for young men and women, irrespective of race, gender, or ethnicity. Named after its generous patron, Seymour Straight, the university emerged as a space for community and egalitarianism at a time when the assertion of emancipation and civil rights redefined how people lived together in reconstructing a “New South.” Education represented an archetype to shape the future direction of Southern society in a meaningful and tangible way, and Straight University represented this ideal at its founding. The university also became a …


Utilizing Community Media To Facilitate Cross-Cultural Communication Between Lsu Agcenter Field And State Agents And Louisiana Agricultural Producers, Ava Denise Attaway Jan 2013

Utilizing Community Media To Facilitate Cross-Cultural Communication Between Lsu Agcenter Field And State Agents And Louisiana Agricultural Producers, Ava Denise Attaway

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine how Louisiana agricultural producers get information related to their crops. Specifically, this study examined how Louisiana agricultural producers used the Louisiana State University AgCenter’s website and other media sources so that it could be determined which form of community media could be used to facilitate cross-cultural communication between LSU AgCenter field and state agents and Louisiana agricultural producers. Data for this study were obtained from 187 usable surveys completed by Louisiana agricultural produceragricultural producers. The data were analyzed to determine if producers utilized the LSU AgCenter website, the frequency they utilized …


Segmentation In Hispanic-Targeted Marketing, Silvia Irene Medrano Jan 2013

Segmentation In Hispanic-Targeted Marketing, Silvia Irene Medrano

LSU Master's Theses

Hispanic-oriented advertising is a growing area in the advertising industry. Findings reported in this research examined agency strategies for advertising in Hispanic-oriented advertising. Interviews with agency practitioners involved in the planning, creation and media selection provided insight into agency best practices in Hispanic-oriented advertising. In-depth interviews at two Hispanic-oriented agencies revealed that a focus on cultural understanding, client relationships, and opposition of common stereotypes and segmentation practices were key in creating successful advertising that connected to Hispanic mindsets. Research results suggest that growth in the U.S. Hispanic population will not only affect the advertising industry, but will also create changes …


The Effects Of Peer Instruction On Ninth Grade Students' Conceptual Understanding Of Forces And Motion, Nicole Congine Harvey Jan 2013

The Effects Of Peer Instruction On Ninth Grade Students' Conceptual Understanding Of Forces And Motion, Nicole Congine Harvey

LSU Master's Theses

Because students are often taught physics in a traditional, lecture-based classroom, the present study was undertaken to test whether the use of peer instruction, specifically concept questions embedded within a PowerPoint that allows for students to interact throughout the lecture, affects learner outcomes in a classroom setting. The outcomes from classes taught using peer instruction were compared to classes taught with traditional, lecture-based teaching strategies. Students in five different sections of a 9th grade Physical Science class were given pre-tests and post-tests to determine their learning gains on the topics of motion and forces. In the first unit of instruction, …


A Calvinist View Of Visual Art In Seventeenth-Century Holland : The Iconography Of Esther In Post-Reformation Dutch Painting, Sarah Grafton Peaster Jan 2013

A Calvinist View Of Visual Art In Seventeenth-Century Holland : The Iconography Of Esther In Post-Reformation Dutch Painting, Sarah Grafton Peaster

LSU Master's Theses

The Book of Esther, found in the Old Testament, has been represented in a variety of ways throughout history. In a sweeping tale of love, honor, and sacrifice, the Jewish maiden queen, Esther, is a heroine to the oppressed. Dutch Protestants in the Golden Age felt a kinship to this subject, particularly after the Protestant Reformation and the new religious freedom gained in Holland during the sixteenth century, which continued in the seventeenth century. These men and women saw many parallels between Esther’s experience and their own, both as the covenant people of God and as the remnant preserved by …