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The Problem And Possibility Of Animal Minds In Brandom's Work: Revisiting Heidegger, Rationality And Normativity, Joel David Musser

LSU Master's Theses

Robert Brandom denies animals implicit reasoning by emphasizing their inability to make inferences explicit, and in so doing, denigrates animals by likening their behavior to that of machines and artifacts. I contest, however, that animals are paradigmatically more than any similarity or analogy to mechanical processing, just as humans are paradigmatically more than any reductive analogy to animals. The human/animal distinction need not come at the cost of ignoring the difference between animals and artifacts, and I believe we can largely subscribe to Brandom’s differentiation of the human in terms of expressionism if we allow that animals can make implicit …

Comparing Symptoms Of Autism Spectrum Disorders Using The Current Dsm-Iv-Tr Diagnostic Criteria And The Proposed Dsm-V Diagnostic Criteria, Julie A. Worley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Children diagnosed with Autistic Disorder (AD), Asperger’s Disorder (AS), and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) share overlapping diagnostic criteria. As a result, there has been an enduring debate regarding the appropriateness of the current categorical classification system used to diagnose this group of disorders, commonly referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Ongoing research examining the boundaries of the disorders comprising the spectrum have yielded inconsistent findings in symptom differences; therefore, the American Psychiatric Association has proposed revisions for the upcoming version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (i.e., DSM-5). Revisions include dropping all subcategories …

Literary Expressions Of Creole Identity In Alfred Mercier's L'Habitation Saint-Ybars And Johnelle, Mary Florence Cashell

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines nineteenth-century Louisianan author Alfred Mercier’s novels and their roles as emblems of Francophone Creole cultural identity. During the nineteenth century following the Louisiana Purchase and subsequent anglophone influx, the French-speaking Creole population faced a cultural upheaval. Unable to completely identify as either French or American, Creoles occupied an uncertain space. This study demonstrates that Alfred Mercier’s works articulate a hybrid identity that is neither French nor American but rather a multicultural construct. The first chapter examines the nineteenth-century Creole community’s problematic positioning between French and American cultures. Chapters two, three, and four center on two of Mercier’s …

Improving Discourse Structure Identification, Jamie Allison Guidry

LSU Master's Theses

Rhetorical Structure Theory (Mann et al. 1988), a popular approach for analyzing discourse coherence, suggests that coherent text can be placed into a hierarchical organization of clauses. Identification of a text’s rhetorical structure through automatic discourse analysis is a crucial element for many of today’s Natural Language Processing tasks, but no sufficient tool is available. The current state-of -the-art discourse parser, SPADE (Soricut et al. 2003), is limited to parsing discourse within a single sentence. HILDA (Hernault et al. 2010) extends the parsing abilities of SPADE to the document level, but with a decrease in performance. This study achieved document-level …

A Single-Subject Study Examining The Effects Of A Behavioral Intervention For Verbal Recurrent Perserveration, Jenifer Juengling-Sudkamp

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Approximately 1 million people in the United States suffer from aphasia and > 50% of those people may demonstrate recurrent perseverations. No consensus has been forthcoming on whether (1) a therapy that directly confronts clients with imminent pre-articulatory automatisms (the perseverations) or (2) a more typical neuropsychological therapy that eschews any direct confrontation with automatic behaviors works best. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the treatment efficacy of a non-confrontational picture naming intervention on naming ability in individuals with aphasia and recurrent perseverations. METHODS: This is a prospective single-subject ABAB multiple baseline design replicated across 3 right-handed …

Gis-Based Spatial Analysis Of Place Names In Yunnan, China, Ling Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

Yunnan, with the largest number of minority languages in China, is labeled as “The Museum of Dialects”. The rich diversity of ethnic groups is reflected in its toponyms (place names). The objectives of this study are to (1) construct a GIS database of toponyms in Yunnan at the prefecture, county and township levels from a comprehensive toponymical dictionary series of China; (2) analyze the spatial distribution of Han, Tibeto-Burman (Zang-Mian) and Kam-Tai (Zhuang-Dong) toponyms and its association with environmental factors; and (3) examine the historical evolution of toponyms. Results show that the study shows that the highest concentrations of Zang-Mian …

Hidden Music: Vowel Formant Theory And The Languages Of Verdi's Don Carolos, Justin Andrew Owen

LSU Master's Theses

Don Carlos, Giuseppe Verdi’s third French opera, was first performed at the Paris Opéra in 1867; today, it is commonly performed in its Italian translation. This translation is problematic, however, because it departs from the original French in more than language: as a translation to be sung, it often conveys a different meaning, places key words on different sections of the melody, and consists of a different sound. This latter aspect and its relationship to notated melody is the focus of this study. For the purpose of this study, the sound of a language is defined by the overtones of …

Decoding Comics: Essential Elements For Transcription, Ni Tyjah Thigpen

LSU Master's Theses

Comics (plural in form but used with a singular verb as defined by Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art, HarperPerennial) provides a fresh perspective on the interaction of culture and language and spans from simple one-frame comics to graphic novels. Speech in comics is fully interpretable only in relation to the other elements; therefore a transcription system that includes them all is necessary. I have developed a unique transcription method which incorporates all the salient aspects of comic art revealing the linguistic codes embedded within. I show that transcription techniques, while primarily focused on speech, can also be applied …

Development And Validation Of The Adolescent Thought Control Questionnaire (Tcq-A), Reanna (Sara) Elise Whiting

LSU Master's Theses

Despite receiving widespread attention in the adult literature, virtually no information about the effects of thought suppression currently exists using a developmental psychopathology perspective in adolescents. The current study describes the development and preliminary validation of The Adolescent Thought Control Questionnaire, a self-report measure of thought suppression strategy use among adolescents. A principal factor analysis revealed an identical factor structure to the adult Thought Control Questionnaire (Wells & Davies, 1994) and included subscales measuring Distraction, Reappraisal, Social, Worry, and Punishment strategies. Adequate evidence of internal and test-retest reliability was obtained. The TCQ-A evidenced strong validity when tested for relations to …

Examination Of The Reliability And Validity Of A New Observation Measure For Autism Spectrum Disorders: The Autism Spectrum Disorder Observation For Children, Daniene Neal

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

With increasing attention being drawn to autism spectrum disorders (ASD), specifically with regard to early and accurate diagnosis and treatment, researchers and clinicians alike have placed emphasis on finding assessment tools that can aid in this goal. The purpose of this study is to examine the psychometric properties of a new observation measure for ASD, the Autism Spectrum Disorders-Observation for Children (ASD-OC). The ASD-OC was found to have good to excellent interrater reliability, and excellent internal consistency (ƒÑ = .96). As a result of these initial reliability analyses, nine items were removed from the scale. The resulting 45 item ASD-OC …

The Responsibility Of Clothing Slaves In The United States As Described In Slave Petitions, 1775 To 1867, Ryan Jerel Aldridge

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The content analysis of eighteenth and nineteenth century slave petitions identified slave dress terms and descriptors by type and frequency and a descriptive analysis of slave dress petitions revealed the following themes: the expense and burden attributed to clothing slaves, slave dress neglect, hiring contracts that included slave dress, the use of slave dress as a reflection of the slaveholders character, compensation for slave dress provided by an individual other than the slaveholder, the quality of slave dress, the distribution of slave dress, and slave dress terminology descriptors. The most frequent specific provision request for slave dress items consisted of …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Autism Spectrum Disorder, Intellectual Functioning, And Social Skills In Children, Kimberly Tureck

LSU Master's Theses

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are the focus of a vast amount of research due to their recent rise in prevalence. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of research looking at how ASD and IQ scores impact social skills. The present study aimed to extend the literature in this area by evaluating how ASD and IQ scores are related to ratings on a measure of appropriate and inappropriate social skills. Two groups of individuals participated: children without ASD and children with ASD. Two dependent measures of social skills (adaptive/appropriate social skills and hostile/inappropriately assertive social skills) were obtained using the Matson Evaluation …

Children's Representations Of Parenting Behaviors, Basic Negative Emotions, And Negative Self-Conscious Emotions In The Narrative Story Stem Technique, Loredana Apavaloaie

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The current study examined middle childhood aged Romanian children’s representations of parenting behaviors, basic negative emotions, and negative self-conscious emotions in the Narrative Story Stem Technique (NSST; Bretherton, Ridgeway, & Cassidy, 1990). More specifically, the research objectives of the study were a) to identify the frequency of the representations that were reflected in children’s narratives, b) to identify the specific stories that elicited the greatest number of representations, c) to identify possible relationships among children’s representations, their age, and amount of time that parents spend with their children, d) to identify gender differences in representations, and e) to evaluate the …

Southern Bellas: The Construction Of Mestiza Identity In Southern Narratives, Wendy Aimee Braun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project analyzes representations and self-representations of Mestizas living in areas of the Deep South that lack a significant Latino presence. Incorporating a range of media, I take a comparative approach to Southern cultural narratives and propose a re-reading of these works through an examination of identity formation and cultural negotiation. By centering the Southern Mestiza, this dissertation advances concepts of intersectionality to address the role of region, as well as race and gender, in the representation and experiences of women often overlooked in Southern and U.S. Latino studies. The Introductory chapter summarizes the theoretical framework for the study, including …

Korean Parents' Attitudes, Motivations, And Home Literacy Practices Toward Bilingualism Between Korean And English In Korea, Byunghyun Jang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to examine Korean parents’ attitudes, motivations, and home literacy practices toward their children’s participation in bilingualism in Korean and English in Korea. The success of foreign language learning is influenced by positive attitudes and the level of motivation regarding the target language. Language learners’ attitudes and motivations toward a target language are closely related to their development of language proficiency, and children are often strongly influenced by their parents. The present study was conducted by the survey that was comprised of four-part Likert-type statements. The participants consisted of parents who have children enrolled in …

Efficacy Of Multifunctionalized Saccharide Constructs For The Attenuation Of Amyloid-Beta Toxicity, Dhruva Dilip Dhavale

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

There is evidence that amyloid-beta (Aβ) toxicity is mediated through interactions and binding with neuronal surface sialic acids in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The binding affinity is higher if the sialic acids are clustered and toxicity of Aβ was attenuated by removal of neuronal sialic acids. Thus, interfering with cell membrane-Aβ binding using biomimetics that could reproduce the clustered sialic acid structure could present us with a potential target for therapeutic intervention in AD. Based on this hypothesis, we developed several multifunctionalized sialic acid labeled chitosan compounds of different valency, or number of sialic acid per chitosan molecule, to attenuate Aβ …

The Relation Between Children‟S Socio-Economic Status And Their Performance On The Passive Subtest Of The Diagnostic Evaluation Of Language Variation – Norm Referenced, Maggie Faulk Deville

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Lsu Research Fall 2011, Louisiana State University And Agricultural And Mechanical College

Research Magazine

LSU Research is published annually by the Office of Research & Economic Development, Louisiana State University.

Children's Relative Clause Markers In Two Non-Mainstream Dialects Of English, Janna B. Oetting, Brandi L. Newkirk

Faculty Publications

We examined children's productions of mainstream and non-mainstream relative clause markers (e.g. that, who, which, what, where, Ø) in African American English (AAE) and Southern White English (SWE) as a function of three linguistic variables (syntactic role of the marker, humanness of the antecedent and adjacency of the noun phrase head). The data were language samples from 99 typically developing 46-year-olds: 61 spoke AAE and 38 spoke SWE. The majority of the children's relative clauses included mainstream markers. Non-mainstream markers were rare, with 36% involving Ø subjects and 2% involving what. The children produced who exclusively as subjects and with …

Unsupervised Semantic Classification Methods, John Gilmer

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Passive Participle Marking By African American English-Speaking Children Reared In Poverty, Sonja L. Pruitt, Janna B. Oetting, Michael Hegarty

Faculty Publications

Purpose: In this study, the authors examined the linguistic profile of African American English (AAE)-speaking children reared in poverty by focusing on their marking of passive participles and by comparing the results with the authors' previous study of homophonous forms of past tense (S. Pruitt & J. Oetting, 2009). Method: The data were from 45 five- to six-year-olds who spoke AAE and who participated in the authors' earlier study. Fifteen were classified as low-income (LSES); the others were classified as middle-income and served as either age- or language-matched controls. The data came from a probe that was designed by S. …

How Incipient Colonies Create Territory: The Textual Surveys Of New Spain, 1520s–1620s, Andrew Sluyter, Richard Hunter

Faculty Publications

The study of colonial surveying and cartography has become key to understanding the history of European colonialism because of the recognition that land surveys and maps not only represent territory but form part of the process through which territory comes into being. While many studies have therefore focused on the history of instrumental surveying and cartography in New Spain, roughly equivalent to present-day Mexico, between the seventeenth and twentieth century, the textual surveys of the sixteenth century that helped to bring the initial colonial territory into being have gone largely unstudied. Content analysis of textual land surveys included in sixteenth-century …

The Dred Scott Case: Historical And Contemporary Perspectives On Race And Law., Xi Wang

Civil War Book Review

Examining Dred Scott’s Impact and Legacy

Few Supreme Court cases have attained the level of notoriety as the Dred Scott case. Even fewer have attracted such a widespread and persistent attention from scholars across academic disciplines. The Dred Scott Case: Historical and ....

"An Answer From Horace" Ambiguity And Paradox In Pope's Imitation Of Satire 2.1, Laura Thomason Wood

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

Patriotism And Its Discontents The Poetry Of Sir John Malcolm, Brijraj Singh

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

"Attended By A Whole Nation" The Americas In The Female American, Julia Kark Callander

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

On The Road With Digital Humanities, David Hill Radcliffe

1650-1850: Ideas, Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era

No abstract provided.

A Performer's Interpretation Of David Del Tredici's Chana's Story: A Cycle Of Six Songs On Texts Of Chana Bloch, Shelly Lenn Buchanan-Garlotte

LSU Major Papers

The purpose of this document is to reveal a performer’s perspective on David Del Tredici’s Chana’s Story. This six-song cycle for mezzo-soprano chronicles the marriage of poet and translator, Chana Bloch, and is based on her translations and poetry. The first chapter of this document provides biographical data about David Del Tredici, which presents a view of his compositional development, and includes events and individuals of influence in the composer’s life, such as teachers and poets. The second chapter includes biographical data about the poet, Chana Bloch, which is provided to enhance the interpretation of the poetry and to facilitate …

Social Life And Ancient Andean Public Landscapes: Actions And Performances As Seen Through The Use Of A 1st Millennium Bce Plaza At Caylán, Peru, Matthew Ryan Helmer

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examines ancient Andean performances from the early urban site of Caylán (800-10 cal. BCE) on the North-Central coast of Peru, Ancash. Spaces utilized for public events such as feasting, spectacles, and rituals have been a rich source of data for anthropologists looking to understand dynamics of community, power, and ideology. These spaces are also undervalued in terms of their potential multivocal qualities. During the Formative Period (1600-100 BCE), sunken plazas were the focus of a vast array of public activities and performances in ancient Peru. This thesis focuses on Formative Period public spaces as theaters of heightened interactions, …

"The Faults Of A Virginian": John Marshall And Republican Legal Culture, Nathan Thomas Hall

LSU Master's Theses

As chief justice of the United States for thirty-five years, John Marshall molded the Supreme Court into a co-equal branch of government. His efforts to fashion a powerful and independent federal court often ran counter to popular sentiment in his home state of Virginia. There, Marshall’s ideological and political opponent, Thomas Jefferson, dominated the political landscape. The adversarial narrative of Marshall and Jefferson’s national political battles is the subject of much scholarship. Rarely considered, however, is the common legal culture from which they both emerged. Understanding the personalities and the decisions that populated Virginia’s legal culture from the American Revolution …