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Supervisory Ratings As A Measure Of Training Transfer: Testing The Predictive Validity Of The Learning Transfer System Inventory, Vicky Katsioloudes Jan 2015

Supervisory Ratings As A Measure Of Training Transfer: Testing The Predictive Validity Of The Learning Transfer System Inventory, Vicky Katsioloudes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this dissertation was to examine the criterion-related validity of all 16 LTSI General and Specific Scales in relation to training transfer. Using an ex-post facto design the researcher analyzed secondary data that included measures of key transfer system variables, as captured by the LTSI scales, and individual training transfer as indicated by supervisory ratings. The dataset comprised of employees from diverse organizations who had participated in different types of organizational instructor-led classroom training programs. Confirmatory factor analyses supported the construct validity of the LTSI General and Specific Scales (N = 619). Hierarchical multiple regression analysis measured …


Social Vulnerability In The Wake Of 2010 Bp Oil Spill: The Case Of Southeast Louisiana, Michael Ray Cope Jan 2015

Social Vulnerability In The Wake Of 2010 Bp Oil Spill: The Case Of Southeast Louisiana, Michael Ray Cope

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation assesses the social impacts of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon (BP-DH) oil spill in South Louisiana. The coastal region affected by this disaster is made up of rural communities whose residents rely on the Gulf of Mexico and its resources for their livelihoods. Understanding how this disaster has impacted the general quality of life in spill-affected communities, and how community characteristics have influenced vulnerability and resilience to negative outcomes, has important implications for basic and applied research and public policy. To examine these issues I use one-of-a-kind household survey data from the Community Oil …


The Moderating Effects Of Anxiety On The Relationship Between Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Jamarri Raimon Aikins Jan 2015

The Moderating Effects Of Anxiety On The Relationship Between Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder And Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Jamarri Raimon Aikins

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) are two of the most prevalent childhood disorders, and the co-occurrence of these disorders is associated with an exacerbation of certain behavioral difficulties such as opposition, defiance, and anger when compared to the independent presentation of either disorder. Several researchers have demonstrated that anxiety may buffer against oppositional behavior by inhibiting responses that may lead to aversive consequences. Thus, the current study sought to examine the potentially suppressing role of anxiety when symptoms of ADHD and ODD are both present. A hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to determine the extent to which …


Mishpacha In The American Diaspora: An Exploratory Study Of Highly-Involved Jewish Families, Trevan Glen Hatch Jan 2015

Mishpacha In The American Diaspora: An Exploratory Study Of Highly-Involved Jewish Families, Trevan Glen Hatch

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Both family and religion are important to a large majority of the population in the United States. In the last few decades, research on religious families has significantly increased. Empirical research on Jewish families, however, is scant. The purpose of this study is to explore contemporary American Jewish family life in relation to Judaism, both cultural and religious. Specifically, the two primary objectives of this study are 1) to examine how Jewish culture and religion may influence and shape Jewish family life; and 2) to examine how family relationships may influence observance of Jewish cultural or religious traditions. This reciprocal …


Effects Of Mirror Exposure And Brief Mindfulness Interventions In Undergraduate Females With Weight And Shape Concerns, Jessica Abaigeal Esmeier Kinsaul Jan 2015

Effects Of Mirror Exposure And Brief Mindfulness Interventions In Undergraduate Females With Weight And Shape Concerns, Jessica Abaigeal Esmeier Kinsaul

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Risk of disordered eating is high amongst college women in the U.S., often resulting in negative outcomes with regard to health, social functioning and psychological well-being. Disordered eating is associated with multiple aspects of emotional processing, such as emotion regulation, negative affect, and avoidance. Emotional processing difficulties can be addressed with both exposure techniques and mindfulness, which involves present moment awareness with an attitude of acceptance and non-judgment. Interventions using mirror exposure (standing before a mirror and systematically describing the body) to treat disordered eating and body image, particularly those utilizing aspects of mindfulness, show promise in terms of improving …


Investing In The Civic Economy: Social Capital And Choice Neighborhoods, Mary Ellen Brown Jan 2015

Investing In The Civic Economy: Social Capital And Choice Neighborhoods, Mary Ellen Brown

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Concentrated poverty in inner-city neighborhoods in the United States generates social disorganization and isolation, limiting residents’ access to opportunities for upward mobility. Place-based concentration effects can be detrimental to individual health outcomes and overall community health. Communities require assets and resources across multiple types of capital, and in particular social capital, in order to foster a thriving civic economy. The purpose of this research was to provide a foundation through the study of social capital for pursuing strategic actions to foster a thriving civic economy for residents in a low-wealth neighborhood in Shreveport, Louisiana, that was also the focus of …


A Spatial Analysis Of Obesity And Its Associations With The Built And Natural Environment, Physical Inactivity, And Socioeconomic And Demographic Conditions In The United States Of America, Mustafa Erdem Jan 2015

A Spatial Analysis Of Obesity And Its Associations With The Built And Natural Environment, Physical Inactivity, And Socioeconomic And Demographic Conditions In The United States Of America, Mustafa Erdem

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Obesity has strong genetic determinants but the genetic composition of the population does not change rapidly. Thus in this study, the major changes in non-genetic factors such as the development of obesogenic environments and shifting socioeconomic status and lifestyle of individuals are hypothesized to increase the risk of obesity. As the prevalence of obesity continue to increase worldwide with substantial attention in the US, a clearer understanding of how spatial associations between obesity and confounding factors are interrelated is crucial to better tackle the issue of obesity. This study employs the ‘global’ and ‘local’ Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis (ESDA) methods …


Parental Age At Conception: An Examination Of Risk Factors Related To Autism Severity And Comorbid Psychopathology, Robert D. Rieske Jan 2015

Parental Age At Conception: An Examination Of Risk Factors Related To Autism Severity And Comorbid Psychopathology, Robert D. Rieske

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Many researchers have cited the continuing increase in the prevalence of autism worldwide and have speculated on the potential causes of that increase. One theory that suggests at least a contributory effect is the general trend for parents to have children at later ages. Previous research has begun to examine the relationship between advanced parental age at conception and the incidence of autism and have noted strong relationships between advanced parental age and other developmental disabilities. The purpose of this study was to not only confirm the relationship between advanced parental age and autism risk but to extend that knowledge …


The Baby And Infant Screen For Children With Autism Traits: A Dsm-5 Update, Matthew Jason Konst Jan 2015

The Baby And Infant Screen For Children With Autism Traits: A Dsm-5 Update, Matthew Jason Konst

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Interest surrounding the investigation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased exponentially since it was initially described over a half-century ago. With this passage of time our conceptualization of the ASD diagnosis has undergone multiple changes. An increasing trend in research has been an emphasis on early identification and intervention. This trend has brought about the creation and adaptation of multiple measures designed to inform early ASD diagnosis. Recently, the ASD diagnostic category underwent significant revisions. In response to revisions, it is necessary to adapt preexisting measures to reflect these significant changes in order to maintain diagnostic accuracy. The Baby …


Seavipers - Computer Vision And Inertial Position Reference Sensor System (Cviprss), Justin Lee Erdman Jan 2015

Seavipers - Computer Vision And Inertial Position Reference Sensor System (Cviprss), Justin Lee Erdman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This work describes the design and development of an optical, Computer Vision (CV) based sensor for use as a Position Reference System (PRS) in Dynamic Positioning (DP). Using a combination of robotics and CV techniques, the sensor provides range and heading information to a selected reference object. The proposed optical system is superior to existing ones because it does not depend upon special reflectors nor does it require a lengthy set-up time. This system, the Computer Vision and Inertial Position Reference Sensor System (CVIPRSS, pronounced \nickname), combines a laser rangefinder, infrared camera, and a pan--tilt unit with the robust TLD …


Trait Affective, Behavioral, And Cognitive Factors Of Anxiety And Depressive Symptoms In Children And Adolescents: A Hierarchical Model, Reanna Elise Whiting Jan 2015

Trait Affective, Behavioral, And Cognitive Factors Of Anxiety And Depressive Symptoms In Children And Adolescents: A Hierarchical Model, Reanna Elise Whiting

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have proposed a vulnerabilities model that attempts to explain the similarities between the internalizing disorders via a hierarchical pathway of trait affectivity and cognitive factors among adults. The current study aimed to replicate and extend this model to symptoms of four internalizing disorders among youth: obsessions and compulsions, generalized anxiety/worry, social anxiety, and depression. Regression-based path analyses utilized data from a community sample of 105 youth aged 12-17 (67.6% female, 80% white, non-Hispanic). Results largely replicated prior models in the adult literature and overall supported a hierarchical paradigm. Trait negative affect and avoidant behavior predicted mid-tier cognitive vulnerabilities (anxiety …


Motor Learning Effects Of Two Types Of Stressors: Implications For Practice Specificity, Christopher Adam Aiken Jan 2015

Motor Learning Effects Of Two Types Of Stressors: Implications For Practice Specificity, Christopher Adam Aiken

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Various types of stress have been found to have both positive and negative effects on motor performance (Szalma & Hancock, 2011; Van Gemmert & Van Galen, 1997). One potential explanation for these diverse findings is that stress increases the amount of neuromotor noise in the system (Van Gemmert, 1997). Low levels of stress may have an activating effect on the system which may improve motor performance whereas larger levels of stress decrease motor performance. Research has also suggested that increases in stress increase effort (Hockey, 1997) which may in turn facilitate motor learning (Lee, Swinnen, & Serrien, 1994). The primary …


Principal Motives Of Positive Youth-Adult Relationships: A Model For Identifying The Motives Of Adult Volunteers And Youth-Adult Relationships In Physical Activity-Based Youth Development Programs, Stephanie Marie Goudeau Jan 2015

Principal Motives Of Positive Youth-Adult Relationships: A Model For Identifying The Motives Of Adult Volunteers And Youth-Adult Relationships In Physical Activity-Based Youth Development Programs, Stephanie Marie Goudeau

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The field of positive youth development has evolved in response to the growing effort to provide youth with safe and healthful activities during leisure time. Physical activity-based youth development programs (PA-based YDPs) utilize a range of individual and team sports and physical activities as tools to simultaneously teach character development and physical skills for the acquisition of life skills. The intentional focus on positive youth development provides a suitable context for the development of a youth-adult relationship (YAR). The bonding between a youth and adult is critical to the development of adaptive responses and life skills which ultimately impact the …


A Science Education Study Using Visual Cognition And Eye Tracking To Explore Medication Selection In The Novice Versus Expert Nurse Anesthetist, Aimee Ladreyt Badeaux Jan 2015

A Science Education Study Using Visual Cognition And Eye Tracking To Explore Medication Selection In The Novice Versus Expert Nurse Anesthetist, Aimee Ladreyt Badeaux

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this science education study is to explore visual cognition and eye tracking during medication selection in the student nurse anesthetist (first year and second year students) and the expert nurse anesthetist. The first phase of this study consisted of the selection of a specific medication (target) from an array of medications via computer simulation. Various dependent variables were recorded to examine performance (reaction time and accuracy), and the allocation of visual attention was measured with eye tracking (dwell proportion, verification, and guidance). The second phase of this study included the administration of a demographic and post experiment …


Visual Representations Of Gender In Engineering Trade Journals Of Professional Societies During 1998-2012: A Content Analysis Of Hierarchy And Stereotypes, Tracy Ettel Morris Jan 2015

Visual Representations Of Gender In Engineering Trade Journals Of Professional Societies During 1998-2012: A Content Analysis Of Hierarchy And Stereotypes, Tracy Ettel Morris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Recruiting and retaining women in engineering have stagnated since the mid-1990's partially due to the marginalization of women in education and the workforce. This research analyzed the quality and quantity of representation of women and men in visual images of professional science and engineering trade journals to illuminate the marginalizing climate of engineering. A mixed methods approach using visual content analysis was performed for a 15-year period during 1998-2012 of three different trade journals of professional societies representing various disciplines of engineering: the first has a low percentage of women, the second has a higher percentage of women, and the …


Sourcing And Framing Analysis Of Source Messages In The Coverage Of Armed Conflicts By American And British Foreign Reporters, Ellada Gamreklidze Jan 2015

Sourcing And Framing Analysis Of Source Messages In The Coverage Of Armed Conflicts By American And British Foreign Reporters, Ellada Gamreklidze

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to closing several gaps in mass communication scholarship as well as indicates new avenues for further research in the area of sourcing and framing. This study explored whether reliance on official sources in foreign reporting of international crises is as heavy as the hypothesis predicts, and, by studying messages delivered by official sources in this coverage, revealed how those messages were framed. The results showed that officials were dominant sources of information in all the three media outlets studied. The results also supported the argument that the same indexing mechanisms are at force in foreign reporting and …


Money, Power, Respect: Philanthropic Giving Of African American Alumni Of Predominately White Institutions, Melvin Jonathan Jackson Jan 2015

Money, Power, Respect: Philanthropic Giving Of African American Alumni Of Predominately White Institutions, Melvin Jonathan Jackson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As colleges and universities throughout the United States face economic downturns that translate into budget reductions, hiring freezes, and academic program dissolution, it is becoming increasingly more pertinent to secure valuable alumni donations to meet the financial and budgetary needs of these institutions. African American alumni of Predominately white Institutions (PWIs) have often been an overlooked resource for colleges and universities soliciting philanthropic donations. This study will explore the relationship between African American alumni and their Predominately white alma maters and how this relationship affects philanthropic giving to the institutions. In addition to exposing the stimulus for giving to their …


Regarding Suicide: A Textually Informed Rhetorical And Psychoanalytic Construct Of The State Of Disconstituency, Disconstitutive Rhetoric, And The Disconstituent As Related To The Constitutive Rhetorical Structure Of The Vanishing Subject, Charles Stowers Womelsdorf Jan 2015

Regarding Suicide: A Textually Informed Rhetorical And Psychoanalytic Construct Of The State Of Disconstituency, Disconstitutive Rhetoric, And The Disconstituent As Related To The Constitutive Rhetorical Structure Of The Vanishing Subject, Charles Stowers Womelsdorf

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Suicide contagion is a real phenomenon. The stigmatization of suicide attempters, completers, survivors of suicide loss, and the idea of suicide itself is at least partly to blame for these outbreaks. Regarding suicide as an analyst, journalist, witness, responder, or bereaved family member or friend can be a devastating form of metaphorical and literal looking. Through a psychoanalytic understanding of constitutive rhetoric, this dissertation offers a textualized way of considering the difficult process of giving individuals who have completed suicide one’s regard. Beyond just suicide, this rhetoric of regard presents the disconstituent as the lost persona that withdraws from identification …


Life After Death: Revitalization Of Social Work Education Programs At Historically Black Colleges And Universities Through Decolonization, Carey Yazeed Jan 2015

Life After Death: Revitalization Of Social Work Education Programs At Historically Black Colleges And Universities Through Decolonization, Carey Yazeed

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

One of the major problems facing social work education in the United States is that there are too many programs. Currently 463 Bachelor of Social Work programs exist in the United States. The growth spurt of programs has been justified by the belief that the profession of social work will grow faster than average by 2018. Institutions of higher learning are feeling the pressure to fill the impending demand for more social workers in the U.S. and social work education programs are feeling the pressure to fulfill the demand by increasing student enrollment. This demand for growth has created a …


An Analysis Of Spelling Patterns Produced By Elementary School-Aged Speakers Of African American English, Lindsay Meyer Turner Jan 2015

An Analysis Of Spelling Patterns Produced By Elementary School-Aged Speakers Of African American English, Lindsay Meyer Turner

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Over the years, less attention is given to students’ spelling skills compared to other areas of literacy achievement like word reading and passage comprehension in relationship to nonmainstream dialect usage. Considering that English spelling is based on the phonological and morphological structures of Mainstream American English (MAE), it is likely that children who speak a nonmainstream dialect such as African American English (AAE) will demonstrate differences in their spelling abilities. The purposes of this study were to explore the relationship between degree of AAE dialect use and spelling for a group of first to third grade children, and to describe …


The Devil At Work: Understanding The Dark Side Of Personality And Its Impact On Performance, Benjamin David Mclarty Jan 2015

The Devil At Work: Understanding The Dark Side Of Personality And Its Impact On Performance, Benjamin David Mclarty

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Personality and its impact on work-related behaviors is an area of research that lacks an explanation of causal mechanisms. In this study, the influence of darker forms of personality (e.g., Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy) on workplace behaviors are examined to determine if these behaviors in turn influence job performance outcomes (e.g., task performance, organizational citizenship behaviors). Using socioanalytic theory, getting along and getting ahead behaviors are proposed as mediators for the transmission of dark personality’s impact on task performance. The theory is also used to examine the relationship between dark personality and targeted citizenship. Another important issue that is addressed …


My Choice, My Fraternity, And My Engagement: Experiences Of White Men In Black Greek Letter Organizations (Bglo), Kourtney Prentice Gray Jan 2015

My Choice, My Fraternity, And My Engagement: Experiences Of White Men In Black Greek Letter Organizations (Bglo), Kourtney Prentice Gray

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study grounded in the theoretical framework and research of Alexander Astin’s Student Engagement Theory, with support from Critical Race Theory and Terrell Strayhorn’s work on Sense of Student Belonging, utilizes a methodological case-study approach with multiple units of analysis. In an effort to understand the choice, ownership, and engagement of White men who hold membership in Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLO), this study utilized the counter-narrative tenant presented and supported by Critical Race Theory to examine the racial identity and engagement of fraternity men from a pluralistic experience. Additionally, the researcher hypothesized that there is a special experience …


Rhetoric And Food: The Rise Of The Food Truck Movement, Bryan W. Moe Jan 2015

Rhetoric And Food: The Rise Of The Food Truck Movement, Bryan W. Moe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This analysis is an attempt to study the rise of a new mobile food medium the food truck. I examine the movement of rhetorical actors, the situation, the audiences, and discourses created and sustained through rhetorical practices. These include looking into contemporary controversies, the history and storytelling that helps to convey identity, a new aesthetic experience created by the medium, and specifically their sophistic character and rhetoric helping them speak on issues of social justice and change. To understand these texts, I examine each of them in light of their rhetorical situation and the convergence of a multitude of kairotic …


Impact Of The S.T.R.I.P.E.S. Leadership And Extended Orientation Program On Philanthropic Giving, Beverly Brooks Thompson Jan 2015

Impact Of The S.T.R.I.P.E.S. Leadership And Extended Orientation Program On Philanthropic Giving, Beverly Brooks Thompson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the impact participating in S.T.R.I.P.E.S., a leadership and extended orientation program, had on the philanthropic giving of recent alumni at a research university in the Southeastern United States. The dependent variable for this study was philanthropic giving to the institution during the three years immediately following graduation, as defined by their personal donations as recorded in cumulative giving by the university’s foundation. The goal of the study was to determine to what extent, if any, school leadership development, loyalty, and engagement taught through leadership and extended orientation programs influence the donation behavior of recent graduates. The target …


Context Aware Textual Entailment, Soha Arab-Khazaeli Jan 2015

Context Aware Textual Entailment, Soha Arab-Khazaeli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

In conversations, stories, news reporting, and other forms of natural language, understanding requires participants to make assumptions (hypothesis) based on background knowledge, a process called entailment. These assumptions may then be supported, contradicted, or refined as a conversation or story progresses and additional facts become known and context changes. It is often the case that we do not know an aspect of the story with certainty but rather believe it to be the case; i.e., what we know is associated with uncertainty or ambiguity. In this research a method has been developed to identify different contexts of the input raw …


A Domesticated Idea: British Women Writers And The Victorian Recipe, 1845-1910, Helana E. Brigman Jan 2015

A Domesticated Idea: British Women Writers And The Victorian Recipe, 1845-1910, Helana E. Brigman

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Until recently, critics have devalued the Victorian cookbook as an object of literary inquiry, regularly dismissing it as “Victoriana”—cultural, anthropological histories detailing bland culinary traditions. A Domesticated Idea: British Women Writers and the Victorian Recipe, 1845-1910 seeks to provide a framework by which we can explore the Victorian cookbook as a literary text appropriated by writers responding to and advocating for cultural, educational, and artistic reform during the mid-to-late nineteenth century. Looking specifically at how women used recipes to discuss food preparation, dining, and household management, I argue that British women writers participated in a collaborative tradition, borrowing and sharing …


Why Interpersonal Ties Are Important For People: An Analysis Of The Concept Of Social Capital And Its Dimensions Of Holism, Convertibility, And Conductibility, Durmus Ali Yuksek Jan 2015

Why Interpersonal Ties Are Important For People: An Analysis Of The Concept Of Social Capital And Its Dimensions Of Holism, Convertibility, And Conductibility, Durmus Ali Yuksek

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

During recent years, social capital has become one of the most widely used concepts in sociological literature, and its popularity has shown itself in both sociological theory and everyday language. Its increasing popularity has mainly resulted from its conceptualizations by some of the most prominent social scientists, such as Pierre Bourdieu, James Coleman, Nan Lin, and Robert Putnam and from its empirical applications to social problems and society afterwards. While many scholars have seen social capital as something of a cure for social problems and perceived social capital theories adequate as they are for their empirical applications, few scholars have …


A Trust-Based Relay Selection Approach To The Multi-Hop Network Formation Problem In Cognitive Radio Networks, Brandy Michelle Tyson Jan 2015

A Trust-Based Relay Selection Approach To The Multi-Hop Network Formation Problem In Cognitive Radio Networks, Brandy Michelle Tyson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

One of the major challenges for today’s wireless communications is to meet the growing demand for supporting an increasing diversity of wireless applications with limited spectrum resource. In cooperative communications and networking, users share resources and collaborate in a distributed approach, similar to entities of active social groups in self organizational communities. Users’ information may be shared by the user and also by the cooperative users, in distributed transmission. Cooperative communications and networking is a fairly new communication paradigm that promises significant capacity and multiplexing gain increase in wireless networks. This research will provide a cooperative relay selection framework that …


Engagement Levels During Implementation Of Co-Teaching Models, Cathy Lee Eschete Jan 2015

Engagement Levels During Implementation Of Co-Teaching Models, Cathy Lee Eschete

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Student engagement in the classroom is a priority for educators and policy makers because disengaged students are more likely to perform poorly in school. Students with disabilities, particularly those with high-incidence disabilities, are a subset of that population of potentially disengaged and definitely poor-performing students. When attending school, they are served increasingly in inclusive, co-taught settings, allowing for inquiry into engagement practices in these instructional arrangements. One purpose of this study was document levels of student engagement for six commonly described co-teaching models implemented in a teacher education course for both special education and general education preservice teacher candidates and …


Work Readiness Among Graduate Students, Raymond Doe Jan 2015

Work Readiness Among Graduate Students, Raymond Doe

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored work readiness among graduate program completers at a Research University (RU/VH) in the Southeastern Region of the United States. Work readiness, although a relatively new construct, is defined as the level to which graduate students are perceived as possessing attitudes and attributes that enable them to be prepared for success in the workforce. Graduate degree-seeking students in universities and colleges are projected to surpass bachelor seeking students in the future. Hiring of graduate degree holders by organizations, however, play a major role in recruitment of new employees. Increasingly, organizations report that recent graduate program completers are insufficiently …