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Mood And Creativity: The Mediating Role Of Attention, Viktoria Tidikis

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Within literature there are two opposing views regarding the role of emotions in the creative process. The most commonly held view contends that positive emotions enhance creativity, while negative emotions stifle it; yet, some studies show an opposite trend. To help resolve this conundrum, this research examined the mediating effect of attention on the relationship between mood and creativity. The results showed that positive deactivating and negative activating emotions led to broader attention, while positive activating and negative deactivating emotions caused narrowing of attention. Furthermore, the creative process is not uniform in its requirements of attentional breadth; some creative tasks …

Partitioning Method For Emergent Behavior Systems Modeled By Agent-Based Simulations, O. Thomas Holland

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Used to describe some interesting and usually unanticipated pattern or behavior, the term emergence is often associated with time-evolutionary systems comprised of relatively large numbers of interacting yet simple entities. A significant amount of previous research has recognized the emergence phenomena in many real-world applications such as collaborative robotics, supply chain analysis, social science, economics and ecology. As improvements in computational technologies combined with new modeling paradigms allow the simulation of ever more dynamic and complex systems, the generation of data from simulations of these systems can provide data to explore the phenomena of emergence.

To explore some of the …

Prompting Self-Monitoring Of Learning In Self-Paced Computer Based Training: The Effect On Self-Regulation And Learning, Christopher J. Coburn

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of prompting students to monitor their use of learning strategies and comprehension while completing self-paced, work-related training in a computer-based learning environment. Study participants included 94 enlisted military volunteers, randomly assigned to one of three groups in the spring of 2012. Changes in strategy use and comprehension were evaluated within and between groups receiving either immediate, delayed or no prompts using multiple methods of measurement, both during and after training. Prompts asked participants to rate their level of agreement to statements regarding their strategy use and comprehension of lesson content. …

When Cognitive Bias Masquerades As Intervention Efficacy: Drinking Norms As Anchors And Norm Interventions As Anchoring Effects, Matthew R. Pearson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Problematic drinking is a serious public health concern on college campuses in the United States. College students most frequently report drinking for social reasons, and perceptions of peers' drinking, or perceived drinking norms, are among the most consistent, robust predictors of college student drinking. Therefore, norm-based interventions have risen to prominence in the attempt to reduce the harm caused by college student alcohol use. However, the efficacy of these interventions may be obscured by cognitive bias. Specifically, providing information regarding the drinking norm may "anchor" individuals' estimates of their own behavior. Using samples of college student drinkers, two studies were …

Facebook And Its Users: Using Grounded Theory To Understand Perceived Interactivity As A Constraint In The Rhetorical Situation, Katie Lee Retzinger Pruitt

English Theses & Dissertations

The general term interactivity has been used in a variety of disciplines to describe phenomena that occur in website interfaces; however, definitions and explanations about what constitutes interactivity and how it functions do not consider the specific ways in which interactivity can function and be perceived by users in specific rhetorical situations. In this study, I address the problems with the literature about general interactivity in writing studies and in other disciplines such as computer science, advertising, marketing, and communication studies by distinguishing between two types of interactivity—functional and perceived. I situate the different types of interactivity rhetorically, which can …

A Mixed Methods Study Of Special Education Teachers' Knowledge Of Reading Instruction And Perceptions Concerning Their Preparation To Teach Reading, Cynthia Darden Blakeslee

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Significant changes in requirements for reading instruction and special education teacher preparation have occurred in recent years due to provisions found in the No Child Left Behind legislation of 2001 and the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. This study examined the preparation for reading instruction that prospective special education teachers received during their teacher preparation and their beliefs concerning their preparation. Reading instruction preparation was examined in the context of the knowledge and skills associated with reading instruction acquired in two required university reading courses. Using a mixed methods sequential explanatory design-participant-selection model (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2010) …

Comparison Of Personality Traits, Past Work, And Technology Experience Of Successful Disability Analyst Trainees, Melissa Phillips

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine factors resulting from past work experience and personality types that effect the ability of an analyst trainee to be able to meet the agency's definition of success to maintain their employment.

The Effects Of Horticultural Therapy On Students Who Are At-Risk, Jason Thomas

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between self-esteem; and grade point average among at-risk high school students in Hampton Roads, Virginia, who spent time in a Horticultural Therapy program to determine if the program; should be expanded.

Implementation Of A One-To-One Ipod Touch Program In A Middle School, Helen Crompton, Julie Keane

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of a whole school one-to-one iPod Touch project in a middle school in the southeastern United States. While some focused studies have been undertaken in this new field of learning, there has been little research to date that documents activity within a whole school implementation (Chen, Kao, & Sheu, 2003; Conti-Ramsden, Durkin, & Simkin, 2010). Using Rogers' (1963, 2003) theory of diffusion of innovation as a lens for this research, we gathered data from observations, focus groups, and interviews. Our findings indicated that teachers focused on internet-based research activities, formative …

Calibration Research: Where Do We Go From Here?, Linda Bol, Douglas J. Hacker

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

Research on calibration remains a popular line of inquiry. Calibration is the degree of fit between a person's judgment of performance and his or her actual performance. Given the continued interest in this topic, the questions posed in this article are fruitful directions to pursue to help address gaps in calibration research. In this article, we have identified six research directions that if productively pursued, could greatly expand our knowledge of calibration. The six research directions are: (a) what are the effects of varying the anchoring mechanisms from which calibration judgments are made, (b) how does calibration accuracy differ as …

Art Therapy In A Bereavement Camp Setting To Aid In Emotional Expression And Processing Of Loss, Rebecca Snyder

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the effects of art therapy on children ages six to eight who have experienced the loss of a loved one. Children experience death in ways that are different from adults due to their level of development. Research indicates that children benefit from creative approaches to processing the death of a loved one as they can rely on symbolic language rather than the use of words. Within this study, art therapy sessions were implemented at a weekend long bereavement camp in order to increase knowledge about the effects of art …

Student Recital: Caitlin Duncan, Soprano, Caitlin Duncan, Bobbie Kesler-Corleto

Student Recitals

No abstract provided.

Performance Of New Works For Orchestra And Chorus: Old Dominion University Symphony Orchestra And Old Dominion University Concert Choir, Old Dominion University Symphony Orchestra, Lucy Manning (Director), Old Dominion University Chorus, Nancy K. Klein (Director)

Ensemble Performances

No abstract provided.

Minutes Of The Virginia Academy Of Science Council Meeting

Virginia Journal of Science

Minutes of the Virginia Academy of Science council meeting on November 13, 2010, at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College, Richmond, VA, Burnett Hall, Room 131.

Monarch, Jim Raper (Editor)

Monarch Magazine

Fall 2011 issue of Monarch, the Old Dominion University Magazine.

Subtitled: Homecoming: School Spirit in Photos 2011

Bauer Power: 24 And The Making Of An American, Mike Dillon

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

This essay explores how 24 represents torture as an encounter between the imagined nation of “America” and the stateless and nebulous characteristic of “terrorism.” Torturing of terror suspects became public knowledge following the Abu Ghraib scandal and reports of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay Prison. This and other scandals of the Bush administration have interacted with the work of 24’s fictional Counter Terrorist Unit in complex ways. The show’s protagonist, Jack Bauer, can be seen as a source of a new model of discipline and national identity.

Nikita Mikhalkov’S Cinematic Verdict On Contemporary Russia, Yuliya Ladygina

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

After the bombing of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on 11 September 2001, Putin’s administration reacted promptly to the new rhetoric in Washington and, in turn, re-branded Russia’s campaign in Chechnya as a clear-cut conflict of backward Islamic terrorists assaulting civilized Russia. As a result, the entire Chechen nation and its struggle for political independence has been systematically misrepresented and maligned in the Russian mass media, particularly in film and television. While an abundance of scholarship has examined what sorts of stories Western film and TV drama have been telling about war and terror, and what kinds of …

A Theory Of Brand Ww2, Jonathan M. Bullinger, Andrew J. Salvati

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Myths about the Second World War, grounded within stores of knowledge, often act as narrative templates to be drawn upon by collective memory. These myths and memories are transformed and commodified in a reductive manner into a brand encompassing simplistic narratives, easily recognized visual signifiers (including logo, colors, and associated symbols), and emotional cues that connect with the audience. This posits a theory that what most individuals today interact with is not a fragment of memory related to World War Two but rather a reductive representation sold as BrandWW2.

The Depiction Of Terrorism In 24: The Inescapable Catastrophe, Francesca Negri

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

The TV series 24 was nothing but a filter of the widespread terror and unease unleashed after 9/11, depicting a claustrophobic world in which one’s own family and no-one else is to be trusted. For a decade this “real time” narrative has perfectly represented US paranoia. It depicts what Baudrillard calls the “American fear for self-destruction” which is still enduring today. While 24 underwrote the process of legitimating the use - and abuse - of force on the War on Terror, it also drew heavily on existing cultural archetypes of masculinity, heroism and national identity.

Talking To Yourself: Garfield Minus Garfield As An Introduction To Techno-Companionship, Andy Engel

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

[First paragraph]

A year ago while surfing the Internet, I came across a website called Garfield Minus Garfield (GMG), operated by artist/businessman Dan Walsh. Walsh received notoriety for his adaptations of the popular Garfield comic strip in which he removed its title character [1]. This act results in Garfield’s human counterpart, Jon Arbuckle, alone and talking to himself in the now empty space of the strip. A radical transformation occurs because of Garfield’s deletion that serves to emphasize the crucial role Jon and Garfield’s relationship plays in our perception of the world within the strip. Walsh begins the site with …

'I Believe Whatever Doesn't Kill You Simply Makes You...Stranger': Discourses Of Terrorism And Counter-Terrorism In The Dark Knight, Barbara Wopperer

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

Christopher Nolan's Batman film The Dark Knight was viewed by a wide range of commentators as a depiction of contemporary terrorism, pivoting on iconic villain The Joker. Perhaps surprisingly, a mainstream superhero movie has made an accidental (?) intervention in the ongoing discussion of counterterrorism and its ethical restraints. A close reading of various scenes in the movie reveals an upfront debate over means and ends, civil society and the state. Moreover, the moral discourse in The Dark Knight suggests a response to timeless ethical considerations rather than the more historically specific reference points of its recent admirers.

Predicting Student Success In Passing The Exit Exam For Writing Proficiency, Cheryl Ann Latko

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the Exit Exam of Writing Proficiency (EEWP) and the variables that may impact the probability of a student passing the EEWP. The EEWP is one of the graduation requirements for all undergraduate students at a mid-sized four-year university in the mid-Atlantic region. The purpose of the EEWP is to ensure that undergraduates demonstrate clear, concise, and professional writing skills.

The literature discusses general issues with student writing skills specific to the field of human services, as they relate to teacher educators, developmental education, and the field of human services. Student demographics, such …

Community College Student Persistence: A Focus On Occupational And Academic Clubs, Catherine Jean Songer

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges have increased demands for data to substantiate their institutional effectiveness in financially challenging times to stakeholders and accrediting agencies. Tied to performance funding, North Carolina community colleges are focusing attention on policies and programs that encourage student persistence. The Community College Survey of Student Engagement indicated a strong relationship between student engagement and student success. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to investigate student persistence as measured by student intent to persist as it related to participation in community college-sponsored occupational and academic clubs, to investigate the student-perceived level of participation as it related to student intent …

Nawal Al Saadawi And Hanan Al Shaykh's Authorship: Between Arab And Western Reception, Diana M. Obeid

Institute for the Humanities Theses

When Lebanese author Layla Baalbaki wrote her novel A Space Ship of Tenderness to the Moon in 1964 about a woman's defiance to her husband's wishes and his way of maintaining societal customs and traditions, an avalanche of criticism was directed against her. She was accused of obscenity and was put on trial before a Lebanese Prosecutor. Baalbaki's experiences are symbolic of the paradoxical and contradictory reception many Arab female authors have received in the East and the West. In this thesis, I discuss this discrepancy of reception in the works of Nawal Al Saadawi and Hanan Al Shaykh, two …

Contextual Cueing Effects In Visual Threat Detection, Molly M. Liechty

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Contextual cueing is the implicit association of objects ( or "cues") in a visual scene due to repeated exposure, either spatially or semantically. Associations between objects in a visual scene have been shown to aid people in detecting a specific target more quickly and easily during a visual search. The goal of this study was to investigate whether an individual could utilize a "distractor" as a contextual cue during a visual target search. Twenty undergraduate participants performed a luggage screening task during which they were connected to an eye tracker and screened 375 x-ray luggage images across three trial blocks …

Intercultural Accommodation Of Ethnic Minority Consumers: An Empirical Examination Of The Moderating Effects In Service Encounters, Sarah Mady

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

The current study proposed a model of intercultural accommodation and nine emergent hypotheses grounded in three theories: Accommodation Theory, Distinctiveness Theory and the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The study expected that the offering of a service in the minority consumer's language and by an ethnically-similar service provider will lead to favorable service quality perceptions, in the absence of any intervening variables. Ethnic minority consumers were also expected to differ in their perceptions of service quality when intercultural accommodation efforts were or were not offered given a number of intervening variables. The proposed model and the nine hypotheses were assessed via a …

Examining The Roles Of Attachment Theory And Sensitivity To Reward And Punishment In Predicting Driving Behavior Among Young Adults, Elaine M. Murphy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Drivers under the age of 25 years old have the highest per capita fatal-crash rate. They are also over represented in particular risky driving behaviors, such as speeding, safety belt non-use, and impaired driving. Although researchers have used many different theories to explain driving behaviors of young adults, two theories which have received less attention, attachment theory and reinforcement sensitivity theory, were used as a theoretical framework in the present research. Reckless driving has been found to serve as an anxiety buffering function that can reduce stress among insecurely attached individuals (Taubman - Ben-Ari et al., 1999). Having a secure …

Do Different Styles Of Self-Monitoring Yield Different Outcomes In Ego Depletion And Anxiety?, Katelyn Brittany Ealer

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Different styles of self-monitoring, Public Performing and Other-directed, may result in different levels of ego depletion and anxiety after an ego depleting self-presentation task. To test this idea, undergraduate psychology students were recruited and deceived into believing that they were being monitored by trained researchers for competency so as to activate the ego depleting self-presentational strategy of competence. The predictions that as self-monitoring increases, ego depletion increases, that Other-directed self-monitoring predicts ego depletion more than Public Performing self-monitoring, that Public Performing self-monitoring predicts ego depletion controlling for Extroversion and Other-directed self-monitoring predicts ego depletion controlling for Neuroticism, and that ego …

Exploring The Impact Of Classified Staff Interactions On The Student Experience: A Multiple Case Study Approach, Mary Ann Schmitt

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative multiple case study explored front-line classified staff interactions with students as a possible strategy for increasing student success. The study was based on the premise that too few students stay at a community college long enough to achieve their academic goals. Therefore, college leaders must identify new strategies to increase student retention and success. A literature review revealed positive student experiences increase the likelihood of student persistence. Since classified staff members interact with students throughout the college, the author examined their interactions as one potential strategy to increase the likelihood of student success.

The study explored classified staff …

State Of The University Address, 2011, John R. Broderick

State of the University Addresses

President John R. Broderick's 2011 State of the University Address and Faculty Welcome.