Digital Commons Network^™

Intervention History Of Children With Slow Expressive Language Development, Kathleen Belfiore

Dissertations and Theses

Children who are identified with slow expressive language development (SELD) around the age of two are producing less than fifty intelligible words or no two word phrases. Current research suggests that some children with SELD outgrow their delay while others continue to develop long term language difficulties. The literature shows varied findings of short term recovery but long term deficits, and shifts in the specific expressive language deficits as the child with SELD matures and encounters increased language demands. Suggestions are found for a mix of monitoring and early intervention, in step with signs of readiness and dynamic assessments, to …

Effects Of Posttraining Maintenance Sessions On Aphasic Subjects' Verbal Labeling, Connie Allene Freed

Dissertations and Theses

For many years, treatment for word retrieval deficits has involved the use of various cueing techniques to help trigger retrieval of target words. Research has shown that accuracy for future retrieval of target words is best achieved by training subjects with semantically based cues. Personalized cues that are created by the subjects themselves to help remember a target word have been shown to be the most effective of the semantically based cues. However, even with the use of personalized cues, accuracy for naming tasks has been found to decrease once training is completed. Current research in memory indicates that, for …

Understanding Pre-Service Teachers' Conceptualizations Of Diversity, Terrine Louise Borwn Vogt

Dissertations and Theses

"Diversity" has become a word associated with many professions, institutions, and contexts, paired with words such as standards, consultants, training, awareness and others. However, the researcher focused on how diversity is defined or conceptualized by pre-service teachers at Portland State University. Diversity is especially important as it relates to educators and pre-service teachers. Teachers will, today, be instructing children of different backgrounds and races more than ever in the past (Ross & Smith, 1992). And teachers conceptualizations and behaviors have profound impacts on student performance and success. In an effort to come to understand the ways pre-service teachers conceptualize "diversity," …

Chaos And Detection, Andrew M. Fraser

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

I report on numerical experiments in which a detector reliably found chaotic signals at signal to noise ratios as low as -15 dB. The detector was based on a variant of the hidden Markov models used in speech research. The task was particularly difficult because the Fourier power spectrum of the noise was constructed to match the spectrum of the signal. I review likelihood ratio detectors, limitations on the performance of linear models implied by the broad Fourier power spectra of chaotic signals, and the upper limit that the Kolmogorov-Sinai (KS) entropy of a chaotic system places on the expected …

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: Halfway between infancy and adulthood lie life’s most confusing years—adolescence; Professor Gordon Dodds tells an American tale of rebirth and second chances; alumni share their memories of Portland State in celebration of the university’s 50th anniversary; the new Center for Academic Excellence dismantles tradition in order to boost teaching skills; a PSU prof is finding new links between genes and addiction; PSU salutes friends, faculty, and alumni who have made a difference to the university and the community; and more.

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet May 1996, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The May 1996 Monthly packet includes the May agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held April 1996.

The Internationalization Of Washington, D.C., Carl Abbott

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

The globalization of U.S. cities is attracting increasing theoretical and empirical attention. The author analyzes internationally oriented activities in metropolitan Washington, D.C., and demonstrates that the city's international roles are built directly on its historic function as a national city. Focusing on change over time, the author also shows that globalization is a stepwise process: Several key periods of the expansion of international functions were followed by periods of gradual absorption. In comparative context, Washington supports arguments about the separability of international functions and shows the importance of historical development in determining the different ways in which cities interact with …

Freightliner Strategic Analysis, Ziad Keirouz, Melissa Hirsch

Engineering and Technology Management Student Projects

Evaluates the segment of the transportation industry Freightliner participates in and proposes early investment in improved technology.

Book Review Of, Nietzsche: Ethics Of An Immoralist, R. Kevin Hill

Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations

Reviews the book "Ethics of an Immoralist" by Peter Berkowitz

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet April 1996, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The April 1996 Monthly packet includes the April agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held March 1996.

City Club Of Portland Report: Planning For Urban Growth In The Portland Metropolitan Area, City Club Of Portland (Portland, Or.)

City Club of Portland

No abstract provided.

Groundwater Recharge Of The Middle Deschutes Basin, Oregon, Thomas Gene Boyd

Dissertations and Theses

All surface water in the Middle Deschutes River basin of Oregon has already been allocated. Growth in the basin has put pressure on the Oregon Water Resources Department (OWRD) to grant an increasing number of groundwater permits. The OWRD is concerned that the allocation of too much groundwater will cause adverse effects on other groundwater users and surface water supplies and ultimately lead to groundwater depletion. For this reason, the U.S. Geological Survey is presently undertaking the first in-depth study of the groundwater resources of the basin.

As part of this USGS study, I estimated recharge rates and their distribution …

Parental Perceptions Of Articulation Intervention Services Received At Portland State University, Janet Ann Murphy

Dissertations and Theses

Now more than ever, speech clinicians are being required to justify the effectiveness of their work by showing results. There are different ways to measure outcomes. For example, outcomes may be measured by testing to determine if change has occurred regarding clinical goals, or by comparing the cost of the treatment to the benefit of the treatment to determine if the treatment was economically sound. Another type of measure is subjective outcomes, such as client satisfaction. Subjective outcomes are difficult to define and measure and few studies of this type have been reported in the literature. Because clinical outcome is …

Meeting Notes 1996-03-14 [Part A] , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.

Output-Based Performance Measures For The North Carolina Office Of Waste Reduction, Sheila A. Martin, James R. Youngberg, Albert D. Bethke

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

Research Triangle Institute (RTI) conducted this study to provide the foundation for implementing a results-based performance measurement system. RTI designed a system for NC OWR and similar state waste reduction outreach programs in EPA’s Region 4 that will collect, analyze, report, and maintain the output-based performance measures needed to manage the system, to monitor program scope and effectiveness, and to report to managers and key stakeholders on the program’s success in accomplishing its 0bjectives. Key questions we have addressed in this study include the following:

What is the current best practice for collecting and analyzing information about the effectiveness of …

Planning Implications Of Globalization In Portland, Oregon, James W. Coker

Master of Urban and Regional Planning Workshop Projects

It is the purpose of this paper to shed a little light on information that has been gathered on the trends of globalization; to examine those trends as they are occurring within the region within the context of the values and goals of the Portland metropolitan area; and to offer classmates an opportunity for exploring the meaning of these trends and values as they relate to their own particular planning projects.

In short, this entire project is conceived as a point of departure for recognizing the impact of globalization on contemporary planning practice within the Portland metro area. It offers …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet March 1996, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The March 1996 Monthly packet includes the March agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held February 1996.

Study Abroad And Self-Perceptions Of Cross-Cultural Adaptability, Heidi C. King

Dissertations and Theses

With growing recognition of the duality of language and culture, the TESOL profession is placing increasing emphasis on the importance of understanding intercultural dynamics in the second language classroom. Currently, however, there is a lack of empirical information and measurement instruments to aid understanding within the field of cross-cultural communication. In response to this lack of instrumentation, Kelley and Meyers (1993) recently created the Cross-Cultural Adaptability Inventory (CCAI), a 5 0-item, self-perception inventory designed to measure cross-cultural adaptability through a total score and four contributing dimensions: Emotional Resilience, Flexibility/Openness, Perceptual Acuity and Personal Autonomy. The two primary purposes of this …

A Cross-Cultural Study Of The Speech Act Of Refusing In English And German, Charla Margaret Teufel

Dissertations and Theses

Language students must learn to communicate effectively in cross-cultural settings, avoiding unwitting violations of culturally determined norms of behavior. This study compares German learners of English (GEs) with native speakers of English (AEs) and German (GGs), studying pragmatic transfer associated with the face-threatening speech act of refusal.

Data elicitation involved a written role-play questionnaire composed of twelve refusal situations, including four refusal stimulus types (requests, invitations, offers, and suggestions) and interlocutors of higher, lower, and equal status. Response strategies were identified and classified, and the three groups were compared in terms of frequency and content of strategies chosen.

Overall, the …

An Analysis Of Spondee Recognition Thresholds In Auditory-Only And Audio-Visual Conditions, Brenene Marie Brady-Herbst

Dissertations and Theses

To date there are no acceptable speechreading tests with normative or psychometric data indicating the test is a valid and reliable measure of speechreading assessment. Middlewerd and Plomp (1987) completed a study of speechreading assessment using sentences (auditory-only and auditory-visual) in the presence of background noise. Results revealed speech reception thresholds to be lower in the auditory-visual condition. Montgomery and Demorest (1988) concurred that these results were appealing, but unfortunately not efficient enough to be used clinically.

The purpose of this study was to develop a clinically valid and reliable assessment of speech reading ability, following Middlewerd and Plomp's (1987) …

A Prolog Lexical Phrase Computer Assisted Language Learning Module, Yuji Gene Hirayama

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents the design of a computer assisted language learning (CALL) program written in the computer language, PROLOG. It will provide a practice exercise to teach "lexical phrases" to second language learning students of English. Lexical phrases are lexico-grammatical "chunks" of words, which possess specific pragmatic functions within spoken discourse (Nattinger and DeCarrico, 1992). These form/function composites of varying length aid conversational fluency. The program presents a scenario where the participants are college students who pass one another in the hallway. After they exchange initial greetings, the first participant (i.e., the computer) informs the other student that a test, …

Nonlinearities In The Base Emitter Junction Of Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors, Oliver Woywode

Dissertations and Theses

The nonlinear behaviour of the base emitter junction in HBTs is investigated. Nonlinearities cause troublesome distortion and intermodulation of signals and raise the bit error rate. They are therefore a key issue in microwave communication systems. Hewlett-Packard's Microwave Design System (MDS) software package has been used to simulate these phenomena. The simulation results are verified by an analytical method called nonlinear current method which is a derivative of the Volterra series approach. With the aid of this method new analytical expressions are derived that provide insight into the subtleties of nonlinear phenomena. These expressions are evaluated by the program MAPLE …

Temperament And Language Development In First Grade Children, Loretta Marcia Kellogg

Dissertations and Theses

Many young children develop language over a broad range of ages yet present as having normal language development. When language development lags behind what is considered a normal time line, it is important to consider the various factors that may contribute to the delay in development. The purpose of the current study was to examine various aspects of temperament among three groups of children with varying language histories. The specific question to be answered was, do significant differences occur on parent and clinician questionnaires of temperament among three groups of first grade children demonstrating varying levels of language development: those …

Relationship Of Marital Types And Conflict Styles, Lynn Marie Stanek

Dissertations and Theses

Communication is an integral part of all relationships. The intent of this study was to discover if certain individual preferences for approaching conflict occur in a significant fashion between the partners of particular types of marriages. In addition, this study meant to better understand how conflict is perceived and responded to, in marriage and/or long term relationships. Fitzpatrick's (1977) Relational Dimensions Inventory (RDI), was used for this study to characterize three dimensions of marriage: interdependence, ideology, and conflict engagement/avoidance, resulting in the following marital types: Traditionals, Independents, Separates, and Mixed. Rahim's (1983) instrument, the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory (ROCI), was …

Faculty Senate Monthly Packet February 1996, Portland State University Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Monthly Packets

The February 1996 Monthly packet includes the February agenda and appendices and the Faculty Senate minutes and attachments from the meeting held January 1996.

Meeting Notes 1996-01-11 , Joint Policy Advisory Committee On Transportation

Joint Policy Advisory Committee on Transportation

No abstract provided.

Reading Abilities And Phonological Skills Of Second Grade Children With Three Different Language Histories: Normal, Delayed, And Chronically Delayed, Candace Jane Murray

Dissertations and Theses

This study was part of the Portland Language Development Project, a longitudinal study of early expressive language delay. Its purpose was twofold. The first was to examine phonological and reading abilities in second grade children with a history of language delay. The second purpose was to examine the relationship between phonological processing abi1ities and reading skills in these children. Second grade children were assigned to one of three groups, based on their history and current Development Sentence Score (DSS) score: (a) normal language (NL), those with more than 50 words at 20-34 months and above the tenth percentile on the …

Typologies Of Homeless Youth, Orion Isis Gray

Anthós Journal (1990-1996)

This paper is a shortened version of Gray’s thesis.

Typologies of homeless youth help researchers and service providers understand who they are working with. However, most of the work on "homeless and runaway youth," as they are often referred to, does not take into account the subtypes within this vast population. Instead of taking such distinctions for granted, this paper focuses on them. The different sections of the paper define and examine these different subtypes. By the conclusion of the thesis, the reader should be able to form an educated opinion on the utility of some of the different typologies …

Organizational Responses To Educational Telecommunications Policy In Three States: Oregon, Colorado, And Utah, Kathi Arlene Ketcheson

Dissertations and Theses

Prior research on statewide educational telecommunications has focused on cataloging initiatives in various states, describing activities in individual states, or in exploring telecommunications policy from a planning-level perspective. In these studies, it is recognized that policies and implementation behaviors vary across individual states; however, a theoretical basis for how and why policy and implementation models differ among states has not been provided. Research also suggests that many states are moving toward the adoption of successful models from other states, and that there is a need for policy research to assist states in developing policies. This dissertation attempts to apply the …

Silk Purse Or Sow's Ear? An Mmpi Commonground, Richard H. Dana

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

Velasquez et al allege that "rounding up the usual suspects" in my article on culturally competent MMPI assessment of Hispanics provides information that is inaccurate, raises unanswered questions, and can discourage assessors reluctant to take "extra precautions required with Hispanic clients". They contribute an overview of history and current research that leads to their own recommendations. Using the idiom of "usual" and "unusual" suspects, further investigation of all suspects appears necessary. Juxtaposition of two sets of assessment recommendations-theirs and mine-suggests that an ostensible battleground can become a commonground to better inform assessors of cultural competence issues. From the Author.