Digital Commons Network^™

A Motor Speech Programming Investigation Using Inhibition: Part I, Jeffrey Thomas Backlin

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The current study investigated stop/go boundaries for speech acts (i.e. saying "uh, annul, annulment") in a speech inhibition task modeled on Slater-Hammel's (1959) experiment. Specifically, the project sought to answer the following research questions: (1) Can human speakers learn to stop a sweep hand using their voice? (2) What is the absolute (100%) inhibition threshold for "uh?" (3) What is the threshold at which one half of the spoken response for "uh," can be inhibited? Two additional studies were conducted for the additional stop targets "annul" (Williams, 2009) and "annulment" (Corbett, 2009). Self-report and informal speech-language screening assessed ten adult …

A Speech Motor Programming Investigation Using Inhibition, Alison Michele Corbett

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Motor learning and its applications have been extensively studied, particularly in the area of sports physiology and kinesiology. From these fields, many theories of movement and its control mechanisms have evolved. Previous research has drawn upon these theatrical principles to investigate the specific parameters of skilled movements, specifically the time required to complete an action. In particular, a finger-lift task has been used to study the refractory period during which a motor program can not be inhibited when trained to occur at a particular temporal target (Slater-Hammel, 1959). The current study applies key methodological concepts from Slater-Hammel's work to examine …

Gender Violence Prevention: The Effects Of A Forum Theater Program On Bystander Efficacy And Behavior, Jennifer Nicole Crawford

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Sexual victimization on college campuses has been and remains a concern. In 1987 Koss, Gidycz, and Wisniewski reported that the prevalence of sexual victimization, including unwanted sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted rape, and rape, among female college students was 54 percent, nearly three times that of women in the general population. The most recent National College Women Sexual Victimization study (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000) reported that 2.8% of women experienced rape or attempted rape during the academic year, with closer to 5% experiencing violence across twelve months. These findings, and those like them, have led to a rapid increase …

Investigating The Potential Contributors To Non-Suicidal Self-Injury: Stress, Emotional Dysregulation, And Alexithymia, Kelly K. Espenschade

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research has investigated perceived stress, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), emotional dysregulation, and alexithymia independently. However, there have been no studies to date that have simultaneously examined the relationship among all these variables. The purpose of this study was to examine these variables among those who had or had not engaged in NSSI. Five hundred seventy-seven college students completed self report measures of non-suicidal self-injury, perceived stress level, emotional dysregulation, and alexithymia. As hypothesized, those who had engaged in self-harm behaviors reported higher levels of perceived stress, emotional dysregulation, and alexithymia. There were no gender differences except on perceived stress levels, where …

Social Support And Work-School Conflict: A Daily Study, Eric John Faurote

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The goal of this study was to examine within-person associations between work-school conflict (WSC), social support at work, job satisfaction, and negative affect. There were 108 undergraduates for a Midwest university that participated in this study. Greater WSC was associated with decreased job satisfaction and increased negative affect (NA). Social support buffered the relationship between WSC and job satisfaction such that individuals with low social support experienced a decrease in job satisfaction when WSC was high, but they did not experience this decrease with social support was high. Greater social support from co-workers was associated with increased job satisfaction and …

Rape Myth Acceptance In A Dynamic Environment: Application Of Social Impact Theory To Rma, Zebbedia G. Gibb

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This study examines conditions under which attitudes related to sexual assault, commonly known as rape myths, may be transmitted through culture by applying the tenets of Social Impact Theory (Latane, 1981). Social impact theory suggests that three forces influence attitude change, namely the immediacy of the source to the target, the strength of the source, and the number of sources of a message. It was hypothesized that participants who chatted with a confederate who was similar to them and endorsed rape myths would report accepting those beliefs at a higher rate than participants who chatted with a confederate who was …

A Comparison Of Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Sexual Minority Students And Issues In Schools With And Without Gay Straight Alliances, Kelli Ranae Otis Brus

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to investigate teachers' attitudes toward sexual minority students (including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning students) and issues related to this population of students. A sample of 166 high school teachers from schools with and without gay-straight alliances (GSAs) were compared on several measures to determine if teachers from schools with GSAs were significantly more supportive toward sexual minority students and issues than teachers in schools without GSAs .. Participants completed research packets containing the Professional Attitude Index Scale (PAIS) (Sears, 1992), a hypothetical situation of homophobia in a classroom for participants to provide …

Using Community Resource Mapping To Improve Systems Of Positive Behavioral Support And Wraparound, Daniel Innes

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

This paper will discuss the use of a technique known as resource mapping in an effort to improve systems of Positive Behavioral Supports (PBS) and Wraparound provided by the school system. The concept of PBS will be defined and discussed, along with a common student support philosophy known as Wraparound. Next, resource mapping will be discussed along with its associated benefits for schools and communities. Finally the results of a resource mapping project in a medium sized Midwestern community will be presented along with a discussion of the obstacles associated with such a task.

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Student Experiences In The School Environment And School Belonging, Erin E. Welsh

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Researchers have worked for years to decrease rates of student dropout by identifying associated factors, and developing strategies to increase school success. Despite these efforts, dropout is a complicated phenomenon, making it difficult to effectively support students. There is a body of literature concerning the connection between students' sense of belonging and its relationship to dropout. This literature is reviewed in light of the effect teachers, parents, peers, and personal characteristics have on belonging and dropout. A second body of research concerning how the physical environment of schools as behavior settings affects student outcomes is also discussed. A survey was …

Methods For Fostering Success In The Transition To High School, Debora E. Hanna Porter

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this paper is to examine newly implemented changes in transition supports at a large high school in the Midwest. Factors that affect success include attendance, environment, student characteristics and self-efficacy, socio-economic status and family support, peer pressure, teacher and school support, and race and gender differences. To determine the success of the new transition program, data were gathered regarding achievement and attendance outcomes for transitioning students in intervention and comparison groups. In addition, differences in outcomes were investigated for socioeconomic status 'groups and gender. Student opinions of the school environment, parent/teacher support, extra-curricular involvement, and the "New …

Understanding Parental Involvement In Youth Sports Through The Concept Of Serious Leisure, Greta Marie Giese

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

The purpose of this study was to use the construct of serious leisure to identify to what extent parents are involved in their children's youth sports activities. A sample of 660 parents of children enrolled in Heartland Soccer Club in Cedar Rapids, Iowa or the Panther Pride Soccer Club in Cedar Falls, Iowa was surveyed. Both male and female parents from a variety of ages were surveyed. The research instrument for this study was the "Parental Involvement in Youth Soccer Questionnaire." This survey was created based on the categories of serious leisure and a 1997 article comparing serious leisure and …

Examining The Intrinsic Motivational Level Of Task And Ego Goal Oriented Athletes In The Xl Sports Acceleration Program, Kira Melisa Werstein

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Acceleration programs are a new and popular tool used by youth athletes to prepare for upcoming sports seasons. Acceleration programs train athletes in the areas of speed, agility, power, coordination, and strength. Each of these aspects is important in the development of an athlete and effects athletic performance. It is important that acceleration programs also consider intrinsic motivation, because it will help advance the performance of each athlete. The purpose of this study is to examine motivational levels in task and ego goal oriented athletes over the length of a session at the XL Sports Acceleration Program. The Task and …

The Relationship Between Academic Achievement And Physical Fitness In Adolescents, George William Centeio

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

In today's schools, there is a major emphasis placed on academic proficiency particularly in the areas of reading, math, and science. Society is also seeing increases in the number of people who are obese and inactive. Some believe that increasing physical activity and/or improving physical fitness will result in better academic achievement of students in school. This study examined the relationship between academic achievement and physical fitness in adolescents. The participants included 200 ( 118 male, 82 female), high school students, at a rural high school located in the Midwestern region of the United States. Student's third trimester, end of …

The Effects Of Indian-Accented English And Need For Cognition On Message Evaluation: A Field Study, Duoc V. Nguyen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Research has shown that Americans rate non-accented English speakers more favorably than accented English speakers (e.g., Cargile & Giles, 1997; Frumkin, 2007); however this is not always the case ( e.g., Cargile, 2000; Singer & Eder, 1988). Other factors may be involved when people are processing other people's messages. One motivating factor may be the extent to which people like to think, or have a high need for cognition (NCS; Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). As call center jobs continue to be outsourced to other countries such as India, it is important to ascertain how people with varying degrees of motivation …

Captivating Emotions: Sentiment And The Work Of Rhetorical Drag In Colonial And Early National Captivity Narrative, Gleidson Gouveia

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Captivity narrative, the American genre initiated early in the seventeenth century, tells the story of Europeans abducted by Native Americans in the New England frontier. These texts, however, do not simply tell the subjects' experiences of confinement among the Indians but reveal important relations of power, religion, and politics that took place in Early America. This work analyzes the captivity narratives of Mary Rowlandson, Mary Swarton, John Williams, Mary Jemison, and John Tanner to understand how their experiences were appropriated by third parties in order to meet religious and political ends of their respective times. Following scholars of captivity narrative …

A Test Of Tmt: Mortality Salience And Avoidance Of Worldview Threats, Taylor Wayne Wadian

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Imagine playing a game of catch with three people, and all the things that would influence to whom you throw. Were thoughts of death included as one of those factors? The hypothesis that mortality salience motivates avoidant behavior toward a worldviewthreatening target was empirically tested on a sample of 200 undergraduate Caucasian college students from a Midwestern university. I induced participants to write about either their own death or dental pain, and presented them with summer descriptions of three fictitious male African American targets that they believed they were going to interact with later in the study. Targets' descriptions were …

An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Functional Behavioral Assessment For Students With Emotional Behavioral Disabilities, Megan Kale Brose

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is defined as "a set of assessment procedures used to identify variables that promote and maintain challenging behavior and based upon this assessment, interventions are selected that alter one or more of these variables" (Stichter & Conroy, 2005, pp. 19-20). FBA has received a great deal of attention since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)l997 amendments, which require the use of FBA for all special education students upon referral of alternative educational placements due to behavior resulting in disciplinary action. There has also been considerable questioning of and need for research in …

A Test Of Ajzen’S Theory Of Planned Behavior: Predicting Students’ Intentions Toward Joining An Army Rotc Program, Jason Hornberg

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Young adults' expressed interest toward joining The Unites States Armed Forces has been decreasing since the 1990's. This downward trend has negatively influenced the recruitment of enlisted soldiers into the military as well as the enrollment of young adults into officer production programs like the Reserve Officer Training Course (ROTC). In an attempt to understand and overcome the effects of this trend, behavioral scientists have begun using behavioral theories to predict young adults' intention toward joining the military. One theory that has been frequently used to predict intention and behavior is Ajzen's theory of planned behavior. Ajzen' s theory of …

Fall Commencement [Program], December 20, 2008, University Of Northern Iowa

UNI Commencement Programs

The program of the commencement ceremonies, including a list of institutional leadership, a list of the departments by college, awards given at the ceremonies, and a list of undergraduate and graduate degree candidates.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, December 8, 2008, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Nobel Winner Listens To Testimony Of Workers Rounded Up In Iowa Raid, Carol Hoverman

Postville Project Documents

Catholic News Service article from Nov. 19, 2008: She came from Guatemala to Postville for one purpose.

"I have come to listen specifically to the testimonies of the people who have suffered abuses here from the raid," Rigoberta Menchu said. "I come not only to listen to your suffering, but also to identify with your suffering. Your pain is my pain."

So began the message of the 1992 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in human rights, first in Guatemala and now on the international stage.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, November 10, 2008, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting minutes from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, November 10, 2008, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting minutes from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, October 13, 2008, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Student Profile, Fall Semester 2008, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Contents:

--- Preface
--- Profile Summary
--- Section I: Total Student Enrollment for Fall Semester 2008
--- Section II: New Students Entering UNI Fall Semester 2008
--- Section III: Miscellaneous

Instruction Cost Report, Fall 2008, University Of Northern Iowa

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Shows the costs associated with running the University of Northern Iowa broken down by college and department

Faculty Tenure Report, Fall 2008, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Institutional Research.

Institutional Effectiveness & Planning Documents

Statistical report showing the number of faculty that are tenured, on the tenure track, or not on the tenure track, broken down by college, department, gender, minority status, and if full or part time.

Study Of The Sustained Effects Of Reading Recovery In Iowa, Salli Forbes, Mike Szymczuk

Curriculum & Instruction Faculty Publications

Each year 20% or more of students entering first-grade will have severe difficulty learning to read (Clay, 1993; Shaywitz, 2003). Longitudinal research suggests that children who are the lowest achievers in first grade will continue to be the lowest achievers throughout the elementary grades (Juel, 1988). Early intervention with high-quality one-to-one instruction is critical to change the course of learning failure for the lowest-performing children (Clay, 1993; Vellutino et al., 1996). In the United States, a larger percentage of the lowest-achieving children in first grade accelerate their learning and reach grade-level performance in reading and writing with Reading Recovery intervention.

Uni Alumni Association To Present Heritage Honours Awards During Homecoming, News Release, September 17, 2008

Noteworthy People of UNI Documents

Nancy J. Powell graduated from UNI in 1970 with a History major and taught Social Studies in Dayton, Iowa for six years. Since her career move to the U.S. Foreign Service, Powell has held several positions since 1977, including Director of International Intelligence for South Asia and Ambassador to Uganda and Nepal. She was named the first woman Ambassador to India in 2012.

Postville Hearings: Justice, Lost In Translation?, Erik Camayd-Freixas

Postville Project Documents

Reporting by one of the translators brought in for those detained after the Postville raid at the Agriprocessors plant.