Digital Commons Network^™

Altering Time: The Effect Of Feedback Frequency On Employee Behavior, Nate Waddoups

Theses and Dissertations

Advances in technology have made it possible for employers to provide performance feedback to employees on a more frequent basis. This study investigates how different feedback frequencies can alter employees’ perceptions of time and subsequently how these altered perceptions influence employee productivity. I predict and find that feedback frequency alters the way employees break up or segment their work time—a process that I refer to as feedback-driven time segmenting. Ultimately I find that this process causes feedback frequency to have opposing effects on employee productivity. Specifically employees who receive more frequent feedback find fewer task efficiencies than employees who receive …

Understanding The Mechanisms Linking Gendered Intrahousehold Bargaining Power And Child Nutrition In Rural Nepal, Shibani Kulkarni

Theses and Dissertations

Child undernutrition is a serious issue in Nepal as 36% of children below five years of age are chronically undernourished. Reducing child undernutrition is an important priority to prevent adverse effects through the life course that perpetuate the cycle of undernutrition and poverty.

Women’s intra-household bargaining power is an important determinant of child nutrition. Intra-household bargaining power is an individual’s relative social and economic position within the household to access and control resources, and influence decision-making. In our research, we use women’s intra-household bargaining power as a resource for care, which enables women to be exposed to nutrition information, gain …

Antecedents To The Selection Of Ceos With Higher Levels Of Narcissism And How Ceos With Higher Levels Of Narcissism Affect The Ceo Succession Process, Ormonde R. Cragun

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the antecedents to the selection of CEOs with higher levels of narcissism, as well as their impact on the CEO succession process. The first study predicts how and when boards select CEOs with higher levels of narcissism. I predict when firm performance is low, environmental dynamism is high, and when environmental munificence is high, the board is more likely to select a CEO with higher levels of narcissism. I further predict that environmental conditions (i.e., dynamism and munificence) have a moderating effect on the relationship between firm performance and the level of narcissism of the newly-selected CEO. …

Assessing The Strengths And Difficulties Of Typically Developing Siblings Of Persons Born With Lifelong Disabilities, Joseph Joseph Wofford

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, strengths and difficulties of siblings of persons born with disabilities were quantitatively assessed, based on parental perception, in comparison to national norms. Answers of 148 parents to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997; Youthinmind, n.d.a.) for children four to seven years old who are siblings of persons born with lifelong disabilities (SPBDs) were gathered and analyzed. The causal-comparative design compared each subscale of the SDQ for SBPDs against their respective norms in the USA for females or males. SPBDs were found to have no statistically significant difference from the norm group on emotional problems, and …

The Perceptions Of School Counselors, Special Education Teachers, And Principals On Their Preparedness To Be On Anti-Bullying Policies Actors For Students With Disabilities, Sara J. Pearson

Theses and Dissertations

Effective bullying prevention programs are essential for schools, particularly with respect to students with disabilities (SWD). Improving the preparedness of counselors, special education teachers and principals can advance efforts to recognize and to address the bullying of students with disabilities. Unfortunately, schools’ disciplinary processes and procedures are often complex and diffuse, and school stakeholders often know little about preventative methods for bullying and supportive measures for the victims. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of counselors, special education teachers and principals in middle schools on their preparedness to be effective anti-bullying policy actors. This research is …

Prevalence And Predictors Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder In Adolescent And Adult Males With Fragile X Syndrome And Autism Spectrum Disorder, Shannon L. O’Connor

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) experience disproportionate rates of diagnoses of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when compared to the general population. Exact prevalence rates and outcomes for individuals with a diagnosis of FXS and ADHD is not well known. The current study assesses rates of ADHD diagnosis in individuals with FXS as well as tests the prediction of a diagnosis of ADHD from levels of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptom presentation. The present study included 30 individuals with FXS aged 13-25 and were assessed using a structured diagnostic interview. Interviews were conducted with individual’s parents’ due to low cognitive ability …

Translucent Voices: Creating Sound Pedagogy And Safe Spaces For Transgender Singers In The Choral Rehearsal, Gerald Dorsey Gurss

Theses and Dissertations

While transgender rights and issues are gaining an increasing amount of attention in both pop culture and, to some extent, in the education sector, little information is available for the choral conductor that provides pedagogical tools for transitioning voices. This document provides conductor-educators with both a brief look at the transgender experience and also tools to create safe learning environments, from gender-inclusive language to vocal exercises to encourage healthy vocal transitions in transgender singers

Twenty-first century choruses are not the first institutions in the realm of Western art music that have faced visual, aural, and enigmatic conceptualizations of gender and …

Kv7 Channels Of The Urinary Bladder Smooth Muscle: Functional Roles And Therapeutic Potential, Aaron Provence

Theses and Dissertations

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a pervasive and debilitating condition for which effective therapeutic modalities are lacking. As potential novel pharmacological targets for lower urinary tract dysfunction, our recent studies have demonstrated voltage-gated KV7 channels (KV7.1-KV7.5) to be functionally expressed in detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) of the urinary bladder. Nonetheless, the specific roles of individual KV7 channel subtypes remains poorly understood. Using Western blot, immunocytochemistry, isometric DSM tension recordings, ratiometric fluorescence Ca2+ imaging, and patch-clamp electrophysiology, we demonstrated expression and key physiologic roles for the KV7.2/KV7.3 channels in guinea pig DSM using the novel and selective KV7.2/KV7.3 channel opener N-(2-Chloro-5-pyrimidinyl)-3,4-difluorobenzamide (ICA-069673). …

Examination Of Energy Needs And Hormone Levels In Male Endurance Athletes, Erin Moore

Theses and Dissertations

A plethora of literature examining the physiological consequences associated with deficits in energy availability (EA) for female athletes exists, however literature examining male athletes is sparse. Purpose: To determine the effects of high exercise energy expenditure (EEE) on Male Triad symptoms (EA with or without an eating disorder [ED], reproductive hormones Testosterone [T] and Luteinizing hormone [LH], and bone mineral density [BMD]) and other metabolic markers (Insulin, Leptin, Cortisol and Interleukin-6 [IL-6]) in endurance-trained male athletes. Methods: We utilized a cross-sectional design on 14 endurance trained male athletes (age: 26.4 + 4.2 yrs.; weight: 70.6 + 6.4 kg; and height: …

Advancing Understanding Of Dynamic Mechanisms In Onset To Event Models: Discrete Time Survival Mediation With A Time Variant Mediator, Heather Lasky Mcdaniel

Theses and Dissertations

Integrating discrete time survival and mediation analytic approaches, discretetime survival mediation models (DTSM) help researchers elucidate the impact of predictors on the timing of event occurrence. Though application of this model has been gainful in various applied developmental and intervention research contexts, empirical work has yet to consider how DTSM models operate with a mediator that has a varying effect over time. The importance of examining this situation has important impacts for application of the model, given more complex statistical models are required, and subsequent interpretation of model parameters differ from the basic DTSM model. The overarching purpose of this …

The Design, Development, And Evaluation Of A Usable And Privacy-Enhanced Telepresence Interface For Older Adults, Xian Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Maintaining health and wellness while aging-in-place independently is crucial for older adults. Telepresence technology can be potentially beneficial for this target population to stay socially connected. However, this technology is not specifically designed for older adults. For this target population to adopt such technology successfully, it is important to ensure that they do not experience usability barriers. This research uses HCI/HRI concepts and technology design principles for older adults to design, develop and test telepresence user interfaces (UI). This addresses the following research questions: 1): What are the essential usability and privacy-enhanced features needed to inform the design and development …

“I Hope They Fire Me:” Black Teachers In The Fight For Equal Education, 1910-1970, Candace Cunningham

Theses and Dissertations

Despite a growing body of research on African American schoolteachers and their role in the civil rights movement, as well as increased interest in South Carolina’s civil rights movement, few historians have uncovered the contributions black schoolteachers made to the South Carolina movement. Additionally, while many histories have highlighted how integral the NAACP was to the civil rights movement, few have revealed the deliberate relationship they built with black teachers associations. This dissertation uses the NAACP papers, political manuscript collections, oral histories, newspaper and magazine articles, and court documents to address this gap in the historiography. Chapter 1 discusses the …

The Role Of Cohesion In Second Language Reading Comprehension, Alisha Biler

Theses and Dissertations

Reading in a second language (L2) is a critical aspect of language acquisition, yet gaps remain in the literature regarding the extent to which textual factors impact reading difficulty. There is consensus that complex vocabulary and grammar affect L2 comprehension (Koda, 2005), and this is evidenced through the numerous traditional readability formulas, such as Flesch-Kincaid (FKGL). However, critics argue that discourse-level features, such as cohesion, also impact reading difficulty and must be included in difficulty analyses (Carrell, 1987).

One aspect of cohesion is content word overlap, or the number of content words repeated in a text; this measure is included …

Questioning The Modality Of The Occipital Lobe, William J. Brixius

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the occipital lobe’s response to non-visual inputs, and whether this responsivity partitions into separate localization and identification pathways as seen with visual inputs. We hypothesized that occipital areas may merely prefer visual inputs, while maintaining similar task-based sensory recruitment in response to other senses. Our secondary hypothesis was that the robust occipital activation seen in late-blind participants stems at least initially from standard connections present even in the typically sighted, and that these standard connections are functionally utilized by the typically sighted in spatially relevant non-visual analyses. Our initial literature review supported our hypotheses that the occipital …

Understanding Barriers To Genetic Testing For Sickle Cell Trait: The African-American Male Perspective, Shandrea Foster

Theses and Dissertations

Research has shown a reluctance in African-American males to pursue testing for sickle cell trait. Few studies have tried to discern what barriers are contributing to this issue within the African-American male community. Research suggests a lack of knowledge may be the biggest contributing factor. This study hypothesized there would be a significant difference in knowledge of sickle cell trait based on educational level, age, and health beliefs. African-America male participants (N=116), ages 18 and over, completed a questionnaire assessing knowledge, risk perception, health beliefs, barriers, and motivating factors within the context of sickle cell trait. One-way and two-way analysis …

Counseling Program Intervention For Improving African American Students’ Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics Dual Enrollment Participation, Sonja L. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

African Americans are underrepresented at all points in the STEM pipeline from K-12 coursework into professional careers. The reasons for this underrepresentation are varied and reflect a myriad of contributing factors based on early academic experiences, sociocultural influences, and the effects of standardized testing. The three-fold purpose of this study was to implement a counseling program to inform nine African American study participants about the dual enrollment opportunity at their high school, to gain perspective about the factors which shaped their STEM disposition, and to determine the effect of the program on their attitudes about dual enrollment participation. The study …

Integrating Self-Determination And Expectancy-Value Theories In Examining The Achievement Of First-Generation College Students: A Latent Profile Analysis Examining Relations Between Perceived Choice, School Valuing, And Perceived Competence And Academic Achievement, Angela Starrett

Theses and Dissertations

First-generation students, who represent more than 40% of entering college freshmen, have lower academic achievement and struggle to persist compared to their continuing-generation peers. Although previous studies have repeatedly shown a deficit model for first-generation students, there is still a lack of clear understanding about the heterogeneity that exists among these college students. While some do struggle to persist, others show marked resilience. Thus, drawing on Self-Determination Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory, this short-term longitudinal study examined whether perceived competence, perceived choice, and positive school value could moderate the risk of being a first-generation college student. A latent profile analysis on …

Making Cents Of It: How The Focus On Financial Aid By Selective Universities May Not Be Enough To Attract More Low-Income, High-Achieving Students, Troy A. Mothkovich

Theses and Dissertations

Most low-income, high-achieving students in the United States neither attend nor apply to selective universities despite research that shows that they are just as likely as their high-income peers to succeed if they do apply to those schools. Despite the fact that many universities have begun offering substantial financial aid packages that would often make it cheaper to attend a selective private university than a state school, low-income, high-achievers tend not to apply to selective universities. Researchers have carried out many quantitative studies testing possible variables that could influence these students’ college application decisions. However, there has been a lack …

“Be Of Knightly Countenance”: Masculine Violence And Managing Affect In Late Medieval Alliterative Poetry And Batman: Under The Red Hood, Lisa D. Camp

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is concerned with the legacy of cultural representations of masculine violence as it manifests in late medieval alliterative poetry and contemporary superhero comics, and the ways in which those manifestations are inflected by a particular set of images, motifs, and cultural underpinnings which transcend sociohistorical boundaries and that illuminate the ways culture sanctions certain forms of masculine violence. To understand how, as Patricia Ingham suggests in Sovereign Fantasies: Arthurian Romance and the Making of Britain, imagination infuses history towards particular “regime[s] of truth,” I argue that late fourteenth century Arthurian alliterative poetry and contemporary superhero comics instruct a …

Goodness Of Fit Via Residual Plots In Item Response Theory, Bryonna Bowen

Theses and Dissertations

Goodness-of-fit criteria developed for the evaluation of item response functions have been examined by many scholars using different theories and criteria. A number of potential graphical analysis approaches, such as residual plots, have been described in literature, but have received little attention from researchers. While many tests of goodness-of-fit are available, those that incorporate the analysis of residuals may be most useful. The unmistakable presence of a pattern in the residual plot for the logistic model item response functions even when we know the model fits raises a red flag up and calls for greater analysis. This study explores different …

The Impact Of Scaffolding On The Historical Thinking Skills Of Middle School Students, William R. Cox

Theses and Dissertations

This work is dedicated to some incredibly important people in my life. First, to my students everywhere, you have challenged me to become a better curriculum leader and a better historian. Many of you have inspired me beyond anything that you can imagine. Second, to my colleagues, you have helped create a drive inside of me to seek the best in my students and myself. You have also put up with my seemingly unending impromptu lectures about the newest thought I had on pedagogy.

Finally and most importantly, to my family, it is you that I owe an indescribable debt. …

Family Planning Decisions After A Child’S Diagnosis Of Rett Syndrome: A Pilot Study, Erin E. Huggins

Theses and Dissertations

Rett syndrome (RTT) is a rare neurodevelopmental disorder that primarily affects females. In 99% of cases, RTT is believed to occur sporadically, or de novo. However, in rare cases, RTT can be passed down from parent to child through gonadal mosaicism or asymptomatic carrier mothers. It is known that having a child with an inherited genetic condition can lead to changes in family planning; however, little research has investigated this phenomenon in sporadic genetic conditions, such as RTT. This present study used a questionnaire to assess family planning decisions of parents of children with RTT. Forty-three percent of respondents reported …

College Success Class: A Targeted Soft Skills Inventory For Student Success, Beth Ann Scruggs

Theses and Dissertations

College Success, Freshman Seminar, College 101, or University 101—all of these courses have the common theme of providing students with the knowledge and skills necessary for them to be successful in navigating higher education. This might mean attaining a certificate or degree, or in some cases, transferring to a four-year institution. While content knowledge is unquestionably important, the ability to employ multiple soft skills and learning strategies is also essential for a student to successfully transition to college (Conley, 2013). At Middletown Tech, a designated public, two-year, associate degree-granting institution in the U.S. South, the College Success course is intended …

Writing With Risk: Dangerous Discourses And Event-Based Pedagogies, Ben Harley

Theses and Dissertations

“Writing with Risk: Dangerous Discourses and Event-Based Pedagogies,” responds to the pedagogical work of scholars such as Susan Wells, Nancy Welch, and Linda Flower by arguing that the risks associated with public writing pedagogies stem from the transformative nature of the rhetorical event that implicates and rearticulates actors through co-production, subverting their assumed autonomy. I argue that each of the three primary vantages of publics scholarship is particularly vulnerable to a certain type of risk aligned to a specific element of the rhetorical situation: idealist scholarship to unintended consequences in which the meaning of the text transforms, activist scholarship to …

Once A Felon….Always A Felon? A Comparative Case Study Of The Experiences Of Convicted African-American Fathers, Douglas Bates

Theses and Dissertations

Currently, African-Americans account for 12.3% of the U.S. population but represent 38% of the prison population (The Sentencing Project, 2016). Of the many African-American males sent to prison each year, there is limited research that explores the impact a conviction has on African-American fathers. Within the literature, researchers (Laakso & Nygaard, 2012; Miller, et. al., 2013, Flouri & Buchanan, 2002; Lee, Sansone, Swanson, & Tatum, 2012; Johnson & Easterling, 2015; Miller, 2006; Lopez & Bhat, 2007; Aaron & Dallaire, 2009) only focus on the effect incarceration has on children and the experiences of fathers while incarcerated (Roy & Dyson, 2005; …

Evaluative Conditioning Of Product Preferences: An Eye-Tracking Perspective, Christine E. Weber

Theses and Dissertations

In evaluative conditioning, the affective response toward a neutral stimulus is altered by pairing it with a positive or negative stimulus. One behavioral and two eye tracking studies were conducted to investigate how evaluative conditioning operates on consumer preferences by pairing neutral products with valenced music and using multiple product exemplars and test trials in order to test evaluative effects at the individual level. Study 1 showed an overall positive effect of evaluative conditioning on choice and liking ratings, although there were individual differences in the magnitude and direction of the effect. Study 2 found significant results at the individual …

Domestic Extension Of Public Diplomacy: Media Competition For Credibility, Dependency And Activation Of Publics, Yicheng Zhu

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation connects theories of political communication, public relations and international relations to conceptualize a new model of public diplomacy, where boundaries between distinct types of actors are drawn. It proposes an ecological model and a competition model of public diplomacy. Based on these conceptual models, it empirically supports the academic rationalization of governmental interference in foreign media effects among its domestic citizens: Using a quota sample of 560 survey respondent from mainland China, the empirical part of the dissertation illustrated: 1. Governmental control on foreign media accessibility has significant effects on perceived media credibility and thus dependency on it; …

Measuring The Effects Of A Mindfulness Intervention On Counselors’-In-Training Dispositions, Strength Of The Therapeutic Relationship, And Client Outcomes, Therese Louise Newton

Theses and Dissertations

Using a multiple baseline single case research design, the present study sought to measure the effects of a mindfulness intervention on counselors’-in-training facilitative dispositions of: (a) empathetic understanding, (b) level of regard, (c) unconditionality of regard, and (d) congruence (as observed through weekly in-session engagement with clients), and client outcomes (as measured by the Personal Growth Initiative Scale-II; [Robitschek et al., 2012] and the Outcomes Questionnaire-45.2; [Lambert et al., 1996]). In addition, the investigation examined the influence of counselors-in-training participation in a brief mindfulness intervention on clients’ perception of the strength of the therapeutic alliance (as measured by the Barrett-Lennard …

Of Cannonades And Battle Cries: Aurality, The Battle Of The Alamo, And Memory, Michelle E. Herbelin

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis takes a sensory-historical approach to the 1836 Siege and Battle of the Alamo, its inscription into history and its propagation as a touchstone of Texas’ memory and identity. My focus is on the auditory, an especially important sensory experience to consider. Among the many auditory tactics deployed during the siege, the storming itself took place in the pre-dawn darkness, and many of the survivors’ accounts were from women and children among the garrison, who were sequestered away from the visual experience of the battle. Flooding from the accounts of survivors into the popular imagination of Texans, the sounds …

Becoming A Sailor: A (Critical) Analytic Autoethnographic Account Of Navigating Tensions As A ‘Woke’ White Woman Working For Racial Justice, Jennifer Lynn Doyle

Theses and Dissertations

This critical, analytic autoethnographic (Boylorn & Orbe, 2014; Anderson, 2006) dissertation details the journey of a young white woman practicing “woke whiteness work” in the pursuit of racial justice. The autoethnography illustrates the many complexities, layers, and tensions of racial justice work as a white woman, centering on the initial tension stemming from the spring 2014 semester where she was involved in a literary research project facilitating book clubs at a juvenile detention center with students who were incarcerated as part of an adolescent literacy course, while simultaneously enrolled in a Critical Race Theory (CRT) course. In an attempt to …