Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of Verbal Behavior In Older Adults, Amy Gross

Dissertations

Older adults make up a large and increasing portion of the population (U.S. apply those assessments to the evaluation of verbal behavior in older adults with and without dementia. The research addressed two questions. First, in what way do verbal behavior problems differ between older adults with and without dementia? Second, does language deteriorate in a pattern compatible with Skinner's analysis of functionally independent verbal operants? Thirty-one participants were categorized into Control (n=15) and Dementia (n=16) Groups based on their score on the Dementia Rating Scale-2. Verbal behavior assessments were administered to participants on two occasions, separated by one week. …

Summative Confidence, Paul Cristian Gugiu

Dissertations

Often the singular goal of an evaluation is to render a summative conclusion of merit, worth or feasibility that is based on multiple streams of multidimensional data. Exacerbating this difficulty, conducting evaluations in real-world settings often necessitates implementation of less than ideal study designs. This reality gets further complicated by the standard method for estimating the precision of results via the confidence interval (CI). Traditional CIs offer a limited approach for understanding the precision of a summative conclusion. This dissertation develops and presents a unified approach for the construction of a CI for a summative conclusion (SC).

This study derived …

Exploring The Well-Being Of Foster Children Of Parents With Substance Abuse Problems In Family Dependency Treatment Courts, Barbara M. Howes

Dissertations

The aim of this three-paper format dissertation is to explore how the well-being of foster children of parents with substance abuse problems is defined and promoted through Family Dependency Treatment Courts (FDTC) within the context of the Adoption and Safe Families Act (ASFA). The benefit to the author of the three-paper method is the task of submitting the findings of the study for publication is eased as the dissertation contains three stand-alone articles. A drawback for the reader of the three paper method is that there is redundancy in reading the same sections in each paper. The reader is encouraged …

The Picture Exchange Communication System: Digital Photographs Versus Picture Symbols, Carmen Jonaitis

Dissertations

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is an augmentative and alternative system (AAC) used to improve and increase communication for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other developmental disorders. Research addressing the efficacy of this system is increasing; however, there is limited information published that evaluates the picture type used for PECS instruction. A single-subject alternating treatments design was used to examine the role of iconicity, or how closely a symbol resembles its referent, in the acquisition of picture discrimination in the third phase of PECS. The purpose of this study was to compare how well children were able …

Evaluating The Effects Of A Job-Aid For Teaching Visual Inspection Skills To University Students, Candice M. Jostad

Dissertations

Visual inspection is the primary method of data analysis used in behavior analysis. Thus, it is important that behavior analysts have the skills necessary for accurate visual inspection. Research has shown that visual inspection can sometimes be unreliable, which has broad implications for the evaluation of treatment effects using this method. Traditional lectures have been shown to be ineffective in teaching visual inspection skills to a satisfactory level, although improvements in visual inspection have been accomplished using statistical methods and aids such as celeration lines superimposed on graphs. However, these methods are not effective when the aids are removed and …

Benefits Of Cpfr And Vmi Collaboration Strategies In A Variable Demand Environment, Dattaraj Kamalapurkar

Dissertations

In recent years, practitioners and academic researchers have emphasized that organizations need to collaborate with suppliers and customers to improve their competitive advantage. The availability of cost efficient information technologies like EDI, XML, etc. have made it possible to develop and implement many forms of collaboration strategies. Among them, Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) and Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) are most popular, which are considered for this study. While many studies have identified the benefits of demand information sharing in supply chains; however the benefits gained by implementing collaboration strategies like VMI and CPFR in a variable demand environment …

The Relationship Between Spirituality And Personality, Kimberly C. Koessel

Dissertations

Current literature is lacking a theoretical framework for understanding spirituality within the context of psychological functioning. Despite empirical support for the potential psychological benefits of spirituality, conceptual differences underlying definitions and measurements of spirituality have impeded theory development. Additionally, very few studies have explored spirituality from a secular perspective. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationship between spirituality and personality within a population of undergraduate and graduate students. This research obtains sample data through a demographic questionnaire, a measure of humanistic spirituality, and an inventory of normal personality. Quantitative statistical analyses are employed to explore a variety …

An Exploration Of Worldview And Conceptions Of Nature Of Science Among Science Teachers At A Private Christian High School, Kara M. Kits

Dissertations

Both worldview and conceptions of nature of science (NOS) are important components in teaching and learning science. However, few empirical studies have examined the interplay between both of these components for teachers or students. Therefore, this study examines the possible relationship between worldview and conceptions of nature of science for secondary science teachers who currently teach at a Christian school.

Qualitative methodologies developed a rich description of the worldview beliefs and conceptions of NOS for teachers in this study. Eight secondary science teachers employed at a private Christian school participated in the study. A Views of Nature of Science (VNOS) …

Reluctant To Report: The Mandated Reporting Practices Of Child Care Providers, Aileen Mckenna

Dissertations

Child care providers spend far more time with children under age 3, the most likely to suffer severe and fatal abuse and neglect, than any other mandated reporter. Their close relationship with both the child and the family places them in a unique position to observe signs and suspicions of abuse or neglect and to make timely reports to Child Protective Services (CPS). Yet despite this, child care providers rank last among mandated reporters in both reporting suspicions of abuse and neglect and in actual substantiated reports. Only a handful of studies have looked specifically at the decision-making practices of …

Three Essays On Financial Markets And Monetary Policy, Abeba Siraj Mussa

Dissertations

The global financial crisis triggered by fallout from the sub-prime mortgage market in the U.S. has led economists to focus attention on the role of monetary policy in the crisis. The question of how monetary policy affects the financial sector is the key to the current debate over the role financial stability should play in the monetary policy decisions. As a contribution to this debate, my dissertation examines the link between monetary policy and three main financial sectors - the banking sector, the stock market, and the housing market.

The first essay examines whether the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) …

La Mujer Española Escritora De Su Propia Experiencia Carcelaria, Berta Carrasco De Miguel

Dissertations

This dissertation examines the role of women prisoners during the Spanish Civil war (1936-1939) and the Francoist regime (1939-1975) as represented in different literary genres such as the testimonio (testimonial narrative), autobiography and the fiction novel. In the first chapter, I analyze the concept of womanhood created by Francisco Franco 's regime through the person of Pilar Primo de Rivera. In the second chapter I study three texts written right after the dictatorship: Desde la noche y la niebla by Juana Doña, Las cárceles de Soledad Real compiled by Consuelo García and En el infierno: ser mujer en las cárceles …

Robust Adaptive Scheme For Linear Mixed Models, Gabriel Asare Okyere

Dissertations

If the underlying distribution of a statistical model is known then a procedure which maximizes power and efficiency can be selected. For example, if the distribution of errors is known to be normal in a linear model then inference based on least squares maximizes power and efficiency. More generally, if this distribution is known then a ranked based inference based on the appropriate rank score function has maximum efficiency. In practice, though, this distribution is not known. Adaptive schemes are procedures which hopefully select appropriate methods to optimize the analysis.

Hogg (1974) presented an adaptive rank-based scheme for testing in …

The Bandi Of Northwestern Liberia: A Study Of Change And Continuityin Bandi Society To 1964, Samuel Benedict Ngovo

Dissertations

Relying on oral accounts and archival and published sources, this dissertation employed interdisciplinary methodology to examine change and continuity in traditional Bandi systems to 1964. It focuses on traditional Bandi social, religious, economic and political systems that changed and those that persisted as a result of contacts with neighboring ethnic groups, Islam, Christianity, and the Liberian state.

The Bandi of northwestern Liberia are divided into six subgroups. Nevertheless, the six subgroups of Bandi share common traditional values. The Bandi people belong to the Mande-linguistic group and share common traditional values with neighboring Mande speakers such as the Loma and Mende. …

African American Experiences Of Race Relations In The Supervision Dyad, Brandi L. Pritchett-Johnson

Dissertations

Everything we do is embedded within multiple contexts of collective and individual historical events that culminate in present day encounters. As an increasing number of racial minorities have entered the ranks as mental health practitioners, the configuration of the treatment and the supervision dyad has changed (Owens-Patterson, 2002). The fundamental aim of this study explored, captured, and described the supervision experience from the nuanced perspective of African American supervisors. A qualitative approach was employed using in-depth interviews to capture the complexity of race relations within the supervision dyad through an African Centered framework, aiding in our understanding of supervised training …

Short-Term Nicotine Abstinence And Decision Making, Gabriel D. Searcy

Dissertations

Research has shown that acute drug administration may affect impulsivity (i.e., choice for small, immediate rewards over large, delayed rewards) on laboratory delay-discounting tasks. Few studies have investigated how drug abstinence affects impulsivity. Investigating how drug abstinence affects impulsivity may be relevant to preventing relapse. Two previous studies have investigated the effects of short-term nicotine abstinence on impulsivity using delay-discounting tasks. The results were mixed, one study suggested that choices became more impulsive (i.e., delayed money was devalued) under nicotine deprivation. One goal of the present research was to further investigate how nicotine deprivation affects delay-discounting for money rewards. In …

Examination Of Anxiety And Substance Use Symptoms In Trauma Exposed Versus Environmentally Stressed College Students, Theresa M. Souza

Dissertations

Anxiety is a common problem among the college population, which rarely occurs in isolation. Oftentimes, an individual abuses substances in an attempt to eliminate the short term affect of these conditions. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is the most persistent and severe type of anxiety disorder. It has been a long-standing belief within the psychological community that in order for PTSD to develop, the individual must first experience a traumatic event which meets certain criteria and must evidence a definable emotional response during the event. A recent study found PTSD in individuals who had not experienced the type of trauma …

Reading, Writing, And Repetition: Performance On Nonword Measures Bystudents With And Without Language-Learning Disabilities, Patricia J. Tattersall

Dissertations

The central purpose of this three-paper dissertation was to explore the ability of school-age children with and without language-learning disabilities (LLD) to apply sound/word level structure knowledge when performing speaking, spelling, and reading tasks. Data came from a larger investigation that used stratified sampling to create two ability groups—children with typical language (TL) and with LLD—comparable in terms of age (range 6 through 18 years), sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

The central purpose of this three-paper dissertation was to explore the ability of school-age children with and without language-learning disabilities (LLD) to apply sound/word level structure knowledge when performing speaking, …

Counselor Trainees' Experience Of Analyzing Their Counseling Sessions During A Master's-Level Practicum, Abbie Vanderwege

Dissertations

One of the central goals of counselor training is to promote and ensure competence in novice counselors (Krasner, Howard, & Brown, 1998), and effective performance of counseling skills is a key source of competence for counselor trainees (Falender & Shafrankse, 2007). Previous research has separately addressed the advantages of skills-based training (e.g., Buser, 2008; Crews et al., 2005; Urbani et al, 2002); factors associated with counseling self-efficacy (e.g., Larson, 1998; Larson & Daniels, 1998); the Integrated Developmental Model (Stoltenberg, McNeill, & Delworth, 1998) of counselor development; and video review in counselor training (e.g., Pelling & Renard, 1999; Scaife, 2001). None …

Latina Women’S Reasons For And Experience Of Sexual Assault Disclosure: A Qualitative Investigation, Melissa Villarreal

Dissertations

This study describes Latina women’s experiences of sexual assault disclosure. The research questions are: (1) What reasons do Latinas give for choosing to disclose, not to disclose, or to delay disclosure of their experiences of sexual assault? (2) Can patterns be detected regarding to whom Latinas disclose and under what circumstances? (3) What feelings and consequences do Latinas remember experiencing during their initial disclosure? (4) In retrospect, how do Latinas interpret their self-disclosure decisions? Participants for this study agreed to be interviewed about their sexual assault experiences. Seven interviews were gathered in 2005 and six in 2011. A constant comparison …

Exploring The Experiences Of Living With A Controversial Illness In Patients With Fibromyalgia, Samantha L. Wheeler

Dissertations

Fibromyalgia is an illness of great controversy estimated to affect approximately 4% of the US population. There are no widely accepted etiological causes or clear physiological explanations of fibromyalgia. Only a few research studies have addressed the concept of illness uncertainty in patients with fibromyalgia. There are no current studies that examine how fibromyalgia patients experience, perceive, and understand their illness in terms of having a syndrome with an unknown etiology.

This qualitative study, using phenomenological methods, explored the concept of unknown etiology as one factor in illness uncertainty. Ten participants, diagnosed with fibromyalgia from 2-15 years were interviewed. The …

Effectiveness Of A Motivational Enhancement Group Treatment In A Community Treatment Program With A Substance Abusing Population, Matthew S. Willerick

Dissertations

Motivational interviewing (MI) is a directive, client-centered intervention to elicit behavior change by assisting clients in the exploration and resolution of ambivalence toward change. MI-inspired approaches have been used in an attempt to facilitate change in a wide variety of domains including alcohol and drug abuse, safe water handling practices, dual diagnoses, gambling, spousal abuse, health related areas, mood and anxiety disorders, and parental engagement. MI seeks to resolve ambivalence in the direction of change by increasing the client's self-efficacy. This is accomplished by combining clientcentered (e.g., reflective listening) and directive strategies (e.g., attending selectively to change statements). The origins …

Robust Nonparametric Methods For Regression To The Mean Model, Therawat Wisadrattanapong

Dissertations

Regression to the mean is a statistical phenomenon that often confounds treatment effects in experiments. Consider an experiment involving a treatment, in which a response is measured (baseline) on a subject then a treatment is applied and a second measurement is taken. Then under many bivariate models for the pair of responses (including the bivariate normal), the predicted response of the second measurement will regress to the mean. In experiments where the second response is only taken for a select sample, say above a cutoff value, then this regression to the mean effect may mistakenly be thought of as a …

The Experiences Of Married International Graduate Students And Their Accompanying Non-Student Spouses In The Us Culture: A Qualitative Study, Adriana Yellig

Dissertations

Many studies document the experiences of single international students in the U.S. culture. However, little is known about the experiences of married international students, their marital relationships, and the experiences of their accompanying nonstudent spouses in the U.S. culture.

This qualitative phenomenological study focused on the experiences of married international graduate students and their accompanying spouses in the U.S. culture. Additionally, the study explored the impact of cultural influences on the participants' marital relationships, as well as the impact of marriage on their adjustment to the culture.

The study included twenty participants (ten couples) from a range of countries, most …

Molecular, Cellular And Systemic Effects Of Atrazine On The Xenopus Laevis Tadpole, Renee Maryanne Zaya

Dissertations

Atrazine is one of the two most commonly used herbicides in the US and it is the most studies are among the first to link physiological effects of atrazine to changes in tissue and gene expression in Xenopus laevis tadpoles. These studies provide the groundwork for future studies into the mechanisms behind responses to chemical stressors generating data resulting in a better understanding of how these chemicals affect us all. commonly found herbicide in ground water. As a result, a great deal of attention has been placed on its use and safety. It has also been implicated to play a …

Repression Of Protein Kinase C Delta In Human Squamous Cell Carcinomas By Ras, Fyn And Nf-Kappa B Signaling, Vipin Yadav

Dissertations

The delta isoform of Protein Kinase C (PKC-delta) is widely expressed in many normal tissues, including epidermal keratinocytes, and has a critical role in UV-induced apoptosis. However, PKC-delta is frequently lost in chemically or UV-induced mouse skin tumors, as well as in human cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Furthermore, re-expression of PKC-delta in human SCC lines is sufficient to induce apoptosis and suppress tumorigenicity, making PKC-delta a potential tumor suppressor gene for SCCs. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the mechanism of PKC-delta loss in human SCCs.

To determine the mechanism of PKC-delta loss in human SCCs, we …

Keeping True To The Cathedral Within: A Case Study Of Wheaton Academy And The Initiation, Development, And Fulfillment Of Its Christian Saga Of Social Justice, Barbara Dill-Varga

Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on a case study of Wheaton Academy, a nondenominational Christian high school in West Chicago, Illinois. This study seeks to understand, through a study of its organizational saga, how and why this antebellum academy has survived for over 157 years and to what extent it has been able to maintain its founding fathers' Christian vision of social justice. Robert Benne's framework, focused on Vision, Ethos, and People as detailed in Quality with Soul, provides a useful lens to organize the study through three phases of the life of the school's saga: initiation, development, and fulfillment.

The central …

Leadership For Social Change: Learning From Latina/Chicana Activist Educators, Marcia Venegas-García Phd

Dissertations

An examination of the literature in the field of Leadership Studies exposes a void in understanding activism as leadership among Latinas/Chicanas. The contemporary theories of scholars including James MacGregor Burns (1978) and Joseph C. Rost (1993) suggest there may be shared qualities between specific concepts of leadership and the everyday working practices of Latina/Chicana activist educators. Yet, academics within the field of Leadership Studies have little knowledge of this relationship or the unique ways in which Latina/Chicana educators engage as leaders, activists and agents for change, specifically in educational communities. Research into women's studies, ethnic studies, and Chicana feminist studies …

How Politics, Economics, And Technology Influence Evaluation Requirements For Federally Funded Projects: A Historical Study Of The Elementary And Secondary Education Act From 1965 To 2005, Maxine R. Eversley-Gilling

Dissertations

Program evaluation does not take place in a vacuum. Its context is the interaction of political, economic, and technological developments that influenced the formation of federal policies for mandated evaluation requirements. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 established policies to provide “financial assistance to local educational agencies serving areas with concentrations of children from low-income families to expand and improve their educational program” (Public Law 89-10—Apr. 11, 1965). This legislation also had another consequence: it helped drive the establishment of educational program evaluation and the field of evaluation as a profession.

The purpose of this study is …

Learning Organization Principles: The Impact On A Midwest State Government As Perceived By Its Employees, Rosalee Billingslea Rush

Dissertations

This study sought to determine the extent to which learning organization constructs influence performance in state government. The overarching purpose was to examine the relationship between Peter Senge’s five learning disciplines and organizational performance.

The study utilized an ex post facto survey design. The sample population was composed of supervisors and professional and administrative staff within the 19 agencies of a Midwestern state government. Participants were administered an instrument that asked them to rate their perception of the organization and its performance along seven dimensions of learning. Of the randomly selected 381 participants, 110 (or 28.9%) returned the survey instrument. …

The Application Of Fuzzy Logic In Determining Linguistic Rules And Associative Membership Functions For The Control Of A Manufacturing Process, Marcus Foley, John Mcgrory

Dissertations

Fuzzy logic is a form of multi-valued logic derived from fuzzy set theory. Its methodology aims to provide a definitive solution from information that may be construed as ambiguous, imprecise or noisy. Classical set theory studies the properties of sets, while fuzzy set theory investigates the degree to which an element can be related to a set. The aim of this project is to develop a control strategy for a specific technical challenge relating to the food processing sector based on the deployment of fuzzy logic control concepts. Specifically, in this paper the author is concerned with the ability to …