Digital Commons Network^™

The Reciprocal Relationship Among Object Relations, Attention, And Language In A Sample Of School-Aged Children, Katherine Ann Eiges

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Object relations (OR) disturbances are implicated in a broad range of socio-emotional problems and psychopathology in childhood, which are also common among children diagnosed with attention and language impairments. Though attachment-based factors are shown to play a role in the socio-emotional adjustment of children with learning disabilities, the specific influences of attention and language deficits on OR development is unknown. The present study aims to investigate the reciprocal influences of attention and language functioning on OR development. An empirically established OR measure for the Rorschach was systematically adapted to the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) and examined for convergent validity …

Molecular-Genetic And Behavioral Analysis Of The Functionality Of Patterning In The Trigeminal Neuraxis, Dana Bakalar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A striking feature of the vibrissal representation in rodents is the presence; at brainstem (barrellettes), thalamic (barrelloids) and cortical levels (barrels) of a somatotopically organized pattern of neurons which is isomorphic, both morphologically and physiologically, to the pattern of vibrissae on the snout. The vibrissal system is required for several classes of behavior, including feeding and active vibrissal sensing, but the functional role of the patterning in these behaviors is unknown. We used two mutant animals lacking patterning in two areas of the vibrissal neuraxis to examine the functional role of patterning. We examined feeding behavior using a knockout of …

Mechanisms Of Vocal Coordination In Zebra Finches, Jonathan I. Benichov

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social animals frequently emit communication calls. Although these calls are often innate in their acoustic structure, they can be used adaptably to coordinate behavior with other individuals. It is not known, however, what each animal needs to learn in order to achieve and maintain synchronized call patterns with others. To study this process, we have developed a vocal robot that can be programed to generate call patterns or to sense a bird's contact (short) calls and respond with precisely timed call answers. By varying the robot's vocal behavior, including call timing and rhythm, we tested how interacting zebra finches adapt …

Gender And Trauma From World War I To The War In Iraq: Narrative In The Aftermath Of Loss, Jenny Young Kijowski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Trauma Studies is predicated on the idea of unspeakability: events that are experienced as deep psychic wounds break the frameworks for understanding, resulting in an inability to translate the experience into language. Scholars who study the literature of trauma are thus faced with this central paradox: how do writers speak the unspeakable? Trauma literature is generally regarded as texts that not only are thematically centered on a traumatic event or series of traumatic events, but also structurally reflect the symptoms of trauma. Thus the formal qualities of trauma narratives include fragmentation, contradiction, repetition, circularity, and intrusion, such that these texts …

Maternal Dissociation, Emotional Acceptance And Child Emotion Regulation: A Study Of Residents In A Family Homeless Shelter For Victims Of Domestic Violence, Brian S. Mueller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study examined the relationships between maternal dissociation, mothers' self-described parenting behaviors in child emotion regulation, and the emotion regulatory capacity of their children. These relationships were investigated in a sample of predominately low-income African-American and Latino mothers and children residing in a domestic violence shelter. In this study, I investigated a mediational model relating maternal dissociation, mother's acceptance of child emotions, and child difficulties in emotion regulation and behavior. I predicted that mothers who reported more dissociative experiences would demonstrate less awareness and acceptance of emotions when they responded to children's sadness, fear, happiness, and anger. I also …

On The Threshold: Breadwinning, Capitalism And The Absent/Present Father In The Works Of Three Late 20th-Century U.S. Novelists, Nancy J. Hoch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

As society industrialized in the nineteenth century and jobs moved outside the home, a figure which I call the absent/present father began to make his appearance in American literature. This figure, hovering physically or emotionally on the threshold of family life, never completely present but never completely absent either, has filled the pages of fiction from that time until recently when, as the U.S. becomes postindustrial, depictions of the absent/present father decline.

Bringing a socio-economic as opposed to the usual psychological perspective to my close readings of the fictional family, I explore the cultural work the absent/present father does in …

Death And Photography In East Asia: Funerary Use Of Portrait Photography, Jeehey Kim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation expands and elaborates upon my 2009 project, 'Korean Funerary Photo-Portraiture,' which examined the uses of portrait photography in funerals and ancestor worship in Korea. By extending the geographic scope of the earlier project to encompass East Asia, its aim is to investigate how funerary photo-portraiture is intertwined with geopolitical issues across the region.

In order to explore the historical and socio-political layers of vernacular photography in East Asia, this dissertation compares the practice of funerary photo-portraiture in five countries by examining the basic concepts underpinning it. China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam all incorporate portrait photography into funerals …

The Print Portfolio And The Bourgeoisie In Fin-De-Siècle Paris, Britany Lane Salsbury

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In fin-de-siècle Paris, the print portfolio experienced a popularity that was unprecedented over the course of its long history. Adapted sporadically by graphic artists from the Renaissance onward, prints were produced as series in greater numbers and by a wider range of artists than ever before between 1880 and 1900, and symbolized new, bold, and varied aspirations for the graphic arts as an original and experimental medium. In addition to its stylistic value, artists valued the print portfolio for the subject matter it could cultivate. A growing number of works produced at this time highlighted social issues and expressed political …

'May God Cure You': Contemporary Egyptian Therapeutic Landscapes Between Qur'anic Healing And Psychiatry, Ana Maria Vinea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Based on 19 months of fieldwork research in Cairo, this dissertation investigates the constitution and the practice of a therapeutic technique known as Qur'anic healing (al-'ilāj bi-l-qur'ān). In contemporary Egypt, as throughout the Middle East, the past decades have witnessed the increased visibility and popularity of this revivalist, Salafi-based therapy of jinn exorcism and counter-sorcery that is rooted in centuries-old Islamic practices of healing, all the while developing them into new configurations. During the same period, heated public debates stirred by the emergence of Qur'anic healing have occurred, debates in which psychiatrists have played a prominent role.

By …

Development And Validation Of A Bangladeshi Pediatric Silhouette Scale (Bpss), Ana Mola

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is no culturally congruent children's silhouette scale to understand how Bangladeshi mothers perceive their children's body sizes and weight categories. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an ethnic congruent Bangladeshi Pediatric Silhouette Scale (BPSS) and a facial feature scale to assess the mothers' perceptions of their children's body sizes, weight categories and facial features. The study methodology was a quantitative, descriptive design with scale content validation. The sample was comprised of 29 Bangladeshis mothers ages 25-40 and their four-five year old children living in London, England and New York City. The Mola Facetool analyses revealed …

Effects Of Job Type And Culture On Relationships Between Job Characteristics And Worker Outcomes: A Multilevel Analysis, Justina Oliveira

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There has been a great deal of research regarding how job characteristics affect workers' perceptions, yet there are very few studies examining how job type (white-, pink-, or blue-collar) and culture impact these relationships. Through the use of data from over 11,000 employees in 24 countries, this project remedies the lack of multilevel study designs to determine how job type and culture each play independent roles in relationships between job characteristics (autonomy, task significance, and skill variety) and the worker outcomes of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, turnover intentions, and perceptions of the job as stressful and exhausting, as well as …

Women Of Faith: Adaptation Of African American Women Breast Cancer Survivors, Pearline Lincoln Okumakpeyi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the adaptation experience of African American women breast cancer survivors. The African American women's perception of the influence of faith on the breast cancer survivorship experience was explored.

This study utilized the directed qualitative content analysis method, which extracted themes and patterns that emerged in a narrative content. The 15 study participants were self-identified African American breast cancer survivors. The study was conducted using semi-structured interview questions that were derived from the modes of the Roy Adaptation Model (RAM). The discussion was framed within the context of the themes …

Affecting Neoliberal Public Health Care: Interdependent Relationality Between Disabled Care Recipients And Their Care Providers, Akemi Nishida

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I trace the neoliberal turn of a public health-care program, Medicaid, and its effects on those who are involved in it: disabled care recipients and their care providers. Also examined is the emergence of an affective relationality between these individuals through their daily practices of care. In 1993, Medicaid went through a neoliberal turn that accelerated its privatization. I investigate the ways in which this turn--in company with the neoliberal transition of other welfare programs and the rise of a transnational care industry--further deployed a gendered, raced, classed, and immigration-based division of care labor that commodified and …

Relationship Of Students' Spelling Gains To Teacher Knowledge And Teacher Practice, Alison Puliatte

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined the impact of classroom teachers' linguistic knowledge and spelling instructional practices on Grade 2 and 3 students' spelling gains over the course of one school year. The purpose of this study was to identify teacher level variables that impact student spelling gains. This study employed a correlational research design aimed at finding relationships between two independent variables and one dependent variable. The two independent variables were teacher instructional practices and teacher linguistic knowledge. Teacher level variables were identified through two measures, an Instructional Practices Questionnaire and a Linguistic Knowledge Survey. The dependent variable was the student spelling …

The Journal Of Mother Studies: A Peer Reviewed, International, Interdisciplinary, Open-Acess, Digital Humanities Hybrid Project, Martha Joy Rose

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Academic Journals are an established forum for educators and researchers to disseminate information within their field. Journals act as mediators of knowledge, advancing the canons within specific areas of study. There are currently two journals that focus on motherhood from an interdisciplinary perspective and one that focuses on fathers. However, none of these determine a specific foundational definition of what the field is, what it hopes to study, and how it will advance itself. Rather, these journals are general collections of a great number of things that touch on varying subjects regarding motherhood and fatherhood. This thesis argues for the …

Technology And The Glass Imagination: Isolation And Closeness From The Window To The Screen, Sarah Elizabeth Welsh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In computer and cell phone screens, as in 19th-century architecture, glass employs a frame to show a specific picture, and keeps us at a distance from what lies behind it. Glass' dichotomies in technology (transparency and reflection, isolation and closeness) have become stronger metaphors for our experience with technology. This paper will look at the similarities between the language and metaphors created by glass in 19th-century architecture and 21st century technology, and glass' role in connecting us to and alienating us from the world 'outside.' In so doing, the role of glass in the imagination and its impact on modernity …

The Effects Of Childhood Sexual Abuse On Parenting, Erin Ann Williams

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a pervasive problem that has been the focus of substantial empirical research. While negative outcomes such as psychiatric diagnoses or health problems have been well documented, the literature regarding the effects of CSA on parenting is sparse and has produced conflicting results. Moreover, the existing research on CSA's effect on later parenting has several methodological limitations (e.g., retrospective data) and has failed to find any consistent explanatory mechanisms/pathways for which CSA is most likely to impede parental success. The present study examined whether a history of CSA leads to negative parental outcomes (i.e., how they …

The Odyssey Of North Korean Defectors: Issues And Problems In The Migration Process, You Gene Kim

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Since the Great Famine in the 1990s, many North Koreans have emigrated in search of better lives in South Korea or other countries. However, they face hardship and peril in every phase of this odyssey. In China, North Korean defectors suffer from the constant threat of being arrested and deported by the Chinese authorities. Furthermore, the Chinese government has refused to grant refugee status to North Korean defectors because of its desire to maintain positive diplomatic relations with North Korea. Consequently, most of the defectors aim to go to South Korea, though some young and educated North Koreans prefer the …

Psychosocial Sequelae Of Homicide Among Murder Victims' Family Members: An Appraisal Of Depression, Grief, And Posttraumatic Stress, Sarah Kopelovich

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current investigation explored what is known regarding the psychological sequelae of the post-homicide experience for murder victims' family members and friends (MVFM). Participants were also asked about whether they felt they had attained closure, a term which populates anecdotal and theoretical accounts of MVFM's experience. Previous literature guided a theoretical definition of closure as a dimensional construct that represents adaptive functioning following a murder, and includes (1) absence of disabling symptomatology, (2) absence of ruminations about the event or murder victim, and (3) subjective return to baseline functioning. This quasi-experiment consisted of a between-subjects cross-sectional design. The dependent variable …

Attenuation Of Methamphetamine And Nmda-Induced Toxicity By Leptin In Murine Striatum, Nawshin Hoque Kutub

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Methamphetamine (METH) is an addictive illicit psychostimulant that is neurotoxic and causes permanent brain injury. METH-induced neurological damage affects areas of the brain that mediates emotions, motivation, cognition and critical thinking. In the striatum METH neurotoxicity intertwines several factors such as dopamine (DA) overflow, glutamate signaling, and free radicals formation causing oxidative stress. In addition, excessive dopaminergic innervation leads to severe reduction in DA terminals, DA transporters (DAT), and vesicular monoamine transporters (VMAT)-2. METH use causes permanent damage which cannot be recovered even after three years of abstinence. Understanding the mechanism of METH-induced neurodegeneration will provide an avenue towards identifying …

Development Of Instructional Competencies For Assessing And Managing Suicide Risk For Baccalaureate Nursing Education, Abigail Kotowski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Suicide is a major health problem and a leading cause of death throughout the world. Reforming health professional education has been identified as a primary goal for suicide prevention, and although nursing leadership is involved in this reform, nurses frequently lack the competence to care for patients in suicidal crisis. An identified gap in baccalaureate nursing education is instructional competencies for assessing and managing suicide risk. Instructional competencies are targeted components of knowledge, attitudes, and skills that nursing students need to know in order to assess and manage patients expressing suicidal ideation. This study aimed to develop a set of …

"Young Men Of The Stones": Gendering The First Palestinian Intifada, Karen Lauria

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The First Palestinian Intifada (1987 - 1993) began on December 9, 1987 with riots protesting the killing of a young Palestinian man by the Israeli Defense Forces. The riots quickly grew into a much larger grassroots uprising -- Intifada -- against Israeli occupation. In the following weeks and months, the Occupied Territories were engulfed in waves of protests, demonstrations, boycotts, and other acts of civil disobedience, which continued until 1993. Although Intifada protestors represented a cross-section of Palestinian society, encompassing both old and young, male and female, a single, particular masculine trope soon came to dominate-that of young male activists …

The Effects Of Mood And Perceived Cost On Self-Disclosure Of Deviant Sexual Fantasies And Behavior, Jordan S. Maile

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study examined the effects of mood state (happy vs. neutral vs. sad) and perceptions of cost (anonymous vs. 'non-anonymous') on self-disclosure of deviant sexual fantasies and behavior (e.g. pedophilic, coercive). Research suggests that mood may affect decision making in 'risky' situations, such that a positive mood state may increase risky decision making. It could be argued that disclosure of deviant sexual fantasies and behavior can be conceptualized as a 'risky' situation; therefore, it is hypothesized that a positive mood state would increase disclosure of deviant sexual fantasies and behavior, but only when doing so is perceived to be …

Middle School Girls In Postfeminist Times, Susan Mccullough

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation, based on an ethnographic case study conducted in the 2013-14 school year, examines early adolescent girls and their teachers and the way in which they experience gender and gender relations in the public middle school context in New York City. Current research into schools in the United States tends to focus on the experience of those students who are in crisis. For the most part, girls are not considered to be a demographic in crisis in public schools in the United States today. Because research on gender and schooling that highlights the success of girls is based on …

Three Faces Of Human Exceptionalism: Genius, Saint, Monster, Mary Clare Feldmann Mckinley

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

An exposition of the artistic genius invokes the perennial challenge to determine intersections between ethics (or morality) and aesthetics. As the human figure of the aesthetic realm, the genius meets its match in two counterparts of the ethical realm: the saint and the monster. Indeed, the genius shares traits with both figures, drawing closer to the saint in its communicative capacity while also revealing a prodigious nature more akin to the monster. This dissertation poses the following question: between the saint and the monster, does the genius resonate more with one than with the other? As one strategy to find …

Nepantla And Ubuntu Ethics Para Nosotros: Beyond Scrupulous Adherence Toward Threshold Perspectives Of Participatory/Collaborative Research Ethics, Monique Antoinette Guishard

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Participatory Action Research (PAR) refers less to a method and more to a continuum of approaches to collaborative inquiry. Within PAR, ideally, some phenomenon has been identified as a mutual area of concern to researchers and community members; working together they design, conduct, analyze, and disseminate the findings of a shared piece of research and coordinate action(s) aimed at using research to redress injustice. If PAR is embraced holistically boundaries inevitably blur as research team members become enmeshed in each other's lives. This blurring while momentous can give rise to ethical quandaries that IRB centered research ethics are inadequate to …

Employee Environmentally Friendly Behaviors In And Out Of Organizations And Across Cultures, Lilia Hayrapetyan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A rising number of organizations are making changes to minimize their impact on the environment. In order to successfully implement such changes for the long term it is important for organizations to not only address operational, structural and process factors, but also their employees' environmentally significant behaviors (e.g., Siero et al., 1996). Unfortunately, there remains a general lack of understanding of factors affecting employees' environmentally friendly behaviors. In an effort to reduce this gap, the present study employed the Values Beliefs Norms theory (Stern et al., 1999, Stern, 2000) to gain a comprehensive understanding of individuals' environmentally friendly behaviors in …

Maturation Of Speech Discrimination And Attentional Requirements In Late Childhood, Judith Ann Iannotta

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The ability to perceive speech sounds and contrasts continues to be refined throughout the course of development. While emerging models suggest that development is characterized by shifts from an attentionally demanding mode of processing speech sounds to one that occurs relatively automatically, the specific developmental time-course of these changes remains unclear. The present work reports the findings of two experiments that aimed to provide insights into the time-course by which neural processes underlying speech discrimination in children and adolescents becomes automatic. The experiments used event-related potentials (ERP) measures, with a particular focus on mismatch negativity (MMN) - a developmentally-sensitive index …

Do Cultural And Perceptual Factor Matter?: An Investigation Of Factors Impacting Intelligence Test Scores Of Latinos/Hispanics In The United States, Mary E. Ignagni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper examined societal and cultural explanations regarding the score differences seen between Latinos/Hispanics and Whites on intelligence tests through focusing specifically on possible explanations for the scores obtained by Latino/Hispanic test-takers. In this paper, it was argued that additional unique factors may impact the test scores of Latino/Hispanic test-takers. Specifically, racial and ethnic self-identification, ethnic centrality, acculturation, cultural distance, test perceptions, and ethnicity were explored as possible unique factors. In addition, an attempt was made to explain within group differences. A non-experimental study was utilized in which a final sample of 194 participants completed an intelligence test and measures …

The Influence Of Forward Head Posture On Suprahyoid Activity During Oropharyngeal Swallowing: A Surface Electromyographic Analysis, Brianne Carroll, Sierra Hunt, Katherine Sheeleigh, Mark Wnukowski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

STUDY DESIGN: Within subjects repeated measures design.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this research is to explore the effect that Forward Head Posture has on the mylohyoid muscle during swallowing in a healthy population.

BACKGROUND: Forward Head Posture (FHP) is the most common deviation from ideal head posture, and has become more prominent due to the rise of smart phones and the prevalence of computers in the household and workplace. FHP is associated with a variety of detrimental effects on the musculoskeletal system that arise from the abnormal positioning of the cranial and cervical bones and joints. In particular, the muscles …