Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of The Cb1 Receptor In Learning, Memory And Anxiety-Like Behaviors, Loretta Lynn Bolyard

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Several lines of evidence support a role of the endocannabinoid (eCB) system in cognition and anxiety. This study explores cognitive processes and anxiety-like behaviors in wild type (CB1+/+) and CB1-receptor-deficient (CB1-/-) mice of differing ages. Differences were observed between CB1+/+ and CB1-/- mice in a Morris Water Maze acquisition task. Furthermore, CB1-/- mice did not display deficits in extinction during reversal learning. In the Light-Dark Box and Suok tasks, the CB1-/- mice demonstrated greater anxiety-like behaviors relative the CB1+/+ mice. No differences were observed in the Open-Field task, suggesting that the observed behavioral differences may be related to anxiety rather …

Teaching Intercultural Communication Competence In The Healthcare Context, Jelena Stojakovic

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this project was to design a training program focused on intercultural communication competence in the health care industry. While international students make an important link between different cultures, serve as great resource in the exchange of cultures and ideas, and make large contributions to the U.S. economy; international students also pose new challenges for higher education. One of the challenges that came up as a result of the diversification of U.S. campuses has to do with intercultural competence, which is an important quality for anyone who wishes to competently and effectively navigate intercultural interactions. Along these lines, …

A Comparison Study Of Montana's Intermediate And K-8 Schools With Regard To Student Performance On A Criterion Referenced Test, Incidence Of At-Risk Behaviors, And Perceptions Of Educators From Both Grade Configurations, Robert Jeffrey Watson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Within the last ten years, middle schools have been criticized for focusing too much on social development while ignoring academics. Several large school districts around the country are transforming their middle schools into K-8 schools. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to compare K-8 schools with intermediate schools in the State of Montana. Quantitative research examined the relationship between school grade configuration and student performance on a criterion referenced test. Descriptive analysis examined the relationship between school grade configuration and incidence of at-risk behavior among students. Additional data was collected through 1-1 comparison interviews with educators from both …

Reinvention In The Line Of Death: A Reconsideration Of Geoffrey Hill's Commemorative Verse, Michael Christopher Bartch

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This paper considers the embodied ethics of Geoffrey Hill’s poetic practice. Hill stages his engagement with poetry through the idioms, images, tropes, and diction of the literary tradition. Through this pragmatic rehearsal of the language of the dead, Hill’s poetry projects the tradition into the present. Hill resists the ethical entrapments of appropriative poetry through his insistence upon the brute physicality of atrocity and through a rigorous (for both poet and reader) formal difficulty. Hill’s practice refuses to console after the models of Peter Sacks, Jahan Ramazani, or John Vickery. Instead, concerned with modernity’s disconnectedness, Hill’s poetry returns us to …

Animal Vegetable Mineral, Eva Lys Champagne

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

There is a radical unity supporting the vast diversity of appearances in nature that makes distinct categorizations like “animal, vegetable or mineral” superficial at best. The unifying element has been called energy, or, as Emerson put it, “thought is the common origin.” This guiding principle, a life spent by the sea, and an enduring fascination with nature’s forms, has resulted in my current body of work. By combining formal references to animals, vegetables and minerals I create intentionally ambiguous ceramic sculptures that seem to exist in the fluid margin between categories. My aim is toward something composite that challenges the …

The Relationship Between Positive Behavior Supports, Student Achievement, Severe Problem Behavior, And Administrative Stress, Jennifer Guthals

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Guthals, Jennifer, Ed. D., May 2009 Educational Leadership

The Relationship between Positive Behavior Supports, Student Achievement, Severe Problem Behavior, and Administrative Stress

Chair: Dr. John Matt

Due to the pressures and expectations for current and future principals to create safe and welcoming schools with high student achievement, a better of understanding of the relationship between Positive Behavior Supports (PBS), student achievement, severe problem behavior, and administrative stress was needed. This study investigated the relationship between these four factors, as measured through the Effective Behavior Supports Survey (Sugai, Horner, & Todd, 2003), Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) (OPI, 2008), suspension/expulsion rates, the …

Materiality As The Basis For The Aesthetic Experience In Contemporary Art, Christina Murdoch Mills

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A number of historical philosophical theories relate to materiality in contemporary art and the role of art objects as an extension of ontology, or the study of the nature of being. The Kantian idea of the “aesthetic experience” is the point of departure, tracing philosophical discourse of how art functions via its materiality through the writings of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Martin Heidegger, Jean-Paul Sartre and Jacques Maritain to the post-modern considerations of David Hickey and Arthur Danto. The research for this thesis focuses on how contemporary art, in all its various forms, functions via art’s material qualities or materiality. The objective …

The Enigma Of The Everyday, Christina Murdoch Mills

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The articulation of happenstance and of the enigmatic nature of everyday things is one way concepts in my work have been filtered through and informed by memory, emotion and the experience of life that is both lived as a process and inhabited as a space. My current work attempts to embody as much resolved chaos as possible while emphasizing a quality of paradox. During my graduate studies in studio art, I have worked in a variety of fine art media including, graphite pencil and ink drawing, collage, watercolor, acrylic, egg tempera, oil paint, digital photographic prints, aluminum and iron casting, …

Youth Harvest: Exploring An Employment-Based, Service-Oriented, Therapeutic Program For “At-Risk Youth”, Rachel Christine O'Brien

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In the mid-1990s, juvenile courts began establishing youth drug courts that blended the principles of restorative justice and the philosophy of therapeutic jurisprudence in an attempt to process juvenile drug offenders in a way that emphasizes rehabilitation of the offenders and restoration to the community. Over recent decades, wilderness therapy programs and horticultural therapy programs have become popular as alternative approaches for treating adjudicated and/or “at-risk” youth. The Youth Harvest program, which operates in conjunction with the Missoula Youth Drug Court, is a unique, therapeutic program that blends the goals of National Drug Courts and the principles of restorative justice …

The Effect Of Imagined Interactions On Secret Revelation And Health, Adam Stephens Richards

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined the influence of imagined interactions on the decision to reveal secrets and some health outcomes. Recent research has only begun to investigate how individuals decide to reveal or conceal secrets. It is accepted that people base decisions to reveal on predictions of expected outcomes of revealing/concealing (Caughlin, Afifi, Carpetner-Theune, & Miller, 2005). Imagined interactions, the imagined cognitive rehearsal of potential conversations, are proposed to serve as a mechanism for making predictions, which influences the decision to reveal. Particularly, imagined interactions where hypothesized to influence one’s expected outcomes and increase one’s confidence in feeling like they can communicate …

The Elusive "Poem Of The World": The Task Of The Reader And The Problem Of Knowledge In Heinrich Von Kleist's Novellas "Die Marquise Von O..." And "Das Erdbeben In Chili", Lindsey Brandt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The literary works of Heinrich von Kleist (1777–1811) have long been an important influence on thinkers and writers interested and engaged in the German cultural tradition, particularly due to the enigmatic and highly problematic nature of his narrative approach. In recent years, however, there has been a notable surge of interest in Kleist’s works, which has led to the production of several articles, papers, and even entire conference panels dedicated to the investigation of his oeuvre from various angles. Why does Kleist still fascinate his readers so much, and what is it about his texts that allow for such a …

The Influence Of Sibling Support On Children's Post-Divorce Adjustment: A Turning Point Analysis, Kimberly Ann Jacobs

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Most previous research on children’s adjustment following the divorce of their parents has focused on the consequences of parents’ actions and communication choices. Relatively little is known about the impact that sibling relationships have on post-divorce adjustment. The current study was designed to explore the relationship between sibling social support (emotional, instrumental, and informational support) and adjustment. Data was collected from 34 participants using the Retrospective Interview Technique (RIT). Participants identified key turning points in their adjustment process and used those points as an interview guide to talk about support from and communication with their siblings. Numerical questionnaire data was …

Tobacco Use Among Alaska Native And American Indian College Students, Sarah Angstman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The prevalence of tobacco use is disproportionately high among American Indian and Alaska Native people, with rates and patterns of use varying greatly by tribe, community and geographical region. Targeted interventions are needed to reduce this troubling disparity between non-Native and Native rates of use. Among non-Native individuals, the college years are being investigated as a time when lifelong tobacco use patterns may be established, and interventions are being tested to help college students to stop using tobacco. Currently, no interventions have been developed for American Indian or Alaska Native college students. Data obtained from Alaska Native college students at …

Training Characteristics Of Males At The 2008 Ncaa Division I Cross Country Championships, Philip A. Keller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The focus of previous running research has been on physiological determinates of performance utilizing small sample sizes and short time frames with little regard to previous training methods. PURPOSE: The goal of this research was to describe, compare, and evaluate the relationships between anthropometric, run training, and ancillary training variables during the 2008 season and performance of male finishers at the NCAA Division I cross country championship 10k race. METHODOLOGY: An online survey was created based on previous research and all coaches who had male runners finish the 2008 NCAA championship race were asked to include their athletes in the …

School-Based Gay-Straight Alliances As A Protective Factor For Sexual Minority Youth, Nicholas Christopher Heck

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Sexual minority youth have been found to be at-risk for engaging in negative health behaviors and for experiencing at-school victimization (Bontempo & D’Augelli, 2002). Specific benefits of attending a high school with a gay-straight alliance (GSA) have recently been published (e.g., fewer suicide attempts; Goodenow, Szalacha, & Westheimer, 2006). However, it is unclear whether GSAs have any impact on substance use behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of attending a school with a GSA on sexual minority youths’ high school experiences, mental health, and substance use behaviors. A total of 103 heterosexual and 145 sexual …

An Analysis Of Identity, Gender, Religion And Spirituality, And Current Endorsement Of Depressive Symptoms By American Indians Living Off-Reservation, Georgie Victoria Ferguson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Depression is diagnosed at high rates among American Indians (AIs). This study’s goal was to explore possible protective factors against depression. This study investigated the impact of: cultural identity, cultural identity and gender, gender, importance of spirituality, and importance of religion, on endorsement of depressive symptoms. This study also investigated whether participants’ distinguished between religion and spirituality. Participants in this study were AIs 18 years or older (N = 220, females = 132, males = 88). The data was procured from an archival data set, collected at an urban Indian center in 2004. The study data included a demographic questionnaire; …

The Development And Testing Of A Relational Model Of Competence In The Context Of Nature-Based Tourism, Christine Marie Oschell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Communication competence is a framework that has been used in many disciplines to understand communication events and their success or failure in achieving objectives. The model most often used to describe competence is the relational model proposed by Spitzberg & Cupach (1984) which includes three elements: knowledge, knowing what behavior is best suited for a given situation; skill, having the ability to apply that behavior in the given context; and motivation having the desire to communicate in a competent manner. This study used the model of relational competence to understand the communication process between guide and client in a nature-based …

The Effects Of Intimate Relationship Education On Relationship Optimism And Attitudes Toward Marriage, Veronica Ida Johnson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study evaluated the effects of relationship education on undergraduate students' optimism about relationships and attitudes toward marriage. Participants included undergraduate students enrolled in an Intimate and Family Relations class and students enrolled in a comparison class at the University of Montana. Students were assessed during the first week of the fall semester, 2008, and again at the conclusion of fall semester, 2008. Students' attitudes and optimism towards marriage and intimate relationships were assessed using the Optimism about Relationships scale (Carnelly & Janoff-Bulman, 1992), the Family-of-Origin scale (Hovestadt, Anderson, Piercy, Cochran, & Fine, 1985), and the Marital Attitude Scale (Braaten …

The Experience Of The Female Volunteer Student Advocate: A Phenomenological Study Of University Of Montana Student Assault Resource Center Advocates, Kerry S. Maier

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This qualitative research explores how volunteering as an advocate at the Student Assault Resource Center (SARC) at The University of Montana, impacts the lives of the student advocates. Unstructured interviews with six SARC advocates were analyzed through the process of phenomenological reduction providing essential descriptions of the experience in the participants' natural language.

Analysis indicated the importance of adequate training, formation of trust among the advocates, and the need for playfulness in the midst of challenging and difficult work. Results further revealed that the participants experience self-care as an important and necessary part of advocate training and of their daily …

Fatigue Risk Management: Modeling The Sleep/Wake-Based Dynamics Of Performance, Peter J. Mccauley

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Several biomathematical models have been developed to predict cognitive performance impairment due to sleep loss and/or circadian misalignment. In essence, these models are all based on the Two-Process Model (TPM) which contains a homeostatic process for the build-up and decline of sleep pressure across days, and a circadian process to keep track of time of day. The TPM has been used successfully to predict performance under conditions of total sleep deprivation. However, for conditions of chronic sleep restriction, the TPM predicts a rapid stabilization of performance impairment (within a day or two)---which is not in agreement with experimental observations. This …

Socio-Spatial Dimensions Of Migrant Women’S Lives In Tbilisi, Georgia, Laura S. E. Cahill

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis provides an exploration into the experiences and perspectives of Georgian rural women who have migrated to Tbilisi, Georgia. The aim of this paper is to understand the affects of this mobility and migration on Georgian women’s socio-spatial dimensions and what this means for the economic and cultural survival of women in post- Soviet Georgia. Specifically, the research focuses on the spatial availability of family and rural contacts and the use of social safety nets as a coping strategy to aid women in the transition to urban life in Tbilisi. In addition, this paper addresses the role of women …

Curriculum Improvement: The Teacher Perspective On Change In The Classroom, Heather C. Davis

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study explored the curriculum change experiences of five social studies teachers, from three high schools within one school district located in a western Montana city, integrating an economics curriculum in their eleventh grade U.S. history classrooms for the first time. A review of the related literature on this topic revealed several areas of consideration regarding teachers' curriculum change experiences which guided the data collection and analysis process: commitment, workload, capacity, collaboration, and perception of the teaching profession. This qualitative, within case study was designed to add to the body of quantitative research on curriculum change. Data collection sources include: …

Educational Travel And Adolescent Development, Ann Saitow

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Educational travel forms the basis for novel learning experiences that enhance adolescent development by enabling students to make choices about their own survival in an unfamiliar setting. This biological adaptation is driven by stimulation of the midbrain which produces high levels of dopamine, the chemical associated with learning. The elements of educational travel that promote sustained adolescent learning are: clear communication, commitment and action, communal trust and respect, maturity developed through assigned responsibilities and exposure to varied life circumstances, flexibility, and transition back to traditional school environments.

Moving Toward Development Of A Chunghwa Postal Office Business Model Of Sustainability, Perng Cheng Shih

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research integrated western and eastern organization theory in order to restructure the Chunghwa Postal Office (CPO). The goal was to create a more efficient and sustainable business model that would serve the future needs of Taiwan. A region of the CPO, the Hsinchu Post Office (HPO), received training in 2008 in order to provide a pilot study regarding the concepts of sustainability and learning organizations.

The research produced a CPO Sustainability Model in which learning organization theory is conceptually woven into the Chinese Tai Ji map. This Model has two core domains, namely vision and evaluation. Using two parallel …

A Social Marketing Intervention To Improve Asbestos Inspection Compliance For Missoula Public Buildings And The Role Of Upstream Approaches, Holly N. Truitt

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality Asbestos Control Program reported in a 2002 study that it had determined that 99 percent of public building demolitions and renovations in Missoula were noncompliant with asbestos inspection regulations required by both Montana and federal law. The Program characterized noncompliance as an occupational and public health threat with multiple causations including willful noncompliance and ignorance of the law. Missoula is not alone in its noncompliance; Great Falls, MT, Boston, MA, Austin, TX and Livingston MT, and other cities have struggled to address noncompliance with asbestos inspections. My action based research project explores the role …

Health Issues And Aging In American Indian Older Adults: Resilience Through Adversity, Ennis F. Vaile

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The average life expectancy of American Indian (AI) older adults has paralleled mainstream aging trends and is set to continue growing as global increases in longevity continue to improve (Jervis, Boland, & Fickenscher, 2010). However, the disproportionately high levels of chronic health conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension, cerebrovascular diseases) observed in this group may outstrip the coping resources of some individuals, potentially leading to unsuccessful aging outcomes such as adverse mental health outcomes (specifically depression). As described in Goins and Pilkerton (2010, p. 346), comparatively higher rates of chronic health conditions have created an “expansion of morbidity,” where American Indians are …

Coping With The Death Of A Family Member: An Exploration Of American Indian People's Experience, William Henry Shunkamolah

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Most studies exploring bereavement/grief have focused upon the US’s majority culture. These study findings have contributed to the existing bereavement theories regarding grief and coping by providing broad and general information to researchers and clinicians. Previous research has found that an individual’s experience of grief and ability to cope with death is affected by a combination of situational factors (e.g., anticipated death vs. sudden death), personal factors (e.g., age), and interpersonal factors (e.g., availability of social support). The literature suggests that understanding cultural differences among bereaved clients should be considered by clinicians. Despite such cautions few studies without theoretical preconception …

Landscape And The Feminine Voice: Reclaiming Identity In The Works Of Maryse Conde, Simone Schwarz-Bart And Andre Schwarz Bart, Kathleen Marie Ruth

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis examines Caribbean literature and its value in establishing identity for Caribbean peoples. The discourse of Caribbean literature as a tool for re-establishing or reclaiming identity is examined, as well as the domination of the male voice throughout Caribbean literature and theory. Through examination of the intimate connection between the feminine and the landscape of the Caribbean, the presence and significance of the female voice is established in the works of Andre Schwarz-Bart, Simone Schwarz-Bart, and Maryse Conde. The recognition of particularity of women’s struggles and the consequent contribution of female authors to Caribbean literature replenish a historiography which …

Lifelong Learning: The Integration Of Experiential Learning, Quality Of Life Work In Communities And Higher Education, Ann Harwood

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This descriptive quantitative study examined preferences and choices by adult learners (leading edge baby boomers and older adults, ages 50-70), who were participants in Elderhostel international experiential programs and The University of Montana Alumni Association educational travel programs. The study investigated the preferences of the sample populations and their interests in making a career change in mid-life to work in a new career to help improve the quality of life in their community. The typologies of the respondents were compared with their interests to make career transitions to jobs to improve the quality of life in their communities. The study …

Dynamic Human Relationships With Wilderness: Developing A Relationship Model, Bob G. Dvorak

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Dvorak, Robert, Ph.D., Summer 2008 Forestry

Dynamic human relationships with wilderness: Developing a relationship model

Chair: William T. Borrie

Wilderness managers are charged with the challenging goal of balancing resource protection and experience quality across a broad, value-laden landscape. While research has provided insight into visitor motivations, psychological outcomes, and meanings, a struggle exists to implement experiential concepts within current management frameworks. A need also exists to manage wilderness for concepts outside of setting attributes. This research posits the human experience of wilderness to be an evolving, enduring relationship. Therefore, research needs can be addressed by investigating and conceptualizing an …