Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Aspects Of Science Literacy Demonstrated By Early Undergraduate Stem Majors Through A Manuscript-Style Writing Assignment, Samantha Lynn Jusino

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Over the past twenty years, scientific literacy amongst undergraduates has not improved despite their exposure to higher education science classes. Underlying mechanisms of science literacy development are poorly understood; however, exposure to authentic practices in science has been demonstrated as a means to fostering science literacy development. A unique approach to studying science literacy is through examining the three domains of the science literacy conceptual framework developed in this study, Science as Access, Science as Process, and Science as a Sociopolitical Factor and their components as they emerge through the process of writing a manuscript-style writing assignment. In …

The Museum Of Queer Curiosities, Reba "Feliks" Kay Pyron

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This paper documents the research, personal motivations, and processes that make The Museum of Queer Curiosities (TMOQC). The installation, exhibited in the Paul Mesaros Gallery, uses the manipulation of traditional techniques in printmaking, sculpture, and craft, to create a space in which authority, labels, confusion, and compassion are discussed. Through the synthesis of familiar visual art installation techniques and museum display, the work attempts to provide a foothold for the viewer to navigate queerness and ephemeral identity. The body of work that occupies TMOQC creates the surreal simulation of a scientific museum, transforming the art gallery into a stage where …

Accumulation, Erin Mccarty

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This written Thesis is the supporting documentation for Accumulation, a Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition at West Virginia University. This exhibition creates an environment in which a viewer can enter. This installation environment is created based on formal elements combined with fantastical elements from the imagination of the artist. The formal choices in the work provoke a positive otherworldly and whimsical response in the viewer. The environment is designed to provide relief from problems in the everyday world through patterns, forms, colors and surfaces. These elements are harvested from the natural world and recombined in a fantastical way. …

Fast Decision-Making Under Time And Resource Constraints, Kyle Gabriel Lassak

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Practical decision makers are inherently limited by computational and memory resources as well as the time available in which to make decisions. To cope with these limitations, humans actively seek methods which limit their resource demands by exploiting structure within the environment and exploiting a coupling between their sensing and actuation to form heuristics for fast decision-making. To date, such behavior has not been replicated in artificial agents. This research explores how heuristics may be incorporated into the decision-making process to quickly make high-quality decisions through the analysis of a prominent case study: the outfielder problem. In the outfielder problem, …

Tobacco Cessation In A Dental School Setting, Kerri T. Simpson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of death in the United States. Currently, the prevalence of tobacco use is 20.7% in adults (≥18 years old) and 31.2% among high school students. According to various studies, over 60% of Americans want to quit tobacco, but it takes a person several attempts to quit before they are successful. There is limited data in the literature that discusses the effectiveness of tobacco cessation programs in US dental schools. Therefore, information on the effectiveness of a tobacco cessation program in a dental school setting could benefit this state and the problem …

Recalling The Georgic: Land, Labor, And Literature In American Ecological Consciousness, Sam Horrocks

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation argues that environmentalism and the environmental humanities are limited by an overinvestment in the discursive mode of pastoral, which provides the ecological logic of industrial urbanization by viewing the environment from the perspective of a leisured and alienated spectator. The pastoral mode enables environmental injustice by separating the realms of ecology and economy through a conventional elision of issues of labor and economics, rendering environmentalism unable to effect change within the spheres most important to ameliorating the pollution crisis. The pastoral mode thus frustrates the overarching goal of ecocriticism and environmentalism: we seek an ontological reunion of nature …

A Phenomenological Photovoice Exploration Of Female Exercisers’ Experiences Of Their Body In Fitness Center Environments, Katherine E. Fairhurst

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

For many women, the relationship with their body and exercise is complex. Exercise can have positive effects on body image, however, not all women appear to benefit positively from all types of exercise. To date, body image research has focused on exercise as an activity and less so on the context in which exercise is performed. Women frequently exercise in fitness centers as young adults which, unfortunately, is associated with body dissatisfaction. Using an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach with Photovoice methodology, we explored young adult women’s lived body experiences while exercising in fitness centers. A purposive sample of 11 …

The Costume Design Process For The Phantom Tollbooth, Chloe Elizabeth Cappuccilli

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis will give an account of the costume design process for The Phantom Tollbooth at West Virginia University. Specifically, the responsibilities of the role of Costume Designer, from initial meetings to final production. This document will include research about child psychology that inspired the primary design process, specifically the influence of children’s dreams, and their relationship to toys. This information was utilized to create designs explicitly for children’s theatre audiences. I will present and evaluate the costume designs, including the design evolution until the final production. Detailing the process of costume construction while working with a costume shop. Visual …

Behavioral Functions Of Stimuli Correlated With Transitions Between Rich And Lean Schedules Of Reinforcement, Cory Whirtley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Disruptions in operant behavior in the form of extended pausing reliably occur when there is a discriminable transition from a relatively rich schedule of reinforcement to a relatively lean schedule (i.e., a rich-lean transition). The present experiments assessed the reinforcing and aversive functions of the stimuli correlated with the transitions between rich and lean schedules using observing and escape procedures. In both experiments, pigeons’ key pecks were reinforced with food on a compound schedule with two FR components. Completing the FR in the rich component produced a large reinforcer; completing the FR in the lean component produced a small reinforcer. …

Breaking The Chain: Evaluating The Links Between Opioid Use Disorder, Overdose, And Suicide, Amanda Nicole Stover Mph

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Previous research has estimated that 20–30% of individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD) have a history of both suicide attempt and unintentional opioid overdose. In 2018, more than 1.9 million adults 18 years and older had an OUD; while 1.4 million adults attempted suicide that same year (SAMHSA, 2019). The key to understanding this relationship is examining behaviors that precede these potentially fatal behaviors. One such precursory behavior is self-injury. Self-injurious behaviors (SIB) are one of the most important risk factors for future suicide (Cavanagh et al.,2003). This study has three primary objectives. The first is to conduct a systematic …

Addiction Or Disorder? Using The Bias Map Model To Explain The Stigmatizing Effects Of News Media Labels For Opioid Use Disorder, Kylie J. Wilson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The stigma surrounding opioid use disorder is often reinforced by the language that the general public and institutions use to talk about people with the disorder. Consistent with labeling theory, contending that labels are vehicles for social categorization and stereotypes, triggering bias, (e.g., Ashford, Brown, Ashford, & Curtis, 2019; Corrigan, Kuwabara, & O’Shaughnessy, 2009; Goodyear, Haass-Koffler, & Chavanne, 2018; Link & Phelan, 1999) but the ingroup based cognitive and emotional process through which these affect public stigma has not been explored in detail. This dissertation employs the Stereotype Content Model (SCM) and the Behaviors from Intergroup Affect Stereotypes (BIAS) Map …

Predictors Of Self-Control During Emerging Adulthood: The Roles Of Implicit Beliefs And Early Risk, Katy L. Delong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study explored how early adverse experiences (i.e., low socioeconomic status, household chaos, attachment insecurity) and implicit beliefs about self-control (i.e., whether self-control is a limited or nonlimited resource) were associated with trait and momentary self-control in a sample of college students. As the first study to explore these factors together, individuals’ implicit beliefs were tested as a moderator and meditator of the association between early risk and self-control. Participants (N = 214) first completed a baseline survey with the main predictors and trait self-control, followed by one week of experience sampling to assess momentary self-control, or success resisting …

An Examination Of The Impacts Of The Wvu Research Apprenticeship Program (Rap), Mostafa Hashemi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Finding solutions to the problem of high attrition rates among students has been widely discussed by policymakers. Many intervention programs have been introduced to address this issue. The current study uses the tripartite integration model of social influence (TIMSI), (Kelman 1958, 1961; Estrada et al., 2011) to investigate and evaluate the effects of the research apprenticeship program (RAP), an intervention program aimed at supporting student performance and persistence through research and mentorship implemented at West Virginia University. The mediation analysis revealed research identity as a significant mediator in the relationship between RAP status and STEM persistence. Furthermore, RAP participants were …

Examining The Use Of Mhealth Technology For Weight Management: A Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trial In Family Medicine, Laurel A. Brabson M.S.

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Overweight and obesity are prevalent and problematic conditions in the United States and worldwide, and effective weight management interventions are underutilized. Efforts to improve weight management practices have focused almost exclusively on changing physician behavior, without considering the larger healthcare context or the reciprocal patient-physician relationship. The current study explored the possibility of leveraging technology to improve the implementation of weight management clinical practice guidelines and increase patient-physician weight management discussions. 100 patients of five family medicine physicians were randomly assigned to either complete a weight management mobile application (app) prior to their primary care visit (app condition), or to …

Frontal Brain Injury: Effects On Flexibility, Impulse Control, And Attention, Christopher Matthew O'Hearn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is defined as an impact to the head, penetration of the skull, or rapid deceleration of the skull, resulting in an alteration of brain function or neurological deficit. Cognitive deficits are common following TBI and often go unresolved due to a lack of effective treatments. These deficits often perseverate into the chronic post injury phase, so the development of rehabilitative strategies is imperative. Behavioral flexibility, impulse control, and attention are a few cognitive processes that are commonly affected by TBI. The current research compares these processes between rats with and without a severe frontal brain injury …

“I Don't Really Look Very Asian”: Transracially And Transnationally Adopted Asian Youth In Rural Appalachia, Sandra L. Rodeheaver

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Transracially adopted Asian children in rural Appalachia find themselves adopted into places where there is little or no racial and ethnic diversity. In this context, it may be difficult to transgress the model minority stereotype and systemic racism in schools and the community. There are particular issues and concerns related to racial identity for TRAAs that may make the task of becoming fully integrated members of the community challenging. Building on the literature on transracial and transnational adoption, this study aims to better understand the lives and perspectives of two transracially adopted Asian (TRAA) girls living in rural Appalachia and …

It’S All Fun And Games Until Somebody Dies: Grief, Mortality Salience, And Coping In Meaningful Permadeath, Mckay Steven West

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Because part of the enjoyment of video game experiences is rooted in their ability to afford players to fail but still reattempt gameplay with relatively little consequence, the appeal of playing games with permadeath seems paradoxical. This dissertation proposed that players’ motivations for playing these games with permadeath stem from an enhanced sense of appreciation garnered by players through the meaningfulness of permanent character death, rather than just through simple, hedonic enjoyment. Enhanced appreciation was expected to arise from permadeath through the grief players experienced toward the loss of their characters and through their contemplation of their own mortality. Grief …

The Effect Of Blended Learning On Language Proficiency Of An Efl Class: An Empirical Study, Jamile Sulam Tango Rojas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The combination of online learning and face-to-face lessons have become a relevant learning model in English Language Teaching in the last years. The goal of this research study was to investigate the integration of such a blended learning approach in an EFL class in Bolivia. The study was conducted at a binational language institution, and it focused on the effect of blended learning on the students’ overall language proficiency and each language skill individually. Data was collected via a proficiency pre-test at the beginning of the experiment, two quizzes during the module, and a final exam, all of them to …

Three Essays On The Effect Of Pain-Of-Payment On Consumers' Financial Decisions, Farnoush Reshadi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the past few years, we have witnessed a growing level of consumer debt. Although being in debt increases consumers’ stress and reduces their financial well-being, many consumers still take on high levels of debt and hold on to it even when they have financial resources to pay off the debt. Thus, it is of utmost importance to study factors that may influence consumers’ debt repayment. In this dissertation, I study consumers’ debt repayment behavior through the lens of the double-entry mental accounting theory (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998). This theory argues that consumers’ debt repayment behaviors are driven by pain-of-payment--negative …

Adolescents’ Interpretations Of Parental Psychological Control: The Role Of Beliefs And Disapproval On Problematic Outcomes, Katelyn F. Romm

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Parental psychological control has consistently been found to be associated with problematic outcomes among adolescents, including substance use (Galambos, Barker, & Almeida, 2003), risky cyber behaviors (Li, Li, & Newman, 2013), problematic eating behaviors (Soenens et al., 2008), and depressive symptoms (Romm & Metzger, 2018). However, few studies have examined how adolescents reason about and react to psychological control. Recent research has suggested that adolescents vary in their beliefs about parental motivations for using psychological control, as well as their level of disapproval of psychological control (Camras et al., 2012; Kakihara & Tilton-Weaver, 2009). These cognitive factors (i.e., beliefs about …

On Body Mass Index Analysis From Human Visual Appearance, Min Jiang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the past few decades, overweight and obesity are spreading widely like an epidemic. Generally, a person is considered overweight by body mass index (BMI). In addition to a body fat measurement, BMI is also a risk factor for many diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers and diabetes, etc. Therefore, BMI is important for personal health monitoring and medical research. Currently, BMI is measured in person with special devices. It is an urgent demand to explore conveniently preventive tools. This work investigates the feasibility of analyzing BMI from human visual appearances, including 2-dimensional (2D)/3-dimensional (3D) body and face data.

Motivated …

Effects Of Commission Errors During Noncontingent Reinforcement, Stephanie Hope Jones

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) is a behavioral treatment in which a reinforcer is provided at set intervals independently of responding. Although NCR is commonly used, effects of inconsistent implementation (i.e., implementation with integrity failures) during NCR were previously unknown. The current study included six participants, but full-integrity NCR suppressed problem behavior for only three participants. Thus, we evaluated effects of one kind of integrity failure, reinforcement of problem behavior, on NCR outcomes for three children who engaged in inappropriate vocalizations maintained by access to tangible items. Effects of commission errors were idiosyncratic across participants.

The Effects Of Instructor Self-Disclosure On Students’ Cognitive Learning: A Live Lecture Experiment, Stephen Michael Kromka

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the causal influences of relevant (and irrelevant) instructor self-disclosure on student affect and cognitive learning. Relevant self-disclosure involves the instructor directly relating personal disclosures to important lesson content, whereas irrelevant self-disclosure involves the instructor’s personal disclosures straying from the lesson topic. Given previous correlational self-disclosure research, the researcher predicted that relevant (compared to irrelevant) instructor self-disclosure would lead to increased reports of affect toward the instructor. The researcher also predicted that instructor self-disclosure relevance (compared to irrelevance) would enhance lesson coherence, and in turn, foster students’ cognitive learning. The researcher conducted a …

Understanding The Relationship Between Dental Fear, Behavior Management Problems, And Caregiver-Child Interactions During Young Child Dental Appointments, Christopher Kyle Owen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Positive oral health practices should begin early in life (AAPD; 2013; 2014; 2015); however, dental care-related fear and anxiety and behavior management problems are prevalent among young children in oral health (Klingberg & Broberg, 2007). The study explored caregiver and child dental care-related fear and anxiety, child behavior, and caregiver-child interactions during early childhood dental appointments. Caregiver-child dyad participants (N = 140) were collected from dental practices in West Virginia, Ohio, and Tennessee. Children (n = 139) in the sample were largely White (69.8%) and male (54.0%), with an average age of 3.05 years. Video-taped dental appointments for children under …

Effects Of Appalachian Culture And Pregnancy Status On Pain-Related Fear, Cecelia Irene Nelson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Fear of pain during pregnancy is an understudied phenomenon with important implications for prenatal and postpartum functioning. The aim of the current study was to understand the role of pregnancy and culture on pain-related fear in Appalachia. Archival datasets, and a new sample of women recruited via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, were sources of data. Participants completed the Fear of Pain Questionnaire-9 and responded to demographic questions in order to ascertain whether they were pregnant at the time of the study as well as the number and nature of prior pregnancies. In support of hypotheses, results indicated that pregnant women reported …

Three Essays On Energy Markets, Sultan Alturki

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation includes three essays investigating topics relevant to the energy markets. The first essay employs a new dataset to measure the impact of investor sentiment regarding oil prices on the U.S. inflation premium. The empirical analysis relies on Structural Vector Autoregression (SVAR) and out-of-sample forecasts. The results indicate that a one standard deviation positive shock to overall investor sentiment regarding oil prices results in a significant increase in the U.S. inflation premium by approximately 1.2% over the subsequent 10 weeks. Compared to individual investor sentiment, institutional investor sentiment regarding oil prices has a larger impact on the U.S. inflation …

Mnemonic Discrimination And Social Anxiety: The Role Of State Anxiety, Gabriella T. Ponzini

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST) measures mnemonic discrimination, or the ability to correctly identify new stimuli from highly similar, old stimuli. Neuroscientific and theoretical suppositions suggest that poor mnemonic discrimination may represent a potential risk or maintenance factor for anxious individuals. However, state affect appears to moderate the relation between mnemonic discrimination abilities and trait anxiety. The current study aimed to elucidate the nascent research on mnemonic discrimination and anxiety by evaluating the MST in a specific subtype of anxiety (i.e., social anxiety) and utilizing a clinically relevant stressor task (i.e., knowledge of a future speech). Participants (N = …

The Role Of Flavors In Electronic Cigarette Abuse Liability In Tobacco-Naïve Young Adults, Ilana Haliwa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A primary public health concern associated with the use of electronic cigarettes (ECIGS) has been the risk of product initiation by vulnerable young adults who are largely naïve to tobacco. The use of ECIGs among such individuals may be influenced by the wide variety of sweet flavored liquids available for purchase. Previous work suggests that one flavor, menthol, increases the likelihood of abuse of cigarettes. Thus, the United States Food and Drug Administration has requested input from the research community regarding the abuse liability of flavored ECIGs in order to inform future product regulation. Using a double-blind, within-subject study design, …

"Yo, I Like Your Walk-Up Song": Music Integration In Professional Baseball Gamedays, Seth Swary

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

During competition, athletes are consistently regulating their own emotions (Friesen et al., 2013a) and the emotions of their teammates (Tamminen et al., 2016). Athletes have identified music as a strategy used for both intrapersonal (Lane, Davis, & Devonport, 2011) and interpersonal emotion regulation (Friesen et al., 2015), while also using music for association/dissociation, enhancing performance, facilitating flow, and improving their qualitative experiences (Gabana et al., 2019). Though theories have been proposed on athletes’ individual (Bishop, Karageorghis, & Loizou, 2007) and group music use (Karageorghis et al., 2018), they are yet to be widely applied to other sports. Further examination is …

Asthma-Copd Overlap: Economic Burden And Medication Adherence, Mona Nili

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In many older adults, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) coexist as “Asthma-COPD overlap” (ACO). This dissertation pursued three Aims: 1) estimate the economic burden of ACO and its contributory factors; 2) evaluate the association of ACO to “cost-related medication nonadherence” (CRN); and 3) identify adherence trajectory patterns and examine the impact of initial maintenance therapies (IMT) type (inhaled corticosteroids monotherapy (ICS) vs. fixed-dose combination of ICS and long-acting beta agonist (ICS/LABA)) on adherence trajectory patterns among older adults Medicare Beneficiaries. The first and second Aims were cross-sectional studies by using Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data. For the third …