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The Dream Act And Daca: A History Of Immigrant Children, Sofia Paschero

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis writes the history of the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM ACT) and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Chapter One gives a background history on immigration reforms in the 20th century. Chapter Two focuses on the history of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM Act). Chapter Three is the immigrant children story. This chapter is an oral history. My main argument is immigrants have always been and still are, easy targets. Politicians create immigrants as scapegoats in order to avoid the social, political, cultural, and economic issues that are affecting people …

The Perceived Utility Of Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing Marketed For Athletic Ability, Katherine L. Zimmerman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Factors that influence the public’s interest in pursuing genetic testing to determine athletic ability are not yet known. The purpose of this study is to compare interest in genetic testing marketed for athletic ability and susceptibility to sports-related injuries among athletes and the general public. Additionally, this study aims to determine if genetic determinism, knowledge and elements of perceived utility influence their overall intention to use the results of such genetic testing. Participants were recruited through social media platforms to complete an online survey measuring their intention to pursue testing under various circumstances, intention to use the results to change …

“Just Joking”: Women’S Cardiovascular Responses To Sexist Humor, Samantha Shepard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ambiguity inherent to humorous communication may make women minimize experiences of sexist jokes, which may have downstream emotional and motivational consequences. The present thesis study tested whether the manner in which sexism is communicated, as a statement or joke, would reflect the motivational intensity model in cardiovascular responses during a performance-based task. Additionally, the present studies tested whether blatant and humorous sexism differentially affects emotional responses, evaluations of a male speaker, reporting of sexist misconduct, and ingroup identification. Using an online chat paradigm, participants were randomly assigned to receive one of three messages: a sexist joke, blatantly sexist statement, …

Evaluating Video Modeling To Teach A Block Schedule Trial-Based Functional Analysis, Alyssa N. Zak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Functional analyses (FAs) are considered the gold standard for determining the function of behavior. However, behavior analysts have cited several perceived barriers that hinder the use of FAs, particularly a lack of time, dedicated space, and trained staff to conduct the analysis. Analyses such as the trial-based FA have been adapted from the traditional session-based FA in order to overcome some of these barriers. The block schedule trial-based FA (Gonzalez, 2018) has had one of the highest correspondence rates between the trial-based and the session-based FA to date. Research from past studies suggest that video modeling is an effective way …

Preference For Social Stimuli: A Comparison Of Stimulus Modes Used In Preference Assessments, Shannon Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social stimuli are some of the most commonly used reinforcers in clinical programming(Graff & Karsten, 2012) and previous research shows that preference for social stimuli can be identified using variations of a paired stimulus preference assessment (PSPA; Fisher et al., 1992). Previous studies evaluating preference for social stimuli have employed video stimuli (Wolfe et al., 2018), pictures of the actual social stimuli (Kelly et al., 2014), and pictures of arbitrary shapes (Morris & Vollmer, 2019). To date, no study has evaluated the correspondence in preference for social stimuli across these three stimulus modes. Therefore, the purposes of this study were …

Evaluating Behavioral Skills Training To Increase The Use Of Verbal Feedback With Personal Trainers, Towanda Beck

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated behavioral skills training (BST) to improve feedback skills of personal trainers. We used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of BST for teaching personal trainers to provide positive and corrective feedback to their clients during various exercises within a private gym setting. In addition, we conducted observer absent observations in baseline and intervention to see if increases in the behavior occurred when the researcher was not present. Results indicated that BST was successful for both participants. Future studies should evaluate BST as a training method for personal trainers and assess its effectiveness across …

An Evaluation Of Video Modeling And Video Modeling With Video Feedback To Enhance The Performance Of Competitive Soccer Goalkeepers, Alexandra Martina Capalbo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Several studies have evaluated the effects of consequent and antecedent procedures on athletic performance, including video modeling plus video feedback (VM+VF) as a treatment package. Although the effects of the VF consequent component have been well researched, relatively scant literature exists assessing the effectiveness of the VM component as an antecedent strategy. Additionally, these interventions have not been studied to improve goalkeeping skills of soccer players. Therefore, this study used a multiple baseline across behaviors to compare the effects of VM to the VM+VF to train goalkeeper skills to soccer players. Task analyses were established for three goal keeping skills …

Evaluating The Use Of Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Substitute Caregivers To Identify Hazards, Carlos Abarca

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The leading cause of death for children across the world is unintentional injuries (UNICEF 2001). Hazards such as accessible pools, poisons, and small ingestible items are the leading causes of unintentional injuries. Behavioral interventions such as Project 12-Ways/Safe Care have been used to teach parents how to be proactive in structuring a home free of accessible hazards by teaching the parents to identify and remove hazards in their home. Though the Project 12-Ways/Safe Care model has over 30 years of literature supporting its efficacy, the model has not been tested with substitute caregivers who often play a critical role in …

Americans’ Familiarity, Interest, And Actions With Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing, Riley L. Carroll

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: In 2013, 36% of the U.S. public was aware of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) genetic tests, but updated studies are needed to identify whether this has changed over time. Objective: The aims are to determine current awareness and utilization of DTC tests and to identify demographic factors that influence testing uptake. Methods: An online panel survey of 543 U.S. adults was conducted using age- and sex-based quotas. Descriptive statistics and binary regression identified factors associated with undergoing DTC testing and linear regression was conducted to identify factors associated with likelihood of using DTC testing for athletic ability to …

Promoting Hpv Vaccination With Vaccine-Hesitant Parents Using Social Media: A Formative Research Mixed-Method Study, Silvia Sommariva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vaccine hesitancy, the refusal or delay in complying with set immunization schedules, has been proclaimed one of the “ten threats to global health” by the World Health Organization in 2019. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced the importance of vaccine promotion and management of vaccine hesitancy. While anti-vaccine arguments have not surprisingly evolved much over the past decades, the speed at which those ideas spread has. Web-based technologies, such as social network sites (SNSs), provide a fertile ground for vaccine-related misinformation to spread. Therefore, SNSs are a primary channel to scale efforts to address vaccine hesitancy, using customized approaches. …

Evaluation Of A Spanish-Language Educational Tool For Inherited Cancer, Stefania Alastre

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A web-based educational tool designed to cover pre-test genetic counseling elements for multi-gene hereditary cancer panel testing increased knowledge and decisional empowerment among an English-speaking cohort actively seeking information about genetic testing. The purpose of this study was to pilot a Spanish-language version of this tool using a pre- post- survey design to assess for changes in knowledge and informed decision making about genetic testing and obtain additional feedback using semi-structured interviews. Spanish-speaking individuals were recruited online. Although several participants expressed that the tool was informative, interesting, and that they liked it, time stamps for the post-survey suggested that most …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Peer-Implemented Video Feedback On Improving Weightlifting Form, Emma Kathleen Cochrane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the effectiveness of behavioral skills training (BST) in teaching peer-trainers to implement video feedback (Study 1). This study also evaluated the effectiveness of peer-implemented video feedback to improve the form of the deadlift movement (Study 2). Peer-implemented video feedback was used to improve the performance of the deadlift across participants. A non-concurrent, multiple baseline across participants design was employed for all participants in Study 1 and Study 2. The results show that BST was effective at teaching peer-trainers to implement video feedback. Peer-implemented video feedback was effective at improvement the form of the deadlift across all participants.Keywords: …

Assessing The Validity Of The Automatic Reinforcement Screening Assessment, Taylin Rhey Byerly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stereotypy is commonly observed in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). (Bodfish et al., 2000; Koegel & Covert, 1972) and vocal stereotypy has been found to impede skill acquisition and be socially stigmatizing (Gibbs et al., 2018; Liu-Gitz, & Banda, 2010;). Although vocal stereotypy is often maintained by automatic reinforcement (Ahearn et al., 2007), until recent years it was common practice to conduct a functional analysis consisting of multiple test conditions and at least one control condition (e.g., Iwata et al., 1982/1994) to identify its function. However, research suggests that a screening assessment (Querim et al., 2013) may be an …

Using A Peer-Mediated Bullying Safety Skills Intervention For Children With Disabilities, Jennifer Leigh Trapani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As bullying continues to be a growing problem in schools, research is needed to further evaluate the effectiveness of current bullying prevention and intervention programs for children with disabilities. The peer-mediated intervention (PMI) is an evidence-based practice that has been successful in teaching social skills to children with disabilities. PMI literature can be extended by exploring and evaluating its effectiveness in teaching bullying safety skills to children with disabilities. The current study examined the use of PMI to teach children with disabilities bullying safety skills with four students (2 peers and 2 learners) in grades kindergarten and third grade. Typically …

Review Of The Use Of Differential Reinforcement In Skill Acquisition, Hannah E. Efaw

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper was to review and synthesize the literature investigating the impact of differential reinforcement on skill acquisition. Specifically, the aim of this review was to determine the most efficient differential reinforcement arrangement for skill acquisition in individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Researchers synthesized the results of 12 articles with the following categories: (a) participant characteristics (i.e.,, age, sex, diagnosis, verbal repertoire, communication modality, receptive and imitation skills, prompt dependency), (b) target behavior information (i.e., target behavior, measurement system), (c) pre-evaluation assessments (i.e., preference assessments, reinforcer assessments, magnitude edible and size assessments), (d) teaching procedures (i.e., …

Face Mask Use To Protect Against Covid-19; Importance Of Substrate, Fit, And User Tendencies, Evelyn Kassel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2019, a novel respiratory illness appeared in China and spread rapidly though the country. It was determined that the SARS–CoV-2 virus was the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of 2020, almost every continent was experiencing the effects of COVID-19. The virus caused health officials difficulty in determining its route of transmission. They worked tirelessly to discover it was spread via respiratory droplets. Panicked buyers wiped out protective equipment like medical masks and respirators, regardless of what was needed. Essential employees and first responders were subject to large scale personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages as health organizations …

Nest Site Choice As A Potential Climate Response In The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus), A Threatened Species, Meghan Craft

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate warming is expected to continue in coming decades, posing a threat to species worldwide. While some species may be able to shift their ranges in the pursuit of cooler temperatures, a large portion of species may have to find ways to adapt to warmer conditions in situ. Oviparous reptiles may be able to buffer against rising temperatures by altering nest site choice. In this study, I quantified nest site choice and its thermal consequences in a population of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) in southwestern Florida. I found marked variation in the openness of selected nest sites, …

Does Time-Weighted Averaging For Wbgt And Metabolic Rate Work For Work-Recovery Cycles?, John W. Flach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress affects thousands of works annually by causing heat-related illnesses. Wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) is a widely accepted metric to assess the environmental contributions to heat stress. WBGT-based occupational exposure limits (OELs) include the ACGIH TLVs and the NIOSH RELs. The OEL threshold is adjusted downward with increasing metabolic rate. Further, there is an OEL for acclimatized and non-acclimatized workers. An often-recommended intervention found within a heat stress management program is work-recovery cycles to manage exposure. To prescribe work-recovery cycles, the common practice is to use time-weighted averaging (TWA) for the WBGT and the metabolic rate. The purpose …

Tourism, Education, And Identity Making: Agency And Representation Of Indigenous Communities In Public Sites Within Florida., Timothy R. Lomberk Ii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

National parks have a history of complex relations with Native communities beginning with the advent of the National Park Service to representation of Native histories in the present. I will focus on two specific cases located within Florida, utilizing the lens of authorized heritage to show challenges of representation; and the range of ways that representation has been addressed and are currently being addressed with respect to Native communities in Florida. I utilize ethnohistorical and ethnographic methods to explore issues of representation in public spaces; such as museums and national parks. I am interested in critical representations of Native American …

This Is It: Latina/X Representation On One Day At A Time, Camille Ruiz Mangual

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the tensions between contemporary Latina/x representations and problematic tropes in the sitcom, One Day at a Time (2017-2020) [ODAAT]. ODAAT centers of Elena, Penelope, and Lydia, three generations of a Latina/x family. Many entertainment reviewers and fans praised the series for its progressive and nuanced portrayals of Latina/x characters. However, I argue that while ODAAT depicts Latina/x characters that transcend some United States mainstream media tropes about Latinas/xs, the series also relies on conventional markers of Latina/x identity as tools with which to communicate progressive messages around identity. I expand upon scholarship in Latina/o media …

¿De Dónde Eres?: Negotiating Identity As Third Culture Kids, Sophia Margulies

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sparked by David C. Pollock's (1988) concept of "third culture kids" (children of government officials and military personnel), this thesis uses autoethnography to examine "white-passing" Latinx identity and gender passing as it relates to individuals who identify as transgender to understand what it means to "pass" within these communication contexts. I situate the study at the intersections of queer, trans, and Latinx theories. Ultimately, I argue that the communicative and identity practices inherent to the liminal spaces in which third culture kids perform create the conditions for performances as transnational subjects. What the contexts of place and home are like, …

Assessing Prompting And Prompt-Fading Strategies In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Ashley L. Frankenfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, and deficits in social and communication skills. In order to help a person with ASD improve their communication skills, behavior analysts should place emphasis on teaching intraverbal skills. Each person has a unique learner history, meaning that different prompts and prompt-fading techniques will result in the most accurate and efficient mastery of intraverbal skills for different people. Assessments were used to identify each participant’s most efficient combination of prompt and prompt-fading procedures in order to maximize one’s potential for learning new skills. Participants’ most efficient prompt/prompt-fading combinations resulted in …

Glutathione-S-Transferase Mu 1 (Gstm1) Gene Augmentation Attenuated Oxidative Stress Induced Changes In Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells (Rpe), Riddhi Sandeep Vichare

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Loss of Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells and photoreceptors leads to Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly worldwide. Oxidative stress-mediated damage is one of the factors that impair the survival of RPE and photoreceptors in dry-AMD. We sought to determine the role of human Glutathione S-Transferase Mu-1 (GSTM1) in protecting RPE cells from oxidative stress-induced changes.

Method: We cloned human GSTM1 cDNA with P2A tag into a lenti-plasmid vector and later made a lentivector to express GSTM1. After that, we infected human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19), screened stable ARPE-19 cells …

A Systems Approach For Improving The Performance Of Rural Community-Managed Water Systems Using Siasar: Case Studies In Bolivia And Colombia, Rachel A. Cannon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Globally, the focus of environmental engineers and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) professionals in the rural water sector has shifted from building new technology to ensuring long-term functionality of water systems and closing the access gap between urban and rural residents. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the main challenges to ensuring clean water for all rural residents is poor service delivery quality and limited sustainability over time. A common management strategy in the region, and globally, is community-management, where community members manage, operate, and maintain the water system through cost sharing and financial management. The failure of community-managed water …

Exploring The Use Of Neural Transformers For Psycholinguistics, Antonio Laverghetta Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deep learning has the potential to help solve numerous problems in cognitive science andeducation, by providing us a way to model the cognitive profiles of individual people. If this were possible, it would allow us to design targeted tests and suggest specific remediation based on each individual’s needs. On the flip side, employing techniques from psychology can give us insight into the underlying skillsets neural networks have acquired during training, addressing the interpretability concern. This thesis explores these ideas in the context of transformer language models, which have achieved state-of-the-art results on virtually every natural language processing (NLP) task. First, …

Evaluating The Use Of Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Assertiveness Skills To College Students, Kayla Rogover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on assertiveness skills has mostly involved the use of self-report measures. However, self-report has been noted to be highly inaccurate (Bernard et al., 1984). Only one unpublished study has explored a behavioral analytic perspective of assertiveness demonstrating behavioral skills training (BST) to be effective in teaching assertiveness skills. Thus, this study evaluated the effectiveness of BST to teach assertiveness skills to college students and whether the skills would generalize to novel therapist. Results of the study suggest BST was effective for teaching assertiveness skills to college students, the skills generalized to a novel therapist, and maintained at follow-up.

Limited Point Of Care Ultrasound Clinical Decision Support Model For Work-Related Injuries Of The Shoulder Utilizing Bayesian Network, Gwen Marie Ayers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive retrospective cohort study utilized a large Workers Compensation insurance database. Included in this study were 481 shoulder MRI's performed during calendar year 2017 that were (a) at least 2 weeks after the initial clinic visit, or (b) greater than 6 weeks after injury, but (c) not more than 3 months after the date of injury. Of the 481 cases, 432 were used to evaluate potential associations between the measured variables and generate a Bayesian network prediction model where only a few variables were required to accurately guide clinical decision making for rotator cuff and biceps tendon injuries. The …

The Relationship Between New Graduate Registered Nurse Knowledge, Experiences, Attitudes, And Age Bias Toward The Older Adult, Michelle Fox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There had been a lack of research on the relationship between a new graduate Registered Nurses’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and age bias toward older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a relationship between new graduate Registered Nurses’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and age bias toward older adults.

The researcher used correlational, non-experimental, quantitative design for this study. The instruments used in this study were the Facts on Aging Quiz, the Kogan Attitude Toward Old People scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the demographic data and correlation coefficients were used to …

The General Psychopathology Factor (P) From Adolescence To Adulthood: Disentangling The Developmental Trajectories Of P Using A Multi-Method Approach, Alexandria M. Choate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considerable attention is directed towards studying co-occurring psychopathology through the lens of a general factor (p-factor). However, the developmental trajectories and stability of the p-factor have yet to be fully understood. Study 1 first examined the explanatory power of dynamic mutualism theory — an alternative framework positing the p-factor to be a product of lower-level symptom interactions rather than the inherent cause of them. Predictions of dynamic mutualism were tested using three distinct statistical approaches including: longitudinal bifactor models, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), and network models. Next, given prior suggestions that borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be a marker …

The Differential Effects Of Navigational Aids On Adults With Intellectual Disabilities, Virginia Morash-Macneil

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the differential effects of a GPS based navigational app displayed on a smartwatch and a paper map on the ability of individuals with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) to independently navigate unfamiliar walking routes. A single case alternating treatment design was used to compare the effectiveness of these navigation supports on independent pedestrian navigation. Five adults ranging in age from 26 to 45 with mild to moderate ID participated in the study. Visual analysis and the comparison of means between treatments indicate an increase in performance during the app treatment phase for all participants. Overall, all …