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Influence Of Temporary Inactivation Of The Prefrontal Cortex Or Hippocampus During Stress On The Subsequent Expression Of Anxiety And Memory, Joshua D. Halonen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The neural pathways underlying the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have not been fully elucidated. Intrusive memories, persistent anxiety and other cognitive deficits have been attributed to maladaptive or otherwise aberrant processing in specific brain regions, including the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Our laboratory has developed an animal model of PTSD which results in the enhancement of memory for a place associated with exposure to a predator, anxiety-like behavior, increased startle and impaired memory in a non-aversive memory task. To better understand how the interaction of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex contribute to the different symptoms of …

Development And Validation Of A Web-Based Module To Teach Metacognitive Learning Strategies To Students In Higher Education, Oma B. Singh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used a design based-research (DBR) methodology to examine how an Instructional Systematic Design (ISD) process such as ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation) can be employed to develop a web-based module to teach metacognitive learning strategies to students in higher education. The goal of the study was twofold: (a) to examine the use of a systematic ISD process, ADDIE, to develop a web-based module that would be considered valid and effective, and (b) to use the design-based research (DBR) methodology to create relevant outcomes for practitioners in the field of IT while adding to the body of IT …

Teacher Self-Efficacy And The Civic Knowledge Of Secondary Social Studies Teachers In A Large Urban School District: A Policy Study, Dennis Holt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This policy study contributed to an understanding of the types of professional growth activities that improve teacher self-confidence to teach challenging subjects and helped determine the future allocation of resources relative to teaching secondary social studies in Hillsborough County Public Schools (HCPS), the eighth largest school district in the United States. An important implication and result of this study consisted of a change in HCPS secondary social studies professional development policy from an emphasis on promoting literacy strategies, or reading in the content area, to a focus on improving social studies teacher content knowledge. Additionally, the study describes the culture …

Adiposity, Stress, And Stigmatization: A Biopsychosocial Approach To Cardiovascular Disease Prediction, Kristi E. White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to use a biopsychosocial approach to investigate the role of body image concerns and appearance-related evaluation stress in the relationship between adiposity and cardiovascular reactivity and recovery. Participants included 106 Caucasian female undergraduates at the University of South Florida. The laboratory procedure consisted of resting baseline, speech preparation and delivery, and recovery phases. Participants also completed a variety of body image questionnaires. To manipulate appearance-related evaluation stress, participants were randomly assigned to present their speech to a video camera or an audio recorder. Overall adiposity was measured as body mass index (BMI) and …

Prevalence Of Client Violence Against Social Work Students And Its Effects On Fear Of Future Violence, Occupational Commitment, And Career Withdrawal Intentions, Pamela Myatt Criss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social work literature has documented that social workers may be the victims of client violence. However, to date, no studies have documented the nationwide prevalence of client violence towards social work students. This study examined direct and indirect incidents of physical assault, threats of physical harm, verbal abuse, threats of lawsuit, and property damage. The randomly selected national sample of social work students were selected from the National Association of Social Workers (N = 595).

Findings revealed that 41.7% of social work students directly experienced client violence during their practicum. The highest rate of the violence reported by students was …

The Daily Show: Journalism’S Jester, Mark R. Mccarthy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The social meaning of television news has been under transformation since the successes of cable news in the final years of the previous century. In their attempts to preserve viewership and to remain relevant, traditional broadcast news outlets increasingly emulate the conventions of cable news. Instead of retaining audiences, the result has been declining news content and a continued loss of viewers. Amid these industry transformations, the concept of “journalist” continues to undergo change. This evolution of the news allows for a decidedly unique response to news programming in The Daily Show With Jon Stewart. Though advertised as a half-hour …

Examining A Multidimensional Model Of Attitudinal Commitment, Kyle W. Groff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Attitudinal commitment (AOC) to the organization is consistently viewed as the most desirable form of organizational commitment due to its consistently positive relationship with many desirable workplace outcomes. Though researchers tend to overlap considerably with their definitions of attitudinal commitment, consensus on how to define and operationalize this form of organizational commitment has yet to be reached. Recently, Jaussi (2007) proposed a multidimensional model of AOC that borrows from the various conceptualizations of AOC in an attempt to form an all encompassing scale. The current study examined the utility of using a multidimensional measure of AOC by examining the unique …

Correlates Of Body Depilation In Men, Michael Boroughs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Body depilation is a relatively new area of research inquiry. Although women in many industrialized cultures have engaged in body depilation for some time, this behavior has been documented only recently in men. While originally thought to be the practice of just a small percentage of men, recent studies suggest that more men engage in body depilation than had been previously hypothesized (Boroughs & Thompson, 2002; Boroughs, Cafri, & Thompson, 2005; Martins, Tiggemann, & Churchett, 2008; Tiggemann, Martins, & Churchett, 2008). Nevertheless, this area of research is understudied and the relationship between body depilation and men's overall body image is …

Exploring The Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse And Borderline Personality Features Using Social Support As A Moderating Factor, Meredith B. Elzy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between childhood maltreatment and Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a prominent issue in the etiological research on BPD. This study further explored the relationship between CSA and the development of borderline personality features while evaluating the moderating role of a primary social support source. The Inventory of Altered Self-Capacities (IASC) (Briere, 2000) was used to measure borderline features of participants in this study, a slightly modified version of the Early Sexual Experiences (ESE) questionnaire (Bartoi & Kinder, 1998) was used to evaluate childhood sexual abuse, and the Quality of Relationships Inventory (Pierce, Sarason, & Sarason, 1991) as well …

Emergency Department Capacity Planning For A Pandemic Scenario: Nurse Allocation, Florentino Antonio Rico

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The problem considered in this research is the efficient allocation of resources in an emergency department during a large flow of patient consequent to a pandemic influenza breakout. Predicting the impact of a Pandemic Influenza is very complex due to the many unknown variables that may play a role to how severe a pandemic can be. Scenario planning is considered in this research to forecast different potential outcomes and help decision makers better understand the role of uncertainties and become prepared to make important decisions. The goal is to first create a forecast model to estimate the patient demand during …

Loyalty Of Online Faculty: A Work Design Perspective Of The Impact Of A Telecommuting Work Environment On Employee Loyalty, Kenneth N. Pereira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT This study empirically evaluates the theoretical impact of a telecommuting or online work environment on employee loyalty. While the concept of employee loyalty has been extensively researched, the concept of the impact of the work environment on employee loyalty is fairly new. Specifically, this study operationally defines the work environment characteristics that contribute to employee loyalty and examines the impact of the online or telecommuting work environment on employee loyalty. A survey instrument is utilized to collect perceptual data about the psychological components of the work environment and their impact on employee loyalty from the employee's perspective. Multiple linear …

The Influence Of Parental Support On Antisocial Behavior Among Sixth Through Eleventh Graders, José Ordóñez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of this study was to explore the influence of parental support on antisocial behavior among 1514 adolescents from Sarasota County (Florida). An integrated multilevel approach was developed considering elements of the social support paradigm and social learning theory. Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), the results suggest that both paternal and maternal support were significant factors in the prevention of antisocial behavior. However, paternal support demonstrated to be stronger when students justified school misbehavior. At the school level, the findings suggest that the influence of parental support to reduce antisocial behavior competes with favorable definitions toward crime learned …

Behavioral Skills Training With Teachers: Maintenance And Booster Training, Israel B. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral skills training (BST) has been employed within many different populations to effect change in the way of reduction or acquisition of behaviors. For this study, a multiple-baseline across participants and modified ABAB design were employed. Analogue assessments and in-situ probes were conducted with three teachers following an initial training which occurred several months previously. These pre-assessments were followed by a separate booster training session for each individual teacher which lasted three and a half hours or less. Following the training, analogue and in-situ post assessments were conducted with each teacher. The independent variable was the booster training and the …

Caregivers Of Adults With Intellectual Disabilities: The Relationship Of Compound Caregiving And Reciprocity To Quality Of Life, Elizabeth A. Perkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between compound caregiving (i.e. multiple caregiving roles), and reciprocity to the wellbeing of older caregivers of adult children with intellectual disabilities. The study sample was composed of 91 caregivers with a mean age of 60 years. Participants were a convenience sample of caregivers predominantly residing in Florida. Care recipients' mean age was 29 years. Thirty-four were currently compound caregivers. Quality of life indicators used as outcome measures in this dissertation were life satisfaction, depressive symptomatology, physical health, mental health, and desire for alternative residential placement of the care recipient. Compared with the non-compound caregivers, the …

Finding Confucianism In Scientology: A Comparative Analysis, John Albert Kieffer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scientology holds considerable interest for scholars of new religious movements. As such, this study aims to contribute new data and insight to ongoing theoretical work within this area of religious studies scholarship. Engaged in this inquiry are the similarities between Scientology, the new religious movement founded in 1951 by L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), and the Chinese religion, Confucianism, which originates with the teachings of Confucius (551-479 BCE). Though Hubbard admits being influenced by eastern thinking such as Buddhism and Daoism in shaping his worldview, he specifically discounts Confucius as relevant in this regard. However, through comparisons between Scientology and Confucianism, …

Intervention In Painting By Marlene Dumas With Titles Of Engagement: Ryman's Brides, Reinhardt's Daughter And Stern, Susan King Klinkenberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Marlene Dumas is known for her portraits and figurative paintings and drawings. This study focuses on three paintings by Dumas that reference male icons of art: Stern (2004), Ryman's Brides (1997), and Reinhardt's Daughter (1994). In referencing Ad Reinhardt, Robert Ryman and in the case of Stern, Gerhard Richter, Dumas engages with each artist and the history of painting in specific ways. As this thesis title indicates, I argue that Dumas uses artistic allusion pervasively throughout her oeuvre to conduct an intervention in painting. I propose that this interposition is a way to navigate and question the canon, while strengthening …

Shadows Fall On Main Street: Film Noir Travels Out Of The City, Anthony Laporte

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

After World War II, film audiences of American crime dramas, later termed film noirs, witnessed the relocation of several film narratives to settings outside of the traditional urban environment. These films began to defy the conventional notion that crime only exists in densely populated cities and began to incorporate alternative spaces, like suburban communities, small towns, and the open road, to tell their stories. This thesis examines how social and geographical spaces contribute to, rather than oppose, a noir sensibility by employing an intertextual analysis of three film noirs set in locations out of the city: Fallen Angel, The Stranger, …

Afro-Colombian Welfare: An Application Of Amartya Sen’S Capability Approach Using Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes Modeling – Mimic, Paula Lezama

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research analyzes welfare conditions of Afro-Colombians vis-à-vis non Afro-Colombians using Amartya Sen's Capability Approach as the theoretical framework, and the latent variable modeling as the empirical method. Multiple Indicators Multiple Causes (MIMIC) models are estimated using data from the Colombian Quality of Life Survey, 2003. Two latent constructs, namely, 'knowledge' and 'being adequately sheltered', represent the two 'Capability' dimensions to be analyzed. Ethnic background appears to have a consistently negative influence after controlling statistically by a set of relevant variables (e.g. being poor, area, marital status, age and gender, among others) included in the models as exogenous "causes" or …

Initial Identity Level And Cooperation In Face-To-Face And Computer-Mediated Contexts, Matthew C. Lineberry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Organizations today are increasingly encouraging employees to engage in pro-social behaviors at work, though this effort may be hindered by the increasing reliance on computers to mediate workplace interpersonal interactions. While much research has been directed at computer-mediated teams performing highly interdependent tasks, there is a need to examine the effect of computer mediation on individual vs. collective identification and cooperation for employees in less overtly interdependent tasks. This study examined the role of group members' conscious and non-conscious identity level in the relationship between physical context and cooperation with a work group. 50 groups of 4 participants each worked …

Maternal Knowledge, Attitudes And Practices And Health Outcomes Of Their Preschool-Age Children In Urban And Rural Karnataka, India, Angela Lloyd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This cross-sectional, community-based study was designed to compare the health outcomes of 2 - 5 year-old children in different types of preschools. The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS), run by the government of India, created a system of preschools, called anganwadis, to combat malnutrition, provide health education for mothers, and preschool for children 2 - 6 years old in 1975. Many children attend their local anganwadis, while others attend private schools, and others do not attend school at all. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to interview 125 urban and 130 rural mothers regarding their knowledge, attitudes, and practices about acute …

Character Strengths And Virtues Of Young Internationally Adopted Chinese Children: A Longitudinal Study From Preschool To School Age, Troy Loker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Shifting from traditional deficit-based psychological research, the current study aimed to broaden the understanding of post-adoption development through a strength-based approach and further explore the recently developed Values in Action (VIA) Classification of Character Strengths among a particularly resilient population of young children-internationally adopted Chinese children. Archival longitudinal data of parents' descriptions about their adopted Chinese children's positive characteristics were analyzed from two time points two years apart. Data on 179 children ages 4 - 5 years old (M = 59.67 months SD = 6.60 months) in Time 1 from 172 families were analyzed with content analysis coding procedures.

Overall, …

Multiple Approaches To The Validation Of The Scores From The Study Anxiety Inventory, George Douglas Lunsford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Study Anxiety Inventory (SAI), consisting of the factors of worry and emotionality, was developed to measure college students' self-reported levels of anxiety while studying for an exam. Data from 2002 undergraduate students from four colleges (Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Business, and Education) at a southeastern state university were used to evaluate the validity of the scores from the 16-item Study Anxiety Inventory. Results of confirmatory factor analyses for the two factor model, conducted separately for each college, indicated marginally acceptable fit for the data (median fit measures across the four colleges: CFI =.915, SRMR=.049, RMSEA=.098), a pattern that was …

Photography’S Creative Influence On Lewis Carroll’S Alice’S Adventures In Wonderland And Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There, Bridget Mahoney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lewis Carroll's novels Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There share many characteristics with the author's photographs. Both Carroll's portraits and literature utilize dreamlike imagery to move beyond the present time and space into a dream world. The similar imagery demonstrates an important creative link between Carroll's novels and photographs. The creation of Carroll's masterpiece, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, creatively depended on the photographic images Carroll produced. Utilizing the four step process of creativity generally accepted by psychologists, Carroll's photographs are …

Using Staff Management Procedures To Improve Staff Adherence With A Toileting Program At An Intermediate Care Facility For Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Paula A. Matos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate feedback systems for improving staff adherence to a toileting program at an intermediate care facility for individuals with developmental disabilities. The facility uses interoffice memos in order to provide their staff with feedback. Following baseline, we evaluated the effectiveness of the memo (B), memo plus in-service (C), and memo plus feedback (D) in an ABCDBD reversal design across 4 residences. The results showed that memo plus feedback was the most effective intervention.

“Desirable Images”: Sexual Mapping In William S. Burroughs’S Naked Lunch And Samuel R. Delany’S Dhalgren, Patrick Mcgowan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In "Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism," Fredric Jameson describes the disappearance, within postmodernism, of an objective framework for mapping the social totality. In order to illustrate this concept, Jameson draws upon the ideas of urban planner Kevin Lynch as formulated in his seminal work, The Image of the City. For Lynch, the design of the postwar alienated city results in varying and fragmentary "cognitive maps" used by its inhabitants to negotiate urban space, a problem that can be rectified by "good" urban planning, which aims to create mappable public space through the implementation of external orientation markers. …

A Phenomenological Study Of Nursing Faculty’S Experiences In Transitioning From A Classroom To An Online Teaching Role, Denise A. Passmore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As universities increasingly offer online nursing education, the transition that faculty members must make to their new instructional role is often overlooked. This phenomenological qualitative research involved the use of semi-structured interviews with 16 nursing faculty from four Florida public universities, who were asked to describe their experiences transitioning from classroom to online teaching. Interview questions focused on their prior assumptions about online education, their preparation for online teaching, their current teaching methods, and the identification of information they would recommend as vital for successful online teaching. Participants were voluntary and selected by both criterion and network sampling. Interviews were …

Exploring Efficient Design Approaches For Display Of Multidimensional Data To Facilitate Interpretation Of Information, Chitra S. Pathiavadi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prescriptions for effective display of quantitative information involving more than two variables are not available. To explore the effectiveness of retinal variables in facilitating the interpretation of information and decision making when used in conjunction, a study with 135 participants was conducted. The study involved the use of color shape, color value, and value shape as retinal variables in interactive displays that required participants to answer nine questions in three levels of complexity (identification of data points, analyses of local comparisons and global trends). Time-on-task scores and performance scores were measured. In addition, a View Clamp eye tracker system was …

The Concept Of Action And Responsibility In Heidegger’S Early Thought, Christian Hans Pedersen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In his early thought (which for our purposes will be considered to be roughly the time period from his first post World War I lecture course in 1919 to the publication of Being and Time in 1927), Heidegger offers a rich description of our practical engagement with the world. The aim of this project is to develop a Heideggerian conception of action from these early, concrete descriptions of the practical dimension of human life. The central feature of this Heideggerian conception of action is that action is understood as involving interdependent aspects of passivity and activity (or receptivity and spontaneity, …

Prevalence And Influence On Quality Of Life Of Symptoms Caused By Inhaled Odors, Chemicals And Irritants: A Comparison Between Hispanics And Americans, Carmen Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Efforts to estimate the population prevalence of chemical sensitivities have been limited and have yielded different estimates of the prevalence of affected individuals. Researchers recognize that people differ in their biological susceptibility to environmental contaminants as well as the amount of contaminant to which they are potentially exposed. Lack of information on the population prevalence of people, who report sensitivity to a chemical or many chemicals, as well as variables associated, has been recognized in previous studies (Kreutzer et al., 1999). In a more recent report, Berg et al., in 2007 reported the prevalence and consequences related to inhalation of …

Mentorship Racial Composition And The Judgments Made By Individuals External To The Relationship, Laura F. Poteat

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how the racial composition of a mentoring relationship influences three types of judgments made by individuals external to the relationship: (1) causal attributions formed to explain successful protégé performance; (2) evaluations of protégé career advancement potential; and (3) reward recommendations for the mentor and protégé. Additionally, the associations among causal attributions, evaluations of potential, and reward recommendations were investigated. A 2 (protégé race: white vs. black) x 2 (mentor race: white vs. black) factorial between-subjects design was used. Mentor and protégé races were manipulated within a written vignette. After reading the vignette, …