Digital Commons Network^™

Emergent Readers' Joint Text Construction: A Descriptive Study Of Reading In Social Context, Mary Lee Prescott Griffin

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Boundedness, Global Stability, And Periodicity Of Some Difference Equations, Norman Ray Prokup

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Efficacy Of The Rhode Island Teen Dating Violence Prevention Program (Tdvpp): A Process And Outcome Approach To Determining The Success Of Both Primary And Secondary Prevention Projects, Amy Beth Silverman

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Whose Story Is It, Anyway, Janet L. Massa

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Induced Labor Intervention For Self-Efficacy: A Nursing Intervention For Women Prone To An Unpredictable Labor Pattern, Shelley Stone Bochain

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The New Global Worker In Organizations: Implications For International Management, Peruvemba S. Jaya

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Relationships Of Organizational Personality Variables With Worker Socio-Communicative Orientation, Communication Apprehension, Immediacy, And Job Satisfaction., Heather Teresa Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the organizational personality types of "upward mobile," "ambivalent," and "indifferent" with reference to their relationships with worker sociocommunicative orientation, communication apprehension, immediacy, and job satisfaction. The study examined self-report data from the measures of organizational personality scales, job satisfaction, communication apprehension, immediacy, and assertiveness/responsiveness. The study found that each of the three personality variables have unique relationships (some linear, some non-linear) with communication apprehension, immediacy, assertiveness, responsiveness, and job satisfaction.

Toward Improving The Paper Map: Exploring And Implementing Digital And Virtual Campus Maps For West Virginia University., Thomas Luke Ritz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research examines significant design and map development issues in development of digital and virtual campus maps for West Virginia University. The theoretical frameworks of traditional cartography and digital mapping technologies reveal the interconnections between the elements of good map design and the complexities of mapping in the digital environment. The development of the campus maps for this research are part of a project that represents a working agreement between West Virginia University and the West Virginia State GIS Technical Center. Background information on the campus map project is presented to place the project in context and to illustrate the …

A Model For A Fles Program In Morgantown, West Virginia., Isabel Cristina Cadavid-Munera

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There is an increasing interest in the development and implementation of foreign language programs in elementary school throughout the U.S. However, as some experts on the field of teaching foreign languages to children have pointed out, very often those programs are implemented without prior planning or thorough investigation. The present study was conducted in five schools in Morgantown, West Virginia, in order to determine the major strengths and weaknesses of the foreign language after school classes currently carried out at those schools. Questionnaires (to parents, classroom teachers, Spanish instructors, and site coordinators), class observations and interviews were the ethnographic techniques …

Dads Do Matter: Relationship Between Father-Child Interaction And Child Social Anxiety., Laurie Ann Greco

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

To date, research investigating parental influences contributing to the development of social anxiety has focused on maternal characteristics and the mother-child relationship. The role of fathers in the development of childhood-onset psychopathology has received relative inattention (e.g., Phares, 1996) and remains virtually unexplored within the realm of social anxiety. This study focused on identifying both maternal and paternal factors that may impact the development and maintenance of social anxiety experienced by school-aged children. Forty-eight (22 high socially anxious, 26 low socially anxious) children and their fathers completed self-report questionnaires, and father-child interactions during a ten-minute challenging task were conducted. Consistent …

Determining Behavior: A Study Of The Interaction Between Situation And Dispositional Factors., Brady Allen Reynolds

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The present studies examined the interactive relation between dispositional traits and contextual situations. They also tested a theoretical model that illustrates how dispositions and situations may interact to determine behavior. The first study was designed to identify personality traits “relevant” to specific situations. The second was designed to test the theoretical model. For the first study, participants read vignettes describing certain situations and a person described in the vignette as behaving in certain ways to the situations. Participants rated the personality of the person described in the vignette. For the second study, participants rated their own personalities, then read vignettes …

The Effects Of Acceptance Versus Control Contexts On Avoidance Of 7% Carbon Dioxide-Enriched Air In Highly Anxious Females., Michelle P. Heffner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Avoidance is a core problem among patients with panic and other anxiety disorders that is often targeted in treatment. The present study compared the effects of acceptance versus control therapeutic contexts on avoidance of an aversive interoceptive stimulus in a controlled laboratory setting. Previous research has demonstrated the ironic and paradoxical effects of control-oriented strategies. Therefore, it was hypothesized that acceptance strategies will be more useful in the reduction of avoidance. Sixty high-anxious females were exposed to carbon-dioxide enriched air, an anxiety analogue, and assigned to either a control-context, acceptance-context, or no instruction condition. The context of acceptance was explained …

Language Attitude Study: The Perceptions Of The New Jersey And The Southern West Virginia Students, At West Virginia University, Of The New Jersey And Southern West Virginia Dialects., Leigh Anne Scalise

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The language attitude study of the two dialect groups: New Jersey and southern West Virginia on the West Virginia University, encompasses the lexicon of each group and the breakdown of communication between the two groups. The differences in lexicon and societal stereotypes keep the two groups from interacting on a personal and equal level of respect and kindness. The West Virginia students foster a strong resentment towards the students from New Jersey, and the feelings are reciprocated in that the New Jersey students prefer to associate with students from their home state. The dialect study proves the members of each …

The Effect Of Providing Bedding Encasings On Adherence To Dust Mite Control Procedures In Pediatric Asthma Patients., Karen Elizabeth Joseph

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effect of providing allergen-control bedding encasings on encasing utilization for children with asthma and dust mite allergy. Twenty parents of such children were assigned to an intervention group, which received dust mite proof covers upon recruitment, or a control group, which did not. Two to three months after recruitment, parent report and observational measures were obtained during a home visit. The intervention group used the encasings, but not other dust mite control strategies, significantly more than the control group, based on parent report, not observation. Use of dust mite proof …

Culture-Specific Issues In Feminist Voices: A Comparative Study Of "The Bell Jar" And "Cronica Del Desamor"., Sonia Lagunas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis discusses the importance of the cultural elements within a literary text when an analysis of the text is accomplished. Two novels are analyzed in terms of their cultural setting: The Bell Jar , an American novel set in the 1950s written by Sylvia Plath, and Crónica del desamor , a Spanish novel set in the late 1970s, written by Rosa Montero. A cultural analysis of the novels appears necessary in order to develop a more comprehensive understanding of them. At the same time, a cultural analysis based on literary works is a valuable instrument in investigating the cultural …

Recent Paintings: Untitled., Naijun Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

My paintings explicitly convey the tension inherent in the current Chinese social construct. As a painter my career journeyed through the education of Communist system during the Cultural Revolution and Post-Mao era. I have also experienced a cultural rupture upon my subsequent study in the United States. For me, figurative imagery provides a fulcrum for meditations on a wide variety of social and political issues. Basically the human figure functions as a metaphoric vehicle that conveys political or social content through pictorial appropriation of photojournalism. My figure also represents inner states of being which often theatrically expands or reinvents accepted …

Stalking: Developing An Empirical Typology To Classify Stalkers., Kevin Scott Del Ben

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Stalking has received a great deal of attention from the media and its harmful effects on victims have been well documented. Stalking is also more common than previously thought, leading researchers to classify stalkers into groups in an attempt to predict future behavior. Previous research has grouped stalkers based on theoretical models rather than trying to empirically examine stalking behaviors along with other factors such as motivation, type of relationship, and attachment style in determining a typology of stalkers. Female college students (N = 108) who had experienced harassing behaviors responded to questions regarding their perceptions of those behaviors. First …

The Test Of Two Dual Processing Models., Vincent Patrick Maffeo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to investigate and uncover evidence that supports the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1979, 1981, 1984; Petty Cacioppo & Goldman, 1981) and the Heuristic Systematic Model (Chaiken, 1980, 1982, 1987: Chaiken & Eagly, 1983). The participants for this study were 77 undergraduates at a large northeastern university. Recall was measured a 3 stage manipulation of argument strength. While not statistically significant the means of the three groups appeared to be different.

Application Of Computer-Based Technology To The Teaching Of Writing In Spanish As A Foreign Language: A Case Study, Nuria Gago

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Computers are becoming more and more important in today's world. They are part of every sector of our society, including education. Most of the studies done so far on computer integration with educational purposes focus on the classification, and incorporation, from a theoretical point of view, of Computer Mediated Communication in the class. Unfortunately, very little empirical research has been done concerning the students' perspectives and reactions when introduced to the use of multimedia technology in the classroom. The present project was started in an effort to analyze and observer the reactions of a group of learners when exposed, in …

The Bible And The Liturgical Movement: Scripture As A Voice In The Church, Not A Book Faxed To It, Robert Farrar Capon

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

I want to begin by telling you my own personal connection with the liturgical movement. It happened way back when I was twenty-one years old and entered seminary in 1946. Those were the bad old days when you went through high school, college, seminary, ordination, and under after that. Actually, we are recognizing they were in some ways the good old days, too, because we got a lot of service out of some of those types who started early and who maybe even learned something along the way.

"The Whole Bible Painted In Our Houses": Visual Narrative And Religious Polemic In Early Lutheran Art, Samuel Torvend

Institute of Liturgical Studies Occasional Papers

(Excerpt)

In his discussion of the psychodynamics of orality, the Jesuit linguist and philosopher Walter Ong writes that ''the interiorizing force of the oral word relates in a special way to the sacral, to the ultimate concerns of existence. In most religions the spoken word functions integrally in ceremonial and devotional life ... In Christianity, for example, the Bible is read aloud at liturgical services. For God is thought of always as 'speaking' to human beings, not writing to them ... [Indeed] the Hebrew word dabar, which means word, means also event and thus refers directly to the spoken word …

The Effects On Extracurricular Participation Of Academic Achievement, Self Concept, And Locus Of Control Among High School Students., Scott Randolph Johnson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the effects on extracurricular participation (i.e., athletic participation) of academic achievement, self concept, and locus of control among high school students. Participants included six thousand six hundred ninety-eight (N = 6,698) high school students, from the National Education Longitudinal Study:1988 (NELS:88) First- and Second-Follow-Up data collection phases. These individuals participated in extracurricular activities during the tenth and/or twelfth grade. A binomial logistic regression model estimated the effects of: (1) gender; (2) socio-economic status (SES); (3) locus of control; (4) self concept; (5) school location; (6) school's region; (7) tenth grade participation level …

Labor Law And Industrial Peace: A Comparative Analysis Of The United States, The United Kingdom, Germany, And Japan Under The Bargaining Model, Kenneth G. Dau-Schmidt

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this Article, Professor Dau-Schmidt provides a comparative analysis of the labor laws of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Japan for the purposes of identifying which characteristics of a country's labor laws are likely to reduce strike incidence and intensity and promote industrial peace. To identify which characteristics of a country's law are likely to encourage industrial peace, Professor Dau-Schmidt presents game theory arguments based on his analysis of unions and collective bargaining. Dau-Schmidt then provides a simple empirical test as to the relative success of different countries' laws in advancing industrial peace by comparing data on …

A Study Of The Relationship Between The Perceived Leadership Style Of Nursing Chairpersons And The Organizational Climate In Baccalaureate Nursing Programs., Nancy Rowland Mosser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examined the relationship between the leadership frames of nursing chairpersons and the organizational climate of nursing departments as perceived by the nursing faculty. Bolman and Deal's Leadership Orientations Instrument (Other), Borrevik's Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire-Higher Education (Partial), and a demographic questionnaire were sent to 605 nursing faculty members in 60 baccalaureate nursing programs in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing North Atlantic Region. A total of 253 usable responses was returned. Descriptive procedures, Pearson's product moment correlation coefficients, one-way analysis of variance, and the General Linear Models Procedure for analysis of variance were used to analyze the …

Computerized Training Methods: Effects On Retention And Rate Of Responding., Finnur Oddsson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate the difference between two methods for presenting training stimuli, Single- and Multi-trials procedures. The former presents one stimulus in a single workspace and the latter presents many stimuli. Experiment 1 attempted to explain why Multi-trial methods sustain higher rates of responding than Single-trials. The results showed that the primary reason for the high rates of responding to Multi-trials is the presence of multiple stimuli, which allow subjects to read ahead to a consecutive stimulus while responding to a previous one. Experiment 2 evaluated the generality of the findings of previous research that …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Childhood Sexual Abuse, Dissociation, And Eating Disorders., Patricia Marie Bailey

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Researchers have documented a high percentage of eating disordered individuals with a history of traumatic experiences such as childhood sexual abuse (Abramson & Lucido, 1991; Oppenheimer, Howells, Palmer, & Chaloner, 1985; Tice, Hall, Beresford, Quinones, & Hall, 1989). To what extent these adverse life events may contribute to the onset, maintenance, and severity of maladaptive eating behaviors is widely debated among researchers and clinicians. The present study attempted to identify a spectrum of potentially traumatic life experiences in eating disordered individuals and their relationship with dissociation and eating pathology. Thirty-four female subjects meeting DSM-IV criteria for Bulimia Nervosa (n = …

Role Of Jaffee V. Redmonds "Course Of Diagnosis Or Treatment" Condition In Preventing Abuse Of The Psychotherapist-Patient Privilege, Lynda W. Kenney

Georgia Law Review

The Supreme Court recognized the federal psychotherapist- patient privilege in Jaffee v. Redmond and conditioned its application on the existence of a "course of diagnosis or treatment" within which a psychotherapist and patient exchanged confidential communications. The Court expressly precluded trial courts from conditioning privilege application on the favorable balance of a given patient's need for privacy over the extent of evidentiary harm likely to be caused by applying the privilege. Doubting the sufficiency of Jaffee's "course of diagnosis or treatment"condition to prevent abusive application of the privilege,the First Circuit Court of Appeals recognized the crime-fraud exception to the privilege …

The Relationships Between Communication, Trust, Success, Satisfaction, And Longevity In Ice Dancing And Pairs Skating., Connie Marie Wanlin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between communication, trust, success (i.e., performance outcome), satisfaction, and longevity of competitive pairs and ice dancing teams. The participants were 102 ice dancers (N = 74) and pairs skaters (N = 28) ranging in age from 10-26 (M = 17.40) from training sites in Northeastern Canada and the United States. They represented all levels of competitive experience (Juvenile N = 6, Intermediate/Pre-novice N = 14, Novice N = 20, Junior N = 32, and Senior N = 30). A survey package was completed which included: (1) a demographic questionnaire; (2) …

A Comparison Of Collaborative And Individualistic Problem Solving In Younger And Older Adults On An Everyday Task., Suling Cheng

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Researchers examining everyday problem solving in adulthood have focused mainly on age differences in performance (e.g., Denney & Palmer, 1981). Older adults are often found to be poor problem solvers in comparison to younger adults because older adults use problem-solving strategies that are defined as less effective by researchers. Furthermore, researchers have focused on problem solving as a solitary activity and not as a collaborative activity. In addition, the problem-solving tasks researchers have used to measure everyday problem solving often resemble traditional problem-solving tasks. Thus, attention should be directed toward comparing younger and older adults on ecologically valid collaborative problem-solving …

The Relation Between Parenting Factors And Social Anxiety: A Retrospective Study., Karla Anhalt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Various studies have found differences in the socialization experiences of adults with clinical levels of social anxiety, particularly direct and indirect parental influences. This study has expanded the research literature in two ways. First, the unique contribution of several parenting factors to social anxiety was evaluated. Second, participant reports of maternal and paternal child-rearing variables were examined. Four hundred and thirty four undergraduate students at West Virginia University participated in this study. Participants responded to a questionnaire packet that contained the following: (a) a demographic form; (b) the Parent Attitudes Toward Child-Rearing Years (PACR; Bruch, Heimberg, Berger, & Collins, 1989); …