Digital Commons Network^™

An Exploratory Study Of The Effects Of A Training Program On The Ability To Prepare A Breakfast Meal By Clients With Mild Alzheimer's Disease, Alicia J. Curtin

Open Access Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by the insidious onset of an array of cognitive deficits that progress over time and lead to changes in an individual's ability to even perform simple tasks, such as preparing meals. Recently, researchers have demonstrated that clients with mild AD have preserved procedural memory function despite significant cognitive deficits. Procedural memory is an automatic, unconscious process, requiring practice and repetition to activate the particular structures involved in learning tasks. Skills training is a strategy using repetition and practice to enhance the client's ability to perform a certain task. An exploratory design using direct observation and …

An Exploration Of The Nature Of Nursing Practice Related To The Presence Of Visitors In The Critical Care Setting, Mary E. Mcginn Farrell

Open Access Dissertations

The need for and importance of visiting hours for relatives of critically ill patients has been well documented and passionately debated in the nursing literature for many years. Nurses tend to be the primary gatekeepers in the ICU yet little empirical knowledge exists related to the phenomenon of visiting from the perspective of the bedside nurse. A three-phase qualitative research investigation was undertaken with eight critical care nurses identified by managers as being experts at working with families. Data were gathered using participant observation, interviews and document review. Three research questions guided this investigation: (1) How do expert nurses incorporate …

The Nature Of Infant Relinquishment As Described By Two Voices: The Relinquishing Mother And The Obstetrical Nurse, Linda Jean Kobokovich

Open Access Dissertations

Little is known about the relinquishment experience and nursing interventions for infant relinquishment. The purpose of this study was to first, describe in the birth mother's voice, the relinquishment experience and her perception of nursing interventions, while second, creating an inventory of nursing interventions. Kim's (2000) Practice Domain provided the theoretical background. This two-phase study used an inductive, qualitative approach and employed a mixed method design of semi-structured interview and focus group interview. The interview was crafted upon the interview style of McCracken (1988) and Spradley (1969) while focus group methodology as detailed by Morgan (1993, 1996) guided the second …

A Participant Observation Study Of Experienced Nurses' Presence In Daily Care, Paulette Anne Osterman

Open Access Dissertations

As important as presence is to nursing, it often lacks conceptual clarity and systematic empirical observation in nursing practice. However, in the few qualitative studies with presence as a focus researchers have not considered both nurse and patient in interaction in present time nor included the nature of the patient's perception of the nurse's presence. In an earlier project in a long-term care setting, nurses were observed to be present in more than one way (presence, partial presence, full presence, and transcendent presence). In addition, nurses' employed presence for assessing impending health care changes early in the shift, and used …

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Making Change In Early Head Start, Patrice W. Hallock

Doctoral Dissertations

This is a field study of families and home visitors in Early Head Start. Its purpose is to understand the social context of infants born into poverty and to understand the home visiting relationship when families receive intervention services from home visitors who are socially and economically different. Two questions were posed: First, how do socially and economically diverse families perceive infant well-being? Second, what is the experience of families who participate in Early Head Start? The study used interviews, participant observation, and cultural interpretation to understand the perspective of participant families.

The study provided evidence that economically and socially …

The Availability Heuristic In Judgments Of Research Findings: Manipulations Of Subjective Experience, Michele A. Shams

All Volumes (2001-2008)

Previous studies have demonstrated that what is easy to call to mind will influence judgments. The impact of a person's subjective experience was tested for its influence on judgments of social psychological research findings. Eighty three college students generated examples of 40 research findings. Students subsequently judged the ease with which the examples came to mind and the probability of experiencing similar examples. Students then evaluated the obviousness and importance of and their interest in the research outcomes. Students also provided demographic information and indicated their previous knowledge in psychology. In the current study, the ease with which examples of …

Exercise Behavior In Older Adults: Processes Of Change, Andrea Mainardi

Open Access Master's Theses

Despite the significant health and quality of life benefits of exercise, more than 40% of the older adult population in America do not participate in any dedicated physical activity. As the number of older adults grows, it becomes increasingly important to meet the public health challenge to help seniors adopt and maintain exercise behavior in order enhance the overall well being of this population. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore the applicability of the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change with respect to exercise adoption and maintenance among older adults and to identify the processes of change used …

An Examination Of The Nature Of Reading Fluency, Emily D. Russell

Open Access Dissertations

The present study attempted to investigate the underlying cognitive and linguistic skills necessary for three different aspects of reading fluency: rate, phrasing, quality of expression. The variance accounted for by each of these skills on measures of reading comprehension was also evaluated. Oral reading skills of third and fourth-grade normal readers were assessed on narrative passages within each participant's independent reading level (i.e., fewer than two percent word reading errors). Results indicated similarities in the cognitive and reading skills necessary for rapid reading and appropriate phrasing. Specifically, word recognition was the strongest predictor in both cases. However, oromotor accuracy and …

Female Coping With Cardiac Rehabilitation After A Cardiac Event: A Qualitative Study, M. Patricia Burnside Quigley

Open Access Dissertations

Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in American women. Cardiac rehabilitation can reduce cardiac risk, but women underutilize cardiac rehabilitation. Research has not described how women who do participate cope with integrating cardiac rehabilitation into their lives. The purpose of this research study was to explore women's coping with a Phase II (12-week) cardiac rehabilitation program by analyzing interview data for common elements and other ways of coping. A secondary purpose was to explore to what extent the women's descriptions in their interviews corresponded with Lazarus' theoretical concepts of appraisal and coping. The purposive sample was comprised …

A Proposed Model Of Medical Staff-Family Communication In The Context Of Cancer: Psychometric, Model And Mediational Testing, Dana Anne Gionta

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation extends our knowledge of the relationships among complex communication variables involved in medical staff-family member communication in the context of adult cancer. It does this in three ways. First, communication variables are quantified using qualitative data from previous studies in the area of cancer, communication and the family to provide a more systematic means of studying these variables. Manuscript 1 examines the psychometric soundness of these instruments with results indicating a single factor structure for each instrument, preliminary evidence for construct and content validity and good to excellent internal consistency (.77, .91, .93., .97). Second, a model of …

Individual Differences In Toddler Emotion Coping: The Impact Of Temperament And Socialization Experiences On Regulation Development, Elena Mirsky

Open Access Dissertations

The current study explores the expression of emotion coping behaviors in the developmental context of temperamental and socialization experiences. 45 30- month-olds, whose families were involved in a larger longitudinal study, participated in a laboratory assessment including 4 contexts designed to provide an experience of stress for the child. Child coping behaviors were coded according to a system by Grolnick (1996) which rates behaviors along a continuum of adaptiveness from focusing on the course of frustration, to self-comforting and other-directed behaviors, to behavior that is re-oriented toward the environment. Correlations were run between coping data and data on child temperament …

When The Cure Is Worse Than The Disease: America's Failed War On Drugs, Peg Solomon

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Child Sexual Abuse And Assault In Chicago: The Rest Of The Dismal Iceberg, Michael J. Howlett Jr.

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

Lessons From Martin: The Ada And Athletics Don't Mix, Thomas E. Green

Journal of Law and Health

Martin is a professional golfer in his twenties who is stricken by Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber Syndrome. This disability makes it medically impossible for him to play golf without the use of a golf cart. Martin sued the PGA Tour in 1997 after his request to use a golf cart in a tour event was denied. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Ninth Circuit's ruling allowing Martin to use a golf cart for PGA events. In another case, after initially allowing the golfer, Olinger, to compete in the qualifying rounds, the District Court, and subsequently the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, …

Afsc And The Terrorist War, J. William Frost

Religion Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

African-American In Texas: The Nineteenth Century Legacy, George C. Wright

President Emeritus George C. Wright Speeches

No abstract provided.

The Challenge Of Absent Presence, Kenneth J. Gergen

Psychology Faculty Works

“Let your home know where your heart is.” (Billboard advertisement for cellular phone) The setting is a retirement home for the elderly. Wilfred enters the veranda in search of two close friends. He is in luck, they are both present. But alas, one is lost to her Walkman and the other is engrossed in his book. Neither notices Wilfred's presence. Frustrated, Wilfred is left to stare silently into space. Such is the beginning of Ronald Harwood's London play, Quartet. Young or old, we instantly identify with the scene. How often do we enter a room to find family, friends or …

"Our Mosquitoes Are Not So Big": Images And Modernity In Zimbabwe, Timothy Burke

History Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Washington University Magazine, Fall 2002

Washington University Magazine

No abstract provided.

Mind And Heart 2002, Whitworth University

Mind and Heart Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Commencement Program 2002, Whitworth University

Commencement Programs

Undergraduate Commencement exercises of Whitworth College in May 2002.

Symposium On Bjørn Lomborg's The Skeptical Environmentalist: Introduction: The Virtues And Vices Of Skeptical Environmentalism, Jonathan H. Adler, Andrew P. Morriss

Case Western Reserve Law Review

No abstract provided.

Should I Have Learned To Cook? Interviews With Women Lawyers Juggling Multiple Roles, Jackie Slotkin

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Family Functioning Of Portuguese Families With A Clinically Depressed Family Member, Marco S. Andrade

Open Access Master's Theses

There have been a limited number of studies investigating cross-cultural similarities and differences in family functioning. Previous research that has been conducted on the family functioning of families with a depressed member has indicated unhealthy family functioning as compared to families without a depressed member (Keitner, Miller, Epstein, Bishop, & Fruzzetti, 1987; Miller, Kabacoff, Keitner, Epstein, & Bishop, 1986; Sawyer, Sarris, Baghurst, Cross, & Kalucy, 1988). The purpose of this study was to: (1) investigate whether Portuguese families with a depressed member had unhealthy family functioning as measured by the Family Assessment Device (FAD) (Epstein, Baldwin, & Bishop, 1983); and …

Green In Everybody's Neighborhood: Assessing The Distribution Of Parks And Open Spaces In The City Of Providence, Krista Alessandro

Open Access Master's Theses

Scholarship on environmental justice has focused on such issues as the concentration of hazardous commercial activities and lack of transportation options in poorer, minority communities. Although we must recognize and address the discriminatory distribution of environmental harms, real environmental justice also requires a fair distribution of such environmental goods as the presence of high quality green space and different forms of recreational activities. Ulrich (1993) argues that urban civilizations throughout the centuries have made continuous efforts to maintain contact with natural settings through gardens or parks. Furthermore, he states that providing parks can improve psychological and physical well-being in addition …

Disc Golf: Sport For Sustainable Community, Craig Hotchkiss

Open Access Master's Theses

This project, Disc Golf: Sport for Sustainable Community, aims to promote the sport of disc golf as an environmentally reverent and cost effective, recreational opportunity for a sustainable community. This paper also suggests enhancements to the signs and maps of a disc golf course in order to include environmental interpretation aspects into the recreational facility. Reviewing the material will enable a community to determine potential disc course locations and designs.

This project describes the sport of disc golf to introduce the principal concepts for those who may be unfamiliar with the sport. In the United States, The President's Council on …

Introductory Materials, Mary A. Seeger

McNair Scholars Journal

No abstract provided.

The Grand Rapids Civil Rights Movement From 1954-1969: A Sociological Study, Philip J. Bostic

McNair Scholars Journal

Although advancements have been achieved over the past 30 years, many experts would argue that the problems that plague the African-American community have not changed much. The American Civil Rights Movement has been credited with improving the quality of life of under-represented minorities. The purpose of this study is to examine whether or not the Civil Rights Movement helped to improve the status of the African-American community in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A thorough analysis of the local newspaper, the Grand Rapids Press, from 1954-1969, supplies the empirical data utilized as the foundation of this research. The local data was applied …

Impact Of Phonological Working Memory On English As A Second Language Students’ Vocabulary Learning, Joseph P. Haughey

McNair Scholars Journal

Phonological Working Memory (Baddelely, 1990) involves a mental processing space thought to be conducive to learning new vocabulary. Previous studies have shown that phonological working memory makes an important contribution to vocabulary learning, both in young monolingual children and in older children at initial stages of learning English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Recently, Pearson (2000) investigated phonological working memory, using a nonword repetition task incorporating English phonotactic patterns, in young preschool children learning English as a Second Language (ESL). Further analyses of these data will be presented, using a less-biased nonword repetition task incorporating a more basic CVCV pattern.

Societal Response To Developmental Differences And Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes, Randall R. Osborne

McNair Scholars Journal

Recent findings indicate an increased concern that conventional substance abuse treatment models consistently reflect less than satisfactory outcomes when applied to adolescents. This study investigates developmental differences among adolescents and adults as a possible cause of the disparity. The author conducted interviews with substance abuse professionals, developmental psychologists, adolescents in treatment, and adolescents no less than six months out of treatment. Questions focus on assessment agendas, developmental and motivational differences among adolescents and adults, movement along the addiction continuum, developmental tasks of adolescence, and adolescent receptivity. The results of the interviews among each group are compared and consistencies are noted. …