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A Stage Targeted Physical Activity Intervention Among A Predominantly African American Low Income Medical Population, Dorothy Whitehead

LSU Master's Theses

Despite the numerous health benefits, there is a high prevalence of physical inactivity and associated chronic diseases in the U.S., particularly among low income African Americans. Past studies indicate that mailed, stage-matched physical activity promotion materials are effective, low cost, and show potential for reaching hard to reach groups. However, this has not been examined in a low-income African American population. The current study utilized a low-cost, mailed intervention to promote physical activity among a low income African American primary care population (N=207). The sample was predominantly female (82.6%), African American (69.1%), and overweight (81.3%). At baseline, all participants completed …

The Effects Of Auditory Distraction On Attention Performance In Asymptomatic College Students With A History Of Mild Head Injury, John H.,Ii Denning

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: The majority of individuals experiencing a mild head injury (MHI) recover fully experiencing few residual symptoms. Some individuals who fully recover have shown evidence of residual, albeit subtle, brain functioning disturbances on tasks requiring high levels of cognitive effort. Also, memory complaints in MHI patients may be related to these subtle difficulties when cognitive resources are overwhelmed. This study assessed a group of asymptomatic college students with a history of MHI to determine if there were any residual attention difficulties as well as increased memory complaints. Method: One-hundred twelve college students with and without a history of MHI were …

The Organ Works Of Fela Sowande: A Nigerian Organist-Composer, Godwin Simeon Sadoh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fela Sowande (1905-1987) has a huge compositional output including orchestral and vocal works. However, his organ music outnumbered the totality of his compositions. His organ pieces represent a truly intercultural music in which distinct tripartite cultural idioms are evident—Nigerian, African American and European. Works of this nature serve as creative source materials for aspiring composers, performers, scholars, music educators, and students in Africa and the world. This composer, folklorist, and music educator was born into a well-known music family in Nigeria. He was active in radio broadcasting, Yoruba folklore and mythology, indigenous music research, Nigerian art music, performance, orchestral conducting, …

"Never Could Read No Road Map": Geographic Perspectives On The Grateful Dead, Daniel R. Culli

LSU Master's Theses

The Grateful Dead hold a unique niche in the musical, social, and cultural history of the United States. However, while the volume of available academic literature concerning the band is increasing, the Grateful Dead remain to be nearly ignored by academia and, to this point apparently, completely ignored by cultural geographers. This paper introduces the Grateful Dead into the field of geography. I analyze the geography of certain aspects of the band, such as its context in San Francisco, the carnival atmosphere of the entire phenomenon, the over 2300 tour dates, as well as the huge catalog of lyrics sung …

Routes Of Freedom: Slave Resistance And The Politics Of Literary Geography, Judith Louise Kemerait

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation integrates rhetorical, historical, and spatial analysis in an effort to expand our understanding of the cultural work performed by antebellum narratives that take slavery in the United States as their subject matter. Specifically, it focuses on the complicated relationship between place and human praxis as revealed in five texts: The Confessions of Nat Turner, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Dred, Martin R. Delany’s Blake, Frederick Douglass’s “The Heroic Slave,” and Herman Melville’s Benito Cereno. In my attention to literary geographies, I trace spatial patterns in which considerations of organized resistance and slave rebellion are repeatedly placed in “wild-spaces” such as …

A Cross-Sectional Study Comparing The Psychosocial Correlates For Overconcern With Body Size And Shape In Men And Women, Amy Elaine Rzeznikiewicz

LSU Master's Theses

The purposes of this cross-sectional study were two-fold. The primary aim of this study was to test whether the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale (MASS), a recently developed, reliable, and valid measure of muscle dysmorphia symptoms, measures a parallel phenomenon in men that the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) does in women, i.e., overconcern with body size and shape. To test this aim, psychosocial correlates for overconcern with body size and shape in women were tested to be the same psychosocial correlates for a measure of muscle dysmorphia in men. The psychosocial variables included in this model were body dissatisfaction, negative affect, …

Irrationality And Human Reasoning, Michael Aristidou

LSU Master's Theses

In his account of intentional interpretation, Donald Davidson assumes that people are mostly rational. Several psychological experiments though, reveal that human beings deviate drastically from the normative standards of rationality. Therefore, some psychologists arrive to the conclusion that humans are mostly irrational. In this thesis, I raise some objections to both points of view. On the one hand, ascribing rationality to humans in an a priori manner seems a suspicious position to adopt, considering the empirical data that show otherwise. On the other hand, the validity of the experiments and what exactly they test can also be put in question, …

Work Intensification And Professionalism : A Study Of Teachers' Perceptions In The State School System In Western Australia, Niall B. Richardson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The past two decades have witnessed the introduction throughout much of the Western world of what has become known as economic rationalism, and for some commentators, as economic liberalism. Grounded in neoclassical economic theory, and with close kinship to the Taylorist and Fordist principles of the early decades of the twentieth century, the vision of economic rationalism has led to measures which have tended to favour the business sector in Australia. Throughout the 1990s, the focus has been on the notions of competitiveness, competition, productivity, efficiency, and profit, while the notions of the individual, and of social justice and equity, …

Perceptions Of Wine Quality, Stephen J. Charters

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The term `quality' is regularly used by those who produce, promote and consume wine. However, the nature and features of wine quality are rarely explained. This study was designed to explore what drinkers consider to be the nature of wine quality and what they believe its features to be. Focus groups and individual and small group interviews were used to explore the conceptualisation and dimensions of wine quality, how that quality is assessed, and what its relevance may be. There were 105 informants, sourced from three states across Australia primarily by utilising friends and acquaintances of the researcher. Informants included …

Decision Making In Individualistic And Collectivistic Cultures, C. Dominik Guess

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

How do cultural values influence individuals' decision making? One would expect answers to this question either from cognitive psychology or from cross-cultural psychology. Cognitive theories on decision making, however, rarely consider the factor of culture, and research in cross-cultural psychology deals only to a small extent with decision making. Therefore the study of culture and decision making is a relatively new and unexplored field. In this paper normative and descriptive approaches to decision making are discussed and three cross-cultural studies on decision making in individualistic and collectivist cultures using different methodologies are described. The results are integrated into a model …

Skill Acquisition And Transfer In A Simple Algebraic Task, Charan J. Singh

Theses : Honours

Speelman's (\999) finding that performance of a skill is based to some extent on the conter.t in which it is performed, rather than simply on the acquired skill itself, is not accounted for by the basic skill acquisition theories like ACT -R Theory or Instance Theory. The purpose of the current experiment was to examine whether the degree of change in context influences the degree of reduction in transfer. Forty participants were trained on an algebraic task and then tested in two different transfer conditions. Condition one included one new item and condition two included two new items in the …

Men's Strengths In The Transition To Fatherhood, Dawson C. Cooke

Theses : Honours

This paper considers the ways men succeed or grow stronger (strengths perspectives) in the transition to fatherhood. Becoming a father is a normative life event for a man that presents a unique opportunity for developmental growth. This aspect of fatherhood has rarely been addressed in psychological literature despite the growing interest in fatherhood and strengths perspectives. An overview is given of fathering literature with attention to the transition to fatherhood, positive outcomes and strengths, and recent Australian studies. Models and classifications of strengths are introduced, including findings from the positive psychology movement (C. Peterson & M. E. P. Seligman, 2004) …

Exploring Women's Experiences Of A Medically Necessary Caesarean, Michelle Cotterell

Theses : Honours

Caesarean delivery accounts for approximately one in four births both in Australia and on a global level. Examination of the experience of caesarean delivery is limited, although as caesarean delivery rates are increasing, a practical understanding of the constructs surrounding surgical birth needs to be gained. This review aims to present an overview of the current literature exploring the mother's experience of caesarean delivery. The different modes of medically necessary caesarean delivery, both unplanned and planned are defined. Societal views of caesarean birth as an easier and convenient mode of delivery in comparison to vaginal birth are described and it …

Under The Thumb : The Role Of Sms In The Forming And Maintenance Of Adolescent Dating Relationships, Jason Noble

Theses : Honours

The use of the mobile phone is a ubiquitous feature of many an individual's social life within contemporary society. Given this, it is somewhat surprising that little academic research has been undertaken into its effects on the social and cultural lives of key user populations. In particular, the Short Message Service- SMS texting- is a mobile phone application that has transformed the lives of large numbers of adolescent city dwellers. Moreover, teenagers and young adults, who represent the adolescent population, have adopted this mobile phone application and subsequently applied it to their social lives in ways that never would have …

Students' Perception Of Their First Experience Of The Sacrament Of Penance Within The Archdiocese Of Perth, Western Australia, Janine Sanzone

Theses : Honours

This study examined the perceptions of year three children of their first experience of the Sacrament of Penance within the Archdiocese of Perth in light of contemporary developmental research. In the Archdiocese of Perth, the Catholic Church's present practice is to prepare students to receive Penance in Year 3 when they have reached the "age of reason' (7 years). The theology behind the Catholic Church's decision to administer Penance at the age of reason is also investigated. The work of developmental psychologists, particularly Kohlberg and Fowler, underpins this investigation of the cognitive, moral and spiritual development of the sample population. …

Social Competence : An Exploration Of Children's Experiences Within The Home Environment, Mandie B. Shean

Theses : Honours

The acquisition of social competence is an important developmental task for children. This review examines how child effects and environmental effects contribute to children's achievement of social competence. Environmental factors are addressed through Bronfenbrenner's (1999) ecological systems model of the microsystem, mesosystem and exosystem, The microsystem includes the home environment with parent-parent, parent-child and sibling relationships. The mesosystem includes the school environment with peer and teacher relationships. Finally, the exosystem incorporates indirect environments such as parent work, economic status and the media. Issues of reciprocal effects are addressed and the suggestion is made that social competence is the result of …

Construction Of Male Identity : The Relationship Between Cancer Support Groups And Identity For Men Who Are Living With Cancer, Kathryn M. Chegwidden

Theses : Honours

A diagnosis of cancer may have many meanings for a man in terms of the impact that cancer has on various aspects of his life, including his identity as a man. Subsequent membership of a cancer support group may support men negotiating their changing identity. A review of the relevant literature examines the impact of cancer and its treatments for men, and the various changes resulting from men's experiences with cancer and cancer treatments. An overview of support groups, their function, composition, and benefits is provided with a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of professional and member facilitated cancer …

The Sources And Nature Of Social Representations In A Multicultural Peer Group : Implications For Friendship And Inter-Group Relationships, Christina Callow

Theses : Honours

The historical, political and social nature of Australian society provides a backdrop for the ways in which exclusion and inclusion are perpetuated. It is from within this context adolescent identity development and relationship formation occurs. While there is a wealth of literature focussing on inter-group relationships and adolescent development, very little research has focussed on the implications of the wider context on everyday social knowledge, or social representations, held by adolescents in a multicultural peer group. Using social representation theory, this study investigated the social representations adolescents held in relation to ethnic, cultural and national identity. It also investigated the …

All That We Have To Cling To" : Mothers And Motherhood In The Plays Of Tennessee Williams, Trina Di Crescenzo

Theses : Honours

This thesis explores the characterisation of motherhood within the plays of American playwright. Tennessee Williams. A central part to my argument is that these mothers are abandoned and left alone because of their own personal complexities. After investigating the life of Edwina Dakin Williams and the influence that she had on her son's life and work. I will proceed to examine the nature of the mother in the Following plays: • The Glass Menagerie • The Rose Tattoo • Battle of Angels • Orpheus Descending • Suddenly Last Summer. All of the plays are “major” works of the writer, with …

Visions Must Be Re-Visioned : Gender Politics In Earthsea, Audrey Barton

Theses : Honours

This thesis analyses Ursula Le Guin's interpretation of gender and genre in her Earthsea novels, A Wizarf of Earthsea (1968) and Teha1111 (1990). Examining Le Guin's assertion for the need to "re-vision" her former work with the latter, I interrogate the ways in which she attempts to "break free" from the ideologies that impose themselves upon her work. Part one explores the mode of the hero quest used in A Wizard of Earthsea and examines the significance of this in terms of "gendering" the text. Part two examines the revisioned text Tehanu and the ways in which the …

The Abject In The Technological Other, Alex Bradley

Theses : Honours

A photographic project and exegesis demonstrating artificial intelligence and artificial life as occurrences of the abject. In the photographic project '0=2', the technologies of artificial intelligence and artificial life are examined in relation to identity, via an elaboration of the psychoanalytic concert of the 'abject'. An exegesis of the creative project contains an investigation of computer technologies in regard to identity, an analysis of the basic concepts and paradigms of the sciences of artificial intelligence and artificial life, and an elaboration of the psychoanalytic concept of the abject - demonstrating A.l. and a-life as cultural instantiations of abjection. In addition, …

An Examination Of Fathers' Satisfaction With The Legal System: Exploring The Concept In Relation To Fathers' Experience With The Family Law Court Of Western Australia, Janelle M. Hawes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Although the importance of fathers' post divorce contact with their children has been linked with a better outcome for the children and is valued by society, studies in the United States and Australia have suggested that up to 30 percent of fathers do not maintain regular contact with their children post divorce. To date, the literature has focused mainly on demographic variables and some personal characteristics of the father. An area, which has been neglected, is the influence of fathers' perception of legal proceedings and rules on their contact with their children post divorce. This study aimed to explore the …

Experiences Of Anglo-Burmese Migrants In Perth, Western Australia : A Substantive Theory Of Marginalisation, Adaptation And Community, Simon D. Colquhoun

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The experience of migration and adaptation of ethnically mixed migrants; like the Anglo-Burmese migrants, has received little attention. This group began migrating to Australia, in particular Western Australia, in the 1960s due to changing socio-political circumstances in Burma. The examination of cultural issues in psychological research has operated in a number of different perspectives including cross-cultural psychology, cultural psychology and more recently, community psychology in Australia. The development of community psychology in Australia has led to the development of a community research approach by Bishop, Sonn, Drew and Contos (2002). This approach requires the exploration of the substantive domain using …

The Young School-Age Assessment Of Attachment (Ysaa): Development And Preliminary Validation, Lynn E. Priddis

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This manuscript describes the development and preliminary validation of a new assessment procedure called the Young School-age Assessment of Attachment (YSAA). The tool has clinical as well as research relevance in that it identifies the attachment strategies of children aged 5-7 years as well as recognising attachment related problems for this age group. The YSAA is a representational procedure that uses line drawings of a child teddy in attachment-related situations. The stimulus cards, probes, and administration procedures were piloted and refined in the initial stages of this study. The children's narratives that were generated from this procedure were examined for …

Evaluation Of The Influence Of Prior Health Care Experience On Physician Assistant Student Academic Performance, Salvatore Barese

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

Considerable variability exists in the use of prior health care experience (HCE) as an admission criterion by physician assistant (PA) educational programs. The problem was to justify the current amount and type of HCE required by the New York Institute of Technology PA Program.

The purpose of this project was to determine how PA programs use and define prior HCE and to determine whether the type and/or amount of HCE influence academic performance.

Research questions include how PA programs utilize and define HCE; whether the type and/or amount of HCE predicts academic performance in PA programs, performance on summative and …

Using Mediation Techniques To Manage Conflict And Create Healthy Work Environments, Debra Gerardi

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Sociological Theory Of Depression: An Integrated Approach To Optimism And Pessimism, Toward Effective Resolution Of A Societal Problem, Jenny R. Shayani

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

In using symbolic interactionist theory to explore depression as an epidemic in our society, this study uses the concept of "reality construction" to show that cultivating an optimistic explanatory style may reduce susceptibility to depression. It is my intention to use a symbolic interactionist approach of the concept of the "mind" to aid in identification of the reality construction of the depressed individual. The Psychological Social Psychology concepts of attribution style and explanatory style are useful in understanding optimistic and pessimistic perspectives of reality construction. This thesis provides a micro-level link to the idea that an optimistic explanatory style reduces …

Evaluation Of The Cooperative Education And Internships Program At Prince George’S Community College, Diana Y. Doman Wilkins

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

The Cooperative Education and Internships program is charged with placing students in positions that will allow them to gain experience in a work environment related to their major area of study. Job development specialists receive no type of written feedback from the employer, the faculty advisor, or the student on whether or not the placement was successful. The problem is that Cooperative Education and Internships has not demonstrated its effectiveness; therefore, there is reluctance from students, faculty advisors, and job development specialists to continue participating and/or promoting the program.

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the effectiveness of …

Affect Of Increasing Team-Planning Time And Improving Team Classroom Proximity On Student Achievement, John Deuber John Deuber

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

This applied dissertation was designed to increase the amount of team-planning time and classroom proximity provided to teaching teams at 1 middle school. The amount of time provided within the school day to each team for team planning was inadequate to meet the needs of effective teams. Additionally, teachers had been assigned to classrooms with little concern for team member proximity.

Student achievement as measured by the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills 5, a nationally recognized standardized test, had shown a slight downward trend for 3 preceding years. The interventions were meant to address and correct this problem. Teachers completed …

Moving Toward A Strength Perspective: A Case Study Of Counselor Change, Candis Carr

Abraham S. Fischler College of Education ETD Archive

According to their mission statement, employees of the Family and Youth Counseling Agency, Inc., (FYCA) operated on the assumption that all individuals possessed the ability to solve their own challenges and live full and healthy lives when support was available. In practice, however, agency counseling reflected a deficit-based, hierarchical framework, wherein counselors expanded on clients’ deficits and failings, defined the goals of counseling, and regarded counselors as more knowing than clients about how best to change. By discrediting the client’s voice, counselors failed to put into action the agency’s guiding principle.

To develop a strength-based practice, counselors met on a …