Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring Consciousness, Amanda M. Moen

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Time Of Day Alcohol Administration On Prose Recall, Jenny Guido

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Taoism And The Artistic Process, Teresa Mathew

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Influences On Condom Use Among College Students, Margaret Anne Flaget

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Youth And Government : A Proposal For North Dakota, Laura Jane Rabenberg

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Comorbidity Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Low Income Urban Youth, Karen Ann Laslie

LSU Master's Theses

Chronic exposure to violence is becoming increasingly common for urban children, placing them at an increased risk of developing psychopathology. For children exposed to chronic violence, two common diagnoses are Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). However, symptom overlap between these disorders has made differential diagnosis difficult. Most studies looking at the comorbidity between ADHD and PTSD have focused only on maltreated children. This study is the first to look at comorbid rates of ADHD and PTSD for children exposed to chronic violence, not limited to maltreatment. Specifically, this study evaluated rates of PTSD symptoms in children with …

The Experience Of Anger In Everyday Situations And Its Association With Anxiety And Depression, Bethany J. Roel

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Ability Of College Students To Simulate Adhd On Objective Measure Of Attention, Randee Lee Booksh

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Complaints of ADHD symptoms in college students are not uncommon and college students frequently self-refer for assessment of ADHD. Some may seek out a diagnosis to obtain academic accommodations and/or stimulant medication. Diagnosing ADHD in college students is largely reliant on self-report measures, and to a lesser extent, objective measures of attention. The typical college student has easy access to information about ADHD, potentially facilitating efforts to simulate self-reported symptoms. The present study examined the ability of college students to effectively simulate ADHD on objective and self-report measures of attention, and examined the relationship between knowledge of ADHD and ability …

Riding Out The Risks: An Ethnographic Study Of Risk Perceptions In A South Louisiana Bayou Community, Susan Camille Manning

LSU Master's Theses

This ethnographic study explores the risk perceptions of a small unincorporated coastal community in southeastern Louisiana. This community has experienced social and environmental change due to events including tropical storms and hurricanes, erosion, subsidence, oil and gas activities, development, and the impact of global seafood markets. Many global risk perception studies have focused on the perception of risk to human health and property connected with natural and technological disasters, but few have explored the issue of minorities and small at-risk communities. To explore this theoretical and methodological gap, this study uses a variety of qualitative ethnographic methods to examine a …

The Accelerating Degradation Of American Criminal Codes, Paul H. Robinson, Michael T. Cahill

UC Law Journal

This Article addresses the ongoing-and, indeed, accelerating process of sporadic, piecemeal, and unnecessary legislation leading to increasing inconsistencies and irrationalities in American criminal law. After a wave of modernization in the I960s and 1970s, the past generation has not witnessed further advances, but rather a serious and growing degradation of most criminal codes.

This Article offers several insights regarding criminal code degradation. First, it provides specific and concrete examples of degradation and its harmful effects. Second, drawing on their experiences as participants in the recent reform efforts of Illinois and Kentucky, the authors offer an insider's view of how the …

Recusal And The Supreme Court, Debra Lyn Bassett

UC Law Journal

From Laird v. Tatum to Bush v. Gore, the refusal of some Supreme Court Justices to recuse themselves in controversial cases has caused reactions ranging from confusion to disgust. The latest "duck hunting" recusal controversy, and the Court's seemingly callous response to the public outcry, seemed to suggest a deliberate indifference to the recusal standard. This Article examines the recusal provisions applicable to the Supreme Court. There is little doubt that Congress drafted the federal recusal statute broadly and intended to encompass Supreme Court Justices within the statute's reach. However, interesting questions surround recusal in the Supreme Court due to …

Arthur Koestler's Hope In The Unseen: Twentieth-Century Efforts To Retrieve The Spirit Of Liberalism, Kirk Michael Steen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The analysis in this dissertation connects Arthur Koestler’s nonfiction and fiction to the political circumstances that defined Europe during the early twentieth century. It draws particular attention to events in the 1930s as representing a paucity of choices that frustrated certain liberal values held by Koestler and others. It shows how after taking sides with the German Communist Party in the early 1930s, he confronted then rejected the politics of the extreme left and right, leading himself toward a dual career as social philosopher and anti-Communist. This paper will explain how Koestler’s reporting of the Spanish Civil War, combined with …

Associations Among Mothers' Reports Of Family Daily Hassles And Family Resources And Children's Cognitive Ability: An Exploratory Study, Troy D. Stuart

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among daily hassles, family resources, and children’s cognitive ability. Particular emphasis was placed on examining the relationships among the variables by family structure. A total of 205 children in first-grade and third-grade and their mothers participated in the study. There were 120 children from intact families and 85 children from single mother families in the study. All mothers completed assessments on family level variables and all children completed the BIA test of cognitive ability. Multiple regression analyses were utilized to examine the relationships among the variables. Daily hassles and cohesion …

Persuasion, Transparency, And Government Speech, Gia B. Lee

UC Law Journal

Recent news reports indicate that federal, state, and local government entities and officials engage in pseudonymous or anonymous communications more often than we might imagine. Current trends, including advances in technology and the blurring of the public/private distinction, suggest that those types of communications will become only more frequent. Yet thus far there has been no sustained legal or constitutional analysis of such communications. This Article addresses that omission. It examines the issue of veiled government communications by drawing upon not only constitutional theory and case law but also social science research that explains how governments persuade and how citizens …

Castle To Condo, Country To Corporation: What Becomes Of Hamlet In Almereyda's Modern World, Melissa Trosclair Daigle

LSU Master's Theses

This paper looks into the inner workings of Michael Almereyda's Hamlet (2000). Even though Almereyda updates the setting and cuts many of the lines, sometimes entire scenes, from the source text, he is able to convey the some of the themes through his use of technology and media. While some themes do transfer into the postmodern setting, the places of discord are most interesting. Of particular interest is his use of modern technologies to display the corruption found in Shakespeare's play. These technologies, including speakerphone, surveillance equipment, wiring devices, handheld camcorders, and still photography, create an atmosphere of both continual …

Implementing Atkins: The Strengths & Weaknesses Of In Re Hawthorne, Christopher Scott Tarbell

UC Law Journal

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Atkins v. Virginia. In Atkins, the Court created a categorical exemption from the death penalty for the mentally retarded, holding that the execution of such individuals violates the Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishments. However, the Court left to the states the difficult task of implementing the newly announced exemption.

The California Supreme Court confronted this challenge in the case of In re Hawthorne. In Hawthorne, the court was forced to decide what standards and procedures a court should use in assessing claims for Atkins relief raised by …

The Effect Of Emotion On Witness Suggestibility, Cristine Carmen Roussel

LSU Master's Theses

When witnesses are exposed to highly stressful and emotional events, the result is often increased arousal and a change in the pattern of attention. Both of these factors are likely to impact witnesses’ memory for the event. In addition, witnesses are often exposed to post-event information from a variety of sources (e.g., investigators, other witnesses, media reports). The goal of the present study was to explore, in the context of the eyewitness suggestibility paradigm, the impact of emotional arousal and attentional focus on event memory and the incidence of eyewitness suggestibility. A secondary goal of this study was to explore …

Self-Determination Of Students With Disabilities In Post-Secondary Education, Laura Schexnayder Brackin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This research study sought to discover how students with disabilities utilized self-determination in the pursuit of and participation in post-secondary education. Qualitative methods were employed in this study, specifically the use of multiple case studies with embedded units of analysis. Students with a disability, who possessed self-determination and were currently enrolled in an institution of higher education, were the primary participants in this study. Additional information was gathered from parents, professionals, or other individuals who were familiar with the student's pursuit of and participation in postsecondary education. Embedded units of analysis for study consisted of information and skills designed to …

The Political Marketplace Of Religion, Calvin Massey

UC Law Journal

Inherent in the two Religion Clauses is the possibility of conflict: some accommodations of religion in the name of free exercise may amount to forbidden establishments and some limits on religious accommodation in the name of avoiding prohibited establishments may impermissibly interfere with the free exercise of religion. Judicial mediation of the tension between the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause resolves into one of four patterns, each characterized by the degree of deference courts display toward the legislative choices of accommodation of religion. Courts may be deferential to legislative choices that arguably inhibit free exercise and foster religion; …

Common Sense Philosophy And Politics In America: John Witherspoon, James Mccosh, And William James, Scott Philip Segrest

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the political significance of the two leading strains of common sense thought in the history of American philosophy—Scottish Common Sense and Pragmatism—as suggested in the writings of John Witherspoon and James McCosh in the Scottish Common Sense line, and of the more famous co-founder of Pragmatism, William James. These two strains of American common sense are placed in context of the larger Western common sense tradition. Each is shown to aim at finding a solid middle ground epistemologically between skeptical doubt and idealistic certitude that could serve as a stable basis for moral and political life. Witherspoon, …

Designing Online Instruction For Postsecondary Students With Learning Disabilities, Andrew Patrick Simoncelli

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This case study investigates the methodologies used to deliver online course content to postsecondary students with varying learning disabilities. The research provides a holistic picture of the students in their actual learning environment. Two college students diagnosed as learning disabled were studied with three non-disabled classmates in an online college learning environment. The purpose was to attempt to explain how the design of the course affects the students’ attitudes and performance. The design of the course featured instructional methods that research has shown to be beneficial to students with learning disabilities. Some of these included digitally delivered instructional audio, various …

Musculoskeletal Disorders In Dentistry, Frank Maurice Pitts

LSU Master's Theses

Because of the common occurrence of pain experienced by dental professionals during the course of a workday and throughout their career, an epidemiological and a field study were performed in an effort to contribute to the prevention of musculoskeletal disorders in dentistry. The aim of the thesis is two fold: to assess the perception of occupational pain and discomfort felt by dentists through a perception based survey and to assess the muscle behavior of dentists during isotonic postures while performing various dental procedures on their first and last patients in a given work day. One hundred (100) dentists participated in …

Women's Uses Of The Internet, Rachelle Powell

LSU Master's Theses

In this study I will look at the main reasons women use the Internet. Studies about women and the Internet are divided; some indicate less use of the Internet than men, but other studies show strong evidence of a narrowing gap in use. Due to this lack of clarity, a study that looks exclusively at women’s Internet activities and usage is needed. Although qualitative research does not test or apply theory the same way quantitative research does, uses and gratifications theory informed this study. This is an exploratory study of women and the Internet.

Racial Variations And Social Support And Its Impact On Stress And Depression, Claire Sam

LSU Master's Theses

Evidence suggests that social support can mitigate some of the harmful effects of stress on health. Social support theorists argue that certain social groups have differential access to social support; therefore, certain social groups are at a higher risk of experiencing psychiatric symptoms. Although social networks are beyond the scope of these analyses, it is an important component to consider when examining the uneven distributions of social support between social groups. If racial differences exist in the networks in which individuals are embedded, then part of the differential access to social support could be explained by examining the various compositions …

The Efficacy Of Noncontingent Escape For Decreasing Disruptive Behavior During Dental Treatment, Patrick Michael O'Callaghan

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Researchers have developed and demonstrated the effectiveness of a number of interventions to manage disruptive behavior in the dental setting. However, these treatments vary in terms of their effectiveness, invasiveness, effort to implement, and acceptability to families. This study evaluated the effects of noncontingent escape for reducing disruptive behavior in a pediatric dental setting. Within a multiple baseline design across subjects, five children were provided response-independent breaks via an automated cuing device. Results demonstrated reductions in escape-related behaviors (e.g., crying, body movements) for all children. Additionally, the intervention was implemented with high integrity and was favorably rated by the dental …

A Corpus-Based Approach To Infinitival Complements In Early Latin, Sarah Hawkins Ross

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A theory-based perspective is essential to a full understanding of infinitive clauses in early Latin. Some previous work focusing on syntactic theory has failed to include appropriate Latin data or has not explained it adequately. More recent theoretical perspectives have taken the approach of Functional Grammar, dismissing much of the variation in word order and embedded clause types as driven merely by pragmatics. This study examines the syntax of early Latin from a Government and Binding viewpoint, with the aim of fully marrying the theory with the data to account for the infinitival variations. A corpus was created from the …

Effect Of Back Belt On Inter-Joint Coordination And Postural Index Value Under Self Selected Manual Lifting Technique, Ashish Dashrathrao Nimbarte

LSU Master's Theses

Over the past decade increasing number of US companies have been encouraging the use of abdominal support as a part of their efforts to reduce the human and economic costs due to back injuries. Back belts are assumed to prevent injuries by restricting posture, increasing intra abdominal pressure, providing psychological effect and relaxing trunk muscle to provide circumferential support around the pelvis ring. This research deals in detail with the posture restriction caused by back belt. Two-dimensional kinematic data was collected from ten subjects using nine marker positions. Angular displacement of nine body angles was compared. The kinematic relationship, posture, …

Battered Women Who Kill : The Use Of Expert Testimony And The Impact Of Its Timing In The Courtroom, Carrie M. Brower

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Good Grief : A Creative Response To Camp Good Mourning, Emily I. L Arthur

Undergraduate Theses and Senior Projects

No abstract provided.

Reinforcement Magnitude: An Evaluation Of Preference And Reinforcer Potency, Nicole M. Trosclair

LSU Master's Theses

Reinforcers that maintain problem behavior often are an integral part of treatment with differential reinforcement. Basic research suggests that various parameters of reinforcement (e.g., rate, quality, delay, and magnitude) may influence treatment outcomes. Germane to the current study, the voluminous basic literature on reinforcement magnitude indicates that this parameter may influence responding, especially in choice situations or when response requirements are systematically increased over time. Although consideration of reinforcer magnitude may be important for maximizing treatment effectiveness, relatively little is known about children’s preference for different magnitudes of reinforcement or the extent to which relative preference would be related to …