Digital Commons Network^™

Playing Isn’T Just For The Kids: The Effects Of Video Modeling On Adult Play Behavior, Grace Fancine Boatman

Theses and Dissertations

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder lack appropriate play skills. To provide quality care to these children, practitioners who work with these children should be versed in how to play. The researchers for the current study used a multiple baseline design across stimulus sets. A pre-experimental assessment, naturalistic generalization probe, and a toy generalization probe were conducted prior to baseline. The baseline phase demonstrated the participant’s performance in playing with a confederate researcher. Task clarification represented the participant’s performance in playing with a confederate researcher after a verbal prompt to play more. The researchers implemented video modeling to increase the frequency …

An Evaluation Of The Utility Of The Performance Diagnostic Checklist - Human Services (Pdc-Hs): A Comparison Of Formal And Informal Assessment Strategies, Cherish Chalk

Theses and Dissertations

The PDC-HS is a performance assessment tool that assists in the identification of variables contributing to performance problems among human service employees. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the utility of the PDC-HS as a formal assessment strategy. Specifically, the PDC-HS was compared to an informal assessment strategy consisting of a single open-ended interview question and a single structured interview question. Participants included 40 supervisors in varying positions in the human services industry. Descriptive statistics were used to compare participant responses to the open-ended and structured questions to the results indicated by the PDC-HS. Results suggest that the …

Effect Of Multiple Operant Training Across Similar And Different Response Topographies, Ashley Anna Felde

Theses and Dissertations

This study compared skill acquisition rates during multiple operants training across similar responses and different responses in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Secondary measures included functional independence of verbal operants and children’s teaching condition preference. Discrete-trial instruction was used during both teaching conditions. An adapted alternating treatment design embedded in a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across participants was used to examine rates of skill acquisition. Results showed that two of the three participants acquired skills in fewer sessions during the multiple operants training across similar responses when compared to multiple operant training across different responses. Two of the three participants …

Examining The Impact Of Standardized Fine Motor Activity Selection On Various Fine Motor Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Cheyenne Lee Dong

Theses and Dissertations

Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate deficits in fine motor skills, requiring therapies to help improve their performance of a variety of self-care, daily living, and academic skills. Research in the occupational therapy literature suggests several methods of assessing and teaching fine motor skills and represents an area that is understudied in the applied behavior analysis research. The two disciplines may offer a complementary approach to targeting emerging skills, shaping desired responses in naturalistic contexts, and reinforcing participation. This study aimed to examine the impact of occupational therapy-recommended activities on fine motor skills by blending the occupational therapy …

A Quantitative Analysis Of Errors During Conditional Discriminations: Changing Sample-Stimuli Disparity In Delayed Matching-To-Sample Task With Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Tiara Rahadian Putri

Theses and Dissertations

Conditional discrimination skill is foundational in teaching many other functional skills in children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and error occur during training. Antecedent- and consequence-based intervention are commonly used without the understanding of underlying behavioral mechanism responsible for these errors. A quantitative framework based on choice- and signal-detection analyses (Davison & Tustin, 1978) was used to quantify and categorize errors. Three children diagnosed with ASD participated. The current study used an automated 0-s delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) procedure on an iPad Pro® 9.7”. Four experimental conditions were arranged successively, wherein each corresponded with a level of sample stimuli disparity: …

The Effects Of The High Probability Instructional Sequence On Compliance With Multiple Low Probability Instructions, Ma Krishna Francisco Rosales

Theses and Dissertations

The high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence is an antecedent intervention often used to improve compliance with instructions. It typically consists of multiple high-p instructions followed by a single low-probability (low-p) instruction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of the high-p instructional sequence on compliance with multiple low-p instructions and the first low-p instruction in the sequence. More specifically, this study investigated the effects of three to five high-p instructions on compliance with 1, 2, and 3 low-p instructions. Three individuals diagnosed with ASD participated. Results showed that the high-p instructional sequence was only effective for 1 out …

Implementing An Abbreviated Assessment To Compare Error-Correction Procedures For Teaching Intraverbal Behavior To Children, Victoria Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Young children with Autism (ASD) often have difficulty responding appropriately to questions asked by their peers, parents, or teachers. Teaching intraverbal behavior using Discrete Trial Instruction (DTI) has shown effective results with the use of specific stimulus-transfer procedures (e.g., vocal, textual, or pictures). Previous research has suggested using an abbreviated assessment for error correction procedures as a tool to determine the most effective and efficient procedures when teaching children. In addition, such tools have been shown to not only be effective at predicting a child’s most effective error-correction, but also in less time, allowing practitioners to make data-based decisions and …

The Effects Of Lag Reinforcement Schedules And Differential Reinforcement Of Alternative Responding On Reinforced Variability And Resurgence, Weizhi Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Differential reinforcement of an alternative responding (DRA) is a commonly used procedure to teach children with ASD more functionally and socially appropriate skills and decrease problem behavior. However, resurgence of problem behavior could occur when treatment integrity errors appearing while implementing DRA procedure. In research, one approach to mitigating resurgence is to reinforce varied alternative responses using a lag schedule. A lag schedule of reinforcement is a method to increase variability in which a reinforcer will be delivered contingently if the response differs from a certain number of previous responses. The present laboratory study evaluated whether reinforced behavioral variability could …

The Effects Of Reinforcement Magnitude On Unprompted Intraverbal Responses To Mands For Personal Information In Adolescents With Disabilities, Rachel Ruthann Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of reinforcement magnitude plus praise on correct, unprompted responding during Discrete Trial Training (DTT) among adolescents with an intellectual disability. Participants were teenaged individuals with an intellectual disability who are able to engage in vocal-verbal responding and can read independently. An alternating treatments design with generalization probes to novel environments and people (using confederates within the research lab) was used to evaluate intervention effects. During baseline, participants were asked each intraverbal question but were not given any prompting or feedback. During treatment, edible items were delivered contingent upon correct, …

The Effect Of Social Comparison Feedback On Task Completion In A Human-Service Setting, Curtis Thomas Phillabaum

Theses and Dissertations

There has been much debate over the most successful types of feedback, but little research has examined the use of social comparison feedback. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effects of social comparison feedback on the percentage of end-of-shift cleaning tasks completed by three behavior technicians identified as exhibiting lower performance. The social comparison feedback consisted of a bar graph depicting the percentage of tasks completed by the individual participant in relation to two behavior technicians identified as high performers. Following the client shift, the researcher shared the graph and delivered vocal social comparison feedback during …

Multimethod Assessment Of Interpersonal Dysfunction Using The Rorschach And The Mmpi-2-Rf, Ryan Daniels

Theses and Dissertations

Well established and widely used personality measures such as the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2-Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) and Rorschach contain several scales or indices related to interpersonal dysfunction, but from very different methodologies. Using a multimethod assessment framework, the current study examined four primary areas of interpersonal dysfunction assessed by these measures in a sample of 65 adult outpatient clients who underwent services at a Community Psychological Services center. The four areas examined were hostility and aggression; isolation and avoidance; passivity and dependency; and insecurity and ineffectiveness. First, the study postulated that MMPI-2-RF and Rorschach variables within an interpersonal domain would …

Fool Me Once: Response To Trust Violation In Collaborative Dyads, Trevor Noah Fry

Theses and Dissertations

Much of what is known about trust violation in collaborative contexts has emerged in the body of trust repair literature, broadly implicating that trust repair behaviors will be the immediate response to follow a trust-related transgression. However, when trust is violated in the workplace, it is possible that substantial time may pass before any movements toward trust repair are attempted. During that time between a trust violation experience and attempts to repair trust the trustor may experience a range of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in response to the violation. This dissertation aims to begin unpacking that black box through systematic …

A Comparison Of Mmpi-2-Rf Profiles Of Outpatients With Reported Chronic Medical Conditions, Reported Disability, Or Psychological Ailments, Natalie Hicks

Theses and Dissertations

Past personality assessment research using MMPI instruments has examined their use in a variety of contexts, including in healthcare settings. The utility of the more recently developed Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2- RF), however, has not been examined in these contexts to the same degree. The present study evaluated differences between MMPI-2-RF scores in a sample of 154 adult outpatient community mental health clients who (a) reported a preexisting physical condition in conjunction with psychological symptoms (n = 66), (b) were either in the process of applying for or were already receiving Social Security disability compensation (n = …

The Impact Of Culturally Different Types Of Faking On Test Properties, Yumiko Mochinushi

Theses and Dissertations

Personality measures have become a key component of the human capital strategies of organizations (Hough & Oswald, 2008). Multinationals often conduct employee selection across countries, and opportunities have expanded for using personality tests in selection across cultures. However, few studies have yet investigated applicant faking behavior in cross-cultural contexts, despite research suggesting that psychometric assessment tools are vulnerable to this (Salgado, 2016). One of main causes of the limited number of cross-cultural faking studies is the difficulty in data collection. Simulation is one of the more promising methods, and current research of similar problems often uses simulation (e.g., Jin & …

Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-Iv (Mcmi-Iv) Profile Patterns And Scale Score Correlates For Jail Inmates Referred For Mental Health Services, Lauren Ashley Price

Theses and Dissertations

Personality assessment measures have been heavily used and researched with criminal offender populations in the realms of clinical, forensic, and correctional psychology for reasons including assessing reoffending risk, informing predictions regarding future behavior, and treatment planning. The Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) features among the personality assessment measures widely used in evaluating criminal offenders. This current study compromised of adults male inmates (N=95) incarcerated in Brevard County, Florida examined scores from the recently released Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-Fourth Edition (MCMI-IV). The study’s goals included (a) providing reference data based on a sample of jail inmates receiving mental health services, (b) …

Motivated Interpersonal Emotion Regulation In Leadership, Julianna Jasmin Walsh

Theses and Dissertations

Emotions are important and prevalent workplace phenomena. Previous research has found that emotions can impact different workplace-related outcomes, from increasing employee performance to increasing employee well-being (Barsade & Gibson, 2007). Leaders are expected to engage in interpersonal emotion regulation (IER) strategies that influence their followers’ emotions to facilitate these outcomes. However, little is known about this process. Leaders might have different motives for regulating followers’ emotions, such as to help them learn a skill, to be compassionate with them, or to push them to get work done. Additionally, they might target specific emotions depending on that intention and, in turn, …

Defining Worthy Victims: State-Level Legislative Decisions To Prevent The Criminalization Of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children In The United States, Kathleen A. Price

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (TVPA) includes children (anyone under 18) who are sexually exploited for commercial purposes in its definition of human trafficking victims. However, most states currently arrest and/or prosecute sex trafficked children for prostitution. From 2008 to 2017, six states neither arrested nor prosecuted sexually exploited children for prostitution; eight retained the right to arrest, but not prosecute minors for prostitution; and 36 states both arrested and prosecuted this population for prostitution. All 50 states passed their first human trafficking laws between 2003 and 2013. Washington passed the first in 2003 and Wyoming was …

Effects Of Visual Impairment On The Preparation, Response, And Recovery From The 2017 Hurricane Season In Puerto Rico, Kevin D. Mccormack

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The 2017 hurricane season in Puerto Rico brought rain and wind forces the likes of which had not been seen in 90 years on the island. Some say it will take at least ten years to recover from the damage caused to functional necessities such as roadways, assuming full recovery is possible. While the general populace in Puerto Rico struggled to recover, populations such as people with visual impairments experienced the struggle more acutely. Independent living, limited as it generally was before Hurricane Maria, was further compromised. There was a feeling of abandonment throughout the community of people with visual …

The Impact Of The 2010 Affordable Care Act On Reducing Racial/Ethnic Disparties In Primary Care Acess And The Delivery Of Diabetes Preventive Care In The United States, Adrianna Nava

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

A key focus of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was to improve access to healthcare services in the United States (U.S.) (Stolberg & Pear, 2010). The research purpose was to assess the impact of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion and insurance subsidies on reducing racial/ethnic disparities in coverage, access and the delivery of primary care services, specifically diabetes prevention. Diabetes disproportionately affects minority populations, with inequities reported in the delivery of diabetes care to minorities (Chow, Foster, Gonzalez & McIver, 2012). The Modified Quality Health Outcomes Model was used to guide this research. Statistical analyses were conducted …

Teaching For Transformation: Enabling The Exploration Of Disorienting Dilemma In The Classroom, Lisa Deangelis

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

While learning involves the acquisition of new skills and the development of existing repertoires, some educators harbor even more profound learning goals. They seek to enable learning that is transformative. Jack Mezirow, who is credited with establishing transformative learning theory, defines transformative learning as “an enhanced level of awareness of the context of one's beliefs and feelings, a critique of their assumptions and particularly premises, an assessment of alternative perspectives, a decision to negate an old perspective in favor of a new one or to make a synthesis of old and new, an ability to take action based upon the …

An Explorative Case-Study Of The Use Of Peerwise To Foster Student Centred, And Peer Supported, Learning In A First-Year Business Module, Anna Dynan, Barry Ryan

Articles

Peer based learning is not a new concept in business studies in higher education; however, the integration of technology enabled and asynchronous peer learning has limited reported use and even less evidence based evaluation. In this explorative case study, the online tool PeerWise was used to scaffold and support an asynchronous peer-learning environment for a group of 212 first year business studies students. Students were required to create, answer and rate multiple choice questions on topics aligned to their curriculum within the peer constructed PeerWise question database. While there was no statistically significant correlation between PeerWise engagement and final module …

General Practitioners’ Perceptions Of Their Communication With Australian Aboriginal Patients With Acquired Neurogenic Communication Disorders, Deborah Hersh, Elizabeth Armstrong, Meaghan Mcallister, Natalie Ciccone, Judith Katzenellenbogen, Juli Coffin, Sandra Thompson, Colleen Hayward, Leon Flicker, Deborah Woods

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Objective:

Aboriginal people have high rates of stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI), often with residual, chronic communication deficits and multiple co-morbidities. This study examined general practitioners’ (GPs’) perceptions of their communication with Aboriginal patients with acquired communication disorders (ACD) after brain injury. Effective communication underpins good care but no previous research has explored this specific context.

Methods:

A qualitative descriptive approach was employed using interviews and focus groups with 23 GPs from metropolitan Perth and five regional sites in Western Australia. Data were analysed thematically. Results: GPs reported low visibility of Aboriginal patients with ACD in their practices, minimal …

Local Anesthesia Before Intravenous Cannula Insertion: Recommendations For Registered Nurses In Practice, Vera Campbell-Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Administering local anesthetics, such as intradermal, should become standard practice for RNs in pretreatments for pain control prior to intravenous insertion. Peripheral venous cannulation has provoked the most fear and anxiety in adult patients about everyday practice in hospitals. Adult patients often state that this procedure causes considerable discomfort. Local anesthesia for cannulation is usually not offered to adult patients who are on general medical units. Evidence has indicated inconsistency in the use of pain management strategies during these procedures. The researcher’s goal in this project was to educate RNs about the intradermal pretreatment procedure, provide education on the …

From Exclusion To Restoration: Implementation Successes And Barriers, Chris White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exclusionary suspensions have been used extensively to handle student discipline and promote a perception of a safer environment in schools. However, an increasing number of school administrators have begun seeking alternative methods, such as restorative practices, in an effort to change the approach towards handling misbehaviors, conflict, and damaged relationships. This study occurred in a Grade 9 campus in northern Texas. The goal of the researcher was to better understand the challenges and successes of implementing restorative practices at the school during the 2018–2019 school year from multiple perspectives. Utilizing the principles of a program evaluation approach—deliberatively democratic evaluation—the researcher …

Investigating Administrators’ Resistance To Implementing Restorative Practices, Beri Deister

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this case study, the researcher investigated the barriers to school administrators’ implementation of restorative practices as a management approach to student behavior. Based on the claim that restorative practices is a promising alternative to exclusionary disciplinary placements for changing behavior, the researcher used an emergent explanatory mixed methods design to better understand administrators’ resistance to change despite overwhelming evidence that exclusionary disciplinary practices are the primary contributors to national trends in disciplinary disproportionality and institutional discrimination. The researcher identified and analyzed barriers to create recommendations for addressing administrators’ resistance through organizational change strategies using systems theory.

The Implementation Of Online Classroom Management Professional Development For Beginning Teachers, Kaytlynn Milliken

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effective classroom management practices are well known, yet the most efficient ways to teach them to beginning teachers is not. Online professional development is growing in popularity—though there are few examples of online classroom management training in the literature. The purpose of this qualitative study was to evaluate the experiences and implementation practices of beginning teachers that participated in online classroom management training as part of their new teacher induction program. The results suggest that online classroom management professional development as part of new teacher induction is a practical option. The beginning teachers were observed utilizing the classroom management strategies …

Organizational Conditions That Promote And Impede Research Engagement: The Principal’S Perspective, Renee Treat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The researcher explored perceptions of the research-practice gap in education, the process through which central actors make decisions related to teacher retention and development, and the organizational conditions that promote and impede research-engagement in this qualitative study. The researcher limited the study to the role of the campus principal and used purposive sampling to select participants from 3 diverse districts in the state of Texas. Because there may be discrepancies between leaders’ perceptions and behaviors, the researcher conducted interview sessions with principals and principal supervisors and conducted observation sessions in principals’ natural work environments. The study results showed that good …

Conflict Style And Marital Satisfaction In Black Intercultural Couples, Tiffanie James Parker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current literature suggests that culture-specific relationships exist between conflict styles and marital satisfaction; however, researchers have only focused on marriages between non-Westerners and Westerners. Very little research exists on how these variables function uniquely in marriages involving African American and African Caribbean individuals. This quantitative study examined the relationship between conflict style and marital satisfaction with and between African Caribbean and African American couples living in the United States. The research focused on three questions: (1) Will cultural differences between spouses influence the relationship between conflict styles and marital satisfaction? (2) Will there be any observable differences in conflict styles …

The Lived Experience Of Practical Nursing Faculty Who Have Transitioned To A Concept-Based Curriculum As Required By The North Carolina Nursing Curriculum Revision Project, Lora Poole Bartlett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative study was to understand the lived experience of practical nursing (PN) faculty who have transitioned from a systems-based curriculum to a concept-based curriculum (CBC) as required by the North Carolina nursing revision project. In recent years, nursing education transformation has been a topic of interest among government organizations, the healthcare system, nursing leaders and organizations, and faculty of nursing programs. However, literature specifically on how faculty perceive and transition into these new innovative methods of teaching is minimal. The participants in the study were PN faculty employed by North Carolina community colleges and …

An Urban District's Middle School Response To The Impact Of Relational Aggression: A Case Study, Billy Thompson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The proposed study is a qualitative design that utilizes a collective case approach. The purpose of this study is to examine administrator response to the academic and social impact that relational aggression has on girls between sixth through eighth grade at Thorn Rose Public Schools. The participants in this study are administrators from the district with diverse racial, gender identity, and ethnic backgrounds. The theories that guide this study are Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) founded in the work of Jean Miller, M.D., and Erikson's Stages of Psychological Development. The (RCT) theory assumes that humans have a natural drive toward acceptance and …