Digital Commons Network^™

Ad 150-001, 003: Color And Composition, Martin Short, Monica Nelson

School of Art and Design Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Decision-Making In The Era Of Mohammad Bin Salman, Andrew Brown

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Strategic culture plays a crucial role in shaping countries’ decision-making in regard to security and foreign policy. In the context of nuclear proliferation, strategic culture can significantly impact a country’s willingness to pursue nuclear weapons and how it calculates the risks and benefits of such a decision. This thesis examines Saudi Arabia’s decision-making under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), who has brought about significant changes in the country's strategic culture through aggressive top-down reform. While much of Saudi Arabia's traditional strategic culture has remained intact under MBS and his father, King Salman, some elements have shifted …

Strategic Implications Caused By Hypersonic Strike Weapons, Marc D. Johnson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Emerging technology is having a substantial impact on strategic stability. This thesis will analyze the impact of developing hypersonic weapon systems globally on strategic stability. Hypersonic weapons are defined as weapons that travel at least five times the speed of sound (Mach 5). Hypersonic Strike Weapons (HSW) are hypersonic weapons capable of maneuvering at hypersonic speeds that makes them much more difficult to engage when traveling at such high speeds. They are a relatively new technology that is currently being pursued by multiple nations throughout the world.

The United States is currently the only country that has officially declared all …

The Effect Of Email Communication On Professor-Student Rapport, Academic Self-Efficacy, Resiliency, Motivation, And Spirituality, David J. Heim

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Student retention and success rates are an increasing concern among collegiate administrators and educators. This study examined the influence of a college instructor’s email communications on professor-student rapport, student academic self-efficacy, resilience, motivation, and success. Researchers hypothesized that the student participants who received the encouraging email communications from their professor would demonstrate higher levels of professor-student rapport, higher levels of academic self-efficacy, resiliency, and success compared to the students who receive standard email communications from their professor. Five scales were utilized in this study including Professor-Student Rapport Scale, Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, Academic Resilience Scale (ARS-30), Daily Spiritual Experience Scale (DSES), …

Nobody's Perfect: Examining The Relationship Between Parenting Traits And Perfectionism And The Impact Of Maladaptive Versus Adaptive Perfectionism On Cortisol Regulation After Receiving Criticism, Olivia G. Baron

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The trait of perfectionism has been related to both internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. Parenting traits, and attachment tendencies affect how children develop relationships and impact them into their adult lives. Parents have a large impact on their child’s personality traits, coping styles, and modeling reactions to outward criticism. Criticism, especially criticism delivered by parents, has been linked to perfectionism. Perfectionism often involves a self-critical component, though perfectionists have not been studied to examine stress responses (e.g. cortisol change) when receiving criticism. This study examined the relationships between parenting traits (positive and negative) and perfectionism (adaptive and maladaptive). Cortisol change scores …

Navigating Sexual Consent In Japan, Samara Mizutani Cesar

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Employing an exploratory sequential research design, including focus groups and an online survey, this thesis explores the factors influencing how Japanese people navigate the gray zones of sexual consent. This study not only addresses gaps in the literature on sexual consent but also provides a preliminary understanding of Japanese individuals’ perceptions, beliefs, behaviors, and experiences in ambiguous sexual interactions, which is particularly meaningful given Japan’s recent legal revisions and changing sociocultural landscape. Findings indicated the impact of traditional sexual scripts on consent perceptions, with gender and relationship norms contributing to the dismissal of sexual assaults within specific relationships. It was …

Aromatherapies And Stress: An Examination Of Saliva Sclarea In Acute Stress Conditions, Emily J. Van Gundy

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The use of essential oils as an alternative medicine in the United States is becoming increasingly popular as more accreditation is given to its therapeutic values. With this increase in use, we must continue to examine the uses of essential oils, including associated risks. One unavoidable aspect of life is stress, both acute and chronic. This study aims to better our understanding of the stress-reducing properties of the essential oil clary sage (salvia sclarea) after an experimentally induced acute stress experience. The Trier Social Stress Test was used to elicit an acute stress response. Participants were given the scent of …

Word Reimagined: Analyzing Fanfiction's Transformative Force And Relationship With The Young Adult Literary Landscape, Megan Louise Reaves

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In exploring the reciprocal relationship between fanfiction and Young Adult (YA) literature, this thesis investigates how these two forms of storytelling, influenced by authors such as Marissa Meyer and Rainbow Rowell, have profoundly impacted the literary landscape. Marissa Meyer's The Lunar Chronicles series and Rainbow Rowell's novels Fangirl and Carry On serve as prime examples of this dynamic interaction. Drawing from the rich traditions of oral storytelling and folklore, fanfiction and YA literature have undergone significant development and popularity, particularly in the twenty-first century, thanks to technological advancements and the rise of online communities. This thesis contends that despite their …

Transforming The Culture Of Care, Implementation Of Developmentally Supportive Care In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Taylor Ann Jones

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The current study examines the implementation of the evidence-based practices of the neonatal integrative developmental care model in the neonatal intensive care unit and how these practices are implemented in reference to initiation method and frequency. In recent years, research examining the effectiveness of individualized, developmentally supportive care to infants in the NICU has demonstrated a variety of positive effects. Although great strides have been made in efforts to provide developmentally supportive care, wide variability and inconsistency remain in the quantity and quality of experience for infants and families in the NICU. Even though a hospital may incorporate developmentally supportive …

I Just Don't Want To Hear It: A Look Into The Relationship Between The Dark Triad And Negative Criticism, Carson Montgomery Hewitt

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Three dark personality traits have been identified and grouped together to form what is known as the Dark Triad of personality. Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Psychopathy are all connected by a lack of emotional empathy, and the presence of interpersonal hostility. When presented with negative stimuli, it is far from surprising to see an adverse reaction appear in participants scoring high in these traits. Little research has been conducted regarding the relationship between physiological response and dark triad personality traits. Even fewer so in the case of responses to criticism. This study aimed to examine the relationship between these dark personality …

Enhancing Workplace Climate And Learning Outcomes In Aba Services: Prosocial Approaches And Peak Instruction With Autistic Learners, Stephanie Vickroy

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The practice of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) heavily relies on the relationship between high quality client services and the direct care staff who implement these services. This thesis combines two manuscripts which discuss the field of behavior analysis in terms of clinical approaches. The first chapter evaluated intervention outcomes of 55 autistic learners undergoing language and cognitive training guided by PEAK (Promoting Emergence of Advanced Knowledge System; Dixon, 2014) within ABA services. Pre-post analyses of performance on the PCA revealed significant increases in PCA scores following 6-months of intervention and consistent gains in scores occurred across all four …

Evaluating The Maintenance Of Verbal Relational Operants Following Peak Programming, Jenna Huskey

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge (PEAK) Relational Training System is an assessment and curriculum tool developed for basic and advanced language skills using behavior analytic approaches (Dixon, 2016). Maintenance describes the retention of performance following the progression of time. In the present study, the purpose was to determine if maintenance was achieved on previously mastered PEAK programs, both in terms of the content and the verbal relational operant (i.e., generalization to new, untrained content). De-identified data were analyzed for five autistic learners (six to fourteen years old) receiving ABA services at a Midwestern clinic. Programs were selected from …

Evaluating The Interdependency Of The Peak Comprehensive Assessment As It Relates To Performance Estimation And Curricular Programming For Autistic Learners, Julia A. Busam

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Assessments are widely used by behavior analysts throughout the field of Applied Behavior Analysis when determining curriculum and intervention for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This thesis combines and discusses two collaborative manuscripts that revolve around the subject of one commonly used ABA assessment and curriculum. The PEAK Relational Training System (PEAK, Dixon 2014-2016) provides a wide-ranging assessment and training program that incorporates Skinnerian verbal operant learning and derived relational responding expressed in contemporary Relational Frame Theories (Hayes et al., 2001). The PEAK Comprehensive Assessment (PEAK-CA; Dixon, 2018) was developed to standardize and streamline assessments from all four PEAK …

Online Assignment Submission Delay As A Behavioral Indicator Of Procrastination, Ari L. Cunningham

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Procrastination has long been recognized as an important topic in higher education, and various tools for measuring procrastination have focused on either behavioral or subjective components of the phenomenon. This study examines how online assignment submission delay, used as an objective measure of procrastination, relates to several conceptualizations of procrastination and pacing style measured through self-report questionnaires. It was hypothesized that median assignment submission delay would have a positive relationship with the included self-report measures, a positive relationship with the deadline action pacing style, and a negative relationship with the steady pacing style. Data was collected from 66 students in …

Parents' Understanding Of Children's Mental States: Emotion Regulation In Young Children And The Role Of Mindful Parenting, Parental Reflective Functioning, And Parental Emotion Regulation, Kate A. Senack

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Parenting is a demanding and stressful responsibility that leads to increased feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression among caregivers, which research has found to be significantly related to social incompetence and behavioral problems in children during early childhood. However, certain parenting practices such as parental emotion regulation, mindful parenting, and parental reflective functioning have been found to support children’s socioemotional development, and in particular emotion regulation. This study utilized a cross-sectional design to explore the relationship between the parenting practices of parental emotion regulation, mindful parenting, and parental reflective functioning in relation to children’s emotion regulation using simple linear regression …

Why People Use Social Media: An Investigation Of Engagement On An All-Service Platform, Steven Bauer, Fang Tian

All Faculty Open Access Publications

This study provides the first investigation of the complete group of variables in the expanded theory of uses and gratifications on consumer engagement in an all-service social media platform. Consumer engagement is measured both from a psychological state and behavioral perspective, an approach which is important since the antecedent variables in uses and gratifications theory have both psychological and behavioral manifestations. A survey is conducted in Mainland China on WeChat with 805 respondents. Antecedent variables and consumer engagement are measured using previously validated scales. Regression analyses find that the antecedent variables of entertainment, integration/social interaction, personal identity, information, remuneration, and …

How Environmental Variation Affects Bumblebee Cognition And The Gut Microbiome, Parker Madison Campbell

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This master's thesis examines the influence of environmental variables on cognitive processes in Bombus impatiens, focusing on the effects of ingested microbial communities on gut microbiota and their subsequent impact on associative color learning. The study implemented controlled feeding trials with isolated microbe species (Candida bombi, Metschnikowia reukaufii, Lactobacillus micheneri and a control with no microbes) to analyze shifts in gut microbial composition in foraging bees. Results indicated minor alterations in the microbial profiles of bees, yet no statistically significant correlation was found between these modifications and variations in learning or memory performance. Furthermore, the study assessed the impact of …

Sixth Grade Music Ensemble Exploratories: Promoting Accessibility In Music Education, Michaela Marie Chybowski

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

School music ensemble participation has many benefits for students, including social well-being and improving academic performance; however, a variety of barriers, such as fear or lack of interest prevent many students from participating. To improve recruitment in music ensemble classes, Pittsburg Community Middle School created an exploratory class schedule that commenced with the 2022-2023 school year during which almost all sixth-grade students enrolled in three-week rotations of band, choir, and orchestra with the option to choose one option for the rest of the school year. This action research examined this new curriculum and the self-motivations of students who enrolled in …

Teaching And Generative Ai: Pedagogical Possibilities And Productive Tensions, Beth Buyserie, Travis N. Thurston, Adena Rivera-Dundas, Ali Söken, Belinda 'Ofakihevahanoa Fotu, Breanne K. Litts, Catherine J. Denial, Chris Mayer, Clancy Ratliff, Cora Alward, Daniel Frank, Daniel Hutchinson, Dory Rosenberg, Emma Mecham, Erin Jensen, Franziska Tsufim, Ha Nguyen, J. Kaleo Alladin, Jacob Morris, Jacob Taylor, Jenna Green, Jennifer Grewe, Jennifer K. Johnson, John Paul Tassoni, Josh Vogeler, Julia M. Gossard, Kolby Sanders, Kysa Nygreen, Lainie Pomerleau, Laura Dumin, Lillian Campbell, Lydia Peach, Lydia Wilkes, Maha Bali, Marc Watkins, Mary Lourdes Silva, Megan Hamilton, Melissa Tehee, Michael A. Christiansen, Mudasir Mustafa, Nicole Bungert, Parker Routt, Reba Wissner, Reed Hepler, Ritamarie Hensley, Rogelio E. Cardona-Rivera, Rosa Thornley, Ruth Li, Samantha K. Yoder, Susan Codone, Veronica Pulley, Walker P. Smith, Tazin Daniels

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

With the rapid development of generative AI, teachers are experiencing a new pedagogical challenge, one that promises to forever change the way we approach teaching and learning. As a response to this unprecedented teaching context, this collection—Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions—provides interdisciplinary teachers, librarians, and instructional designers with practical and thoughtful pedagogical resources for navigating the possibilities and challenges of teaching in an AI era. Because our goal with this edited collection is to present nuanced discussions of AI technologies across disciplines, the chapters collectively acknowledge or explore both possibilities and tensions—including the strengths, …

22. Examining Ways Of Using Ai To Better Support Teaching Faculty, Mitigate Burnout, And Increase Teaching Creativity, Jennifer Grewe

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

Faculty burnout is a concern within academics particularly for the most student-centered teaching faculty. In attempts to support students, faculty can sometimes do so at the expense of their own time and energy that over time can become overwhelming. There exist many concerns within academia on the use of Al and yet this is a tool that could be helpful to teaching loads if utilized properly. This chapter explores ways in which Al might help alleviate some of the workload that teaching faculty experience, which is a start to addressing burnout issues. Ideas are shared in this chapter surrounding Al's …

21. My Summer With Chatgpt, Mary Lourdes Silva

Teaching and Generative AI: Pedagogical Possibilities and Productive Tensions

Out of necessity, I first used ChatGPT to process mentally and emotionally two major injuries. Trapped at home for the entire summer, I learned to write with ChatGPT to complete a large-scale research project. The anthropomorphizing experience left me feeling less alone. For nearly a year, news about Al-generated writing software sparked nationwide concern about the future of traditional essays. As an early adopter of most digital technologies and the type of person who welcomes chaos, I chose to learn everything | could about ChatGPT, which meant I needed to learn how to "cheat" with ChatGPT. Inspired by similar assignments …

The Role Of Prejudice In Political Campaigns, Sara Steffens

A with Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Self-Diagnosing And The Role Of Social Media, Sara Steffens

A with Honors Projects

This poster explores outcomes of self-diagnosing mental illness/disorders and how social media factors in.

The Parentification Of Eldest Daughters, Isabella Loraina Ciarico

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of eldest daughters and to research if parentification in childhood impacts eldest daughter identities. The goal was to dive deeper into what it means to be the eldest daughter and how being the eldest daughter aligns with parentification. Two research questions guided this study: (a) what is the experience of the eldest daughter, and (b) How does parentification in childhood impact eldest daughter identities? Findings showed the experiences of eldest daughters with parentification.

Impulsive Behavior In The Context Of A Substance Use Treatment Seeking Sample: A Conditional Process Analysis Of Childhood Maltreatment, Experiential Avoidance, And Cognitive Fusion, Emily Kalantar

Dissertations and Theses

Substance misuse is associated with high impulsive behavior and may represent one behavioral manifestation of impulsive behavior. One predictor of substance misuse is childhood maltreatment, which is, in turn, associated with difficulty regulating unwanted emotion. Accordingly, impulsive behavior is high among individuals exposed to maltreatment and likely functions as one behavioral strategy for coping with unwanted internal experiences. Consequently, identification of behavioral processes that may account for the childhood maltreatment and impulsive behavior relation in substance misusers appears warranted. One process-based behavioral model that may be useful in this endeavor is psychological flexibility, which includes the inflexible processes of experiential …

The Effects Of Bilateral Stimulation On Motor Learning, Shania Rehmudin

Dissertations and Theses

Motor learning is a set of complex processes aimed at learning and refining new skills by practicing them. There are three proposed stages of motor learning: cognitive, associative, and autonomous. While all stages are crucial, research suggests that the cognitive stage holds particular significance, laying the foundational groundwork for effective skill acquisition. Although research has explored many innovative ways to facilitate motor memory, to our knowledge, none has explored the optimization of motor skill learning through manipulating the focus of attention using bilateral stimulation. Therefore, this study explored the effects of bilateral stimulation on squat skill acquisition. Nineteen (19) subjects, …

Juror Privacy Via Anonymity, Jayne S. Ressler

Fordham Law Review

Anonymous juries delivered verdicts in the hush-money criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, as well as both of E. Jean Carroll’s defamation cases against him. After the defamation cases concluded, the judge cautioned the jurors against ever publicly revealing their identities. This was sound advice, as recent doxing, threats of violence, and online posts filled with hatred and vitriol illustrate the dangers facing American jurors. The scholarly literature analyzing anonymous juries focuses primarily on the propriety of their use in criminal cases to protect jurors from physical harm. Missing from the conversation, however, is an examination of anonymity’s role in …

Disconnected In A Connected World: Gender Differences In Loneliness And The Impact Of Technology, Charlotte Andrea Svendsen

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

The purpose of the present study was to examine the direct and indirect effects of Problematic Instagram use (PIU) on different psychopathological outcomes including loneliness, depression, anxiety, and social anxiety. Additionally, moderating role of gender on the relationships among variables was investigated. A total of 191 adolescents (Mage= 21.45 years, SD=2.07; range=18 to 24 years) were recruited for the study to complete a questionnaire that included the relevant assessment tools for the variables. Mediation and moderation analyses showed that among male adolescents, PIU was directly associated with loneliness, depression, general anxiety, and social anxiety. Among females, PIU was directly associated …

To Swallow The Sun, John Morris Cox

Selected Full-Text Master Theses 2021-

My creative fiction thesis To Swallow the Sun is part one of a novel of the same name. Cage, the protagonist, is a dreamer; he yearns for visceral experience and enjoys assignations with the night beyond his bedroom window; but as his desires draw him deeper into a world of his own, there are many who see nothing but a boy in need of fixing. After continually falling short of the expectations his family and society have crafted for him- abandoning work, “ruining” school plays, even failing to react to a prisoner’s execution- Cage is sent to a psychiatric ward. …

Escaping Cicero: “Dionysius” And The Limits Of The Archive, Ryan Warwick

Classics Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.