Education Commons^™

A Study To Determine The Impact Of The Picture Exchange Communication System On Challenging Behaviors In Adults With Autism, Stephanie M. Belsanti

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if an increase in communication skills, over an 80 week period, in adults with autism would decrease challenging behaviors. The sample in this study consisted of 3 adult males diagnosed with autism and no verbal communication skills. The participants were between the ages of 24 and 27 and attended a data treatment center, which was used as the training environment in the current study.

The Picture Exchange Communication System was the primary treatment for three adults who have no verbal language and are diagnosed with autism. Treatment sessions were conducted throughout the …

Effects Of Institutionalization On Romanian Adoptees, Diane Castano

Theses and Dissertations

The overall health and well-being of Romanian adoptees has deteriorated significantly as a result of the deficient living conditions of Romanian orphanages. Several of the effects of institutionalized children include; developmental delays in speech, gross and fine motor areas, and emotional and behavioral impediments. Moreover, these children may develop mental and/or physical disabilities and an overabundance of health problems. This study reports findings from a survey completed by 38 American families with adopted children from Romania. The results of this study reflect; parents perceptions of their child's health at the time of adoption and current health status, the child's behavioral …

Examining The Effects Of A Self-Esteem Program On African American Girls, Andrea Alston-Brundage

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the self-concept of African American girls, ages 10-15 and to implement the Zola Circle program in an attempt to enhance their self-esteem.

Two groups of girls attended the Zola Circle workshops. Both groups attended the workshops for five weeks. The girls were given the Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory Test before attending the workshop and at the conclusion of the workshop. A follow-up test was given to group one five weeks after the completion of the workshop.

The Analysis of Variance test (ANOVA) was computed to assess pretest differences between the two groups participating. …

The Affective Effects Of A Newly Created Advisory Program On Middle School Students, Jacqueline Seidman

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of a newly created advisory program on a population of middle school students at a Suburban middle school. Three different instruments were used to assess the subjective affective responses of thirty middle school students ages ranging from 11 to 13. These instruments were a student Quarterly Self-Report Scale, administered twice, an Advisory Assessment scale, and a formal interview.

The results reflected no difference between male and female students regarding their attitudes toward the advisory process. There was also no statistical difference between student evaluation of the advisory process over time. …

What's On Page One? How Minorities Are Depicted In The National Print Press, Susan Guthrie Chang Saridakis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose was to identify how positively minority groups and non minority groups are depicted in the American print media. Fifty-two editions each of USA Today and The Wall Street Journal published during 2000 were rated for how positively and negatively minority and non-minority groups were portrayed. Two raters completed a questionnaire, identifying 1,144 newspaper stories and providing 1,626 ratings of minority and/or non-minority groups. Descriptive data and correlational results were calculated. No relationship between socioeconomic status of readership and positive presentation of group or minority/non-minority group membership and positive presentation of group were found. However, it was found that …

The Effects Of Institutionalization On Romanian Children When Adopted Into Families In The United States, Dawn M. Roy

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to research the dynamic factors involved in the assessment of children placed in adoptive homes in the United States who were taken from large institutional orphanages in Romania. This paper will discuss various aspects of problems that were encountered by children who lack the stimulation, stability and love that are crucial during the early years of development. It also endeavors to provide interventions that will enable these children to progress along more developmentally appropriate guidelines.

This project utilized a single subject design. The analysis was descriptive in nature. It measured the improvement of mean utterance length. The …

The Psychological Processing Checklist: Relationship To The Cognitive Assessment System, Shelly L. Lucas

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to test the validity of the Psychological Processing Checklist (PPC) against the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS). The participants of this study consisted of 30 first grade students, 11 girls and 19 boys whose ages ranged from 6 years 6 months to 7 years 11 months and their teachers from Monroe Township, New Jersey. Each child was evaluated with the Psychological Processing Checklist by their teacher and the Cognitive Assessment System by the researcher. The full scale raw scores, the full scale percentile ranks and the subscales of the two tests were then compared using …

The Relationship Between Personality Type And Choice Of College Major, Melissa Pollock

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between personality type and choice of college major. Twenty-six students in Psychology and thirty students in Engineering majors were used in this study to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in personality types with regard to major. The subjects were administered the Keirsey Temperament Sorter-II to determine their personality type and the Spearman Rank Order Correlation Coefficient was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that no relationship was found between personality type and major or type and sex. However, there was a significant relationship found between sex …

The Interrater Reliability Of The Psychological Processing Checklist, John A. Nonnemacher

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare thirty students' profiles under the Psychological Processing Checklist, a tool that attempts to locate the observable, measurable behaviors evident in a student's classroom performance that might be indicative of an emergent processing deficiency. Two individual instructors rated the same students, all chosen from two fifth grade classrooms in a Southern New Jersey public school, and the results were compared using correlation data. Significant correlations between the two profiles generated for each student, as measured by the Checklist, lent support for the Checklist as a reliable tool. It was hypothesized that the PPC …

Predicting Drinking And Driving, Peter John Arsenault

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to discover the relationship between personality traits and how they can be used to predict an individual's tendency to drink and drive. Specifically, does an individual's locus of control and self-esteem influence their tendency to drink and drive. Past research has suggested that an individual with low self-esteem and an external locus of control has a greater tendency to drink and drive. 125 participants completed a questionnaire, which measured their self-esteem, locus of control and drinking and driving behavior. A cross tabulation correlation was used to find evidence of a relationship between the …

Middle School Advisories: An Evaluation Of Effectiveness In Creating Greater Affiliation And Self-Concept, Kimberly A. Quigley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a first year middle school advisory program in the areas of school affiliation and early adolescent self-concept. A total of 300 sixth grade students participated in the study, with 100 students from each of three different middle schools in a New Jersey suburban district. The sample consisted of 140 females and 160 males. A combination of different scales was used to create the test packet that was distributed to the participants in order to examine the hypotheses regarding school affiliation and self-concept. Three scales were utilized to measure school …

The Relationship Between Eye Color And Behavioral Inhibition In Preschoolers, Dana P. Huff

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to study the rate of behavioral inhibition in preschoolers as related to eye color. One study was conducted on 50 preschool age children randomly selected from a learning center. Subjects were not chosen for specific behavioral characteristics, though an emphasis was put on acquiring an even number of blue-eyed children versus brown or green-eyed children. Twenty-two blue-eyed children and 28 brown-eyed and green-eyed children participated. Classroom teachers filled out the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation, Preschool Edition, based on observable characteristics demonstrated by each child. It is a Likert-scale rating form that compiles summary …

An Interrater Reliability Study Of The Psychological Processing Checklist, Sophia Lusinski

Theses and Dissertations

This research was undertaken to conduct an interrater reliability study of the Psychological Processing Checklist, which proposes to assess in children deficits in cognitive processes.

A sample of 30 Hispanic students, male and female, ages ranging from 6 to 10, enrolled in a Bilingual Program in a district of a city in Southern New Jersey was randomly selected to participate.

Two different teachers rated each individual: one bilingual and/or ESL, the other a mainstream regular classroom teacher. Both used the Psychological Processing Checklist to rate each student.

Study On The Prevalence Of Gastrointestinal Symptoms In Young Children With Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Jennifer Gelsinger

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to gather information on the prevalence of the occurrence of gastrointestinal problems in a selected group of young children with pervasive developmental disorder. The purpose of this study was to learn more about the eating, sleeping, and toileting habits of the selected group of children with PDD; and identify how these habits may or may not relate to the behavior exhibited by the children.

The sample for the study consisted of 50 children with pervasive developmental disorder, ages 2.5 to 12 years of age. All of the children had a post-diagnosis of PDD for …

A Correlational Study Of The Relationship Between Academic Performance And Parental Age, Jamie Melamed

Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to examine the relationship between academic performance and parental age. Parental age has previously been shown to be a strong predictor of academic performance. This study consisted of a survey of 45 undergraduate students at Rowan University to determine the degree to which their parents' ages, both mothers' and fathers', correlated with academic performance as measured by high school class rank, SAT score, and GPA at Rowan. All participants were children of intact families, and the sample consisted of 25 females and 20 males. Both mother's age and father's age were found to correlate strongly with the …

The Relationship Between Personality And Alcohol Abuse Among College Students, Amanda L. Alexander

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol abuse is a widespread problem on college campuses. It can lead to social, academic and physical consequences. Motivating factors for alcohol abuse include stress reduction, social acceptance and personality. The purpose of the present study was to determine a link between alcohol abuse and personality. The study has 53 female participants ranging in age from 18 to 26. It was hypothesized that females classified as binge drinkers would score significantly higher or lower on certain personality facets compared to females classified as non-binge drinkers. The IPILP-NEO and an alcohol use questionnaire were used to assess each participant's ranking on …