Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Teachers At Work: Factors Influencing Satisfaction, Retention And The Professional Well-Being Of Elementary And Secondary Educators, Patrick Edward O'Reilly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study has been to explore the question of how factors in the work lives of teachers influence their experience of workplace satisfaction, and how satisfaction influences retention in the teaching profession. This study had three specific goals: (1) to examine whether five specified factors that teachers' encounter as workers influence their professional satisfaction, (2) to explore whether teacher satisfaction influences retention in the profession and (3) to determine whether school level taught plays a role in degrees of satisfaction a teacher experiences.

Data was collected over a period of five months, using a survey administered to …

Development Of A Model Of Participation Of Community-Based, Discretionary Activities By People Who Use Wheelchairs, Anita Perr

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This cross-sectional research analyzed an existing data set of 302 wheelchair users to identify the psychosocial predictors of participation in community-based, discretionary activities. Two defining elements of participation were studied: the extent of participation and satisfaction with participation. Descriptive analyses of the participants' demographic information and portions of four assessments were completed first. Regression analyses were then used to systematically eliminate potential covariates until the significant psychosocial covariates of the extent of and satisfaction with participation were identified. Perceived control over one's life and perceived reintegration to social function were found to predict the extent of participation. Perceived control also …

Engaging Bad Governments: Resource Groups And Patterns Of Engagement In Bangladesh, Nayma Qayum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bangladesh's governments have pursued an aid-based neoliberal development agenda since the 1980s, which has allowed new resources and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to permeate rural society. These NGOs operate programs through resource groups, small groups of impoverished women who gather at the village or ward levels. This dissertation argues that resource groups have built new citizen-state relationships and enabled new forms of engagement between citizens and their governments. These new transactional relationships are governed simultaneously by informal institutions of accountability and informal institutions of exchange; the former allow actors to reinforce formal rules when badly-performing institutions deviate from them, and the …

Women's Experiences Of Privacy, Publicness And Place In Mediated Space, Nelida Quintero

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This mixed-method study explored the experiences and understandings of the notions of privacy, publicness and place in mediated space among women who use the internet daily. Mediated space is experienced at the intersection of mass media, including the internet, and the physical environment. In this two-phased study, fourteen women were interviewed and sixty-one completed an online survey. Participants were asked about the physical places they preferred and the activities they undertook, whether for paid work, domestic work or entertainment, such as sending e-mails and gathering information, posting or reading posts on social network sites, shopping, banking, web browsing, watching TV …

"A New Way Of Doing Politics": The Movement Against Cafta In Costa Rica, Jeremy Rayner

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In October of 2007, Costa Ricans voted in a referendum to ratify a Free Trade Agreement with the United States (DR-CAFTA, or CAFTA). The first referendum in their nation's history--and the first referendum ever held on a Free Trade Agreement--marked the culmination of a cycle of contention over liberalization that transformed practices and expectations of politics in a country often considered an exemplar of representative democracy. In this dissertation I provide an account of the opposition to CAFTA (the NO), based on two years of ethnographic research with the Patriotic Committees (Comites Patrioticos), the decentralized, grassroots network at the heart …

Becoming Transnational Citizens: The Liberian Diaspora's Civic Engagement In The United States And In Homeland Peacebuilding, Janet Elizabeth Reilly

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines the relationship between civic participation in homeland peacebuilding and immigrants' political incorporation and integration in their local communities in the United States. It explores the impact of state (U.S. and Liberia) policies and local context on individuals' civic participation locally and in transnational activities. The study demonstrates the mechanisms through which state policies and local context influence Liberians' political participation in the United States and their transnational citizenship, defined as full legal membership and civic participation. The relationship between civic engagement in the United States and in transnational activities is not an adversarial one. Engagement with the …

Neurophysiological Bases Of Frequency Discrimination In Children With Auditory Processing Disorder Or Specific Language Impairment, Christine Rota-Donahue

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if 10-12 year old children with Auditory Processing Disorder (APD) or Specific Language Impairment (SLI) could discriminate three different frequency changes behaviorally and electrophysiologically. Behavioral frequency discrimination and event-related potentials were examined using a 1000Hz pure tone base frequency. Typically developing children and children with APD or SLI differed in in their detection of frequency changes: behavioral results were below chance level and the MMN amplitude was smaller in the impaired population. Slight differences between children with APD and children with SLI were also found that might shed light on the controversy …

We Work, We Eat Together: Anti-Authoritarian Mutual Aid Politics In New York City, 2004-2013, David Spataro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

New York City's neoliberal restructuring has fundamentally transformed the city's labor market and privatized many important aspects of a once robust municipal welfare system. In this research I examine one radical response to these changes: anti-authoritarian mutual aid groups that blend Do-It-Yourself (DIY) culture with direct action politics. These are projects where activists attempt to build strong communities of resistance by organizing collective forms of social reproduction. I find that these projects are a threat to neoliberal urbanization because they reorganize reproduction beyond the household scale while simultaneously criticizing the social relations of capitalism as the root of household insecurity. …

Adolescents' And Young Adults' Moral Thinking In Typical Everyday-Life Moral Dilemmas, Yoko Takagi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research examined adolescents' and young adults' practical moral judgments, specifically their unique moral thinking in two interpersonal moral dilemmas. The basic philosophical frameworks (deontological and consequentialist principles) were employed as tools for psychological analysis. In Study 1, 42 preliminary groups of adolescents and young adults (14-16 years and 18-21 years) provided moral dilemmas that they had experienced during a past year. Among 42 dilemmas, two dilemmas (the homework and the video dilemmas), including different types of conflicting moral issues, were selected as materials for Study 2. In Study 2, 234 participants (76 aged 14-16, 90 aged 18-19, and 68 …

A Cross-Boundary People: The Commercial Activities, Social Networks, And Travel Writings Of Japanese And Taiwanese Sekimin In The Shantou Treaty Port (1895-1937), Lin-Yi Tseng

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation explores Japanese imperial history in East Asia and focuses on a group of "cross-boundary people"--Taiwanese sekimin (Taiwanese who registered as Japanese subjects) and Japanese--who went to the treaty port of Shantou in southern China during the period between 1895 and 1937. The starting time point (i.e., 1895) corresponds to the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, by which Japan acquired Taiwan as a colony and informal privileges in Chinese treaty ports. The ending time point (i.e., 1937) corresponds to the decline that Shantou's Japanese community experienced owing to the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War on July 7, …

Exploring The Role Of Perceived Religiosity On Daily Life, Coping, And Parenting For Jewish Parents Of Children With Autism, Frances Rebecca Victory

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This two-part study (a) explores the multi-dimensional aspects of religious and psychosocial experience of Jewish mothers and fathers with and without a child with autism; and (b) uses a multi-method design to examine the influence of perceived religious beliefs, ritual practices, and community context on daily life, parenting, and coping processes for these parents. The first study included 20 fathers and 34 mothers of typically developing children. Participants were affiliated with Reform, Conservative, and Modern Orthodox Judaism. They completed three online q-sorts and five open-ended questions. The three q-sorts focused on the perceptions of religious beliefs, ritual practices, and community …

The Effect Of Malintent On Visual Attention, David Brian Wallace

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Malintent is a relatively unexplored phenomenon, despite the practical and theoretical interest in its detection. The four studies presented here, informed by the Guilty Knowledge Test and Guided Search model of visual attention, illustrate how eye tracking can (and cannot) be utilized to detect malicious intent. Malintent, induced in two different mock crime paradigms (murder; theft), boosted the frequency and duration of fixations that fell upon objects relevant to their task. The size of the malintent effect ranged from moderate (fixation duration) to large (fixation frequency). The increased visual attention given to task-relevant objects was not unique to malintent; benign …

On Becoming A Teacher (Or Not): Students Of Color's Perceptions Of Teachers' Work, Consideration Of Teaching As A Career, And Implications For Diversifying The Teaching Force, Amanda Lee Winkelsas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The racial/ethnic demographics of the American public school teaching force stand in contrast to the racial/ethnic demographics of the students and families who are served by our public school system. In an effort to understand the racial/ethnic demographic disparities between the teaching force and the public school student population, this study explores the perceptions of students of color as they relate to teachers' work, authority, and power. Utilizing a participatory, mixed methods approach in one public, urban, college preparatory school, I analyze the experiences, cultural models, and knowledges that shape students' perceptions of teachers' work and their own consideration of …

Affective Language And Attitudes Toward Public Policy, Rachel A. Wolitzky

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation project focused on affective and unconscious processes involved in the evaluation of public policy. It follows recent scholarship in political psychology showing how the response to political messages depends greatly on what values and emotions are evoked. Of particular focus has been the notable discrepancy between the conscious way people construe their political judgments and the unconscious operations that more truly account for their views and actions. Motivated by a neuroscientific and psychoanalytic model of the mind and brain that recognizes both the pre-eminence of unconscious (implicit) processing and the primacy of affect in mind (brain) activity, this …

Acts Of Belonging: Perceptions Of Citizenship Among Queer Turkish Women In Germany, Ilgin Yorukoglu

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis examines how people who have multiple identifications develop a sense of belonging. It focuses on those with politicized, romanticized, and stigmatized identifications which are assumed to be in conflict with one another. My particular case is that of "queer" women of Turkish descent in Germany with Berlin as my main study site.

These people embody what is considered to be an oxymoron: being queer yet also Turkish, being a lesbian yet having a Muslim background, being of immigrant origin yet also German. In short, they are between all worlds and thus, seemingly, do not belong anywhere. Their ambiguous …

Voir Dire Efficacy In Highly Publicized Criminal Cases, David Zimmerman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Whether judges and attorneys are able to detect bias among potential jurors (venirepersons) is a pivotal concern in highly publicized cases in which most of the jury pool has been exposed to pretrial publicity (PTP). The current dissertation research addressed 1) whether attorneys and judges can accurately gauge differences in PTP exposure/bias among potential jurors, 2) how potential jurors' (venirepersons) motivations to serve or not serve on a jury affect attorneys' and judges' abilities to detect bias, and 3) whether withholding instructions on the importance of juror impartiality in favor of urging honesty can reduce venirepersons' abilities to tailor voir …

The Inner Workings Of Text Summarization Systems, Hope Cotton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This paper investigates automatic text summarization systems (ATS). To begin, a general description of how some ATS systems operate is provided. Following is a report on the testing of two summarization systems, Mead and SweSum. News articles from online sources were used for testing. Analyzing each system's output under different parameter settings helped to uncover (to some extent) the architecture of these summarizers. Both systems were compared as to how user-focused they are, how informative the summaries are in relation to the source document, and how punctuation and format are reconstructed in a summary.

Physiological Correlates Of Emotion Regulation In Depersonalization Disorder, Kai-Mosadi Monde

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Depersonalization disorder (DPD), is an often debilitating DSM V psychiatric disorder characterized by feelings of detachment from the self or others as well as emotional blunting or numbness. Subjective and physiological evidence of decreased emotional arousal may suggest impaired emotion regulation abilities. Deficits in emotional processing of DPD may be the result of dysregulated cortisol and oxytocin levels, however oxytocin levels have never been assessed in DPD. In this series of studies, we aimed to investigate the physiological correlates of emotion regulation in depersonalization disorder. In experiment 1, DPD patients and a normal control group subjectively enhanced and suppressed emotion …

Fiscal Decentralization: Does The Source Of Revenue Matter?, Pallavi Jain Govil

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fiscal Decentralization: does the Source of Revenue Matter?

Evidence from Rural India

Pallavi Jain Govil

Adviser: Professor Timothy J. Goodspeed

Is the pattern of expenditures of village governments related to their sources of revenue? Do village governments use own-source revenues more efficiently than transfer grants to provide public services to their constituents?

This paper begins with the premise that local governments are more participative, more acceptable, and more accountable and hence, deliver better. I use a policy change introduced in 1997 in province of Madhya Pradesh in India, whereby the power to collect royalty and lease rents on minor mineral …

Using Otoacoustic Emissions To Evaluate Efferent Auditory Function In Humans, Simon Henin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The auditory system continually adapts to changes in the acoustic environment over short periods of time. This fine-tuning of its dynamics is mediated in part by the medial olivocochlear (MOC) bundle, a neural feedback loop which aids in the regulation of cochlear micro-mechanics. The ability to measure the response of the MOC system in humans may provide significant insight into unique cochlear functions, such as its sharp frequency selectivity and wide dynamic range. In humans the efferent system can be investigated non-invasively using otoacoustic emissions (OAEs). However, how OAEs can best be used to evaluate efferent function, the pitfalls associated …

The Privileged "In-Between" Status Of Latino Jews In The Northeastern United States, Laura Limonic

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study is an in-depth look at how religion, class, and ethno-racial status interact and intersect to affect assimilation and integration prospects for new immigrants. The research focuses on Latin American Jewish immigrants in the Northeastern United States, a particularly interesting group to study because they are not easily classified within the American racial and ethnic system and existing ethno-racial categories. As a result, they are presented with a number of ethnic options that they can call upon. The choices they make as well as the constraints they face in making these choices, can broaden our understanding of contemporary immigrant …

Albert Camus' Political Thought: From Passion To Compassion, Angel López-Santiago

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present work analyzes the political thought of Albert Camus, specifically the challenges of the justice ideal, and Camus' prioritization of the concepts of limits and compassion. Although Camus is not usually considered part of the traditional canon of political philosophy, I organized his thought into three major areas: a sub-theory of the human being, a sub-theory of institutions, and a sub-theory of political change. This method, I demonstrate, is ideal for extracting and organizing the political ideas of non-traditional political writers. In the case of Camus, he advocates for an international and democratic `civilization of dialogue' as part of …

The Other Tribeca: Immigrant Work And Incorporation Amid Affluence, Elizabeth A. Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Tribeca, a small, affluent neighborhood in the lower west side of Manhattan, is a microcosm of the service-and-information-based economic structure that characterizes many communities in other American cities today, and thus provides an opportunity to study the effects of this system. Tribeca residents are predominantly wealthy and work in high-end service-oriented professions, so they consume low-end personal services produced locally. Many of the people who provide these personal services in the neighborhood are foreign born. Although they share space and have regular interactions, conventional assumptions might suggest that Tribeca residents and immigrant service workers lack much in common, and have …

Apotheosis Of The Public Realm: Civic Classicism In New York City's Architecture, Paul Andrija Ranogajec

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the years around the consolidation of Greater New York in 1898, a renewed interest in republican political theory among progressive liberals coincided with a new kind of civic architecture. For the first time in American history, cities and the urban public emerged as crucial parts of democratic citizenship, at least for progressives such as Frank Goodnow, Frederic Howe, and Herbert Croly. At the same time, New York City was promoted as the nation's cultural and commercial capital: the "American metropolis," in Croly's words. Architects, too, played a key role in articulating the city's and the urban public's new status …

Cadê O Mico? Where Is The Tamarin?: Locating Monkeys In The Politics Of Land And Conservation In Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, Analía Villagra

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The golden lion tamarin is a small, endangered monkey found in only a few municipalities in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This dissertation explores the project to conserve this rare primate, a project that links together agrarian reform, forest restoration, agroforestry, and conservation biology. Informed by Brazil's social and political history, and drawing from 12 months of fieldwork conducted in 2008 and 2010, this dissertation argues that by looking carefully at and for the tamarin, we discover the interrelated political, social, and animal relationships that weave together to produce conservation in southeastern Brazil.

Performing Modernity In Turkey: Conflicts Of Masculinity, Sexuality, And The Köçek Dancer, Brittany Giselle Haynes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis reexamines the history of the köçek dancer in Turkey and thereby opens modern heteronormative constructs of masculinity and sexuality to contestation, particularly as they have been symbolically embodied by the rural population of Anatolia. It traces the evolution of the köçek dancer from the early modern Ottoman Empire when the dancer embodied notions of divine love and the ideal of beauty as a young male object of adult men's desires. In the nineteenth century, perceptions of the köçek began to change, primarily among Ottoman elites, whose modernization efforts were influenced by the European gaze and travelers' Orientalist interpretations …

An Examination Of Western Representation Of The Muslim Brotherhood Through Various Media Outlets, Popular Literature And How Has Recent History And Outside Influences Affected The Viewpoint Presented To The Public?, Lynn Andrew Perkins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In depth study of Western media's coverage of the rise to power of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt after the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak in February 2011. Not only using key events between the West/ United States and the Middle East over the last 40 years to show how current events are reported but also investigating where and how the media receives their information to report. The outside and internal influences put upon western media are also under investigation in this paper and how those influences insure that their own interests supersede that of complete and accurate reporting …

Lacuny Emerging Technologies Committee Meeting Minutes, January 2014, Lacuny

Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

A Kinder, Gentler Dopamine. . . Highlighting Dopamine's Role In Behavioral Flexibility, Jeff A. Beeler, Roshan Cools, Monica Luciana, Sean B. Ostlund, Giselle Petzinger

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Quality-Space Theory In Olfaction, Benjamin D. Young, Andreas Keller, David Rosenthal

Publications and Research

Quality-space theory (QST) explains the nature of the mental qualities distinctive of perceptual states by appeal to their role in perceiving. QST is typically described in terms of the mental qualities that pertain to color. Here we apply QST to the olfactory modalities. Olfaction is in various respects more complex than vision, and so provides a useful test case for QST. To determine whether QST can deal with the challenges olfaction presents, we show how a quality space (QS) could be constructed relying on olfactory perceptible properties and the olfactory mental qualities then defined by appeal to that QS of …