Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Tools For Online Database Instruction, Yvonne Mery, Erica Defrain, Leslie Sult, Elizabeth Kline

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

The intent of this study was to evaluate the Guide on the Side (GotS), an online learning tool developed by the University of Arizona Libraries, and a screencast tutorial for teaching information literacy and database searching skills. Ninety undergraduate students were randomly assigned into three groups: group 1 completed a GotS tutorial; group 2 viewed a screencast presenting identical content; and a control group. Each group completed an identical 16-item post-test. An analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the control group and both treatment groups; however, there was no statistical difference between treatment groups. Limitations of the study …

Management Of Content Development And Subject Engagement Through An Arts Matrix Model: A Case Study, Casey D. Hoeve, Ellen R. Urton, Thomas W. Bell

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Faculty Publications

From 2007 - 2009, Kansas State University Libraries (K-State Libraries) committed to strategically assess and redevelop their organizational structure. The Libraries’ Strategic Plan and position redistributions commenced in 2007 and 2009 respectively, with adjustments in 2010 to accommodate the university’s “K-State 2025” Strategic Plan. Together, these plans changed the roles of former subject librarians, dividing and transferring responsibilities for outreach, reference, instruction, and collection development. Among the more significant changes was the creation of departments devoted to patron groups, rather than specific academic disciplines. Illustrating how the reorganization changed the roles of traditional library services, this chapter will outline the …

“I Need Numbers Before I Will Buy It”: Reading And Writing Qualitative Scholarship On Close Relationships, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Julia Moore, Jenna Stephenson Abetz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The authors highlight important contributions of qualitative research for the study of close relationships, arguing for greater representation of this scholarship in the journals. Four challenges experienced by interpretive researchers trying to publish in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and close relationship journals are discussed.

Discursive Struggles Animating Individuals’ Talk About Their Parents’ Coming Out As Lesbian Or Gay, Diana Breshears, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

The goal in the present study was to understand the discourses that animate children’s talk about having a parent come out and how these discourses interplay to create meaning. Data were gathered through 20 in-depth interviews with adults who remembered a parent coming out to them as lesbian or gay. One discursive struggle animated the participants’ talk about their parents’ coming out: the discourse of lesbian and gay identity as wrong vs. the discourse of lesbian and gay identity as acceptable. Analysis of participants’ talk about their familial identities revealed a range of avenues for resisting the negative discourses regarding …

Theory And Research From The Communication Field: Discourses That Constitute And Reflect Families, Kathleen M. Galvin, Dawn O. Braithwaite

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

From the disciplinary perspective of communication studies, we review theory and research in family communication, including a brief history of the family communication field; the contributions of a family communication perspective; and 5 theories of family communication: communication accommodation theory, communication privacy management theory, family communication patterns theory, narrative theor(ies), and relational dialectics theory. We then illustrate the concept of discourse dependence in family communication processes and discuss current trends in family communication research. We also suggest emerging directions for family communication scholarship.

Undergraduate Instructor Assistants (Uias): Friend Or Foe, William J. Seiler, Jenna Stephenson Abetz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Undergraduate students have been and continue to be employed as instructor assistants (UIAs) in a variety of courses across disciplines. However, relatively little empirical research has been published regarding the educational merits for them or their students. The present essay extends such research by focusing specifically on UIAs’ perceived value of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) on their learning and personal growth. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with six former UIAs and employed a qualitative thematic analysis of their responses. Perceived benefits that emerged from the analysis include, for example, learning how to balance many different roles and responsibilities, …

Parental Socialization Of Ethnic Identity: Perspectives From Multiethnic Adults, Audra K. Nuru, Jordan Soliz

Department of Communication Studies: Faculty Publications

Participants (N = 113) who indicated that their parents had different ethnic or racial backgrounds provided retrospective accounts of parental messages they perceived as influential in the development of their ethnic identity. Three themes of parental messages concerning ethnic identity emerged from the participants’ responses: (a) parental messages of encouragement/egalitarianism, (b) parental messages of preference, and (c) lack of explicit parental messages/silence. Findings are discussed in terms of implications for understanding multiethnic identity development, and future directions for research are put forth.

Changes In School Connectedness And Deviant Peer Affiliation Among Sixth-Grade Students From High-Poverty Neighborhoods, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Kate Niehaus, Lisa J. Crockett, Christopher R. Rakes

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This longitudinal study examined associations between changes in School Connectedness and changes in Affiliation With Deviant Peers among students from high-poverty backgrounds during the year immediately following the transition to middle school. Sixth-graders (N = 328) attending two middle schools in a large school district completed measures of School Connectedness and Affiliation With Deviant Peers at three points across the year. Results from parallel process modeling showed that students’ reports of School Support significantly declined across the school year, School Support and Affiliation With Deviant Peers were negatively associated at the beginning of the school year, and students who reported …

Teacher Support Mediates Concurrent And Longitudinal Associations Between Temperament And Mild Depressive Symptoms In Sixth Grade, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Patrick Pössel, Stephanie Winkeljohn Black, Kate Niehaus

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The combination of changes occurring at the transition to middle school may be a catalyst for the onset of depressive symptoms, yet teacher support at this transition is protective. Research points to certain temperamental traits as risk factors for developing depressive symptoms. This study examines student reports of teacher support and teacher reports of student–teacher relationship (STR) quality as mediators of associations between child temperament (i.e. negative emotionality at age 4½ : and emotional reactivity in elementary grades) and depressive symptoms in sixth grade. Results indicate (a) negative emotionality predicted emotional reactivity and depressive symptoms; (b) emotional reactivity predicted depressive …

Efficacy Of The Getting Ready Intervention And The Role Of Parental Depression, Susan M. Sheridan, Lisa Knoche, Carolyn P. Edwards, Kevin A. Kupzyk, Brandy L. Clark, Elizabeth M. Kim

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study reports the results of a randomized trial of a parent engagement intervention (the Getting Ready Project) on directly observed learning-related social behaviors of children from families of low-income in the context of parent-child interactions. The study explored the moderating effect of parental depression on intervention outcomes. Participants were 204 children and their parents, and 29 Head Start teachers. Semi-structured parent-child interaction tasks were videotaped two times annually over the course of two academic years. Observational codes of child behaviors included agency, persistence, activity level, positive affect, distractibility, and verbalizations. Controlling for gender and disability concerns, relative to children …

Successes And Challenges From Formation To Implementation Of Eleven Broad-Extent Conservation Programs, Erik A. Beever, Brady J. Mattsson, Matthew J. Germino, Max Post Van Der Burg, John B. Bradford, Mark W. Brunson

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

Integration of conservation partnerships across geographic, biological, and administrative boundaries is increasingly relevant because drivers of change, such as climate shifts, transcend these boundaries. We explored successes and challenges of established conservation programs that span multiple watersheds and consider both social and ecological concerns. We asked representatives from a diverse set of 11 broadextent conservation partnerships in 29 countries 17 questions that pertained to launching and maintaining partnerships for broad-extent conservation, specifying ultimate management objectives, and implementation and learning. Partnerships invested more funds in implementing conservation actions than any other aspect of conservation, and a program’s context (geographic extent, United …

A Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus) Delivers Live Prey To A Pup, L. David Mech

United States Geological Survey, Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center: Publications

A two-year-old sibling Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) carefully captured an Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) leveret alive on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada, and delivered it alive to a pup 28–33 days old. This appears to be the first observation of a Gray Wolf delivering live prey to a pup.

Finding Them Before They Find Us: Informatics, Parasites, And Environments In Accelerating Climate Change, Daniel R. Brooks, Eric P. Hoberg, Walter A. Boeger, Scott Lyell Gardner, Kurt E. Galbreath, David Herczeg, Hugo H. Mejía-Madrid, S. Elizabeth Rácz, Altangerel Tsogtsaikhan Dursahinhan

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Parasites are agents of disease in humans, livestock, crops, and wildlife and are powerful representations of the ecological and historical context of the diseases they cause. Recognizing a nexus of professional opportunities and global public need, we gathered at the Cedar Point Biological Station of the University of Nebraska in September 2012 to formulate a cooperative and broad platform for providing essential information about the evolution, ecology, and epidemiology of parasites across host groups, parasite groups, geographical regions, and ecosystem types. A general protocol, documentation–assessment–monitoring–action (DAMA), suggests an integrated proposal to build a proactive capacity to understand, anticipate, and respond …

Transfer Of The U.S. National Parasite Collection [Announcement], Eric P. Hoberg, Anna J.. Phillips

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

In 2013, an agreement was articulated between the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Smithsonian Institution to transfer the National Parasite Collection (NPC) in its entirety (fluid specimens, slide specimens, frozen tissues, and reprints) to the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, D.C. Current collections staff, including senior curator Dr. Eric P. Hoberg and support scientists/managers from the ARS, will be transferred with the collection and, with adjunct appointments in the NMNH, will provide continuity and assistance for curation and accessibility during and after the relocation. New curatorial controls will be established under NMNH …

Transfer Of The United States National Parasite Collection [Announcement], Eric P. Hoberg, Anna J. Phillips

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

In 2013, an agreement was articulated between the United States Department of Agriculture/Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the Smithsonian Institution to transfer the United States National Parasite Collection in its entirety (fluid specimens, slide specimens, frozen tissues and reprints) to the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) in Washington, D.C. Current collections staff, including senior curator Dr. Eric P. Hoberg and support scientists/managers from the ARS will be transferred with the collection and with adjunct appointments in the NMNH will provide continuity and assistance for curation and accessibility during and after the relocation. New curatorial controls will be established under …

Anthropogenics: Human Influence On Global And Genetic Homogenization Of Parasite Populations, Dante S. Zarlenga, Eric P. Hoberg, Benjamin Rosenthal, Simonetti Mattiucci, Giuseppe Nascetti

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

The distribution, abundance, and diversity of life on Earth have been greatly shaped by human activities. This includes the geographic expansion of parasites; however, measuring the extent to which humans have influenced the dissemination and population structure of parasites has been challenging. In-depth comparisons among parasite populations extending to landscape-level processes affecting disease emergence have remained elusive. New research methods have enhanced our capacity to discern human impact, where the tools of population genetics and molecular epidemiology have begun to shed light on our historical and ongoing influence. Only since the 1990s have parasitologists coupled morphological diagnosis, long considered the …

Let Us Rank Journalism Programs, Joseph Weber

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

Unlike law, business, and medical schools, as well as universities in general, journalism schools and journalism programs have rarely been ranked. Publishers such as U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Washington Monthly do not pay them much mind. What is the best journalism school in the country? The top ten undergraduate and graduate schools? It is impossible to know. That should change, and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) should lead the way. It should develop a ranking system that would be helpful to anyone interested, especially because federal policy makers soon will …

[The Development Of Public Relations In] Kenya, Dane M. Kiambi

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Faculty Publications

This chapter traces the practice of PR from pre-independence Kenya to the 21st century. It emerges that the practice of PR is closely tied to major national events and to social, cultural, political and economic forces. PR roles as understood by the pre-independence colonial government: keeping the public informed on government development projects, assessing public opinion and advising government, endearing government to Kenyans and building the awareness of Kenya abroad have continued to modern-day Kenya.

Children’S Attitudes Towards Peers With Disabilities: Associations With Personal And Parental Factors, Soo-Young Hong, Kyong-Ah Kwon, Hyun-Joo Jeon

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the following: (i) associations among children’s prior contact with people with disabilities and the three dimensions of children’s attitudes towards people with disabilities: children’s understanding of and their feelings about people with disabilities and their behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions; (ii) the relation between children’s behavioral intentions to make inclusion decisions and the demands of activity contexts and the types of disabilities; and (iii) the association between parents’ attitudes and children’s attitudes. Participants included 94 typically developing four- and five-year-old preschoolers. Children’s understanding of disabilities and their prior contact with people …

Heritage Speakers Of Spanish In The Us Midwest: Reported Interlocutors As A Measure Of Family Language Relevance, Isabel Velázquez, Marisol Garrido, Mónica Millán

Spanish Language and Literature Papers

This article presents the results of an analysis of reported interlocutors in Spanish in a group of heritage speakers (HS), in three communities of the US Midwest. Participants were college-aged bilinguals developing their own personal and professional networks outside the direct influence of their parents. Responses are compared with those from two control groups: college-aged native speakers (NS) and college-aged second-language learners (L2). Seventy-seven per cent of HS reported speaking primarily in Spanish with 4–5 interlocutors on the week of the study. HS and NS reported more interactions in Spanish with older relatives, and more interactions with peers outside their …

Maternal Perceptions Of Agency In Intergenerational Transmission Of Spanish: The Case Of Latinos In The U.S. Midwest, Isabel Velázquez

Spanish Language and Literature Papers

This article examines the ways in which a group of first-generation Latino immigrants to the U.S. Midwest conceptualized their role in their children’s bilingual development. Respondents were asked to identify the individuals or institutions on which their children’s language and academic development depended, as well as household practices perceived as conducive to Spanish maintenance, and perceived obstacles to their children’s use of Spanish in the domains of home, school, and community. Discussion centers on maternal perceptions of agency because of the centrality of the mother in intergenerational minority language transmission. It is argued here that immigrant mothers’ perceptions of agency …

Developmental Changes In The Organization Of Functional Connections Between The Basal Ganglia And Cerebral Cortex, Deanna J. Greene, Timothy O. Laumann, Joseph W. Dubis, S. Katie Ihnen, Maital Neta, Jonathan D. Power, John R. Pruett Jr., Kevin J. Black, Bradley L. Schlaggar

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The basal ganglia (BG) comprise a set of subcortical nuclei with sensorimotor, cognitive, and limbic subdivisions, indicative of functional organization. BG dysfunction in several developmental disorders suggests the importance of the healthy maturation of these structures. However, few studies have investigated the development of BG functional organization. Using resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI), we compared human child and adult functional connectivity of the BG with rs-fcMRI-defined cortical systems. Because children move more than adults, customized preprocessing, including volume censoring, was used to minimize motion-induced rsfcMRI artifact. Our results demonstrated functional organization in the adult BG consistent with subdivisions previously identified …

Coexistence Of Gm, Conventional And Organic Food Not Always Possible, Konstantinos Giannakas

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

The coexistence of genetically modified (GM) products with their conventional and organic counterparts has been one of the most scrutinized issues surrounding the introduction of products of agricultural biotechnology into the agri-food system. Fears that the widespread adoption of GM products will drive their conventional (and, perhaps, organic) counterparts out of the market have been countered by arguments that their presence enhances the equilibrium product variety in the market. Central to the argument is, of course, the possibility of coexistence of GM, conventional and organic products with the main focus having been on farm production systems and the prospect of …

Gmos And Iprs Are Key Weapons In Fight Against Hunger, Konstantinos Giannakas

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

The introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the food system and the assignment of intellectual property rights (IPRs) for plant genetic resources are among the most notable features of the increasingly industrialized agri-food marketing system of numerous developed and developing countries around the world. IPRs have provided innovating firms with incentives to aggressively pursue improvements of crop characteristics (such as herbicide tolerance, insect and virus resistance, drought tolerance and increased nutritional value) through gene splicing techniques, and the agronomic benefits associated with the genetically modified (GM) products have resulted in their embrace by a significant number of agricultural producers …

Ad Hoc Disaster And Crop Insurance Programs May Reduce The Use Of Risk-Reducing Conservation Tillage Practices, Karina Schoengold, Ya Ying, Russell Headlee

CAFIO: Policy Research Group Policy Pagers

There is growing concern that the risks facing agricultural producers are increasing due to several factors that include the predicted effects of climate change leading to more frequent floods, droughts, and higher temperatures as well greater use of agricultural outputs for nonfood energy products.

These risks are partially managed through federal agricultural programs. Ad hoc disaster payments have frequently been used to provide financial support.

Rural Latino Adolescent Health: Preliminary Examination Of Health Risks And Cultural Correlates, Timothy D. Nelson, Katherine M. Kidwell, Brian E. Armenta, Lisa J. Crockett, Gustavo Carlo, Les B. Whitbeck

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Latino adolescents living in rural settings may be at increased risk of health problems; however, data describing the health status of this population are limited. This study examined 60 rural Latino adolescents and found high rates of health risk, including at-risk/clinical results for hemoglobin A1C (23.3%), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (55%), systolic blood pressure (21.7%), and overweight/obesity (55%). Time in sedentary behaviors was high and physical activity was limited. Adolescent language use was associated with health risk status, with greater use of English associated with lower risk. Health psychologists could promote improved health by providing health behavior interventions to this underserved …

Contribution Of Reactive And Proactive Control To Children’S Working Memory Performance: Insight From Item Recall Durations In Response Sequence Planning, Nicolas Chevalier, Tiffany D. James, Sandra A. Wiebe, Jennifer Mize Nelson, Kimberly Espy

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study addressed whether developmental improvement in working memory span task performance relies upon a growing ability to proactively plan response sequences during childhood. Two hundred thirteen children completed a working memory span task in which they used a touchscreen to reproduce orally presented sequences of animal names. Children were assessed longitudinally at 7 time points between 3 and 10 years of age. Twenty-one young adults also completed the same task. Proactive response sequence planning was assessed by comparing recall durations for the 1st item (preparatory interval) and subsequent items. At preschool age, the preparatory interval was generally shorter …

The Longitudinal Impact Of Intimate Partner Aggression And Relationship Status On Women’S Physical Health And Depression Symptoms, Laura E. Watkins, Anna E. Jaffe, Lesa Hoffman, Kim L. Gratz, Terri L. Messman-Moore, David Dilillo

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Intimate partner aggression (IPA) has many detrimental effects, particularly among young women. The present study examined the longitudinal effects of IPA victimization and relationship status on physical health and depression symptoms in a sample of 375 community women between the ages of 18 and 25 years. All variables were assessed at 4 occasions over a 12-month period (i.e., 1 assess-ment every 4 months). Multilevel modeling revealed that IPA victimization had both between- and within-person effects on women’s health outcomes, and relationship status had within-person effects when women did not report current IPA. Although IPA was generally related to greater physical …

Effect Of Head Impacts On Diffusivity Measures In A Cohort Of Collegiate Contact Sport Athletes, Thomas W. Mcallister, James C. Ford, Laura A. Flashman, Arthur C. Maerlender, Richard M. Greenwald, Jonathan G. Beckwith, Richard P. Bolander, Tor D. Tosteson, John H. Turco, Rema Raman, Sonia Jain

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: To determine whether exposure to repetitive head impacts over a single season affects white matter diffusion measures in collegiate contact sport athletes.

Methods: A prospective cohort study at a Division I NCAA athletic program of 80 nonconcussed varsity football and ice hockey players who wore instrumented helmets that recorded the acceleration time history of the head following impact, and 79 non–contact sport athletes. Assessment occurred preseason and shortly after the season with diffusion tensor imaging and neurocognitive measures.

Results: There was a significant (p 5 0.011) athlete-group difference for mean diffusivity (MD) in the corpus callosum. Postseason fractional anisotropy …

The Temporal Dynamics Of Visual Working Memory Guidance Of Selective Attention, Jinfeng Tan, Yuanfang Zhao, Shanshan Wu, Lijun Wang, Glenn Hitchman, Xia Tian, Ming Li, Li Hu, Antao Chen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The biased competition model proposes that there is top-down directing of attention to a stimulus matching the contents of working memory (WM), even when the maintenance of a WM representation is detrimental to target relevant performance. Despite many studies elucidating that spatial WM guidance can be present early in the visual processing system, whether visual WM guidance also influences perceptual selection remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the electrophysiological correlates of early guidance of attention by WM in humans. Participants were required to perform a visual search task while concurrently maintaining object representations in their visual WM. Behavioral results showed …