Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Intercultural Adjustment Problems Of Costa Rican Students In The United States, Patricia Gonzalez

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the adjustment problems Costa Ricans face while living and studying in the United States. The main concern of this thesis is to identify the intercultural communication problems that arise fundamentally from differences in value systems.

Cultural Value Differences In Arguments Between Presidents Ronald Reagan And Oscar Arias, Juan Carlos Flores

Dissertations and Theses

Costa Rica embodies many of the characteristics which the United States would like to foster in Central America and elsewhere. In recent years, however, misunderstandings have often been present in the development of relations between both nations, and leaders. These differences have been particularly visible between Presidents Reagan and Arias when carrying out their foreign policies towards Central America.

Recent developments in warfare, social and political unrest and economic crises in the region added to the emergence of a Central American political leadership--independent of U.S. decision making-have increased international misunderstandings between both political speakers. These misunderstandings are shown by Reagan …

The Effect Of Media On The Listening Comprehension Scores Of Intermediate Esl Students, Marian Tyson

Dissertations and Theses

The use of videotapes has become widespread in ESL classes in recent years. The decline in cost of tapes and VCR equipment has assisted in the spread of this technology. These tapes are often used in listening comprehension classes and may replace or supplement the use of audiotapes. However, research has not established that the addition of the visual element, especially in the movie or TV type context of many videos, is an advantage to the language learner.

A total of seventy-six students participated in a listening comprehension recall exercise. Thirty-nine students viewed a videotape segment, and the remaining thirty-seven …

An Analysis Of Us/Soviet Arms Control: Adding A Subsystem Perspective, Peter Millard Olson

Dissertations and Theses

Analyses of US/Soviet arms control have usually focused on domestic variables to explain US/Soviet arms control behavior. Partly because the number of negotiating parties is only two, there is a propensity to focus on the bilateral relationship of the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective domestic political situations. Only superficial attention has usually been given to international systems variables that may well influence the domestic political situation and arms control policy.

This thesis broadens the explanatory scope of US/Soviet arms control by showing how the political environment of a trilateral relationship (a subsystem that includes the West …

A Correlational Study Of Cognitive Style Measured By The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator And The Witkin Group Embedded Figure, Leith Wood Muessle

Dissertations and Theses

A review of the literature suggests a coincidence of personality characteristics among the cognitive styles defined by Field Dependence-Independence and the Myers-Briggs type preferences. This thesis proposed these independent measures of cognitive style tap common cognitive processes and hypothesized the Myers-Briggs dimensions of Extraversion-Introversion (EI), Sensing-Intuition (SN), and Judgement-Perception (JP) would correlate positively and Thinking-Feeling (TF) would correlate negatively with the dimension Field Dependence-Independence (FD-FI) as measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT). The relationships of gender, age, and intelligence to the prediction of field-dependence-independence were also tested.

Blockmodeling Network Data From Six Small Towns: An Assessment Of Organizational Typologies, Peter J. Collier

Dissertations and Theses

A major question in the study of complex organizations is whether it is possible to develop a useful taxonomy which identifies the crucial aspects of organizations and classifies them in a significant manner. One group of typologies of complex organizations focuses on the relationship between the organization and its environment. The purpose of this thesis is to test the validity of three existing typologies of complex organizations, each of which focuses on one aspect of the relationship between organizations and their environment. The major innovation in this research is the use of block modeling, a form of network methodology, to …

Communication And Socialization Skills Of Three Year Olds With A History Of Language Delay, Pamela Susan Dahm

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare receptive language, expressive language, and socialization skills of preschool children who have a history of expressive language delay (ELD) with age mates who have a history of normal language development.

The Degree Of Assimilation Of The Second And Third Generation Of Japanese Americans In The Portland Area, Hisako Matsuo

Dissertations and Theses

Japanese Americans have been identified as one of the most successful minority groups in the United States of America because of their achievement of high socioeconomic status. This study focuses on the degree and process of assimilation of Japanese Americans in this country in order to reconsider multiple assimilation theories of minority groups. Three questions were raised: 1) the extent to which both the second and third generation of Japanese Americans are assimilated into American society; 2) how far the third generation is assimilated compared to the second generation; and 3) what the identity of the second and third generation …

Chinese Voices: Towards An Ethnography Of English As A Second Language, Diane Niblack Fox

Dissertations and Theses

This study draws on ethnographic methods to provide background information for the English as a Second Language teacher who looks out at the classroom and asks, "Who are these Chinese students?" The goal is to let Chinese students describe for themselves their experiences learning English, both in China and in the United States.

Awareness Of Biculturalism In Families Of Intercultural Marriage, Eleesabeth Carol-Therese Vieira

Dissertations and Theses

The overall purpose of this preliminary study is to generate more information in the area of intercultural marriage. The specific objectives of the study are to explore the extent to which families of intercultural marriage are aware of the issues of biculturalism that are discussed as significant in the literature; the extent to which partners of intercultural marriage discuss these issues with one another or with their children; the extent to which the family members' subjective reports of "awareness" are consistent.

An Estimation Of Relatedness Within Two Oregon Populations Using Isonymy Analysis, Maria Michalczyk

Dissertations and Theses

The study of human relatedness has long interested the population geneticist. One technique for the estimation of population relatedness is the use of isonymy analysis. The isonymy inbreeding coefficient is analogous to Wright's inbreeding coefficient F. Isonomy analysis can yield comparable results to population studies done by other means such as pedigree analysis, serological studies, and anthropometric analysis.

The data used for this study was obtained from marriage records and telephone directories. Same last name marriages were observed for legitimacy and recorded when verified. A pool of last names were drawn from the marriage records. This list was used to …

Designing An Instructor's Manual For Introducing Cultural Concepts In The Medical School Curriculum, Barbara C. Nicodemus

Dissertations and Theses

Medical educators recognize the need for including cultural insights into the training of future physicians. This instructor's manual suggests selected journal articles and guidelines for their use in each of the clinical courses to illustrate the relevance of culture, inter- and intraethnic differences, an attitude of cultural relativity, and the importance of language use and communications skills for medical practice. The articles are found in journals typically available to medical students. This manual provides a baseline integrative approach applicable to other specialized training programs. A recommendation is made for evaluation and revision of history-taking interview forms to elicit additional culture-specific …

Development Of Morphological Forms In Four-Year-Old Children, Catherine Anderson Thompson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate morphological development in 4-year-old children. Two tests were utilized and compared to see if there was a significant difference between the expression of meaningful and nonmeaningful words. The first test, a modified version of the Test for Examining Expressive Morphology (TEEM), used meaningful words to assess allomorphic variations of six bound morphemes. The second test, a modified version of Berko's Test of English Morphology (BTEM), assessed the same allomorphic variations, but it used nonmeaningful words.

Exploratory Study: Preparation By Japanese Parents In The U.S. For Their Children's Reentry To Japan From An Intercultural Communication Perspective, Noriko Nakagawa

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to discover whether or not the Japanese parents who are temporarily staying in the U.S. with their children are anticipating the possibility of psychological and communicative problems their children may face as returnees, and to what extent the Japanese parents discuss these potential problems with their husbands and/or with their children. The question also asked whether or not the Japanese parents are doing anything to prepare themselves and/or their children to cope with the potential problems which their children may face as returnees.

Attitudes Of Control And Weight Management, Carolyn Lee Edwards Wright

Dissertations and Theses

Applications of locus of control theory to weight loss programs have yielded inconsistent results. This study attempts to clarify "control" by looking at two different factors. Maximum control is the degree of perceived control inherent in the event itself, and personal control is the degree to which the event is perceived controllable by the individual. These two factors were also examined in two types of situations to determine whether individuals have one global outlook on control, or if they make a distinction between control in some situations as opposed to control in other situations. Seventy-four female subjects completed a 16 …

Correlation Of Preschoolers' Performance On Three Language Comprehension Tests, Alissa Clare Nordlund

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised, (PPVT-R) and receptive subtest of the Preschool Language Scale (PLS), and between the PPVT-R and the Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language-Revised (TACL-R), as well as determine how the tests compare in identifying children in need of further evaluation in the area of receptive language. The reasoning behind the goal of this study was to determine that if the three tests showed a strong, positive correlation and identified the same children as needing further assessment, then perhaps the test which was easier and …

A Model Of Suicidal Behavior In Latency Age Children Based On Developmental Object Relations Theory, Stephen Henry Michaelis

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis attempts to explicate the manifestation of suicidal behavior in latency age children based on developmental object relations theory. It asserts that the susceptibility to suicidal behavior becomes part of the child's developing ego organization during the first three years of life as the result of deviant or distorted emotional development. These disturbances interfere with the normal internalizing processes of the separation individuation phases, including the development of psychological mechanisms.

To accomplish the purpose of the study, the thesis generally classifies object relations theory within the parameters of developmental psychopathology and specifically classifies it as a component of contemporary …

Toward Predicting Completion Of Substance Abuse Treatment, Rebecca Lee Bragg

Dissertations and Theses

This investigation attempts to identify factors which influence whether or not someone is likely to drop out of a chemical dependency treatment program. Dropping out is defined as someone who leaves treatment against medical advice.

The subjects were patients from a private, non-profit, medically based, residential program. Nine demographic characteristics were abstracted from the charts on file for the patients at the treatment center. Two groups of 45 patients each were selected from the inpatient population. One group, the Completed Treatment group, comprised patients who had completed the 28 day program. The second group, the AMA Discharge group, comprised patients …

Maternal Linguistic Input To Normal And Expressive Language Delayed Toddlers, Terril Joy Elwood

Dissertations and Theses

Research suggests that the linguistic environment of the expressive language delayed child is different from that of his peers. Does this difference actually exist and if so, what are its characteristics? The purpose of this study was to describe the linguistic characteristics of mothers' input to children with normal language acquisition and those of mothers of expressively delayed toddlers; and to identify any differences between these groups. Though considerable research exists in this area, few studies have dealt specifically with large groups of expressively delayed toddlers.

Intercultural Training And International Exchange : An Exploratory Study Of The Association Of Intercultural Training With Hosting Goals Of American Families, Jan Marie Oehlschlaeger

Dissertations and Theses

This study investigated the host family experience, specifically examining the goals of host families and intercultural training of host families. It compares the the importance and accomplishment of goals between interculturally trained host families and untrained host families.The focus of the research addressed the following research questions:

1) Do host families who receive intercultural training rate their goals differently than families who do not receive intercultural training?

1a) Do host families who receive intercultural training rate differently the goals in which the student meets intra-family needs than families who do not receive intercultural training?

2) Do host families who receive …

Something Old, Something New : Marriage Customs Among The Druze In The Shouf Mountains Of Lebanon, Nancy Scarlette Beaini

Dissertations and Theses

The focus of this research was to obtain, specifically, data on the marriage customs of the Druze in the Shouf Mountains of southeastern Lebanon. Ten Druze informants were selected and classified according to sex, age, marital status and religious status (sheik/sheika). A detailed questionnaire was designed to use during the interviews with these informants. However, after two interviews, it became apparent that a variable questionnaire was necessary to take advantage of the new, richly-detailed, cultural information that emerged with each informant. New questions were developed, in the field, to reflect and gather this new ethnographic data on Druze marriage customs.

Social Construction Of Sexual Equality In Distilled Beverage Advertising, Kathleen Dianne Lecoe-Cannucci

Dissertations and Theses

One aspect of the role of advertising in the process of maintaining and reinforcing or challenging the socially constructed worlds of maleness and femaleness, and especially the portrayal of the "woman's place," was explored in this study.

Goals Of International Exchange : An Exploratory Study Of Why American Host Families Participate In International Exchange Programs, Deborah Lee Fisher-Moore

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents the findings of a descriptive study of goals of international exchange and how they are perceived in terms of relevance by host family participants in homestay exchange programs.

The literature of international exchange was examined to identify goals as established and defined by researchers in the field. Experienced exchange coordinators, host families and others were interviewed for their suggestions of additional goals not discussed in the literature. A survey questionnaire was developed and administered to 69 host family members from Tillamook County, Oregon. They were asked to evaluate the importance and achievement of 14 literature-based and 22 …

Subsistence Variability On The Columbia Plateau, Ricky Gilmer Atwell

Dissertations and Theses

Long-term human dietary change is a poorly understood aspect of Columbia Plateau prehistory. Faunal assemblages from thirty-four archaeological sites on the Plateau are organized into fifteen aggregate assemblages that are defined spatially and temporally. These assemblages are examined in terms of a focal-diffuse model using ecological measures of diversity, richness and evenness. Variability and patterning in the prehistoric subsistence record is indicated. Major trends in human diet and shifts in subsistence economies are documented and the relationship between subsistence and some initial semi-sedentary adaptations on the Plateau is clarified.

Bone Tool Assemblages As An Aid To Shell Mound Site Typologies On The Northwest Coast, Doria Lee Fingerhut Raetz

Dissertations and Theses

Fifteen bone tool assemblages from shell midden sites were compared. Three of these are unpublished sites from Prince Rupert Harbor. They were grouped using cluster analysis. Inter and intragroup variation in bone tool assemblage structure was analyzed. One of the objectives of this study was to generate hypotheses about the function of the unpublished sites by comparing their bone tool assemblages with those from sites which are better understood by looking for underlying patterns in the bone tool assemblages. Other objectives were to test the utility of using bone tool assemblages as a diagnostic tool in analyzing sites and to …

A Preliminary Analysis Of Beneficiary Discharge Status And Post-Hospital Placement Before And After The Implementation Of Medicare's Prospective Payment System, Anne Marguerite Wilkinson

Dissertations and Theses

In recognition of the inherently inflationary nature of retrospective reimbursement, the Reagan Administration enacted legislation that substantially changed Medicare's hospital reimbursement system. The Prospective Payment System (PPS) mandated paying hospitals a fixed payment, set in advance, based on the patient's diagnosis rather than retrospectively paying for all services delivered to a patient. Critics contend that PPS introduces incentives for hospitals to conserve resources during the hospital stay and to shift care to less costly settings, both potentially affecting quality of care to the elderly. The question addressed by this dissertation is whether there were changes in the discharge health status …

A Multivariate Test Of Evolutionary Stasis In Homo Sapiens, Jon Geoffrey Kleckner

Dissertations and Theses

In the past, efforts to prove or disprove stasis in hominids have relied upon univariate tests such as Students's t-test. Severe methodological and interpretive problems arise from the misapplication of univariate statistics to questions concerning variation in shape through time. These are questions best addressed using the multivariate approach of morphometrics. Eighteen cranial dimensions drawn from 33 mid and late Pleistocene Homo sapiens were examined using principal component analysis (PCA). PCA divided the sample into two distinct morphologies. Archaic Homo sapiens of the mid Pleistocene clustered with Wurm I neanderthals and apart from post Gottweig early anatomically modern Homo sapiens. …

Reading Comprehension In Dementia Of The Alzheimer's Type : Factual Versus Inferential, Donna Jensen Graville

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the reading comprehension abilities of those with mild and moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT) and compare their performance to that of a sample of non-demented elderly. Thirty-eight male subjects were used, 20 non-demented elderly, nine mild DAT and nine moderate DAT. All were administered level B of the NRST. This test contains questions requiring three levels of inference: literal, translational, and high-level inference.

Types Of Phonological Processes Occurring In Normal Black English Speakers, Eileen Rella

Dissertations and Theses

Black English (BE) is a rule-governed linguistic system with its own phonology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. BE is a dialect, not a disordered variation of standard English (SE). When compared to SE, BE phonology has been described in terms of omissions, substitutions, and additions. This study looked at normal BE speakers in Portland, Oregon and described their dialectal differences in terms of phonological processes.

A News Discourse Analysis Of La NacióN, Jimen Chan

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis is a study of La Nacion, the largest circulating newspaper in Costa Rica. The purpose of this study is to examine whether claims made by La Nacion regarding their fairness and balance of news coverage are justified.