Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Development And Validation Of The Waiting Assessment Interview Tool (Wait) And Evaluation Of Individualized Waiting Durations In Signaled Reinforcement, Claudia Campos Fleitas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Indirect assessments are widely used to identify environmental factors that may be manipulated or integrated in the development of direct assessments and behavior interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. To date, there are no indirect assessments that can be used to evaluate the extent to which children who engage in problem behavior wait to receive reinforcement. However, there are effective behavior interventions to increase waiting. A treatment package consisting of functional communication training (FCT) and schedule thinning (i.e., multiple schedules) has been identified as an effective intervention to increase waiting in children who engage in problem behavior maintained by social …

Effects Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury On Ethanol Consumption And The Combined Effects On Neuroinflammation, Cognition, And Behavior In Mice, Jessica L. Hoffman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between alcohol consumption and traumatic brain injury (TBI) often focuses on alcohol consumption increasing the likelihood of incurring a TBI, rather than alcohol use outcomes after TBI. This focus is in part due to the large numbers of TBI patients visiting emergency rooms notable levels of alcohol in their blood. Additionally, increases in alcohol use disorders following TBI can be predicted by previous history of alcohol use. However, studies have also shown patients without a history of an alcohol use disorder can experience increases in problem drinking after single or multiple TBIs. Due to the diffuse impact of …

Comparison Of Conditioning Procedures To Condition Praise As A Reinforcer For Children With Autism, Cynthia P. Livingston

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a developmental disability characterized by social, behavioral, and communicative impairments. A primary characteristic of Autism includes impairment in social skills. Along the same lines, praise, defined as approval or admiration, does not always function as a reinforcer for this population. One way to address the absence of a reinforcement effect for praise is to condition praise as a reinforcer. The literature on conditioned reinforcement encompasses many procedural variations that have been shown to increase the reinforcing value of neutral stimuli. One such variation relatively new to the conditioned reinforcement literature includes observational conditioning. With observational conditioning, …

Decreased Visibility: A Narrative Analysis Of Episodic Disability And Contested Illness, Melissa Jane Welch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States alone, disability touches the lives of a tremendous amount of people. An increased prevalence of chronic illness, coupled with an aging population means it is likely and perhaps inevitable that everyone will experience disability in one way or another over the course of their lifetime. However not everyone who is disabled is recognized as such. Culturally, the narrative of “the healthy disabled person,” – or someone who is healthy, permanently, predictably, and visibly disabled renders many people with chronic and episodic pain, fatigue, and illness as unrecognizable as disabled. Even though increasing numbers of disability scholars …

Group Contingency Game Comparison: Examining The Role Of Group Sizes, Chelsea Carr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Problem behavior, such as disruption or property destruction, is commonly observed in classrooms, and interferes with student education. The purpose of this study was to examine effects of group size within a well-studied class-wide behavior management intervention, the GBG. Consistent with previous research, the GBG was effective in decreasing disruptive behavior but there was no clear differentiation between GBG big and GBG small. The students and the teacher showed high social validity for the GBG.

Effects Of Motivation On Prospective Memory Performance In Huntington's Disease, Emily Jane Kellogg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prospective memory (PM) refers to memory for future intentions and involves several cognitive processes including memory, executive functions, and attention. PM has been studied extensively in clinical populations in which these cognitive processes are impaired but has only recently been studied in Huntington’s disease (HD), a neurodegenerative disease of the basal ganglia that is associated with neuropsychiatric, movement, and cognitive changes. The purpose of the present study was to further examine PM in HD, as well as investigate the influence of impulsivity on PM performance and whether a monetary incentive (either reward or loss) would improve PM performance. Results of …

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Analysis Of Behavioral Patterns And Treatment Barriers, Kimberly A. Knap

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience difficulties with social communication and restrictive, repetitive, and stereotyped behavior patterns that place them at an increased risk for developing challenging behaviors that warrant early intervention (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). These problems are unlikely to decrease without intervention. Research indicates that parents’ involvement in behaviorally based interventions improves the functioning of children with ASD (Horner, Carr, Strain, Todd, & Reid, 2002). . Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (Eyberg & Funderburk, 2011) is an empirically supported intervention for young children with disruptive behaviors. PCIT shares similarities with numerous proven ASD treatments including caregiver involvement, structure …

Race And Gender In (Re)Integration Of Victim-Survivors Of Csec In A Community Advocacy Context, Joshlyn Lawhorn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I use feminist ethnography at a nonprofit organization to analyze the racialized gender in (re)integration of victim-survivors of commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC). Critical race feminism and intersectionality are the theoretical frameworks to guide the analysis of community advocacy. The analysis considers two themes with various subsections that capture CSEC at the site. The first theme analyzes the definition, challenges, coordination and rhetoric of reintegration at the site. The second theme highlights the site’s racial identity, Black victimhood of victim-survivors of CSEC in the context of community, and racialized gender within reintegration. I discuss the strategic …

Early Literacy Abilities In Spanish-English Emergent Bilingual Children From Varied Dialectal Backgrounds, Antonietta Mastrota

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Hispanic population within the United States has grown to a considerable amount. The state of Florida’s population is 25% Hispanic, with projected estimates of this population continuing to grow in the coming years (Ortman & Shin, 2011). Statistics show that 28.3% of the state’s population, over the age of five, speak a language other than English at home. With this considerable number of Spanish-speakers comes the responsibility to adjust certain educational practices to best meet their needs. Literacy is an essential part of learning, and therefore assessing early literacy is an essential part to any child’s academic development.

Phonological …

De Mestizas A Indígenas: Reindigenization As A Political Strategy In Ecuador, Pamela X. Pareja

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The 1990s were a period of intense socio-economic upheaval in Ecuador, in part due to the numerous protests that would come to be known as the Levantamiento Indígena. Notoriously disenfranchised since the bloody conquest of the Americas, peoples of various Indigenous nationalities that reside within Ecuador fought for the constitutional recognition of the nation as both plurinational and multicultural, in order to secure intercultural public policies that would affect patterns of agrarian distribution, indigenous education, health, and overall representation. The prominence of the Indigenous movement and the revalorization of the Indigenous identity throughout Ecuador became an attractive vehicle for which …

Evaluating A Peer-Implemented Intervention For Increasing Physical Activity During School Recess, Carolina E. Luque

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Physical inactivity is a significant issue in the United States that has been linked to multiple health concerns. Few studies have used behavioral interventions during opportunities available in school, such as recess. There is a need for low effort and accessible interventions to increase children’s physical activity during these opportunities. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy of a peer-implemented recess intervention that uses student pairing and feedback to increase physical activity. Step count was recorded by a pedometer. Peer leaders were trained in a group using behavioral skills training. A new leader performed the task-analyzed …

Using Contingency Maps To Teach Requests For Information, Roberto Andrade-Plaza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disorder characterized by social, behavioral, and communicative deficits. Although there is no known cure for autism, there are many research-based interventions that aid in strengthening such deficits, especially those associated with failures of stimulus control One way to address such failures is to provide additional stimuli that enhance or override information provided by naturally occurring stimuli. Contingency maps are one such example. This study uses an observing response (i.e., hand-raising) to allow the subjects to request contingency maps. The purpose of this study is to identify if contingency maps function as reinforcers and if …

The Role Of Fathers In Behavioral Parent Training: An Exploration Of Parent-Related Factors In Parent And Child Treatment Outcomes, Brittany L. Jordan-Arthur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite a well-documented need for parent training in the treatment and prevention of child behavior problems, as well as the well-documented benefit of including fathers in preventative and treatment interventions, surprisingly little clinical intervention research examines the role of fathers in such trainings. This research examined the role of father involvement in behavioral parent training by examining parent-related characteristics in relation to treatment outcomes for both mothers and fathers, examining differences between mothers and fathers, and examining the additive benefit of including fathers in treatment across two studies. Both studies utilized archival data obtained from a university- and community-based parent …

A Comparative Study On Coastal Zone Changes And Anthropogenic Impacts Between Tampa Bay, Usa, And Xiangshan Harbor, China, During The Last 30 Years, Qiandong Guo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the U.S. and China are the two largest national economic entities in the world. However, it is noticeable that the two countries have considerably different strategies for economic development, environmental protection and land supply in coastal zones. In order to understand the coastline dynamics, land use land cover (LULC) changes and land management policies in the U.S. and China, a case study of the Tampa Bay (TB) watershed, Florida, U.S., and Xiangshan Harbor (XH), Zhejiang Province, China was conducted. The two areas possess similar humid subtropical climate and dense population, but experienced different anthropogenic impacts. TB sat at a …

Development Of The Cybersecurity Attitudes Scale And Modeling Cybersecurity Behavior And Its Antecedents, David J. Howard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As organizations have become more reliant on computers and technology to operate in a globalized world, they have also become more vulnerable to cyberattacks on their networks. The expense to organizations from cyberattacks now exceeds $400 billion USD annually. These costs highlight the need for behavioral research in the cyber domain. The first phase of this research developed an instrument to measure workers’ cybersecurity attitudes. An iterative process resulted in a scale with good psychometric properties - The Cybersecurity Attitudes Scale. The scale measures two factors: cyber policy adherence attitudes and perceived vulnerability to a cyberattack. The second phase of …

Articulatory Patterns In Children Who Use Cochlear Implants: An Ultrasound Measure Of Velar Stop Production In Bilingual Speakers, Katherine Javier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coarticulation occurs in running speech when one speech sound or phoneme overlaps with another. It can be considered a result of the way we sequence and organize our articulators to efficiently produce consecutive consonants and vowels in fluent speech. Previous research has suggested that measures of coarticulation can provide insight into the maturity of the motor speech planning system (Barbier, Perrier, Ménard, Payan, Tiede, & Perkell, 2013; Zharkova & Hewlett, 2009; Zharkova, Hewlett, & Hardcastle, 2011). Speech stability has also been suggested as an indicator of motor speech maturity in previous research using ultrasound imaging of velar-vowel targets (Frisch, Maxfield, …

The Experience Of Coparenting Within The Parameters Of Divorce: Perspectives From Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nycole C. Kauk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disorder that includes persistent impairment in verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviors, interests, or activities. The purpose of this study is to capture the perspectives and experiences of parents who are divorced but are still coparenting their child with ASD. Current literature gives insight into how ASD affects the family system, but there is no literature to date that examines how parents coparent their child when the family system is split. ASD is a lifelong and impactful disorder impacting not just the individual’s adaptive functioning, but also …

Hybridizers And The Hybridized: Orchid Growing As Hybrid "Nature?", Kellie Petersen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Orchid growing is a hobby that includes not only acquiring and caring for orchids, but also learning about the diverse care requirements of various orchids, attending meetings of orchid groups, having one’s orchids evaluated by American Orchid Society judges or being a judge, or even creating hybrids. In this way, orchid hobbyists compose a distinctive subculture (Hansen 2000). Yet the activity of orchid growing also forms a nexus between the non-human and the human, two categories that are often constructed as an opposing binary. This thesis focuses on how orchid growing represents both the embedded, institutionalized characteristic of the binary …

Evaluating Video Modeling To Teach Job Seeking Skills: Composing A Professional Email, Scott A. Fontechia Ii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the disabilities community, individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis consistently have some of the most detrimental employment related statistics. To address this issue, this study evaluated video modeling, an evidence-based procedure, in teaching professional emailing skills to individuals diagnosed with ASD when applying for a job. Results of the study support video modeling research as an effective teaching tool. Significant skill acquisition, in composing a professional email, occurred across all participants. Seventy-five percent of participants concluded the study at mastery level. Implications of this study are immediately impactful on the ASD community as a new evidence-based transition …

Raptors And Humans: Exploring Alternative Therapies In Non-Clinical Environments Using Birds Of Prey, Kaleigh Hoyt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to deconstruct current conceptions about animal-assisted interventions by investigating relationships between human beings and birds of prey. Interactions between birds of prey, or “raptors,” provide novel cases from which to reexamine failed attempts to provide empirical data in support of alternative therapies. Previous research addressing the efficacy of animal-assisted interventions is simply not robust enough to be considered a feasible treatment option by medical professionals. By extension, models of self-regulation in psychology are often presented using reductionist models and oversimplified therapeutic outcomes. Taken together, raptor-human relationships help to highlight the shortcomings of each, as well as potential …

The Impact Of Vocabulary Knowledge On Nonword Judgments In Spanish-English Bilinguals, Marisa E. Leyden

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis suggests that the range of vocabulary in an individual’s lexicon has an influence on in their assessment of nonword wordlikeness. The study included thirteen Spanish-English bilinguals who participated in a language dominance questionnaire, standardized assessments of Spanish and English vocabulary knowledge, and Spanish and English wordlikeness judgment tasks. Resulting data demonstrated moderate correlations between vocabulary knowledge and performance on nonword wordlikeness judgement tasks in Spanish and English. Participants with larger lexicons appeared more tolerant of less probable nonwords, those with low phonotactic probability, while those with smaller lexicons were less accepting of nonwords with low phonotactic probability. The …

An Evaluation Of Suicide Risk Assessment And Management Trainings In Clinical Psychology Doctoral Programs, Maureen F. Monahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has been suggested that mental health professionals are insufficiently trained to assess and manage suicide risk (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Defense [USDVA/DOD], 2013; Goldsmith, Pellmar, Kleinman, & Burney, 2002; Jobes, Rudd, Overholser, & Joiner, 2008; Mirick, McCauley, Bridger, & Berkowitz, 2015; Silverman & Berman, 2014) and this problem may originate during graduate training (Feldman & Freedenthal, 2006; Mackelprang, Karle, Reighl, & Cash, 2014; Rudd, Cukrowicz, & Bryan, 2008; Schmitz et al., 2012). Unfortunately, however, this area has been inadequately studied (Battista, 2007; Cramer, Johnson, McLaughlin, Rausch, & Conroy, 2013; Department of Health and Human Services, 2012; Stuber …

“Livin’ The Dream?” How Veterans Of Operations Enduring Freedom And Iraqi Freedom Negotiate The Experience Of Illness As They Transition From Healthy Warrior To Sick Veteran, Jodie L. Sweezey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As combat veterans returned from supporting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, questions over the safety of vaccinations as well as exposure to burn pit smoke and toxic metals lying dormant in the sand emerged. For many, returning home was marred by unexplained symptoms followed by diagnoses of autoimmune diseases and/or cancer. This research examines how these veterans negotiate this transition from healthy to sick struggling with the many forces that interact with this transition. I focused on the lived experience of their illness as it is non-verbally expressed through embodiment, verbally expressed through illness narratives, and negotiated to avoid …

Heavy Vehicle Classification Analysis Using Length-Based Vehicle Count And Speed Data, Eren Yuksel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is an increasing demand for application of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) in order to make highways safer and sustainable. Collecting and analyzing traffic stream data are the most important parameters in transportation engineering in enhancing our understanding of traffic congestion and mobility. Classification of the vehicles using traffic data is one of the most essential parameters for traffic management. Of particular interest are heavy vehicles which impact traffic mobility due to their lack of maneuverability and slower speeds. The impact of heavy vehicles on the traffic stream results in congestion and reduction of road efficiency. In this paper, length-based …

Political Decisions On Police Expenditures: Examining The Potential Relationship Between Political Structure, Police Expenditures And The Volume Of Crime Across Us States, Xavier D. Burch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine the variations in criminal justice expenditures across states in relation to crime, measures of political party membership, and several control variables that also attempt to explain both property and violent crime. The year, 2009, was chosen for the analysis. Data in the present study were collected by Olugbenga Ajilore (2016) for the year 2009 and supplemented with other state level data. The Ajilore dataset is one of the few datasets that has reliable criminal justice expenditure data across states, which is also disaggregated by type. Criminal justice expenditure data is actually quite difficult …

Evaluating The Influence Of Time Of Day On Activity Engagement In Persons With Dementia, Darienne E. Boyden

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dementia is a serious disease affecting a growing number of people. With the onset of dementia comes a decline in social activity engagement which can negatively impact multiple aspects of a person’s life. Research suggests that time of day may influence activity engagement of a person with dementia, but such research is limited. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of time of day on engagement in activities in persons diagnosed with dementia. The secondary purpose of this study was to assess the validity of preference assessments in individuals diagnosed with dementia and determine if low preference …

The Influence Of Instagram Selfies On Female Millennials’ Appearance Satisfaction, Diliara Bagautdinova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have proved negative effects of social network sites on women’s body image caused by social comparison processes. However, only a few studies have examined the effects of Instagram on women’s appearance satisfaction and no selfies were taken into consideration in regard to that issue. The purpose of this research was to examine the social comparison theory through the lens of Instagram selfies and determine the effects of selfies on women’s appearance satisfaction. In-depth interviews with 26 female millennials, ages 18 to 32, reveal the re-defined standard of an ideal body image, shifting away from being skinny to becoming fit, …

An Analysis Of Organ Donation Presentations On Weibo, Shengfei Li

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the presentation of organ donation organization on Weibo. This study used content analysis to find out the Love.Hope organ donation organization’s main content of Weibo’s content.

The main content includes six themes. The theme of popularizing organ donation knowledge is the majority. Through analyzing the correlation of content of each themes with shares, likes, and comments. It is concluded that people are more inclined to engage with Weibo posts with popularization of organ donation knowledge and stories of organ donors and recipients, and people also concern about the organ supply and demand situation in China.

It turns …

Evaluation Of A Hierarchal Training Model For Group Home Staff, Elizabeth Marie Lynch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Direct-care staff working with individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) are frequently exposed to challenging behavior from residents and expected to respond correctly to challenging resident behavior, but often receive insufficient training due to lack of resources and high staff turnover (e.g., Collins, 2012; Collins, Higbee, & Salzberg, 2009; Haberlin, Beauchamp, Agnew, & O’Brien, 2009; Pelletier, McNamara, Braga-Kenyon, & Ahearn, 2010). Training methods such as Behavioral Skills Training (BST) are highly intrusive and require high amounts of resources (e.g., Parsens, Rollyson, & Reid, 2012). Research suggests technological based alternatives are more cost effective, decreases training time and response effort from management, …

Producing The Past: Contested Heritage And Tourism In Glastonbury And Tintagel, Vivian Beatrice Gornik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heritage, the “present-centered” use of the past (Ashworth 2007) influences the identities of contemporary citizens (Palmer 2005, Sommer 2009). Grasping the ways in which the production and consumption of heritage takes place is becoming increasingly relevant in a post-Brexit Britain, where the national identity is constantly up for debate. This research asks: what role does heritage tourism play in (re)producing hegemonic national narratives in Glastonbury and Tintagel? And subsequently, what do these narratives say about broader conceptualizations of English identity?

Arthurian legend permeates the historical narrative in both locations. According to the legend, King Arthur was conceived and born in …