Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Library Web Site Statistics 2008-2009, Andree J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the number of requests to the Web site of the University Libraries, University of Rhode Island during 2008-2009.

Data are available for number of requests to the library home page and to the top levels of specific sub-directories within the site.

The number of total aggregate visits to the www.uri.edu/library site as a whole are not available. Also not available are data for certain months, thus annual totals given here are lower than the actual number of requests for the year.

Reanalysis Of Some Effects Of The Mutual Exclusivity Constraint And Their Operation In Bilingual Children, Marina Kalashnikova

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study investigates the operation of the Mutual Exclusivity constraint in two groups of three-year-old children: monolingual Spanish speakers and bilingual Spanish-English speakers. Previous research has yielded controversial findings regarding the differences in the intra-lingual level operation of the constraint in monolingual and bilingual children. This investigation sheds light on the conflicting outcomes of previous studies by proposing that non-linguistic cognitive and processing abilities may account for the effects attributed to the constraint and that there may be observable differences in monolingual and bilingual children in the development of some--but not all--of these abilities. Although, this study yielded no significant …

The Journey Of An Image: The Western Perception Of Tibet, Diana Martinez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This paper is about how Western travelers perceived Tibetans from 1900 until 1950. It explores the travelogues of Westerners from various national and professional backgrounds to examine how their view of Tibetans had changed.

Geography Of Pestecide Exposure In The Lower Valley (El Paso County, Texas), Critina Solis Sanchez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Previous studies using GIS have been used to understand the demographics of particular areas of a city and the risks associated with living there. In the Lower Valley (Socorro, Clint, and San Elizario) area of El Paso County (TX), there has been a rapid growth in population. This increase in growth has led to this project about the types of pesticides used in farms and if they are creating possible health risks for people living in this area and which populations are most at risk. To determine population risk, I use existing GIS information, specifically a USDA aerial photograph taken …

Deterring Bonds: Why She Can't Leave., Yolanda Cora Seidler

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Is it always true that the marriage bonds nurture love?

Domestic violence knows np boundaries it happens everywhere it touches everyone, regardless of age, income, level of education, occupation, race/ethnicity, and religious belief. For this study, because of its unique characteristics, the military community was selected. Some of its differences with the civil community as well as its response to victims, protection, rights, and the offenders accountability are discussed.

Education, Infrastructure, And Regional Income Performance In Arkansas, Phuntsho Wangmo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Attention Allocation And The Variability Of The Stereotype Priming Effect, Katherine R. White

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The stereotype priming effect is assumed to be a rather uniform and robust effect. However, a closer look at the existing literature suggests that the `standard' stereotype priming effect may be more susceptible to variability than originally believed. In the present study, we sought to demonstrate that the stereotype priming effect displays significant variability in strength depending upon the level of attention allocated to the stereotype feature of interest. Participants were assigned to 1 of 3 conditions: a lexical decision task (LDT) condition, a pre-primed LDT condition, and a gender categorization condition. It was predicted that the stereotype priming effect …

Is Alexithymia A Predictor Of College Student Alcohol Abuse?, Diane Arms

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Alexithymia, as defined by Sifneos (1973), literally means "no words for emotions." It is characterized by the following three domains: 1) the incapacity to identify feelings, 2) inability to describe feelings and 3) the tendency to think in externally oriented ways (Salminen, Saarijarvi, & Aarela, 1995; Sifneos, 2000). Although alexithymia is not a diagnosable disorder, it has been shown to be related to a wide variety of other constructs (e.g. alcohol use, depression and parenting styles). This study examined the interrelationships between alexithymia and student alcohol use, while controlling for sex, perceived parental alcohol use, perceived parenting styles and student …

Young Love Can Be Torture: An Autoethnography Exploring The Making Of High School Sweethearts, William Stanley Gartside

Master's Theses (2009 -)

We experience and comprehend life as a series of ongoing narratives, and these narratives are heavily reliant upon the frames we consciously and unconsciously use to define ourselves within them. Though previous research indicates that the consumption of violent media either increase aggressive constructs in viewers (Bushman, 1998), desensitize viewers to domestic and sexual violence (e. g., Donnerstein & Penrod, 1988; Mullin & Linz, 1995) or prime individuals to make hostile attributions about the behavior of others (e.g., Thomas & Drabman, 1978; Bargh and Pietromonaco, 1982; Wann and Branscombe, 1990; Zelli, Huesmann, & Cervone, 1995), my own experiences as a …

Machiavellian Heroes Through The Prism Of Aristotle, Robert Acosta

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This Thesis examines the relationship between the political philosophies of Machiavelli and Aristotle. It hypothesizes that Machiavelli incorporates three fundamental premises of Aristotle's political philosophy: 1. Politics is the master science 2. Man is a political animal 3. Aristotle's conception of human nature. In order to test the hypoThesis the Thesis utilizes case studies in the form of Machiavelli's four excellent men (Theseus, Romulus, Cyrus, and Moses) that are named explicitly in Chapter VI of The Prince . It is concluded that there is an element of Aristotle's fundamental political philosophy that is incorporated by Machiavelli. This relationship is often …

Getting To Know You: The Effects Of Familiarity And Time On Social Perception, Clarissa Arms Chavez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

A new direction in social perception research is developed. The present research explored the impact of familiarity and time on social perception processes based on cognitive neuroscience models, social categorization models, and memory consolidation constructs. Familiarity was manipulated within an exposure task and time was manipulated by testing participants both 2-6 hr and 48 hr after the exposure task. Experiment 1 investigated the influence of familiarity and time on the argument of the automaticity of social categorization and associated stereotypes by testing the argument with two separate tasks. Experiment 1a tested the influence of familiarity and time on associated stereotypes …

International Students' Communication Effectiveness With U.S. Faculty Members: A Further Exploration Of Anxiety/Uncertainty Management (Aum) Theory, Yixin Chen

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This study established a theoretical model based on anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory with English proficiency and knowledge of U.S. culture as indirect factors. A total of 180 international students at a mid-sized Southwestern university participated in surveys regarding the communication process with U.S. faculty. The results revealed that uncertainty and anxiety are positively related, and anxiety negatively predicts communication effectiveness while uncertainty does not. English proficiency is a negative predictor of both uncertainty and anxiety, while knowledge of U.S. culture is not a predictor of either uncertainty or anxiety. The results also indicated that English proficiency and knowledge of U.S. …

Does Type Of Stimulus Influence Task-Irrelevant Evaluative Categorization Processes?, Guadalupe Corral

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The effect of stimulus type on task-irrelevant evaluative categorization was examined in two separate studies by using the P3 component from event-related brain potentials. The first study presented idiosyncratic stimuli consisting of individuals that were rated by participants as either positive or negative within sequences of pictorial and verbal stimuli. The second study presented sequences of novel and familiar stimuli consisting of previously normed unattractive and neutral individuals. It was hypothesized that pictures would elicit task-irrelevant evaluative categorization processes and so would novel stimuli (relative to words and familiar stimuli, respectively). Task-irrelevance was examined by assessing P3 peak amplitude to …

The Declining Significance Of Presidential Races?, Angela Onwuachi-Willig, Osamudia R. James

Articles

No abstract provided.

Assuring Access: One Library's Journey From Print To Electronic Only Subscriptions, Aparna Zambare, Anne Marie Casey, John Fierst, David Ginsburg, Judith O'Dell, Timothy Peters

Publications

The migration of library collections from print to electronic formats has been a priority for many institutions during the last ten years and has played a key role in the transformation of the modern academic library. Not surprisingly, this process has been labor-intensive, costly, and occasionally frustrating to those involved in the transformation. This article recounts the challenges that the Central Michigan University Libraries faced and the measures it established to overcome these challenges as it undertook the process of successfully moving from a print-based to a predominately electronic only subscription collection.

Promises We Have Kept: Using Grounded Theory Methodology To Understand Developmental Factors That Contribute To Caucasian Low-Income Parents Positive Assessment Of Marital Health, S. Greg Thompson

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Low-income Caucasian married parents described lifespan processes and conditions that contributed to their individual assessments that their marriage was healthy. Spouses participated in an interview together, followed later by an individual interview with each. Interview scripts referenced the study‘s primary research questions which sought their reflections on (a) external conditions that they considered to be important to their development, and (b) personal thoughts, emotions and behaviors they deemed relevant to the success of their marriage. A third research question called for integration of participants‘ reflections into a cogent grounded theory regarding successful low-income marriages. Analysis incorporated grounded theory methods, and …

Building Mixed-Income Communities: Documenting The Experience In Chicago Mixed-Income Development Study, Mark L. Joseph

Faculty Scholarship

Te goal of the research study is to inform a broad audience—including the developers and their social service partners, the Chicago Housing Authority, other community and public agency stakeholders, and other local and national practitioners and policymakers—about the early unfolding of and emerging lessons from the mixedincome component of the Plan for Transformation.

Dispelling Seven Myths Concerning Latina/O Students: A Call To Action For School Counselors, Javier Cavazos Vela, Alyssa G. Cavazos, Maria G. Hinojosa, Marco Silva

Counseling Faculty Publications

Research has illustrated that school counselors do not provide Latina/o students with sufficient information about higher education (Immerwahr, 2003; Zalaquett, 2005), high expectations (Martinez, 2003), and individual counseling and guidance (Vela Gude et al., in press). Because school counselors are supposed to play an important role in helping Latina/o students pursue higher education (Villalba, Akos, Keeter, & Ames, 2007), the current article identifies seven myths concerning a growing Latina/o population: (1) parents do not value education, (2) students do not value education, (3) low expectations do not exist, (4) students are receiving sufficient guidance, (5) perceived ability level is the …

Modeling The Impact Of Test Anxiety And Test Familiarity On The Criterion-Related Validity Of Cognitive Ability Tests, Charlie L. Reeve, Eric D. Heggestad, Filip Lievens

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The assessment of cognitive abilities, whether it is for purposes of basic research or applied decision making. is potentially susceptible to both facilitating and debilitating influences. However, relatively little research has examined the degree to which these factors might moderate the criterion-related validity of cognitive ability tests. To address this gap, we use Classical Test Theory formulas to articulate how test anxiety and test familiarity can influence observed scores, observed score variance, and most importantly, the criterion-related validity of observed scores. The resulting equations reveal that understanding the influence of test anxiety and test familiarity on criterion-related validity coefficients requires …

Semiparametric Cointegrating Rank Selection, Xu Cheng, Peter C. B. Phillips

Research Collection School Of Economics

Some convenient limit properties of usual information criteria are given for cointegrating rank selection. Allowing for a non-parametric short memory component and using a reduced rank regression with only a single lag, standard information criteria are shown to be weakly consistent in the choice of cointegrating rank provided the penalty coefficient C(n) -> infinity and C(n)/n -> 0 as n -> 8. The limit distribution of the AIC criterion, which is inconsistent, is also obtained. The analysis provides a general limit theory for semiparametric reduced rank regression under weakly dependent errors. The method does not require the specification of a …

Asymptotics And Bootstrap For Transformed Panel Data Regressions, Liangjun Su, Zhenlin Yang

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper investigates the asymptotic properties of quasi-maximum likelihood estimators for transformed random effects models where both the response and (some of) the covariates are subject to transformations for inducing normality, flexible functional form, homoscedasticity, and simple model structure. We develop a quasi maximum likelihood-type procedure for model estimation and inference. We prove the consistency and asymptotic normality of the parameter estimates, and propose a simple bootstrap procedure that leads to a robust estimate of the variance-covariance matrix. Monte Carlo results reveal that these estimates perform well in finite samples, and that the gains by using bootstrap procedure for inference …

For Peter, With Love, John Henry Schlegel

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Defining Leadership: Understanding Desired Traits Of Leaders, Alex Acton

Theses and Dissertations

What do people want from leaders? That question has been asked for generations. In recent history, a huge growth in leadership studies has produced a wealth of information on this topic, but because of the multitude of publications, there are now many competing schools of thought about what qualities make a great leader. This paper seeks to understand the qualities that people look for in leaders and to understand if any consistent patterns emerge from these desired traits. This is done through two avenues.

Firstly, a survey of the existing leadership publications in several different established leadership genres provides an …

The Curious Case Of Jim Mcgreevey, Justin Eckstein

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This project examines the apologetic discourse surrounding James Edward "Jim" McGreevey's August 12, 2004 resignation as governor of New Jersey. A cursory reading of the allegations McGreevey faced reveals a curious incongruity between the initial accusations of corruption and his apologizing for being homosexual. In short, McGreevey stood accused of corruption for a number of terrible cabinet appointments. Yet, he apologized for being gay and having a "consensual" affair with his former director of Homeland Security, Golan Cipel. Through a close reading of the texts, I decipher how McGreevey's apology modified the public's understanding of the events that lead to …

Paradigmatic Recrudescence: Classical Realism In The Age Of Globalization, Nerses Kopalyan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The paradigm of classical realism has been the subject of extensive debate in the study of international relations. Its axiomatic suppositions, conceptual structures, theoretical framework, and analytical scope have made realism the subject of both genuine veneration and intense scrutiny at the hands of international relations scholars. This has had a three-fold effect on the evolvement of the paradigm: realism has been methodically revised by neorealists; realism has become a tool of analysis for revisionist non-realists; and realism has been marginalized and erroneously critiqued. The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate and prove the following four points. First, to …

The Cuban Missile Crisis Speech: An Analysis Of Text Evolution, Ashlyn Gentry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy delivered a televised speech announcing the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba. This speech has been a subject of scholarship in the field of communication, yet no critic has performed a comprehensive analysis of its multiple drafts and their relationship to the final version. By using a comparative analysis, one can examine the process of presidential decision-making, the translation of those decisions into prose, and the strategic language used to communicate a particular message. This project follows the evolution of Kennedy's address, tracing the changes from one draft to the next, in …

Passage And Initial Implementation Of The Supplemental Educational Services Element Of The No Child Left Behind Act: An Historical Inquiry Study, Brad D. Christensen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With reports alleging a sharp decline in student achievement in the last several years, there has been a call for higher standards in the United States education system. In response, with bipartisan support, politicians overwhelmingly passed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001. NCLB, the most recent reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), mandated increasing the educational performance of all children by focusing on accountability for student achievement, flexibility, higher academic standards, research-based reforms, parental choice, annual testing to measure student progress, analysis of the annual testing data, and sanctions for schools where students did …

Pretreatment Client Characteristics And Treatment Retention In An Intensive Outpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program, Shauna Elizabeth Fuller

Dissertations (1934 -)

The effectiveness and efficacy of substance abuse treatment is well established. At the same time, clients often prematurely drop out of substance abuse treatment, negatively impacting their chances of achieving favorable outcomes. Investigating variables associated with treatment retention has become increasingly important considering one of the most robust findings in substance abuse treatment outcome research is the positive relationship between the amount of time spent in treatment and post-treatment outcomes (e.g., decreased drug/alcohol use, decreased criminal activity, improved social functioning). This study examined the relationship between pre-treatment client characteristics and treatment drop-out among 273 adults who were admitted to intensive …

Client Characteristics And Treatment Retention In An Outpatient Drug-Free Chemical Dependency Program, Jessica A. Thull

Dissertations (1934 -)

Substance abuse and dependence have detrimental effects at both micro and macro societal levels. Even so, these disorders appear to be amenable to treatment and persons who receive treatment for such problems generally achieve positive outcomes. However, reported substance abuse treatment dropout rates have varied greatly and no consistent "treatment dropout" profile has been detected. This study aimed to describe the characteristics of clients entering an intensive outpatient chemical dependency treatment program and to examine how these variables differed between clients who were retained in treatment to completion and clients who dropped out of treatment prematurely. Additionally, it explored whether …

Depression Among The Oneida: Case Studies Of The Interface Between Modern And Traditional, Mark R. Powless

Dissertations (1934 -)

Depression, defined by a EuroAmerican biomedical diagnostic criterion, using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fourth Edition, Text Revision is prevalent among First Nations peoples. However, some studies suggest that the term depression may hold little heuristic value outside of its EuroAmerican conceptualization. This study utilized qualitative methods to understand how depressive symptoms are conceptualized and experienced by traditional Oneida people. A vignette was presented and in-depth interviews of seven traditional healers, culture and Oneida language experts were conducted to: (1) gain a basic understanding of traditional views of mental health, (2) acquire multiple conceptualizations of someone who presents …