Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Generations In The Workplace: Similarities And Differences., Jeffery G. Harber

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Occurrences of four generations working side by side are not unusual. The four generations include Traditionalist, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. Members of each generation have views and opinions about their work ethic and their definition of loyalty to the organization.

Hiring managers will need to know characteristics of each generation. This knowledge will enable the hiring managers to place the applicant in certain positions within their organizations. By matching applicants with the correct work positions, employees are able to use their skills and abilities to be productive and to establish measurable goals for themselves and their departments. …

Morphological Awareness Dynamic Assessment Task In Third Grade Children: A Feasibility Study, Katherine Pike

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a) a morphological awareness dynamic assessment task is a sensitive instrument and reveals a range of performance in third grade children, and b) performance on a morphological awareness dynamic assessment task may be significantly improved with dynamic scaffolding.

Method: The participants included twenty-three typically developing third-grade children from an elementary school in the Intermountain West. The morphological awareness dynamic assessment task, adapted from Larsen and Nippold (2007), was administered to each child two times (Initial Trial 1 testing and a subsequent Trial 2 testing 3 days later). This task required …

The Effects Of Ego Threat And Self-Esteem Boost On Overall Self-Control Ability., Jessica Rose Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-control enables people to make decisions that can promote overall well-being. Such decisions include refraining from overeating or the decision to motivate individuals to persevere when faced with difficulties. The purpose of this study was to determine if not requiring the expenditure of self-control and boosting self-esteem would enable participants to persist longer at a task designed to measure self-control than participants who were required to expend self-control and received an ego threat. No significant main effects were found for self-control manipulations, F (1, 223) = .54, p = .46, or for self-esteem manipulations, F (1, 223) = .01, p …

Do Adult Romantic Attachment Empathy And Social Skills Influence Mate Poaching Infidelity?., James Stephen Gorniewicz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the possibility that adult romantic attachment orientation, empathy, and social skills could either individually or jointly influence the expression of mate poaching behaviors. Participants (N = 404) were recruited from a Southern Appalachian university and ranged in age from 18-60 years, with a mean of 21. Data were collected using a web-based survey system. Results of this study lend support to the growing literature demonstrating a link between adult romantic attachment and mate poaching. Additionally, the present study also added to the literature by showing for the first time 1) a relationship between empathy and mate …

Assessing The Implementation Of A Non-Profit Organizational Change Initiative Using Kotter’S (1995) 8 Step Change Model., Anna Lora Richesin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Increased emphasis on process improvements in all organizations challenges leaders to institute change. Using a case study approach, the current research examined an organizational change initiative embarked on by the leadership of a local non-profit organization to obtain improvement in service delivery and acquire outcome measurements. There is little in the literature concerning organizational change initiatives and the use of change models in the non-profit sector. This study examined staff perception of an organizational change initiative using Kotter’s (1995) 8 step change model as benchmarks of success. Kotter’s (1995) 8 Steps for Change is a popular change model often used …

Diel Periodicity In Activity And Location In The Web Of The Common House Spider (Achaearanea Tepidariorum)., Elise Wolf

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Circadian rhythm is a type of endogenous clock that controls daily behavioral patterns in most organisms. Spiders have been shown to exhibit both circadian and non-circadian rhythms in their behaviors. This rhythmicity may allow spiders to cope with diel changes in environmental conditions. Both diurnal and nocturnal behavior have different sets of costs and benefits to a species’ survival. Achaearanea tepidariorum is one species in which potential circadian rhythmicity has never been studied. Due to its foraging behavior, it was predicted that its daily activity would be arrhythmic. We recorded the positions within the web of forty individuals throughout the …

Relationships Among Multicultural Educational Practices, Student Self-Efficacy, And Student Cultural Identity In The High School Setting., Kimberly Coalson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between multicultural educational (ME) practices, student self-efficacy, and student cultural identity in the high school English setting. Surveys were administered to first-semester college freshmen which assessed their perceptions of their high school English/literature ME experiences, self-efficacy, and current ethnic identity status, with predictions that ME would positively predict self-efficacy and identity.

Race And Anomie: A Comparison Of Crime Among Rural Whites And Urban Blacks Based On Social Structural Conditions., Mical Dominique Carter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between social structures and crime among rural white and urban black males in North Carolina through the theoretical framework of Merton's Anomie. Using demographic information on the state's inmate population provided by the North Carolina Department of Corrections, the subjects' individual characteristics were studied alongside community level conditions to establish whether anomic conditions did coincide with specific types of crimes and whether individuals from each group would commit the same types of crimes. The study population came from the rural counties of Graham, Alleghany, Swain, and Mitchell and the urban communities within Charlotte of Mecklenburg …

Beyond Cyberpessimism And Cyberoptimism: The Dual Nature Of Social Network Site Interaction., Jeremy David Makely

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis applies methodological and micro-sociological insights derived from the pioneering social psychologist Georg Simmel (1858-1918) to the contemporary social media platform, Facebook. In opposition to previously-reported one-sided, polarized analyses (i.e. either/or, pessimistic or optimistic), this study suggests a more nuanced judgment: interaction viewed as social exchange reveals that individuality is often promoted though can occasionally be hindered; while most exchanges are ill-suited for sustaining interpersonal value, they ironically facilitate enhanced trust; and finally, the unique structure of site-based exchange generally facilitates rather than undercuts constructive conflict.

Communicative Language Teaching In Current Chinese Colleges And Universities., Xiaorong Li

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) has been prioritized as the key instructional approach in colleges since the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a revised syllabus in 1999 that underlines college EFL students' communicative competence. The issuance of the syllabus was followed by a series of reforms on curricular designs and teaching methods. However, CLT has encountered great resistance. College teachers and learners are constrained by socio-cultural influences such as the perceptions of teachers' roles and ways of learning and teaching (Hu, 2002; Rao, 1996). Although some teachers have shown positive attitudes towards CLT, in general they have failed to practice it …

Conflict Management Education In Medicine: Considerations For Curriculum Designers, Jeffery Kaufman

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

It is important to address conflict in the medical field for a variety of reasons ranging from reducing turnover to increasing the quality of care received by patients. One way to assist with the management of medical conflict is by teaching resolution techniques to medical personnel. There is an opportunity for conflict management curriculum to address many of the issues facing physicians, administrators, staff and patients, however, it is also necessary for those developing that curriculum to understand the nature of the environment and appropriate conflict management tools to be used in that environment as part of the design process. …

Towards The Practice Of Volunteering 2.0: Volunteers’ Digital Choices With Social Affordances In The Web 2.0 Era, Ayse Kok

Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development

There is little evidence that helps to inform education, practice, policy, and research about issues surrounding the use of online collaboration tools for organisational initiatives (Brown & Duguid, 1991; Cook & Brown, 1999); let alone a single study conducted with regard to the volunteering practice of knowledge workers. The underlying objectives of the research study are to explore and describe how corporate volunteers experience and participate in learning in technology-rich environments; investigate the strategies, beliefs and intentions of corporate volunteers who are effective in learning in technology-rich environments and identity factors that enable or inhibit effective e-learning and make recommendations …

Ua12/2/1 College Heights Herald, Vol. 86, No. 54, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

WKU campus newspaper reporting campus, athletic and Bowling Green, Kentucky news.

Use Of Social Media In Presidential Campaigns: Do Social Media Have An Effect On The Political Behavior Of Voters Aged 18-24?, Samantha Hamilton

Honors Senior Capstones and Theses

Today, the idea of social media is radically different from the media of a decade ago. While a decade ago the Internet was considered new media, our society now turns to Facebook, Twitter, and blogs as sources of information. In the United States during election cycles, the use of social media by presidential candidates has become a way for many voters to find out about candidates. As a result, presidential candidates have had to adapt their campaign strategies to work with these media in a way that will effectively target these audiences. This study examines whether campaigns that are more …

Building The Foundation For Rhode Island Immigrant Assistance Database: A Brief Study Of The Communication And Collaboration Among Rhode Island Social Service Agencies, Matthew Friedman

Global Studies Student Scholarship

In the state of Rhode Island, numerous non-profit organizations, businesses and state government departments provide a variety of services to the immigrant population. Among these agencies, each has different levels of communication, collaboration and knowledge of the other organizations operating in Rhode Island. Collaborating with the International Institute of Rhode Island, a non-profit immigration agency located in Providence, my initial goal was the creation of the Rhode Island Immigrant Assistance Database (RIIAD), a simple and informative web page detailing the services, mission statement and address of the agencies that assist immigrants. Of the more than seventy organizations invited to the …

Ua12/2/1 Graduation, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special commencement edition of the College Heights Herald.

Town-Gown Relations At Providence College: Perspectives And Interactions Between Students And The Local Community, Joe Paola

Global Studies Student Scholarship

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and comment on the relationships that exist between Providence College students and the local Smith Hill‐Elmhurst community. In conducting my research I concentrated mainly on the nuanced perceptions that the students and the local residents have of each other. My main interest was to see how the students defined themselves in relation to the outside community, and in discovering how much their relationship is based upon these perceptions. At the same time, I also aimed to find out what the locals’ opinions were on the place of the students; namely, if they …

Political Institutions And Regional Inequality In China: 1949 To 2005, Qiang Yan

Dissertations

Patterns of economic inequality across three Chinese regions-- the West, the Inland, and the Coastal area-- changed twice from 1949 to 2005. During the period 1949 to 1979 regional inequality decreased, and after 1979 inequality increased. Previous studies, including economic models, cultural studies, and international relations theory, cannot fully explain changes in Chinese regional inequality after 1949. This dissertation uses Institutional Theory (IT) to analyze the changing patterns of Chinese regional economic inequality after 1949. Analyzing economic data and political documents with IT, the dissertation shows that changes in Chinese political institutions, including political parties, policy-making agencies, and institutionalized ideologies, …

Ragland, Mark S. (Fa 559), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 559.  Paper:  "Influence of Popular Culture on the Subject of Art," done by Mark S. Ragland as part of a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.  Includes an interview done by Ragland with artist and art educator Michael Taylor about the influence of popular culture on art, with particular emphasis on the pop art genre.

Prescribed Fire Effects On The Summer And Fall Herbs Of Mesic Deciduous Forests, Margaret Wilder

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

After years of fire suppression, high intensity forest fires were destructive to surrounding areas. Historically, fire was common in the eastern United States, but was suppressed over the past century, and recently has become a major tool in forest management. But to date, there have been no studies on the influence of fire on mesic sites in the eastern United States. Because fire is being reintroduced as a management practice, it is critical to know the influence of fire in this region. This study seeks to understand the influences of fire on summer and fall herbs in the western mesophytic …

The Relation Between Delay Discounting And Disordered Eating In College Women, Lindsey Alanna Mayberry

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Some researchers have suggested that impulsive behavior is a characteristic of disordered eating. Nevertheless, there are relatively few studies that have examined the relation between impulsivity and disordered eating. In the present study, I used a delay-discounting task to measure impulsive behavior in a sample of college women who met the criteria for disordered eating and in a sample of matched controls. On this task, participants completed trials on which they chose between smaller, sooner monetary rewards and larger, later monetary rewards, all of which were hypothetical. I found that women with disordered eating were no more impulsive, on average, …

The Impact Of Cheating On Irt Equating Under The Non-Equivalent Anchor Test Design, Daniel Pacheco Jurich

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The prevalence of high stakes test scores as a basis for significant decisions necessitates the dissemination of accurate and fair scores. However, the magnitude of these decisions has created an environment prone to examinees resorting to cheating. To reduce the risk of cheating, multiple test forms are commonly administered. When multiple forms are employed, the forms must be equated to account for potential differences in form difficulty. If cheating occurs on one of the forms, the equating procedure may produce inaccurate results. A simulation study was conducted to examine the impact of cheating on IRT true score equating. Recovery of …

Gathering Further Validity Evidence For The Academic Entitlement Questionnaire: Examining The Relationship Between Noncompliance And Academic Entitlement, Jason Paul Kopp

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

A rigorous investigation of the psychometric properties of the Academic Entitlement Questionnaire (AEQ) was undertaken. Academic entitlement (AE) is defined as the expectation that one should receive positive academic outcomes (e.g., high grades), often independent of performance. AE had been theoretically linked with uncivil student behavior, but this relationship had not been evaluated empirically prior to this study. Responses on the AEQ were gathered from compliant and noncompliant students. Measurement invariance was established for the AEQ across these compliant and noncompliant samples. As predicted, the noncompliant sample was significantly higher in latent AE than the compliant sample. Relationships between AE …

A Systematic Evaluation Of The Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique, Whitney Flemming Smiley

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Currently, researchers are conducting many studies on n improving teaching methods. However, research is underdeveloped is improving testing formats so that they can promote student achievement. One way of improving testing could be to incorporate feedback into the testing procedure. This study replicated and extended past research done Epstein, Epstein, & Brosvic’s (2001) by for a testing technique called the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT), which allows test takers to receive immediate feedback on each response during testing. I extended Epstein’s research by including two new conditions (scantron with feedback and computerized IF-AT). Results showed that adding feedback into the …

The Relationship Between Self-Esteem And Social Influence: An Empirical Comparison Of Two Theoretical Models, Chauncy Thomas Brinton

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The relationship between social influence and self-esteem was examined in two studies from the lens of two different theoretical approaches, Leary’s sociometer theory and Henriques’ Unified Theory of Psychology (HUTP). Whereas sociometer theory contends that self-esteem functions completely as a barometer of relational value, HUTP posits that human self-esteem should also be significantly influenced by the cultural context, especially the extent to which self-enhancement is justified. This conception leads to the prediction that socialization will influence self-esteem, after controlling for social influence. Specifically, individuals socialized to self-enhance should demonstrate higher levels of self-esteem after controlling for social influence. Two studies …

Finding Balance: School-Based Yoga Programs For The Prevention And Reduction Of Anxiety, Jessica Dawn Aaron

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Children and adolescents experience anxiety to varying degrees; levels vary from healthy and motivating to clinically elevated and debilitating. At present, anxiety disorders are most commonly treated through psychopharmacology and cognitive behavioral therapy. This thesis contains a brief literature review of these existing treatments, followed by a presentation of the emerging support for mindfulness-based yoga programs, highlighting a particular opportunity for school-based mental health providers. Keywords: yoga, anxiety, wellness, prevention, school-based, holistic care.

Substance Abuse And School Counseling, Katherine A. Baird

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

School counselors are in a unique position to address substance abuse issues in schools and communities. School counselors may work with students who have substance abuse problems, therefore, it is essential for school counselors to be aware of the research on substance abuse. It is also essential for school counselors to have a sense of what interventions to use with students who are abusing drugs and/or alcohol. The purpose of this project is to: examine the latest research on substance abuse as it relates to youth; examine the role of the school counselor in substance abuse assessment and treatment; and …

Resilience Through Attending To The Power Of The Mind, Jennifer Dawn Behm

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Abstract The science of psychological genomics, otherwise known as epigenetics, demonstrates how thoughts and emotions affect our physiology and even our genes. Genetic expression is a determining factor in many physical diseases and mental conditions. There is recent evidence that suggests that effective resilience-focused counseling may enable genes to express themselves in salubrious ways, frequently averting disease. Early counseling interventions can eliminate a future need for more costly invasive medical procedures. People can be mentally and physically healed when they are ministered to in their totality. The science of epigenetics has profound ramifications for all in the healing professions including …

Study Strategies In High School Students With Specific Learning Disabilities, Mikaela Renee Cribbs

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Students with Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD) are entering college after high school at higher rates than in the past. Previous research suggests that students with SLD have a significantly more difficult time adjusting to the demands of college, with deficits noted in the area of study strategies. This study compared study strategies of students with SLD with those of students without disabilities. The Learning and Study Strategies Inventory High School, 2nd edition (LASSI-HS; C.E. Weinstein & D.R. Palmer, 2002) was used to assess ten areas of study strategies. Results indicate that students with student with SLD have significantly more developed …

Recruitment And Retention Of African-Americans In School Psychology In A Social Justice Context: Practitioners' Perspectives, Marlana Ashe

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

School psychology is moving toward more culturally competent practice; one way of attaining that is through increasing the number of culturally diverse practitioners. African-Americans in particular are needed. Various factors including a negative perception of psychology and lacking knowledge of school psychology contribute to the low numbers of members of this ethnic group in school psychology. Social justice issues, such as prejudice and disproportionality in special education seemingly affect minority groups’ interest in the field; however, little research has been conducted to examine this interaction. Effective recruitment and retention strategies to increase the number of African-American school psychologists in the …