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TMC Library Newsletter (2015-)

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Examining The Role Of Antisocial Personality Disorder In Intimate Partner Violence Among Substance Use Disorder Treatment Seekers With Clinically Significant Trauma Histories, Rita E. Dykstra, Julie A. Schumacher, Natalie Mota, Scott F. Coffey

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study examined the associations among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom severity, antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) diagnosis, and intimate partner violence (IPV) in a sample of 145 substance abuse treatment-seeking men and women with positive trauma histories; sex was examined as a moderator. ASPD diagnosis significantly predicted both verbal and physical aggression; sex moderated the association between ASPD diagnosis and physical violence. PTSD symptom severity significantly predicted engaging in verbal, but not physical, aggression. Overall, these results suggest that an ASPD diagnosis may be an important risk factor for engaging in IPV among women seeking treatment for a substance use …

An Empirical Test For Overrepresentation Of Black Youth Arrests In Mississippi, Ashley R. Mcknight

Honors Theses

The objective of this study is to empirically test for black youth overrepresentation at the initial contact (arrest) stage of the juvenile justice system. In 2002, an amendment was made to the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 which called for states to monitor disproportionate minority contact at all levels of the juvenile justice system. Arrest data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics has been gathered to determine the rate and percentage at which black youth are arrested compared to white youth. More so, youth population statistics are acquired from the U.S. Census and are converted to percentages. …

The Culture Of Sustainability At Southern Miss, Amy J. Ball

Honors Theses

The sustainability movement has been studied in general before, but little research has been done on topic of the sustainability movement at universities. This study aims to contribute to the larger conversation on sustainability by looking at the ideas and motivations behind participation in the movement among students at the University of Southern Mississippi. This is done primarily through interviews performed by the researcher with a number of students in a club on campus dedicated to spreading knowledge of and participation in sustainable activities, known as the Sustainability Advocates. Background information about the sustainability movement on campus is provided by …

The Representation Of The Individualism-Collectivism Cultural Value Dimension In Film Portrayals Of Intercultural Communication, Courtney J. Mcmullan

Honors Theses

Globalization and modernization have changed the world in which we live, bringing intercultural communication to the forefront in our daily lives. Cultural values vary around the world, and these values impact the way people communicate with one another. This study focused on the cultural value of individualism-collectivism and how it impacts intercultural, interpersonal communication and the way it is presented in film. The aim of this study was to conduct quantitative analyses of data gathered from intercultural films to identify the way in which nations' individualism-collectivism tendencies are displayed in film in comparison to a cultural value dimension scale and …

Testing Links Among Uncertainty, Affect And Attitude Toward A Health Behavior In A Risky Setting, Robert J. Griffin, Timothy K.F. Fung, Sharon Dunwoody

College of Communication Faculty Research and Publications

The relationship between uncertainty and emotional reactions to risk has been explored in only a cursory fashion to date. This study seeks to remedy that by examining linkages between uncertainty judgment and such affective reactions as worry and anger within the context of an environmental health risk. It uses data from a longitudinal study of people’s reactions to the risks of eating contaminated fish from the Great Lakes, which employed the Risk Information Seeking and Processing model proposed by Griffin, Dunwoody and Neuwirth (1999) and, in the process, seeks to test the expanded model, which includes behavioral intentions. Findings supported …

An Ethnography Of Taste: Craft Beer Culture In Hattiesburg, Yingkun Hou

Master's Theses

This thesis studies the craft beer culture in Hattiesburg in order to answer the research question: Is taste what draws people to this culture? Beyond conducting classic participant-observation, I deployed the method of sensory activated participant-observation in my fieldwork. In so doing, this research centers the perspective and the data collected on the senses, especially the taste of craft beer. The purpose of this research is to add to our knowledge of the anthropology of the senses and contribute to the literature on the anthropology of taste.

Investigating The Use Of A Positive Variation Of The Good Behavior Game In A High School Setting, Shauna Lynne

Master's Theses

The Good Behavior Game (GBG) is an example of an interdependent group contingency that can be used in classrooms to manage behavior. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a positive variation of the GBG in which teachers attend to rule-following behavior, as opposed to the original version of the game in which teachers attend to rule-breaking behavior. In previous studies, researchers have demonstrated the effectiveness of the GBG in decreasing problematic behavior and/or increasing productive or desired behavior in classroom settings and in hospital settings and spanning preschool-aged, elementary toddlers to high school-aged adolescents. An …

The Effects Of Tootling On Disruptive And Academic Behaviors In High School, John Dylan Ken Lum

Master's Theses

Considered the opposite of tattling, tootling is a procedure where students report their classmates’ positive behavior instead of inappropriate behavior. This study examined the effects of tootling on students’ behavior in three general education high school classrooms. An A-B-A-B withdrawal with follow-up design was used to assess the effects of the intervention on decreasing classwide disruptive behavior and increasing academically engaged behavior. Students wrote tootles anonymously on paper slips, and deposited them into a marked container. An interdependent group contingency procedure was used to create a class goal for the number of submitted tootles, which led to a class reward …

The Masculine Mystique, Michael W. Chancellor Jr.

Master's Theses

This textual analysis explores the rhetoric of exclusion among homosexual men by analyzing DouchebagsofGrindr.com. The rhetoric of exclusion is used by some homosexual men in order to achieve hegemonic masculinity based on performance of gender, age, race, and physical characteristics to conquer stereotypes of femininity. The gay community utilizes civil rights rhetoric in order to create a dialogue about equality; unfortunately a disturbing number of gay community members frequently discount homosexual male minorities, perpetuating the notion that homosexual minorities are unattractive because they violate heteronormative gender performances. Analyzing the artifact DouchebagsofGrindr.com allows for a glimpse into the self-deprecating online behavior …

The Nature Of Social Relationships In Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus): Associations And The Role Of Affiliative, Agonistic, And Socio-Sexual Behaviors, Briana Nicole Harvey

Master's Theses

Little is known about the specific behavioral exchanges that occur on a day-to-day basis between dyads of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). This thesis assesses proximity between dyads (~ 2 meters) and the proportion of time that is spent in either an affiliative, agonistic, or socio-sexual context within age/sex pairings of dolphins in order to better understand the nature of social relationships in this species. Observations of bottlenose dolphins housed at the Roatan Institute of Marine Sciences, collected in 2010, provided 10.5 hours of underwater footage for assessment of association coefficients and proportions of interactions. These data suggested similar …

Lack Of Forgiveness Of Parents And Intimate Partner Violence, Hannah Doucette

Master's Theses

This study examined whether there was an association between lack of forgiveness for adverse events/circumstances perpetrated by parents and intimate partner violence (IPV) in emerging adulthood. Participants were 208 (85.6% female) 18- and 19-year-old undergraduate students. Participants were asked to describe events/circumstances in which they felt hurt by their parents when they were growing up. They then answered questions related to the most hurtful event including items pertaining to forgiveness. Participants also answered questions about the perpetration and victimization of IPV in the past year. The forgiveness-IPV relation was observed primarily for physical injury. Findings indicated that revenge seeking and …

Ostracism And Antisocial Behavior: The Role Of Perceived Justice, Entitlement, And Anger, Christopher Jeffrey Nathanael Lustgraaf

Master's Theses

Recent research has demonstrated that antisocial behavior following a general ostracism experience is mediated by increased feelings of entitlement (Poon, Chen, & DeWall, 2013) and anger (Chow, Tiedens, & Govan, 2008). However, this prior research has failed to determine whether ostracism in general leads to antisocial behavior, or only ostracism that is perceived of as unfair or unjust. The purpose of the current study was to manipulate the perceived fairness of the ostracism experience (fair or unfair) and assess participants’ antisocial behavioral intentions (i.e., dishonest intentions). It was hypothesized that an unfair ostracism experience (compared to a fair ostracism or …

Referrals: Peer Screening And Enforcement In A Consumer Credit Field Experiment, Gharad Bryan, Dean Karlan, Jonathan Zinman

Dartmouth Scholarship

Empirical evidence on peer intermediation lags behind both theory and practice in which lenders use peers to mitigate adverse selection and moral hazard. Using a referral incentive under individual liability, we develop a two-stage field experiment that permits separate identification of peer screening and enforcement. Our key contribution is to allow for borrower heterogeneity in both ex ante repayment type and ex post susceptibility to social pressure. Our method allows identification of selection on repayment likelihood, selection on susceptibility to social pressure, and loan enforcement. Implementing our method in South Africa we find no evidence of screening but large enforcement …

In Search Of Flavour-Nutrient Learning: A Study Of The Samburu Pastoralists Of North-Central Kenya, Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, Peter J. Rogers, Kevin P. Myers, Jon D. Holtzman

Faculty Journal Articles

Much of our dietary behaviour is learned. In particular, one suggestion is that ‘flavour-nutrient learning’ (F-NL) influences both choice and intake of food. F-NL occurs when an association forms between the orosensory properties of a food and its postingestive effects. Unfortunately, this process has been difficult to evaluate because F-NL is rarely observed in controlled studies of adult humans. One possibility is that we are disposed to F-NL. However, learning is compromised by exposure to a complex Western diet that includes a wide range of energy-dense foods. To test this idea we explored evidence for F-NL in a sample of …

Adolescent Bullying: Do Weight, Body Size, And Body Size Dissatisfaction Influence Victimization?, Paige T. Lembeck

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The current study investigated how body mass index (BMI) z-score, peer context, and body size dissatisfaction influence bullying victimization in adolescents. Participants were 11-18 year-old patients at pediatrician’s offices in a mid-sized Midwestern city. Path analyses and percentile bootstrapping procedures were employed to investigate the research questions. A zero-inflated Poisson approach was used to examine whether there was an indirect effect between BMI z-score and bullying victimization through perceived difference from friends’ body size and body size dissatisfaction. An alternative model was investigated to determine whether BMI z-score indirectly affected body size dissatisfaction through perceived difference from friends’ body size …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Choice And Differential Reinforcement On The Computation Fluency Of Students With Escape-Maintained Academic Performance Problems, Maureen A. O'Connor

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This dissertation compared antecedent- and consequence-based strategies to determine which treatments or combination of treatments produced the strongest improvements in math computation fluency with four elementary-aged students who displayed escape-motivated behaviors. Functional analyses were conducted to identify elementary-school students whose academic responding was under a negative-reinforcement contingency. Next, a preference assessment was administered to each student to identify potentially effective reinforcers in the form of permissible school activities. These high-preference activities were used during the DRA and Task-Choice + DRA conditions. A multielement design was used to examine the impact of four treatments – Task Choice, DRA, Task Choice+DRA, and …

Physical Activity, Present Bias, And Habit Formation: Theory And Evidence From Longitudinal Data, Brad R. Humphreys, Jane E. Ruseski, Li Zhou

Economics Faculty Working Papers Series

We investigate temporal decisions to participate in exercise in a dynamic model featuring present bias and habit formation. The model highlights naivete about present bias and projection bias about habit formation/decay and implies that promoting participation in physical activity must both encourage the inactive to start and discourage the active from quitting as behavioral biases apply to both. Our empirical analysis using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) develops evidence consistent with predictions about present bias and habit formation/decay and an interesting asymmetry between starting and quitting that furthers understanding of existing empirical evidence.

Bystander Apathy: An Investigation Of Intervening Versus Non-Intervening Bystanders In Witnessing To Bullying, Alexandria Smith

HIM 1990-2015

David Cash was a college student who found himself in the women's restroom of the Primadonna in Nevada. He witnessed his friend, Jeremy Strohmeyer raping and killing a 7-year-old girl. Cash did not take any action in trying to prevent this heinous crime. There are many elements to consider when bystanders neglect to take action. Research examining bystander apathy in critical situations is lacking, yet the number of violent crimes witnessed by others where intervention is not offered continues to escalate. Bullying often occurs in the presence of others. Bystander apathy is believed to play a passive role in most …

The Road Rage And Aggressive Driving Dichotomy: Personality And Attribution Factors In Driver Aggression, Kathryn Elizabeth Schafer

HIM 1990-2015

Aggressive driving is not clearly and consistently defined in the literature, neither in terms of the specific behaviors chosen for inclusion nor the degree to which the emotional state of the driver is taken into account. Principally, the aim of this current research is to determine the extent to which aggressive driving and road rage overlap. This will be accomplished primarily by applying two well-supported dichotomies in aggression research: hostile/instrumental and impulsive/premeditated. Relevant personality traits will also be measured to help discern the aggressive driving- road rage overlap and to explore secondary areas of interest, such as sex and age …

Economic And Legislative Effects On Performance Based Funding And Licensed Practical Nursing Programs, Andrew Papa

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this research paper is to evaluate different elements of the State University System of Florida. Specifically, this paper will analyze how universities will respond when appropriated 20 million dollars of performance based funding and will also evaluate how efficient the 2009 changes in Florida's [statute] 464 were. This paper will use comparative statics and a duopoly model in order to explain behavior of universities when they are appropriated performance based funding. Moreover, this paper will use measures of central tendencies and hypothesis testing in order to statistically analyze data of Florida's Licensed practical nursing programs provided in …

Counter-Terrorism: When Do States Adopt New Anti-Terror Legislation?, Princelee Clesca

HIM 1990-2015

The intent of this thesis is to research the anti-terror legislation of 15 countries and the history of terrorist incidents within those countries. Both the anti-terror legislation and the history of terrorist incidents will be researched within the time period of 1980 to 2009, a 30 year span. This thesis will seek to establish a relationship between the occurrence of terrorist events and when states change their anti-terror legislation. Legislation enacted can vary greatly. Common changes in legislation seek to undercut the financing of terrorist organizations, criminalize behaviors, or empower state surveillance capabilities. A quantitative analysis will be performed to …

A Comparative Analysis Of Return Migration Policy: Germany, Russia, Kazakhstan, Elizabeth Boyd

HIM 1990-2015

The intent of this thesis is to analyze and compare the return migration policies in Germany, Russia, and Kazakhstan. It is a relatively new category of migration policy, having only been identified in the 1970s. There is no uniform policy for return migration and consequently, each country has its own unique policy. Ethnicity plays a major role in all three countries' policies. However, some policies of return migration are more successful than others.

Playing With Fire: An Ethnographic Look At How Polyamory Functions In The Central Florida Burner Community, Maleia Mikesell

HIM 1990-2015

This thesis asks the question as to whether polyamory functions as a community glue or solvent for the Central Florida Burner Community. It explores the definition of polyamory and how it relates to the Burner counter-culture. This thesis explores what polyamory's effects are on the individual and community levels for those who participate in it. The findings concluded that overall the participants reported a perceived positive impact on both the individual level and on community cohesion in this case. The participants also revealed that the environment Burning Man provides is generally open and welcoming of polyamory.

The Performance Of Health? Motivations Behind University Students' Decisions To Wear Athletic Attire, Shannon Payne

HIM 1990-2015

"Athleisure" is a relatively new term to the American lexicon, a portmanteau used to describe athletic clothing used for leisure purposes. Recent studies show a disconnect between consumers' desire to purchase athletic attire and the percentage of Americans considered "active to a healthy level and beyond." While athletic wear sales skyrocket, reported levels of inactivity have slowly increased in recent years. These trends indicate a phenomenon in which consumers prioritize ownership of athletic wear over athletics. In this research, I set out to answer the following research questions: How do university students interpret and understand the purchase and wearing of …

Do Autistic Individuals Experience The Uncanny Valley Phenomenon?: The Role Of Theory Of Mind In Human-Robot Interaction, Isabella Jaramillo

HIM 1990-2015

Theory of Mind (ToM) has repeatedly been defined as the ability to understand that others believe their own things based on their own subjective interpretations and experiences, and that their thoughts are determined independently from your own. In this study, we wanted to see if individual differences in ToM are capable of causing different perceptions of an individual's interactions with human like robotics and highlight whether or not individual differences in ToM account for different levels of how individuals experience what is called the "Uncanny Valley phenomenon" and to see whether or not having a fully developed theory of mind …

The Effect Of Color On Working Memory Performance, Michelle Galvez

HIM 1990-2015

This paper explores the effect of color on working memory performance. Interest in Baker-Miller pink surged with the finding by Schauss (1979) that it reduced aggression in aggravated detainees. However, research behind Baker-Miller pink has been influenced by biases and methodological errors. Its effects are likely overstated. Red and blue have also been studied for their effects on creativity, approach-avoidance conflict, detail-orientation, and most importantly, stress. Further research has been conducted on the effects of relaxation on cognition, with the conclusion that increased relaxation leads to improvements in working memory performance. This paper tests the effect of color on working …

Computer-Assisted Vocabulary Learning For Deaf Learners Of Foreign Sign Languages, Benjamin J. Cavaletto

Theses and Dissertations

Deaf people have as great or greater need and desire to learn foreign languages as their hearing peers. Currently it is difficult for these learners to find courses and materials that are appropriate for their learning needs. Especially difficult is finding courses or learning materials for learning sign languages, which are more motivating and more accessible for Deaf learners than spoken languages. Additionally, evidence is presented that learning a foreign sign language can act as a bridge to learning a spoken language from the same region. The study presented in this thesis tested the efficacy of a computer-assisted vocabulary learning …

Evaluation Of The Kindergarten Readiness Partnership & Innovation Grants, Beth L. Green, Lindsey Brianna Patterson, Mackenzie Morris, Lindsey Anne Cochran, Callie H. Lambarth

Early Childhood

In July 2014, Oregon’s Early Learning Division provided first-time funding for sixteen communities across the state to implement Kindergarten Readiness Partnership & Innovation (KRPI) projects. The KRPI projects share the common goal of improving children’s school readiness and, ultimately, improving school success and reducing the achievement gap. To achieve these goals, grantees were given considerable local flexibility to implement innovative approaches in one or more of the following areas:

1. Supporting kindergarten readiness skills and smooth transitions to kindergarten;

2. Increasing family engagement in children’s learning and connecting families and schools;

3. Providing professional development to early learning and/or elementary …

Maternal Maslow: Evaluating Patient Follow-Up And Treatment Goal Completion For Prenatal Referrals In A Women’S Health Clinic, Julia Terman

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Prenatal screeners in Obstetrics (OB) clinics can quickly and accurately identify health risks such as nutrition, lack of dental care, depression, anxiety or financial issues that not only impact the health of the mother but of the baby as well. With appropriate referrals and follow-up by the patient, the health of the next generation can be greatly enhanced by a simple screen and referral to treatment programs, as long as the patient is following through with referrals. This research identified patient follow-up to referral and treatment goal completion rate through a standardized screen and referral process in a local OB …