Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Organizational Change In Volunteer-Based Organizations: Communication Change Strategies In Church Congregations, Daniela Viviana Fuentes Riffo

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study fills a gap in the communication and management literature by providing additional insight regarding the effective communication strategies used by church leaders during organizational change. The researcher sought to find out how beliefs held by church members predicted their receptivity to change and their intent to leave their organization. Participants from diverse church denominations (N = 208) completed an online survey questionnaire asking them to think about a particular change they had experienced in their current or former church. The results of statistical analysis showed: (a) Church members´ beliefs regarding discrepancy, efficacy, principal support, and valence, positively …

Book Review - Lessons From The Northern Ireland Peace Process: A Volume Edited By Timothy J. White, Sarah Hanisko

Peace and Conflict Studies

No abstract provided.

The Components Of Dehumanization, Aniuska M. Luna

Peace and Conflict Studies

Dehumanization is a complex, relational and subjective phenomenon. Studies on it primarily focus on how it enables abuse in the midst of conflict, or how it shapes perceptions of others. Scholars, however, have not deconstructed it into components. The current article breaks down dehumanization into three components: elements, characteristics, and dimensions. It is hoped that the discussion of the connection between the three can encourage additional discussions on how each of the components contributes to dehumanization and how that can help towards undermining it. Until the phenomenon is understood from its most basic to its most elaborate parts, undermining dehumanization …

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of Koru: A Mindfulness Program For College Students And Other Emerging Adults., Jeffrey M Greeson, Michael K Juberg, Margaret Maytan, Kiera James, Holly Rogers

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of Koru, a mindfulness training program for college students and other emerging adults.

PARTICIPANTS: Ninety students (66% female, 62% white, 71% graduate students) participated between Fall 2012 and Spring 2013.

METHODS: Randomized controlled trial. It was hypothesized that Koru, compared with a wait-list control group, would reduce perceived stress and sleep problems, and increase mindfulness, self-compassion, and gratitude.

RESULTS: As hypothesized, results showed significant Group (Koru, Wait-List)×Time (Pre, Post) interactions for improvements in perceived stress (F[1, 76.40]=4.50, p=.037, d=.45), sleep problems (F [1, 79.49]=4.71, p=.033, d=.52), mindfulness (F [1, 79.09]=26.80, p

CONCLUSIONS: Results support the …

Depressive And Anxiety Symptom Trajectories From School Age Through Young Adulthood In Samples With Autism Spectrum Disorder And Developmental Delay., Katherine Gotham, Steven M. Brunwasser Phd, Catherine Lord

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study were to model growth in anxiety and depressive symptoms from late school age through young adulthood in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and controls with developmental delay (DD), and to assess relationships among internalizing growth patterns, participant characteristics, baseline predictors, and distal outcomes.

METHOD: Data were collected between ages 6 and 24 years in 165 participants (n = 109 with ASD; n = 56 with nonspectrum DD), most of whom received diagnostic evaluations in both childhood and early adulthood. Questionnaires were collected approximately every 3 to 6 months between ages 9 and 24 …

Connectionist Perspectives On Language Learning, Representation And Processing., Marc F Joanisse, James L Mcclelland

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The field of formal linguistics was founded on the premise that language is mentally represented as a deterministic symbolic grammar. While this approach has captured many important characteristics of the world's languages, it has also led to a tendency to focus theoretical questions on the correct formalization of grammatical rules while also de-emphasizing the role of learning and statistics in language development and processing. In this review we present a different approach to language research that has emerged from the parallel distributed processing or 'connectionist' enterprise. In the connectionist framework, mental operations are studied by simulating learning and processing within …

Emotional Responses To Varying Sources Of Interpersonal Rejection, Molly K. Cleek

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Baumeister and Leary (1995) propose with their Need to Belong Theory that negative affect would occur upon the disruption of an existing or even potential social connection. The present paper presents two studies that sought to resolve past contradictory research by examining how rejection by various sources (romantic partners, family members, close friends, or strangers) impact the rejectee’s emotional responses. The first study, which used a recalled memory of rejection, yielded no significant differences in mood, need to belong, threat to the four fundamental needs, or state self-esteem for the different sources. However, the second study, which used imagined scenarios, …

Effects Of Adverse Childhood Experiences On High Risk Inpatients Criminal Behavior, Alexis L. Booth, Jill D. Stinson Phd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) play a role in the development of chronic mental and physical diseases in adulthood. These experiences include adversities such as: emotional/verbal abuse, sexual abuse, physical abuse, and household dysfunction. In this study, we hypothesize that forensic mental health offenders will have higher ACE scores than community participants. Secondly, we hypothesize that these participants will show higher rates of and earlier incidences of offending, arrest, incarceration, and hospitalization as a result of their ACE scores. Further, we hypothesize that males and females will be affected by ACEs differently. Using archival data from a secure forensic psychiatric facility …

Encouraging Bipartisanship: Polarization And Civility As Rhetorical Tools For Ameliorating The U.S. Senate’S Partisan Environment, Angela Marie Mcgowan

Dissertations

On October 1, 2013, the Senate buckled under the pressure of intense partisanship. Dramatically demonstrating their lack of mutual agreement, senators refrained from conducting the nation’s business for 16 days. Considerable media attention covered this shut down, especially the ensuing rhetorical activities of the Senate’s female policymakers who urged bipartisanship. The flurry of activity surrounding the legislative impasse sparked this dissertation’s conceptual orientation. Accordingly, this investigation reveals how Washington lawmakers can, in good faith, set aside partisan views in order to accommodate policy objectives.

This project reveals rhetorical strategies that, when utilized, are capable of facilitating Senate bipartisanship. Each chapter …

Looking Back At The Media's Future: A Mixed Method Analysis Of Race And Gender Bias During The 2008 Democratic Presidential Primary Season, Tim Vance

Dissertations

Political knowledge has been defined as the individual’s ability to recall candidate names, personal characteristics, and qualifications. Furthermore, it is the ability to identify election issues, current campaign developments, and recognize connections between candidates and issue positions (C. Atkin & Heald, 1976). I posit that political knowledge has become much more…and much less.

I have introduced, in this paper, a number of sources for political learning: ads, newspapers, YouTube, and television news. All hold some interest for investigation as political knowledge sources, but methodology cannot be standardized across all sources. As such, the focus of the qualitative part of this …

External Organizational Identification, Parasocial Relationships, And Social Media Use, Lindsey Webb Dancy

Dissertations

The pervasive use of the Internet for social purposes has led to organizational and social change, as well as social movements online throughout the world. Of particular interest in this study is commitment to organizations by patrons and stakeholders showcased via social media outlets. This research includes a review of organizational identification, parasocial relationships and social media research followed by a detailed description of the method, which included the creation and testing of a questionnaire examining the organizational identification and parasocial relationships of external publics, and their social media use. A hypothesis is put forth suggesting that there is a …

Robust Determinants Of Bilateral Trade, Marianne Baxter, Jonathan Hersh

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

What are the policies and country-level conditions which best explain bilateral trade flows between countries? As databases expand, an increasing number of possible explanatory variables are proposed that influence bilateral trade without a clear indication of which variables are robustly important across contexts, time periods, and which are not sensitive to inclusion of other control variables. To shed light on this problem, we apply three model selection methods – Lasso reguarlized regression, Bayesian Model Averaging, and Extreme Bound Analysis -- to candidate variables in a gravity models of trade. Using a panel of 198 countries covering the years 1970 to …

A Chi-Square Analysis Of The Fall 2013 Transportation Survey: Students At The University At Albany, Cassidy Drasser

Publications

There are over 6,500 students at the University at Albany who live off-campus and commute to school. In order to reduce their carbon footprint, the University at Albany must investigate what influences the students’ transportation choices and their alternative transportation literacy. Therefore, the Office of Environmental Sustainability, Geography and Urban Planning Department and the Office of Institutional Research, Planning and Effectiveness conducted a survey in the fall of 2013 for the students at the University at Albany. After examining the results, the gender and minority distributions were not representative of the student population. The significant associations that were prominent were …

Instruction @ The Uri Libraries - May 2015, Mary C. Macdonald, Amanda Izenstark

Instruction @ the URI Libraries

No abstract provided.

Bringing A New Perspective On Co-Movements Of Stock Markets In Emerging Economies Through Causality And Wavelet Analysis, Sadullah Çelik, Emel Baydan

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The recent global financial (and economic) crisis has validated the need to assess the financial sector of the economies with rather unconventional approaches. Believing that financial markets use all the available information in an efficient manner is as questionable as finding models which test the existence of bubbles in stock exchange markets. In this respect, this paper tries to introduce a different perspective by attempting to examine the role of emerging markets in this turmoil period, termed the Great Recession. We are intrigued by the argument that stock exchange markets in emerging economies have been affected in an asymmetric manner. …

Sensitivity Of Turkish Income Distributions To Choice Of Equivalence Scale, Sinem Sefil

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

Income surveys are typically designed to collect income data on the household level. In order to obtain reliable outcomes from income distribution and inequality analysis, it is of crucial importance to consider households’ composition and varying needs. Relying on data from Turkey’s 2009-2011 Income and Living Conditions Survey (SILC), this paper examines the GE class inequality indices and Gini coefficient in terms of their sensitivity to choice of equivalence scales. It uses both one-parameter and two-parameter parametric equivalence scales to capture the effects of household size and decomposition. Following Coulter et al. (1992a), this study tests the sensitivity of the …

Self-Employment And Unemployment In Turkey, Yasemin Ozerkek, Fatma Dogruel

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The relationship between the rates of self-employment and unemployment has been extensively studied in the literature. The results of the existing studies are varied. The aim of this paper is to investigate the dynamic relationship between these variables in Turkey. The results indicate that there is a long-run relationship between the rates of self-employment and unemployment. Changes in self-employment rates have a negative effect on subsequent unemployment rates. There is evidence for the existence of causality running from self-employment rate to unemployment rate. The results reveal the existence of an entrepreneurial effect. However, it is not possible to assess the …

The Impact Of Standards On Egyptian Trade: Evidence From Sps Measures, Hoda El-Enbaby, Rana Hendy, Chahir Zaki

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

According to the World Trade Organization (WTO) standards, countries are allowed to adapt regulations under the Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) agreements in order to protect human, animal and plant health as well as environment and human safety. Therefore, using an Egyptian firm-level dataset, we analyze the effects of product standards on exports. We merge this dataset with a new database on specific trade concerns raised in the TBT and SPS committees at the WTO. Our main findings show that SPS measures imposed on Egyptian exporters have a negative impact on the probability of exporting …

The Determinants Of Broadband Access And Usage In Turkey: Do Regions Matter?, Emin Köksal, Bülent Anil

Topics in Middle Eastern and North African Economies

The aim of the paper is to examine the determinants of broadband internet access in Turkey, and in particular, whether the probability of adopting broadband access varies by region. This study also attempts to find out whether there are regional disparities in engaging in various online activities. The 2012 ICT Household Survey that was conducted and administered by TURKSTAT is used. Probit model of probability of adopting broadband access is estimated and results are consistent with the earlier studies: Education, gender, age and household size matter. Besides this, the probability of adoption in West and Central Turkey is higher than …

Lister Hill Letter - May/June 2015, Lister Hill Library

Lister Hill Letter (2011-2015)

No abstract provided.

Improved Methods For Identifying, Applying, And Verifying Industrial Energy Efficiency Measures, Andrew Chase Harding

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Energy efficiency is the least expensive source of additional energy capacity for today's global energy expansion. Energy efficiency offers additional benefits of cost savings for consumers, reduced environmental impacts, and enhanced energy security. The challenges of energy efficiency include identifying potential efficiency measures, quantifying savings, determining cost effectiveness, and verifying savings of installed measures. This thesis presents three separate chapters which address these challenges. The first is a paper presented at the 2014 industrial energy technology conference (IETC) that details a compressed air system project using the systems approach to identify cost effective measures, energy intensity to project savings, and …

Noise., Laura Katherine Polaski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My research is in the realm of the psychological, the emotional and way these drives manifest physically. The works in Noise. aims to give a physical representation to the non-physical. Research on Affect Theory and the teachings of Silvan Tomkins were paramount to understanding emotional drives and the ways in which they manifest.

The purpose of this research is to understand how emotions are generated and communicated and to ask if specific emotions can be generated upon viewing inanimate objects. I create abstract figurative sculpture, which imitate emotion that has no specific physicality. These works exist with one foot in …

The Escape, Maggie Mason Smith

Publications

No abstract provided.

Why States Seek Membership In Supranational Institutions, Kathrine (Katie) Tillman

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

International institutions allow for increased connections between states. The number of a specific type of institution, supranational, has been on the rise and these institutions are taking on more powers once held by states. This study seeks to explain the motivating factors behind states’ decisions to join supranational institutions. In order to do this, I will focus on two states’ decisions to join the European Union, Austria and Poland. Perception of economic benefits, desire to join a common identity, and the desire to join security alliances will be analyzed as explanatory variables for the states’ decision.

Examining The Effect Of Religion On Economic Growth: A Partial Replication And Extension, Sophia M. Korman

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Economic growth is the fundamental measurement that assesses a country’s productive capacity in terms of goods and services. It is conventionally estimated using the percent rate of increase in GDP per capita and is correlated with numerous factors in society, among which include quality of life. For example, one application of GDP per capita is as a primary indicator of standard of living. However, although GDP per capita is a reliable determinant of the level of development in a country, it is certainly not the only way to measure well-being. For instance, it fails to capture many important aspects of …

Legislated Equality: Gender Quotas In A Latin American Context And The Story Of Mexico, Joe Dingmann

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Female legislators are becoming much more common and so are legislative acts focusing on increasing the number of women in elected bodies. These acts are an attempt at creating rules, designed in a positive way, to foster social change and fix one of the most predominant issues in society. A prevalent strategy for greater female representation in decision-making bodies is electoral gender quotas. Electoral gender quotas are one method that attempts to raise the descriptive representation (raw numbers) of women in elected within legislative bodies. These quotas have been enacted around the world beginning in the early 1990s. Because electoral …

Who Will Make The Cut? Gender Bias And Contrast Effects In Hiring Behavior, Molly L. Sullivan

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

The present study examined stereotypical beliefs and contrast effects resulting from gender biases and their influence on hiring behavior. College student participants were asked to evaluate a male or female job candidate who was either applying for a feminine or masculine position. Additionally, the applicant’s altruistic behavior was manipulated to either oppose or conform to the stereotype that women are more helpful than men. The results were not consistent with hypotheses. No evidence was found to support the idea that men and women are more likely to be hired for stereotypically gender-congruent positions, or that contrast effects mitigate these outcomes. …

The Influence Of Economic Performance In The 2014 Midterms: A Gubernatorial Tutorial, Justin M. Markon

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Who is responsible for the state economy, and does it matter in electing the state chief executive? Until now, numerous researchers have examined the influence of the economy and other factors in gubernatorial elections. However, the most recent studies at the state level did not include economic conditions or found them to be insignificant. This project will examine the thirty-six gubernatorial elections in 2014 and analyze both national- and state-level economic indicators. After investigating the economic performance factors in relation to the election results, it appears that economic conditions did not influence vote choice in the November 2014 gubernatorial elections, …

Behavioral And Neuroanatomical Outcomes Of Early And Late Preterm Hypoxic-Ischemic Injury And The Neuroprotective Effects Of Whole-Body Hypothermia: An Animal Model, Haley C. Garbus

University Scholar Projects

The overarching aims of this research were: first, to characterize the anatomical and behavioral effects of preterm hypoxic-ischemic (HI) injury in rodent models; and second, to explore the method of passively induced whole-body hypothermia as a neuroprotective intervention following HI. Clinical research of preterm injured infants has shown a large range of behavioral deficits, including delays in language learning, spatial and non-spatial memory, visual attention, and motor coordination. The current studies focused on these behavioral abnormalities, using HI rodent models. Specifically, we explored a model for early preterm HI (HI induced on postnatal day (P) 3 in rats), and compared …

An Exploratory High-Density Eeg Investigation Of The Misinformation Effect: Attentional And Recollective Differences Between True And False Perceptual Memories, John E. Kiat, Robert F. Belli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The misinformation effect, a phenomenon in which eyewitness memories are altered via exposure to post-event misinformation, is one of the most important paradigms used to investigate the reconstructive nature of human memory. The aim of this study was to use the misinformation effect paradigm to investigate differences in attentional and recollective processing between true and false event memories. Nineteen participants completed a variant of the misinformation paradigm in which recognition responses to true and misinformation based event details embedded within a narrative context, were investigated using high-density (256-channel) EEG with a 1-day delay between event exposure and test. Source monitoring …