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2015

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Articles 8881 - 8910 of 19695

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Facing Technology : Creative Solutions To Real-World Problems., Taylor Juanita Beisler May 2015

Facing Technology : Creative Solutions To Real-World Problems., Taylor Juanita Beisler

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

We are shaped by technology. This simple idea has become more familiar to social scientists, technical engineers, and some tech users. The first section of this thesis finds unfavorable consequences of constant social media usage, such as unawareness, behavioral and cogitative modifications, and disconnection as societal ills. The second part of this thesis explains how these social side effects can be best ameliorated by “serious” designers, or those whose work is conceptual with real world applications (McLuhan, 8). The final section proposes a creative expression as it relates to bringing awareness to the social side effects of tech usage, linking …

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Using Art Therapy To Understand The Experience Of African-American Girls With Childhood Obesity, Elva Anderson May 2015

Using Art Therapy To Understand The Experience Of African-American Girls With Childhood Obesity, Elva Anderson

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The growing epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States disproportionately affects African-American children. Traditional use of behavior modification and nutrition counseling in weight reduction programs for obese children have not been successful in overcoming the social, cultural, and psychological barriers to effective weight control. Although art therapy can provide important insights into the life challenges faced by obese children, there has been little research on the use of art therapy to increase understanding of the lived experiences of African-American girls living with obesity. By understanding their perspective, it will assist in developing theory as a means to create better …

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Effects Of Art Therapy Intervention For Chronic Pain And Psychosocial Comorbidities, Molly O' Neill Haaga May 2015

Effects Of Art Therapy Intervention For Chronic Pain And Psychosocial Comorbidities, Molly O' Neill Haaga

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Chronic pain is a multidimensional, phenomenological experience, shaped by physiological, psychological, and social factors. Thus, integrative non-pharmacological adjunctive approaches are gaining recognition for addressing the interplay between these factors. Art therapy is one such approach. However, while art therapy and chronic pain research has shown promising results, it remains a nascent area of inquiry and needs to be expanded. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate and illustrate the effects of a multisite, 6-session, manualized art therapy intervention on client-participants’ (N = 31) perceptions of chronic pain and psychosocial comorbidities. The study employed an embedded mixed-methods design. Primary …

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The President's Task Force On 21st Century Policing: Final Report, Office Of Community Oriented Policing Services, Erin M. Kearns May 2015

The President's Task Force On 21st Century Policing: Final Report, Office Of Community Oriented Policing Services, Erin M. Kearns

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

The task force recommendations are presented under six topics: "Building Trust and Legitimacy," Policy and Oversight," "Technology and Social Media," "Community Policing and Crime Reduction," "Officer Training and Education," and "Officer Safety and Wellness." Each of the recommendations in these topic areas include suggested action steps. One of two overarching recommendations is that the President support the establishment of a National Crime and Justice Task Force to examine all areas of criminal justice and pose reforms. As a corollary to this recommendation, the second overarching recommendation is that the President support programs that take a comprehensive and inclusive look at …

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Working In A Cage: The Evolution Of Constitutional Restrictiveness In U.S. State Legislatures, Nancy Martorano Miller, Keith E. Hamm, Ronald D. Hedlund May 2015

Working In A Cage: The Evolution Of Constitutional Restrictiveness In U.S. State Legislatures, Nancy Martorano Miller, Keith E. Hamm, Ronald D. Hedlund

Political Science Faculty Publications

The U.S. states have been characterized as “laboratories of democracy” for their ability to formulate public policies aimed at solving some of the most pressing public policy issues. The study of both public policy and legislative politics in the states has been quite robust. However, vitally missing from our understanding of policymaking and the legislative process in the states is the role of constitutional provisions. Many state constitutions contain directives that severely limit the ability of the legislature to act. Some of these directives are procedural while others are more substantive. This is relevant because constitutional rules are more difficult …

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Effects Of An Electronically Guided Prayer Intervention, Brian Lee Goetsch May 2015

Effects Of An Electronically Guided Prayer Intervention, Brian Lee Goetsch

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract Hope has been identified as an important factor in a variety of positive outcomes in psychotherapy, medicine, academic success, and for general levels of functioning. However, until now most studies on hope have been correlational in nature, and researchers have rarely sought to understand how hope can be facilitated. The present study considered the effect of prayer on experiences of hope in a national sample of Christian college students. An intervention group completed a guided prayer exercise once a day for 2 weeks. Pre and post-test levels of hope were assessed and compared to a control group, and a …

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Narrative Identity Development For Novice Psychotherapists In Clinical Training, Dana Michelle Satterlee May 2015

Narrative Identity Development For Novice Psychotherapists In Clinical Training, Dana Michelle Satterlee

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract Narrative identity is “the internalized, evolving story of the self that each person crafts to provide his or her life with a sense of purpose and unity” (Adler, 2012, p. 367). This identity is distinct from the broad dispositional traits and the characteristic adaptations for contextualized behaviors. It provides the self with a sense of purpose, meaning, and unity across time and situations (McAdams & Olson, 2010). Researchers have developed ways of measuring innovative moments (IMs), or shifts in narrative identity that occur in psychotherapy. Researchers have also explored narrative identity processing as it seems to occur across the …

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Predicting Solitary Confinement, Bryce Young Roby May 2015

Predicting Solitary Confinement, Bryce Young Roby

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract The rates of incarceration in the United States have steadily increased at an average rate of 3.4% per year since 1995, requiring the majority of federal and state institutions to function at or above capacity (Haun, 2007). This influx of adults entering correctional systems has placed increased pressure on prison officials to efficiently and effectively monitor inmate behavior as maintaining the safety and security of the correctional institution is most often the highest priority of correctional administrators (Cullen, Latessa, Burton, & Lombardo, 1993). One security measure commonly implemented to manage inmate violence and disturbances is solitary confinement. This study …

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The Effectiveness Of An Evidenced-Based Decision Making Program In Criminal Justice Systems, Tashina Lorraine Keith May 2015

The Effectiveness Of An Evidenced-Based Decision Making Program In Criminal Justice Systems, Tashina Lorraine Keith

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract The National Institute of Corrections selected the Yamhill County Department of Corrections to implement a new evidenced-based decision making program within their criminal justice system. As part of the new program, every individual who was arrested and placed on probation went through a case analysis assessment and had their treatment programs approved by a judge prior to sentencing. In this study 20 randomly selected individuals who received their treatment programming prior to sentencing were matched to 20 randomly selected individuals who received treatment programs post-sentencing. The hypothesis of this study was that those probationers in the pre-sentencing group who …

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Exploring The Influence Of Smartphone Technology Within The Context Of Marriage: An Intervention Study, Joshua Shea Borrelli May 2015

Exploring The Influence Of Smartphone Technology Within The Context Of Marriage: An Intervention Study, Joshua Shea Borrelli

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract The introduction of smartphones and their use into the everyday lives of a significantly large population has changed the way people communicate and interact. The purpose of this study is to examine any possible negative or positive effects smart phone use may have on partner satisfaction and couple-communication within a married/partnered couple. Participants were divided into a control group and an experimental group. The constructs of communication and relationship satisfaction were measured through a repeated-measures design. The Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (RDAS) was used to measure relational satisfaction, and the Primary Communication Inventory was used to measure partner communication. …

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Stressors And Resources Of Oregon Psychologists: How Are Helpers Being Helped?, Nathan William Engle May 2015

Stressors And Resources Of Oregon Psychologists: How Are Helpers Being Helped?, Nathan William Engle

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Professional psychology requires the navigation of a complex set of skills including clinical work, research, and consultation while also demanding a level of personal investment, which can tax the psychologists’ emotional and physical resources. Bearse, McMinn, Seegobin, & Free (2013) highlighted the deleterious impact of these stressors. The American Psychological Association (APA) has shown an awareness of impactful professional stress and responded by encouraging state psychological associations to create a Colleague Assistance Program (APA, 2006). Although the research and professional guild agree on the existence of professional stress, there is little research regarding the effectiveness of strategies and resources used …

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Perceptions Of Intelligence And Academic Achievement Among Undergraduate Students With Learning Disorders, Ashley Blake May 2015

Perceptions Of Intelligence And Academic Achievement Among Undergraduate Students With Learning Disorders, Ashley Blake

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Students with learning disorders are one of the largest and fastest growing populations of college students with disabilities, yet many experience significant difficulty in formal academic settings. These challenges may include lower levels of academic achievement, negative perceptions of school, and negative perceptions of themselves. Research has shown that certain variables, including implicit theory of intelligence, goal orientation, and self-efficacy, are related to academic achievement. The current study sought to assess the relationships between these variables and academic achievement, as measured by cumulative GPA, among a sample of college students with identified learning disorders. Results showed medium to large correlations …

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Depression And Spiritual Predictors Of Wellness In Family Caregivers Of Individuals With Alzheimer’S Disease, Christine Green May 2015

Depression And Spiritual Predictors Of Wellness In Family Caregivers Of Individuals With Alzheimer’S Disease, Christine Green

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This study investigated the role of spirituality in family caregivers of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease as a means of lessening the development of depressive symptomology arising through caregiver burden. For this study, there were 41 caregiver participants taking care of a family member with Alzheimer’s disease. The population was obtained through various divisions of the Alzheimer’s Association of the United States of America. Participants completed a basic demographic survey, the General Well-Being Schedule, the Patient Health Questionnaire- 9, and the Spiritual Experience Index. Two groups, religious and non-religious, had their mental health functioning compared. Results from the 41 surveys suggest …

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Problem Solving Skills Training With At-Risk Nicaraguan Children And Adolescents, Jessica Lee May 2015

Problem Solving Skills Training With At-Risk Nicaraguan Children And Adolescents, Jessica Lee

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Problem solving skills have been used to effectively improve behavioral, psychological, and social functioning in a number of clinical and nonclinical settings, but there is need for additional research in cross-cultural settings. Dissemination research focuses on increasing our knowledge on how to effectively deliver evidence-based health care interventions to diverse communities. In this study, 23 Nicaraguan females, ages 9-19, from a girls’ home in Managua, Nicaragua received problem solving skills training, and a token economy system was implemented to measure behavior change. A significant improvement was found in the girls’ problem solving ability, externalizing problems, conduct problems, and adaptive skills. …

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Hindsight Bias And Guilt, Jessica Frances Johnson May 2015

Hindsight Bias And Guilt, Jessica Frances Johnson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This study is an examination of the relationship between hindsight bias and posttraumatic guilt. There is some evidence that guilt following a trauma is caused, at least in part, by the hindsight bias. However, the researchers behind this theory have not tested this theory utilizing the hypothetical experimental design for hindsight bias or tested their conception of hindsight bias in terms of foreseeability and inevitability. This study attempted to do just that. Participants were presented with a scenario about a friend in a car accident. Participants in the foresight group received no outcome. Participants in the hindsight groups were told …

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Climbing The Taxonomy Ladder With Help From The Keyword Method, My Quoc Vu May 2015

Climbing The Taxonomy Ladder With Help From The Keyword Method, My Quoc Vu

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The keyword method is a mnemonic device used to improve memory. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the keyword method can facilitate higher-order learning and whether the interactive image component of the keyword method is necessary. Participants were asked to study 18 psychologists and their concepts. Undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: an own best method control group, and three variations of the keyword method. The variations in the keyword method were related to the "interactive image” aspect of that strategy. The dependent measures measured whether the keyword method can facilitate higher order-learning levels …

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Barriers To Mental Healthcare Across Age And Education Level, Vanessa Lynn Jones May 2015

Barriers To Mental Healthcare Across Age And Education Level, Vanessa Lynn Jones

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between age and education and perceived barriers to mental health care as measured by the Barriers to Access to Care Evaluation (BACE-III). Age ranged from 18-92 and ages were divided into three groups (25 and younger, 26-55, 56 and older). Education ranged from no high school diploma (or its equivalent) to doctoral degrees. A moderation analysis was conducted using each BACE-III factor as well as the BACE-III total. A qualitative analysis was also performed. The results indicated little or no relationship existed between age and education level and perceived barriers to mental health care. The …

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Recent Shoreline Erosion Rates Along Black River Bay, Jamaica: Erosion And Recovery After Hurricane Ivan In 2004, Karen Louise Zelzer May 2015

Recent Shoreline Erosion Rates Along Black River Bay, Jamaica: Erosion And Recovery After Hurricane Ivan In 2004, Karen Louise Zelzer

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Rising sea level is threatening coastal areas, particularly those in the Caribbean which rely heavily on tourism and marine resources to support local economies. The purpose of this study is to analyze shoreline position along the south coast of Jamaica to determine the locations and rates of coastal change. IKONOS satellite imagery sets for 2003, 2007 and 2012 were used to monitor land use and shoreline changes along Black River Bay, including Galleon Beach Fish Sanctuary, in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. In particular, the effect of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 on shoreline changes was evaluated. Erosion rates were significantly higher during …

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Dark Side Personality Iats: Development Of Non-Bipolar Valence-Balanced Implicit Measures, Benjamin J. Thomas May 2015

Dark Side Personality Iats: Development Of Non-Bipolar Valence-Balanced Implicit Measures, Benjamin J. Thomas

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Predicting character failure is a challenging risk management problem in many organizations and, while self-report measures of attitudes, beliefs, and personality traits have proven useful, room for improvement remains. Measures using Implicit Association Test (IAT) procedures appear to have some promise in this regard because, unlike self-report measures, they are resistant to impression management artifacts and independent of introspective ability or self-knowledge. Adjectives related to maladaptive personality attributes were used to develop IATs that are balanced with respect to an evaluative dimension (good—bad) in order to not confound self-esteem with semantically distinct descriptors of behavioral tendencies. Although correlations with an …

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Linguistic Changes In Foreign Policy Discourse, Kayla Nicole Jordan May 2015

Linguistic Changes In Foreign Policy Discourse, Kayla Nicole Jordan

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

In an ever-changing world of foreign relations, understanding how world leaders process and interpret events will be useful in predicting potential official reactions. The focus of the current study is on the U.S. Congress, who, despite the power they can exert on world politics, is an understudied population. Language, more specifically word frequency in congressional speeches, is one way to measure how people approach situations. Therefore, I examined speeches on foreign policy issues (Iraq, Iran, and North Korea) to elucidate Congressional thinking. Using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) developed by (Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2007), the linguistic constructs …

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Twenty Years' Evolution Of North Korean Migration, 1994-2014: A Human Security Perspective, Jiyoung Song May 2015

Twenty Years' Evolution Of North Korean Migration, 1994-2014: A Human Security Perspective, Jiyoung Song

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Over the past two decades, there have been notable changes in North Korean migration: from forced migration to trafficking in women, from heroic underground railways to people smuggling by Christian missionaries. The migration has taken mixed forms of asylum seeking, human trafficking, undocumented labour migration and people smuggling. The paper follows the footsteps of North Korean migrants from China through Southeast Asia to South Korea, and from there to the United Kingdom, to see the dynamic correlation between human (in)security and irregular migration. It analyses how individual migrant's agency interacts with other key actors in the migration system and eventually …

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Shining The Spotlight On Cultural Policy, Tarn How Tan, Su Fern Hoe May 2015

Shining The Spotlight On Cultural Policy, Tarn How Tan, Su Fern Hoe

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Singapore has come a long way since its days of being described as a “cultural desert". The credit goes to an aggressive arts and culture development policy backed by significant funding. To fulfil its vision of Singapore as “a global city for the arts" and a “Creative City”, the government rolled out masterplans such as those for the Renaissance City and creative industries. Most recently it called for accessible community arts for every Singaporean through the Arts and Culture Strategic Review (ACSR) of 2012.

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Female Integration In Terrorist Groups, Ayana Lilllian Gray May 2015

Female Integration In Terrorist Groups, Ayana Lilllian Gray

Political Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

his thesis examines levels of female integration in nine terrorist groups.

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Posttraumatic Stress And Emotion Recognition, Rachel Woody May 2015

Posttraumatic Stress And Emotion Recognition, Rachel Woody

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

People with PTSD have problems with interpersonal relationships, but the maintaining mechanisms are not well studied. One potential mechanism relating PTSD and interpersonal difficulties is an inability for people with PTSD to recognize another’s emotion, preventing them from taking their perspective or reacting empathetically. This study aimed to experimentally test the effects of trauma cue exposure on participants with subthreshold PTSD’s accuracy in identifying emotions depicted by peoples’ eyes. Participants were randomly assigned to either the control (i.e., neutral script) or experimental condition (i.e., traumatic event script) prior to completing the “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” task to measure …

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Complexity Of People's Attitudes Towards Abortion, Lindsey K. Butler May 2015

Complexity Of People's Attitudes Towards Abortion, Lindsey K. Butler

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the United States, and in Arkansas specifically, unintended and unplanned pregnancies are a significant public health problem. Induced abortion is a potential outcome of any pregnancy, especially unintended pregnancy. Approximately 43% of unintended pregnancies will be terminated via self-induced abortion (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013). However, abortion remains a salient, but contentious, public health issue in the United States. State and federal governments continue to pass legislation restricting access to safe, legal abortion suggesting that public opinion supports more restrictive policies. Research examining abortion attitudes typically utilize dichotomous, Prochoice versus Prolife, outcomes. Research assessing the extent …

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Polly Pocket & Ninja Turtles: A Content Analysis Of Gender Stereotypes In Children's Advertisements, Michele Bailey Deloney May 2015

Polly Pocket & Ninja Turtles: A Content Analysis Of Gender Stereotypes In Children's Advertisements, Michele Bailey Deloney

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

This content analysis examined the use of gender stereotypes, in the forms of product association and various traditional behaviors expected of a particular gender, in children’s advertisements aired on Nickelodeon network. Results of the study revealed that although children’s commercials appear to be breaking away from some long-standing gender stereotypes, such as boys being the dominant gender in athleticism, many of the same gender stereotypes that researchers have been investigating for decades remain prevalent today. Results indicate that commercials on Nickelodeon network favor boy characters in overall time on-screen. Girls-only commercials made up the lowest percent of commercials in the …

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The Role Of Women In Film: Supporting The Men -- An Analysis Of How Culture Influences The Changing Discourse On Gender Representations In Film, Jocelyn Nichole Murphy May 2015

The Role Of Women In Film: Supporting The Men -- An Analysis Of How Culture Influences The Changing Discourse On Gender Representations In Film, Jocelyn Nichole Murphy

Journalism Undergraduate Honors Theses

Women are underrepresented in film. Racial minorities are underrepresented in film. White men are vastly overrepresented in film. How do these facts affect audiences that are so demographically different from what is portrayed onscreen? This study serves to examine how character representations in film relate to the demographics of the audience viewing them, and how these portrayals have changed over a 20-year span. Considering the depictions of women in the context of social gender movements of the last two decades will provide a deeper understanding of the attitudes toward female characters, as well as factors that shape the themes and …

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High And Dry: An Economic Analysis Of Drug Use In Dry Counties, Shannon Harris May 2015

High And Dry: An Economic Analysis Of Drug Use In Dry Counties, Shannon Harris

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper focuses on how alcohol prohibition affects the drug seeking behaviors of citizens in dry counties. Dry counties are counties that do not permit the production or sale of alcohol and are typically found in Southern states only. This paper analyzes the relationship between dry county laws and three different drug incident measures in order to get a better picture of the unintended consequences of modern alcohol prohibition in the states of Alabama, Arkansas and Kentucky. To estimate drug related events I used the seizure of production sites used to make methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs, as reported by …

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Community Development In Mozambique: Evaluating Impact Assessment Methodologies, Carol Ann Farmer May 2015

Community Development In Mozambique: Evaluating Impact Assessment Methodologies, Carol Ann Farmer

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper is an analysis of an impact assessment conducted by University of Arkansas students and finalized by Abby Davidson during the 2014 Community Development in Mozambique study abroad program. The assessment was based on a developmental poultry organization in the Nampula region. In order to evaluation the assessment several theories of impact assessment were utilized. Construction of a proper counterfactual, the mitigation of selection bias, appropriateness of impact indicators, and validity were all used to consider the methodologies employed in the aforementioned assessment. Based on these criteria it was found that The Impact of poultry in Northern Mozambique failed …

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Inflation Targeting And Dollarization In Bolivia, Hugo Vaca Pereira Rocha May 2015

Inflation Targeting And Dollarization In Bolivia, Hugo Vaca Pereira Rocha

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis attempts to test the effectiveness of the IT regime as a nominal anchor (reference for monetary policy) to the Bolivian Central Bank through the use of the Taylor rule. In order to use the Taylor Rule, it will be necessary to collect data from the monetary aggregates, interest rates (preferably US interest rates since the boliviano is pegged to the US dollar), and Bolivian Central Bank international reserves. Depending upon the results of the coefficients found it would be possible to make some initial conclusions. The reason why this amount of data will be required is that this …

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