Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Primary Care Physicians’ Ability To Detect Ptsd, John Michael Della Porta

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a complex condition that has many medical and mental health sequelae. Research has shown that PTSD patients are often not accurately identified, particularly in primary care settings. The result of this underdetection is that these patients often utilize more health care resources. This investigation sought to determine whether the complex nature of PTSD, particularly the frequent presence of comorbid physical symptoms that may overshadow PTSD, makes the disorder difficult to detect in primary care settings. Other factors that could contribute to this underdetection were also investigated. A two-group between-subjects design was utilized for this investigation, …

A Comparative Discourse Analysis Of Spanish Past Narrations From The Actfl Opi And Opic, Alan V. Brown, Troy L. Cox, Gregory L. Thompson

Faculty Publications

The ACTFL Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) and accompanying proficiency guidelines have become a mainstay in academic foreign language assessment. In 2006, an asynchronous electronic interface of the OPI was made available in which candidates are asked to record themselves responding to questions delivered aurally via computer, labeled the Oral Proficiency Interview-computer (OPIc). Thompson, Cox, and Knapp (2016) found that both instruments produced similar results but that many students in their sample who scored at the Advanced Low level on the traditional OPI scored one sublevel higher on the OPIc. The primary objective of the present study is to analyze lexical …

Sexual Misconduct In Prison: What Factors Affect Whether Incarcerated Women Will Report Abuses Committed By Prison Staff?, Sheryl Pimlott Kubiak, Hannah Brenner, Deborah Bybee, Rebecca Campbell, Cristy E. Cummings, Kathleen M. Darcy, Gina Fedock, Rachael Goodman-Williams

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Hierarchical Linear Modeling Approach To Predicting Trajectories Of Posttraumatic Growth In Veterans Following Acquired Physical Disability, Lisa Goldberg Looney

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine potential predictors of PTG across time in Veterans with acquired physical disabilities. Specifically, this study aimed to understand how various demographic and injury characteristics, coping styles, appraisals of injury, and social support might predict trajectories of PTG from discharge from inpatient rehabilitation through 12 months after baseline. Initial curvature analyses suggested that a cubic polynomial trend best fit the movement of PTG over time, generally conforming to an initial increase, decrease, and then plateau or slight increase. Four HLMs were run to examine whether demographic and injury characteristics, coping styles, appraisals of …

Role-Play Assessments As A Measure Of Parenting Skill, Scott A. Jensen, Carolynn Steiner

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

Various forms of assessments of parenting skill are used across studies including parent self-report, observations of parent and child interactions, and role-play assessments of parenting skill. Role-play assessments, though used in several studies, have not been sufficiently evaluated so as to understand their reliability and validity as measures of parenting skill. The current study compared repeated role-play assessments and parent– child interactions across 5 weeks for 4 parents. Consistency across role-play assessments was adequate (80%), but the variability of parent behavior with their own child across sessions (59% similarity) led to poor similarity with role-play assessments (63%). Findings suggest promise …

Management Issues: Large Effect Sizes Do Not Mean Most People Get Better - Clinical Significance And The Importance Of Individual Results, Scott A. Jensen, Samantha M. Corralejo

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

Background: This paper seeks to compare group statistical analysis with effect size, group measures of clinical significance (Reliable Change Index and normative comparison), and individual analysis of clinical significance.

Method: Measures of variables important to parenting and child behavior improvement (Parenting Scale, Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory, and Parenting Stress Index [PSI]) were administered pre and post for a 9‐ to 10‐week group Behavioral Parent Training Intervention. Analysis compares traditional group statistical significance testing with group measure of clinical significance and individual analysis of clinical significance.

Results: All three measures demonstrated statistically significant differences from pre to post, with large effect …

Integrating Forgiveness Therapy And The Treatment Of Anger: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Michael Schaefer Ballard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although the costs of uncontrolled anger are well-known, interventions for anger are less frequently studied and less effective than interventions for either depression or anxiety (NAMA, 2012). One hundred eighty-seven patients requesting anger management treatment at an outpatient counseling center in Denver participated in this study. They were randomly assigned to one of two treatments: an experimental treatment integrating forgiveness therapy and anger management, or anger treatment as usual. Treatment consisted of twelve 90-minute sessions held once a week in small groups led by group facilitators. Participants in both treatment conditions reported clinically significant decreases in state anger and increases …

A Legal Perspective On Yemen's Attempted Transition From A Unitary To A Federal System Of Government, Paul Williams, Tiffany Sommadossi, Ayat Mujais

Scholarly Articles in Law Reviews & Journals

Yemen's 2013-2014 National Dialogue Conference paved the way for Yemen to transition from a unitary to federal system of government. This is a common trajectory for States emerging from conflict as federalism offers the hope for greater democratic governance and inclusivity. Nevertheless, there is a danger in assuming that there is an ideal federal model to emulate or that federalism is itself a guaranteed remedy for political dysfunction and authoritarianism. Transitioning to federalism is an arduous, expensive, and technically complicated process. Such transitions can also renew conflict if, prior to the drafting of the federal constitution, key issues related to …

Lexicography In-Your-Face: The Active Semantics Of Pastaza Quichua Ideophones, Janis B. Nuckolls, Tod D. Swanson, Diana Shelton, Alexander Rice, Sarah Hatton

Faculty Publications

English:

We argue that a multimodal approach to defining a depictive class of words called ‘ideophones’ by linguists is essential for grasping their meanings. Our argument for this approach is based on the formal properties of Pastaza Quichua ideophones, which set them apart from the non-ideophonic lexicon, and on the cultural assumptions brought by speakers to their use. We analyze deficiencies in past attempts to define this language’s ideophones, which have used only audio data. We offer, instead, an audiovisual corpus which we call an ‘antidictionary’, because it defines words not with other words, but with clips featuring actual contexts …

Cyber Bullying: A Quantitative Study On The Perceptions And Experiences Of Female Emirati University Students, Michael R. Brochu

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Within the last decade, increased media coverage has been given to incidents associated with acts of violence associated with bullying, cyber bullying, and other associated acts of incivility. The increased media coverage has garnered the attention of researchers from a diverse field of disciplines. However, much of the research that has been conducted has remained focused in North America and Europe. This study identified a limitation in the research available that focused on bullying in the Middle East region of the world, specifically the perceptions and experiences of cyber bullying behavior by female university students in the United Arab Emirates. …

Crafting Craft Beer Brands: An Examination Of Identity, Community, And Growth In Orlando Area Craft Breweries, Dylan Fehribach

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Beer is a commodity that has been produced and consumed by humans for millennia. Within the U.S., the craft beer industry has grown considerably over the last decade, accounting for 19% of all beers sales in 2014. Despite this increased market presence, craft beer marketing and production has received little anthropological consideration. To address this dearth of case studies, I consider the local craft brewery scene, or area of activity, in Orlando Florida. My 2016 ethnographic research reveals that the local craft brewery scene exhibits both variation in identity and community locations. Interactions among breweries present opportunities for local breweries …

A Case Study Of Cross-Cultural Complexities And Interpersonal Conflict Faced By Project Managers In Multicultural Software Development Project Teams, Hilary T. Aza

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The problem of cross-cultural complexities is a hindrance to effective multicultural team leadership across many industries. Cultural differences among project team members cause conflict, misunderstanding, and poor project performance. The absence of competent leaders is a problem because business in the future will rely increasingly on the use of multicultural project teams. The purpose of this qualitative exploratory case study was to explore the challenges faced and the cultural competencies needed by project managers leading multicultural software development project teams to successfully manage and resolve cross-cultural interpersonal conflict amongst project team members. The researcher collected data using semi-structured interviews with …

Chief Student Affairs Officers’ Perceptions Of Institutional Crisis Management, Preparedness, And Response, Heather Studenberg

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined chief student affairs officers’ perceptions of institutional crisis management, preparedness, and response. A goal of this study was to uncover findings that can benefit crisis management protocols or best practices regarding crisis management team training, plan communications, and emergency management personnel on campus, as well as, learn if size of enrollment impacts crisis preparedness and response. Research questions assessed if a significant relationship exists between preparedness in responding to crisis with the number of training topics covered with a crisis management team, the number of modes used to communicate the crisis management plan, size of enrollment and …

Moving From Fear Towards Unity Among Intergroup Dialogue Participants In Israel-Palestine: Findings From A Qualitative Meta-Data-Analysis, Jesse W. Treakle

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative meta-data-analysis was designed to identify themes of experience of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab intergroup dialogue participants. A review of the literature indicated a scarcity of research that describes the ‘meaning-making’ processes that these participants undergo while engaged in structured intergroup dialogue, and this study was designed to address that shortage. The analyst conducted a targeted search of academic journal articles and Ph.D. dissertations published after 1999. The result of this search was a set of 17 primary reports, and the findings of this study are based on the verbatim quotations of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian Arab intergroup …

The Influence Of Innate Behavioral Predispositions On Conflict Stakeholder Interactions In Mediation: The Camp David Accords Of 1978, Stephen D. Merson

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This constructivist grounded theory study will explore the possibility that early socio-cultural experience in concert with innate cognitive mechanisms are essential components of a dual process of decision-making. Each element may influence conflict actors toward predictable predispositional behaviors manifest as bias. Specifically, we are concerned that these biases will influence the perceived and actual neutrality of the principle mediator thus compromising a mediation success. The presence of these predispositions in both mediators and conflict stakeholder challenges the validity of the conclusions in other research that does not consider the true impact of cultural dissonance on more than a superficial insinuation …

Darfur Conflict: A Phenomenological Study Of Female Victims’ Perception Of Justice, Careen Hutchinson

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study used hermeneutical phenomenology to understand how female victims of the Darfur conflict perceived justice, as related to their lived experiences. Reports from the various international media and Human Rights Organizations and United Nations agencies have revealed a disproportional number of victims’ claims on the lack of effective legal ramifications for perpetrators and the high impunity rates that rob victims of achieving justice for the atrocities they have experienced. The purpose of this investigation was to discover how and if the challenges that the victims’ experienced shaped their interpretation of justice, and how they made meaning of …

I Am Human, Too! An Analysis Of Conflict Resolution Theories And Their Applicability To The Lgbtq Community, Jaime Anzalotta

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Members of the LGBT community have historically been victims of marginalization and alienation to various degrees. Incidents such as the Stonewall Riots, pride marches, and manifestos, among others, have served as a way for the LGBTQ community to attempt to take a stand against the systems in place that perpetuate inequality. Factors such as identity and gender have directly impacted the level to which individuals are shunned from their families, communities and social nexus. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore how factors such as identity and gender impact a sense of integration in the LGBTQ community. In addition, …

"Hakuna Matata” (No More Worries) - Integrating Indigenous Systems Of Conflict Resolution Into The Formal System Of Government Administration In Cameroon: Case Study Of The Ekpe Society Of Manyu Division, Stephen O. Agbor

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Colonialism had tremendous effects on the lives, geography, and institutions of the colonized peoples. The colonizers rejected indigenous institutions and practices and adopted or imposed Western and Eurocentric policies in the processes of administration and conflict resolution. Not surprisingly, the differences in cultures between the colonialists and the indigenous populations were bound to cause challenges both to the colonizers and the indigenes. Despite the challenges encountered by the respective colonial administrations, most post-colonial governments replicated their policies. The consequences have been poor governance, confusion, and conflicts in the post-colonial era. To address the situation, calls are being made for the …

Church Hurt: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Survivors, Raquel Anderson

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The church is often seen as a place where people go to seek love, peace, and acceptance. Increasingly, there are occasions where these needs are not being met. Mansfield (2012) used the term “Ecclesia exitus ...the decision to permanently question one’s faith, trust in the church leadership and/or withdraw from a congregation you had considered to be your ‘church home,” to describe the experience of Church Hurt. This study seeks to describe the experience of those who have undergone church hurt. Abraham Maslow in his seminal 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation and his subsequent book, Motivation and Personality, …

Trends In The Match Of Early Intervention To Student Need: A Grounded Theory Study In Student Support Within One Florida School District, Amanda K. Ellzey

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

The educational research literature confirms that students identified with emotional and/or behavioral disabilities are the most at-risk for school failure, grade retention, and dropout of all student groups. Legislation passed by federal and state entities seeks to support these and all students with recommendations for emotional, behavioral, and academic tiers of intensified supports; yet with dwindling funding and resources, these well-intentioned mandates often go unmet. Using archived records of 16 students in one Florida school district that were eventually placed into Self-Contained Emotional/Behavioral Disability classrooms, this dissertation examined existing trends in the match of intervention to student need, patterns in …

An Exploration Of The Lived Experience Of Human Resources Professionals In The Hospitality Industry: A Qualitative Research Study, Nadia R. Lucien

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Employee abuse and discrimination appear rampant in many workplaces, as indicated by the annual Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reports from 2014 and 2015. This study was designed to explore employment discrimination practices specifically within the hospitality industry. The researcher used conversational dialogue to capture the experiences of human resources (HR) professionals who may have observed employee discrimination in the hospitality industry. Using semi-structured interviews with the participants in the study, the researcher obtained rich descriptions of their lived world with respect to employee discrimination. The findings of the study, which indicate that there has been no discrimination in the …

Transformations In United States Policy Toward Syria Under Bashar Al Assad A Unique Case Study Of Three Presidential Administrations And A Projection Of Future Policy Directions, Mohammad Alkahtani

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Foreign policy development in the United States is constitutionally granted to the Executive Office. The President has the responsibility for determining when, where, and how soft and/or hard power will be employed in the pursuit of national interests. In the case of U.S. policy regarding Syria, over the course of the Clinton, Bush and Obama administrations, some significant policy transformations have occurred. This qualitative research study examines the evolution of such policies over the course of three different presidential administrations, seeking an answer to the question of whether or not it was likely that U.S. Syrian policy would include a …

Pitch Imitation Ability In Mental Transformations Of Melodies, Emma B. Greenspon, Peter Q. Pfordresher, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Previous research suggests that individuals with a vocal pitch imitation deficit (VPID, a.k.a. "poor-pitch singers") experience less vivid auditory images than accurate imitators (pfordresher & halpern, 2013), based on self-report. in the present research we sought to test this proposal directly by having accurate and VPID imitators produce or recognize short melodies based on their original form (untransformed), or after mentally transforming the auditory image of the melody. For the production task, group differences were largest during the untransformed imitation task. importantly, producing mental transformations of the auditory image degraded performance for all participants, but were relatively more disruptive to …

That Note Sounds Wrong! Age-Related Effects In Processing Of Musical Expectation, Andrea R. Halpern, Ioanna Zioga, Martin Shankleman, Job Lindsen, Marcus T. Pearce, Joydeep Bhattacharya

Faculty Journal Articles

Part of musical understanding and enjoyment stems from the ability to accurately predict what note (or one of a small set of notes) is likely to follow after hearing the first part of a melody. Selective violation of expectations can add to aesthetic response but radical or frequent violations are likely to be disliked or not comprehended. In this study we investigated whether a lifetime of exposure to music among untrained older adults would enhance their reaction to unexpected endings of unfamiliar melodies. Older and younger adults listened to melodies that had expected or unexpected ending notes, according to Western …

Musical Expertise Has Minimal Impact On Dual Task Performance, Gianna Cocchini, Maria Serena Filardi, Marcela Crhonkova, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Studies investigating effect of practice on dual task performance have yielded conflicting findings, thus supporting different theoretical accounts about the organisation of attentional resources when tasks are performed simultaneously. Because practice has been proven to reduce the demand of attention for the trained task, the impact of long-lasting training on one task is an ideal way to better understand the mechanisms underlying dual task decline in performance. Our study compared performance during dual task execution in expert musicians compared to controls with little if any musical experience. Participants performed a music recognition task and a visuo-spatial task separately (single task) …

Audience Reactions To Repeating A Piece On A Concert Programme, Andrea R. Halpern, Chloe H.K. Chan, Daniel Müllensiefen, John Sloboda

Faculty Journal Articles

Repetition of a piece on a concert programme is a well-established, but uncommon performance practice. Musicians have presumed that repetition benefits audience enjoyment and understanding but no research has examined this. In two naturalistic and one lab study, we examined audience reaction to repeated live performances of contemporary pieces played by the same ensemble. In all studies, we asked listeners to rate their enjoyment and willingness to hear the piece again (Affective), and perceived understanding and predicted memory of the piece (Cognitive). In Study 3, we assessed immediate recognition memory of each excerpt. In all studies, Cognitive variables increased significantly. …

Are Musical Autobiographical Memories Special? It Ain’T Necessarily So, Andrea R. Halpern, Jennifer M. Talarico, Nura Gouda, Victoria J. Williamson

Faculty Journal Articles

We compared young adults' autobiographical (AB) memories involving Music to memories concerning other specific categories and to Everyday AB memories with no specific cue. In all cases, participants reported both their most vivid memory and another AB memory from approximately the same time. We analyzed responses via quantitative ratings scales on aspects such as vividness and importance, as well as via qualitative thematic coding. In the initial phase, comparison of Music-related to Everyday memories suggested all Musical memories had high emotional and vividness characteristics whereas Everyday memories elicited emotion and other heightened responses only in the ‘‘vivid’’ instruction condition. However, …

Sensory-Specific Satiety Is Intact In Rats Made Obese On A High-Fat, High-Sugar Choice Diet., Kevin P. Myers

Faculty Journal Articles

Sensory-specific satiety (SSS) is the temporary decreased pleasantness of a recently eaten food, which inhibits further eating. Evidence is currently mixed whether SSS is weaker in obese people, and whether such difference precedes or follows from the obese state. Animal models allow testing whether diet-induced obesity causes SSS impairment. Female rats (n = 24) were randomly assigned to an obesogenic high-fat, high-sugar choice diet or chow-only control. Tests of SSS involved pre-feeding a single palatable, distinctively-flavored food (cheese- or cocoa-flavored) prior to free choice between both foods. Rats were tested for short-term SSS (2 h pre-feeding immediately followed by 2 …

An Empirical Assessment Of Administration & Planning Activity And Their Impact On The Realization Of Sustainability Related Initiatives And Programs In Higher Education, Elizabeth Semeraro, Neil Boyd

Faculty Journal Articles

Administrators in higher-education settings routinely create planning documents that help steer the organization in mission-centric ways. In the area of sustainability planning, strategic plans, sustainability plans, climate action plans are the most common methods used. However, the academic literature contains relatively few empirical studies that demonstrate the capacity of planning on the realization of sustainability outcomes. The present study was designed to evaluate if specific forms of planning predict sustainability outcomes. This question was evaluated via an empirical archival study of the AASHE STARS database in relation to Planning, Administration, and Governance credits and criteria to determine if specific …

Two Approaches, One Problem: Cultural Constructions Of Type Ii Diabetes In An Indigenous Community In Yucatán, Mexico, Elizabeth Durden

Faculty Journal Articles

The emerging epidemic of obesity and type II diabetes in Mexico has recently propelled the nation into the public health spotlight. In the state of Yucata n, the experience of diabetes is greatly impacted by two cultural constructions of disease. In this setting, elements of Yucatec Mayan health practices as well as the biomedical model affect the approach to type II diabetes. Both frameworks offer unique un- derstandings of the etiology of diabetes and recommend different ways to manage the condition. Based on in-depth and semi-structured interviews with both community members and clinicians, the present study seeks to understand how …