Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Childhood Trauma And Early Adult Engagement In Deviant Behavior: A Measure Of Experiential Avoidance And Impulsivity Association, Angelene Green

Honors Theses

Childhood trauma (CT) has been associated with early adult behavioral deviance (BD), as maintained by previous research. The current study examined experiential avoidance (EA) and impulsivity (IMP) as mechanisms through which childhood trauma and resulting behavioral deviance are related. Participants for the study included 588 students of Western Michigan University, comprised of both males and females. The participants ranged between the ages of 18 and 35. For data collection, participants completed an online survey through an online platform. Participants were directed to select responses in accordance with the variables of interest. For the purpose of identity preservation, the survey responses …

The Effects Of Energy Dashboards And Competition Programming On Cyclic Electricity Consumption On A College Campus, Katherine Jane-Binder Martini

Dissertations

This report examined issues pertaining to the efficacy and cost effectiveness of energy dashboards in the effort to influence electricity-related behavior change on college campuses. Given the increasing popularity of energy dashboards along with a lack of data to support their effectiveness, more rigorous research to evaluate the efficacy of this technology is necessary. An intervention including the installation of physical and internet based energy dashboards along with an energy reduction competition was evaluated. A literature review and long term cyclical data on energy use is included that provides arguments against the potential for long-term effectiveness of these interventions despite …

Comparing The Results Of And Evaluating Preferences For Functional Analyses And Concurrent Operant Analyses, Marrisa B. Allen

Dissertations

It is recommended that a functional analysis (FA) be conducted before treating serious problem behaviors. However, it is not always feasible or desirable to do so. For example, the problem behavior may be too dangerous, or the setting may not allow procedures that evoke problem behavior. An alternative solution may be to identify reinforcers for adaptive behavior in order to develop a treatment plan to reduce problem behavior by increasing socially appropriate/adaptive behavior. Berg et al. (2007) evaluated whether the same social events identified as reinforcers for adaptive behavior by a concurrent operant (i.e., choice) analysis (COA) would be identical …

The Effectiveness Of Oral Retelling As A Reading Comprehension Strategy For Elementary Students With Reading Delays, Brandi Michelle Fontenot

Dissertations

Comprehension is an essential component of reading proficiency that produces long-term gains for learners. However, many upper elementary school-age children struggle with reading comprehension. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of a self-monitoring intervention on reading comprehension for three elementary school-age children with reading delays. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, behavioral skills training was used to teach participants the elements of a story retell and how-to self-monitor their own story retells. In Study 2, a multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of self-monitoring on four dependent variables: a) …

Attempts To Reduce Elopement Using Blocking, A Time-Out Procedure, And Differential Reinforcement, Sydney M. Harbaugh

Dissertations

The current study was designed to replicate and extend the results of Harbaugh, Kohler & Malott, 2016, to decrease elopement and flopping by a child diagnosed with autism. The intervention in the present study consisted of a package combining differential reinforcement, response blocking, and a time-out procedure. Following successful reduction in the rate of elopement, a Behavioral Skills Training program was implemented with the child’s family to ensure generalization and maintenance of appropriate walking.

Analysis Of Advance Placement Distance Of The Gateway In-Street Sign On Increased Yielding Distance, Joshua Turske

Masters Theses

The National Highway Traffic Safety Association (2018) reported approximately 6,000 pedestrians were fatally injured by vehicles in 2016, with an increasing trend in fatalities over the past decade. The gateway configuration of In-Street signs has been shown to produce an increase in the percentage of drivers yielding right-of-way to pedestrians; this study examined at what distance in advance of the gateway the configuration was most effective in inducing drivers to yield right of way further in advance of the crosswalk. This study also counterbalanced time of day across placement distances. Data were collected on all vehicles that passed through the …

The Effects Of Self-Observation On Implementation Of Direct Instruction Reading Curricula, Katherine Mahaffy

Dissertations

The current study evaluated the effects of structured self-observations on the rate and accuracy of learn unit presentations by graduate student tutors in a reading program. Four graduate students were trained to implement reading curricula using instructions, modeling, and the training manuals for reading curricula. Dependent variables were accuracy of antecedents, accuracy of consequences, and rate of learn units for the lesson. A secondary dependent variable was the rate of contingent social praise and token delivery during the lesson. During the intervention, tutors learned how to record learn units using the Teacher Performance Rate and Accuracy Scale (TPRA) and then …

The Impact Of A Multisensory Stimulation Environment Within A Memory Care Assisted Living Facility, Dana M. Prince

Dissertations

The use of Multisensory Stimulation Environments (MSSE) has grown increasingly more common in the United States (U.S.) as a nonpharmacological intervention for Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD). However, typical MSSE designs require a secluded room isolated from outside stimulation and demand direct supervision from the care provider during treatment. Due to projected shortages in the clinical workforce and the population of older adults on the rise, a study was designed to reveal the effectiveness of an open-floorplan MSSE to reduce the demand of care providers during the use of the MSSE while allowing subjects diagnosed with dementia to …

Functional Analysis In The Home Setting Of An Older Adult With Neurocognitive Disorder, Emily Norton

Masters Theses

Currently within the behavioral gerontology literature there are no published studies that include a functional assessment in the home setting. The primary goal of the present study was to address this gap by conducting a functional analysis on a challenging behavior of an older adult with neurocognitive disorder in the home. This study occurred in two phases. During phase one, researchers conducted an antecedent functional analysis on the bizarre speech of an 81-year-old female with suspected dementia across four conditions (television on, no interactions initiated; television on, interactions initiated; television off, no interactions initiated; television off, interactions initiated). Results from …

A Comparison Of The Efficacy Of Gutter Pan And Curb Top Placement With A Full Gateway Configuration Of The In-Street Sign On Driver Yielding To Pedestrians, Erik Newton

Masters Theses

Driver yielding behavior at crosswalks directly affects pedestrian safety. In this study we examined whether the placement of the signs in the gutter pan or on top of the curb, while using a full gateway configuration of the in-street sign, influenced the efficacy of the treatment. Data were collected at sites using both in gutter and on top of curb full gateway configurations. The gutter pan configuration resulted in a higher percentage of driver yielding behavior to pedestrians in the crosswalk. The gateway treatment was shown to be more effective in the gutter pan configuration than the curb top configuration …

An Experimental Comparison Of Visual And Statistical Analyses, Stevie A. Collini

Dissertations

Visual analysis is the favored method for analyzing single-subject research data in more traditional behavior analysis programs of study; however, some critics of the practice argue that it should not be the only method used to analyze data given the previous research demonstrating significant inconsistencies in conclusions drawn based on the practice (Bulté & Onghena, 2012; Campbell & Herzinger, 2010; Kazdin, 2011). Supporters of statistical analysis have argued that although statistical analyses are not free from subjectivity and bias, the decision-making processes and criteria are more straightforward than those offered by the complexities involved in visual analysis (Kazdin, 2011). It …

Behavioral Skills Training And Literacy: Supporting Reading Instructors In Adult Education Centers, Mya L. Hernandez

Dissertations

The present study evaluates the effects of a behavioral skills training package (BST) on training adult literacy tutors to implement the steps of BST when teaching parents with low literacy. Four adult literacy tutors participated in the study along with one parent with low literacy. The primary dependent variable was the percentage of steps of the BST package implemented correctly during tutor training probe measures. Secondary measures were taken on the parent’s performance of each step of the literacy activities on which they were trained. In baseline, all tutors were provided with instructions for performing two literacy activities and tutors …

Measurement Of Defusion: Further Validation Of The Drexel Defusion Scale, Christopher A. Briggs

Dissertations

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) seeks to develop psychological flexibility through the engagement of the six interrelated processes. Four processes employ mindfulness and acceptance strategies and consist of acceptance, defusion, present moment awareness, and the contextualized self. Two other processes, values and committed action, are grouped with present moment awareness and the contextualized self and are termed behavior change strategies. One issue encountered by contemporary behavioral approaches in general, and ACT in particular, is the measurement of the proposed processes. Measurement is complicated by the functional nature of some of the repertoires described making the development of instruments for assessment …

Sexual Coercion: The Role Of Communication And Heteronormative Beliefs, Brianna Lindley Forbis

Dissertations

Sexual assault is a pervasive issue on college campuses, with large numbers of students experiencing sexual assault during their college careers (Fisher, Cullen, & Turner, 2000). Sexual assault is often perpetrated by a known offender, which has brought increased attention to forms of sexual assault that do not necessarily include violence or the direct threat of violence. Sexual coercion is one such construct that has received increased attention in the literature, with several studies finding associations between heteronormative beliefs and sexual coercion (Eaton & Matamala 2014; Haworth- Hoeppner, 1998; Vanwesenbeek, 1998). Aims of the current study included further exploring the …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Sustained Silent Reading And Reciprocal Reading On Reading Motivation For Middle School Students With Reading Delays, Margaret Uwayo

Dissertations

Research suggests that secondary students with reading delays may lack reading motivation, which can be defined as the temporal reinforcement value of texts for an individual. However, reading motivation may be a critical component of their acquisition of reading proficiency. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of two research-based reading interventions - sustained silent reading and modified reciprocal reading - on the reading motivation of middle school students with reading delays. Participants were four 6th-grade students who were grouped into dyads in a reading intervention classroom. The primary dependent variable was book engagement under pairing …

A Single Session Of Acceptance And Commitment Therapy To Promote Health-Related Behavior Change: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Monica Barreto

Dissertations

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified physical activity, nutrition, and sleep as three key health-related behaviors that can help the prevention of chronic disease. Only a fraction of the population met the recommended guidelines across these domains. It is important to develop interventions that can be simultaneously focused, flexible, efficient, and efficacious as a means of impacting population health. This study examined the efficacy of a single 60-minute Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) session targeting health-related behavior change and compared it to an information-only wait-list (WL) control condition. Forty-five collegians (Mage = 22.35 [6.91], 78% female, 56% …

A Phenomenological Investigation Of Women’S Infertility And Miscarriage Grief Experiences, Tristan Mcbain

Dissertations

Infertility and miscarriage are reproductive losses that often produce grief reactions in affected women. This phenomenological study investigated the grief experiences of infertility and miscarriage through the ambiguous loss and disenfranchised grief frameworks in order to better understand both the obscurity of reproductive loss and how the resulting grief may be invalidated.

Sixteen women volunteered to participate in this study and each fell into one of the following three categories: women affected by infertility without miscarriage (4); women affected by miscarriage without infertility (4); and women affected by infertility and miscarriage (8). A phenomenological hermeneutic approach was utilized to uncover …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Adolescent Depression, Anhedonia, And Behavioral Therapy, Alison A. Delizza

Dissertations

Adolescent depression is a significant public health problem, however the current characterization of depression as a categorical label is problematic for understanding individual phenomenology, interindividual variability, and best treatment practices (Lewinsohn, Solomon, Seeley, & Zeiss, 2000). Anhedonia has been posited as a process underlying depression that may contribute to poorer outcomes (Gabbay, 2015). The current project examines large samples of adolescents diagnosed with depression to identify common features at a symptom level and the relationship these features have with behavioral therapy outcomes. Four phases of analyses were completed to 1) examine symptomology of multiple depressed adolescent samples in order to …

Examining The Effects Of Cell Phone Use On Caregiver Supervision And Child Injury Risk, Mckenna Corlis

Dissertations

Unintentional injuries are the leading killer of children in the United States. Research indicates caregiver supervision decreases child injury risk, but has not examined how different distractions may affect this relation. Specifically, research has not considered if and how caregiver cell phone use affects child injury risk. Given the prevalence and distracting effects of cell phones noted in previous studies, it is imperative to examine how caregiver cell phone use and child injury risk relate.

The present study examined how distractions influenced caregivers’ ability to tend to their child and their child’s engagement in risky behavior. Using a within-subjects design, …

Measuring Contextual Factors Associated With Experiential Avoidance Using A Behavior Analogue Paradigm, Meaghan M. Lewis

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between levels of state and trait experiential avoidance across two different contexts using behavior analogue methodology. Performance on the cold pressor task (threshold, tolerance, endurance, and intensity; Zettle et al., 2012) was compared to performance on a modified version of the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST; Kirschbaum et al., 1993) to obtain a behavioral measure of experiential avoidance that was standardized across these four behavioral indices. Data were collected from a convenience sample of undergraduate students (N = 133) from college classrooms on the campus of Western Michigan University. …

Functional Assessment And Treatment Of Elopement Occasioned By Transitions, Denice Rios Mojica

Dissertations

Elopement is a dangerous behavior in children with developmental disabilities because it greatly increases the risk of accidents that lead to serious injury or death. The dangers of elopement are especially high during transitions because these situations increase the chance that a child will gain unsupervised access outside, where the most serious accidents typically occur. Despite its severity, assessment methodologies that specifically evaluate the contextual variables found during transitions are not available. Additionally, treatment for elopement during transitions typically involves antecedent interventions which do not address function. Continued research on effective and efficient means for the assessment and treatment of …

Training Functional Analysis Skills With Instruction With Video Modeling And Video-Self Monitoring, Haley Ciara Hughes

Masters Theses

When developing plans to reduce a challenging behavior, Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) have an ethical obligation to first conduct a functional assessment (PECC, 2014, 3.01a), the goal of which is to identify the controlling variables for such behaviors and to use that information in training more appropriate replacement behaviors (PECC, 2014, 4.08b). It is important to train aspiring behavior analysts to implement an experimental functional analysis (FA) as it yields more accurate results than other types of functional assessment (Iwata & Dozier, 2008). Despite being considered a gold standard for training a variety of skills, behavioral skills training (BST) …

Lgbtq+ Student Safety On Western Michigan University's Campus, Kaitlyn Sedorchuk

Honors Theses

Campus climate, in general, has been a popular area of research for many years, and this also includes campus climate for LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus) students. Outside of the campus climate survey done back in 2013, there has been no recent campus climate research done on Western Michigan University’s campus as of Spring 2019. This means that there has been no research focusing on queer students’ perceptions of Western’s campus, as well.

In order to help and rectify this and create a platform in which queer students attending Western Michigan University could share their experiences, the current …

The Effects Of Attachment Anxiety On Trait Anxiety And Borderline Personality Symptoms Through Specific Pathways Of Emotion Regulation, Jessica Good

Honors Theses

Previous research has shown that deficits in emotion regulation impair coping skills for individuals clinically diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) resembling trait anxiety, as well as those clinically diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD; Herr, Rosenthal, Geiger, & Erikson, 2013; Beeney et al., 2015; Putnam & Silk, 2005; Nielsen et al., 2017; Mennin, Heimberg, Turk, & Fresco, 2002; Marganska, Gallagher, & Miranda, 2013). The current study hypothesized that (a) the specific types of emotion dysregulation measuring lack of clarity and impulsivity would mediate the relationship between attachment anxiety and BPD while the other types do not, and (b) the …

Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Accessibility At Drive-Through Restaurants, Regina Mcleod

Honors Theses

People who are deaf or hard of hearing deserve fair and accessible accommodations, which include drive-through restaurants. It is not a fair solution to force this population to go inside an establishment to order, especially due to the fact that many restaurants close the inside of their restaurants at night but will leave their drive-throughs open. According to legal cases and surveys conducted, accessibility at drive-through restaurants is a prodigious issue for members of the deaf and hard of hearing communities in the United States. Based upon these findings, there is a major lack of accessibility, in addition to discrimination, …

Increasing Political Behaviors In Local Communities, Bionca Stewart

Honors Theses

The present project aimed to apply principles of behavioral science, specifically prompting, to increase voter turnout in a low voter community. The study used a mixed-model group experimental design in which voting in an experimental and control group was measured across two occasions. The sample population consisted of one off-campus community, which was District 4 of the City of Kalamazoo. This district was chosen because it was the district within the city with the lowest voter turnout in the 2016 election. The participants were randomly selected from within the district and randomly assigned to an experimental (N=68) and control (N=67) …

Gender Differences In Adhd, Jillian Vogley

Honors Theses

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a learning disability that is very prevalent in today’s society. A closer look at this disability reveals that there are differences with males and females with regards to how the symptoms manifest. Females have a tendency to exhibit inattention whereas males are often hyperactive, which is much more obvious to others around them. This difference in symptoms has led to a drastic difference in terms of how ADHD is diagnosed and causes it to be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed in females compared to males. The consequences that this delayed diagnosis may have on females can be severe. …

The Effects Of Qr Code Prompts Posted To A Solar Charging Bench On Website Visibility, Sage Campbell

Honors Theses

This study will investigate the effects of graphic prompts with integrated quick response (QR) codes posted to a solar charging bench. The hypothesis is that posted prompts and the bench itself will increase website traffic and visibility of sustainable actions at Western Michigan University. Website traffic will be monitored using Google Analytics software which will allow for tracking of website visits specifically from scanning the QR code. Thus, data from bench installation and from bench installation with prompts will be compared with baseline data from before installation of the bench and before installation graphic prompts. Data that supports the hypothesis, …

Comparing Prompting Methods For Teaching Receptive Identification, Laurel Jungblut

Honors Theses

Receptive language is the occurrence of an appropriate response to the spoken language of another individual. This is a key element of development, especially in regard to the acquisition of spoken language (Grow & LeBlanc, 2013). While this appropriate responding is a skill generally acquired by typically developing children via interactions with their caregivers, in most situations it must be explicitly taught to children with developmental delays (Charlotte L. Carp, Sean P. Peterson, Amber J. Arkel, & Anna I. Petursdottir, 2012). An absence or delay of this skill will result in a child missing many important learning opportunities, leading to …

Increasing The Frequency Of Tutors' Reinforcement Of Compliance Behaviors, Sruthi Rameshkumar

Honors Theses

Abstract

Compliance behaviors occurring prior to the delivery of an instruction, such as handing over preferred items, making eye contact, and folding hands in the ready position help prepare students for success in discrete-trial training (DTT) interventions. These behaviors are usually taught in early intervention with a continuous reinforcement schedule, but once they are mastered, they are rarely revisited or maintained. Without intermittent reinforcement of these behaviors, they are likely to decrease in frequency and may lead to the use of restrictive or intrusive methods to gain compliance during DTT sessions. The current study used a multiple-baseline across participants design …