Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Making A Tiger's Day: Free-Operant Assessment And Environmental Enrichment, Trista Yvonne Shrock

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Problem behaviors occur often in captive wild animals due to stress and boredom. Environmental enrichment is one of the most successful methods to help minimize these types of behaviors in many captive wild animals. The current study investigated preferences of play items and scents for seven adult Bengal tigers in a Tiger Sanctuary using a free-operant preference assessment. Two subspecies of Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris) are represented. Six of the tigers are Panthera tigris tigris and one is Panthera tigris altaica. Three phases were run on each tiger, ultimately establishing a hierarchy of preferred play items and …

The Philosophical Underpinnings And Negative Consequences Of The Indian Child Welfare Act, Elizabeth Sharon Morris

Masters Theses

This paper will examine the philosophical underpinnings of current federal Indian policy and its physical, emotional, and economic consequences on individuals and communities. The U.S. Civil Rights Commission found in 1990 that “[T]he Government of the United States has failed to provide civil rights protection for Native Americans living on reservations” (W. B. Allen 1990, 2). As Regan (2014) observes, individuals have been denied full title to their property – and thus use of the property as leverage to improve their economic condition (Regan 2014). Tribal executive and judicial branches have been accused of illegal search and seizures, denial of …

Design Your Career - Design Your Life, Joshua R. Beal

Masters Theses

This research investigates the current plague of unemployment and underemployment that nearly half of qualified individuals in the field of Visual Communications are met with after graduation. Students who major in this field dedicate a tremendous amount of time, money, and energy toward developing a broad skillset that resolves critical matters of communication through visual solutions. Research has demonstrated that despite conditions that are subject to ongoing change of economy, industry, and marketplace there are contributing factors that must be addressed to overcome un/underemployment regardless of circumstances. These include an underdeveloped network of professional contacts, deficiency in recognizing or responding …

Effectiveness Of Clery Act Timely Warnings And Emergency Notifications, Travis W. Douglas

Full-Text Theses & Dissertations

The Clery Act (20 USC. § 1092(f)) is a federal law intended to improve campus safety by making information about crime as well as safety and security policies more accessible. Research has shown that the law’s requirements to collect crime statistics and publish annual security reports have limited impact. Little research has examined the effectiveness of the timely warning and emergency notification provisions. This study explored the perceptions of Campus Security Authorities (CSAs) to determine whether timely warning and emergency notification messages are an effective tool for improving campus safety; to what degree they result in unintended harmful effects; and …

On The Move: Storying The Authentic Leadership Development Of Millennial Gay Men, Kyle Williams

Education (PhD) Dissertations

This study used Arts-based research and Narrative Inquiry to explore the rural-urban transition experiences of three high-achieving millennial gay men. Using Clandinin’s (2013) narrative commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place as frames for understanding each participant’s individual story, the study utilized The Listening Guide (Gilligan, 2015) to illuminate participants’ experiences related to identity development, sense of community, queer migration, and authentic leadership development. In addition to the individual narratives, story threads or themes present in one, two, or all three narrative portraits were analyzed and discussed. The data also included found poetry and original poems written in the style of …

Quantitative Effects Of Two Kinds Of Robots In A Neo-Classical Growth Model, Hoang Phuong Que Vu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Advances in artificial intelligence are leading to many revolutions in robotics. How will the arrival of robots impact the growth of the economy, the workers' wage, consumption, and lifetime welfare? This dissertation attempts to answer this question by presenting a standard neoclassical growth model with two different kinds of robots, reflecting two ways that robots can transform the labor market. The first chapter introduces additive robots- a perfect substitution for human labor, while the second chapter employs multiplicative robots- a type of robots that augments human labor. The prevailing main result is that even in the case with no population …

Ashtanga For Addiction: A Qualitative Web-Based Open-Ended Survey To Assess Outcomes From Ashtanga Yoga Practice In Individuals In Long-Term Recovery From Substance Abuse Disorder, Shaun M. Jones

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Over 72,000 people die from overdose or secondary health issues related to substance use disorder (SUD) annually. Studies support mind-body interventions in reducing stress, anxiety, depression, and craving symptoms. There is a growing body of literature supporting yoga as a mind-body intervention for individuals recovering from SUD. These interventions promote improved physical awareness, greater awareness of mental states, non-reactivity, and reduced perception of pain, allows for more successful coping with cravings. Ashtanga yoga (AY) is a tradition of yoga wherein students work on a one-on-one basis with highly qualified teachers following an invariant sequence of yoga postures. AY is characterized …

Describing Therapeutic Relationship Change And Failure In Group Psychotherapy, Harold Thomas Svien

Theses and Dissertations

Objectives. This study reanalyzed data from Burlingame and colleagues’ (2018) randomized controlled trial on the effect of adding Group Questionnaire (GQ) to Outcome Questionnaire (OQ-45) feedback. These data were assessed for the feedback effect using the amount of GQ alerts in one session reported by the group member to track change in GQ subscales as a measure of reversing therapeutic relationship failure.Methods. 374 participants engaged in 58 psychotherapy groups. Every participant provided GQ measurements after every group session. These GQ measurements formed ‘person-session units’ representing whether or not each type of alert was present following each group meeting. Person-session units …

Foreign Domestic Workers In Hong Kong: Identifying Risk Factors, Resilience, And Psychological Well-Being, Ka Yan Mok

Theses and Dissertations

Domestic workers, also known as house maids or handmaids, are a predominately female workforce that traditionally provides labor in upper-class households. With the increase of dual income families and the global expansion of the middle class, the demand for domestic workers increased, which facilitated the practice of importing lower-cost foreign domestic workers (FDWs) from developing areas. Hong Kong has the highest concentration of FDWs when compared to other metropolitan areas, such as Taiwan, Singapore, or New York. Since the trade began in the 1970s, qualitative research and journalistic investigations have reported that FDWs frequently encounter exploitation, including emotional, physical, and …

"They Smile But It's Not Real": Karen Refugees' Perceptions Of Depression, Carina Zuniga

Social Work Theses - Archive

Refugees often carry with them traumas and mental health issues, why may continue or worsen in their new resettlement country. Understanding refugee populations and their mental health needs is a critical endeavor to support them effectively during and after the resettlement process. Currently, there is a lack of research over this population's mental health and what kinds of interventions are most effective. Recently, the U.S. has resettled a proportionately high number of refugees from Burma or Myanmar, mostly from the ethnic minority group called Karen. The present study interviewed 16 Karen refugees who were receiving medical care or case management …

Exploring The Impact Of School Social Workers On Academic Outcomes, Gaubriella M. Drollinger

Social Work Theses - Archive

The following Thesis seeks to determine the nature of the relationship between school social workers and academic outcomes in Texas. This Thesis is guided by three research questions 1. What is the nature of the relationship between the number of school social workers in a school district and Accountability Rating? 2. What is the nature of the relationship between the number of school social workers in a school district and high school dropout rate? 3.What is the nature of the relationship between the number of school social workers in a school district and post-secondary readiness? In order to answer these …

Exploring Reactions Of Stakeholders To Military-Connected Spouse Abuse Disclosure: An Online Observational Approach, Mary Christine Highfill

Social Work Theses - Archive

Although considerable research explores family violence within the United States Military, few peer-reviewed studies investigate the experience of civilian spouse survivors. This project seeks to close the research gap by answering the question, “How do military stakeholders respond to disclosure of Military-Connected Spouse Abuse (MCSA) made on YouTube?” Videos featuring MSCA narratives were selected from a series of YouTube searches. Comments made to those videos by Service Members and military spouses were organized according to three predominate response types: disclosures, perceptions, and actions. Disclosures included personal experience with or second-hand knowledge of spousal abuse, interactions with the military response system, …

Effects Of Natural Disasters On Women’S Reproductive Processes Using Bangladesh Demographic And Health Surveys, Shamsun Nahar

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

Bangladesh is widely recognized as one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. It is predicted that disaster-related losses in Bangladesh will be higher by 2025 compared with all other countries (Smith, 2012). All individuals or communities are not vulnerable to natural disasters equally. Women in Bangladesh are disproportionately more vulnerable to natural hazard due to social norms, entrenched gender inequality, and reproductive responsibilities (Ahmad, 2012, Rezwana, 2018; Tanny, Rahman, & Ali, 2017). The immediate effects of natural disasters are found in marital disruptions, unplanned pregnancy, lack of access to contraception and contraceptive use, abortion, lack of antenatal perinatal …

Understanding The Psychosocial And Physical Health Impacts Of Colorism: Discrimination Of African Americans Based On Skin Color, Latocia Keyes

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

Colorism is a complex phenomenon which was birthed by racism and uses the observable human characteristic of skin color as a metric for worth in society. Colorism as practiced since its inception demonstrates intolerance for African features and promotes acceptance based on the approximate physiological similarity to a European standard. This social construct has served as a divisive wedge in the Black community. The issue is further complicated by the dynamics of interpersonal beliefs and group socialization in a variety of settings. Skin bleaching, tanning, and chemical hair straighteners all have the potential risk to impact physical health that causes …

The Balancing Act: An Empirical Study Introducing And Removing Constraints In Idea Generation, Adam Damadzic

Psychology Theses - Archive

To stay competitive in today’s economy, organizational leaders are making creativity and innovation a key business priority. As such, organizations have become particularly interested in how to become more innovative while managing obstacles or constraints. The relationship between constraints and creativity in the literature provides two avenues of thought. Traditionally, constraints are thought to inhibit creativity. However, an emerging line of work suggests that constraints may in fact facilitate creativity. To address the debate around the role of constraints in creative efforts, the present effort examined how adjusting “constraindness” during idea generation influenced creativity. To test this, participants were asked …

Final Project Report, Sisinnio Concas, Mohsen Kamrani

CTEDD Final Project Reports - Archive

No abstract provided.

Final Project Report, James Woods

CTEDD Final Project Reports - Archive

No abstract provided.

Final Project Report, Mouyid Islam, Anurag Pande

CTEDD Final Project Reports - Archive

No abstract provided.

The Hierarchical Aversiveness Of Two Simultaneous Pains Within An Operant Approach Avoidance Paradigm, Celina Antionette Salcido

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

Pain is a subjective, private, yet universal phenomenon that depends on a unique combination of sensory, affective, and evaluative characteristics. Although preclinical models have been used to understand much of pain physiology, the inability to communicate with animals limits affective and evaluative feedback, failing to adequately represent the entire pain experience. Therefore, this study sought to characterize the affective component of pain within an operant approach-avoidance paradigm (AAP) to determine which type of pain (inflammatory or neuropathic) may be more aversive. To reveal possible differences in pain aversiveness, animals received bilateral inflammatory and neuropathic pain conditions and were be given …

Effect Of Juvenile Mental Illness And Adult Offending, Gabriela Hernandez-Garcia

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses - Archive

Individuals with mental illness interact with both the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems. Over 50% of inmates in jail and prisons have been diagnosed with mental health problems (James & Glaze, 2006; Al-Rousan, et al. 2017; Wilson & Wood, 2014; Torrey, 1995), while offenders in the juvenile justice system appear to have considerably higher rates of mental illness than those who do not offend (Cashman & Thomas, 2017). The current study utilizes data obtained from The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents Health (Add Health). Adolescents from “selected schools, urbanity, school size and school type,” (Beaver, 2013, Daigle & Teasdale, …

Uni Scholarworks Readership Snapshot, August 2019, Bepress

Library Documents & Reports (entire collection)

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Attitudes Toward Dogs Among College Students In Bangalore, India, Shelly Volsche, Miriam Mohan, Peter B. Gray, Madhavi Rangaswamy

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Conversations in the field of anthrozoology include treatment and distinction of food animals, animals as workers versus pests, and most recently, emerging pet trends including the practice of pet parenting. This paper explores attitudes toward pet dogs in the shared social space of urban India. The data include 375 pen-and-paper surveys from students at CHRIST (Deemed to be University) in Bangalore, India. Reflecting upon Serpell’s biaxial concept of dogs as a relationship of affect and utility, the paper considers the growing trend of pet dog keeping in urban spaces and the increased use of affiliative words to describe these …

Designing Single-Family Residences: A Study Of The Positive Impact Of Interior Design In Creating New Home Value, Shawn M. Falcone

Interior Design Program: Student Creative Activity

This study seeks to demonstrate that interior designers should be included as primary stakeholders in the home construction market. The market demand for new single-family homes in America is a relative constant. The primary stake and role that land developers, architects, draftsman, home builders, bankers, appraisers, real estate agents, and buyers have in the home construction market is clear. What is less clear is the role in value an interior designer has in the home construction market. This thesis examines the impact designers have on home value when their expertise is utilized in space planning (i.e.: layout, function, room utilization, …

Publication And Evaluation Challenges In Games & Interactive Media, Elizabeth L. Lawley

Presentations and other scholarship

Faculty in the fields of games and interactive media face significant challenges in publishing and documenting their scholarly work for evaluation in the tenure and promotion process. These challenges include selecting appropriate publication venues and assigning authorship for works spanning multiple disciplines; archiving and accurately citing collaborative digital projects; and redefining “peer review,” impact, and dissemination in the context of creative digital works. In this paper I describe many of these challenges, and suggest several potential solutions.

Ostromian Lessons For Post-Disaster Resilience: Evidence From The 2015 Earthquake In Nepal, Veeshan Rayamajhee

Economics ETDs

The dissertation is organized in six chapters. The first chapter provides a synopsis of the four research articles that are comprised in this manuscript. It outlines the goals of each article and connects them to specific Ostromian insights to shed light on the empirical findings. Chapters 2, 3, and 5 are based on a field study that I conducted in Sindhupalchowk, Nepal following the devastating earthquake in 2015. Chapter 4 uses case studies from Chicago, New Orleans, Nepal, and Indonesia. The final chapter summarizes major lessons from the four papers.

The second chapter investigates household-level coping responses to the 7.8 …

Decreasing Stress Through An Emotion Regulation And Non-Judging Based Intervention With Trauma-Exposed College Students, Megan Cherry

Doctoral Dissertations

Among college students, trauma and PTSD symptomatology are associated with negative consequences (e.g., poor academic performance, stress sensitivity, and negative coping). College is often a stressful time, and those who have experienced trauma, particularly those experiencing PTSD symptoms, are vulnerable to heightened stress sensitivity and negative outcomes. It is imperative to identify interventions that decrease stress for trauma-exposed college students to reduce the deleterious effects of related outcomes. The purpose of this study was to examine whether emotion regulation and non-judgment could be enhanced in trauma-exposed college students through a short, mindfulnessbased intervention, and whether the intervention would lead to …

Kentucky School Districts As Educational Bright Spots, Michael T. Childress

CBER Research Report

Every year a select group of Kentucky school districts perform better than expected on measures of educational achievement. These measures include things like the percentage of elementary students who achieve proficiency or distinguished in reading, or the proportion of less‐advantaged middle school students who show a similar level of competency on the math assessment.

There are wide differences in the learning environments, finances, and student outcomes among and within Kentucky’s 173 school districts. This is not surprising given that the largest school district in the state, Jefferson County, has 97,000 students and 165 schools, while the smallest, West Point Independent …

Vegetation Monitoring At Homestead National Monument Of America, Nebraska, 1998–2017, Sherry A. Leis

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

The Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network has sampled permanent monitoring sites in three vegetation community types (restored prairie, successional forest, and bur oak forest) at Homestead National Monument of America since 1998 (includes nine sample years). Network scientists record each species, aerial cover estimates of ground flora, diameter at breast height of midstory and overstory trees, and tree regeneration frequency (tree seedlings and saplings) within these permanent sites.

The park has experienced similar periods of drought and wetness through the monitoring record. Ground cover estimates indicate that prairie litter and bare ground are negatively related; prescribed fire cycles …

Preferential Activation For Emotional Western Classical Music Versus Emotional Environmental Sounds In Motor, Interoceptive, And Language Brain Areas, Rebecca J. Lepping, Jared M. Bruce, Kathleen M. Gustafson, Jinxiang Hu, Laura E. Martina, Cary R. Savage, Ruth Ann Atchley

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Recent meta analyses suggest there is a common brain network involved in processing emotion in music and sounds. However, no studies have directly compared the neural substrates of equivalent emotional Western classical music and emotional environmental sounds. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging we investigated whether brain activation in motor cortex, interoceptive cortex, and Broca’s language area during an auditory emotional appraisal task differed as a function of stimulus type. Activation was relatively greater to music in motor and interoceptive cortex – areas associated with movement and internal physical feelings – and relatively greater to emotional environmental sounds in Broca’s area. …

Coalition For Prisoners' Rights Newsletter, Vol 44-A, No. 8, Coalition For Prisoners' Rights

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