Psychology Commons^™

Manifestation Determinations: An Interdisciplinary And User-Friendly Guide To Best Practices, Molly E. Knudsen

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

Rates of suspensions and expulsions are increasing in public schools in the United States, despite research stating that such exclusions have negative effects on students and are generally ineffective in addressing misbehavior. There is an overrepresentation of students with disabilities in the population of excluded students, which poses a threat to their right to a free and appropriate education (FAPE). When a student with a disability faces an exclusion, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires a manifestation determination review (MDR) to be held by a committee of school personnel and the student’s parent(s)/guardian(s) to determine the cause of …

Enhancing Psychology Majors’ Meta-Cognitive Understanding Of Desirable Workplace Skills Using A Short Discussion-Based In-Class Activity, Alena S. Gordienko

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The skills psychology students possess that employers look for in job applicants include: reliability, integrity, work ethic, communication, technology, critical thinking, teamwork, and professionalism (Rodgers, 2012). I conducted a study to determine whether participating in a brief classroom activity would improve students’ ability to effectively describe their skills. Students were asked to write a cover letter before and after the activity. The activity included a discussion of four skills and student reflection on their experiences that demonstrated these skills. I hypothesized that overall letter-writing would improve, that students’ self-reported levels of preparedness to find a job would improve, that students …

Satisfaction Of Students With Visual Impairment Within Different School Settings, Jeremiah Jordan

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

This is an investigation of the satisfaction of students with visual impairment attending school in different educational settings, including students attending school in a specialized educational setting, as well as students with visual impairment attending school in a mainstreamed educational setting. This paper explores research on the effectiveness and perceptions of inclusion for children with disabilities, particularly children with visual impairment. Specific research on this topic is sparse and the researcher proposed a new research study, in which the satisfaction of students with visual impairment was targeted and explored in both a specialized educational setting and mainstreamed educational setting. High …

The Effects Of A Planned Missingness Design On Examinee Motivation And Psychometric Quality, Matthew S. Swain

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Assessment practitioners in higher education face increasing demands to collect assessment and accountability data to make important inferences about student learning and institutional quality. The validity of these high-stakes decisions is jeopardized, particularly in low-stakes testing contexts, when examinees do not expend sufficient motivation to perform well on the test. This study introduced planned missingness as a potential solution. In planned missingness designs, data on all items are collected but each examinee only completes a subset of items, thus increasing data collection efficiency, reducing examinee burden, and potentially increasing data quality. The current scientific reasoning test served as the Long …

Extending An Irt Mixture Model To Detect Random Responders On Non-Cognitive Polytomously Scored Assessments, Mandalyn R. Swanson

Dissertations, 2014-2019

This study represents an attempt to distinguish two classes of examinees – random responders and valid responders – on non-cognitive assessments in low-stakes testing. The majority of existing literature regarding the detection of random responders in low-stakes settings exists in regard to cognitive tests that are dichotomously scored. However, evidence suggests that random responding occurs on non-cognitive assessments, and as with cognitive measures, the data derived from such measures are used to inform practice. Thus, a threat to test score validity exists if examinees’ response selections do not accurately reflect their underlying level on the construct being assessed. As with …

Examining The Performance Of The Metropolis-Hastings Robbins-Monro Algorithm In The Estimation Of Multilevel Multidimensional Irt Models, Bozhidar M. Bashkov

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The purpose of this study was to review the challenges that exist in the estimation of complex (multidimensional) models applied to complex (multilevel) data and to examine the performance of the recently developed Metropolis-Hastings Robbins-Monro (MH-RM) algorithm (Cai, 2010a, 2010b), designed to overcome these challenges and implemented in both commercial and open-source software programs. Unlike other methods, which either rely on high-dimensional numerical integration or approximation of the entire multidimensional response surface, MH-RM makes use of Fisher’s Identity to employ stochastic imputation (i.e., data augmentation) via the Metropolis-Hastings sampler and then apply the stochastic approximation method of Robbins and Monro …

Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices Related To Student Self-Regulation In The Classroom, Marlana L. Webster

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Self-regulation serves as a pivotal skill for children to acquire early in life. Mastery of the skill leads to high academic achievement and increased sense of self-efficacy. Teachers play a major role in developing self-regulation in children. Consequently, the beliefs and practices that teachers hold regarding poor self-regulation (i.e. inattention and impulsivity) are to be understood and taken into account. The Self-Regulation Survey was created to capture teachers’ attributions for inattention and impulsivity along with subsequent chosen interventions in 52 participants. The results indicated that teachers attribute impulsivity to organic factors and family origin to a greater degree than classroom …

The Nature And Etiology Of Religious Certitude: Implications Of The Ei Framework And Beliefs, Events, And Values Inventory, Timothy W. Brearly

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Religious certitude is often associated with conflict between individuals and groups, though the nature of this relationship is still not clear. To further clarify these dynamics, the historical psychology of religion is reviewed and contrasted with current perspectives from social psychology and neuroscience, with an eye towards better understanding the variance within religious expressions and their associated relationships with intergroup conflict. It is hypothesized that religious certainty is related to a difficulty in engaging with contradictory religious perspectives, and that the pull towards certainty is tied to an individual’s unique psychological structure, much of which is developed through the interaction …

The Effects Of Mindfulness Techniques On Empathy And Emotional Control, Courtney M. Dameron

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Schools’ reaction to bullying is often just that; reactive, rather than proactive. Bullying is reported and then the school takes action in one of two ways. The perpetrator is punished or the victim is supported. Sometimes schools do both. What schools are frequently missing from this equation is that no one supports the student who engaged in the bullying behavior. Research tells us that there are negative effects for all students involved in bullying. Yet few work to support the students who engage in bullying behavior. Not only would this help prevent negative effects for the individual student, it may …

Resident Advisors React: Autoethnographic Reflections On High-Intensity Situations, Brenna A. Merrill

Sustainability and Social Justice

Resident Advisors (RAs) are paraprofessional peer leaders who are trained to respond to high-intensity incidents. Upon witnessing a crisis situation, I found it difficult to reflect and maintain my own personal wellness. The intent of this research has been to learn of and to give voice to the multiple ways in which RAs respond to such scenarios.

Utilizing autoethnography, I incorporate my experience with the perspectives of my coworkers and multidisciplinary literature. Seven current RAs, who had self-identified experiencing such an incident, volunteered to be interviewed. These narratives are embodied in the text in order to establish a dialogue between …

The Effects Of Problem-Based Learning On Mathematics Achievement Of Elementary Students Across Time, Brittany Marie Crowley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The present study specifically evaluated the long-term effects of problem-based learning (PBL) instruction on the mathematics achievement of students who demonstrated higher ability in the subject area than their comparable peers. Subjects included 65 students from six south-central Kentucky elementary schools who participated in Project Gifted Education in Math and Science (Project GEMS), a grant partially funded through the Jacob K. Javits Gifted and Talented Students Education Program. The students were assigned to one of three conditions – PBL-Plus, PBL, or Control – based upon school of attendance. The participants were then administered baseline testing in the fall of the …

The Influence Of Texting And Virtual Peers On Adolescent Alcohol Use, Eric Steven Gregory

Dissertations

The Social Development Theory has guided substance abuse prevention planning and programming for the past two decades. One of the key risk factors cited in and targeted by Social Development Model strategies is that of the influence of peers on adolescent substance use. With the advent of modern cellular technology, the manner in which adolescents currently interact has shifted in preference from that of traditional face-to-face to interaction through text messaging. Recent research has suggested a link between the frequency of adolescent texting behavior and adolescent substance use. This shift in interaction may influence the mechanisms of peer influence and …

Significance Of Mentoring Students In Public Schools: A Literature Review And Naturalistic Observation Of Academic & Socio-Emotional Implications, Brittney A. Easter

Senior Honors Projects

Public schools today are becoming populated with increasingly diverse student bodies. These unique backgrounds include differences in race, ethnicity, culture, and socioeconomic status. While this diversity can lead to positive social outcomes, it creates an issue of achievement gaps. Challenges students may face at home can cause academic difficulties, placing some learners behind others in a classroom. With increasing class size, teachers have less ability to give one-on-one time or even slow down lessons. As a result, only a small number of students finish senior year of high school at a level that makes them prepared to enter college (Bettinger, …

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation Via Distance Delivery (Cbc-D): An Evaluation Of Efficacy And Acceptability, Michael J. Coutts

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Despite greater prevalence rates of child mental health and behavior problems, rural areas are often overlooked by researchers in favor of urban areas that provide larger, more diverse samples. However, rural children’s problems manifest differently across home and school than what is seen in urban and suburban contexts. Conjoint behavioral consultation (CBC; Sheridan & Kratochwill, 2008) is an evidence-based family-school partnership intervention wherein families and schools collaborate with a consultant to address child concerns. In its traditional format, the time specialized nature of delivering CBC and time and travel commitments needed by participants limits the feasibility of CBC as an …

A Comparison Of Population-Averaged And Cluster-Specific Approaches In The Context Of Unequal Probabilities Of Selection, Natalie A. Koziol

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Sampling designs of large-scale, federally funded studies are typically complex, involving multiple design features (e.g., clustering, unequal probabilities of selection). Researchers must account for these features in order to obtain unbiased point estimators and make valid inferences about population parameters. Single-level (i.e., population-averaged) and multilevel (i.e., cluster-specific) methods provide two alternatives for modeling clustered data. Single-level methods rely on the use of adjusted variance estimators to account for dependency due to clustering, whereas multilevel methods incorporate the dependency into the specification of the model.

Although the literature comparing single-level and multilevel approaches is vast, comparisons have been limited to the …

Trajectories Of Anxious Withdrawal In Early Childhood, Irina N. Kalutskaya

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this study was to examine the developmental trajectory of anxious withdrawal in a group of 3-year old children in transition to kindergarten. This study also examined the role of high quality classroom environments for children, and the role of multiple risk factors for parents on development of children’s anxious withdrawal. The current sample consisted of 1,938 3-year old children (49% female) followed across four time points (Fall 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, and Spring 2012) as a part of the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES 2009), 20% of the children were White, non-Hispanic, 35% …

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 …

Playful Aggression And The Situational Contexts That Affect Perceptions, Jennifer Hart

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Play is considered a fundamental tool for early childhood education practices as it provides numerous developmental benefits for young children. However, not all play is viewed by children, parents, and early childhood educators the same, especially playful aggression. For example, rough-and-tumble play, risky play, superhero play, “bad guy” play, active pretend play, play fighting, big body play, war play, gun play, and physically active and imaginative play are types of playful aggression that benefits young children’s development; but are often viewed negatively by the adults who observe it. The contextual factors that influence the development of these conflicting perceptions—the motivation …

Effects Of Instructor Attractiveness On Classroom Learning, Richard Shane Westfall

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Although there have been multiple studies examining the effects of physical attractiveness on a variety of human interactions, one domain has been largely overlooked. The current thesis examined the effect of teacher attractiveness on a learning task. Specifically participants were exposed to a photograph that they believed was their instructor while listening to an audio lecture. Upon completion of the lecture participants then completed a forced choice recognition task covering material from the lecture. I hypothesized that participants would perform significantly better on the learning task when they perceived their instructor to be high in physical attractiveness. Neither the gender …

An Examination Of Psychoeducation And Its Potential Modifying Influence On Alcohol Use Patterns Among Adults Reporting Co-Occurring Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms And Hazardous Alcohol Consumption, Sarah Jo Bujarski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has suggested that consumption of alcohol in the presence of elevated posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) may serve an avoidant function to cope with negative emotions. These coping-related motives for use are theorized to both maintain PTSS and relate to poorer prognoses in treatment for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Treatments utilizing coping skills training, which typically also involves educating clients about the negative consequences of drinking alcohol to cope, suggest the utility of targeting coping behaviors to reduce alcohol use. These studies, however, have not attempted to isolate the effects of psychoeducation on alcohol-related factors. The current study investigated the …

Teacher Narratives And Student Engagement Testing Narrative Engagement Theory In Drug Prevention Education, Michelle Miller-Day, Michael L. Hecht, Janice L. Krieger, Jonathan Pettigrew, Young Ju Shin, John L. Graham

Communication Faculty Articles and Research

Testing narrative engagement theory, this study examines student engagement and teachers’ spontaneous narratives told in a narrative-based drug prevention curriculum. The study describes the extent to which teachers share their own narratives in a narrative-based curriculum, identifies dominant narrative elements, forms and functions, and assesses the relationships among teacher narratives, overall lesson narrative quality, and student engagement. One-hundred videotaped lessons of the keepin’ it REAL drug prevention curriculum were coded and the results supported the claim that increased narrative quality of a prevention lesson would be associated with increased student engagement. The quality of narrativity, however, varied widely. Implications of …

Distinguishing Originality From Creativity In Adhd: An Assessment Of Creative Personality, Self-Perception, And Cognitive Style Among Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Adults, Jean-Pierre J. Issa

Creative Studies Graduate Student Master's Theses

Debates over whether Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) relates to high levels of creativity have been hampered by a lack of rigor when defining creativity. The purpose of the present study was to go beyond the rhetoric by empirically investigating creative personality, creative self-perception, and cognitive style among 49 ADHD adults. Comparative analysis to studies of non-ADHD samples revealed distinctive tendencies: A mean group score of 115.71 (SD=18.02) on the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory (KAI) indicated preferences for originality, nonconformity, paradigm-breaking, and low efficiency that was over one standard deviation higher than average non-ADHD population scores. Combined inattentive/hyperactiveimpulsive subtypes (n …

Four Decades Of Research On School Bullying: An Introduction, Shelley Hymel, Susan M. Swearer

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This article provides an introductory overview of findings from the past 40 years of research on bullying among school-aged children and youth. Research on definitional and assessment issues in studying bullying and victimization is reviewed, and data on prevalence rates, stability, and forms of bullying behavior are summarized, setting the stage for the 5 articles that comprise this American Psychologist special issue on bullying and victimization. These articles address bullying, victimization, psychological sequela and consequences, ethical, legal, and theoretical issues facing educators, researchers, and practitioners, and effective prevention and intervention efforts. The goal of this special issue is to provide …

Understanding The Psychology Of Bullying: Moving Toward A Social-Ecological Diathesis–Stress Model, Susan M. Swearer, Shelley Hymel

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

With growing recognition that bullying is a complex phenomenon, influenced by multiple factors, research findings to date have been understood within a social-ecological framework. Consistent with this model, we review research on the known correlates and contributing factors in bullying/victimization within the individual, family, peer group, school and community. Recognizing the fluid and dynamic nature of involvement in bullying, we then expand on this model and consider research on the consequences of bullying involvement, as either victim or bully or both, and propose a social-ecological, diathesis– stress model for understanding the bullying dynamic and its impact. Specifically, we frame involvement …

Move, Interact, And Connect Personally Barter Theatre’S Project Real Gets Implicit In Order To Learn, Megan E. Atkinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Body movement, hands-on activity, embodiment, social interaction, emotions, and self-reflection allow teaching artists of Barter’s Theatre’s Project REAL to conduct a lesson with an implicit learning experience as the focus. Barter Theatre’s Project REAL exists as a theatre for education program that collaborates with regular classroom teachers on delivering the curriculum through specific theatre exercises in order to connect the material personally to the students’ lives. Theatre tools provide a human experience that enhances learning for the student by use of kinesthetic movement, social learning, emotions and interpersonal skills. To understand the effects of Barter Theatre’s Project REAL, the director …

The Attitudes And Beliefs Of Special And General Educational Professionals Concerning Alcohol And Drug Problems, Troy Wayne Kieser

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Drug and alcohol abuse is one of the greatest challenges of public education. Substance abuse affects student academic performance. Teacher attitudes concerning substance use are linked to drug and alcohol use by students. The purpose of this study was to assertion teacher attitudes and beliefs about drug and alcohol use. The data were collected using a questionnaire. The questionnaire was a modified version of the Addiction Belief Inventory (ABI) based on the five constructs (e.g., coping, efficacy, disease, lack of efficacy, moral weakness) of substance abuse (Broadus, Hartje, Roget, & Cahoon, 2010; Luke, Ribisi, Walton, & Davidson, 2002). The participants …

The Rise Of Adhd And Effects Of Alternative Treatment In Adolescents, Jennifer Villarina

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a syndrome that makes it difficult for people to focus, control behavior and regulate activity. Many with ADHD move constantly and are impulsive. They cannot seem to follow directions and are easily bored or frustrated with tasks. Although these behaviors are normally observed in children, they are more severe in those with ADHD. The symptoms of ADHD make it difficult for children to function at school and home. Exposure to toxins, injury to the brain and imbalance of neurotransmitters can affect the development of the brain (LeFever, Arcona & Antonuccio, 2003). The most common …

Lutheran Social Services Service Learning Project, Timothy D. Immelman, Cullen T. Mcanally, Dino V. Saracco

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Background: Lutheran Social Services (LSS) is an organization whose mission is to “express the love of Christ for all people through service that inspires hope, changes lives, and builds community.” A significant part of what they do involves leading afterschool activities that promote the learning of specific academic and life skills. Those learning objectives are as stated as follows: (1) working together, (2) communication, (3) following instructions, and (4) personal boundaries. As liberal arts students, we provide external perspectives regarding ways to enhance their four learning objectives.

Because they have our help in developing new leisure activities for their students, …

A Verification And Extension Of Students' Motivations, Financial Orientation, And Identity Salience As Predictors Of Likelihood To Withdraw From A University, Matthew I. Quinn

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Broadly, this research examines a student’s likelihood to withdraw from a university based on the relationship between motivations, financial orientation, and identity salience. Specifically, this study empirically examines the relationship between extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, and apathetic motivation, perceived opportunity loss and lifestyle activities related to financial orientation, and satisfaction and reciprocity related to identity salience, as predictors of a student’s likelihood of withdrawing from a university.

A questionnaire was designed by extending scale items related to the constructs of interest. First-year students at a private university located in the upper Midwest were sampled. A hypothesized model was tested using …

Building Effective School-Family-Community Partnerships Through Community Dialogues; And Super Friends, Super Readers! Engaging Community To Support Young Children's Social Emotional Development, Angel Fettig, Kaitlin Gould, Lauren Brodsky

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Super Friends, Super Readers! guides children through interactive shared reading sessions by using dialogic reading techniques that aim to support the development of social emotional skills. In a separate project, UMass Boston and the YWMC offered a series of community dialogues among a diverse group of parents and educators to instill a greater sense of trust and overcome unintentional racial divides that have impeded effective parent engagement and student achievement.