Psychology Commons^™

Social Interest And Self -Efficacy Levels Among High School Volunteer Mentors And Their Non -Mentor Peers: A Comparison Study, Courtney Brewer

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined social interest, social self-efficacy, and general self-efficacy levels of high school volunteer mentors and their nonmentor peers. School-based peer mentoring has become a popular method for providing support services to students. While several studies examining mentee outcomes appeared in the past decade, less research has examined characteristics of the high school mentors involved. The choice of variables was grounded in Bandura's Social Learning Theory and Adler's Individual Psychology. Thirty-seven mentors and 32 nonmentors from a suburban New York high school completed the Social Interest Scale and the Self-efficacy Scale. Mentor volunteers scored significantly higher in social self-efficacy …

Social Construction Of Knowledge In A Semiformal, Long -Term Learning Environment: A Qualitative Study, Alycia Harris

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Social learning plays a critical role in cognitive apprenticeship, community of practice, and knowledge production theories. Gunawardena's interaction analysis model, which provides a means of evaluating discourse for social construction of knowledge, is comprised of five phases: (a) sharing and comparing, (b) disagreement, (c) negotiation and co-construction of new knowledge, (d) testing of knew knowledge, and (e) use or phrasing of new knowledge. There is a paucity of research that has empirically explored social construction of knowledge, especially in an extended semiformal asynchronous graduate learning experience. This study explored two research questions: whether social construction of knowledge took place, and …

An Examination Of The Association Between Middle School Students' Perceptions Of Teacher Interactions, Home-School Dissonance, And School Attachment, Ruby Jewel Stevens

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether middle school students’ perceptions of teacher interactions and home-school dissonance are predictors of school attachment. The study sought to determine if there were differences in students’ perceptions of teacher interactions and home-school dissonance based on ethnicity, gender and/or grade level. This investigation is one of the first to explore the association between these variables.

Data for this investigation was obtained from a larger study where surveys were administered to over 800 racially diverse students in grades 6 through 8 in Language Arts classrooms in two public middle schools with diverse student …

Changing The Latitudes And Attitudes About Content Analysis Research, Eve M. Brank, Kathleen A. Fox, Tasha J. Youstin, Lee C. Boeppler

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current research employs the use of content analysis to teach research methods concepts among students enrolled in an upper-division research methods course. Students coded and analyzed Jimmy Buffett song lyrics rather than using a downloadable database or collecting survey data. Students’ knowledge of content analysis concepts increased after a lecture on the topic of content analysis, but it further improved after participating in the song coding, data cleaning, and writing of results. Additionally, students reported high satisfaction with the project and believed it was an interesting and enjoyable technique for learning about research methods. We provide suggestions for incorporating …

Problem-Solving Behaviors In College Relationships, Bethanie Frattini-Scott

Honors Program Theses

This study examined the individual characteristics that affect one’s willingness and ability to resolve problems in romantic relationships and one’s decision to seek support from a romantic partner. One hundred twenty-six college students in romantic relationships completed measures of attachment style, relationship efficacy, partner attributions, and relationship satisfaction, and responded to hypothetical scenarios assessing their problem-solving and support-seeking behaviors. Participants reporting higher attachment ambivalence were more perceptive than others to threats to their relationships and exhibited a greater effort to reduce conflict, although they reported lower levels of confidence in their problemsolving abilities. People reporting higher avoidance anticipated placing greater …

Social Cognitive Career Theory As Applied To The School-To-Work Transition, Mary E. Kelly

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Cookie Monsters: Seeing Young People’S Hacking As Creative Practice, Gregory T. Donovan, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

This paper examines the benefits and obstacles to young people’s open-ended and unrestricted access to technological environments. While children and youth are frequently seen as threatened or threatening in this realm, their playful engagements suggest that they are self-possessed social actors, able to negotiate most of its challenges effectively. Whether it is proprietary software, the business practices of some technology providers, or the separation of play, work, and learning in most classrooms, the spatial-temporality of young people’s access to and use of technology is often configured to restrict their freedom of choice and behavior. We focus on these issues through …

How Do Students’ Beliefs About Learning Relate To The Teaching Methods And Classroom Activities They Perceive As Effective?, Robert A. Kachelski, Rodger Narloch

Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to determine how college students' beliefs about learning and knowledge related to the types of teaching methods and classroom activities they perceive as effective in helping them to learn. Comparisons were also made based on year in college. Beliefs about learning were assessed using the Epistemic Belief Inventory (EBI; Schraw, Bendixen, & Dunkle, 2002), which yields scores on 5 dimensions: Omniscient Authority, Certain Knowledge, Quick Learning, Simple Knowledge, and Innate Ability. A number of significant correlations were found. For example, scores on the Quick Learning dimension were negatively correlated with effectiveness ratings for lecture, …

Developing Evidenced Based Practice For Social Emotional Screenings In Schools, Kim Anderson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The social problem being addressed through this project includes several challenges faced by our nation's schools, namely increasing numbers of disciplinary referrals, suspensions, and expulsions (Marchant, Anderson, Caldarella, Fisher, Young,Young, 2009). Further research states that "more and more children entering school are unprepared to learn, unable to cope with the social tasks involved in making friends and getting along with others, and unaware of their negative social effect on others," (Marchant et al., 2009, p.131). Only about 20% of children and adolescents with a psychiatric disorder in the United States receive any kind of mental health services (Fritz, 2007). Yet …

Processing The Therapeutic Relationship, Clara E. Hill, Sarah Knox

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

The authors propose that if therapists and clients process their therapeutic relationship (i.e., directly address in the here and now feelings about each other and about the inevitable problems that emerge in the therapy relationship), feelings will be expressed and accepted, problems will be resolved, the relationship will be enhanced, and clients will transfer their learning to other relationships outside of therapy. The authors review theories supporting the idea of processing the therapeutic relationship, discuss the relevant empirical literature in this area, and provide their conceptualization of the construct of processing the therapeutic relationship based on the theory and empirical …

Thankful Learning: A Grounded Theory Study Of Relational Practice Between Master’S Students And Professors, Harriet L. Schwartz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

No abstract provided.

Educating Clinical Pastoral Education Supervisors: A Grounded Theory Study Of Supervisory Wisdom, Judith R. Ragsdale

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is an 80 year old education modality that provides professional education for students of pastoral care. Supervision is central to the CPE process. Pastoral supervisors in the Association for Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE) have done little writing about their work educating Students in Supervisory Education (SSEs). The purpose of this dissertation is to identify and interview those practitioners in ACPE who have been identified by their peers as excellent in practice, and to cull their wisdom by listening to and categorizing their experience of supervising SSEs. The research question to the supervisors was: What is your …

The Catalyst Clemente Project: Making Journalism Education Accessible To Disadvantaged Australians, Trevor Cullen

Research outputs pre 2011

This is a brief commentary on a new initiative to promote engagement with the wider community through the Catalyst Clemente project, which was introduced in Western Australia in 2008. It encourages participants to improve their personal situation through learning and developing essential skills in a supportive environment. It also seeks to promote self-confidence in people at risk of homelessness or physical and mental illness, by encouraging them to take control of their lives and bring about personal change through undergraduate education. The program gives applicants the opportunity to do accredited university courses in the area of the humanities. I was …

Online Metacognitive Tool Development: Final Development, Joseph Luca, Mark Mcmahon

Research outputs pre 2011

The authors of this paper have been developing an online metacognitive tool over the past four years through a process of iterative design and development stages using Design-Based research. Based on feedback from students, tutors and peers, the application has now been finally developed and is available for public download. The application helps students working in teams reflect on their learning strategies through a process of planning, monitoring and evaluation, and allows students to reflect on their performance.

Implementing Technology In The Classroom: Assessing Teachers’ Needs Through The Use Of A Just-In-Time Support System, Alissa N. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the importance of computer technology in classrooms today, it is crucial to identify the types of supports that will facilitate teachers’ effective implementation of technology. Ten teachers (four kindergarten, four grade one, and two grade one/two) received just-in-time support while introducing a reading software program in their class. An additional 12 teachers (four kindergarten, seven grade one, and one grade two) were exposed to the software, but did not receive just-in-time support. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses of instructional sessions were conducted in order to determine the kinds of support that teachers required throughout the intervention. Results provided an …

Processes Of Disposition Development In K--5 Teachers, Deborah A. Obara

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Educators concur that teacher competency requires more than teaching knowledge and skills; competency requires appropriate professional dispositions. The development of professional dispositions is an expected outcome of teacher education programs. Since 2002, program accreditation has been contingent on documentation that prospective teachers have met national standards for dispositions. The body of educational research on disposition assessment has been growing. Research on disposition learning and development, however, has been impeded by the prevailing conceptualization of dispositions as fixed traits resistant to change. The present study conceptualized dispositions as malleable constructs within a theoretical framework that synthesized a cognitive model of thinking …

Computer Integration In Elementary And Secondary Schools: Variables Influencing Educators, Julie Mueller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the prevalence of computers in education today, it is critical to understand teachers’ perspectives regarding computer integration in their classrooms. Research identifying stages of implementation, and literature identifying barriers and supports, fall short of explaining what variables impact an educator’s ultimate decision to integrate technology in their instruction. The current research surveyed a heterogeneous sample of 185 elementary and 204 secondary teachers in order to provide a comprehensive summary of teacher characteristics and variables that discriminate teachers who integrate technology from those who do not. Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) identified the following variables as making unique contributions to discriminating …

Client Change In Multi-Model Treatment: A Comparison Of Change Trajectories In Group, Individual, And Conjoint Formats In A Counseling Center, Bryan K. Mickelson

Theses and Dissertations

Providing clinicians with a clearer understanding of how clients' recover over the entire course of therapy has important implications for referral and treatment strategies. The present study compares rates of change in 160 clients in group therapy with 6632 clients in individual therapy and 864 clients receiving both individual therapy and group therapy. Therapeutic outcomes were measured using the Outcome Questionnaire-45. Data was analyzed using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM), also called Multi-Level Modeling (MLM), to produce recovery curves for clients in each group. Recovery curves showed that most change occurred in the early part of group therapy and slowed near …

Value Conflicts In Psychotherapy: Psychology Graduates' Perspectives, Shannon Vincent Wilde

Theses and Dissertations

Although psychotherapy has been viewed historically as value-neutral, developments over the last half-century have led to the generally accepted position that values are inescapable in therapy. However, many questions remain as to how values should be managed in psychotherapy in order to protect client autonomy. These issues are of particular concern to training programs, which bear the responsibility of instructing new psychologists in ethical values management and of helping trainees manage personal values when those values are in conflict with those of their clients or with the values of the field in general. One aspect that has not previously been …

A Quantitative Study Of The Effectiveness Of Positive Behavior Support In Secondary Schools, Rebecca Lynn Raftery

Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to evaluate the long-term effectiveness of a second tier intervention on at risk students' behaviors and academic success. The study included 113 middle school and junior high students identified as being at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders using the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders (SSBD). The participants were assigned to a control group (no treatment), one, two, or three semesters of the intervention. The intervention integrated components of social skills instruction, self-management techniques, and social and emotional awareness. Students' behaviors and academic success were measured using school data (i.e. GPA, Office Discipline Referrals, attendance, and …

Social-Emotional Resilience In Middle School Girls, Stephanie Evans Powers

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During middle school, many girls experience changes toward a more negative affect and decreases in confidence, optimism, and curiosity (Kline & Short, 1991; Pipher, 1994). The aim of this dissertation is to provide a contextually grounded and multidimensional understanding of social-emotional resiliency in middle school girls as constructed and defined by the students, their teachers, their social reference groups and the researcher (Ungar, 2004). To address the subjective nature of resiliency, qualitative methodology was chosen as the most appropriate approach. Five girls from a middle school in a small, Midwestern town participated in the study. Five teachers who nominated students …

Ncaa Division I Head Softball Coaches' Confidence, Openness And Stigma Tolerance Toward Sport Psychology Consultants, Laurie Ann Neelis

Dissertations

This study used a mixed-method to look at NCAA division I head softball coaches confidence, openness, and stigma tolerance about sport psychology principles and consultants, as well as what sport psychology principles, time of year used, and what a Sport Psychology Consultant (SPC) can do to help division I head softball coaches have more success with their teams. These variables were measured through the use of the Sport Psychology Attitudes - Revised Coaches instrument developed by Zakrajsek and Zizzi (2007). For the qualitative component, the researcher developed five inquiries that allowed for a more in-depth response from the coaches concerning …

A Comparison Of Reading Interventions Based On Preference To Reading Interventions Identified By Brief Experimental Analysis, Debborah Eda Smyth

Dissertations

The available literature on children's acceptability of interventions is rather sparse and offers little support for the link between acceptability and effectiveness (e.g., Foxx & Jones, 1978; Shapiro & Goldberg, 1986; Turco & Elliot, 1990). The present study compared the effects of treatment preference to treatment effectiveness using a brief experimental analysis to select skill-based oral reading fluency interventions. The use of a brief experimental analysis (BEA) (Daly, Martens, Hamler, Dool, & Eckert, 1999) has been demonstrated to be an effective procedure for selecting oral reading interventions. However, the studies on brief experimental analysis to date have not examined student …

Generalization Effects Of Social Story Interventions For Individuals With Asperger's Disorder, Jennifer Alphonso Abraham

Dissertations

Social Stories™ (Gray, 2004) is a relatively new intervention designed to teach appropriate skills to individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders. Although there is preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of Social Stories it has typically been implemented in one target setting. As a result, there are little data to support whether or not the effects of Social Stories will generalize to other settings. The current study examined the effectiveness of Social Stories for increasing appropriate behaviors exhibited by four children diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder. Generalization effects across settings were assessed using a typical Social Story (Train and Hope) format and …

Autism Fast Start Checklist, Tina Taylor, Leeann Whiffen

Faculty Publications

This Fast Start Checklist was created to help parents in Utah who are concerned that their child is exhibiting signs of an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It serves as a general guideline for obtaining support through the evaluation and initial treatment process and is not intended to be all-inclusive. Early Intervention and school personnel can guide parents to these resources as they collaborate to determine the best route for serving children who exhibit signs of ASD. Parents should be encouraged to not try to do everything on this list, as they are provided as points to consider. This checklist is …

School-Based Services For Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Tonya M. Tree

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study was designed to present descriptive data from a survey of 201 school psychologists. Psychologists completed a survey addressing current practices for determining placement for students with ADHD including the role of school psychologists in determining placement, how often and who monitors services, where students are served, and what services are provided in each setting. Findings indicated that psychologists were involved less frequently in placement decisions and evaluation for Section 504 than in Special Education. Students with 504 plans received less frequent follow-up than students in Special Education. Results indicated that schools were generally following federal guidelines and recommendations …

Longitudinal And Reciprocal Effects Of Ethnic Identity And Experiences Of Discrimination On Psychosocial Adjustment Of Navajo (Diné) Adolescents, Matthew D. Jones

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study examined the relationships among ethnic identity, cultural identity, experiences of discrimination, their interactions, and their effects on various psychosocial outcomes (self-esteem, depression, sense of school membership, social functioning, substance abuse, substance related problems, delinquent behaviors, and grade point average [GPA]). Data were collected twice over a 2-year period.

Change across time was observed in male adolescents' experiences of discrimination. Affirmation and belonging to Navajo culture was the strongest protective predictor at Time 1, but at Time 2 less consistent patterns of association emerged. Also at Time 2, experiences of discrimination emerged as a powerful negative predictor of psychosocial …

Research Self-Efficacy And Research Mentoring Experiences As Predictors Of Occupational Commitment In Counselor Education Doctoral Students, Glinda Jeanette Rawls

Dissertations

The demands of research and pressure to publish have been identified as reasons doctoral graduates in counselor education infrequently choose faculty careers (Maples, Altekruse, & Testa, 1993; Swickert, 1997). Despite this finding, the counselor education literature provides very little information on doctoral students' research self-efficacy or perceived ability to complete research-related tasks (Bieschke, Bishop, & Herbert, 1995). In addition, research mentoring can enhance research self-efficacy (Hollingsworth & Fassinger, 2002), yet it too remains understudied. Research mentoring involves someone more experienced promoting research skill, awareness, and productivity to someone less experienced (Dohm & Cummings, 2002). Few studies have explored research self-efficacy, …

Relationship Of Gender, Grade Level, And School Demographics To Middle School Students’ Knowledge Of Appropriate Behavior And Their Behaviors In Using Social Networking Sites, Stacey L. Kite, Robert K. Gable, Lawrence P. Filippelli

Cyberbullying

The purpose of this study was to investigate middle school students’ knowledge of appropriate use and risks associated with the use of online forums such as social networking sites, e-mail, and IM. As noted by McKenna (2007), this line of research is important since social networking sites, such as myspace and facebook, the increase in cyberbullying, and instant messaging programs are creating numerous problems for school administrators.

Ciis Today, Fall 2008 Issue, Ciis

CIIS Today

This volume is the Fall 2008 issue of CIIS Today, the Magazine of the California Institute of Integral Studies.