Psychology Commons^™

The Relationship Between The Functions Of School Refusal Behavior And Family Environment, Rachel Marie Schafer

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The current study examined the relationship between the functions of school refusal behavior and family environment characteristics in a community sample of youth. The primary aim was to determine the family environments most strongly associated with each function of school refusal behavior in an ethnically diverse, community-based sample of youths referred to the legal process for absenteeism. Hypotheses for the current study were based on the premise that family environment characteristics of the community sample of youths with problematic absenteeism would generally resemble those identified in previous clinical samples. The first hypothesis was that youth who refuse school primarily to …

Evaluating A Social Skills Training Protocol In A Private Setting: Outcomes And Issues, Judi Davis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Society is dealing with a trend of aggressive and destructive behavior among children and adolescence. Children with social, emotional, and conduct problems are at high risk for academic failure, peer rejection, conduct disorder, school dropout, delinquency, and drug and alcohol problems (Webster-Stratton, Reid, & Stoollmiller, 2008). A high priority for the United States public health and crime prevention is the prevention of aggressive and delinquent behavior during childhood and adolescence (Taylor, Eddy, & Biglan 1999).

Social skills trainings aim to increase the performance of key social behaviors that are important for children to succeed in social situations. Solutions may be …

Teachers' Attitudes Towards Overt And Covert Bullying, And Perceived Efficacy To Intervene, Dianne L. Byers, Nerina J. Caltabiano, Marie L. Caltabiano

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: Covert bullying has become a serious problem in Australian schools. Past research has focused on overt bullying, especially physical forms. This study explores teacher characteristics that influence their attitudes and responses to covert bullying. Responses to three scales measuring teacher attitudes towards bullying, perceived self-efficacy and preferred style of handling bullying incidents, as well as background questions were sought from 62 teachers from a Catholic Diocese in Queensland. Overt bullying incidents were taken more seriously than covert bullying; victims were shown empathy and intervention was likely. All teachers showed high levels of self-efficacy and were likely to intervene in …

Effects Of Homophobic Versus Nonhomophobic Victimization On School Commitment And The Moderating Effect Of Teacher Attitudes In Brazilian Public Schools, Mandi M. Alexander, Jonathan Bruce Santo, Josafá Da Cunha, Lidia Weber, Stephen T. Russell

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study investigated homophobic victimization, teacher support, and school commitment in Brazilian schools. Participants were 339 students, ages 11 to 18 years old, in two public schools in Brazil. Data were obtained using the Brazil Preventing School Harassment Survey. Structural equation modeling revealed that both homophobic and nonhomophobic victimization were negatively related to school commitment but that homophobic victimization was a stronger predictor. Results supported the hypothesis that supportive teachers can moderate the relationship between victimization and school commitment. Finally, the moderating effect of teacher support was stronger in instances of frequent homophobic victimization.

A Kinder, Gentler Nativism?: Review Of Alison Gopnik, The Philosophical Baby, David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Review of Alison Gopnik, The philosophical baby: What children's minds tell us about truth, love, and the meaning of life.

In its historic philosophical and psychological formulations, nativism highlighted innateness. Development was deemed nothingmore than a genetically driven process ofmaturation; learning, in turn, was nothing more than the filling in of superficial content. In this determinist view, neither development nor learning could be deemed active, creative, or constructive processes, and nothing genuinely new could result.

The nativists who have increasingly populated the literature of developmental psychology since the 1980s, however, are neonativists. Neonativists fully accept modern views of immature organisms …

Evaluation Of A Program To Reduce Bullying In An Elementary School, Jordan Elizabeth Davis

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Bullying is one of the most pervasive challenges in schools across the world. This investigation is an evaluation of a school’s attempt to address the large number of incidents of bullying. Materials from the Bully Free Classroom (BFC) by Allan Beane (2009) served as the intervention curriculum for 21, fifth grade students and six teachers. A 14-week (with the exception of school breaks), six lesson intervention was implemented with three groups of students: two groups identified as perpetrators and one group of victims. Teachers received training on bullying knowledge and how to appropriately report bullying-related incidents. Pre and post …

The Relationship Of Ethnicity And Familial Factors In The Expression Of School Refusal Behavior In Clinical And Community Samples, Courtney Marie Haight

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Failure to attend school can have a devastating impact on a child’s social, emotional, academic, and later career development. Psychologists, educators, and researchers from other disciplines have produced large bodies of literature regarding problematic absenteeism. This has led to varying terminology, divergent approaches, assessment, and treatment of nonattendance. Additional research on contextual, proximal, and distal variables, such as culture and family, has been encouraged. The present study involved contextual variables related to school refusal behavior and contained a more representative sample of youth with attendance difficulties than previous studies. Contextual variables included youth and parent ethnic identity, family environment, school …

A Longitudinal Investigation Of Peer Victimization, Self-Esteem, Depression, And Anxiety Among Adolescents: A Test Of Cognitive Diathesis-Stress Theory, Cixin Wang

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

This study examined the relationship between two types of peer victimization(overt and relational victimization), depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and selfesteem over three time points. Participants were 1171 fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth graders (623 females) recruited from four elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools in the Midwest. Students’ self-report on peer victimization, depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms, and self-esteem was collected. Structural Equation Modeling was used to examine the relationship among those variables. The results showed that self-esteem mediated the relationship between two types of peer victimization and depressive symptoms. Self-esteem was found to mediate the relationship …

Functional Analysis Of Replacement Behavior: Assessing Concurrent Behavioral Excesses And Academic Deficits, Kristi L. Hofstadter-Duke

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

This dissertation involved the application of functional analysis methodology to replacement behaviors (i.e., academic responding).  Participants were exposed to the typical school-based functional analysis conditions –  (a) teacher attention, (b) peer attention, and (c) escape –  in addition to a control condition; yet, replacement behavior (i.e., academic responding) was reinforced across conditions instead of problem behaviors.  Two functional analyses were conducted using identical contingencies while measuring condition impact on disruptive behavior, academic engagement, and academic performance (i.e., problems completed, digits correct).  Unknown math problems were used during the first functional analysis, and a second functional analysis incorporated antecedent instructional sessions, …

Development Of A Math Interest Inventory To Identify Gifted Students From Underrepresented And Diverse Populations, Gabrielle M. Snow

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current investigation supports the objectives of Project GEMS (Roberts, 2008), a grant funded program whose objectives include the development and validation of a protocol to identify students from underrepresented and diverse populations as gifted in the content areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Identification of students from low-income and diverse populations as gifted has been a struggle with current assessment techniques (Baldwin, 2005). Project GEMS aims to address this problem through development of interest measures specific to the STEM areas for use within an identification protocol. The current project developed a measure to assess interest in mathematics. The …

In The Ether, Out Of View: Cyberbullying And Suicide Risk, Terri A. Erbacher Phd

PCOM Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

An Exploratory Investigation On The Effects Of An Electronic Recording System For Repeated Reading, Seajae Calvin Hartness

Dissertations

Repeated Reading is a common reading intervention that has been used to help students read fluently since 1979. There are many variations of Repeated Reading that have been investigated and found to be effective. However, there is a relative research deficit on the effectiveness of software programs for administering Repeated Reading. This exploratory research project examined the effectiveness of Repeated Reading with an electronic recording system. The performance of the electronic Repeated Reading group was compared to the performance of participants who received traditionally administered Early Intervention Program services. The results suggest that electronically scored Repeated Reading is as effective …

The Effectiveness Of A Personalized School-Wide Crisis And Trauma Management Training Program On Sense Of Preparedness For School Counselors-In-Training, Elizabeth Keller-Dupree

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of a personalized school-wide crisis and trauma management training program for master's-level school counselors-in-training. The study began with Pilot Study 1: Crisis Training Need Assessment which sought to best identify the crisis training needs for a specific geographic region. Results from Pilot Study 1 supported that unexpected student and teacher death was the crisis category which affects students the most and is in need of further training at the master's level. Next, Pilot Study 2: Crisis Training Feedback sought to obtain comments and suggestions from masters- and doctoral-level counselors-intraining regarding …

International Study Program For Indoor Environmental Research, Stoil Pamoukov

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study examined the effect on student performance, perception and mood caused by different physical classroom environmental conditions. Three classroom physical environmental conditions were investigated; room temperature, light intensity and sound level. A two phase pilot study was performed where these conditions were compounded into one and two levels were selected in such a way to create a normal and extreme classroom physical environment. A total of 154 undergraduate UNLV students participated in the two phase pilot laboratory study in which they completed tasks related to reading and listening to an oral presentation of a passage of high density technical …

Cognitive Load Of Critical Thinking Strategies, Hanem Shehab

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Critical thinking is important for today's life, where individuals daily face unlimited amounts of information, complex problems, and rapid technological and social changes. Therefore, critical thinking should be the focus of general education and educators' efforts (Angeli & Valanides, 2009; Oliver & Utermohlen, 1995). Despite passively agreeing or disagreeing with a line of reasoning, critical thinkers use analytical skills to comprehend and evaluate its merits, considering strengths and weaknesses. Critical thinkers also analyze arguments, recognizing the essentiality of asking for reasons and considering alternative views and developing their own point of view (Paul, 1990). Kuhn and Udell (2007) emphasize that …

Resilient Leadership In High Poverty Schools, Edward P. San Nicolas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Children in high poverty schools often receive inadequate services in dilapidated facilities while enduring inexperienced and unprepared educators (Darling-Hammond, 2004). Communities with a dense impoverished population in turn create school wide poverty, which is ultimately more detrimental than individual family poverty (Books, 2004). With most teachers leaving impoverished urban schools within the first five years, it is no surprise of the difficulty to retain qualified and professional school leaders. As suggested by Haberman (2005), attracting educators with specific qualities to fill these critical roles may be the best route to lasting success. Equally important is the possibility to transform existing …

Designing And Delivering A Teacher Center Course: “Creativity And Content: Partners In The Classroom”, Jenna L. Ziegler

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This paper outlines the methods used to design and implement a course on creativity as it can be applied in the school classroom.  It outlines specific steps taken and topics covered during a nine hour creativity course taught through the Teacher Center of an area school district.  In addition to a detailed outline of course content, results and reflections are also included to guide the reader through successful course implementation.  Thorough appendices include all course documents and handouts necessary to effectively implement this course.

The Impact Of Socioeconomic Status On Second Grade Reading Levels, Amanda Jill Knight

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study is to examine if low SES students respond differently to Tier I and Tier II interventions than Non-Low SES students. The study also seeks to determine the effect Tier I and Tier II interventions have on a group of second grade students. Forty-four Tier I and Tier II Caucasian second grade students from a rural Ohio elementary school were included in this study. No significant differences were found between the reading levels of low-SES and Non-Low-SES students prior to or afterimplementation of RTI. Significant differences were found between the AIMSweb fall and winter benchmarks as …

Mental Health Services And Alternative Schools, Chasity D. Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

With the number of children being placed into alternative school settings growing, it is of interest to know if mental health services are a beneficial addition to the traditional alternative programs. To research this issue, case studies of 48 children who had attended an alternative school were assessed. Participants included 48 students, half of whom had received only alternative school services while the other half had received alternative school services in addition to mental health services during their alternative school placement. Findings show no significant correlation between the hours of mental health services received and any of the following variables: …

Transition From High School To College : The Experiences Of Girls In Rural West Virginia, Leanne Arbor Olson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A degree in higher education is increasingly important in our competitive economic environment, but a 30% gap exists between high-income and low-income students attending college (Bloom, 2005; Corrigan & Hartle, 2007). Rural and urban schools contend with issues of poverty and educational resources, while suburban schools work with "ample resources and stable populations" (Truscott & Truscott, 2005, p. 245). The purpose of this study was to better understand the enabling and constraining factors of five girls from rural, West Virginia as they transitioned from high school to college. Collaborative enthographic case study allowed the five students to be involved in …

Teachers' Beliefs Towards Grade Retention In A Rural Elementary School, Sarah Elizabeth Terry

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the beliefs of kindergarten through fourth grade teachers regarding effects of retention on academic, emotional, and social areas, as well as alternative interventions to retention. The teachers were asked to take a web-based pre-survey on grade retention. After completing the initial survey they were then asked to watch a web-based PowerPoint presentation on research-based evidence regarding retention before taking a web-based postsurvey. The results of this study revealed that teacher‟s beliefs towards grade retention were not significantly changed when presented with a research-based PowerPoint presentation regarding the negative effects of retention practices, as measured by the pre …

West Virginia School Psychologists' Attitudes Toward Gay And Lesbian Students, Lauren B. Winter

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Given the alarming rates of harassment of gay and lesbian students in our nation’s schools, it is important to ascertain the attitudes of school personnel toward homosexuality. Particularly important are the attitudes of school psychologists. The present study examines the attitudes of West Virginia school psychologists toward gay and lesbian students, and how their contact with, knowledge of, and level of religiosity affect these attitudes. Results indicated that respondents’ attitudes toward homosexuality were positively correlated with contact and knowledge and negatively correlated with religiosity. Contact was the strongest predictor of positive attitudes. There were no significant differences between demographic variables, …

Mental Health And Wellbeing: Educational Perspectives, Rosalyn H. Shute Ed.

Shannon Research Press

Mental Health and Wellbeing: Educational Perspectives provides a significant overview of the matter of mental health and wellbeing with particular relevance to educational contexts. Comprising peer-reviewed chapter contributions from prominent Australian and international researchers and practitioners, this book presents an authoritative and diverse account of:

• links between wellbeing and learning

• interventions and initiatives in the field

• evidence based practice guidelines

• policy and practice examples

A Qualitative Study On Online Social Networks And Language Mistakes, Buket Akkoyunlu, Meryem Yılmaz Soylu

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study is to put the suggestions of the students for the solutions towards caring Turkish by examining their projects carried out by Primary School 7th and 8th grade students in the online social networks (Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs) in order to detect the wrong use of Turkish. The case study among the qualitative research methods was used. In the study, 7th and 8th grade students examined how Turkish (language) is used in the correspondences in the online social networks (Facebook, Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, Blogs), detected the mistakes and presented solution suggestions towards the correct use …

Goal Attainment Scaling To Determine Effectiveness Of Inidividual And Group Counseling, Andrew J. Woolwine

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to utilize the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) during the Marshall University Summer Enrichment Program (MUSEP) to determine the effectiveness of individual counseling, group counseling, and a combination of both, on student academic and behavioral goals. Results indicated that no significant differences were found when comparing the type of counseling students received with their scores on the GAS in academics or behavior. Also, no significant differences were found when hours of treatment, combined with the type of counseling were compared to students’ scores on the GAS.

A Case Study Exploring The Transition To Middle School From The Perspective Of Students, Kelly A. Rappa

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The transition to middle school is often associated with negative effects on academic achievement, motivation, self-esteem, and psychological well-being. Educators at a Grade 6 through 8 middle school in the northeastern United States observed students struggle with the adjustment to middle school. Research suggests that developmentally responsive schools can significantly reduce the potential negative impact of middle school adjustment. Drawing upon developmental theories from the works of individuals such as Piaget, Erikson, and Maslow, the purpose of this single-case study was to capture the opinions, thoughts, and perceptions of the students transitioning into middle school to better understand how they …

Evolution And Development Of Reasoning And Argumentation: Commentary On Mercier (2011), David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

For anyone who loves a strong major thesis—and I do—Mercier’s “Reasoning serves argumentation in children” [this issue] obliges right from the title. And for anyone who loves a carefully structured defense of a provocative perspective—and who does not?—Mercier’s article continues to fill the bill.

The “argumentative theory of reasoning” maintains that “reasoning is a fundamentally social ability” that “has evolved to serve argumentive ends: finding and evaluating arguments in a dialogic context.” There appear to be two distinguishable theses here: first, reasoning serves argumentive ends; second, reasoning has evolved. In their moderate versions, each thesis is true and useful; their …

Teacher Expectations Of Children With Mental Illness In The Schools, Jamie Lee Satterly Roig

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Within an experimental vignette design, 224 certified teachers participated in this online study by completing a researcher created rating scale that assessed expectations for a child described in a randomly assigned vignette; a child without mental illness, a child identified with an emotional behavioral disorder, and a child identified as returning from acute psychiatric care. Results from the current study revealed reliable scales; learning, cooperation, self-control, and teacher self-efficacy. Findings indicated teachers reported significantly different expectations for children identified with mental illness in comparison to typical children in the areas of self-control and cooperation; specifically, teachers reported lower expectations for …

Evaluation Of School Social Workers' Time Spent In Direct And Indirect Practices, Kris Brummund

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to explore District 77 school social workers’ time distribution of direct and indirect services. Time spent in these services for school social workers is not well researched or documented.

Contextual Risk, Maternal Negative Emotionality, And The Negative Emotion Dysregulation Of Preschool Children From Economically Disadvantaged Families, Eleanor D. Brown, Brian P. Ackerman

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.