Psychology Commons^™

The Advantage Of Steep As A Method To Identify Elementary School Children Who Are At-Risk For Learning Disabilities, Chandra Nease

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of the current study was to determine the relationship between the Screening to Enhance Equitable Placement (STEEP) and the Dyslexia Screening Instrument (DSI) to deem STEEP a valuable tool for identifying children who may be at risk for a learning disability or dyslexia. The following research question was examined: What is the concurrent validity of STEEP, as a screening instrument for identifying at risk students for learning disabilities by comparing it to the Dyslexia Screening Instrument? In this study, students in first through fourth grade classrooms at a rural Southeastern Ohio elementary school who were administered STEEP and …

Predicting Dyslexia With Screening To Enhance Equitable Placement (Steep), Erica N. Stoler

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to predict whether students who achieved the mastery/instructional level in math and the frustrational level in reading with Screening to Enhance Equitable Placement (STEEP) were identified as being good candidates for a positive dyslexic evaluation based on the Dyslexia Screening Tool (DST). Twenty-eight students in first through fifth grades from a rural elementary school in Southeast Ohio were selected based on the results of their initial STEEP screening and those selected students were administered the Dyslexia Screening Tool (DST). Results indicated that there was not a significant relationship between the selected STEEP results and …

The Comparative Analysis Of The Dyslexia Screening Instrument And The Dyslexia Screening Tool, Shelley J. Lemasters

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

STEEP is a universal screening instrument that provides effective and efficient identification of students at risk. It is hypothesized that by using the difference between the math STEEP score and the reading STEEP score that STEEP can be used to identify dyslexic children. The present research was conducted by selecting students that scored mastery/instructional in math and frustrational in reading as the sample. The current study examines the correlation between the Dyslexia Screening Instrument and the Dyslexia Screening Tool by administering those instruments to the identified population. The results were analyzed by using the Pearson correlation coefficient (r) and the …

The Reliability Of The Piers-Harris Children’S Self-Concept Scale, Second Edition, Nello Nicole Lemley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This research was designed to assess the reliability of a new measure of children’s self-esteem. The Piers-Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale Second Edition, Piers-Harris 2, is a self-report assessment. The study analyzed the split-half reliability of the Piers- Harris 2 using 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students from a rural middle school in Ohio. The results of the split-half reliability analysis using the Pier-Harris 2 were inconsistent with the split-half reliability of the Piers-Harris first edition and alpha reliability coefficient of the Piers-Harris 2. The split-half reliability of the Piers-Harris 2 was at the 0.52 level whereas other reports were at …

Do You Recall Where You Where When...?: Support For Automatic Encoding Of One's Location, Kristen Lea Neal

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present experiment tested whether one's personal location is automatically encoded into memory. Twenty-one groups of students were given a tour of the Marshall University campus. At each of 10 locations on the tour, participants were told an interesting fact about the University. Participants were informed of a test following the tour assessing their recall of the facts. In addition, half of the participants were also told their recall of the location at which each fact was presented would be tested. Immediately following and two weeks after the tour, participants completed a memory test which assessed their (a) recognition of …

Effects Of Intervening Items On Self-Esteem Tests: A Study Of Face Validity, Douglas Wayne Snuffer Ii

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The domain of self-esteem testing has often been thought to suffer from problems concerning demand characteristics. High face validity of many common tests of self-esteem, such as the Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, may influence responding of test takers, such that they respond in a socially desirable way. The current study investigated the effects of inserting "neutral" intervening items between items of the Self-Esteem Scale, creating a test that is less face valid. No significant effect was discovered concerning the primary hypothesis, though other significant results were found. Explanations and implications of the obtained results are discussed.

The Impact Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) On Families: The Perceptions Of Families With An Adhd Child, Patrick Whaley

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study extended the research to include a more complete description o f parents’ perceptions and the impact had on their family functioning. The researcher selected the participants with two categories in mind: (A) Parents must live or not live with an ADHD diagnosed child; (B) Parents will provide their consent for this study. The researcher used the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). The PSI is used to identify stress levels in parent-child systems. By using a t-test for independent samples, the treatment group responded with more stress than the control group (T= 10.143, 28). The researcher found a statistically significant …

Identifying At Risk Youth For Delinquency In Southern West Virginia, Roderick Q. Neal

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Juvenile delinquency has been an important area of study. Academics, practitioners, politicians, and legal scholars have devoted their attention to basic questions about the nature of youth crime. This report was designed to identify which psychological and social variables are statistically reliable predictors of significant juvenile delinquency in southern West Virginia. In an effort to identify at risk youth, 200 subjects were administered a 16-question survey. This survey had a mixture of continuous and categorical psychological and social variables and the data was analyzed using Logistic Regression strategies. One hundred of the subjects had been referred to a juvenile probation …

Measuring The Effect Of Wife Employment Status On First-Time Father Stress, Brad Petry

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This thesis examines the important aspect of changing stress levels in first-time expectant fathers at six months of term prenatal (time one), at eight months of term prenatal (time two), and one month postpartum (time three). The changing stress level was measured in relation to the employment status of the wife during pregnancy. Stress levels were measured using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Data used in this research was obtained by Dr. Robert Rodriguez for use in his doctoral dissertation. Changes in expectant father stress level in accordance to wives’ employment status were insignificant at time 1 (f = .159), …

The Assessment Of Oral Reading Fluency: Concurrent Validity Of The Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Literacy Skills And Screening To Enhance Equitable Placement Measures, Amie A. Honeman

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Curriculum-based screening instruments such as DIBELS and STEEP can facilitate early identification of children with reading difficulties. This early detection process is crucial, as remedial efforts must be initiated swiftly in order to produce necessary gains in the performance of students struggling with the mastery of reading skills. The outlook for students who have failed to master basic reading skills by grade three is quite bleak. The current research study examines the concurrent validity of the Oral Reading Fluency measures of DIBELS and STEEP. Research has shown that Oral Reading Fluency is highly correlated with reading comprehension, thus it was …

Explanations For The Decline In Child Sexual Abuse Cases., David Finkelhor, Lisa M. Jones

Crimes Against Children Research Center

Discusses the decline in the number of sexual abuse cases substantiated by child protective service agencies between 1992 and 2000. This OJJDP Crimes Against Children Bulletin explores the strengths and weaknesses of six possible explanations for the decline by using data from a number of different sources: aggregate data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System; detailed child protective service data from Illinois, Minnesota, Oregon, and Pennsylvania; and self-report data from the National Crime Victimization Survey and from schoolchildren in Minnesota.

Image Quality Analysis Using Glcm, Dhanashree Gadkari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Gray level co-occurrence matrix has proven to be a powerful basis for use in texture classification. Various textural parameters calculated from the gray level co-occurrence matrix help understand the details about the overall image content. The aim of this research is to investigate the use of the gray level co-occurrence matrix technique as an absolute image quality metric. The underlying hypothesis is that image quality can be determined by a comparative process in which a sequence of images is compared to each other to determine the point of diminishing returns. An attempt is made to study whether the curve of …

Research Training In The Wheaton College Psy.D. Program In Clinical Psychology, Robert J. Gregory, Mark R. Mcminn

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

This article describes research and scholarship training in the Wheaton College Psy.D. program. Essential elements mclude faculty members as strong role models, relevant coursework, collaborative research opportumtJes, and a s1gmficant clinical dissertation research project. The authors' personal views on strengths and weaknesses in training are provided.

Beyond Gender: A Meta-Analytic Approach To Gender Differences In Academic Achievement, Mary E. Nikityn

Capstone Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Mind And Body: Psychology And Neuroscience, Morton Heller

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

No abstract provided.

“I Fell Off [The Mothering] Track”: Barriers To ‘Effective Mothering’ Among Street-Level Prostituted Women, Rochelle L. Dalla Dr.

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Ecological theory and basic assumptions for the promotion of effective mothering among low-income and working-poor women are applied in relation to a particularly vulnerable population: street-level prostitution-involved women. Qualitative data from 38 street-level prostituted women shows barriers to effective mothering at the individual, community and societal levels. Suggestions for enhancing the lives and long-term well-being of prostituted women with children are included.

Estimating The Beginning Of The Waterpipe Epidemic In Syria, Samer Rastam, Kenneth D. Ward, Thomas Eissenberg, Wasim Maziak

Psychology Publications

Background

Waterpipe smoking is becoming a global public health problem, especially in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR).

Methods

We try in this study, which is a cross sectional survey among a representative sample of waterpipe smokers in cafes/restaurants in Aleppo-Syria, to assess the time period for the beginning of this new smoking hype. We recruited 268 waterpipe smokers (161 men, 107 women; mean age ± standard deviation (SD) 30.1 ± 10.2, response rate 95.3%). Participants were divided into 4 birth cohorts (≤ 1960, 1961–1970, 1971–1980, >1980) and year of initiation of waterpipe smoking and daily cigarette smoking were plotted according …

Does Intervention Change Anything? New Directions In Promoting Positive Youth Development, William M. Kurtines, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Lisa L. Arango, Gabrielle A. Kortsch

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Although a literature on interventions that promote positive development has begun to emerge, important gaps concerning these interventions continue to exist. As part of our program of research, we have made an effort to begin addressing these gaps. An overview of a research project conducted using two sets of multi-ethnic data drawn from the Miami Youth Development Project (Kurtines, Montgomery, Lewis Arango, & Kortsch, 2001) is presented. Though tentative and preliminary, the findings from the project provide preliminary evidence for the success of Changing Lives Program (CLP) in promoting positive qualitative change. Specifically, the results document a relation between participation …

The Cultural Ecology Of Leadership: An Analysis Of Popular Leadership Books, Michelle C. Bligh, James R. Meindl

CGU Faculty Publications and Research

Leadership is indisputably one of the most discussed, studied, and written-about topics in our society. A keyword search in the Expanded Academic Index for occurrences of the word "leadership" in a title or abstract reveals over 1,200 citations in the year 2000 alone. A subject search of "leadership" on Amazon.com returns more than 6,300 books on the subject, and over 1,400 hardcover books with leadership in the title are offered (Krohe, 2000). From Jesus CEO to 1001 Ways to Take Initiative at Work, fortunes are made (or not!) and fades are launched by many of these titles. But …

A Lego Model Of The Modularity Of The Mind, Steven Scher

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In this paper I propose that the dominant form of evolutionary psychology (which I term “cognitive adaptationism”) can be improved by adopting an alternative version of the concept of mental modularity. I suggest a metaphor of mental modules as Lego blocks. The Lego blocks represent a relatively small set of elementary operations that the mind/brain can carry out. These Lego blocks are repeatedly assembled in different ways to execute a wide variety of different functions. These repeated assemblies correspond more closely to the things that cognitive adaptationists have asserted are modules. Arguments in favor of the Lego model include the …

Abuse Experiences In A Community Sample Of Young Adults: Relations With Psychiatric Disorders, Sexual Risk Behaviors, And Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Jonathan G. Tubman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Andres G. Gil, Eric F. Wagner

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This study documents significant associations among lifetime abuse experiences, psychiatric diagnoses, and sexual risk behaviors in a multiethnic community sample of young men and women (N = 1803) in South Florida. Self-report data were collected via structured interviews as part of a longitudinal follow-up of a larger school-based study. Participants were grouped according to extent of lifetime abuse experiences. Cumulative lifetime abuse experiences were associated with increased risk for a broad range of individual lifetime psychiatric disorders, as well as cumulative lifetime psychiatric disorders. Both cumulative abuse experiences and cumulative psychiatric disorders were independently associated with (a) higher levels of …

Role-Related Identity Structure In Adult Women, Carolyn W. Graham, Gwendolyn T. Sorell, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This study explored women’s role-related identity structures through in-depth inter- views with 60 employed and stay-at-home women married to professional men. The employment, wife, mother, and homemaking roles of these women were examined to understand how married women integrate employment and family roles (i.e., wife, mother, and homemaking roles) within their identity. The women arranged the structure of their multiple roles in a variety of ways: Most structured their roles hierarchically, others intertwined several roles, some perceived their roles as equally important, a few indicated that they were “more than” their roles, and a small group of women were actively …

Use Of A Community Trail Among New And Habitual Exercisers: Apreliminary Assessment, Paul M. Gordon, Sam Zizzi, Jeff Pauline

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Introduction

We evaluated physical activity patterns and trail use among new and habitually active exercisers using onsite trail interviews.

Methods

Using a cross-sectional study design, 414 adults who accessed two new trails that bisect a rural community of 26,809 residents were interviewed during the first summer of the trails' official operation (2001). The trails comprise 12 miles of level and paved surface and run parallel to adjacent water sheds, businesses, and neighborhoods. Recent trail activity patterns were obtained, including the following: frequency of use, mode of activity, duration, distance traveled on trail, access points, time of day used, use of …

The Impact Of Hiv-Associated Neuropsychological Impairment On Everyday Functioning, Robert K. Heaton, Thomas D. Marcotte, Monica Rivera-Mindt, Joseph Sadek, David J. Moore, Heather Bentley, J Allen Mccutchan, Carla Reicks, Igor Grant, The Hnrc Group

Psychology Faculty Publications

HIV-1 infection can be associated with neuropsychological (NP) deficits ranging from subtle to severe. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the functional, or “real-world” impact of HIV-associated NP impairment in a group of 267 HIV-infected participants. All participants received comprehensive NP, neuromedical, and standardized functional evaluations that included laboratory measures of shopping, cooking, financial management, medication management and vocational abilities. Compared to NP-normal participants, those with NP impairment performed significantly worse on all laboratory measures of everyday functioning. Multivariate analyses revealed that the NP ability domains of Abstraction/Executive Function, Learning, Attention/Working Memory and Verbal abilities most strongly and …

Difficulties In Recognizing And Treating Depression In The Elderly : Implications For Counselors, Kristin A. Schloemer

Graduate Research Papers

Diagnosing elderly depression is a difficult, overlooked process. Many elderly seek out family physicians, but few visit mental healthcare professionals (Lyness et al., 1997; Sable & Dunn, 2002). When assessing elderly depression, it is important for counselors to be aware of symptoms, ensuring correct treatment.

According to Friedrich ( 1999), it is difficult for healthcare professionals, including counselors, to diagnose depression in the elderly. As elderly may not display traditional depressive symptoms, it is necessary to distinguish between depression, bereavement, and illness, all common in late life. Once depression has been diagnosed, treatments including: medication, psychotherapy, or perhaps the most …

A Lego Model Of The Modularity Of The Mind, Steven J. Scher

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

In this paper I propose that the dominant form of evolutionary psychology (which I term “cognitive adaptationism”) can be improved by adopting an alternative version of the concept of mental modularity. I suggest a metaphor of mental modules as Lego blocks. The Lego blocks represent a relatively small set of elementary operations that the mind/brain can carry out. These Lego blocks are repeatedly assembled in different ways to execute a wide variety of different functions. These repeated assemblies correspond more closely to the things that cognitive adaptationists have asserted are modules. Arguments in favor of the Lego model include the …

Visions And Numbers: Aronofsky's Π And The Primordial Signifier, Paul Eisenstein

English Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Finding The Epicenter Of I-O Psychology, Daniel Sachau, Lisa Perez, Carolyn Catenhauser

Psychology Department Publications

Where is the epicenter of I-O psychology in the U.S.? Where is the location around which all research, teaching and consulting revolves? Is it East Lansing, the home of Michigan State? No. Is it Bowling Green, Ohio, SIOP headquarters? No, but you are getting closer. How about Champaign, IL? Is the University of Illinois the epicenter? Warmer still, but not quite there. The center of U.S. I-O psychology is Mount Vernon, Illinois.

Behavioral Intervention And Prevention Of Feeding Difficulties In Infants And Toddlers, Mary Louise Kerwin, P. S. Eicher

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Although eating is considered an automatic physiologic process, many children experience feeding difficulties. The purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for assessment, treatment and prevention of feeding difficulties in children. Identification and treatment of any factors actively interfering with feeding success is a critical cornerstone for effective behavioral interventions for feeding. Using variables that comprise the structure of a meal, this paper discusses how these variables might be manipulated in behavioral interventions for feeding problems. Recommendations for prevention of feeding problems are also presented.

The Effects Of Childhood Autistic Spectrum Disorder On Mother's Reports Of Closeness To Their Sons, Deborah Gwyn O'Hara

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study compared the emotional closeness of 56 mothers of sons with autism to 57 mothers of typically-developing sons.