Psychology Commons^™

Differentiating Young Adult Social Smokers On Psychological Constructs, Stacy M. Saunders

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A number of researchers have sought to examine psychosocial correlates of smoking behavior and identify differences amongst proposed smoker sub-groupings on measures of psychological constructs; however, few studies to date have investigated the subset of smokers commonly known as social smokers. The recent emergence of the social smoker subtype has led to an upsurge in research on smoking patterns and cessation programming. This dissertation attempts to explore psychosocial differences that may exist between regular smokers and those who identify themselves as social smokers. Further, this study investigated the levels of cigarette dependence, addiction, smoking frequency, perceived health threat of light …

Teacher Burnout: Locus Of Control And Its Correlation To Teacher Burnout And Job Satisfaction, Kimberly A. Bevis

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Teacher burnout is a significant problem in education today. While studies have researched the possible reasons behind it and the effect it has on students and teachers, this study proposed to investigate the correlation between teacher burnout, locus of control and job satisfaction. Surveys were sent to 102 teachers who taught kindergarten through 12th grade in two school districts in Southeastern Ohio. Of the 53 surveys that were returned, 28% of the teachers demonstrated burn out, 40% were dissatisfied with their jobs, and 20% had an external locus of control. There was a moderate correlation between the Rotter IE Scale, …

Teacher Skill And Response To Intervention In West Virginia Pilot Schools, Janna Christy

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

As a program evaluation, the West Virginia Department of Education implemented a Response to Intervention (RtI) approach to the identification of students with learning disabilities in the spring of 2005. Eleven pilot schools were used in the West Virginia RtI program evaluation. The purpose of this study was to assess the change that resulted in teacher skills as a consequence of the implementation of the RtI model. It was hypothesized that teachers’ skills will significantly change in a positive direction as result of the implementation. A pre-post survey design was utilized to evaluate the outcome. Significant positive changes were reported …

The Relationship Of Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels) Oral Reading Fluency And The Terra Nova, 2nd Ed. Performance On Ohio Grade 3 Reading Achievement Assessment, Linda Adkins Ford

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between performance on the DIBELS ORF Benchmark 2, the Terra Nova, 2nd Ed., and reading proficiency on the Ohio Grade 3 Reading Achievement Test. The research question examined the wisdom of using both the DIBELS ORF Benchmark 2 Indicator and the Terra Nova, as predictors for the Ohio Grade 3 Reading Achievement Test. After gathering archival data for the 136 students involved, a Pearson-Product Moment Correlation was used to determine this correlation. Data was additionally analyzed using a Hits and Misses Table. Results produced a significant, positive correlation between DIBELS …

Grade Retention As Perceived By Principals, Debora Ann Galford

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study examined the perceptions of principals regarding academic, social, or emotional outcomes and alternative interventions to grade retention. The principals were asked to respond to the survey on grade retention as an intervention. Following the initial survey, an article entitled, “Grade Retention and Promotion” (Jimerson, Graydon, Pletcher, Schnurr, Kundert, & Nickerson, 2006) was given for review and post-survey was administered.

The results of this study revealed that principals’ attitudes changed about using retention as an intervention in response to reading the article. These research results indicated that when research-based information on the negative effects of retention was presented, there …

Utilizing The Theory Of Planned Behavior To Explain Suicidal Intent, Pamela R. George

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Suicide has become a national and global problem, with the prevalence of suicide attempts increasing in recent years (Brown, Henriques, Sosdjan, & Beck, 2004; Kessler, Borges, & Walters, 1999). Even though research on suicide has identified risk factors and demographic characteristics to help aid in predicting who is at risk for attempting suicide, predictive models of intent of suicide have been unsuccessful in identifying particular individuals at risk of eventually dying by suicide (Cassells, Paterson, Dowding, & Morrison, 2005; Goldstein, Black, & Nasrallah, 1991; Powell, Geddes, Deeks, Goldacre, & Hawton, 2000). The purpose of this study is to propose an …

The Effects Of Response To Intervention On Referral Rates For Special Education Services, Christina Hare

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

It has been hypothesized in the literature that a Response to Intervention (RtI) model will reduce the number of referrals for special education services. The purpose of this study was to compare the number of special education referrals prior to the implementation of the West Virginia Department of Education pilot RtI project and the rates of referrals for special education services in the years following its implementation. Data was collected from two of the eleven pilot schools and analyzed collectively using a Chi-Square test. Results of this study showed that the RtI pilot project did not have a significant impact …

Cohesion, Instruction Time And Reading Performance At Mugc Summer Enrichment Program, Brenda S. Harvey

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to determine if team cohesion and instructional time at the Marshall University Graduate College Summer Enrichment Program (MUGCSEP) will be correlated with the measures of reading performance of students who attended the program. Archival data, collected during the 2006 and 2007 MUGCSEP, was used for this study. After performing a Pearson Product Moment Correlation, results yielded a statistically significant correlation between cohesion and reading performance in 2006 and a mildly inverse statistically significant correlation in 2007. Instructional time in 2006 also had a statistically significant correlation with reading performance. However, in 2007 results did …

Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales Racial Bias In Children With Disabilities, Veria Hicks

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Much has been written regarding bias in intellectual tests, in particular racial bias (Naglieri & Rojhan, 2001). Depending on the way intelligence is measured, a difference may be found between racial and ethnic groups. In the second half of the 20th century on the average, the mean IQ score of African Americans was one standard deviation below that of Caucasian students (Gerig and Zimbardo, 2002). This study addressed whether racial bias existed in the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales (RIAS), and examined the relationship of the RIAS to other intelligence tests. The results were analyzed using a simple linear regression. There …

Adhd Assessment Practices Used By General Practitioners, Pediatricians, Psychiatrists, And Psychologists In West Virginia, Kristal D. Jenkins

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most commonly diagnosed behavioral disorder in childhood (NIH, 2000) and its prevalence continues to increase. ADHD is diagnosed by a variety of practitioners, including general physicians, pediatricians, psychiatrists, and clinical/school psychologists. There is little known regarding how these diversely trained professionals differ or may be similar in their beliefs regarding ADHD and their approach to diagnosis and treatment. The current study utilizes a survey methodology to address the commonalities and differences in the approaches these professionals take to conceptualize diagnostic criteria, etiology and course of treatment for children diagnosed with ADHD. The need for further …

Visuomotor Adaptation With Augmented Feedback, Andrew D. Leblanc

Theses

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Failed Men: The Postwar Crisis Of Masculinity In France 1918-1930, Brandon Moblo

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

Masculinity has been viewed by scholars as a concept which was concerned with becoming as opposed to being. One could not achieve the state of being a man and become complacent. One needed to continuously prove one’s masculinity to oneself, other men, and women.

With its emphasis on the core values of masculinity such as strength, duty and above all, courage, the First World War was seen in France as the ultimate test of manhood. However, confronted with the horrors of modern industrial warfare, men were put into a situation where they were bound to fail that test. This led …

Updated Trends In Child Maltreatment, 2006., David Finkelhor, Lisa M. Jones

Crimes Against Children Research Center

New data released by the federal government show continuing national declines in sexual and physical abuse in 2006, but no decline in neglect.

The data detailed in the attached table and figure, come from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), which aggregates and publishes statistics from state child protection agencies. The most recent data from NCCANDS were released in April, 2008 and concern cases of child maltreatment investigated in 2006.

Bullying: An Adult Perspective From Educators Who Work Predominately With African American Students, Rebecca A. Robles-Piña, Anthony Harris, Rachel Porias

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

A survey of 31 teachers and counselors who work predominantly with African American students about bullying revealed these findings: Analyses by individual questions indicated that participants (a) disagreed that bullies and victims were of any particular ethnic group, (b) were unsure about whether gender impacted bullying and whether bullying had decreased (c) agreed that pairing loners with other students was a good intervention and that victims tended to be students with special needs, and (d) strongly agreed that bullies have feelings of power and control. Analyses by categories and demographic characteristics indicated no statistically significant differences for gender and job …

Choaking Phobia In School-Aged Children, Joseph Wanzek, Daniel Houlihan

Psychology Department Publications

No abstract provided.

A Developmental Intervention Approach To Promoting Positive Development: Pathways Of Intervention Change, Marilyn J. Montgomery, William M. Kurtines, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Ervin Briones, Wendy Silverman, Rachel Ritchie, Kyle Eichas

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This paper describes work directed toward creating community-supported positive youth development interventions that draw on a developmental intervention science outreach research approach. With respect to developmental interventions, this approach focuses on creating evidence-based longitudinal change intervention strategies for promoting long-term developmental change. The paper describes three broad challenges (theoretical, methodological, and meta-theoretical) that the authors faced in their efforts to develop and implement community-supported intervention programs built on this approach. The authors describe first the theoretical challenges they addressed in developing the conceptual framework for their community-supported intervention; second, the challenge of developing and refining a methodological framework for evaluating …

The Relationship Between Job Attitudes And Counterproductive Work Behaviors: The Moderating Role Of Attitude Strength, Gregory David Hammond

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). The moderating influence of attitude strength on the relationship between job attitudes and CWBs was also examined. Specifically, it was anticipated that stronger attitudes would be more strongly related to CWBs than would weaker attitudes. Finally, it was hypothesized that job attitudes would correlate more strongly with behaviors when the relationships between those variables were correctly specified. Results from a sample of employed undergraduates (N=296) indicated that more CWBs were significantly related to less supervisor satisfaction (r=-.11), less coworker satisfaction (r=-.21), …

The Effects Of Curvature On Haptic Judgments Of Extent In Sighted And Blind People, Morton A. Heller, Astrid M.L. Kappers, Melissa Mccarthy, Ashley Clark, Tara Riddle, Erin Fulkerson, Lindsay Wemple, Anne Mcclure Walk, Andreana Basso, Crystal Wanek, Kristen Russler

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

A series of experiments was carried out to examine the effect of curvature on haptic judgments of extent in sighted and blind individuals. Experiment 1 showed that diameters con- necting the endpoints of semicircular lines were underestimated with respect to straight lines, but failed to show an effect of visual experience on length judgments. In experiment 2 we tested arc lengths. The effects of curvature on perceived path length were weaker, but were still present in this experiment.Visual experience had no effect on path length judgments. Another experiment was performed to examine the effect of repeated tracing (1, 5, 9, …

Using The Mmpi-A To Predict Recidivism In Adjudicated Minors, Mary A. Peterson, Brandon Robbins

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

This study explored the ability of selected subscales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent; an objective measure of personality used in the psychological evaluation of juvenile delinquents (Archer & Krishnamurthy, 2002), to predict recidivism. Previous literature suggested the subscales reflecting “excitatory” behavior have been useful in discriminating delinquent from nondelinquent adolescents. In this study, three scales that reflect excitatory behavior, including one Clinical Scale (4- Psychopathic Deviate) and two of the Content Scales (Adolescent-Conduct Problems and Adolescent-Cynicism), were used to predict recidivism for adjudicated minors. For the purposes of this study, recidivism was defined by legal charges, excluding detainment. Participants …

Technology In Clinical Practice, Mark R. Mcminn, Justin Orton, Scott Woods

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

No abstract provided.

Competence, Clinical Oversight, And Clarification Of Roles: Whose Job Is It, Anyway?, Karen Eriksen, Lori L. Ellison, Warren Throckmorton

Counseling Faculty Research

Topics

• Competence and clinical oversight

• Role and responsibilities of outside consultants regarding supervisees

• Clarification between supervisor, agency, and university

The Relative Contributions Of Preference And Functionality In Noncontingent Reinforcement Schedules, Tamara L. Pawich

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR), the response-independent delivery of reinforcers, has been demonstrated to be an effective response suppression method for a variety of problem behaviors displayed by children. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether preference for specific reinforcers to another context led to greater response suppression through an experimental comparison of NCR with a functional reinforcer versus preferred stimuli. Two preschool-aged children with autism and tantrums maintained by tangible reinforcement participated. Preference values were evaluated through paired-choice and competing stimulus assessments. Three preferred stimuli were selected for NCR-Preferred experimental conditions, based on varied levels of preference (i.e., …

Identity Development And Intervention Studies: The Right Time For A Marriage?, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Lynn Hernandez, Laura Ferrer-Wreder

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

A cohesive identity plays a key role in mental health and well-being. Yet, few studies involving identity have been intervention studies, and few intervention studies have included identity-related variables. In this article, we speculate about why this might be so. We argue that intervention research with young people will be more informative when variables tapping key developmental processes and outcomes such as identity cohesion, style, distress, and turning points are included. Such research can (a) promote positive identity development as an important aim, (b) illuminate processes of identity-related change, and (c) add knowledge about for whom interventions work and why …

Promoting Positive Youth Development New Directions In Developmental Theory, Methods, And Research, William M. Kurtines, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Steven L. Berman, Carolyn Cass Lorente, Wendy K. Silverman, Marilyn J. Montgomery

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

The articles in this special issue report the efforts of the Miami Youth Development Project (YDP), a community-supported positive youth development program of outreach research that draws on a developmental intervention science (DIS) perspective (i.e., a fusion of the developmental and intervention science literatures). These reports illustrate how the application of DIS outreach research contributes to knowledge of human development at all levels (practical as well as methodological, theoretical, and metatheoretical). Consistent with a DIS outreach research approach, YDP is committed to the use of descriptive and explanatory knowledge about changes within human systems that occur across the life span …

Promoting Positive Identity Development In Troubled Youth: A Developmental Intervention Science Outreach Research Approach, William M. Kurtines, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Kyle Eichas, Rachel Ritchie, Arlen Garcia, Richard Albrecht, Steven Berman, Laura Ferrer-Wreder, Carolyn C. Lorente

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

This article illustrates how developmental intervention science outreach research contributes to knowledge development on the promotion of positive identity development by describing results from the Miami Youth Development Project. The project is committed to the use of descriptive and explanatory knowledge about evidence-based individual and institutional intervention strategies for promoting developmental change in self and identity. Our efforts, described here, include a method for measuring theoretically and personally meaningful identity change, a procedure for integrating key aspects of qualitative and quantitative data through relational data analysis, and an evidence-based positive youth development intervention that fosters measurable and meaningful identity change.

How Poverty Affects Social Development, Behavior, And Academics Of Children : How Can School Personnel Help?, Jessica Holm-Blackburn

Graduate Research Papers

This paper discusses how poverty affects the social development, behavior, and academics of children. It also provides information to professionals who work with children to explain how children in poverty may demonstrate increased behavioral and emotional problems. Additionally, it explores what school personnel can do to help improve outcomes for students in poverty. A case example of a partnership created in Georgia is utilized to help articulate these concepts. The sources cited are all from recent published literature.

Situationist Torts, John D. Hanson, Michael Mccann

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article calls for a situationist approach to teaching law, particularly tort law. This new approach would begin by rejecting the dominant, common-sense account of human behavior (sometimes called dispositionism) and replacing it with the more accurate account being revealed by the social sciences, such as social psychology, social cognition, cognitive neuroscience, and other mind sciences. At its core, situationism is occupied with identifying and bridging the gap between what actually moves us, on one hand, and what we imagine moves us, on the other. Recognizing that gap is critical for understanding what roles tort law (among other areas of …

The Experience Of Young People Remanded In Custody: A Case For Bail Support And Supervision Schemes, Sinead Freeman

Articles

This article focuses on the potential role and benefits bail support and supervision(BSS) schemes may have for young people in the Irish context. This article is based on a wider Ph.D study examining the issue of coping on remand. The research used court observation and semi-structured interviews conducted with young prisoners aged 16 to 21 years in remand custody. The findings indicate that young people often end up in remand custody as a result of non-compliance with bail. The case is made arising from the research, that the operation of bail support and supervision (BSS) schemes may benefit these young …

Developing The Anker Bilateral Spatial System, Janet Richmond

ECU Posters

Determining the effect of using the Anker Bilateral Spatial System (ABSS) to enhance the development of bilateral and spatial functioning of individuals with visual perceptual or sensory processing difficulties.

Psychological First Aid Field Operations Guide For Nursing Homes, Lisa M. Brown, Kathryn Hyer

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

Psychological First Aid is an evidence-informed1 modular approach to help elderly persons and persons with disabilities in nursing homes, other adults, families, adolescents and children in the immediate aftermath of disaster and terrorism. Psychological First Aid is designed to reduce the initial distress caused by traumatic events and to foster short- and long-term adaptive functioning and coping. Principles and techniques of Psychological First Aid meet four basic standards. They are: 1. Consistent with research on risk and resilience following trauma 2. Applicable and practical in field settings 3. Appropriate for developmental levels across the lifespan 4. Culturally informed and delivered …