Applied Behavior Analysis Commons^™

Effect Of Distance Caregiver Coaching On Functional Skills Of A Child With Traumatic Brain Injury, Michelle R. Witt

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Brain injury is a major public health concern affecting nearly 5 million Americans annually with a cost exceeding $60 billion in the United States. Acquired and traumatic brain injuries cause physical, cognitive and social deficits resulting in behavioral, affective, cognitive, and physical changes. Though the biomechanical injury may be the initial source of the behavioral changes, environmental factors frequently contribute to maintaining maladaptive behaviors. Behavioral and affective changes in the person with a brain injury are frequently cited as the most distressing issues for caregivers, and their need for education and training is well documented. Interactions between caregivers and persons …

Inter-Professional Collaboration: The Impact Of Serial Versus Merged Treatment On The Behavior Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Robyn Starry

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Interdisciplinary collaboration is an innovative, resourceful approach to healthcare intended to positively affect patient outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to determine the efficacy of the serial exposure to three treatments, Applied Behavior Analysis, Speech Language Pathology, and Occupational Therapy, in comparison with an exposure to a merge of these treatments on child outcomes. During the serial treatment phases of intervention, three licensed professionals implemented core techniques from their respective disciplines. During merged treatment phases, a graduate clinician combined and implemented techniques from all three fields: differential attention, request sequences, sensory exposure, verbal/tactile cueing for postural alignment/control and …

The Effects Of Virtual Coaching On Olympic Lift Performance, Julia M. Santos

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Coaching in many forms, the most prevalent being in vivo coaching, helps to improve the performance of athletes across sports and exercise. The most natural next step in coaching is coaching through technology as opposed to in person; also known as virtual coaching. The present study examined the relative utility of two forms of virtual coaching on improving Olympic lift performance; video modeling and video feedback. A multiple baseline design across participants was used where one group of participants received the video modeling intervention first, then video feedback, then both, while the second group received the video feedback intervention first, …

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy Informed By Applied Behavior Analysis For Developmental Delay: Parent And Sibling Coaching With Setting Generalization, Mariel S. Cannady

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a well-established, empirically-supported treatment for young children with disruptive behaviors. PCIT was initially designed for treatment of typically-developing children with oppositional and disruptive behaviors. There is emerging support for PCIT as a treatment for behavior challenges seen in children with developmental delays. However, some modifications may be needed to respond to the severity of delay, parent treatment goals, and the function of the challenging behavior. Using a non-concurrent multiple-baseline experimental design, the current study examined the effectiveness of a modified PCIT approach for a preschool child with global developmental delay and co-occurring behavior problems. Modifications …

Suffering In Silence: Investigating The Role Of Fear In The Relationship Between Abusive Supervision And Defensive Silence, Christian Kiewitz, Simon Lloyd D. Restubog, Mindy K. Shoss, Patrick Raymund James M. Garcia, Robert L. Tang

Management and Marketing Faculty Publications

Drawing from an approach-avoidance perspective, we examine the relationships between subordinates’ perceptions of abusive supervision, fear, defensive silence, and ultimately abusive supervision at a later time point. We also account for the effects of subordinates’ assertiveness and individual perceptions of a climate of fear on these predicted mediated relationships. We test this moderated mediation model with data from three studies involving different sources collected across various measurement periods. Results corroborated our predictions by showing (a) a significant association between abusive supervision and subordinates’ fear, (b) second-stage moderation effects of subordinates’ assertiveness and their individual perceptions of a climate of fear …

Interconnections Between Perceptions Of Blame, Mind, And Moral Abilities, Alex Ropes, Steve Guglielmo

Psychology Honors Projects

Theories of blame, mind, and moral attribution consider an individual’s perceived agency, operationalized in part as perceived intentionality and self-control. People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may display social deficits and a greater tendency to engage in problem behavior (PB; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) than neurotypical (NT) people, which may lead people to perceive that individuals with ASD act less agentically. Study 1 shows that the mitigated perceived agency of people with ASD leads to mitigated blame attribution. In addition to perceived agency, theories of mind and moral attribution account for perceptions of an individual’s capacity to experience emotions, pleasure, …

Family Communication Motivating Athletics Over Generations: A Mixed Method Expansion Of Self-Determination Theory, Elizabeth Hanson Smith

Dissertations

Mixed methods were utilized to test the communication within a model of self-determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985) in a multi-generational sports framework in order to argue for an update to self-determination theory (SDT) that includes a communication element. Fourteen qualitative research questions were posed to examine how communication functioned to move tennis players, golfers, and runners from the initial family influence in participating, to integrating family values to the extent that participants modeled athletic values to offspring and community members. Three hypotheses correlating the variables of self-efficacy, autonomy-controlling and autonomy-supportive family communication supported the argument that communication functioned to develop …

Reinstatement Of Second-Order Fear, Matthew Nelson

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if, after conditioning and extinction of a second-order stimulus, reinstatement of extinguished fear could be produced. The findings of Holmes et al. (2014) do not support reinstatement of second-order fear following post-extinction presentation of the unconditioned stimulus (US). The present study provides a second attempt at uncovering reinstatement following extinction of second-order conditioning. Rat subjects were randomly assigned to 5 groups (n=12), which received first- and second-order conditioning with Light and Tone counterbalanced. Responding to the second-order stimulus (S2) was extinguished through S2-alone presentations for all but the control subjects (Group NE-NR). …

Problem Analysis In Community Violence Assessments: Reavealing Early Childhood Trauma As A Driver Of Youth And Gang Violence, Laurie Ross Phd, Samantha Arsenault, Sergeant Miguel Lopez

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

Problem analysis conducted by a university-based research partner can provide communities with data-driven options to address the local drivers of serious youth and gang violence. Situated in Worcester, Massachusetts, this article describes how after early childhood trauma was identified as a potential driver of adolescent and young adult violence, problem analysis using local data confirmed that being the victim or witness of a traumatic incident before the age of 12 was significantly correlated with involvement in violence in adolescence or young adulthood. While there is a robust literature on the relationship between early childhood trauma and later delinquency, local decision-makers …

The Peacock Effect: The Influence Of The Opposite Sex On Aggressive Behavior, Kira J. Mason

Celebration

Most widely-accepted models for aggression do not explicitly address an important variable that roots in evolutionary psychology: the presence of a potential mate. The current research investigates whether the presence of an attractive or unattractive member of the opposite sex influences hypothetical aggression. Participants (N = 1035) imagined themselves in front of an attractive or non-attractive member of the opposite sex (accompanied by pictures of corresponding attractiveness levels), and indicate their aggressive intentions after a provocation, or not. Results from the 2(sex) x 2(attractiveness) ANOVA showed that males viewing an image of an attractive female aggressed more when provoked than …

Relational-Interdependence And Life Transitions In College: Study Abroad, First-Year, And International Students, Shelby R. Weisen

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

The current study examined the sojourner adjustment of U.S. college students studying abroad, international college students studying in the States, and first-year students adjusting to life in the first semester of their undergraduate careers. An online survey was distributed to 412 college students; it included the Sojourner Adjustment Measure (SAM), the Lifelong Learning Scale (WielkLLS), the Relational-Interdependent Self-Construal Scale (RISC), the Brief HEXACO Inventory of Personality, and the Social Media Use Integration Scale (SMUIS). The purpose of the study was to explore the relationships among major emerging adulthood transitions and various measures of adjustment to college. Results suggest that students …

The Effects Of Picture Prompts On The Acquisition Of Receptive Language In Children With Autism, Hanna Simons

Honors Theses

The present study evaluated the effectiveness of picture prompts in the acquisition of receptive language. Receptive language training is the ability to listen to and understand what is being communicated (Miller, Carp, Petursdottir, 2009). Receptive language training requires the acquisition of auditory-visual conditional discriminations. In receptive language training the child must attend to the auditory and comparison stimuli. This is sometimes an issue for children with autism. Previous research has shown that receptive language training can be facilitated through the use of picture prompts (Fisher, Kodak, & Moore, 2007). The participant for the study was 3 years old. He was …

Sensor-Enabled Reduction Of Stereotypy, Aaron Brzezinski

Honors Theses

The goal of this study was to create and implement an intervention to reduce stereotypic behavior in a child with Autism. The participant was chosen based on a high occurrence of target behavior and was recruited through his treatment center. The target behaviors were selected based on the subjective evaluation of his treatment provider and parents. The dependent variable in this study was hand-flapping. The independent variable was DRO training that included a buzzer and a chime noise contingent on the presence or absence of stereotypy respectively. A Microsoft Kinect© 2.0 was used to track occurrence of target behavior and …

Increasing Vocalizations In Children With Autism, Nicholette Christodoulou

Honors Theses

This study focuses on increasing vocalizations for students with Autism spectrum disorder. A three-part intervention was used to attempt to establish an echoic repertoire in students who had little to no vocalizations. Both students attended an early intervention classroom with a special education school. Students were selected from their classroom if they showed little to no vocalization or echoic skills. The goal during the first phase was to collect all sounds being made by the student to increase the overall number of vocalizations being made. This was done by continuous reinforcement using edible reinforcers. In phase two, the student’s dominant …

Transitioning Children With Autism From A Discrete Trial Classroom To A Group Classroom, Alexandra Ennis

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to prepare children diagnosed with autism for the transition to group learning environments by teaching them to sit in their chair and attend while the teacher is at least five feet away. This is a skill that will help kids succeed when they make the transition from an early intervention program to a group learner environment because it allows the teacher to focus more on learning important skills. A proximity procedure was put in place for two children that focused on gradually increasing the distance between the tutor and the student with use of …

Effects Of Multiple Exemplar Instruction On Reading Comprehension For Secondary Students With Reading Delays, Reilly Chabie

Honors Theses

This study tested the effects of multiple exemplar instruction on reading comprehension for a middle school student with a reading delay. A multiple probe design was used to evaluate and observe the changes in the number of questions the student answered correctly. Probes consisted of: (1) pre-experimental, (2) single exemplar instruction (SEI), (3) post-SEI, (4) MEI, and (5) post-MEI. The independent variable was a multiple exemplar intervention that required the student to read a passage across three topographies (silently, listening, and aloud).

Multiple exemplar instruction was shown to be effective in increasing the number of questions answered correctly during single …

Preschoolers’ Use Of Verbal And Musical Strategies For Solving A Spatial Reasoning Task, Alyssa Marie Iulianetti

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Spatial reasoning is the ability to visualize and interact with one’s three-dimensional environment. A spatial problem that is particularly challenging for young children is the tube task, developed by Hood in 1995. Children are presented with an apparatus that consists of a large frame with three intertwining tubes attached to the top and bottom. Children are asked to predict where a ball will emerge when it is dropped down one of the tubes. Young children typically make what is known as the gravity bias error, in which they believe a ball will drop straight down even though its path is …

The Influence Of Appearance In Hri Selection, Dani Somerville, William Volante, Tracy Sanders, Peter Hancock

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

No abstract provided.

Event-Related Desynchronization Of The Mu-Rhythm: A Literature Review, Katy Lynn Odette

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

No abstract provided.

Teaching Children With Autism Who Have Difficulty Mastering Auditory Discriminations, Sarah Lichtenberger

Research and Creative Activities Poster Day

Simple and conditional visual and auditory discrimination repertoires are critical components of many skills necessary for daily functioning, including communication, academic, and daily-living skills (Green, 2001). When auditory discrimination is not under instructional stimulus control, it can result in delayed acquisition of new skills and limit academic progress. The purpose of this study was to teach auditory discrimination to children with autism who had little to no progress on classroom procedures that required auditory discrimination, such as selecting an object from an array when given the name of the object as the direction. Auditory discrimination was taught starting with teaching …

Too Much Of A Good Thing? Overexertion Of Self-Control And Dietary Adherence In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes, Brooke N. Jenkins, Karen S. Rook, Raquel Borges-Garcia, Melissa M. Franks, Mary Ann Parris Stephens

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Objectives

The resource model of self‐control posits that self‐control is a finite resource that can be depleted. Individuals with diabetes must continually restrict their diet, requiring self‐control. As a result, dietary adherence is difficult, and lapses are common. People with diabetes who overexert self‐control following a lapse may be especially likely to experience a subsequent relapse, as suggested by the resource model. This investigation used the resource model of self‐control to test whether overexertion of dietary self‐control following a lapse would be predictive of a subsequent relapse in dietary control.

Design

We tested this prediction in a daily diary study …

Best Integrated Writing 2016 - Complete Edition

Best Integrated Writing

Best Integrated Writing includes excellent student writing from Integrated Writing courses taught at Wright State University. The journal is published annually by the Wright State University Department of English Language and Literatures.

Navigating Qualitative Assessments Of Chance: Quantifying Individual Perceptions Of Distinct Expressions, William G. Volante

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

Often, humans must rely on their innate ability to describe the perceived chance of an event occurring using qualitative phrases, rather than quantitative values. These qualitative phrases often lead to a spectrum of meaning across individuals. Our aim in this study was two-fold; first, to distinguish a quantitative spectrum for these qualitative phrases, and second, to determine which of these phrases produced the largest variance between individuals. Personal differences were also looked at to determine if personality may play a role in these variations.

Applying General Recognition Theory To Perception Of Racially Stereotypical Faces, Sarah E. Williams

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

A poster on research regarding perception of facial features and the application of General Recognition Theory to assess discrimination ability. Full abstract has been attached.

Effects Of Self-Monitoring And Social Support On Exercise Adherence, Dominic Cauteruccio

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

The purpose of this study was to look at the effects of self-monitoring and social support on minutes of exercise per week. Specifically, self-monitoring examined whether self-monitoring and self-monitoring in combination with social support would increase minutes of exercise over a four week period. The study was four weeks long, with participants randomly assigned into three groups: a control group (group 1), a self-monitoring group (group 2), and a self-monitoring plus social support group (group 3). Exercise time was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and social support was measured using the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors (ISSB). …

Type D Personality And Injury Relationship In Collegiate Track Athletes, Annmarie Tuxbury

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

The purpose of this study was to examine Type D personality as an internal factor for injury risk in collegiate track athletes. A survey was administered to 275 track athletes across each of the three NCAA divisions. The survey included general questions about injury history, which included demographic type questions. A Type D Personality Inventory assessment was administered which measured negative affectivity and social inhibition (Blum, 2009). Additionally, the survey included a version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), measuring an athlete’s evaluation of situations that invokes a stress response (Cohen et al, 1983). Lastly, the survey included the Athletic …

Beauty In Snowflakes: Complexity And Visual Aesthetics, Olivia C. Adkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Experimental aesthetics research has been conducted since the nineteenth century. Interestingly, however, few studies have examined the perceived beauty of naturally shaped objects. In the current experiment, 204 participants were presented with a set of ten snowflake silhouettes that varied in complexity (perimeter relative to area); they were similarly presented with ten randomly-shaped, computer-generated, solid objects that also varied in complexity. For each stimulus set, the participants selected the single snowflake or object that was the most beautiful (Fechner’s method of choice). The results for the solid objects replicated the findings of earlier research: the most and least complex objects …

The Relationship And Consistency In Ratings Between The Conners 3 Executive Functioning Scale And The Behavior Rating Inventory Of Executive Functioning, Lauren R. Lamar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Broadband behavior rating scales are commonly used in schools to gain data to help make critical decisions about a student’s educational programming and whether he or she is eligible to receive special education services. Several broadband behavior rating scales are beginning to include a scale that assesses executive functioning. This study investigated how scores from an executive functioning scale on a broadband behavior rating scale (Conners 3, Conners, 2008) compared to an established scale that only measures executive functioning (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function [BRIEF], Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000). Teachers completed both scales at the same point …

The Underlying Dynamics Of Student Engagement On Thesis Completion, Nikolaj Sivek

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Engagement is an increasingly important construct in organizational and educational settings. Research indicates that engagement is positively related to satisfaction, commitment, and performance in the workplace. This study investigated the relationship of Total Engagement to complete a thesis with Self-Determination Theory individual motivational constructs, the personality constructs of Psychological Capital and Core Self-Evaluations, and the experiential construct of Flow Propensity. The results indicated significant relationships between all constructs and engagement. Further, Psychological Capital and Flow Propensity explained 55% of the variance in Total Engagement to complete a thesis.

Christian Nonprofit Ceos:Ethical Idealism, Relativism, And Motivation, Sharlene Garces Baragona

Dissertations

Strong ethical character and the ability to inspire others form crucial areas for leadership effectiveness, particularly in nonprofits. This study explored the relationship between ethical ideologies (idealism and relativism) and inspirational motivation of Christian nonprofit CEOs affiliated with the Christian Child and Family Services Association. The Ethics Position Questionnaire of Forsyth (1980), the Bass and Avolio (2004) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Leader Form (5X Short) – Inspirational Motivation, and a demographic questionnaire comprised the 30-item survey for this study. The participants’ responses were collected either online or on paper and were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The response rate was …