Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons^™

Nihilistic Violence Aesthetics In Public Online Communication, Heath Nicholas Landress

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Public online communication has increasingly included violence-related content that is meme-based, ironic, visually stylized, multimodal, and only partially ideological. This comprehensive literature review synthesized research on online extremism, extremist memes, toxic multimodal content, dehumanizing digital communication, nihilistic violent extremism, warning behaviors, platform affordances, and youth-facing online environments. The purpose was to clarify what the literature had established; identify where the scholarship remained fragmented; and map research domains relevant to social, behavioral, public safety, and human services scholarship. The review used a structured, comprehensive literature review strategy supported by integrative synthesis procedures. The final corpus contained 34 scholarly sources, including 32 …

Breaking The Cycle: From Victimization To Offending Through The Lens Of Human Services, Colette R. Penalosa

Master of Arts in Human Services

The victim-offender overlap challenges the common view that victims and offenders are separately labeled by recognizing that both groups have experienced significant childhood trauma, physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, neglect, and other adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Current research implies these experiences can increase the risk of offending as they all influence cognitive and behavioral development while leaving criminal behavior undetermined. The purpose of this capstone is to analyze the relationship between childhood victimization and offending from a human service perspective; analyzing the pathways a victim takes on the road to offending. Research conducted will focus on exploring the victim-offender overlap, …

The Effect Of A Functionally Indicated Choice-Based Antecedent Intervention On Academic And Behavioral Outcomes For Students In A Public School, Alyssa M. Rodriguez

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

The present study examined the effects of functionally indicated choice-based antecedent interventions on academic and behavioral outcomes for elementary general education students exhibiting elevated levels of off-task behavior during independent seat work. A replicated hybrid single-case design was used to compare two interventions: choice of task sequence (across-activity choice) and choice of peer (within-activity choice). Brief functional behavioral assessments (FBAs) informed hypothesized behavioral function and intervention match. Dependent variables included academic engagement (on-task behavior), with off-task behavior conceptualized as its inverse, as well as academic completion and accuracy; social validity was assessed from teachers and students. Results indicated support for …

Investigating The Relationship Between Noun Classes And Plant Folk Taxonomy In Chasu Language Of Kilimanjaro Region In Tanzania, Peter Rabson Mziray

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The current study investigates the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu (G 22). The study focuses on two objectives: the first objective is to describe the plant folk taxonomy in Chasu and the second objective is to determine the relationship between noun classes and plant folk taxonomy in Chasu. Data were collected from rural villages in Same and Mwanga districts by using free listing, field interviews (jungle-walk-and-identify), and written texts containing Chasu plant names. The findings reveal that Chasu folk taxonomy reflects different ethnobotanical categories; including a unique beginner which is mmea/mimea ‘plant(s)’, and three life …

Emotional Eating Behaviors And Parental Feeding Practices In Three-Year-Old Children And Their Association With Body Composition One Year Later, Keely Wright, Kenia Rivera, Elysia Poggi Davis

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

Emotional eating – eating in response to negative emotions regardless of hunger – is an obesogenic trait that often develops in childhood and remains a habit through adulthood. Greater emotional eating is associated with a higher body mass index (BMI; kg/m2) in 7-12-year-old children (Webber et al., 2009). However, few studies have examined the relations between emotional eating and weight gain in preschool-aged children. Moreover, there is limited research on parental feeding practices and weight gain in preschool-aged children. The current work investigated the association of emotional eating behaviors during an emotional eating task in three-year-old children with change in …

Mirror Test Of Infant Self-Awareness, Jenna Bekkala, Naomi J. Aldrich

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Our understanding of self, or belief in one’s being as distinct from others, has been a subject of inquiry throughout human history. Discussions of self-concept would not appear in the empirical literature, however, until the mid-19th century. After likening an orangutan’s response to teasing as that of a “naughty child”, Charles Darwin began to question orangutans’ selfconcept by observing reactions to their own mirror images. Darwin’s use of the mirror to gauge self-awareness, a method eventually applied to his own infant son (Darwin, 1877), would remain the most frequently used assessment of self-concept for the next century.

The Marshmallow Task, Laurel A. Brabson, Hannah M. Coffey, Mary Margaret Ruckle, Cheryl B. Mcneil

Essays in Developmental Psychology

To study the human systems of self-control during delayed gratification, Dr. Walter Mischel and colleagues developed what became the famous Marshmallow Test, published in Science in 1989. This study became a frontrunner in the field of psychology, laying the foundation for future studies in impulse control. Dr. Mischel was born in 1930 in Vienna, Austria. He was a professor at the University of Colorado, Harvard University, and Stanford University where he originally conducted the Marshmallow Test. Dr. Mischel currently holds a professorship at Columbia University.

Beyond The Cell: The Impact Of Parental Incarceration On Children Based On The Factors Of Age, Gender, And Race, Ella M. Zeigler

Senior Theses

Incarceration is a life-changing event. It is humbling to be surrounded by three cement walls and a row of metal bars reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Millions of individuals are impacted by the adverse effects of incarceration, but millions more feel the effect of their incarceration as well. There are obvious negative impacts on those who have personally experienced incarceration, but one of the largest impacts is widely overlooked; one that comes from beyond the cell. This thesis considers the variation in the impact of parental incarceration on children, specifically based on the factors of age, gender and …

Nature-Based Education As A Learning Tool: Unleashing The Power Of Nature-Based Education In Egyptian Primary Schools. "The Effects Of Outdoor Learning And Open-Air Classrooms On Primary School Students In Egypt.", Nermeen Bekhiet

Theses and Dissertations

When learning modalities are tailored to each student's preferences and needs, academic success follows. This effect is contingent upon both individual and surrounding factors. Many schools in Egypt and the Middle East do not concentrate on how exposure to nature and nature-based learning can affect how the learner perceives his or her learning area. Most schools in Egypt have no exposure to nature to allow students to explore the world in their way; there is no room for diverse students to excel. Therefore, this exploratory research aims to reestablish a connection between private primary school students and the natural world …

Application Of Peer-Mediated Instruction And Intervention (Pmii) To Enhance Social Interaction Skills In Early Elementary-Level Saudi Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd) In An Inclusion Setting, Inam Alghamdi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In Saudi Arabia, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is on the rise, and the government is committed to improving nationwide special education services through legislative measures aimed at enhancing the flexibility of inclusion for students with ASD within school settings. However, students with ASD often encounter social challenges, especially in their interactions with peers. This increasing trend underscores the importance of implementing effective strategies to foster the social skills of these students. Evidence-based practice (EBP) is one approach that can assist in delivering services to students with ASD, proving essential for their social development. Nonetheless, limited research has been conducted on …

Making Deception Fun: Teaching Autistic Individuals How To Playfriendly Tricks, Adel Naj, Megan St. Clair, Kacie Massoudie, Jonathan Tarbox, Lauri Simchoni, Marianne Jackson, Angela Persicke

Psychology Division Scholarship

Perspective taking is a critical repertoire for navigating social relationships and consists of a variety of complex verbalskills, including socially adaptive forms of deception. Detecting and being able to use socially adaptive deception likelyhas many practical uses, including defending oneself against bullying, telling white lies to avoid hurting others’ feelings,keeping secrets and bluffing during games, and playing friendly tricks on others. Previous research has documented thatsome Autistic1 children have challenges identifying deception and playfully deceiving others (Reinecke et al., 1997). Thecurrent study employed a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the use of multiple exemplar training, rules,modeling, practice, and …

A Phenomenological Study Of School Psychologists: The Influence Of Implicit Bias On The Disproportionate Identification Rates Of African American Students Evaluated For Emotional Disturbance, Sonya Coe-Milo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As advocates, school psychologists remain ethically responsible and uniquely positioned to identify social injustices and promote nondiscriminatory practices in prekindergarten through grade 12 public education institutions. Implicit bias and its influence on African American students is one such practice. In public education, implicit bias contributes to discipline disproportionality, differentiated teacher support, pedagogical practices, and adult perceptions and expectations of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. These factors directly correlate to the disproportionate identification rates of African American students for special education and related services. Therefore, this phenomenological qualitative study examined the personal, lived experiences and perceptions of school psychologists regarding implicit bias …

Determining The More Effective Behavior Analytic Intervention For Children With Autism Who Exhibit Pica Behaviors, Jennifer J. Lanham

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Determining the More Effective Behavior Analytic Intervention for Children With Autism Who Exhibit Pica Behaviors. Jennifer J. Lanham, 2024: Applied Dissertation, Nova Southeastern University, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. Keywords: autism, pica, eating disorders, intervention, applied behavior analysis

This dissertation was designed to determine which behavior analytic intervention was more effective in the treatment and reduction of mouthing non-nutritive substances in children diagnosed with autism. This study included four participants in an A-B-A reversal design with a component analysis across four intervention phases. The study participants were enrolled in a center-based treatment environment …

Early Technology Exposure And Academic Performance In Generation Alpha: Reduced Attention Span And Ability To Multitask, Sanjana Gupta

Undergraduate Research Posters

The increasing prevalence of handheld devices in the lives of young children inspired this research, particularly regarding their potential impact on attention spans and cognitive development in Generation Alpha. Early exposure to tablets and smartphones before the age of seven coincides with critical periods of neuroplasticity, during which the brain is highly receptive to environmental influences. This matters because attention and cognitive skills formed in childhood lay the foundation for academic success and long-term personal development, and the shift toward digital learning platforms in schools may have significant consequences.

This study aimed to investigate whether early exposure to handheld devices …

The Benefits Of Art Therapy On Stress And Anxiety Of Oncology Patients During Treatment, Helen Shiepe

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Within the last ten years research on art therapy and its positive impact on oncology patients’ stress and anxiety during treatment has been minimal. Oncology patients whether they are children or adults when diagnosed experience similar reactions due to their diagnosis, treatment, and in some cases end of life care. The current question is whether or not art therapy does have a positive impact on decreasing the stress and anxiety with oncology patients while undergoing treatment. Deane, Fitch & Carmen (2000), discussed art therapy as a healing art that is “intended to integrate physical, emotional, and spiritual care by facilitating …

Success Over Stress Support Group, Sophia Pescador-Torrance

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Harden Wellness Center is located in Salinas, California on the campus of Harden Middle School. After surveying and interviewing eighth-grade students at Harden Middle School, it was determined that there was a need to provide healthy coping skills for stress and anxiety. The project provided students a place to learn healthy coping skills along with normalizing mental health services among adolescents. In order to engage students and keep them interested each week, focus on a new skill with an activity attached to reinforce the coping skill. By the end of the six weeks, the group started to talk about …

The Impact Of Music Therapy On Language Acquisition In Children With Nonverbal Autism, Alecia Bernau

Senior Honors Theses

Through an experimental method, the researcher investigated whether children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to develop verbal communication skills after consistent exposure to songs with lyrics. Six children with nonverbal ASD were exposed to the same song with lyrics, with the goal of increased vocalization and language acquisition. Over nine sessions, subjects were pulled to participate in the experiment. The researcher played the song for the participants, recording the responses from each trial and categorizing them as either full words, verbal approximations, or miscellaneous verbalizations. The findings of the study suggest that there is a relationship between …

The Effects Of Family Size And Birth Order On Students' Social Emotional And Cognitive Development, Mary Watson

Honors Projects

This project sought to analyze and understand the differences in student’s cognitive and social emotional development based on their number of siblings (also referred to as family size) and birth order. To accomplish this, a 130-question survey was created and emailed to approximately 125 teachers. 27 survey responses were received, which is a response rate of approximately 21.6%. The response data was categorized by only child, oldest child, youngest child, child with one or two siblings, child with three or four siblings, and child with five or more siblings. Though the responses were varied, the data showed that oldest children …

K-5 Elementary Alternative Program: A Case Study, William E. Scheuer Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine how the K-5 elementary alternative program All Students Can Thrive (ASCT) used student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. There is a lack of research on K-5 elementary alternative programs, such as ASCT, and specifically those that integrate student-centered learning practices to influence the whole child. Literature does not contain universally accepted interventions that are effective in the elementary alternative setting to help students return to the mainstream classroom setting better prepared to display appropriate behaviors when a student is removed from a mainstream classroom setting due to disruptive behaviors. …

Examining The Impact Of Financial Stress On Affect And Eating Behaviors, Ellen Hunt Steele

Theses and Dissertations

Economic pressure and concomitant financial stress have been associated with mental and physical health problems, conflict, and poorer education and employment outcomes. Moreover, financial stress can be seen in specific hardships (e.g., food insecurity) and lead to maladaptive attempts to regulate emotions stemming from financial stressors. Women may be more vulnerable to consequences of food insecurity and attempts to regulate emotions with eating than men. Thus, the current study examined the impact of a randomized financial stress induction on affect and snack food choice while accounting for the influence of food insecurity and gender. Participants included 269 validly responding individuals. …

Combining Non-Traditional Therapeutic Competencies With Dance/Movement Therapy In Response To Client Reactivity: The Development Of A Method, Nicole Koontz

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Individuals with reactive attachment disorder present as guarded towards therapeutic care and respond passively to treatment or become combative and aggressive. Previous body-based interventions for individuals with reactive attachment disorder included dangerous and unethical approaches that led to traumatization, distrust, and even death. Historical attachment therapies focused on making the client feel powerless and hopeless to accept care rather than practitioners adjusting to individualized client-centered care. A dance/movement therapy-informed method was developed to provide a nonthreatening therapeutic space to foster genuine participation for clients who present with reactivity towards treatment. The method was implemented over the course of seven weeks …

Development And Testing Of Remote Facilitation Of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce For Families To Address Challenging Behavior In Young Children (Ptr-F:R), Abby Hodges

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As children advance through developmental stages, they often present behavioral difficulties such as tantrums, lack of cooperation, and aggression. For some children, behaviors are serious enough that they interfere with the child’s ability to engage in positive relationships, participate in necessary routines, and learn new skills, warranting behavioral intervention (Dunlap et al., 2017). Being responsive to the needs of the family and appreciation for the central role that they play is crucial to the success of behavioral interventions and the maintenance of positive outcomes (Bailey, 2013; Campbell, 1995), thus, their input should be at the center of all recommendations and …

Efficiency Of Teaching Sight Words In Similar Vs Dissimilar Sets, Jensen Chotto

LSU Master's Theses

Early reading intervention can decrease the likelihood that children who struggle with reading develop long-term reading problems. Due to the prevalence of words that cannot be read phonetically in the English language, sight word instruction is required to supplement phonics instruction. In this study, we compared the effects of creating sets of sight words with the same starting letter (3 words per set, 3 total sets) versus distributing words with the same starting letter across sets when assessing acquisition of the combined set (9 words) in five 4-to-6-year-old children using a combined adapted alternating treatments design and pre-posttest design. All …

The Impact Of Reinforcer Preference And Variation On Response Rates In Preschool-Aged Children, Jason M. Aldridge

Symposium of Student Scholars

The Impact of Reinforcer Preference and Variation on

Response Rates in Preschool-Aged Children

J. Malachi Aldridge1, Allison L. Martin1, Alicia K. Mitchell2

1. Kennesaw State University

2. Appleseeds Behavioral Center

In the field of Applied Behavior Analysis, tangible items (i.e. toys) are often used to help learners meet goals in academic, social, and adaptive living skills. While use of high preference reinforcers has been linked to improved performance, repeated use of a single item can cause satiation and reduce effectiveness. Using a variety of reinforcers can allow therapists to minimize these satiation effects (Bowman et al., 1997; Koehler & Iwata, …

Fostering Attachment In Romantic Relationships Through Creative Art Therapies, Mary Hachey

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Attachment theory examines the infant/caregiver’s relationship by the attachment style they develop in the first years of life. Over time, these same attachment styles affect adult romantic relationships. Bowlby defines four infant/children attachment styles as securely attached, anxious-ambivalent-insecurely attached, avoidant-insecurely attached, and disorganized-disoriented-insecurely attached. These four styles transferred into three main types for adults: secure, anxious-ambivalent, and avoidant. A couple’s relationship can become affected by personal values, behaviors, environmental situations, attachment styles, and beyond. This literature review discusses how couples behave, relate, and interact with one another based on their attachment styles and it also gives critical details on how …

The Relation Of Therapist Behaviors To Treatment Engagement And Outcomes In Pcit, Kristine Gese Ba

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) has proven to be a very effective treatment for child behavioral problems, however, PCIT does not benefit all families equally, presumably at least partly because therapists may not be equally effective in coaching their clients. Although researchers have proposed several dimensions of therapist coaching behaviors that are considered desirable, few of these have been empirically examined in relation to family engagement or child outcomes. Data from two clinical trials examining the effectiveness of culturally modified versions of PCIT (GANA and PersIn), were used to investigate which of several therapist coaching behaviors (brevity, positivity, consistency, accuracy, …

How Multidimensional Is Emotional Intelligence? Bifactor Modeling Of Global And Broad Emotional Abilities Of The Geneva Emotional Competence Test, Daniel Simonet, Katherine E. Miller, Kevin Askew, Kenneth Sumner, Marcello Mortillaro, Katja Schlegel

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Drawing upon multidimensional theories of intelligence, the current paper evaluates if the Geneva Emotional Competence Test (GECo) fits within a higher-order intelligence space and if emotional intelligence (EI) branches predict distinct criteria related to adjustment and motivation. Using a combination of classical and S-1 bifactor models, we find that (a) a first-order oblique and bifactor model provide excellent and comparably fitting representation of an EI structure with self-regulatory skills operating independent of general ability, (b) residualized EI abilities uniquely predict criteria over general cognitive ability as referenced by fluid intelligence, and (c) emotion recognition and regulation incrementally predict grade point …

Adolescent Healthcare Contacts In The Year Before Suicide: A Case Control Study, Ana Lanier, Jordan Braciszewski, Hsueh-Han Yeh, Gregory Simon, Rebecca Rossom, Frances Lynch, Stephen Waring, Christine Lu, Ashli Owen-Smith, Arbe Beck, Brian Ahmedani

Medical Student Research Symposium

Introduction: Suicide rates among adolescents have risen steadily since 2007, creating a dire need to expand prevention protocols. Healthcare systems have been identified as a key avenue for identification and intervention. To date, no comprehensive analysis has been done to understand adolescent-specific characteristics and healthcare utilization prior to suicide death.

Methods: A case-control study was conducted using records from eight healthcare systems nationwide. Data from 450 subjects aged 10-24 who died by suicide between the years 2000-2013 was matched with 4500 controls based on health system and time period of membership. We examined past-year health diagnoses and patterns of visit …

America's Newest Boogeyman For Deviant Teen Behavior: Violent Video Games And The First Amendment, Joseph C. Alfe, Grant D. Talabay

Pace Intellectual Property, Sports & Entertainment Law Forum

Are violent video games harming America’s youth? Is it possible a series of interconnected circuit boards can influence children (or even adults) to become, themselves, violent? If so, how should our society-- and government-- respond?

To properly answer this last query, violent video games must be viewed through the lens of the First Amendment. Simply put: do games depicting grotesque acts of depravity so profound as to negatively influence the psyche warrant the full constitutional protections ordinarily guaranteed under the mantle of free speech and expression? Are these guarantees without limit? If not, how far may the government go in …

Estimating Predictors Of Mental Well-Being Through Analysis Of Children’S Drawings: The Case Of Syrian Refugees, Stephanie Smith

Master's Theses

There are currently over 65 million individuals that have been forcibly displaced globally. The cumulative trauma that comes from the refugee experience and exposure to violence has proven to have long-term negative psychological outcomes and thus negative impacts on human capital in the long run. Given that over 50% percent of the global refugee population are children, the ability to efficiently and accurately assess their mental well-being is of critical importance. Using data from over 2000 refugee children in Jordan, I use machine learning techniques to find key predictors of psychological distress, PTSD, and exposure to violence found in children’s …