Social Psychology Commons^™

Implementation Of A Staff Management System To Increase Consumer Engagement In Group Homes, Jeana L. Koerber

Dissertations

A multi-component staff management system was implemented in three residential group homes for adults with disabilities to examine if it would increase consumer (resident) engagement in leisure activities. The design was a non-concurrent and concurrent multiple baseline design across homes. Participants included consumers who lived in the homes and the direct care staff (DCS) who worked with them: a total of 35 participants. Sessions were an hour in length and occurred twice a day, Monday through Friday. The study lasted approximately 17 weeks in each group home.

There were four phases: (phase A) baseline assessment of consumer engagement and affect, …

Evaluating Sexual Assault Prevention Training Programs For College Women, Eliza S. Mcmanus

Dissertations

Sexual victimization is a frequent and concerning problem for college women. It is estimated that college women are three times more likely to experience sexual assault than women in the general population. Additionally, women with a history of unwanted sexual experiences are at greater risk for future sexual victimization than women without such histories. For these reasons, the examination of college-based sexual assault prevention programs is important given the high rates of unwanted sexual experiences and subsequent negative mental health consequences. Furthermore, the lack of effective skills-based sexual assault prevention programs on college campuses is an important issue to address. …

Soviet Holocaust Survivors: An Ethnographic Study, Marina Shafran

Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to help understand the lives, worldview, and meaning making of Soviet Holocaust survivors currently residing in the United States. Ethnographic interviews were conducted to explore survivor's childhood, family life, religion, political views, work, and social life. These areas were examined during the following time periods: pre-WWII, during WWII, and post-WWII.

From the collected and analyzed data I was able to offer an insight into the experiences of five Soviet Holocaust survivors under the Soviet regime. I described the struggles that the survivors experienced during the Holocaust, the losses they had suffered, and the …

Acceptability Of Interventions To Staff In Long-Term Care Settings For Older Adults: Comparing Ratings And Hierarchical Selection, Jonathan C. Baker

Dissertations

Older adults and their caregivers generally prefer behavioral interventions over medications in treatment acceptability studies (Osterkamp, Mathews, Burgio, & Hardin, 1997). However, previous acceptability studies have primarily examined ratings, which did not force the responder to select between treatment options. Additionally, recent advances in behavioral treatment technologies (Carr & LeBlanc, 2003) and pharmacotherapy (Schneider, 1999) warrant revisiting treatment acceptability for older adults. The present investigation examined treatment acceptability of behavioral, pharmacological, and sensory interventions using a treatment acceptability rating scale, treatment selections, and direct report of treatments used in a six-month window. Fifty-six staff from nursing homes in the Mid-West …

Investigating The Effects Of Observer Presence And Feedback On Individuals' Work-Related Behavior, Angela R. Lebbon

Dissertations

Direct observation procedures have been widely used by applied behavior analysts to examine the effects of various interventions, however, recent research examining the effects of the observer's presence on behavior has found that participants behave in ways that are not representative of their behavior in the absence of an observer. Furthermore, recent research has demonstrated that both reactivity and habituation are idiosyncratic and it remains unclear which variables mediate reactive effects with individuals. Researchers have discussed the necessity of identifying and measuring reactive effects in order to discover variables (e.g., discriminative stimulus properties) that may mediate reactive effects. Previous research …

Evaluating The Immediate Impact And Short-Term Therapeutic Effects Of The “Internalized-Other” Interviewing With Couples, Shai M. Brosh

Dissertations

The present study examined empirically the immediate and short-term therapeutic effects of the internalized-other interview (Tomm, 1996) with couples during a single session and compared it with the standard method of interviewing couples (i.e., treatment as usual). Thirty-two married couples (N = 64 participants) were randomly assigned into one of two conditions (internalized-other versus standard interviewing). Couples attended an initial interview session and two follow-ups (one and four-weeks respectively). Self-reported measures of session impact were taken immediately after the session, while self-reported measures of marital satisfaction, intimacy, closeness and empathy were taken at baseline (before the session) and during …

Examining The Behavioral And Physiological Components Of Communication Skills Training With Married Couples: Are Differential Effects Mediated By The Topic Discussed And Initial Level Of Marital Distress?, Tara L. Cornelius

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to experimentally examine the effects of the Speaker-Listener technique when the couple was instructed to either (a) discuss an issue within, or (b) outside the marriage, on couples’ initial and long-term levels of marital distress and satisfaction. This study was designed to examine Gottman, et al. (1998) hypothesis that the Speaker-Listener skills training technique may be effective and lead to improved levels of marital satisfaction when the couple is complaining about a third party, but complaining about each other may become divisive and weaken the marital relationship, and that such an effect would …