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, …

An Examination Of Several Variables Influencing The Efficacy Of The Gateway In Street Sign Configuration On Motorist Yielding Behavior, Miles Bennett

Dissertations

This study contains five different experiments that examine the effects of several variables influencing the effectiveness of the In-Street sign and various In-Street sign configurations. Experiment 1 and 2 compared the effects of the Gateway configuration using R1-6 signs to blank fluorescent yellow-green signs arranged in the Gateway configuration on motorist yielding to pedestrians in crosswalks. The results showed that the blank signs produced an increase in yielding from 7% to 33%, while the addition of the message and symbols to the sign increased yielding to 78%. Experiment 1, 2, and 4 examined the effects of different configurations of the …

The Impact Of Childhood Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Analysis Of Healthy `Couples’ Perceptions, Brian C. Doane

Dissertations

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a problem affecting millions of individuals, with a prevalence rate of 28% to 30% for women (Cobia, Sobansky, & Ingram, 2004) and 14% for men (Breire & Elliott, 2003). Because of the psychological trauma associated with CSA and the potential impact on the survivor’s sexuality, a couple’s relationship satisfaction may be reduced and survivors may experience difficulty in maintaining healthy intimate relationships. How CSA impacts an individual has been studied extensively, but its effect on committed couple relationships has received much less attention in the literature. Additionally, very few studies have incorporated the non-abused partner’s …

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. …

The Effects Of Tiered Goals And Bonus Pay On Performance, Jessica L. Urschel

Dissertations

This study examined the relative effects of tiered goals, difficult goals, and moderate goals on performance when individuals earned bonus pay for goal achievement. The experimental design was a 3 x 2 mixed factorial design. Participants were 44 undergraduate students performing a computerized data entry task that simulated the job of a medical data entry clerk. For each session, participants were paid a $4 base salary plus bonus pay contingent on goal achievement. Participants were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: a) a multiple, tiered goal level condition, in which participants earned $1 in bonus pay for achieving an …

Brushing It Off? Applying The Theory Of Planned Behavior To Dental Visit Behavior, Rebecca Starkel

Dissertations

During the last decade, utilization of dental care services has decreased among working age adults. Given the importance of dental visits in the maintenance oral health, and the link between oral and overall health, this trend is disturbing. In order to better understand the reasons behind this downward trend, the current study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior to identify the most influential factors in one’s decision to visit the dentist, modified to include three additional components: affect, habit, and oral health knowledge. Two surveys were conducted to measure the following components as they relate to the dental visit: attitudes, …

The Effects Of A Multi-Layer Accountability System On Teacher Self-Efficacy And Classroom Goal Orientations And Its Impact On Student Performance, Christine Poindexter-Harris

Dissertations

The Effects of a Multi-layer Accountability System on Teacher Self-efficacy and Classroom Goal Orientations and its Impact on Student Performance

There are multiple factors that affect student academic achievement, including student, parent, and teacher factors. The present research studies the relationships among teacher self-efficacy, classroom goal orientations and structures, and student performance. Previous studies have shown a strong correlation between teacher self-efficacy and classroom goal orientation. Although much research has been done on both issues, very little research has taken into account the role of organizational education structure and its impact on how teachers may or may not change to …

Backlash Against Working Mothers, Kala Jean Melchiori

Dissertations

Research by Rudman and colleagues (2012) has detailed how people who defy social stereotypes (called vanguards) experience discriminatory backlash for acting counter-stereotypically. In the present research, I took Rudman's Backlash and Stereotype Maintenance Model (BSMM) and applied it to working women and working mothers. Due to the different content of the stereotypes of working women versus working mothers, I predicted that the process through which perceivers engage in backlash against the two groups is different. I used the theory of Ambivalent Sexism to shape my predictions for how working mothers are vulnerable to different forms of backlash than working women …

Dbt And Bereavement: A Multiple Baseline Design, Marissa Marshak

Dissertations

This is an interpretive, single-subject design study, which followed a non-concurrent multiple baseline design to understand the processes of bereavement treatment. The study comprised six groups (n=29) enrolled in the General Adult Loss Groups after the loss of a family member. The researcher used mixed methodologies to understand the bereavement process, group work process, and DBT process. The objective was to evaluate whether the timing of implementing DBT, or DBT at all, improved coping outcomes. Two groups served as control groups, and the remaining four groups received a 5-weeklong 45-minute voluntary modified intervention of DBT at staggered intervention start points. …