Behavioral Disciplines and Activities Commons^™

Can Anyone With Low Income Be Food Secure?: Mitigating Food Insecurity Among Low Income Households With Children In The Tampa Bay Area, Edgar Allan Amador

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the US over the last few years, approximately 14.5% of households experience food insecurity at some point throughout the year. While studies on food insecurity in the US have determined that household income and specifically income available to spend on food is of critical importance to food security, it is still unclear why some households with low income are able to maintain food security while others experience food insecurity in a pattern characterized as not constant but recurrent. This dissertation compares households with children at different levels of food security and insecurity using the USDA Core Food Security Module …

Using Video Modeling And Video Feedback To Improve Olympic Weightlifting Technique, Danah Mulqueen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral coaching procedures have been evaluated and enhanced over the years to find the most effective interventions for athletic performance in a variety of sports settings. Different types of feedback have been evaluated for effectiveness in teaching and improving skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of video modeling and video feedback to improve technique for three novice individuals in a fitness program incorporating Olympic weightlifting. Two weightlifting events, the clean and jerk and snatch, were targeted for intervention. Each lift was broken down into a task analysis, and trainers used the task analysis to score …

The Interplay Of Trait Anger, Childhood Physical Abuse, And Alcohol Consumption In Predicting Intimate Partner Aggression, Rosalita C. Maldonado, Laura E. Watkins, David Dilillo

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current study examined three well-established risk factors for intimate partner aggression (IPA) within Finkel and Eckhardt’s I³ model, including two impellance factors—trait anger and childhood physical abuse history—and the disinhibiting factor of alcohol consumption. Participants were 236 male and female college students in a committed heterosexual dating relationship who completed a battery of self-report measures assessing childhood physical abuse, trait anger, alcohol consumption, and IPA perpetration. Results revealed a significant three-way interaction showing that as the disinhibition factor alcohol consumption increased, the interaction of the two impelling factors, trait anger and childhood physical abuse, became increasingly more positive. …

Negative Reinforcement In Infant Care Simulation: Alternative Caregiver Responses To Prevent Child Abuse, Miriam Tye

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to replicate and extend previous research on infant caregiver behavior by demonstrating negative reinforcement of infant caregiver behavior in response to crying and teaching appropriate care responses under conditions of inconsolable crying. A computerized infant simulator was used to create a laboratory simulation of infant caregiving. In Study 1, participants were exposed to negative reinforcement conditions and an extinction condition. In the negative reinforcement condition, participants engaged in caregiving responses to escape from the cry. In the extinction condition, the cry was inescapable and two of three participants stopped engaging in the previously reinforced caregiving response. …

The Use Of Behavior Specific Praise And The Caught Being Good Game To Improve Class-Wide Behavior, Emily Rhodes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated the relative contributions of behavior specific praise statements (BSPS) and the Caught Being Good Game (CBGG) on class-wide appropriate behaviors and examined teacher use of BSPS and corrective feedback. It also evaluated if changes in class-wide behaviors are maintained during follow-up and generalized to non-target academic periods. Data on teacher use of BSPS were also collected during follow-up and generalization probes to examine if the teachers continued to use BSPS during follow-up and generalize their use of BSPS to non-target academic periods. A multiple-baseline design across classrooms with an ABC sequence was used to evaluate the outcomes …

Improving Consistency Of Goal Attainment To Increase Physical Activity, Elizabeth Anne Solley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have successfully increased physical activity with self-monitoring, goal setting, and feedback. Goal attainment is a crucial part of what makes goal setting successful; however, it is often unreported in the literature or implied that goals were not reached consistently. A potential way to achieve this consistency is to create an action plan, or a detailed account of exactly how and when the individual will engage in the desired physical activity to reach his or her goal. This study evaluated whether making a detailed action plan would allow individuals to reach their physical activity goals more consistently than when using …

Using Video Feedback To Increase Eye Contact During Mock Job Interviews For Transition Age Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Alexia Barnes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are characterized by impairments in social and communicative behaviors. These impairments can impact an individual's ability to obtain employment. The rates of unemployment for individuals with ASD are much higher than those of their peers without ASD. This study used a multiple baseline design across three participants diagnosed with ASD to determine the effectiveness of video feedback in improving eye contact duration during mock job interviews. After video feedback sessions, eye contact duration increased across all participants. On average, participant's eye contact duration was at 30.2% during baseline. These percentages increased to an average of …

Evaluating The Efficacy Of Shaping With A Percentile Schedule To Increase The Duration Of Sustained Interaction Following A Bid For Joint Attention In Children With Autism, Therese Gutbrod

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the use of shaping with a percentile schedule to increase the duration of the interaction following a bid for joint attention in children with autism. Specifically, the therapist initiated a bid for joint attention and reinforced longer successive approximations in seconds of sustained interaction with the therapist and activity. A percentile schedule ranked the most recent 10 observations and reinforcement was provided if the current observation equaled the sixth ranking. Most-to-least prompting was used if the child failed to meet the calculated criterion. Shaping with a percentile schedule of reinforcement was effective at increasing the duration of …

Savor The Memory: A Reminiscence Exercise To Increase Positive Emotions And Reduce Depression Risk In Anxious Individuals, Bethany Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A growing literature suggests that experiencing positive emotions provides psychological benefits (e.g., Coifman et al. 2007), and interventions increasing positive emotions may reduce depression risk (Geschwind et al., 2011). The present study tested whether reminiscence, a method of positive emotion savoring (Quoidbach et al., 2010), can mitigate depression risk by increasing positive emotions in an unselected sample and a subsample of at-risk anxious individuals. Female participants (n=336) were randomized to a reminiscence or control condition and asked to complete daily mental imagery exercises focusing on a positive memory (reminiscence) or a neutral laboratory memory (control) for one week. As expected, …

Using Multimedia Social Storiestm To Enhance Prosocial Behavior Of At-Risk Preschoolers, Daniella Suric

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated Social StoriesTM (SS) with three at-risk preschool children in a high- need public elementary school. Specifically, this study examined the use of a multimedia SS designed to decrease problem behavior and increase prosocial behavior. A multiple baseline design across participants with an ABC sequence was used to assess the impact of the standard SS and multimedia SS on the children's target behaviors. The results of the study indicated that the standard SS was successful in reducing problem behavior and increasing prosocial behavior for all three participating children. The results also indicated that the multimedia SS had positive …

Physical And Mental Health Status Of Adults With Serious Mental Illness Participating In A Jail Diversion Intervention, Robin Telford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adults with mental illnesses are at an increased risk to be diagnosed with one or more comorbid physical illnesses compared to the general population. Much of the disparities faced by adults with serious mental illnesses (SMI) can be attributed to medication side effects, increased risk for metabolic diseases, inability to communicate about severity and monitor physical health symptoms, poor health behaviors, high rates of smoking, and poor quality health care. The rate of physical illnesses for adults with mental illnesses are even higher among those who have been involved with the criminal justice system. In order to understand the relationship …

Evaluation Of Video Modeling To Teach Children Diagnosed With Asd To Avoid Poison Hazards, Shannon Eileen King

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accidental poisonings are one of the leading safety threats for young children, so it is important to teach children to avoid ingesting poisonous substances. Research has shown that behavioral skills training (BST) and in situ training (IST) are effective in teaching children safety skills to prevent gun play, abduction, and poison ingestion. However, little research on safety skills has been conducted with children with autism. Video modeling has been shown to be effective in teaching abduction prevention skills to children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of video modeling to …

Possible Psychosocial Benefits Of Having A Sibling With A Disability, Jenna M. Talbott

Senior Honors Theses

Possible psychosocial benefits resulting from exposure to siblings with disabilities are investigated in the current study. Previous literature has generally overlooked the possibility of psychosocial benefits by exclusively focusing on the negative effects of having a sibling with disabilities. Contact theory suggests that the increased exposure to individuals with disabilities should increase positive attitude toward those who are struggling with disadvantages. This investigation hypothesized that this tendency would be manifested as elevated empathy and compassion in individuals who have siblings with disabilities, and that these traits would be influenced by certain demographic variables. A survey was distributed, and the responses …

The Effects Of Systematic Reinforcement On Academic Performance In Precision Teaching: An Investigation Of Acquisition, Retention, And Endurance, Victoria Ann Hoch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of positive reinforcement in acquisition programming is a hallmark of Applied Behavior Analysis; however, the Precision Teaching literature reveals a lack of reporting on the use of reinforcement. The present study utilized a groups design and single case analyses to investigate the effect of programming systematic tangible reinforcement on acquisition performance, retention and endurance of academic skills with 10 typically developing students ranging from 5-7 years of age. Results indicate that for both control and experimental participants, an increase in accuracy on both See/Say sight words and math problems occurred; however, the experimental group performed better on See/Say …

Using Contingency Mapping To Decrease Problem Behavior And Increase Social Communication Skills In Children With Autism, Diana Carolina Sanguino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Social communication skills play a central role in the developmental outcomes for young children with autism. Due to deficits in social communication skills, many young children with autism develop problem behavior. Providing these children with the right tools to communicate properly may decrease their problem behavior. This study examines the impact of contingency mapping intervention on problem behavior and functional communication skills in three children with autism, using a multiple-baseline design. Before implementation of contingency mapping, verbal contingency was implemented in the first phase of intervention, which was associated with minimal increases in communication skills and decreases in problem …

Using Auditory Feedback To Improve The Performance Of Judokas During Uchi Komi, Taylor Easton Ferguson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Auditory feedback has been shown to be highly effective at teaching new skills to athletes in a variety of sports. This method consists of targeting a routine, breaking down the specific skills required to complete the routine, and training an individual on those skills using an auditory device to provide feedback on correct responses. This study evaluated the effectiveness of auditory feedback for improving a judo technique. One set of techniques taught in judo are standing throws, which require a partner to receive the technique (uke.) These throws require specific skills to successfully implement the technique. Auditory feedback was evaluated …

Promoting Generalization Of Skills Acquired Through Behavioral Skills Training With Embedded Visual Prompts, Andrea N. Perdomo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies on the "Tools" for Positive Behavior Change were originally conducted with people involved in the foster care system. Few studies have conducted the trainings in classroom environments to increase the positive interactions between teachers and their students. Numerous studies have demonstrated the usefulness of behavioral skills training in teaching a wide variety of behavioral skills; however, relatively few of them have shown generalization to their natural environment and maintenance of appropriate responding following the training. Methods of prompting following the initial trainings that have been utilized are often quite intrusive especially when it interrupts the flow of the participants' …

An Evaluation Of Group Contingency Interventions: The Role Of Teacher Preference, Christina Ennis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disruptive behavior within classrooms is a major concern for teachers and parents. Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) provides a multi-tiered framework for schools to provide supports to students, which are matched to each student's needs. Whereas most students are successful with the school-wide supports provided to all students, approximately 20% of students are likely to require additional supports. Group contingencies have an established basis of support as effective Tier 2 interventions; however, these contingencies vary in a variety of dimensions that may influence their efficacy and acceptability. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relative impact of …

Acquisition Of A Social Problem Solving Method By Caregivers In The Foster Care System: Evaluation And Implications, Evan Ann Skelton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

All youth are faced with many social issues and problems on a daily basis, and youth in foster care are often less equipped than their peers to make good decisions for themselves. The SODAS problem solving method is a component of the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) model and is intended for personnel to use with youth to help them make better decisions when faced with difficult situations. The SODAS method is designed to guide youth through a problem solving method for a current situation, and over time to acquire improved problem solving skills. Three caregivers at a group facility …

Using Video Feedback To Improve Horseback Riding Skills, Heather Kelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used video feedback to improve the horseback riding skills of advanced beginner riders. The study focused on three skill sets, those used in jumping over obstacles, dressage riding on the flat, and jumping position riding on the flat. Baseline consisted of standard lesson procedures. Intervention consisted of video feedback in which a recorded attempt at the target behaviors was immediately shown to the rider and the instructor. The rider and instructor reviewed the video while the instructor delivered feedback. Target behaviors were scored according to checklists that correspond to each skill. For all participants, video feedback increased their …