Applied Behavior Analysis Commons^™

Manding In Children With Autism: Transfer Of Control From Adults To Peers, Michael Layne Miller

All Master's Theses

Individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit significant delays, regression, and deficits. One deficit area is that of communication and social skills with peers. The present study assesses whether children diagnosed with ASD can learn to transfer the skill of producing mands for familiar items from an adult to a typically developing peer. This study replicates previous research and extends it with three additional manipulations: (a) reduction of prompt dependence, (b) transfer of manding control from an adult to a trained typically developing peer, and (c) a generalization test to a novel but trained typically developing peer. Results demonstrate …

"Sociocultural Predictors Of Risky Sexual Behaviors: 1 The Role Of Nativity Status, Race, Ethnic Identity And Self-Construal", Elvine B. Andjembe

Dissertations and Theses

Recent national health reports have shown that despite a considerable increase in sexual health knowledge, risky sexual behaviors’ rates among the youth are on the rise. Minorities are disproportionately affected, which translates into strong racial disparities in health outcomes such as STI/STDs, and HIV prevalence. The literature examining ethnic differences in health behaviors has studied ethnic identity (self-identification with and commitment to the values of one’s ethnic group) as a protective factor against an array of maladaptive behaviors. In addition, self-construal, which refers to the extent to which one is individualistic or collectivistic has also been established as a positive …

Hedonia And Eudaimonia: Associations With Academic Success, Wellbeing, And Neuropsychological Functioning, Maria Kryza-Lacombe

Dissertations and Theses

This study examined the relations between happiness and academic success and wellbeing in a diverse, urban college sample by viewing happiness through the lens of hedonia (seeking pleasure and relaxation) and eudaimonia (seeking meaning), and their neuropsychological correlates. Undergraduate students (n=76; 68.4% female; mean age [SD]=21.17 [3.12]) completed self-report measures of hedonia and eudaimonia, and depression, anxiety, and stress. They also completed objective measures of “cool” executive functioning (WAIS-IV Digit Span, Stroop Color-Word test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Task, and a Stop Signal task) and “hot” executive functioning (Iowa Gambling Task, Temporal Discounting Task). Semester GPA was collected from school records. …

The Influence Of Running Extreme Obstacle Courses On Positive Affect, Character Strengths, And Well-Being, Ewa Opala

Dissertations and Theses

A large body of research demonstrates the positive benefits of numerous types of physical activity. However, the outcomes of running extreme obstacle courses (EOCs) remain unexamined. The aim of the present study was to explore the influence of running EOCs on positive affect, character strengths and well-being. The study utilized a pre-existing sample of 21 participants who filled out an online survey at two time points (pre-and-post race). The findings showed that participating in an EOC was related to increased positive affect (PA) and psychological well-being. Running an EOC with a team was associated with increased post-race teamwork and the …

From Rainman To Rainmaker: A Presentation Of Jim’S Journey And Rapidly Advancing Technologies: Integrating Proven Behavioral Therapies With Emergent Measurement And Testing Advances Will Result In Transformational Progress In Autistic Individuals, Richard Zajac

CMC Senior Theses

The autism treatment status quo was reviewed and accompanied by a narrative contextualizing past and present progress with my younger brother Jim’s journey with the condition, sharing proposed next steps for bettering the current state of affairs in the space. The impetus for this piece was to share in the lessons of Jim’s life thus far and the revelations of those who have supported him, as well as to determine ways to create more impactful, lasting change in the limited window of early intervention therapy whilst empowering individuals on the spectrum to optimize for their skills and talents rather than …

"Language Preference And Cognitive Availability Of Sexual Identity In Gay Japanese Bilinguals: An Analysis Of Habitual Use Of Linguistic Categories", Sebastian Cordoba

Dissertations and Theses

Sexuality is a very private matter in Japan. Japan’s cultural mores and concepts of family unity have led to very conservative attitudes toward homosexuality. For instance, gay people generally fear disgracing their families, and this fear might prevent them from revealing their sexual identity to others, and so keeping it secret. Thus, homosexuality in Japan is a highly controversial topic. Being gay in Japan is not as tolerated as it is in some Western cultures (McLelland, 2000). Homosexuality is an issue that is not acknowledged by mainstream Japanese society – it is taboo and not spoken about publicly. The present …

A Unified Framework Of The Shared Aesthetic Experience, Huakai Liao

CMC Senior Theses

Aesthetic expressions have been seen as the manifest of human culture. The psychology of aesthetics have proposed various models, describing the various phenomena related to aesthetic experience, such as sensory pleasure derived from aesthetic stimuli, emotional response toward aesthetic depiction, cognitive mastering over aesthetic emotion, etc. However, further examination reveals current models have theoretical limits for the explanation of society-wide aesthetic preference due to limited scope of focus. Thus, the current project proposes a new theoretical framework to describe the process through which the society comes to converge on aesthetic preference. Examination of related theories and experimental evidence shows that …

A Feasibility Study Of A Lqts-Specific Workshop: Childrens' Problem-Solving Skills, Coping, Self-Efficacy, And Locus Of Control, Katherine L. Corvi

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Living with a chronic medical condition in childhood and adolescence requires many critical lifestyle changes and restrictions, which may compromise psychosocial development. Social problem-solving skills have been shown to enhance the ability to cope with both minor and major daily stressors and to minimize psychological problems associated with physical health problems. The research is part of a larger study with children with long QT syndrome (LQTS) and their parents; the present study focuses on the children. This study was developed to examine the feasibility and efficacy of a problem-solving workshop to increase problem solving, self-efficacy, coping, and locus of control …

Exploring Barriers To The Generalization Of Social Skills Interventions For Children Diagnosed With Asd: A Qualitative Analysis Of ‘Youth Engagement Through Intervention’, Zachary Shindorf

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulty with social skills and maintaining friendships. In turn, many social skills interventions have been developed to aid in the treatment of children diagnosed with ASD. Children with ASD, however, have difficulty generalizing the skills learned in social skills interventions to more natural settings like the home and school. This study, therefore, explored the barriers to the generalization of a social skills intervention, Youth Engagement Through Intervention (YETI) for children with ASD. Barriers to the generalization of YETI were explored through the qualitative examination of parents’ acceptability of the …

Singaporean Mothers' Perception Of Their Three-Year-Old Child's Weight Status: A Cross-Sectional Study, Tuck Seng Cheng, Et Al., Yee-Man Ivy Lau

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Objective: Inaccurate parental perception of their child's weight status is commonly reported in Western countries. It is unclear whether similar misperception exists in Asian populations. This study aimed to evaluate the ability of Singaporean mothers to accurately describe their three-year-old child's weight status verbally and visually.

Responses To Familiar And Unfamiliar Humans By Belugas (Delphinapterus Leucas), Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus), & Pacific White-Sided Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus Obliquidens): A Replication And Extension, Heather M. Hill, Deirdre Yeater, Sarah Gallup, Sara Guarino, Steve Lacy, Tricia Dees, Stan A. Kuczaj Ii

Psychology Faculty Publications

Previous research has documented that cetaceans can discriminate between humans, but the process used to categorize humans still remains unclear. The goal of the present study was to replicate and extend previous work on the discrimination between familiar and unfamiliar humans by three species of cetaceans. The current study manipulated the familiarity and activity level of humans presented to 12 belugas (Delphinapterus leucas) housed between two facilities, five bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), and six Pacific white-sided dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) during free-swim conditions. Two measures of discrimination were coded from video recordings of each trial: …

Using Online Controlled Experiments To Examine Authority Effects On User Behavior In Email Campaigns, Lim Kwan Hui, Ee-Peng Lim, Binyan Jiang, Achananuparp Palakorn

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Authority users often play important roles in a social system. They are expected to write good reviews at product review sites; provide high quality answers in question answering systems; and share interesting content in social networks. In the context of marketing and advertising, knowing how users react to (quails and messages from authority senders is important, given the prevalence of email in our everyday life. Using a real-life academic event, we designed and conducted an online controlled experiment to determine how email senders of different types of authority (department head, event organizer and a general email account) affect the range …

East-West Cultural Differences In Visual Attention Tasks: Identifying Multiple Mechanisms And Developing A Predictive Model, Yin Yin Tan

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Past research has identified East-West differences in visual attention associated with holistic versus analytic perception and reasoning strategies (Nisbett et al., 2001; Boduroglu et al., 2009). These cross-cultural differences might stem from several different mechanisms, which may include: interference suppression, response inhibition, attention to detail vs. object configuration, stimulus centrality vs. eccentricity, number of visual distractors (e.g., display set size or clutter), and others.

Although research has shown East-West differences, the results sometimes appear inconsistent with each other, or they lack clear predictions from underlying theories. For example, evidence of a preference for cluttered displays (Wang et al., 2012), evidence …

The Netflix Effect And Defining Binge-Watching, Brenna C. Davis

Undergraduate Research Posters

With the accessibility of television programs provided by popular streaming platforms, like Netflix, consumers can watch episodes or seasons of their favorite programming in just one sitting. This new practice of watching television has been referred to as binge-watching, and is defined by Netflix as watching two to six episodes of the same show in one sitting. Netflix’s definition is the most widely used definition of binge-watching, but does not account for the varying lengths of episodes for the different types of programming. There is a lack of standardization in what constitutes a television binge, like the standards that exist …

Stall Seat Journal As A Social Norms Intervention For Risky Drinking Among College Students, Zackaria I. Niazi, Mariam Alshagra, Rhianna G. Ericson, Jinni Su Ph.D., Linda C. Hancock Ph.D.

Undergraduate Research Posters

Alcohol use is prevalent among college students and many participate in risky drinking behaviors over the course of their college careers, leading to negative consequences. The social norms theory posits that individuals behave based on their perceptions of peer behavior. Overestimation of peers’ problem behavior is associated with increase in their own problem behavior. The Stall Seat Journal (SSJ), developed by the Wellness Resource Center, is used in part to help correct common misperceptions, including those related to peer alcohol use. Our study aimed to see if Stall Seat Journal readership was associated with perception of peer alcohol use among …

Evaluation Of The Efficiency Of And Preference For Analog Versus Mand Training On The Acquisition Of Mands For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Melissa L. King

Theses & Dissertations

The present study provides a systematic replication of the Jennett, Harris, and Delmolino (2008) study comparing discrete trial instruction (DTI) and mand training on the acquisition of mands for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). An adapted alternating treatment design was implemented across three participants. Independent mands, variation in requested items, and duration of sessions were assessed across conditions. Generalization probes were conducted to assess generalization across communication partners (e.g., novel research assistants), along with a maintenance probe one-week post-training. Furthermore, a concurrent-chains arrangement was implemented to assess participants’ preference for teaching strategies. All participants reached mastery criterion quickest with …

Reducing The Risk Of Suicide On An Inpatient Acute Behavioral Health Unit, Thomas I. Coleman Mr

Master's Projects and Capstones

Evidence suggest for those who have successfully committed suicide in the form of asphyxiation inside locked facilities are more than likely due to patient bathroom doors. The current unit consists of 30 inpatient medical-psychiatric beds serving the adult and geriatric populations. The goal is to ensure patient safety by removing patient bathroom doors and replacing them with breakaway shower curtains for those exhibiting direct signs and symptoms of suicidal ideations with a plan. The specific aim is to improve patient outcomes by decreasing the number of deaths or attempted suicides. With great results, this type of project has been implemented …

The Regional Study Of Sleep-Related Behaviors Of Nurse Anesthetists: Personal And Professional Implications: A Replication Study, Jarrod Fontenelle

Doctoral Projects

Universally, anesthesia providers are expected to be knowledgeable, astutely responding to clinical challenges while maintaining a prolonged vigilance for administration of safe anesthesia and critical care. A fatigued anesthetist is the consequence of cumulative acuity manifesting as decreased motor and cognitive powers. This results in patient harm, impaired judgement, late and inadequate responses to clinical changes, poor communications, and medical errors. With increased expectations and medical-legal claims, anesthesiologists work to provide efficient and timely services, but are rendered sleep deprived themselves. It is the right time to address the issue of the health of anesthesia providers and the profession. The …

Exploring Acceptance Of Using An Online Platform To Teach Parents Of Children With Autism Methods In Applied Behavior Analysis (Aba), Marwah S. Zagzoug

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background and Purpose of the Study: A diagnosis of autism can lead to lifelong struggles for parents and children. These families face profound difficulties in coping with stress while seeking out early interventions and managing imperative service needs. Parents are increasingly turning to the internet for information, advice, and even formal training. Breakthroughs in technology have made the internet more accessible and more sophisticated. The involvement of parents in applying intervention strategies to help their autistic children has long been advocated as a useful approach. Enabling parents as interventionists provides renewed confidence and reduced stress for parents as well as …

Training A New Trick Using No-Reward Markers: Effects On Dogs’ Performance And Stress Behaviors, Naomi Rotenberg

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored using no-reward markers (NRMs). Dogs were taught a novel trick. In the IG group dogs’ errors were ignored; in the NRM group they elicited a tone. Performance and stress were evaluated. IG dogs reached higher levels of performance, with no difference in the frequency of stress behaviors.