School Psychology Commons^™

A Case Study: Use Of Applied Behavior Analysis With An Austistic Adolescent, Evan Jaffe

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Socialization between individuals is an important characteristic in human development. In individuals with autism, there is a profound deficit with social skills and with social reciprocity. Interventions and techniques are utilized to help enhance these skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects that Applied Behavior Analysis using discrete trials can have on the ability to elicit a spontaneous greeting in various settings by an adolescent male diagnosed with autism. This study analyzed data collected during a ten week intervention program. Behavior ratings reflected some uneven progress over the ten weeks, but significant improvements in the targeted …

An Examination Of Academic Resilience Among High-Achieving Hispanic-American Male Inner City Adolescents, Aida A. Ismael-Lennon

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Identifying risk and protective factors has been at the cornerstone in resilience research in education. Although this focus has contributed to our understanding of the personal traits inherent in academically resilient students, it fails to expound relationships existing outside of the individual. This study aims to uncover the interrelationship between individual characteristics and the environments that help create academic resilience. Twelve Hispanic-American male inner-city at-risk students, considered resilient, were interviewed about perceived factors leading to their academic success. A qualitative analysis was used to analyze the data, using Strauss & Corbin's (1998) Grounded Theory Approach. The themes that emerged were …

Integrity Of Neuropsychological Processes In Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder And Comorbid Conditions, Julie N. Henzel

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study investigated the neuropsychological and behavioral profiles seen in children diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type (IA), inattentive type plus an internalizing disorder (IA + INT), combined type (CT), and combined type plus an externalizing disorder (CT + EXT). Subjects were 63 unmedicated children aged 6 to 16 who had been assessed with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition (WISC–IV), Conners’ Continuous Performance Test-Second Edition (CPT–II), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Group differences were found for the WISC–IV Digits Backward subtest (IA + INT IA and IA + INT), and externalizing behavior scales on the CBCL and TRF …

The Relevance Of Executive Functions In Academic Production In Middle School, Norina Bobik

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The present study investigated the role that executive function plays on academic production in middle school from a prototype perspective. It was hypothesized that middle school teachers' prototypical ratings of the executive function capacities of middle school students who are academically successful would differ significantly from these same middle school teachers' prototypical ratings of the executive function capacities of middle school students who are academically unsuccessful. The study used archival data consisting of items from the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), a questionnaire that was completed by middle school teachers during a professional in-service workshop at four large …

The Relationship Between Prenatal Alcohol Exposure And Special Education Eligibility For Children In New Jersey: Early Intervention Is Key, Jacquē L. Jones

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Depending upon the amount of alcohol consumed by the mother during pregnancy and when the consumption occurred during fetal development, a child may develop fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), alcohol-related birth defects, or alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder, all of which are under the umbrella category of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Children in whom a presumptive diagnosis has been made, such as FAS, are automatically eligible to receive early intervention services, regardless of whether the child demonstrates developmental delays. The purpose of the current study is to provide support for the notion that the Early Intervention System should broaden its FAS automatic …

Assessment Of Teachers’ Core Beliefs Related To Key Features Of Response To Intervention, Jacqlyn Tumolo Zarabba

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act require that schools are accountable for the outcomes of all students. Response to Intervention (RtI) provides a framework to assist in the actualization of this goal. This educational reform effort requires dramatically different functioning on the part of all school personnel, particularly teachers. In order for this model to be successful, researchers must acknowledge the primacy of teacher level factors, such as beliefs and attitudes related to core components of RtI. The purpose of this study was to examine the core beliefs of elementary-level teachers relative to foundational components of RtI, …

Investigation Of Working Memory Across Behavioral And Executive Function Variables In Adolescents With Emotional Disturbance, Eleazar Cruz Eusebio

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Newer insights into working memory may have important implications for understanding varying cognitive abilities in adolescents and their corresponding degrees of success and efforts to accomplish real-world goals. It is important to investigate the construct of working memory in relation to academic, behavioral, and emotional success at school for students classified with an Emotionally Disturbance (ED). In the educational system, students are classified as ED, based upon IDEA regulations present within a multiplicity of these cognitive, behavioral, socio-emotional, and academic difficulties. The associated cognitive deficits often involve poor working memory skills thought to be related to frontal lobe processes. Considering …

Grounded Theory As A “Family Of Methods”: A Genealogical Analysis To Guide Research, Wayne A. Babchuk

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This inquiry traces the evolution of grounded theory from a nuclear to an extended family of methods and considers the implications that decision-making based on informed choices throughout all phases of the research process has for realizing the potential of grounded theory for advancing adult education theory and practice.

School Psychologists' Knowledge Of Tourette Syndrome Characteristics And Awareness Of Appropriate Interventions, Jesse Usher Glassman

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder consisting of multiple involuntary motor tics and one or more vocal tics. The duration of the disorder is at least one year and not more than three consecutive tic-free months (APA, 2000). The tics associated with TS are frequently more severe than other tic disorders on the spectrum. There are varying degrees of severity of TS disorder, requiring maximum to no treatment. Children and adolescents diagnosed and who are showing signs of TS are referred for school evaluations in order to identify various learning difficulties and /or emotional issues which are often associated …

Age At Kindergarten Entrance And Its Relationship To Early Academic Achievement, Joanne E. Perry

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study investigated whether age at kindergarten entrance has any effect on future language arts and literacy, using a sample of 340 students entering kindergarten in one largely white, middle-class, New Jersey, suburban school district. Students were grouped by age into two age categories: young (56-59 months) & on-time (60-72 months). Achievement was studied through archived measures of academic performance using correlations and chi square analyses to determine differences in literacy and language arts functioning related to age at school entrance. Results indicated young students were weaker in literacy and language arts achievement in first and second grade, but this …

Gender Differences Of African American Adolescents When Exposed To Race Related Stress, Sharmon Saunders James

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

For African Americans, issues of discrimination, oppression, and belonging to a minority group may significantly impact their identity formation, and their cognitive and subjective beliefs regarding racial issues. Racism-related stress as it affects African American adolescents has become an area of concern for African American researchers. Racism related stress can be characterized as the negative psychological or physiological response to a perceived instance of a racism related attitude or behavior. African American adolescents, because of their race, continue to be subjected to various social stressors that lead to negative stress that depletes them of their abilities to cope in response. …

The Relationship Between A Teacher Check List And Standardised Tests For Visual Perception Skills: A South African Remedial Primary School Perspective, Janet Richmond, K Holland

Research outputs pre 2011

Occupational therapy in remedial education settings has been questioned by the South African Government as they see occupational therapy as a costly service and thus has challenged occupational therapy clinicians’ approach to assessment. This study was undertaken to establish whether the results of standardised tests of visual perception skills, relate to teachers’ observations in respect of primary remedial school age children (six to eleven years) attending a short term remedial school because of low scholastic achievement despite having average or above intellectual ability. The Test of Visual Perceptual Skills – Revised, the Developmental Test of Visual Perception-2, the Jordan Left-Right …

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Selected Demographic Variables And Dual Enrollment Participation On Postsecondary Success For First Time Freshmen, Marby S. Barker

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between dual enrollment participation in high school and successful transition to post-secondary institutions for first year students. The sample consisted of a random sample of first-time students enrolled at four-year, two-year, and technical colleges in North Louisiana.

Participants completed the National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships First Year Out Student Survey. The results were analyzed based on characteristics such as ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status, School Performance Scores (SPS) of high school attended, ACT scores, high school cumulative grade point average, first term postsecondary grade point average, and type of postsecondary institutions selected by dual enrollment …

Performance-Based Assessment Of School Psychology Interns : Analysis Of Problem-Solving Skills As Demonstrated In Comprehensive Case Examinations, Kimberly Suzanne Hansen

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

School psychologists are integral partners in the facilitation of the problem solving process, especially when the process is embedded within a tiered service delivery system incorporating response to intervention philosophies. Therefore, it is important that new school psychologists entering the field be competent in the skill areas needed to produce positive student outcomes. It is important for school psychology training programs to assess these competencies to improve individual student competencies as well as to improve the training provided by the program in the future. Comprehensive case studies are performance-based assessments that can be utilized to evaluate individuals, as well as …

Link Between Executive Functioning And Teacher Referrals For Gifted Testing, Amanda Veronica Kenney

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

It is possible that teachers are more likely to refer for gifted support students who are highly productive in class rather than students with classroom production difficulties such as those commonly exhibited by students with ADHD or other executive function-related difficulties. Some research support has been found for this hypothesis. In a study by Zentall, Moon, Hall, and Grskovic (2001), students diagnosed with ADHD, whether identified as academically gifted or not, were described as underachievers by their teachers (Zentall et al., 2001). There can be similar behavioral characteristics between ADHD and giftedness, including hyperactivity, disruptive behavior, and a tendency to …

School Psychologists' Confidence Level With Suicide Intervention And Prevention In The Schools, Jodi L. Stein-Erichsen

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Schools psychologists are often called upon to work with suicidal students regardless of previous training or the comfort levels that they possess in this area (Debski, Spadafore, Jacob, Poole, and Hixon, 2007; Oordt, Jobes, Fonseca, and Schmidt, 2009). This study evaluates the results of a survey created by this study’s investigator. It was disseminated to members of the National Association of School Psychologists’ Listserv (NASP-Listserv) and gathers general and demographic data as well as information that contribute to the assessment of suicide intervention and prevention experience and training received by the participants. Also investigated was whether or not suicide intervention …

Efficacy Of A Self-Monitoring Technique To Improve Academic Skill Production, Carrie L. Winfield

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study examined archival data from an assisted self-graphing intervention for improving early literacy skills in first grade students from one elementary school. The purpose of the investigation is to examine the use of a self-graphing supplemental intervention that occurred outside of the class-wide first grade reading instruction. The participants included first grade students from three classroom settings in one predominately middle class, suburban school district in southeastern Pennsylvania. The participants formed three groups: (1) 8 students in a DIBELS Progress Monitoring and Self-Graphing Intervention group (PM + SG group); (2) 9 students in a DIBELS Progress Monitoring-only group (PM …

Improving Validity Of Referrals For Comprehensive Autism Evaluation : A Tier-2 Direct Autism Observation Checklist, Mary Heim Elberson

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Early identification of autism has received national attention and can lead to positive treatment outcomes. Research has demonstrated that qualitative impairments in social and communicative behaviors can be detected within the first two years of life. Unfortunately, many children with autism will not receive an autism diagnosis until they enter preschool. Professionals within school settings have not often received extensive training on assessment of autism spectrum disorders. Expectations, however, are that school-based teams can identify students who demonstrate characteristics associated with autism and refer those students for a comprehensive autism evaluation. Currently, autism screening tools are limited to rating scales …

A Qualitative Analysis Of School-Based Mental Health Professionals’ Views On The Use Of Self-Disclosure And Humor, Robert Felloney

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

There is some controversy in the therapeutic community over the use of therapist self-disclosure and humor. On one hand, there are those who contend that use of these therapeutic techniques can have both relational and outcome benefits. On the other hand, there are those who indicate employment of these counseling methods can interfere with the counseling process by being a distraction, as they take the focus away from the client. Relatively little research has been done on the effectiveness of utilizing these techniques, especially the use of therapeutic humor. Review of the research shows there are relational and consequent outcome …

Hypnosis As An Effective Treatment For Hot Flashes From Naturally Occurring Menopause, Carol F. Oliver

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Hot flashes are a significant problem for many women with naturally occurring menopause and can cause physical symptoms as well as a decreased quality of life. In the past women were treated with hormonal replacement therapy. However, recent research has shown that the risks may outweigh the benefits. In addition, nontraditional nutritional treatments, such as herbal supplements, are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and often, the exact amount of the substance contained in each dose cannot be guaranteed. Many women and their doctors are looking for an alternative treatment. The use of hypnosis has been shown to …