Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Holistic Scoring Of Esl Essays Using Linguistic Maturity Attributes, Ronald Millett

Theses and Dissertations

Automated scoring of essays has been a research topic for some time in computational linguistics studies. Only recently have the particular challenges of automatic holistic scoring of ESL essays with their high grammatical, spelling and other error rates been a topic of research. This thesis evaluates the effectiveness of using statistical measures of linguistic maturity to predict holistic scores for ESL essays using several techniques. Selected linguistic attributes include parts of speech, part-of-speech patterns, vocabulary density, and sentence and essay lengths. Using customized algorithms based on multivariable regression analysis as well as memory-based machine learning, holistic scores were predicted on …

Early Predictors Of Self-Regulation In Middle Childhood, Rebecca A. Colman, Sam A. Hardy, Myesha Albert, Marcela Raffaelli, Lisa J. Crockett

Faculty Publications

The present study examined the contribution of caregiving practices at ages 4–5 (Time 1) to children’s capacity for self regulation at ages 8–9 (Time 2). The multiethnic sample comprised 549 children of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) participants. High levels of maternal warmth and low levels of physically punitive discipline at Time 1 were associated with a greater capacity for self-regulation at Time 2. These associations remained signifi cant once initial levels of self-regulation were taken into account, indicating that the development of self-regulation is open to caregiver infl uence during childhood. Neither child gender nor ethnicity moderated the …

Eating Disorder Risk In Subgroups Of College Freshman Women, Karen E. Gochnour

Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this study was to identify subgroups within the college population having a heightened risk for eating disorders. The information for this analysis was retrieved from an existing data set. The two variables that were compared were self selection of college major at the initial collection during freshman year. The sample size of 1,924 was used to see if subgroups of college majors had a heightened risk. Twenty groups composed of similar majors were studied. The majors of Dance, Dietetics, Physical Education, and Communications had heightened risk according to analysis percentage of each group in the clinical range …

States' School Crisis Planning Materials: An Analysis Of Cross-Cultural Considerations And Sensitivity To Student Diversity, Neil O. Annandale

Theses and Dissertations

The importance of providing appropriate crisis intervention to individuals and families from diverse backgrounds is an often overlooked aspect of service provision. In particular, school-based crisis intervention has only recently begun to address this issue. This study reviewed state mandated school crisis plans, state directives for crisis plans, and state resources to assist school districts in developing crisis plans. The content of these materials was examined to determine the extent and type of coverage given to student diversity, particularly cross cultural considerations. Materials were obtained from state department of education internet sites and from the state offices of Safe and …

Alcohol Use And Religiosity Among College Students, Deena King

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use among college students is often in the news. Some scholars argue, with literature to support it, that problem drinking in college is just a media-driven myth (Lederman et al. 2004). Yet it is clear that college students do drink, some to excess. Various reasons are cited from alcohol availability to the "freedom" associated with this stage of life. However, very few researchers have attempted to determine whether religiosity affects alcohol use among college students. The purpose of this study was to further examine the combined issues of religiosity and alcohol use among college students. Is excessive use of …

The Developmental Timing Of Divorce And Adult Children's Romantic Relationship Quality, Abigail Joy Viveiros

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the contingencies that explain whether divorce has positive or negative long-term effects for adult children is at the heart of this study. Although previous studies suggest an association between parental divorce and the divorce of adult offspring, less known is about whether the timing of divorce influences the relationship outcomes of adult children. Using a large nationally representative sample in terms of race (N=6,066), eight groups of individuals (males and females from intact homes, males and females who experienced divorce during adolescence, males and females who experienced divorce during middle childhood, and males and females who experienced divorce during …

Family Socialization, Religiosity And Young Men's Fatherhood Plans, James Parry Sanders

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how family socialization and religiosity are associated with young men's intention to someday become a father. Data from the National Survey of Families and Households are used to measure the influence of family connection, family regulation, family psychological autonomy and public and private religiosity on young men's fatherhood intentions. Family connection and private religiosity are associated with young men's fatherhood plans.

Adolescent Leisure Activities As A Moderator Of The Negative Effects Of Family Process On Adolescent Emotional Health, Samuel K. Dahlin

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an adolescent's experience with different types of leisure (achievement, social or time-out) would moderate the negative effects of dysfunctional family process on an adolescent's emotional health. A model was tested that hypothesized that leisure experienced as achievement or social by adolescents would buffer the negative effects of a dysfunctional family. A sample of 243 clinical and non-clinical adolescents completed the Global Severity Index, the Family Assessment Device, and the Leisure Questionnaire. Three regression analyses were run for the whole sample (n=243), the male sample (n=150), and the female sample (n=93). In …

Teaching Writing Through Peer Revising And Reviewing, Kristi Lundstrom

Theses and Dissertations

Although peer review, in which students evaluate each others' papers, has been shown to be beneficial in many writing classrooms, the benefits of peer review to the reviewer, or the student giving the feedback, has not been thoroughly investigated in the field of second language (L2) writing. The purpose of this study is to determine which is more beneficial to improving student writing: receiving or giving peer feedback. The study was conducted at the English Language Center (ELC) at Brigham Young University (BYU). Ninety-one students in nine writing classes at two different proficiency levels, high beginning and high intermediate, participated …

Implicit Family Process And Couples Rules: A Comparison Of American And Hungarian Families, Noemi Gergely

Theses and Dissertations

Family life is organized by rules, and most of them are unspokenly agreed-upon by family members and may be even out of awareness. Implicit family process and couple rules may facilitate or constrain family relationship and intimate couple relationship growth. Prevalence of family rules may be different across cultures. Family members may perceive their rules and family functioning differently according to their family position and gender. Married couples may view their relationship rules differently than couples who cohabit. This study utilized the Family Implicit Rules Profile (FIRP) and the Couples Implicit Rules Profile (CIRP) Questionnaires to answer these research questions. …

Crossing Dependencies In Persian, Jonathan M. Dehdari

Theses and Dissertations

Languages occasionally have syntactic constructions that are difficult, if not impossible, to describe using a context-free grammar. One such construction is a crossing dependency. Crossing dependencies have been well studied for Dutch and Swiss German (Huybregts, 1976; Shieber, 1985), and recently for Tagalog (Maclachlan and Rambow, 2003). In this paper I propose that Persian exhibits crossing dependencies. In this SOV language, a light verb construction in the future tense becomes interrupted by a future auxiliary verb, which agrees with its subject in person and number. The future auxiliary also splits passive constructions in a similar manner. These forms present interesting …

Marital Harmony And Conflict: Linkages To Infants' Emotional Regulation, Cardiac Vagal Tone, And Developmental Status At Six- And Nine-Months Of Age, Staci Shizuko Ohmine

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the linkages between marital harmony and conflict and infants' emotional and physiological regulation abilities and developmental status at six- and nine-months of age. Participants included 93 first-time mothers and their infants (43 males, 50 females) from a Mountain West community. Mothers were asked to complete a battery of questionnaires, including a demographic measure and Braiker and Kelly's (1979) marital quality questionnaire. The revised Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID II) and Behavior Rating Scales (BRS) 2nd Edition were administered at six- and nine-months to measure infants' mental and motor development status and emotional regulation abilities. Infants' heart …

An English For Specific Purposes Curriculum To Prepare English Learners To Become Nursing Assistants, Abel Javier Romo

Theses and Dissertations

This project details the designing and implementation of an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Curriculum to prepare English learners to become Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center (UVRMC) in Provo, Utah. UVRMC, which is owned by Intermountain Health Care (IHC), employs a group of about 40 non-native speakers of English. They work as housekeepers and have interest in learning English and consequently acquiring new skills they could use in better jobs to improve the quality of their lives. UVRMC would like these employees to obtain additional education in order to provide them with better employment opportunities. …

Family-Of-Origin Quality, Regulation Of Negative Affect, Marital Stability, And Couple Drinking Patterns, Heidi M. Brunner

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of family-of-origin quality, adult regulation of negative affect, and marital stability with the extent to which couples report they drink similarly and the extent to which they report that the husband drinks more than the wife. It was hypothesized that these two types of couple drinking patterns would be impacted by each individual spouse's context as well as by the interaction of those contexts. A national sample of 1498 couples or 2996 individuals (1498 wives and 1498 husbands married to each other) participated in this study. This study sought …

Japanese Mothers' Parenting Styles With Preschool-Age Children, Ai Shibazaki Lau

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine whether Western typologies of parenting (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and psychological control) and their dimensions (e.g., connection, regulation, physical punishment, verbal hostility) can be measured in the context of Japanese parenting. Based on the literature review, it was hypothesized that these parenting constructs are measurable in Japan. The participants were 214 Japanese mothers of preschool-age children (101 boys and 113 girls) from several preschools in Kushiro-city, Japan. A series of two-group (boys and girls) Confirmatory Factor Analysis was carried out with Mplus statistical software to test the measurement models of authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, …

Körperlich Gesunde Tage, Richard Hacken

Faculty Publications

A German-language report of the 2006 German librarian's convention in Dresden.

Learning In Minimalism-Based Language Modeling, Deryle W. Lonsdale

Faculty Publications

The natural language version of the Soar cognitive modeling system (Newell, 1990) has enabled a number of language modeling applications from on-line parsing behavior (Lewis, 1993) to simultaneous interpretation (Lonsdale, 1997, 1998) to robotic control (Benjamin, Lonsdale, & Lyons, 2004). The system supports an integrated approach to incremental comprehension and generation. Learning mechanisms account for processes in language performance from deliberate, explicit reasoning to automatic, recognitional expertise.

Syntactic processing in prior versions of the system followed the Principles and Parameters approach to syntax.

Validating The Rating Process Of An English As A Second Language Writing Portfolio Exam, Robb Mark Mccollum

Theses and Dissertations

A validity study can be used to investigate the effectiveness of an exam and reveal both its strengths and weaknesses. This study concerns an investigation of the writing portfolio Level Achievement Test (LAT) at the English Language Center (ELC) of Brigham Young University (BYU). The writing portfolios of 251 students at five proficiency levels were rated by 11 raters. Writing portfolios consisted of two coursework essays, a self-reflection assignment, and a 30-minute timed essay. Quantitative methods included an analysis with Many-Facet Rasch Model (MFRM) software, called FACETS, which looked for anomalies in levels, classes, examinees, raters, writing criteria, and the …

Parenting Practices In Emerging Adulthood: Development Of A New Measure, Melanie Easley Mckay

Theses and Dissertations

Given that more and more young people are living at home well into their twenties, and parents no longer see their children as adults until well into their mid to late twenties (Nelson, Walker, Carroll, Madsen, Barry, & Badger, 2006), parents may continue to "parent" for much longer than we have typically believed. Although parenting may still play an important role, little research has been done examining parenting in emerging adulthood, including its correlates and outcomes. As such, there is a need for a measure of parenting that is appropriate for use in emerging adulthood. The current study attempted to …

Superficial Self-Harm Behavior: Helping Young Women Who Hurt Themselves, Katherine D. Ryan

Theses and Dissertations

Roughly 1 to 4% of the population engages in self-harm. Superficial self-harm is reported by more young women, than young men. Appropriate responses from family, friends, and other important individuals are a key ingredient in facilitating recovery. Non-therapists, such as family, friends, and school personnel often wish to assist young women who self-harm, but the problem is complex and they are often unsure of how to respond. Current studies primarily focus on the clinical interventions for self-harm, while very few have investigated the perspectives of the individuals who self-harm. This study investigated the perspectives of young women who self-harm in …

Integrated Marketing Communications: Branding Plan For Medicare Y Mucho Mas, Javier Camano

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper is to explain the appropriate and effective use of branding as a vital part of the communication process of an organization. In addition, this project will help identify issues to improve enthusiasm for the use of the brand, help managers become aware of brand loyalty, and show how to measure the effectiveness of the brand.

Educators' Perceptions Of Collaborative Planning Processes For Students With Disabilities, Nari Carter

Theses and Dissertations

When students with disabilities are included in general education classes, collaboration between special and general education teachers is necessary to ensure that the students have access to the general education curriculum and also have supports that enable them to benefit from their education. This paper reports the results of a phenomenological study that investigated the nature of a collaborative planning experience for pairs of special and general education teachers. From the teachers' descriptions of their experience, sharing common philosophies about educating students with disabilities was an important aspect of successful collaborative planning. Collaboration in this experience was voluntary and was …

Advances In Student Self-Authorship: A Program Evaluation Of The Community Standards Model, Klinton E. Hobbs

Theses and Dissertations

Universities are increasingly applying student developmental theories in a variety of contexts in order to better understand students and to accomplish institutional educational objectives. Robert Kegan's constructive-developmental theory has been utilized in the creation of the Community Standards Model, a program designed for use in university residence halls. The purpose of the Model is to promote student development from Kegan's third order of consciousness, in which student identity is based on a fusion of their peers' expectations and ideas, to the fourth order of consciousness, in which one becomes the author of his or her own values, beliefs, and ideals. …

How Parents And Their Adolescent Children "Talk The Talk" In Religious Conversations, Jennifer Yorgason Thatcher

Theses and Dissertations

This study builds on previous research regarding parent-child religious conversations to explore the elements and bidirectional processes of parent-adolescent religious conversations. It employs qualitative analyses of interviews with highly religious parents and adolescents representing the major Abrahamic faiths (Christianity, Judaism, Islam) from New England and Northern California. Variations in content, structure, conversational processes, and bidirectional influence are summarized in a conceptual model. Findings suggest that the quality of conversations is greater for parents and adolescents when they are youth-centered than when they are parent-centered.

The Relationship Of Implicit Family Process Rules To Adolescent Presentation Of Psychological Systems, Ian David Feinauer

Theses and Dissertations

Implicit family process rules refer to unspoken rules about family beliefs and expectations about communication, closeness, and organization and are an important dimension of family functioning that may have a powerful influence over adolescent psychological well being. This study focused on the relationship between implicit family process rules and adolescent psychological symptoms such as: Hostility, interpersonal sensitivity, depression, anxiety, and somatization. It was hypothesized that more facilitative implicit family process rules would be related to fewer adolescent psychological symptoms. In addition, a model was created that included theexogenousindependent variables of family status, (defined as intact-marriage or non-intact), treatment status (whether …

The Use Of Viewing Time Of Non-Erotic Visual Stimuli To Differentiate Between Frequent Pornography Users And Infrequent Users, Brian James Sneed

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether a measure of viewing time that uses non-erotic visual stimuli can differentiate between frequent users and infrequent users of pornography. Thirty-six male participants were classified as infrequent pornography users and 37 as frequent users. Participants completed a questionnaire and were asked to rate a variety of images, both male and female of varying ages, on their sexual attractiveness. Individuals were timed as to how long they looked at each image. The groups were then compared based upon their viewing time of several categories. No statistically significant differences were detected. The temporal …

Medical Model Influence In Counseling And Psychotherapy: Counseling Psychology Training Directors' Views, Dallas R. Jensen

Theses and Dissertations

The practice of counseling and psychotherapy is influenced by a number of ideologies, models, and paradigms. Among these, the medical model's influence is particularly salient. The ideology of the medical field pervades the theory, research, and practice of psychology and its influence deserves close examination. The few studies in this area that have been conducted are descriptive and basic in nature. The present study aimed to contribute richness and depth to conversations about medical model influence. By interviewing Counseling Psychology training directors and applying a qualitative analysis, this study provided the following themes that characterize views of the medical model's …

Front Matter, Esr Review

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

End Matter, Esr Review

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.

More Than A Little Good, Kevin W. Crean

Journal of Microfinance / ESR Review

No abstract provided.