Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Testing Of A Protocol For Validating Claims Of Facilitated Communication, Jorge Teodoro

Masters Theses

Facilitated Communication (FC), is a new and controversial augmentative communication technique. This study examined the facilitated messages of six severely mentally impaired school children, produced under naturalistic, yet controlled, experimental conditions. The students were removed from the presence of their facilitators and experienced out-of-classroom events. When the students returned, their facilitators read descriptions containing True, False or No Information about the students' experiences. Messages produced in the ensuing facilitation sessions indicated that the facilitators influenced the facilitated messages, although they appeared unaware that they were doing so. Meanwhile, students showed little resistance to the testing procedures. Based on these results …

Attitudes Toward Euthanasia And Suicide For The Terminally Ill: An Updated Analysis, Thomas Melvin Stankewicz

Masters Theses

Replication of Monte's (1991) analysis of euthanasia and suicide correlates was the focus of this study. In addition, a right to die index was created and results were compared to the replication findings. The data used in the analyses were from the 1985 and 1991 General Social Surveys.

Cross-tabulation and multiple regression analysis were conducted to determine: (a) whether euthanasia and suicide approval increased significantly between 1985 and 1991, (b) which variables were significant predictors of euthanasia and suicide attitudes, (c) whether changes had occurred between 1985 and 1991, and (d) whether results obtained using the right to die index …

Evolutionary Perspectives For The Analysis Of Prehistoric Lithic Artifacts: An Example From The Western Highland Rim Of Tennessee, Andrew P. Bradbury

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis is to develop an evolutionary framework for the analysis of prehistoric lithic artifacts. The principles of evolutionary theory are presented and then extended to the lithic artifact analysis. Methods are developed based on the theoretical framework. Lithic artifacts recovered from two Terminal Archaic Wells Creek phase sites in Houston County, Tennessee are used as a case study to demonstrate the utility of such an approach. Variability can be demonstrated with respect to morphology, technology, and function of lithic implements. Elements that may represent attributes under selective pressure are examined.

The lithic material recovered from the …

Continuity And Change In Upland South Subsistence Practices -- The Gibbs House In Knox County, Tennessee, Justin Samuel Elan Lev-Tov

Masters Theses

This report concerns the faunal remains excavated from the Gibbs House Site in Knox County, Tennessee. This site was excavated by Dr. Charles H. Faulkner of the University of Tennessee in five field seasons between 1987 and 1991. The animal bones were examined at the University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology's Zooarchaeology Laboratory. Faunal remains were excavated from a number of deposits that dated from the late-eighteenth century up to the tum of the nineteenth century. The total assemblage was divided into, early, middle, and late period samples in order to examine changes in diet over time. The largest sample, …

A Survey Of Interracial Interaction At The University Of Tennessee, Knoxville: An Anthropological Analysis, Lillian Marie Wallace

Masters Theses

This study was designed to explore the social interaction of Black and White students at the University of Tennessee and how this interaction impacted Black students' college experience. Most of the pedagogical literature offers a psychosocial explanation of Black students' failure to fully integrate on White college campuses. Early educational anthropology literature presents a cultural difference explanation at the micro level. Present educational anthropology literature offers a more complete explanation of variability in minority school performance through a multi-deterministic approach utilizing race, class, and gender. This study moves beyond classroom performance. It attempts to discover inductively how Black and White …

Continuity And Change In Upland South Subsistence Practices -- The Gibbs House In Knox County, Tennessee, Justin Samuel Elan Lev-Tov

Masters Theses

This report concerns the faunal remains excavated from the Gibbs House Site in Knox County, Tennessee. This site was excavated by Dr. Charles H. Faulkner of the University of Tennessee in five field seasons between 1987 and 1991. The animal bones were examined at the University of Tennessee, Department of Anthropology's Zooarchaeology Laboratory. Faunal remains were excavated from a number of deposits that dated from the late eighteenth century up to the turn of the nineteenth century. The total assemblage was divided into, early, middle, and late period samples in order to examine changes in diet over time. The largest …

A Comparison Of Amplification Efficacy And Toleration Of Background Noise In Hearing Impaired Elderly Persons, Susan Ruth Lytle

Masters Theses

Toleration of background noise and amplification efficacy were compared in hearing impaired older persons. Twenty subjects were divided into two matched groups that differed only in their ability to successfully utilize amplification. The successful group utilized their hearing aids full time while the unsuccessful group rarely or never used their hearing aids. The ability to tolerate background noise was assessed by having the subjects select the loudest tolerable level for speech spectrum and speech babble noise while listening to a story. All testing was administered via audible field monaurally with and without the use of the subject's own hearing aid. …

Investigation Of Past Performance And Sources Of Motivation On Team And Self-Efficacy Of Collegiate Soccer Players, Kevin P. Demers

Masters Theses

This study investigated the relationship between past performance and sources of motivation on team and self-efficacy of collegiate soccer players. The subjects of this study were 92 male collegiate soccer players who participated in MIAA competition in the fall of 1992. Data were collected from team and self-efficacy questionnaires modified for this study. A sport motivation scale from Butt's (1987) Sport Protocol was also used to collect data. The findings of this study indicated that (a) past performance is the primary variable in predicting team efficacy; (b) the coach's rating of player ability was a stronger source of self-efficacy than …

Using Differential Outcome To Teach Medication Discriminations To Head Injured Adults, Scott C. Votava

Masters Theses

In attempt to replicate the DOE in teaching medication discriminations, the efficiency of differential outcomes and nondifferential outcomes procedures was compared. Additionally, the effects of the differential outcome procedures and nondifferential outcomes procedures upon generalization probes to novel medications were investigated. Finally, the effects of differential and nondifferential outcome procedures on probes to real medications were investigated. The results showed the differential outcome procedure employed produced the desired discrimination more rapidly than the nondifferential outcome procedure. No conclusive statement can be made regarding data obtained in generalization probes or in probes with real medications.

Spouse Adaptation After The Partner's Open Heart Surgery, Marietta J. Gardner

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe the adaptation of male and female spouses after their partners' open heart surgery using the theory of person as an adaptive system. A descriptive correlational design was used to examine adaptation of male and female spouses to their partners' open heart surgery (criterion variable); and partners' health prior to surgery, length of time partner diagnosed with heart disease, number of years married, and general state of marital relationship prior to surgery as perceived by the spouse were predictor variables. The sample consisted of 20 male and 25 female spouses, 31 to 88 …

Diploma Nursing Students' Attitudes Toward Poverty, Elizabeth Louise Phillips

Masters Theses

According to King, stereotyped perceptions may interfere with nurse-client transactions. Therefore, nurses' should possess attitudes which enable them to care for individuals who live in poverty. A descriptive correlational design was used to examine first year and second year diploma nursing students' attitudes toward individuals living in poverty. It was hypothesized that second year diploma nursing students would demonstrate a more positive attitude toward those living in poverty than first year diploma nursing students.; A convenience sample of diploma nursing students (N = 102) completed the "Attitudes about Poverty and Poor Peoples" scale utilized to assess students' attitudes (Atherton et …

Robert Frost And Maya Angelou: Poet-As-Rhetor In The Presidential Inauguration: Textual Symbols And The Symbol Of Enactment, Donna M. Witmer

Masters Theses

This criticism uses an organic approach to examine the rhetorical properties of Frost's and Angelou's inaugural poems and their individual enactments respective of the constraints and exigencies in the Presidential inaugurations of Kennedy and Clinton. Apparently responding to the constraints of television's sound bite as well as to exigencies of the traditional inauguration and the need to serve a new generation and a culturally diverse population, the Clinton Administration combined the poetic form, used to heighten an emotional response, with an enactment as a synecdochic symbol, used to assert sociopolitical ideology.

Perceived Differences In Family Characteristics Among Women Exhibiting Varying Levels Of Eating Disorders, Emily K. Altemus

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Hunter S. Thompson's Bid For Sheriff Of Pitkin County, Colorado: The Rhetorical Anatomy Of An Unconventional Campaign, Eric Bruce

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Communication Apprehension As A Determinant Of Conflict Management Style, Jennifer C. Eikenberg

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

An Evaluation Of Pre-Intake Attention On Kept Intake Appointments In An Outpatient Setting, Lauren Roberts

Masters Theses

The present study attempted to reduce the no-show rate for scheduled intake appointments at a local CMHC through the use of two interventions. Thirty-seven subjects who called for an intake appointment were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: an Orientation and Standard Intake Procedure or an Orientation and Modified Intake Procedure. Both treatment groups were compared to a Base Group consisting of intake appointments scheduled during the same time period the previous year. Individuals assigned to OMIP revealed a reduction in the no-show rate from 51% during baseline to 36%. Individuals assigned to OSIP did not reveal similar …

A Rhetorical Analysis Of The Persian Gulf Debates, Daniel F. Hickey

Masters Theses

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to analyze selected senatorial speeches for and against using military force against Iraq.

Hypothesis

It was hypothesized that Richard Weaver's hierarchy of argument will provide a useful framework for the identification of arguments and philosophical inclination of the speakers.

Materials

The primary documents comprising this study were the four speeches found in Vital Speeches of the Day by Senator Robert Dole (R-KS), Senator George Mitchell (D-ME), Senator John C. Danforth (R-MO), and Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA). All were delivered in the Senate between January 10-12, 1991. The speakers chosen were well-respected members of …

A Burkean Analysis Of The Rhetoric Of Sexual Harassment: An Examination Of The Polarization Of Attitudes Related To Consensual Relationships On Campus, Loretta Lovelace Wiman

Masters Theses

A history of sexual harassment traces the recognition and development of the issue as a social problem in the workplace and on college campuses. A review of research literature reveals both percentages of students involved and the effects on those students of academic or teacher/student sexual harassment. A brief overview of institutional policy statements shows that some colleges/universities have responded to the issue with a ban on all consensual amorous relationships between teachers and students; some ban such relationships only when a supervisory relationship also exists, and some do neither. Some policies include sanctions on those who violate bans; others …

Generalization Of The Four Roles Found In Adult Children Of Alcoholics To A College Population, Todd E. Pienkos

Masters Theses

The Children's Roles Inventory was developed to assess the four theoretical children's roles found not only in alcoholic families but in all families regardless of parental alcoholism: the Hero, Mascot, Lost Child, and Scapegoat. A sample of 266 college students, with 19% indicating parental alcoholism, completed the CRI and measures of self-actualization and self-esteem to verify any differences between the identified groups of adult children of alcoholics, adults from nonalcoholic families and the four roles within. Demographic information was also obtained including: gender, age, and whether the individual was a member of a fraternity or sorority.

Significant differences were found …

A Study Of The Adaptive Functioning And The Behavioral And Emotional Problems Of Child Victims And Witnesses Of Family Violence, Christine E. Rinkel

Masters Theses

Behavior problems and adaptive behavior were evaluated in a sample of 30 children, mean age 9.5 years, whose mothers had been temporarily residing in a shelter or had been receiving shelter services during the 6 1/2 months of data collection. Using a sequential sampling design, the mother of every child exposed to family violence, was selected. Fifteen mothers were interviewed regarding the nature of the violence that their children had witnessed and/or experienced (including type, frequency, duration, and recency of the violence) as well as the nature of their children's adaptive behavior (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales). Mothers also rated their …

A Study Of Required Educational Preparation And Role Of Entry Level Public Relations Practitioners: A National Educator And Practitioner Perspective, Kristin Mary Oelke

Masters Theses

The public relations profession is in a constant state of change, and it doesn't have a clear definition. Without having a clear understanding of public relations, it is difficult to know exactly how to prepare college students who aspire to become public relations practitioners for the profession.

Moreover, there is only limited public relations research and literature regarding the required educational preparation and role of entry-level practitioners. Therefore, due to the limited literature, this study was conducted, in general, to learn more about the required educational preparation and role of entry-level PR practitioners and, specifically, to test the following three …

Viewer's Perception Of Local Television Anchors: A Gender Based Study, Mary Elizabeth Wagner

Masters Theses

A number of studies conducted by Lin (1992), Meeske (1992), Stone and Lee (1990), and Weinthal and O'Keefe (1984) have examined which variables are rated highest and most prominent by respondents toward television anchors. Professionalism, voice and speech, personal appeal, and attractiveness have been among the top rated variables, but they have never been researched within a single study. This study examines the above variables for local male and female television anchors and discovers which was rated the highest by male and female respondents. Significant findings within this study include male respondents perceive professionalism to be the highest rated variable …

Informational And Attitude Changes Toward P.M.S. As A Function Of Viewing An Educational Video And Presenter Gender, Paula J. Kirk

Masters Theses

Subjects were 61 volunteer college women and men randomly assigned to one of three conditions: condition A= viewed video presenting factual information about Premenstrual Syndrome presented by female; condition B= viewed video with identical dialogue, except presented by a male; condition C= control group. Pre and post measures were taken at a ten day interval and a presenter evaluation form was completed by subjects in conditions A and B after viewing the video.

Results indicate the following: First, participants who viewed an instructional video on PMS gained more educational information than those participants who did not. Second, Sex of presenter …

The Relationship Between Ca And Humor, Michael Sean Mcmurtry

Masters Theses

Research has shown that communication apprehension is seen as a negative effect of speaking in public as well as in other situations. The nervous and anxious feelings experienced in these contexts take away from understanding and add to the breakdown of interpersonal relationships. On the other hand, humor is found to be an excellent coping mechanism to deal with embarrassing and fear-related anxieties and it adds to group cohesiveness. The relationship between CA and humor was of investigated to determine what effects CA has on humor and how well the use of humorous messages alleviates the problems associated with CA. …

Visualization And Imagined Interaction As Cognitive Interventions For Lowering Levels Of Communication Apprehension, Kathleen A. Snyder

Masters Theses

Communication apprehension is something with which many students and people in general are faced when forced into an involuntary communication situation. Various treatments have been tested for coping with it. Imagined interaction and visualization, two cognitive processes associated with intrapersonal communication, were investigated in this study as interventions for lowering communication apprehension levels in introductory public speaking courses. One-hundred and fifty college students enrolled in introductory speech courses at Eastern Illinois University served as subjects and were assigned to one of four groups: a control group, a script visualization group, a performance visualization group, and an imagined interaction group.

The …

Burnout And Job Dissatisfaction Among Practicing Illinois School Psychologists, Kathryn M. Niebrugge

Masters Theses

Survey materials including a Maslach Burnout Inventory, a School Psychologists Stress Inventory, and specially designed demographic and job satisfaction questionnaires were completed by a random sample of members of the Illinois School Psychologists Association (N=139). Results suggested that symptoms of burnout frequently occur among this group of professionals. Although job related stressors (e.g. lack of resources, time management) were related to burnout, demographic factors (e.g. satisfaction with supervision, case discrepancy index) were found to be the best predictors of burnout. Results suggest that supervising psychologists are considered to be primary figures in resistance to burnout. Further research could aid in …

Affinity-Seeking In The Classroom: A Study Of Differences In Instructor Gender And Status, Darin L. Garard

Masters Theses

Affinity-seeking is the process by which individuals attempt to get others to like them. The purpose of the present study was to analyze student perceptions of instructor use of affinity-seeking strategies as a function of instructor gender and status by replicating the research of Bell and Daly (1984) and Roach (1992). A pilot study was first conducted to determine if research in this area was indeed warranted; results were significantly positive to that effect. For the present study, research questions were developed to examine the differences between male and female instructor affinity-seeking, Graduate Teaching Assistant and faculty affinity-seeking, and to …

The Reliability And Validity Of An Object Assembly Task, Dane'l A. Koonce

Masters Theses

A computerized object assembly task (COA) was constructed and compared to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) object assembly subtest (OA). The two tasks, the COA and the OA, were administered to seventy-one college undergraduates. The correlation between the WAIS-R OA subtest and the two COA conditions, Preview and NoPreview, combined was moderate and statistically significant. The findings support the feasibility of constructing a computerized version of the OA task.

Comparison Of High School Adolescents And Court Ordered Adolescents On Perception Of Parental Unconditional Love: A Short Pilot Study, Wanda Sandy Reid

Masters Theses

This project was conducted to determine if a difference exists in the perception of parental unconditional love between a group of high school students and a similar group of court ordered adolescents.

The subjects were fifty high school age students and fifty court ordered individuals ranging in age from eleven to eighteen.

The subjects were asked to complete a ten-question instrument with a response scale of one to seven. When the data was analyzed, the scale was reduced from seven to three in order to make the data more meaningful.

The results show that there was not a significant difference …

An Analysis Of And Revision Of The Board Policy Manual Of Red Hill Community Unit #10, Dennis W. Kimmel

Masters Theses

The purpose of this field experience was to analyze current board policy manuals in school districts surrounding Red Hill Community Unit School District #10 in Illinois and to revise and update the board policy manual of Red Hill Community Unit School District #10. This field experience was significant because the author believes a current board policy manual that is organized helps insure the efficient operation of a local school district in the state of Illinois. The job of school governance today is difficult and principles for school governance are essential.

The development of policy statements is a practice that must …