Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Executive Functioning And Memory Performance In Adhd And Asperger's Syndrome, Kristi A. Walen

Theses and Dissertations

The diagnosis of ADHD requires the exclusionary criteria for any Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD), making it impossible to have comorbid disorders. This study investigated executive function and memory differences between 11 children with Asperger’s syndrome, 13 children with ADHD, and 36 controls, all ranging in age from 7-16 years. Executive function was assessed using Conner’s Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Task (WCST), Tower of London Task (TOL), Trail Making Test, Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCF), Grooved Pegboard Test, and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT). Memory was assessed using a subtest from the Wide Range Assessment of Memory …

Social Isolation Meets Technological Innovation: Towards Developing A Model Of Communication Among Parents Who Homeschool, Megan Nicole Tollefson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how a sample of homeschoolers were using blogs. In this study of homeschoolers and their blog use, a content analysis of 25 blogs with entries from September 2006, February 2007, and June 2007 were studied. The subjects were homeschoolers who blogged; 19 were females, three were males, and six did not clearly identify themselves as male or female. Seven themes emerged through a content analysis: resources, succeeding at homeschooling, homeschooling and fun, advice, questioning homeschoolers, current events, and socialization. These themes were verified through a word count listing from the software used …

The -Ing Suffix In French, Joëlle C. Lewis

Theses and Dissertations

One striking characteristic of modern French is the increasingly large number of words that contain the English -ing suffix. This phenomenon stands in contrast to the stereotype of the French being purists with regards to language choice and use. Indeed, there is a variety of evidence that this suffix has been integrated into French as a productive derivational suffix, and does not simply occur as an accident resulting from the borrowing of English words that happen to include it. Though many studies have been carried out on loanwords in French, and certain ones have brought specific attention to the importation …

An Examination Of Executive Function And Reading Ability In Children With A Reading Disability And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Shyla Leigh Muse

Theses and Dissertations

This study compared 56 children between the ages of 7 and 13 with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), children with a diagnosis of ADHD and a reading disability (ADHD/RD), children with only a reading disability (RD), and a control group on measures of cognition, reading, executive function, and memory tasks. Specifically, the study was looking to examine the impact of comorbid disorders on the performance of children with ADHD on tests of cognitive function. Given that children diagnosed with ADHD frequently will display a learning disability, often a reading disability, this study also examined the impact of comorbidity on tests of cognitive …

Tribal College Culture-Based Education Impacts American Indian Students In North America, Loann Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Life Circle Tribal College (a pseudonym), as other tribal colleges, claims its purpose for existence is to help increase American Indians' access to affordable and culturally relevant vocational and academic postsecondary education. This study sought to answer the following questions: (1) How did students and staff at Life Circle Tribal College perceive Life Circle Tribal College as fulfilling the cultural portion of its mission? (2) What impact did students and staff feel the culture-based education approach used at Life Circle Tribal College had on students' lives in their educational pursuits at the tribal college, in their current and future relationships …

The Noun Class System Of U̱T-Ma'in, A West Kainji Language Of Nigeria, Rebecca Dow Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This present work provides a comprehensive overview of the noun class system of u̱t-Ma'in, a Benue-Congo (West Kainji) language of Northwestern Nigeria. The u̱t-Ma'in language is characterized by a complex noun classification system and a robust agreement system that permeates the language. While an understanding of the noun classes is essential to an understanding of the language as a whole, discussion includes the division of nouns into thirteen distinct classes, marked by prefixes on the nouns themselves and by agreement elements on other clause constituents. The relationship of the noun classes of u̱t-Ma'in to historical reconstruction work available for the …

Community Breastfeeding Attitudes And Beliefs, Patty Ryan Vari

Theses and Dissertations

Breastmilk is designed by nature to meet the specific needs of the human species and provides all that is necessary for normal infant growth, development, and health for the first six months of life. Efforts to extend that message publicly have resulted in an increase of breastfeeding rates, yet still have not reached the goals of Healthy People 2010. This paper adds to the body of breastfeeding literature to understand why some women breastfeed and others do not by exploring some of the individual characteristics of a Midwestern university community, including their breastfeeding and bottle feeding (formula) beliefs, attitudes, and …

The Gratification Niches Of Internet Social Networking, E-Mail, And Face-To-Face Communication, Robert Scott Nyland

Theses and Dissertations

Internet social networking sites have been the source of much speculation and controversy in the few years that they have been in existence. These sites (the most popular being MySpace and Facebook) allow their users to create online profiles, with which they can post pictures of themselves and interact with other users via text-based messaging. These sites are especially popular among teens and young adults, many of whom find their lives controlled by these sites. Utilizing the Uses and Gratificatioons approach in combination with the theory of the niche, the aim of this study is to understand the gratifications that …

Pornography Viewing As Attachment Trauma In Pair-Bond Relationships-A Theoretical Model Of Mechanisms., Spencer T. Zitzman

Theses and Dissertations

Online sexual activities, including pornography use, have drastically increased in recent years. Many studies have examined the impact that pornography use can have on marriages and families. One of the key findings has been that pornography use can negatively impact trust in relationships. This study focused on understanding the mechanisms involved when a husband's pornography use negatively impacts his marital relationship and his wife's emotional well-being. Through qualitative analysis of interviews of 14 wives who received therapy because of their husband's pornography use, the analytic team found (1) a breakdown of expectations and assumptions central to the marriage, (2) a …

An Evaluation Of A Low-Cost Uav Approach To Noxious Weed Mapping, Brandon Tyler Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Mapping their location and extent is a critical step in noxious weed management. One of the most common methods of mapping noxious weeds is to walk the perimeter of each patch with a handheld GPS receiver. This is the method used at Camp Williams, a National Guard Bureau training facility in Utah where this study was conducted. It was proposed that a low-cost Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) that made use of a hobbyist remote control airplane equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver and digital camera could be used along with automated post-processing techniques to reduce the cost of …

Dreamwork With Children: Perceptions And Practice Of School-Based Mental Health Professionals, Rosalia Rodriguez Huermann

Theses and Dissertations

Forty nine public school mental health practitioners (i.e., school counselors, school psychologists, and school social workers) completed a survey about working with dreams when counseling students. Most practitioners in this sample reported having at least one student bring up dreams during counseling and spent some time in counseling working with students' dreams. Practitioners addressed dreams more frequently in situations where the student was having troubling dreams or nightmares, and/or was dealing with death and grief. They also acknowledged working with dreams with students who were diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, were emotionally disturbed, suffered from recurrent dreams, were depressed, …

The Relationship Between Reported Out-Of-Class English Use And Proficiency Gains In English, Denisa Krizanova Cundick

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship of out-of-class English use and proficiency gains. It also explored the relationship of gender, proficiency level and native language and the possible effect of these demographics on out-of-class English use and language gains in English. Though some studies have shown that those who spend more out-of-class time using the target language have higher language gain (Seliger, 1977), other studies have not found this to be true (Day, 1985; Freed 1990; Spada, 1986). Some reasons for the discrepancy in findings may be differences in the length of the time data is collected, samples of study participants …

Gender Differences And Similarities In The Work-Family Interface: The Importance Of Considering Family Life Stages, Giuseppe Martinengo

Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the importance of considering the interaction between gender and family life stages to properly understand gender similarities and differences in the work and family interface. Data for this study come from the IBM 2004 Global Work and Life Issues Survey representing 79 countries (N=41,813). This study is a first step toward a better understanding of similarities and differences among male and female workers across the life course and it shows that work, family and life outcomes are similar across groups, independent of life stages or gender. Six family life stage groups were created: no children and …

A Revision Of The Marital Status Inventory: Reliability And Validity With Marital And Remarital Couples, Rachel V. Jamieson

Theses and Dissertations

Predicting divorce potential has been of interest to researchers and clinicians. The Marital Status Inventory (Weiss & Ceretto, 1980) was developed to provide information about clients' perceived divorce potential. The MSI has been widely used but there have been complaints about the negatively worded items from clients, therapists, and researchers. Therefore, this study compared a revised form of the MSI (MSI-R has no negatively worded items) with the original format. There were three purposes of the study. The first was to assess the reliability and validity of the MSI-R. The second purpose was to see if the MSI-R continued to …

Are Community Values Toward Education Reflective Of A District's Reputation For Quality Education: A Case Study Approach, Sheldon Marc Deveaux

Theses and Dissertations

An increasing number of parents across the nation are seeking alternatives to educate their children. School progress is being documented because of the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Because America's education system is enthralled with academic reforms, research about this thesis topic is significant and timely.

This case study approach addresses the question whether public school districts successfully meet the education standards of parents in the community? Also, the author compares and contrasts the benefits between private and home schooling. Finally, the author addresses specific educational issues that motivate parents to remove their children from …

A 17-Year Longitudinal Study Of Spiritual Development And Psychological Correlates In A Sample Of College Students, Jeremy Daniel Bartz

Theses and Dissertations

In 1984, 1987 and 2001 data were collected on a religiously devout group of college students in an effort to better understand the process of religious development and the relationship between religiosity and mental health. This study analyzes that data by examining the stability of two different religious development styles that were identified in 1984, the stability of religious motivations over the course of adulthood, and the relationship between devoutness and psychopathology. This study found that (a) the religious developmental styles did not remain consistent from 1984 to 2001, (b) the participants' religious motivations remained stable over the course of …

Disclosure Of Abuse As A Moderating Variable For Internalized Shame In Adult Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Ami Mariko Hood Frost

Theses and Dissertations

Although previous research has established a correlation between childhood sexual abuse and internalized shame in adult survivors, very little research has been done to examine how disclosure affects that correlation. An adult female sample of survivors of childhood sexual abuse (N=467) were surveyed to determine a possible moderating effect of disclosure on internalized shame. It was predicted that 1) severity of abuse would be a significant predictor of internalized shame; 2) disclosure would be a significant predictor of internalized shame; and 3) disclosure would moderate the relationship between severity of abuse and internalized shame. Through structural equation modeling using AMOS, …

Dating Potential As A Factor Influencing The Tolerance Of Sexual Harassment, Kara Fetter

Theses and Dissertations

Seventy-nine undergraduate females participated in a laboratory analogue developed to investigate a variable labeled as "Dating Potential," defined as the combination of a man's physical attractiveness and status. Researchers attempted to determine if dating potential could influence a young woman's tolerance of peer sexual harassment. Using an instant-message type interaction, participants were exposed via computer to one of four conditions consisting of a picture and profile of a potential male dating candidate. While a man's status did not influence the participant's tolerance, results indicate that women exposed to an attractive male were more likely to tolerate sexually harassing responses.

Diverse Students' Perceptions Of Cultural Congruity And Environment At A University, Effie J. Thacker

Theses and Dissertations

The Culturally Responsive Special Education/English as a Second Language (ESL) program was designed to assist students from diverse backgrounds in being academically successful in a large western private university. Utilizing the Cultural Congruity Scale (CCS) and University Environment Scale (UES), this study analyzed the perceptions of 28 students who are ethnically diverse and enrolled in the Culturally Responsive Special Education/ESL Program. The data will be used to evaluate the program's success in addressing the barriers that have historically kept students who are ethnically diverse from succeeding in higher education. Participating students completed CCS and UES surveys questioning their perceptions regarding …

Volunteerism And Marital Quality Among Lds Senior Missionary Couples, Megan Oka

Theses and Dissertations

Although research has been conducted on marriage and volunteerism in later life, little is known about the impact of volunteerism on marital quality, particularly intense volunteer experiences. Missionary couples for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) leave their homes for a period ranging from 6-18 months and dedicate the majority of their time to working in church assignments. Qualitative interviews were collected from couples who had served senior couples missions for the LDS Church and returned home in the last year. The mean age of participants was 69, and the mean length of marriage for couples was …

Restructuring Graduate Programs To Meet Students' Changing Needs, Christina Longo

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the current trends in graduate education relating to adult learning theories, cognitive theories, online education and structures of graduate programs. The study also examines the future direction of graduate education.

The focus of the research involved identifying alumni perceptions of the PR graduate program at Rowan University. A survey was sent to 100 alumni. With a response rate of 47 percent, the data provided by the survey respondents was processed through SPSS to obtain percentages and calculations. The survey findings are presented in both narrative and chart form.

The results of this study show that the majority …

Grice's Conversational Implicature Revisited: A Discourse Analysis Of Reproductive Loss In Women's Talk, Barbara Hauser

Theses and Dissertations

In my thesis, Grice's Conversational Implicature Revisited: A Discourse Analysis of Reproductive Loss in Women's Talk, it is my intent to explore the discursive modalities of reproductive loss narrated by women, who, at different stages of gestation, have lost one or more children. Rooted in a theoretical framework in discourse analysis, my thesis seeks to analyze how women, having participated in an interview with a female interlocutor who lost a child herself, narrate their experiences of reproductive loss.

My hypothesis is that the more personal information about the experience of reproductive loss the participant is supposed to share, the …

The Impact Of Biculturalism On Human Learned Helplessness With Northern Plains Native Americans, Alan H. Storey Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of participant ethnicity, research ethnicity, and either failure, success, or neural feedback on performance on letter anagram tasks. The failure feedback represented a standard learned helplessness paradigm with the dependent measures focused on the interferences and behavior of he participants in response to feedback from either a Native American or European American researcher. A total of 55 Native Americans and 73 European Americans were assigned randomly to one of three feedback conditions (success, failure, neutral) conducted by a study blind examiner of either American Indian or Caucasian ethnicity and appearance. Participant level of biculturalism was …

Identification Of Psychological Stressors For Long Duration Space Missions: Psychological Stressors Among Five Astronauts And Cosmonauts, Melinda S. Marsh

Theses and Dissertations

As humans continue to experience space missions of longer and longer duration, more and more high intensity stressors are going to be experienced. Although physiological stressors have been studied, there have been few studies on the psychological stressors. Those that are present primarily focused on the polar environment as a space analogue. In order to answer the question of how stressors may affect future astronauts and cosmonauts, the evolutoinary reasons behind stress must be considered not only the type and intensity of the stressors.

Five astronauts and cosmonauts representing three space agencies were surveyed regarding their experiences with ten types …

Men And Therapy: Comparisons Of College Men Who Have Sought Therapy And Have Not Sought Therapy, Robert L. Reis Ii

Theses and Dissertations

For at least the past couple of decades, men have utilized help-seeking services less than women. Sex-difference research demonstrates that men and women utilize help-seeking at different rates; men use it less often. Gender-role socialization research demonstrates that gender role conflict plays a role in keeping men from attending therapy. None of the research compares men who are in therapy with men who have never been in therapy. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the similarities and differences between men who have sought therapy and those who have not sought therapy.

The main hypothesis is that gender role …

Modeling Of Uss Gasification To Evaluate New Gasifier Design In Aspen Plus, Taskin Binte Karim

Theses and Dissertations

Evaluation of ultra-superheated-steam (USS) gasification efficiency of coals to produce hydrogen enriched syngas is the research motive of this joint project between the University of North Dakota and Ohio University. A new USS bubbling fuidized bed gasifier was built in Ohio and several tasks were assigned to assess the gasifier's performance and the feasibility of producing tar-free and hydrogen-rich producer gas.

This thesis presents a thermo-equilibrium model of USS gasification. The model calculates the syngas composition and heating value for the base case fuel Clarion 4A coal using input data from experiments completed at Ohio. The RGIBBS reactor module in …

Predicting Career Success In Classically Trained Musicians, Vanessa R. Rempel

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined several factors (performance anxiety, anxiety sensitivity, vocational decidedness, and amount of time in the profession) that are believed to contribute to success in music performance professions. Existing literature highlights the unique role that some of these variables play in career success, however no research has examined the combined impact of these four factors or has attempted to identify the relative weight each predictor holds.

The present study recruited participants through various professional music organizations that require a minimum and standardized level of music training. Participants were invited to complete an on-line survey that consisted of measures …

Risk And Protective Factors Related To Female/Male Use Of Alcohol In Grades 7-12, Christie L. B. Rood

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate risk and protective factors related to the use of alcohol during a 30-day time frame for 7th-12 th grade females/males. The comparisons were male non-users to male users, female non-users to female users, and male users to female users. Data were collected from the spring 2003 Grand Forks (North Dakota) Public Schools Youth Risk and Protective Factor Survey (YRPFS). The study was conducted with 666 students: 375 were in grades 7-9 and 291 were in grades 10-12. There were 340 females and 326 males. MANOVA was used to investigate the differences between …

Executive Function Differences In Medicated Depressed, Non-Medicated Depressed, And Non-Medicated Non-Depressed Individuals, Michael T. Ransom

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to assess the performance of depressed young adults on tests of executive function, while addressing the variables of age and medication status, which have been inconsistently measured in previous research. It was hypothesized that statistically significant group differences would occur on tests of executive functions in three distinct groups: medicated depressed, non-medicated depressed, and non-medicated non-depressed individuals.

Participants included 53 adults who were medicated depressed ( n = 15), non-medicated depressed (n = 16), and non-medicated non-depressed (n = 22) and were between the ages of 19 and 40 years. Participants completed measures …

Julius Caesar And The Rhine River: The Evolution Of A Border During The Gallic Wars, Todd Roman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis descusses the use of the Rhine River by Julius Caesar in his commentaries, De Bello Gallico, covering the Gallic Wars of approximately 58 to 52 B.C., to identify the peoples and territories separated by its current. This thesis addresses the issue of how Caesar understood this division of space, what criteria he employed to support his use of the river, and his protrayal of these matters within his account. It seeks to clarify the foundation of a major national border of western history in the context of its initial involvement in the context of the Roman Late …