Parental Spatial Input During Parent-Child Interactions: A Two-Dimensional Versus A Three-Dimensional Learning Experience, Ariel Ho

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Children’s spatial ability is predictive of their future achievement in many academic and occupational domains, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM; e.g., Wai at el., 2009). During the early years, experiences such as hearing spatial language (e.g., Ferrara et al., 2011) and engaging in spatial activities with three-dimensional (3D) blocks or puzzles (e.g., Casey et al., 2008) are found to facilitate children’s spatial learning. Other than 3D toys, the use of two-dimensional (2D) touchscreen media (e.g., iPads^®) by young children has been on the rise (e.g., Rideout, 2013). Technology has become part of children’s daily activities and …

"It's Not Written In Stone": A Narrative Analysis Of The Mothering Experiences Of Women Who Experienced Childhood Sexual Abuse By A Family Member, Eva L.P. Burrill

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Within the existing body of literature on women survivors of intrafamilial childhood sexual abuse (CSA), there is extant literature that indicates that survivors will experience mothering challenges later in life. However, little research has focused on the possibility that mothering might also function as a site of healing. Addressing this gap, this thesis explores the mothering experiences of six women who experienced childhood sexual abuse by a family member. Working within a narrative methodology, data was gathered through semi-structured, in-depth interviews, and analyzed using a combination of categorical-content and holistic-content analysis. Three overarching themes were identified: 1) The Impact of …

Perceptions Of Determining Factors: A Case Study Of Eviction Risks Of People Who Hoard In Waterloo Region, Emily J. Gibson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Recently distinguished as a distinct disorder in the DSM-V, hoarding remains a behaviour about which we have only a cursory understanding. Hoarding behaviours can lead to a variety of health and safety risks, not only for the person who hoards, but for others who live with them, and their neighbouring community. Many studies make reference to the vulnerability of people who hoard as a result of these health and safety risks However, there has been little written about eviction specifically due to hoarding. This study explores the research question: what factors enable individuals who hoard to maintain their housing when …

Influence Of Planning Resources On Gait Control In Parkinson’S Disease, Frederico P. Faria

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Movement disturbances in individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have been associated with difficulties to plan complex actions. Performance of simple and complex actions overloads resources for individuals with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, it is unclear if central resources required to plan gait adjustments while walking exacerbate gait disturbances of patients with PD. More specifically, it is unclear how gait impairments, sensory processing, and the dopaminergic system influence the load on processing resources (e.g. cognitive load) during the planning of step modifications. In order to investigate the relative influence of these factors on cognitive load and its impact on gait control, …

Moral Identity Development In Adulthood, Lourdes Andrea Murua

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Abstract

Past research on moral identity development mostly focused on adolescence and early adulthood. As a consequence, little is known about developmental changes in moral identity in the adult years. The purpose of the present study was to broaden the research done on moral identity by investigating the changes in moral identity that individuals experience between adolescence and mid age. To this end, 252 participants were recruited. They ranged in age from 14 to 65 years, and were split into four age-groups: 14-18 years (N=67, 41 females) mean age 16.97; 19 to 25 years (N=52, 29 females) mean age 22.48; …

Growth Potential In Relationships: A Promotion-Focus Perspective, Amanda E. Kohler, Justin Cavallo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Relationship research has long emphasized the importance of felt security for interpersonal wellbeing, but has focused less on how opportunities for growth influence relationship well-being. The present research investigates whether people’s motivational states may influence the extent to which people value growth in their romantic relationships. Drawing on regulatory focus theory, which distinguishes between promotion (concerned with advancement) and prevention (concerned with security) self-regulatory orientations, it was hypothesized that promotion-focused individuals would be more satisfied with relationships that offered greater opportunity for growth than with those that offered greater opportunity for security. In three experimental studies, participants evaluated others’ (Study …

Maps Of Marginalization: Exploring The Healthcare Experiences Of Men And Women With Fibromyalgia, Michelle J. Skop

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This qualitative study explored the retrospective and ongoing healthcare experiences of men and women who have a diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FM), a contested, chronic, and gendered condition of unknown origin. The research question was: "How do men and women who have a diagnosis of FM experience interactions with healthcare providers?" The study, which was epistemologically rooted in the critical theories of feminist poststructuralism and intersectionality, blended constructivist grounded theory with a participatory component, an arts-based research methodology called body-map storytelling. Thirty-five participants were recruited from the Greater Toronto Area and Kitchener-Waterloo. Ten participants completed in-depth interviews while 25 participants completed …

Reproductive (In)Justice: Exploring Young Women’S Experiences Of Reproductive Saliency In An Oppressive Environment, Angele D. Desroches

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Young North American women are currently coming of age in a sociopolitical context governed by neoliberal ideology, post-feminist assumptions, agentic femininities, and demographic trends that have lengthened pathways to adulthood. Consequently, the avoidance of early reproductive experiences has become a key requisite governing the success of the young female subject. This project explores the diverse reproductive experiences of eleven young (≤ 24 years of age) women residing in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Prince Edward Island’s conservative community culture, anti-choice policies, and limited youth focused sexual-reproductive health services produces a unique experiential setting for young women who encounter reproductive events. Through …

Investigating English Teachers' Perceptions Of Intercultural Communicative Competence In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Hazem Ahmed Osman

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed-method study examines the perceptions of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) by English teachers in the Preparatory Year (PY) program at King Saudi University. Studies that aim to investigate teachers’ perception of ICC and its implementation in a foreign language classroom are relatively scarce. Additionally, the majority of the studies that generally targeted the concept of ICC in a foreign-language learning context were studies that either relied on online blogs, discussion forums, and chat rooms to allow students to communicate cross-culturally, or examined ICC development during sojourns or study abroad periods in the target country. Relatively fewer studies have addressed …

Gender Differences In Pay Equity: An Examination Of The Working Adolescent, Melanie L. Saari

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study was conducted to determine whether adult gender-based wage inequities are mirrored in the adolescent population. A developmental perspective was taken while examining this topic, so as to pinpoint stages when divergences based on gender might occur. In order to ascertain this, 157 pre-and young adolescents ranging in age from 12-15 years old participated in our survey and a subset of this group (n=89) participated in the follow-up interview. Contained in both the survey and interview were questions pertaining to remuneration, employment, negotiation, gender stereotypes and attitudes about money. Results indicated that young females seem to receive a better …

Attitudes Toward Couple Therapy In Helping Profession Graduate Students, Laura Demoe

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

A core issue of couple therapy is the evident delay in help-seeking behaviours among distressed couples. This study had two main objectives. The first objective was to examine if there is a negative stigmatization associated with attendance at couple therapy and whether this is related to a person's willingness to attend. The second objective was to examine whether couple therapy is perceived as a resource to be used once distress levels are severe and other options have been exhausted. This study used a survey methodology with qualitative components and participants consisted mainly of graduate students enrolled in helping profession programs. …

The Felt Sense Of Interconnectedness: A Qualitative Analysis Of Perceptions On Finding Resilience In The Aftermath Of Trauma Using The Mind-Body Connections Of Yoga, Ashley Collette

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Members and veterans of the military are at an increased risk of exposure to traumatic experiences due to the very nature of their occupation. The most recent statistics on Canada’s deployment to Afghanistan show that 13.2% of the (Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members deployed have been diagnosed with a mental injury within a five year follow up period of redeployment from the theatre of operations. The present preliminary study was designed to examine Yoga as a therapeutic intervention for trauma in a population of CAF members and veterans. The author interviewed 4 service providers and 2 service users of Yoga-based …

Exploring Daily Dietary Behaviour Through Examination Of The Food Choice Process, Ivy Dam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

As obesity rates continue to rise, the negative health impacts associated with unhealthy food choice behaviour remain an issue of concern. Observing the connection between food consumption and weight gain alone is likely not sufficient to understanding people’s construction of food choices. More detailed examination of a novel concept, the overall food choice process (FCP), including food thoughts, plans, purchases, and preparation, leading up to food intake/consumption may contribute to an improved understanding of food choice behaviour.

This thesis explored the wider FCP that gives rise to observed food consumption by testing passive video recording technologies, …

Critical Champions Or Careless Condemners? Exploring News Media Constructions In Cases Of Wrongful Conviction, Katherine Rozad

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Countless incidences occur throughout the world each and every day. However, only a few of these occurrences are deemed newsworthy by the media. One area of information quite often categorized as “newsworthy” is that surrounding crime. Within crime-related news coverage are occasionally cases of wrongful conviction – miscarriages of justice in which the innocent are labeled “guilty” and wrongly punished. Despite decades of research in both the areas of crime and media, as well as wrongful conviction studies, no research to date has examined the way that cases of wrongful conviction are constructed in the media from the beginnings of …

Social Factors Influencing Early Reading Development From Kindergarten To Grade One In English-Speaking Public Schools In Ontario And Quebec, Katherine Wood

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This research study examines the influence of providing parents with early literacy or socio-emotional instruction on their children’s performance in reading and social skill development. Parents were offered four interactive workshops designed to assist them in identifying everyday opportunities to reinforce either early reading skills or early social skills development. Two reading skills approaches were explored, traditional text reading and traditional text reading with computer-assisted learning opportunities. These two reading approaches were contrasted with a set of social development workshops derived from social-emotional learning models. Children’s performance was measured at three time intervals from early kindergarten to early in grade …

Enhancing Canadian Girls’ Resilience Through Girls-Only Programming, Ayesha Umme-Jihad

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Canadian girls face a number of complex issues as they transition through girlhood and into adolescence. Despite the barriers they face, girls can be resilient with the development of internal and external assets. Presently, we know that protective factors developed in girls-only programs between the critical ages of 9 and 13 enhance girls’ resilience in the short-term (Alcade, Hayward, Loomis, & Hodgson, 2012). This thesis project operationalizes protective factors as confidence, critical thinking skills, connectedness, and parental relationships. Risk factors are operationalized as adversity within environments, depression, negative behaviours, and substance use. A mixed methods approach is used to investigate …

Imagining Accomplishments From Differing Visual And Temporal Perspectives, Deanna C. Hall

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current research examined the relationship between grammatical aspect (GA) (imperfective vs. past perfect) and accomplishment verbs in event representation in Experiment 1, and then investigated the influence of visual perspective taking on this representation process in Experiment 2. Electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded with slow cortical potentials (SCPs) acting as a measure of cognitive processing during the imagination period, and behavioural measure questionnaires provided ratings of vividness, temporal component, and importance of the imagined events.

It was hypothesized for Experiment 1 that imagining imperfective events would result in more negative SCP amplitudes than when imagining events with past perfect aspect, …

A Critical Review Of Ontario’S Blue Box Program: Identifying And Testing Best Practices In Printed Paper And Packaging Recycling, Calvin Lakhan

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation undertook a critical review of four recycling policies used in Ontario which are designed to promote household waste diversion and reduce material management costs. These policies include:

1) Municipal funding should be directly tied to program performance relative to their peer group. 2) All municipalities should make investments in recycling promotion and education, and will be reimbursed $1 per household for all recycling promotion and education expenditures

3) Where possible, municipalities should implement pay as you throw schemes for household waste as a means to minimize the amount of material being disposed of in the waste stream.

4) …

An Analysis Of Quality For Volunteered Geographic Information, Joel C H Meier

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In recent years there has been a growing number of online user communities engaged in the creation, visualization, and use of volunteered geographic information (VGI). These data may represent an untapped resource for researchers analyzing large-area geographic phenomena such as species distributions patterns or land and resource management issues. However very few studies have used VGI for analytic research questions as little is known about the quality of these data. An understanding of the validity of VGI is a prerequisite for further exploitation of these novel data sources in research contexts. This paper looks to identify key issues related to …

Embracing The Grey Zone: Navigating Flexible Boundaries At Welcome Inn Community Centre, Carly H. Gaylor

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis is an exploration of relationships and issues of professional boundaries at Welcome Inn Community Centre, a faith-based community centre offering programs and services to address issues of poverty in Hamilton, Ontario. Data was gathered through semi-structured qualitative interviews with fifteen staff members, volunteers, and participants at Welcome Inn. A strengths-based perspective combined with mutual relationships and flexible boundaries were found to foster inclusion, acceptance, community building, and personal transformation at Welcome Inn Community Centre; Welcome Inn staff, volunteers, and program participants described these qualities positively. Mixed positive and negative comments were used to describe decision-making and boundaries at …

Connecting To Others: Studying The Relationship Between Social Exclusion And Imitation, Sarah K. Blyth

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Automatic imitation (AI) refers to the subconscious tendency we have to imitate an observed action, even when that action is irrelevant to or interferes with an action we are attempting to execute (Heyes, 2011; Brass et al., 2000). Human beings display a fundamental need to stay meaningfully connected to others, also known as the need to belong. Previous research shows that an experience of rejection can reduce one’s feelings of connectedness to others (Legate et al., 2013), and that behaviours such as non-conscious mimicry (NCM) increase after being excluded as a possible means of re-affiliation (Lakin et al., 2008). It …

Hunting For 'Paper Gangsters': An Institutional Analysis Of Intelligence-Led Policing In A Canadian Context, Crystal Weston

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Contemporary police departments are facing immense pressure to preserve public safety while also remaining fiscally accountable. As a response to economic pressures, police services are turning to intelligence led policing (ILP). ILP promises ‘smarter’ and more efficient policing with the use of advanced technologies and data analysis for decision-making. The present study examines ILP implementation in one urban Canadian police department. Through in-depth interviews with fifteen patrol and middle-management members, fifty-five hours of observation, and an analysis of organizational documents, I examine how ILP reform has been understood and enacted by patrol officers on the ground. From this analysis, I …

An Exploration Of The Wheel-Induced Feeding-Suppression, Stephen Benjamin Peckham

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Anorexia nervosa is an enigmatic human condition typified by food-restriction that is often accompanied by extensive exercise. This has been modeled in rats in the wheel-induced feeding-suppression (WIFS) model. In this model, animals are given access to a running-wheel, which induces a volitional drop in food-consumption. Short periods of wheel access have induced a feeding-suppression which is effectively reversed by chlorpromazine administration (Adams et al., 2009). Recent attempts at replicating Adams et al.’s (2009) feeding-suppression have, however, been unsuccessful (Peckham et al., 2013). These attempts raised questions as to whether or not the existing methodology is most effective at suppressing …

School-Based Supports For Trans Youth In Ontario, Charlie E. C. Davis

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Trans youth are some of the most marginalized youths in schools. In 2012, the Ontario Government passed two legislations, one of which was the Accepting Schools Act, strengthening supports for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) students in schools. The other was Toby’s Act, an amendment to the Ontario Human Rights Code including protection from discrimination on the grounds of gender identity and gender expression. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how these two acts have created a political context supporting trans youth in schools. A comprehensive mixed-methods approach was used to examine provincial trends of trans-specific …

Police Crime: The Criminal Behavior Of Sworn Law Enforcement Officers, Philip M. Stinson

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

This essay examines the criminological conceptualizations and research on police crime, that is, the criminal behavior of sworn law enforcement officers. It starts with an overview of the conceptualization of police crime as it relates to organizational and scholarly perspectives of social deviance. Police deviance is often conceptualized to include various misconduct, corruption, and/or crime committed by police organizations and police officers. This essay focuses on police crime resulting in the arrest of a sworn law enforcement officer and is organized within a conceptual framework that incorporates five types of police crime: sex-related police crime, alcohol-related police crime, drug-related police …

Eye Movement Patterns As An Indicator Of Task Automaticity, Olga Clarke

Theses : Honours

Automaticity is a vital aspect of daily living, as it allows for tasks to be completed quickly and with the fraction of the cognitive load required for tasks that cannot be completed automatically. Task automaticity is commonly measured with reaction time, which is considered to be an indirect measure of behaviour. As more direct measures are becoming available, there is an opportunity to assess task automaticity in greater detail. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether eye movements change as participants reach task automaticity. The study involved 16 participants who were asked to complete the dot counting …

Laws Of Image: Privacy And Publicity In America, Samantha Barbas

Books

Americans have long been obsessed with their images—their looks, public personas, and the impressions they make. This preoccupation has left its mark on the law. The twentieth century saw the creation of laws that protect your right to control your public image, to defend your image, and to feel good about your image and public presentation of self. These include the legal actions against invasion of privacy, libel, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. With these laws came the phenomenon of "personal image litigation"—individuals suing to vindicate their image rights. Laws of Image tells the story of how Americans came …

Whiteness Attacked, Whiteness Defended: White South African Rhetorics Of Race In Juluka Newsletter, Scott Schönfeldt-Aultman

School of Liberal Arts Faculty Works

This essay explores the rhetorical strategies employed when whiteness is challenged, questioned, or attacked and when whiteness is defended. It uses as a basis letters to the editor of a North American-based South African newsletter, JULUKA. The analysis suggests that when whiteness is critiqued, several rhetorical manoeuvres emerge-retaliatory rhetorical attacks, defensive rhetorical posturing, and rhetorical reversing/shifting of the critique. In JULUKA, these rhetorical responses, ultimately, limit the newsletter's ability to be, consistently, what it desires-a publication marked by a genuinely diverse exchange of ideas. By extension, one might argue that predominantly white spaces desirous of diversity and dialogue, particularly published …

"I Could Never Do That In Real Life" : An Exploration Of Real World Morality And Moral Decision-Making In Role-Playing Video Games, Samuel E. Flescher

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Video games as a medium for play increase in popularity and participation every year. Around the world, video games are also constantly criticized for depicting violent, gratuitous, and potentially immoral material that consumers can engage in. Yet very little evidence exists suggesting a tangible connection between individuals' real world thoughts and actions with their in-game experiences. This mixed-methods study aimed to explore the potential relationship between individuals' real world moral identities with their virtual decisions and actions in singleplayer role-playing video games. Fifty-one people completed an online survey containing qualitative and quantitative questions. Participants provided narrative accounts of in-game decisions …

Substance Abuse And Music Use : Exploring Relationships Through Recovery, Andrew Culler

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This exploratory study considered the questions 'what is the relationship between music and substance abuse?', and 2) 'what is the role of music in treatment for/recovery from substance abuse?', through analysis of spoken interviews with 11 people in recovery from substance abuse—how they describe music's functioning in their lives and how they experience substance use/abuse, and recovery, as connected to music. The findings of this non-generalizable study suggest people seek out music as an outside object to alter, augment, or otherwise regulate self-states within changing environmental contexts, and that such a relationship becomes a continuity across descriptions of relationships between …