Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Understanding Pro-Environmental Binning Behaviour Of National Park Visitors: A Cross-Cultural Study, Kourosh Esfandiar

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The growing importance of people’s pro-environmental behaviours (PEBs) in relation to reducing their negative impacts and/or increasing their positive impacts in natural areas has attracted considerable research interest. Visitor engagement in pro-environmental activities is one of the key elements in maintaining and improving a national park’s ecological and biological resources. These resources are often the main components of tourism products developed in nature-based destinations.

A specific concern for many national park managers is the generation of litter by visitors. A PEB to solve the problem of litter management in national parks is binning i.e. putting litter in a bin. As …

The Experiences Of Western Australian Muslims Within The Current Political And Social Environment, John Lehane

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this research was to examine the experiences of Western Australian (WA) Muslims, within the context of the current Australian political and social climate, with a key focus on how political and social factors, and the vast introduction of Australian antiterrorism legislation, may impact them. Also explored in this inquiry, was how mainstream media and their regular portrayal of Islamic-inspired terrorist attacks, which has at times connected all Muslims to these atrocities, is creating a social division within the Australian community which is difficult to overcome.

A generic qualitative methodology was utilised to best capture the lived experiences …

The Perceived Influence Of Grandparents’ Beliefs And Attitudes On Parents’ Breastfeeding Behaviour And Paediatric Vaccination Decisions, Shantha Premila Karthigesu

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Human infants are highly dependent on their parents for a prolonged period of time. The resources required to raise a child cannot be provided by biological parents alone and requires the assistance of others, usually relatives. Grandparents among them, have played the most significant role. With increased life expectancy in Western, educated, industrialised, rich and democratic (WEIRD) societies, grandparents have come to the forefront as informal childcare providers. Although the influence of a child’s social environment on health has been well-studied, the influence of grandparents, specifically in regard to breastfeeding remains inconclusive, while grandparental influence on paediatric vaccinations has not …

Investigating Communicative Dissonance Within Relationships Of Adults With Asperger’S Syndrome (Asd Level 1), Bronwyn Maree Wilson

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The key features of Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) include marked and lifelong impairments in social interaction. Social interaction is a fundamental component of relationships. Despite the momentum of worldwide research on ASC, there is insufficient empirical study on adults with ASC and their relationships. Therefore, numerous myths, misunderstandings and confusion exist, especially in the area of adults with ASC, and autism-based impacts on the adults with ASC themselves, their relationships, and on the people who are in relationship with them.

Relationships that involve people with an ASC are often described as neurodiverse. Neurodiverse relationships that include one person with an …

Young People And The Baptist Church: Staying And Leaving, Timothy Mullen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this study was to understand and compare the young people’s experiences of the church between those who attended church at the time of the study, and those who were no longer attending church at the time of the study. The study was conducted to understand more about the experiences that lead young people to leave the church, and the experiences that motivate young people to stay. A literature review, and a phenomenological study was conducted into this experience. 15 young people aged 19 – 29 were interviewed using openended questions. It was found through the literature review …

Development, Assessment And Application Of A Novel Algorithm To Automatically Detect Change Of Direction Movement And Quantify Its Associated Mechanical Load In Elite Australian Football, Aaron Balloch

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The ability to change direction rapidly and efficiently is critical to team-sport performance, including Australian football (AF), where a player’s capacity to rapidly decelerate, move laterally and re-accelerate is critical when evading opponents, tackling, or reacting to the unpredictable bounce of the ball or movement of another player. The biomechanical loading requirements of change of direction (COD) movement are angle and velocity dependant. Cumulative COD movement can impart high levels of neuromuscular and metabolic fatigue which can adversely affect the efficiency of subsequent movement efforts. Despite widespread use of microtechnology devices (the vast majority containing a global navigation satellite system …

Appraisal Of Free Online Symptom Checkers And Applications For Self-Diagnosis And Triage: An Australian Evaluation, Michella Gaye Hill

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The internet has impacted society and changed the way companies and individuals operate on a daily basis. Seeking information online via computer or mobile device is common practice. The phrase ‘Google it’ is now part of modern vernacular and is a resource increasingly utilised by young and old alike. Around 80% of Australian’s search health-related information online as it is convenient, cheap, and available 24/7. Symptom checkers are one tool used by consumers to investigate their health issues. Symptom checkers are automated online programs which use computerised algorithms, asking a series of questions to help determine a potential diagnosis and/or …

Improving Sprint Performance In Road Cycling: The Forward Standing Sprint Position, Paul Franciscus Johannes Merkes

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The majority of road cycling races finish with a sprint and as such sprints are a key determinant of success. Surprisingly, the scientific literature on this specific topic is scarce, with limited to few studies describing the characteristics of road cycling sprinters and the demands of road sprinting. Cyclists’ sprinting velocity, which is mostly influenced by power output and aerodynamic drag (CdA) is critical to performance outcomes. However, to date, there is very limited research specifically examining how to maximise road sprint velocity. Thus, the overall objective of the four studies outlined in this thesis was to manipulate CdA, physiology, …

Facebook: Where Privacy Concerns And Social Needs Collide, Sonya Scherini

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Facebook is an integral part of today’s social landscape, but Facebook use involves compromising one’s privacy in relation to both other users and to the Facebook corporation and its affiliated businesses. This analysis explores respondents’ reasons for using Facebook together with their Facebook-related privacy concerns, and how these factors influence self-disclosures and privacy management strategies on the site. Also explored are respondents’ perceptions both of what the Facebook corporation ‘knows’ about them and with whom it shares their data. The research is based on the concepts of user-user and user-corporate privacy concerns versus the social needs of self-portrayal and belonging. …

Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Understanding The Influence Of Psychosocial Risk Factors And Mothers’ Help-Seeking Behaviour On The Experience Of Depressive Symptoms, Rachel Gallagher

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Research has shown that adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are at an increased risk for experiencing depressive symptoms (DS) resulting in poor quality of life and further vulnerability for the recurrence of DS in adulthood. Adolescence is a complex developmental period marked by dynamic social contexts that must be effectively navigated for the maturation processes associated with psychological wellbeing. This period is particularly challenging for individuals with ASD due to deficits in social communication skills leading to atypical social functioning. Consequently, psychosocial risk factors of DS for ASD adolescents are likely to be multiple and complex, and prominent risk …

Infants’ Relationship With Drop-Offs And Water Environments, Carolina Burnay Rodrigues De Morais

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Underpinned by the ecological approach to perceptual-motor development, this Thesis aims to contribute to the understanding of the organization of infants’ behaviour during encounters with drop-offs and water environments. Previous studies have linked locomotor experience to infants’ avoidance of falling from heights. Using the Real Cliff / Water Cliff apparatus, Burnay and Cordovil (2016) confirmed the effect of locomotor experience on crawlers’ avoidance of drop-offs and linked locomotor experience to infants’ avoidance of falling into the water for the first time. However, the effect of other specific locomotor experiences on infants’ approach to aquatic environments has not been addressed. This …

The Development Of Social Behavior In The Tibetan Macaque (Macaca Thibetana), Rose Amrhein

All Master's Theses

Social cognition is vital for the proper integration into adulthood for any highly social animal species. The development of social intelligence during the childhood and adolescence of a social organism affects the individual throughout its life. This social intelligence allows for the establishment and maintenance of bonds through the formation of empathy, the understanding of intention and emotion, and theory of mind in some species. Changes to the rate and effectiveness of social development could lead to an individual incapable of integrating into the social environment of adulthood. Yet, much still needs to be learned about the process and influences …

Mood Effects And Individual Differences On Reappraisal And Distraction: An Erp Study Of The Sensitivity Of Emotion Regulation Strategies, Elsa Mastico

All Master's Theses

The present research evaluated the effect of mood and individual differences on the regulatory process of emotions by using a regulation task with negative and neutral images to assess reappraisal and distraction ability. Specifically, this research evaluated the average amplitude of the latent positive potential (latent positivity, LPP) brainwave linked to distraction and reappraisal using an ERP analysis. In addition, the current study compared the modulation of the LPP to the self-reported mood of the participants and their individual differences in regulation ability through scores of a self-report emotion regulation questionnaire. The latent positive potentials from an emotion regulation task …

Comparing Students' Perspectives On A Rural University's Special District Police Department And Student's Traditional Hometown Police Departments, Angela Pierce

All Master's Theses

Understanding the public perceptions of police is not a new topic, but it is one that has not focused on that of university students. This current study aims to fill the gap in knowledge by comparing student’s perceptions of two different police departments; traditional hometown police departments and special district police. This study targeted a specific population, college students, that needs additional research to understand what factors contribute to their perceptions of police. This study gathered students’ perceptions of police using an email survey of all on-campus students in a regional state university. Using OLS regression, I was able to …

Spatial Memory And Executive Functioning In The Goto-Kakizaki Rat Model Of Diabetes, Lorielle Dietze

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a disease that adversely affects cognitive function in areas extending to memory and executive functioning. The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat provides a model of type 2 diabetes that can illustrate the mechanisms by which this disease works. The present study compared hyperglycaemic GK rats and age-matched Wistar rats in the Morris water maze to assess spatial memory, and in a perceptual attentional set-shifting task to assess putative prefrontal-dependent executive functioning. Results showed there was no difference in path length during training trials, however, GK and Wistar rats differed in the path length travelled in the target …

Studies On The Anatomy Of Teleosts, Katherine Elliott Bemis

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

The Longnose Lancetfish, Alepisaurus ferox, is a pelagic marine fish that has a heterodont dentition, including large fangs on both the upper and lower jaws. Their diet is well documented and includes salps, hyperiid amphipods, pelagic polychaete worms, mesopelagic fishes, and cephalopods. However, the function of the heterodont dentition, the structure of the teeth, and replacement mode is largely unknown. We studied a series of A. ferox to describe their dentition and tooth replacement. All teeth are replaced extraosseously. Palatine and dentary fangs develop horizontally in the oral epithelium on the lingual surface of dentigerous bones. Developing fangs rotate into …

Investigating Facilitation Strategies And Engagement In Correctional Mindfulness Programs: A Grounded Theory, Alexander Joseph Seth Hilert

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Mindfulness has received growing attention as an empowering approach for the treatment of addiction and mental health disorders in the criminal justice system. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, this study explored the teaching practices of volunteers who currently facilitate mindfulness programs in correctional settings. A total of fifteen volunteer meditation teachers and three former group members were interviewed. The researcher utilized interview data to construct a grounded theory which conceptualizes the barriers volunteers face, helpful facilitation strategies, and factors which promote and threaten the engagement of group members. The results of this grounded theory illustrate culturally responsive facilitation strategies …

Where For What: A Meta-Analysis For The Category-Specific Activations For Living/Nonliving Concepts In The Past Two Decades, Kimberly D. Derderian, Xiaojue Zhou, Lang Chen

Psychology

The cortical organization of the semantic network has been studied extensively in neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies. Recent theories have heavily relied on the observation of category-specific activations, i.e., the preferential activations in brain regions for specific semantic categories. With decades of research, a full understanding of the organization has not yet been reached, since little is known about the factors that contribute to the variances in observed activation patterns across numerous neuroimaging studies. In this study, we first reviewed 97 published papers that reported category-specific activations for living or nonliving concepts in the past two decades. Then, using the Activation …

Acts Of Meaning, Resource Diagrams, And Essential Learning Behaviors: The Design Evolution Of Lost & Found, Owen Gottlieb, Ian Schreiber

Articles

Lost & Found is a tabletop-to-mobile game series designed for teaching medieval religious legal systems. The long-term goals of the project are to change the discourse around religious laws, such as foregrounding the prosocial aspects of religious law such as collaboration, cooperation, and communal sustainability. This design case focuses on the evolution of the design of the mechanics and core systems in the first two tabletop games in the series, informed by over three and a half years’ worth of design notes, playable prototypes, outside design consultations, internal design reviews, playtests, and interviews.

Cultural Differences, Social Support, And Therapy Outcomes: A Comparative Study Between Individualist And Collectivist Cultures, Veronica Felstad

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Social support plays an integral role in our lives, and recent research demonstrates that the presence or lack of social support has a potential impact on factors of interest to psychologists, such as therapeutic progress and therapeutic alliance. There is a lack of research demonstrating the relationship between social support and treatment outcomes and the role culture plays. This quantitative international study aimed to explore cultural variances in perceptions, utilizations, and functions of social support, particularly between individualist and collectivist cultures, and the potential effect these variances had on the relationship between social support and therapeutic outcomes. Sixty clients and …

Confusing Conversations: Assessing Traumatic Stress In Young Children, Jennifer Lela Moniz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Early detection and interventions are important for the prevention of negative long-term effects of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Current evaluations of PTSD in young children rely heavily on caregiver reports, and there are few self-report measures for children under 8 years old (Mash & Barkley, 2007). This study examined the construct validity of the Post Traumatic Symptom Inventory for Children (PT-SIC), a self-report measure of PTSD symptomatology for young children, through a comparison of results with the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (TSCYC), an empirically supported caregiver measure of child PTSD symptomatology. Results of the Spearman correlation indicated that …

Teachers’ Experiences Of School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports: A Qualitative Study, Eric Walter

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe the unique personal experiences of teachers implementing School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) in their classroom and identify themes within their experiences that impacted their desire or ability to implement SWPBIS. Phenomenological analysis was utilized to analyze data to develop a greater understanding of how teachers view and experience SWPBIS, and identify factors that aid and hinder acceptance and implementation. Four participants involved in implementing Tier 1 of SWPBIS were interviewed and asked about their experiences implementing SWPBIS. Participants described a number of experiences that negatively impacted their belief in, attitude …

Analysis Of European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, And Trade Efficacy: A Multi-Scale Perspective, Marshall Adams

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Since the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), the international community has launched several policy initiatives to address complex environmental problems, in particular illegal logging. One such initiative is the European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement, Governance, and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan and its Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs). The scholarship on FLEGT has overwhelmingly focused on technical and governance aspects, drawing largely from a single institutional analysis theory. However, there is scant empirical research on a range of theories to understand FLEGT efficacy from a multi-scalar governance perspective. My dissertation research contributes to a multi-scalar forest governance …

To Empathize Or Iempathize: Social Networking And Adolescent Female Friendships, Jennifer A. Schonberg

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Through qualitative methodology, this dissertation aimed to explore adolescent girls’ use of social networking sites (SNS) and the impact these sites could be having on girls’ development of empathy and their ability to address conflict in their friendships. The topic is introduced by outlining the relevant statistics and through highlighting some of the negative and positive influences of SNS use on adolescent female life. Carol Gilligan’s theory of moral development is explained and used to frame the research questions for this phenomenological research study. Section One of this dissertation reviews the current literature on this topic, including how social media …

Moral Reconation Therapy: Efficacy And Predictors Of Dropout, Amber Maiwald

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

No known research has been conducted on whether Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT) actually reduces criminogenic thinking. Similarly, no known research has been conducted to identify factors associated with dropout from the MRT program (i.e., choosing to leave the group before completion/release). Therefore, the purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to discover whether MRT reduces criminogenic thinking, and (b) to determine if criminogenic thinking, ACEs, cognitive abilities, and personality traits, particularly impulsivity, psychoticism, and antisocial traits, influence dropout. If significant effects in one or more of the aforementioned areas are discovered, individuals predicted to have the same profile as past …

A Drama-Based Group Intervention For Adolescents To Improve Mentalization, Michael S. Goddard

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation is an innovative intervention design to improve mentalization in preadolescents. The intervention presented is conducted in a group format and using techniques drawn from drama-based therapy. I have provided a brief literature review on mentalization, and relevant topics in group treatment and drama therapy. I have outlined key concepts from mentalization theory including: (a) the development of the self, (b) its relationship to attachment, (c) psychic equivalence and pretend mode functioning, (d) marked-affect mirroring, (e) the various facets of mentalization, and (f) mentalization treatment with children. After outlining these concepts, I discuss psychodynamic group treatment, mentalization-based group therapy, …

An Exploration Of Overparenting And College Student Ability To Manage The Stress Associated With College Life, Isabelle Creste

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There has been an increase in the level of anxiety, perceived stress, and mental health problems among college students. An examination of the contributions of parenting to these increases may help in improving college student mental health; however, research is limited in this area. This study examined the associations between overparenting, and other types of parenting including, authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting, and differentiation of self, cognitive emotion regulation, perceived stress, and state and trait anxiety. The participants were 163 undergraduate college students (74.8% identified as cisgender women, 25.2% identified as cisgender men). The participants completed questionnaires that described their …

Bhutanese Refugee Families’ Experience In Community Engagement And Its Influence On Their Family Relationships, Jinsook Song

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Many refugees that come to the United States experience loss and separation from their norms, home, community, friends, and more. While resettling, they often deal with unfamiliarity, confusion, and uncertainty. They need support and resources to restore their losses and integrate into a host country’s culture and norms. Community plays an important role in providing support and resources to refugees during resettlement in the United States. Previous studies that explored the community’s role in refugee resettlement were focused on an individual level. There is a lack of research on how refugee families engage in community and how their community engagement …

The Human Dimensions And Spatial Ecology Of Poaching And Implications For Red Wolf Survival, Suzanne Agan

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

In the 1970’s, red wolves were considered America’s most endangered mammalian species and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) developed the Red Wolf Recovery Plan soon after passage of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to preserve and eventually reintroduce them. It marked the first successful attempt to reintroduce a large predator that had been completely extirpated from the wild. The conservation of predators, such as red wolves, stirs controversy when it hinders human activities and some people retaliate by illegal killing. In Northeastern North Carolina (NENC), poaching has been a problem throughout the entire recovery process and is the …

Shame In The Supervisory Hour: Do Supervisors Sense What Is Hidden?, Melanie R. Harkins

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Shame inevitably arises for psychologists in training, as they are required to expose potential mistakes or oversights in their personal and professional selves (Hahn, 2001). However, studies show that shame impedes supervisee’s willingness to disclose information to the supervisor, especially regarding clinical difficulties (Ladany et al., 1996; Yourman, 2003) or concerns with professional competence (Ladany & Lehrman-Waterman, 1999). The presence of shame in supervision threatens the assumption of most supervision models: supervisees will willingly disclose pertinent information (Falender & Shafranske, 2004). Fortunately, strong supervisory relationships can buffer negative emotions and supervisors can encourage disclosures (Hess et al., 2008). Utilizing qualitative …