The Relationship of Primary Caregiver Perceptions of Language and Behavioral Levels of Children with Autism to Primary Caregiver Stress and Ratings of Family Climate
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Program:
Educational Psychology
Advisor:
Georgiana Shick Tryon
The present study explored language and behavioral levels in a sample of 85 children on the Autism Spectrum between the ages of 6 to 12 years. It also studied the relationship of these levels to the primary caregiver's ratings of parental stress and family environment. Participants were primary caregivers of children diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum. Language levels were measured by primary caregiver ratings of non verbal, pre verbal, phrase speech and verbal as defined by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS; Lord, Rutter, DiLavore & Risi, 2002). Primary Caregivers of verbal children also completed the Children's Communication Checklist-2 (CCC-2; Bishop, 2006). Behavioral levels were measured as Externalizing and Internalizing by the Children's Behavior Checklist (CBCL; Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001) completed by the primary caregivers and 71 of the children's teachers. Primary Caregivers also completed the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF; Abidin, 1995) and the Familly Environment Scale (FES; Moos & Moos, 2002) to measure primary caregiver stress and family environment respectively.
Bridging the Gap: Relational Aggression in the College Environment
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Program:
Educational Psychology
The purpose of this study is to expand the limited research on bullying behaviors and their consequences in the college environment; specifically, frequency of exposure, explanation for bullying behaviors, attribution of blame and help seeking responses. The negative trajectory that has been seen throughout elementary school, middle school and high school is expected to continue through into the college environment.
A microanalytic study of self-regulated learning processes of expert, non-expert, and at-risk science students
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Program:
Educational Psychology
The present investigation sought to examine differences in the self-regulated learning processes and beliefs of students who vary in their level of expertise in science and to investigate if there are gender differences. Participants were 51 ethnically diverse 11th grade students from three parochial high schools consisting of 34 females and 17 males. Students were grouped as either expert, non-expert,or at-risk based on the school's classification.
Using the Internet With A Structured Think-Aloud Methodology to Enhance College Students' Vocabulary
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Program:
Educational Psychology
The present study built upon an earlier study by Ebner and Ehri (in press), which examined the Internet's potential as a learning tool for enhancing college students' vocabularies. The current research sought to extend that study by determining how to make online vocabulary learning more effective. An experiment was conducted to investigate a structured think-aloud methodology that encouraged participants' metacognitive focus on an online vocabulary task. Participants were 70 students from a New York City public university. They were randomly assigned to either a treatment condition to learn about particular terms contained in an online text using a structured think-aloud method, or to a control condition using an unstructured think-aloud method. Analyses of variances revealed that structured think-aloud participants demonstrated significantly greater vocabulary gains, both overall and within specific dimensions of word knowledge, compared to the control group. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that differences between conditions in vocabulary gains were attributable to structured think-aloud participants' greater metacognitive focus on the task (e.g., greater instances of reminding themselves about the online vocabulary goal; planning and evaluating their online actions in relation to achieving the goal). Correlations and regression analyses also showed that participants showing the best performance in the online vocabulary task had more extensive vocabularies going into the activity, had some prior familiarity with the terms, and were assigned to the structured think-aloud condition. Results offer strong support for the structured think-aloud methodology as a scaffold for making online vocabulary learning more effective.
THE APPLICATION OF PROPENSITY SCORE ESTIMATES IN HIERARCHICAL LINEAR MODELS FOR CAUSAL INFERENCE
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Program:
Educational Psychology
This research investigated a causal estimate of the impact of zero tolerance policy adoption on individual students' cognitive outcomes by modeling multilevel propensity score estimates within a potential outcomes framework. This estimate was obtained using a large, nationally representative non-experimental sample. Proponents of zero tolerance policy assert that the mandatory expulsion of students for listed offenses leads to a learning environment that supports cognitive growth for the remaining students. Results indicated that zero tolerance policies do not have the desired positive effect on not-at-risk students' cognitive outcomes.
AN EXAMINATION OF THE EFFICACY OF CLASSICAL AND BAYESIAN META-ANALYSIS APPROACHES FOR ADDRESSING IMPORTANT META-ANALYSIS OBJECTIVES
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Program:
Educational Psychology
This paper examines the efficacy of classical versus Bayesian meta-analytic models for addressing the five important meta-analytic objectives that were proposed by Higgins, Thompson, and Spiegelhalter (2009). In addition, it presents and examines a sixth important meta-analytic objective within the classical and Bayesian frameworks - a consideration of how meta-analytic inferences may change depending upon the uncertainty in the estimate of the amount of heterogeneity. In order to meet this sixth objective, this study uses a classification system which follows the guidelines proposed by Rothstein, Sutton, and Borenstein (2005) for describing the impact of publication bias. Here, the impact of the way meta-analytic results may change depending upon the uncertainty in the heterogeneity is classified with the use of qualitative indicators akin to those used by Rothstein et al. (2005). Thus, the discrepancy between the best-fitting meta-analytic model and the alternative meta-analytic models used for heterogeneity sensitivity analyses is described as: (a) "minimal", when the fitted meta-analytic models and the estimates remain similar; (b) "modest", when the fitted meta-analytic models remain the same, but the estimates change to a moderate degree; and (c) "severe", when the fitted meta-analytic models and estimates differ substantially from each other.
ADJUSTMENT TO COLLEGE: THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG FAMILY FUNCTIONING, STRESS, AND COPING IN NON-RESIDENTIAL FRESHMEN STUDENTS
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Program:
Educational Psychology
This study examined the relationships among family functioning, stress, and coping strategies and their predictive utilities in student adjustment to non-residential colleges. Four research questions were explored: (a) What types of stressors do freshmen students in non- residential colleges face? (b) Is family functioning associated with specific coping strategies? (c) Do coping strategies mediate the relationship between perceived stress and freshmen student adjustment to college? (d) Do family functioning, perceived stress, and coping strategies predict freshmen student adjustment to college? One hundred and sixty seven college freshmen (ages 18- 23) were recruited from the departments of psychology at two large urban commuter colleges in the Northeast. Participants completed an online survey that was composed of a demographic information sheet and 5 questionnaires. The Undergraduate Stress Questionnaire (USQ; Crandall, Preisler, & Aussprung, 1992) was used to measure life event stress in college students. The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS; Cohen, Kamarck, & Mermelstein, 1983) was used to measure self-appraised levels of stress experienced in the last month. The 56-item Young Adult Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences (YA-COPE; Patterson, McCubbin, & Grochowski, 1983) was used to assess coping styles of students. Students filled out the 42-item Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES-IV; Olson, Gorall, & Tiesel, 2007) to measure family cohesion and adaptability. Students also filled out the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ; Baker & Siryk, 1984), a 67-item self-report measure that assesses adjustment to college across four domains: academic, social, personal/emotional, and goal commitment-institutional attachment. Overall, results suggest that freshmen students experience a number of stressors related to academics, finances, personal relationships, and other issues. Balanced family functioning was associated with specific coping strategies, mainly ones that are problem-focused. Coping strategies did not mediate the relationship between perceived stress and adjustment to college. However, academic adjustment, social adjustment, personal-emotional adjustment, and institutional attachment were predicted by family functioning, stress, and specific coping strategies. Implications for personnel working with college freshmen such as mental health counselors are provided as well as directions for future research.
An Investigation of Teachers' Beliefs About Relational Aggression Among Girls
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Program:
Educational Psychology
Relational aggression, a specific kind of aggression seen among children and adolescents, is characterized by the primary intention of strategically damaging and/or manipulating social relationships (Crick & Grotpeter, 1995). The dynamics of relational aggression are so subtle and complex in nature that they are difficult for teachers and school officials to identify, and are often dismissed as normative social behavior, or ignored because of lack of knowledge about appropriate interventions (Yoon & Kerber, 2003). Given the dearth of initiative from teachers and school officials surrounding acts of student relational aggression, further understanding of their beliefs about the behavior is warranted.
Use of an Interspersal Technique to Enhance Work Completion Rates, On-Task Behavior and Accuracy on Independent Math Assignments
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Program:
Educational Psychology
Abstract
The relationship between parental opinion of school-based sex education, parent child communication about sexuality, and parenting styles in a diverse urban community college population.
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Program:
Educational Psychology
One hundred and ninety-one parents attending an urban, community college were surveyed about what topics schools should teach their children about sexuality education, and how they communicate with their child about sexuality topics. The quantitative data was collected using a School Sexuality Education Questionnaire (SSEQ), and the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire (PSDQ) (Study A). The majority of sex education topics were supported by 80% of parents. This finding was surprising because the sample population was diverse in terms of ethnicity, and the majority had immigrated from countries considered socially conservative. There was a significant negative correlation between attendance at religious services and support for school sex education (r = -.20). These results were consistent with previous national and state-wide surveys. There was no correlation between support for school sex education and race/ethnicity, country of origin, religion, or parenting style.