The Effects of Changing Values of Concurrent Fixed Ratio Schedules on Mand Allocation in Children with Autism
Year of Dissertation:
2010
Teaching situations with children with autism usually involve concurrent schedules of reinforcement. During concurrent schedules, manipulation of the schedule of reinforcement for one response affects the occurrence of alternative responses. This study evaluated the effects of four sets of unequal and one set of equal concurrent fixed-ratio schedules on the allocation of two mands in three children with autism. All three participants emitted a higher rate of mands for a highly preferred item than for a less preferred item determined by an initial preference assessment during a concurrent FR1/FR1 schedule. All participants increased mands for the less preferred item when the schedule value for mands for the highly preferred item was at some value greater than FR1. In terms of behavioral economics, positive cross price demand for the less preferred item as a function of increasing FR values for mands for the highly preferred item showed that all three participants substituted a less preferred item for a highly preferred item. This substitution, along with a negative own price demand for the highly preferred item as a function of increasing FR values for mands for that item, indicated some degree of demand elasticity for the highly preferred item. In addition, an increase in response variability measured by the number of switches from one mand to the other accompanied the increase in mands for the less preferred item at FR values greater than FR1 for the highly preferred item for two of the three participants. Comparison of measures of demand elasticity to more traditional measures of matching and maximization show that the former provides a more detailed account of response allocation during concurrent schedules. These finding have implications for the use of behavioral economics in the analysis of behavior change interventions during concurrent schedules in applied settings where a single behavior occurs at an inappropriate frequency and in the absence of desirable alternative behaviors.
Individual Differences in Electric Fishes: An Animal Model of Personality
Year of Dissertation:
2011
Advisor:
Christopher Braun
Individual differences in animals have recently been described in behavioral ecology as behavioral syndromes: suites of correlated behaviors within individuals that are consistent across environmental situations. A central idea behind the behavioral syndromes approach is that behaviors do not occur in isolation; rather, they are integrated with other behaviors within the limited biological machinery of one individual. Electric fish are ideally suited for studies of behavioral syndromes because their behavior can be easily measured and tracked due to their unique electric organ discharges (EODs). It is also a good system to present realistic electric signals that mimic social interactions. Using a cohort of 22 Microsternarchus sp. a neotropical knifefish, we carried out a series of behavioral experiments, including a) a free exploration experiment, b) a terrestrial challenge, c) a novelty response experiment, d) a playback experiment with an aggressive sympatric species, and e) a jamming avoidance experiment. With the exception of the playback experiment, all were performed twice on all available individuals over the course of two years. Behavioral responses including EOD rate, locomotor activity, responses to novel as well as threatening stimuli, and reaction times were measured. Through principal components analysis and correlational analysis we determined that Microsternarchus sp. exhibit behavioral syndromes in activity, reactivity, aggression/dominance and possibly behavioral flexibility, integrating electric signaling behaviors with components of exploratory behavior and responses to stimuli. For example, individuals with the highest EOD rates spent more time swimming around a novel environment, than individuals with lower EOD rates, thus these behaviors form part of an activity syndrome.
Meaning Making at the Interface of Gender, Disability, and Policy: Physically Disabled Women in London and Coventry, England Explore the Covention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Historically, persons with disabilities are socially, culturally, and economically underprivileged and neglected worldwide (WHO, 2006, 2011) and this is especially true of women with disabilities. The intersection between women's gender and their disabilities, although overlooked for many decades, has been described as the phenomenon of a dual handicap. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006) was created to protect the rights of all people with disabilities and, for the first time in history, identified women with disabilities as a population that has unique rights and needs that warrant special legislation and protection.
AN ITEM STIMULUS APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING TEST ITEM DIFFICULTY
Author:
Victoria Blanshteyn
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Advisor:
Charles Scherbaum
Understanding what makes test items difficult is an important step in understanding how individuals solve items on a test and in mapping the cognitive processes that are involved. However, there remains a gap in understanding how general stimulus features of items (e.g., length of a test item) impact the difficulty of items for a range of item types. In an effort to reduce this gap, the current study tested the impact of item stimulus features on item difficulty. The proposed difficulty framework utilized the radical and incidental approach of item generation theory (e.g., Irvine, Dann, & Anderson, 1990), which allows items to be decomposed into the factors that are hypothesized to impact difficulty as well as examine the impact of different item stimulus features on difficulty. To test the proposed framework, the current paper incorporated linear latent trait modeling (Fischer, 1973), an IRT-based analytical approach that expresses item difficulty in terms of underlying factors of stimulus complexity rather than individual parameters. Results indicate that certain item stimulus features, including language ambiguity, negative wording, constructed-response items, and colloquial knowledge impact item difficulty. Implications for test development are discussed.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF NARRATIVE: AN EXPLORATION OF ALLITERATION'S FUNCTION IN VLADIMIR NABOKOV'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Year of Dissertation:
2011
The following is a psychoanalytic inquiry that uses the successive publishings of Vladimir Nabokov's autobiography to explore the functions that various versions of repetition play in transforming traumatic or conflicted memories into narratives that represent more symbolized and coherent accounts of the self. The data set consists of the three, successive, published, English language versions of Nabokov's memoirs. These successive versions are useful in that they represent Nabokov's repeated return to the significant memories and material that compose his autobiographical narrative. With each returns, Nabokov made meaningful revisions to his narrative. Consequently, his transformations are tracked over the course of the successive, drafted versions. Specifically, this project focuses on one chapter of Nabokov's autobiography--"Mademoiselle O"--she being a figure who loomed large in the early part of Nabokov's life. This project proposes that repetition manifests in any one of three main forms: as static repetition, as means for transformation, or as a means of creative play. In addition it proposes that these forms of repetition correspond to a continuum of symbolization, with desymbolized stasis on one end and symbolized play on the other. Here, alliteration was identified as a signifier for these varied forms of repetition. Two main hypotheses are proposed. The first states that if alliterative repetition marks emotionally salient material, then the concentration of alliteration in Nabokov's autobiographical narrative would be greater in areas that contain his most conflicted themes--loss and exile. Indeed results reveal significance. The second hypothesis proposes that if alliterative repetition serves a transformative function, then the concentration of alliteration would decline over the course of Nabokov's progressive drafts. Results are not significant but do reveal a trend toward increase in the final draft. The discussion explores various possibilities as to the given results. It is suggested that Nabokov may have increased his use of alliterative repetition because of the pleasure derived out of mastery and play. Alternatively, it is suggested that alliteration might facilitate internalization, in this case where reader internalizes author and work, thus resulting in Nabokov being better remembered by his readers, an elegant solution to his concerns around loss and being lost.
Unemployed and Poor in New York: The Impact of Object Relations, Mentalization and Psychopathology on Job Outcome
Year of Dissertation:
2010
This study examined the relationships between the quality of internal object representations of self and other (OR), the capacity for reflective functioning (RF) and the presence of Axis II psychopathology and their respective and combined impact on the ability of unemployed, low-income individuals to complete job readiness training, and to obtain and retain employment. Given the intertwining nature of these constructs, it was expected that correlations would exist between OR, RF and Axis II psychopathology and that these constructs would also be related to job outcome, such that those with low OR and RF or those with Axis II psychopathology would experience greater difficulty in completing job training, let alone obtaining and maintaining employment. This research study posed additional research questions to examine the extent to which each of these variables would account for the variance in job outcome. It also sought to investigate the extent to which the predicted relationship between OR and job outcome would be moderated or mediated by Axis II pathology or the degree of RF present, such that an individual with significant psychopathology or low RF capacity would be expected to have poor job outcome regardless of OR scores. Similarly, it examined the question of whether the proposed relationship between Axis II pathology and job outcome would be moderated or mediated by the degree of RF present, such that those with a more developed capacity for RF would have better job outcome despite the presence of Axis II pathology. Results partially supported the study's main hypotheses in that RF and Axis II pathology were not only found to be related, but also to significantly predict job outcome. Moreover, it was determined that in those cases where participants with Axis II diagnoses were able to obtain jobs, their ability to obtain the job was entirely attributable to the presence of relatively higher levels of RF. This finding suggests that the presence of even a moderate capacity to consider and to reflect upon the mental states of self and other confers an advantage on those with Axis II diagnoses in the pursuit of gaining employment. OR findings were less robust although one of the subscales of OR, Complexity of Representations, was found to be significantly associated with RF in the predicted direction. These results are discussed in relation to implications for the design of programs and interventions to assist unemployed and underserved populations.
Parental Investment and Song Learning in Zebra Finches (Taeniopygia guttata)
Year of Dissertation:
2009
Abstract
Shifts in clinical attention and focus: Exploring the boundaries of reverie in the therapeutic process
Year of Dissertation:
2012
Therapists have times of greater attention and of less, and each therapist may have the experience of noticing that her attention has shifted from what the patient is saying toward those thoughts that have been stirred. This qualitative study examined psychotherapists' perspectives on shifts in clinical attention and focus in their treatment of their patients, and the ways in which their particular approach to psychotherapeutic work influence how therapists understand and negotiate these potentially complex clinical moments. The study (a) captures how senior psychotherapists view such experiences, (b) surveys the conditions under which clinicians share their responses, thoughts and processes with patients, and (c) examines how therapists negotiate what may be conflicting considerations or principles in arriving at how they handle the experience.
The Role of Homophobia and Gender Role Beliefs in Judgments of Same-Sex Intimate Partner Violence
Year of Dissertation:
2011
The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether straight and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals differ in their perceptions of same-sex and opposite-sex IPV, and whether gender-role beliefs and homophobia can help explain any differences. We were also interested in whether factors such as the type of violence depicted and participants' gender moderated perceptions of intimate partner violence. Using a 2 (type of violence: situational couple violence vs. intimate terrorism) x 2 (gender of batterer: male vs. female) x 2 (gender of victim: male vs. female) between-groups design, 240 straight and 240 LGBT participants were randomly assigned to an experimental condition and asked to read a vignette of a domestic altercation. Participants completed a questionnaire designed to assess how they perceived the batterer's and victim's responsibility for the situation, the seriousness of the situation, how likely the abusive behavior was to reoccur, and how likely the abusive behavior would get worse over time. Participants also completed a demographics survey and measures of gender role beliefs and homophobia / internalized homophobia. Overall, both straight and LGBT participants attributed less blame to batterers and more blame to victims, and perceived the abuse as less serious, when the scenario involved a same-sex couple. However, contrary to our hypotheses, participants' gender role beliefs and homophobia / internalized homophobia did not fully account for these findings. Participants' gender and the type of violence depicted were significant moderators for several of the relationships examined; however, these effects were relatively small and inconsistent. Social, clinical and legal implications of these findings are discussed - along with directions for future research.
Children's Tolerance of Word-form Variation
Year of Dissertation:
2010
This study compared children's (N=96, mean age 4;1, range 2;8-5;3) and adults' (N=96, mean age 21 years) tolerance of word-onset modifications (e.g., wabbit and warabbit) and pseudo affixes (e.g., kocat and catko) in a label extension task. Trials comprised an introductory phase where children saw a picture of an animal and were told its name, and a test phase where they were shown the same picture along with one of a different animal. For `similar-name' trials, participants heard a word-form modification of the previously introduced name (e.g., introduced to a dib, they were asked, `which animal is a wib?'). For `dissimilar-name' trials, participants heard an entirely new word (e.g., introduced to a dib, they were asked, `which animal is a wuz?'). Specific types of modifications were repeated within each experiment to establish productive inflectional patterns. Across all experiments, children and adults exhibited similar strategies: They were more tolerant of prefixes than onset-modifications involving substitutions of initial consonants, and they were more tolerant of suffixes than prefixes, which may reflect a statistical tendency for inflections to adhere to the ends of words. Additionally, participants parsed novel productive inflections from stems when choosing targets. These findings point to word learning strategies as being flexible and adaptive to morphological patterns in languages.