Description: Guided by the expectancy value model of achievement choice, this study examined the relationships among expectancy value constructs (expectancy related beliefs and subjective task values), effort and intention for future participation in a culturally specific dance, soul line, among African American adult women in the church setting. Participants were 100 African American women who were members of the women’s ministries from four predominantly African American churches in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area. Participants completed a 20-minute soul line session and responded to survey questions, validated in previous research, assessing their expectancy-related beliefs, subjective task values, effort, intention for future participation and physical activity. This was the first study to use the expectancy value model as a guide to determine motivations attached to physical activities among African American adult women. Usefulness, a component of subjective task values, emerged as a predictor of intention for future participation. Eighty-one percent of the women did not meet physical activity guidelines for aerobic activity. Of those inactive women 60% indicated an interest in doing soul line dancing often at their church after one short exposure to the activity as indicated by the strongest possible response to both intention questions. A slightly smaller percent of the ...

Description: This study was exploratory in nature, with the purpose of examining the relationships between working Baby Boomers’ knowledge of retirement health benefits and health costs and actions they have taken to prepare for retirement. An online survey was completed by 209 Baby Boomers who are employed by three city governments in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The research showed that health benefits knowledge does not predict retirement preparation but that Baby Boomers who demonstrate higher levels of knowledge-seeking behavior are more likely to undertake retirement preparation, specifically by purchasing an annuity. Among public sector working Baby Boomers, retirement preparation activities are found to be minimal. Age was found to predict knowledge-seeking behavior, in that older vs. younger Baby Boomers are more likely to engage in knowledge-seeking behavior related to retirement preparation. Current knowledge about health benefits does not predict retirement preparation.

Description: Autism is primarily a social disorder and deficits in social?orienting may be responsible for the failure of children with autism to initiate critical social behaviors. The purpose of this research was to improve the quality of social interactions of children with autism by implementing naturalistic behavior strategies intervention utilizing a multiple baseline design across four participants. Naturalistic behavior strategies comprised a comprehensive package of integrated components including: (a) intervention in the child’s natural environment; (b) child-initiated play activities ; (c) prompts to emit language; (d) shaping for all vocal approximations and (e) delivery of natural reinforcement with embedded social interactions to maintain learned behavior. In addition to intervention, generalization of child behaviors was assessed across untrained parents and/or caregivers in the same environment. Results indicated the effectiveness of naturalistic teaching strategies package in increasing (a) the frequency of vocal mands for all children, (b) the number of times that children initiated social engagement during manding, and (c) intervals of nonverbal dyadic orienting. These skills generalized across two untrained caregivers in the same clinical setting without any training from the interventionist. Two parents required training during the generalization phase in order for their child’s behaviors to maintain at levels demonstrated during ...

Description: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the factor structure of the Spouse Observation Checklist-Revised using attachment theory as an organizational framework. The study used archival data from a community sample of 92 heterosexual childless couples married 1-5 years and 4 lesbian couples (N = 192). Separate exploratory factor analysis on the Perception of Self-Behavior and Perception of Partner-Behavior items revealed symmetrical 4-factor structures with factors reflecting emotional support, physical intimacy, instrumental support, and disengagement. Separate analyses examined associations of the four identified factors with the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale to begin to place the SOC-R within a nomological network.

Description: Resonators are one of the most important parts of electronic products. They provide a stable reference frequency to ensure the operation of these products. Recently, the electronic products have the trend of miniaturization, which rendered the size reduction of the resonators as well [1]. Better design of the resonators relies on a better understanding of the crystals' nonlinear behavior [2]. The nonlinearities affect the quality factor and acoustic behavior of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-System) and nano-structured resonators and filters [3]. Among these nonlinear effects, Drivel Level Dependence (DLD), which describes the instability of the resonator frequency due to voltage level and/or power density, is an urgent problem for miniaturized resonators [2]. Langasite and GaPO4 are new promising piezoelectric material. Resonators made from these new materials have superior performance such as good frequency-temperature characteristics, and low acoustic loss [2]. In this thesis, experimental measurements of drive level dependence of langasite resonators with different configurations (plano-plano, single bevel, and double bevel) are reported. The drive level dependence of GaPO4 resonators are reported as well for the purpose of comparison. The results show that the resonator configuration affects the DLD of the langasite resonator. Experiments for DLD at elevated temperature are also performed, and it ...