Search Results

open access

Investigating the effects on parallel play between siblings: Teaching children with autism to emit social phrases to their typically developing sibling.

Description: The focus of this study was three fold. First, modeling and feedback were investigated as a training package for social interactions between siblings. Second, the effects of social phrases taught to the sibling with autism were investigated. Third, the magnitude of these social phrases was measured by timing duration of parallel play. The experimental design is an A-B-A1-A2 design conducted in a clinic, with a probe for generalization in the home environment. This intervention was replicated… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Hille, Katrina J.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Learner use of French second-person pronouns in synchronous electronic communication.

Description: This study analyzes students' use of the French second-person pronouns tu (T) and vous (V) in small-group (2-3 students) inter-learner online chat sessions. The influence of internal linguistic factors (i.e., turn type and morphosyntactic environment) on learners' appropriate vs. inappropriate use of these pronouns is considered. The study also investigates the influence of Instructional Level on tu-vous use and the extent to which students from different instructional levels provide various ty… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: McCourt, Claire A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Penile plethysmography: Validation with a juvenile sex offending population.

Description: Traditionally, juvenile sex offenders have been ignored in the literature. More recently the research has expanded particularly in the area of assessment and treatment. This study focused on the assessment of sexual arousal to deviant stimuli using the penile plethysmography (PPG) since it likely plays a significant role in juvenile sex offending behaviors. The goal of this study assessed its validity and reliability using Becker et al.'s set of PPG scenarios with a population of juvenile sex o… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Martinez, Tonantzin Dionisia
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Teaching Simple Auditory Discriminations to Students with Autism

Description: This study aimed to test the effectiveness of classroom translations of some laboratory procedures for teaching simple auditory discriminations to learners with developmental disabilities. Three participants with autism and mental retardation were trained to make topographically distinct responses in the presence of two different stimuli, either a pure tone and silence, or two tones. A portable electronic piano keyboard was used to produce tones. Delayed prompt and differential reinforcement p… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Marino, Kristine L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

A Risk Worth Taking: Incorporating Visual Culture Into Museum Practices.

Description: As a museum educator who embraces social education and reflects on the postmodern condition, I found working within a traditional museum context to present challenges. As a result, I conducted an action research project focusing on ways to improve my own practice and affect change based on my engagement with visual culture discourse and the docents I teach. Having chosen action research, I implemented various teaching approaches and collected data over the course of several months. These data … more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Wurtzel, Kate
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Louder and Stronger? The Role of Signaling and Receptivity in Democratic Breakdowns and Their Impact Upon Neighboring Regimes

Description: The purpose of this thesis is to establish what specific forces influence whether or not a democratic setback within one nation will diffuse to peripheral states. Past studies devoted to this topic have largely suggested that diffusion essentially functions like a contagious disease, where the likelihood of "infection" is primarily based upon the level of interaction between states. This thesis however proposes that the interaction of the signal generated from a democratic state's collapse an… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Ludwig, Tommy
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Observing and Attending in a Delayed Matching-to-Sample Preparation in Pigeons

Description: Pigeons worked in a titrating delay match-to-sample (TDMTS) procedure in which selecting the correct comparison stimulus increased the delay between sample offset and comparison-array onset and incorrect comparison selections decreased that delay. Prior research in our lab has shown that the stable adjusted value of the retention interval is a curvilinear function of the observing response requirement. The current study examined the effect of the distribution and predictability of observing re… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Lovelace, Bryan S.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Applications of Nanomanipulation Coupled to Nanospray Mass Spectrometry in Trace Fiber Analysis and Cellular Lipid Analysis.

Description: The novel instrumentation of nanomanipulation coupled to nanospray mass spectrometry and its applications are presented. The nanomanipulator has the resolution of 10nm step sizes allowing for specific fine movement used to probe and characterize objects of interest. Nanospray mass spectrometry only needs a minimum sample volume of 300nl and a minimum sample size of 300attograms to analyze an analyte making it the ideal instrument to couple to nanomanipulation. The nanomanipulator is mounted to … more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Ledbetter, Nicole
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Analyze and Rebuild an Apparatus to Gauge Evaporative Cooling Effectiveness of Micro-Porous Barriers.

Description: The sample used for evaporative cooling system is Fabric defender 750 with Shelltite finish. From the experimental data and equations we have diffusion coefficient of 20.9 ± 3.71 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with one layer with 17%-20% fluctuations from the theory, 27.8 ± 4.5 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with two layers with 6%-14% fluctuations from the theory and 24.9 ± 4.1 x 10-6 m2/s for fabric with three layers with 13%-16% fluctuations from the theory. Since the thickness of the fabric increases so… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Mohiti Asli, Ali
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Hardware and Software Codesign of a JPEG2000 Watermarking Encoder

Description: Analog technology has been around for a long time. The use of analog technology is necessary since we live in an analog world. However, the transmission and storage of analog technology is more complicated and in many cases less efficient than digital technology. Digital technology, on the other hand, provides fast means to be transmitted and stored. Digital technology continues to grow and it is more widely used than ever before. However, with the advent of new technology that can reproduce d… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Mendoza, Jose Antonio
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Stories: A Revision of the Willingness & Action Measure for Children and Adolescents (WAM-C/A)

Description: In its earliest stages, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT; Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) with youths appears to be a promising therapeutic approach. Experiential willingness and committed action are two foci of ACT, making their assessment an integral part of therapy. Field tests have found validity problems with the Willingness and Action Measure for Children and Adolescents (WAM-C/A). The current study utilized the Story Version of the Willingness and Action Measure for Children and A… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Larson, Christina Mary
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Gods, Have Merced! A Documentary Film

Description: Gods, Have Merced! chronicles the struggle of Jose Merced, a Santeria priest, with the city of Euless, Texas, where he has been residing for 17 years in an effort to overrule an ordinance that bans the most critical element of his faith: animal sacrifice. As the city officials justify the ban on the basis of public health, Merced thinks he is merely a victim of selective code enforcement aimed a restricting his freedom of religion. Local and national media covered the lawsuit he filed against t… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Lakpassa, Komlan Daholega
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Influence of stormwater drainage facilities on mosquito communities within the city of Denton, Texas.

Description: Weekly collections were conducted from May to December, 2007 (153 trap nights, total) in Denton, Texas, in and around large storm drains and overpass drainage facilities in residential and non-residential areas, using Centers for Disease Control (CDC) light traps and gravid traps. A total of 1964 mosquitoes were collected, representing 24 species within 6 genera: Aedes, Anopheles, Culiseta, Culex, Psorophora, and Uranotaenia. Culex was the most abundant genus, representing 75% of all mosquitoes… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Kavanaugh, Michael David
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Singing Songs of Social Significance: Children's Music and Leftist Pedagogy in 1930s America

Description: In their shared goal of communicating left-wing principles to children through music, Marc Blitzstein's Worker's Kids of the World (1935), Aaron Copland's The Second Hurricane (1937), and Alex North's The Hither and Thither of Danny Dither (1941) exhibit a fundamental unity of purpose that binds them both to each other and to the extensive leftist pedagogical efforts of their time. By observing the parallel relationship among these three children's works and contemporary youth organizations, … more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Haas, Benjamin D.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Effects of Fixed- and Variable-Ratio Token Exchange Schedules on Performance with Children with Autism

Description: The research literature with nonhumans supports findings that token economies are a common component of training programs. The literature suggests that the schedule by which exchange opportunities become available determines the organization of behavioral performances in token economies to a great extent. This study sought to systematically document whether the dynamics observed in basic laboratory procedures will also be observed in a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and wheth… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Greaves, Stephanie A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Organizational Rhetoric in the Academy: Junior Faculty Perceptions and Roles

Description: The purpose of this project was to examine the perceptions of junior faculty members as they relate to roles and expectations related to the tenure process. The study utilized a mixed methods approach to gain a multifaceted perspective of this complex process. I employed a quantitative and qualitative survey to explore junior faculty perceptions regarding roles related to promotion and tenure policies. In addition, I conducted fantasy theme analysis (FTA) to explore the organizational rhetoric … more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Gordon, Cynthia K.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Perspectives on The Passion According to the Gospels of Matthew and John

Description: My thesis covers the materials and methods of my composition, The Passion According to the Gospels of Matthew and John. It features an extensive analysis of Penderecki's Passio et mors Domini nostri Iesu Christi secundum Lucam. The research also covers some history of the Passion genre and its development. The second half of the paper presents a background and analysis of my work. It details many of the creative processes and methods I employed.
Date: December 2008
Creator: Fryklund, Aaron
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Measures of reading comprehension: The effects of text type and time limits on students' performance.

Description: Although the importance of reading comprehension is generally recognized, a better understanding of the factors influencing measurement of reading comprehension may impact the ability to assess strengths and deficits. The current study examined the effects of text type and time limits on the rate of students' performance across four common assessments of reading comprehension. Results showed similarities between performance with narrative and expository texts and across time limit conditions fo… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Falke, Lisa G.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Semantic Shift and the Link between Words and Culture.

Description: This thesis is concerned with the correlation between cultural values and the semantic content of words over time; toward this purpose, the research focuses on Judeo-Christian religious terminology in the English language. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is of central interest to this study, and the implications of the hypothesis, including a bidirectional interpretation allowing for both the influence of language on worldview and culture on language, is of great relevance to the research findings … more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Dunai, Amber
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Errors in skin temperature measurements.

Description: Numerical simulation is used to investigate the accuracy of a direct-contact device for measuring skin-surface temperature. A variation of thermal conductivity of the foam has greater effect on the error rather than a variation of the blood perfusion rate. For a thermal conductivity of zero, an error of 1.5 oC in temperature was identified. For foam pad conductivities of 0.03 and 0.06 W/m-oC, the errors are 0.5 and 0.15 oC. For the transient study, with k=0 W/m-oC, it takes 4,900 seconds fo… more
Date: December 2008
Creator: Dugay, Murielle
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

General Nathan Twining and the Fifteenth Air Force in World War II

Description: General Nathan F. Twining distinguished himself in leading the American Fifteenth Air Force during the last full year of World War II in the European Theatre. Drawing on the leadership qualities he had already shown in combat in the Pacific Theatre, he was the only USAAF leader who commanded three separate air forces during World War II. His command of the Fifteenth Air Force gave him his biggest, longest lasting, and most challenging experience of the war, which would be the foundation for t… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Hutchins, Brian
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Extermination Warfare? The Conduct of the Second Marine Division at Saipan

Description: Historians John W. Dower, Craig Cameron, and Ronald Takaki argue that the Pacific War was a war of extermination fueled by race hate. Therefore, the clash between the military forces of the Japanese Empire and United States of America yielded a "kill or be killed" environment across the battlefields of the Pacific. This work examines the conduct of the Second Marine Division during its campaign of conquest against the Japanese held island of Saipan from June 15, 1944-July 9, 1944. It is base… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Hegi, Benjamin P.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Effects of a "Responsive Teaching Strategy" to Increase Toy Play in Young Children with Autism in an Inclusive Setting.

Description: Toy play represents one of many levels of play where children can expand their repertoires and socially interact with peers. Play typically increases in complexity as the child's repertoire develops; however, children with autism often have delayed play skills. The current study investigated the effects of using a 3-component play training procedure (choices, prompting, and consequences), replicated from a previous study, to increase simple and pretend toy play in three boys with autism. Additi… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Harder, Julianne M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Use of In-Stream Water Quality Measurements and Geospatial Parameters to Predict Consumer Surfactant Toxic Units in the Upper Trinity River Watershed, Texas

Description: Surfactants are used in a wide assortment of "down-the-drain" consumer products, yet they are often discharged in wastewater treatment plant effluent into receiving water, potentially causing environmental harm. The objective of this project was to predict surfactant toxic units and in-stream nutrients in the upper Trinity River watershed. Surface and pore water samples were collected in late summer 2005. General chemistries and surfactant toxic units were calculated. GIS models of anthropo… more
Date: May 2008
Creator: Johnson, David Richard
Partner: UNT Libraries
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