The purpose of this study was to examine how modality and exposure to intimate partner aggression (IPA) impact Marriage and Family Therapists' (MFTs) recognition of IPA, identification of perpetrator(s), and risk assessment in a case example among 37 MFTs. It was hypothesized that participants who received the male unilateral modality and who had previous IPA exposure would be more likely to recognize the IPA, correctly identify the perpetrator(s), and indicate risk of future harm in their given case example. Logistic regression analyses did not reveal any significant relationships between the variables. However, it was found that 91.9% of MFTs recognized the IPA in their case example, 78.4% correctly identified the perpetrator(s), and 89.2% indicated the potential for future harm. This study emphasizes the importance of the rates reaching 100% because until that occurs some couples experiencing IPA will be overlooked and subsequently provided with inadequate treatment.

Throughout his career, Husserl characterizes the philosophical program he calls “phenomenology” as a “science of essences” (Ideas I, Introduction). But there are two distinct senses in which phenomenology is a science of essences. The first is that phenomenology has the essences of conscious acts for its subject matter. The second is that phenomenology is supposed to constitute a methodology for determining the essence of any natural kind. While the first sense has been a central theme in Husserl scholarship, very little critical analysis has been devoted to the second. My aim in this dissertation is to fill this lacuna by providing a systematic account of how phenomenology can be used to acquire knowledge of the essences of natural kinds. In doing so I hope to show that Husserl’s phenomenology is valuable to the contemporary metaphysics and epistemology of natural kinds. My primary thesis is that the phenomenological method can be used to defend the controversial position that natural kinds have mind-independent essences. In Chapter 1 I develop a general account of natural kinds as universals that impart structure to their instances, i.e., explain their regimentation into their specific parts. In Chapter 2 I attempt to establish the most perspicuous ideology by which to articulate natural kind essentialism, and I draw on Husserl’s realist account of universals to vindicate the intelligibility of the claim that natural kinds themselves, and not their individual instances, can be the subjects of essential truths. In Chapter 3 I raise two fundamental challenges for the account of natural kind essentialism that emerges from the argumentation of the first two chapters, the first concerning the unity of natural kinds and the second concerning the extendibility of their features across possible worlds. In Chapter 4 I base a solution to the first of these challenges on the unity-making role that essence plays in Husserl’s ontology of parts and wholes. In Chapter 5 I defend a novel interpretation of Husserl’s method for acquiring knowledge of essences, and I show how, on my conception, the method enables us to overcome the second challenge to natural kind essentialism. / 2024-03-30T00:00:00Z

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The intent of this thesis is to guide further research and discussion of C-Print, meaning-for-meaning transcription and its applications to today’s dynamic classroom settings under a Universal Design Paradigm. Evidence suggests that providing these captions can benefit Deaf and Hard of Hearing populations and also that concise, textual representations of information increase retention for average learners in multimedia settings. Individual differences were considered and low internal control participants did significantly better on exams when material was captioned compared to when it was not. They also tended to outperform high internal control participants on captioned material exams.

A recent trend in consumer and military electronics has been to allow operators the option to control the system via novel control methods. The most prevalent and available form of these methods is that of vocal control. Vocal control allows for the control of a system by speaking commands rather than manually inputting them. This has not only implications for increased productivity but also optimizing safety, and assisting the disabled population. Past research has examined the potential costs and benefits to this novel control scheme with varying results. The purpose of this study was to further examine the relationship between modality of input, operator workload, and expertise. The results obtained indicated that vocal control may not be ideal in all situations as a method of input as participants experienced significantly higher amounts of workload than those in the manual condition. Additionally, expertise may be more specific than previously thought as participants in the vocal condition performed nearly identical at the task regardless of gaming expertise. The implications of the findings for this study suggest that vocal control be further examined as an effective method of user input, especially with regards to expertise and training effects.

Technological innovations in data transfer and communication have given rise to the virtual team where geographically separate individuals interact via one or more technologies to combine efforts on a collective activity. In military, business, and spaceflight settings, virtual teams are increasingly used in training and operational activities; however there are important differences between these virtual collaborations and more traditional face-to-face (FTF) interactions. One concern is the absence of FTF contact may alter team communication and cooperation and subsequently affect overall team performance. The present research examined this issue with a specific focus on how communication modality influences team learning and performance gains. Evidence from a recent study on virtual team performance (Singer, Grant, Commarford, Kring, and Zavod, 2001) indicated local teams, with both members in same physical location in Orlando, Florida which allowed for FTF contact before and after a series of virtual environment (VE) missions, performed significantly better than distributed teams, with team members in separate physical locations in Orlando and Toronto, Canada and no FTF contact. For the first mission, local and distributed teams exhibited no significant difference in performance as measured by the number of rooms properly cleared in the building search exercises. In contrast, for the second mission, occurring after each team had completed the opportunity to discuss mission performance and make plans for future missions, local teams performed significantly better than distributed teams; a pattern that continued for the remaining six missions. Given that the primary difference between local and distributed teams was how they communicated outside of the VE during after action reviews (AARs), and that the localiii distributed difference was first detected on the second mission, after teams had completed one, 10-min discussion of mission performance, a tenable conclusion is that certain team characteristics and skills necessary for performance were communication-dependent and negatively affected by the absence of FTF communication. Although Singer et al. (2001) collected multiple dependent variables related to performance and communication activities, these measures were not designed to detect communication-dependent team factors and therefore incapable of supporting such an explanation. Therefore, the present research replicated Singer et al. (2001) and incorporated additional measures in order to determine if specific communication-dependent factors could explain the inferior performance of distributed teams. Three factors critical to team communication, particularly during the AAR process, are the similarity of team members. shared mental models (SMMs), team cohesion (task and interpersonal), and team trust (cognitive and emotional). Because evidence suggests FTF communication has a positive effect on processes related to each of these factors, the current study tested whether distributed teams exhibit less similar mental models and degraded cohesion and trust in comparison to local teams, which can affect performance. Furthermore, to test the prediction that distributed teams possess degraded communication and would benefit from improved communication skills, brief team communication training (TCT) was administered to half of the teams in each location condition. Thirty two, 2-person teams comprised of undergraduate students were equally distributed into four experimental conditions (n = 8) based on the independent variables of location (local vs. distributed) and training (TCT vs. no-TCT). Teams completed five missions using the same VE system and mission tasks as in Singer et al. (2001), however in the present study distributed team members were in separate rooms in the same building, not separate geographic locations. In iv addition to performance data, participants completed a series of questionnaires to assess SMMs, cohesion, and trust. It was hypothesized that local teams would again exhibit better performance than distributed teams and that the local team advantage could partly be explained by a greater similarity in mental models and higher levels of cohesion and trust. Moreover, TCT teams in both locations were expected to exhibit improved performance over their non-trained counterparts. Analyses of the three team factors revealed the largest location and communication training differences for levels of cognitive trust, with local teams reporting higher levels than distributed teams early after the second VE mission, and TCT teams reporting higher levels than no-TCT teams after the second and fifth VE missions. In contrast, the main effects of location and communication training were only significant for one SMM measure agreement between team members on the strengths of the team's leader during the AAR sessions. Local teams and TCT teams reported higher levels of agreement after the first VE mission than their distributed v and no-TCT counterparts. Furthermore, on the first administration of the questionnaire, TCT teams reported higher levels of agreement than non-TCT teams on the main goals of the VE missions. Overall, teams in all conditions exhibited moderate to substantial levels of agreement for procedural and personnel responsibility factors, but poor levels of agreement for mental models related to interpersonal interactions. Finally, no significant differences were detected for teams in each experimental condition on levels of task or interpersonal cohesion which suggests cohesion may not mature enough over the course of several hours to be observable. In summary, the first goal of the present study was to replicate Singer et al..s (2001) findings which showed two-person teams conducting VE missions performed better after the first mission if allowed face-to-face (FTF) contact during discussions of the team's performance. Local and distributed teams in the current study did show a similar pattern of performance, completing a greater total of rooms properly, although when evaluating mission-by-mission performance, this difference was only significant for missions 3 and 4. Even though distributed team members experienced the same experimental conditions as in Singer et al. (no pre-mission contact, no FTF contact during missions or AARs) and were told their partner was at .distant location, familiarity with a teammate's dialect and other environmental cues may have differentially affected perceptions of physical and psychological distance, or social presence, which ultimately altered the distributed team relationship from before. The second goal was to determine if brief TCT could reduce or eliminate the distributed team disadvantage witnessed in Singer et al. (2001). Results did not support this prediction and revealed no significant differences between TCT and no-TCT teams with regard to number of rooms searched over the five missions. Although purposefully limited to 1 hr, the brevity of the TCT procedure (1 hr), and its broad focus, may have considerably reduced any potential benefits of learning how to communicate more effectively with a teammate. In addition, the additional training beyond the already challenging requirements of learning the VE mission tasks may have increased the cognitive load of participants during the mission phase, leading to a detriment in performance due to divided attention. Despite several notable differences from Singer et al. (2001), the present study supports that distributed teams operating in a common virtual setting experience performance deficits when compared to their physically co-located counterparts. Although this difference was not attributed to agreement on SMMs or levels of cohesion, local teams did posses higher levels of cognitive trust early on in the experimental session which may partly explain their superior performance. However additional research that manipulates cognitive trust as an independent variable is needed before implying a cause-and-effect relationship. Ultimately, this study's most significant contribution is identifying a new set of questions to understand virtual team performance. In addition to a deeper examination of cognitive trust, future research should address how features of the distributed team experience affect perceptions of the physical and psychological distance, or social presence, between team members. It is also critical to understand how broadening the communication channel for distributed teams, such as the inclusion of video images or access to biographical information about one's distant teammate, facilitates performance in a variety of virtual team contexts.

If not designed in consideration to the workings of the human mind, multimedia learning environments can impose too high a demand on working memory. While such high cognitive load presents challenges for learners of all ages, older learners may be particularly affected as research on cognitive aging has shown the efficiency of working memory declines with age. Research has suggested that cognitive load theory (CLT) and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (CTML) are likely to accommodate the cognitive needs of older learners; however, few of the principles emerging from these theories have been examined in the context of cognitive aging. The abundance of studies has focused on younger learners, prompting the need for further research of CLT and CTML principles with regard to age. This study contributes to the body of research on the cognitive aging principle by extending research on the modality effect with middle-aged learners. Ninety-two participants ranging in age from 30 to 59 were exposed to multimedia learning treatments presented as animation with concurrent narration and animation with concurrent text, followed by retention, concept, and transfer tests of multimedia learning. Demographic and descriptive statistics were performed along with a multivariate analysis of variance. The findings did not show a modality effect with middle-aged learners; however, results need to be interpreted with care as possible explanations may entail other causes for the lack of a modality effect other than age.

Possibilities divide into two kinds. Non-qualitative possibilities are distinguished by their connection to specific individuals. For example, the possibility that Napoleon is a novelist is non-qualitative, since it is a possibility for a specific individual, Napoleon. In contrast, the possibility that someone---anyone at all---is a novelist is a qualitative possibility, since it does not depend upon any specific individual. Haecceitism is a thesis about the relation between qualitative and non-qualitative possibilities. In one guise, it holds that some maximal possibilities---total ways the world could be---differ non-qualitatively without differing qualitatively. It would, for example, be only a haecceitistic difference that distinguishes actuality from a maximal possibility where Napoleon and Nefertiti swap all of their qualitative properties and relations. According to this alternative possibility, things are the very same qualitatively, but which individuals occupy which qualitative roles differs: Nefertiti would be a stout conqueror, while Napoleon would be a beautiful consort. This dissertation is an examination of the nature of haecceitism, the arguments in its favor, and the consequences that follow from it. In Chapter One, I distinguish various conceptions of haecceitism and related theses concerning maximal possibilities, possible worlds, the identity of indiscernibles, and non-qualitative properties. In Chapter Two, I develop and defend conceivability arguments for haecceitism in the face of various anti-haecceitist challenges. In Chapter Three, I consider the relation between haecceitism and the Humean approach to plenitude, which aims to characterize the space of possible worlds in terms of combinatorial principles. In Chapter Four, I examine the distinction between qualitative properties like redness and non-qualitative properties like being Napoleon and argue in favor of fundamental non-qualitative properties. In Chapter Five, I present a novel version of non-qualitative counterpart theory, which employs bare particulars to reconcile modal realism and haecceitism. In Chapter Six, I clarify and defend quidditism, the property-theoretic analogue of haecceitism. I conclude in Chapter Seven by defending the modal view of essence.

Molecular breast imaging (MBI) is a relatively new clinical breast imaging modality, which has the potential to have a significant impact in breast cancer screening and perioperative breast imaging for women with high risk factors for developing breast cancer. Two objectives were proposed in this thesis to increase the use of MBI. First, a magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible gamma camera was developed for combined molecular/MR breast imaging. MBI is a functional imaging technique with high specificity and sensitivity but could benefit from the addition of anatomical information from breast MRI for lesion localization, cancer staging, treatment planning and monitoring. A small area (8cm x 8cm) cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) based gamma camera was developed and tested for MR compatibility in both sequential and simultaneous imaging conditions. Results indicated that the gamma camera was minimally affected during both sequential and simultaneous imaging with a gradient echo (GRE) and spoiled gradient echo (GRE) sequence. Signal to noise ratio (SNR) degradation was observed in the MR images but no geometric distortions were observed. Simultaneous imaging is feasible, but a reassessment of the RF shielding would be required to minimize the noise contribution degrading image quality. Second, backscatter photons were investigated as a potential dose reduction technique for MBI. While the effective dose from MBI is relatively low in comparison to other nuclear medicine procedures, the dose is considered high in relation to mammography and in order to increase acceptance as an alternative breast imaging method, dose reduction is an important objective. Backscatter photons have the same spatial information as primary photons but are typically discarded along with other scattered photons. A scatter compensation method called the triple energy window (TEW) was used to extract backscatter photons from the Compton scattering spectrum and added to the primary photons, increasing count sensitivity by 6%. The noise level matched the increase in contrast leading to negligible change in lesion contrast to noise ratio (CNR). Dose reduction is not justified with this particular technique because of the elevated noise level, but the use of backcsatter photons show potential with improved contrast. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Due to an increase in newer forms of literature’s popularity among the general consumers, research in favor of utilizing media formats such as audiobooks and graphic novels for educational purposes has grown. Literature formats other than the classic printed text have become more accessible in book stores and school libraries during the last decade, making them potentially useful tools for teaching literature in the classrooms. This essay presents several theoretical perspectives on the use of different modalities when working with literature in English teaching at intermediate level, as well as a field study researching the level of engagement between upper secondary school students and storyworlds when working with the same literary work through three different formats: the classic print, the graphic novel and the audiobook. The results, which were obtained through surveys answered by students and interviews with teachers, showed high levels of storyworld engagement from the students in regard to visual media, both when working with the print and the graphic novel, and a significantly lower interest towards the auditory media, i.e. the audiobook.