L'inquiétude et l'obsession sont les caractéristiques respectives des troubles d'anxiété généralisée et obsessionnel-compulsif. Malgré le fait que des différences et des similarités théoriques soient proposées, peu d'études ont directement précisé le chevauchement possible de ces deux types de pensées. Dans le même sens, la structure des inquiétudes et des obsessions qui sous-tend les dimensions fondamentales demeure inconnue et l'identification de ces dernières pourrait refléter les processus clés.Ce mémoire de maîtrise analyse les différences entre les intrusions obsessionnelles et les inquiétudes dans une population normale sur plusieurs variables touchant l'évaluation générale,l'évaluation d'émotions et l'évaluation d'un ensemble de stratégies de gestion des intrusions. Il étudie également les liens entre les dimensions fondamentales de ces deux types d'intrusions et les stratégies utilisées pour contrer ces pensées. Les résultats sont discutés en terme d'implications pour l'avancement des modèles cognitifs des troubles anxieux dans la perspective d'un modèle global des intrusions cognitives.

La littérature a associé trois variables principales à la tendance excessive à s'inquiéter (caractéristique centrale du Trouble d'Anxiété Généralisée (TAG)) : l'intolérance à l'incertitude, la suppression des pensées intrusives et la surestimation de l'utilité des inquiétudes. La première étude de ce mémoire examine la contribution spécifique de ces trois variables à la tendance à s'inquiéter. Les résultats démontrent que l'évaluation de l'utilité des inquiétudes et la suppression de pensées contribuent toutes deux à la prédiction de la tendance à s'inquiéter mais que leur contribution à ce phénomène s'avère nettement moins considérable que celle de l'intolérance à l'incertitude. La deuxième étude explore la relation entre l'intolérance à l'incertitude et les réactions comportementales face à des tâches ambiguës. L'analyse des résultats de cette étude ne démontre aucune différence significative entre les sujets hautement intolérants à l'incertitude et les sujets faiblement intolérants à l'incertitude. Des recommandations sont apportées afin d'améliorer les tâches en vue d'études ultérieures dans ce domaine et les résultats des deux études sont discutées en fonction du modèle de l'inquiétude élaboré par Dugas, Ladouceur et Freeston (1995).

The intricate dynamics and tensions of social histories--the realities of adversity-and anticipations of African American women greatly inhibit many of them from reaching their potential. Despite the adverse experiences, African American women have succeeded in achieving socioeconomic upward mobility. Their ability to defeat the odds has drawn attention to their patterns of adaptation and the process by which transformative experiences evolve. There is a strong need for qualitative research focusing exclusively on the early learning experiences of African American women and the transformative learning process; since studies of this topic are limited and most of them relate to a particular characteristic and its development. The purpose of this study was to examine the transformative learning processes of African American females who, despite their lower class origins, transcended the negative social and economic forces inherent in their backgrounds, thus moving beyond the status of their parents. Mezirow's transformative learning model, perspective transformation, was the conceptual framework guiding this inquiry. The research questions for this study were: 1. How has a small selected group of African American women from lower socioeconomic backgrounds been able to break the particular poverty cycle that their parents endured to become upwardly mobile achievers? 2. What transformative learning process did they engage to overcome specific obstacles in order to attain a higher level of socioeconomic mobility? 3. To what extent are the steps of perspective transformation descriptive of the process as experienced by the women in this study? A multiple-case study design was selected to accomplish the objective of the research. Participants were recruited through informal requests and referrals. Eight women were selected from an initial pool of twelve potential participants. The data were gathered through in-depth personal interviews and analyzed using Ethnograph coding software. Data were presented in descriptive narrative case study profiles. Four categories of major themes were identified as common among the participants: (a) a value laden upbringing, (b) productive self perception, (c) influences of others, and (d) significant mobility experiences. Findings revealed only a partial experience of transformational learning from these women. A strong maternal influence led to the indoctrination of lifelong values and beliefs consistent with a process in which mothers and grandmothers had begun but were unable to complete. This intergenerational transformative learning process passed down to the next generation, in this study. Results revealed upward socioeconomic mobility and a decline of the poverty cycle. Recommendations for educators and future studies were addressed. / Ph. D.

This study sought to verify the stages of concern theory according to Hall, Wallace, and Dossette (1973), using a school-wide educational reform. Furthermore, changes in teachers' concern profiles as a function of education levels, teaching areas, hours of reform-related training, and adoption-proneness were studied. In particular, teachers' concern profiles about implementing the High Schools That Work (HSTW) reform in Virginia were studied. One thousand two hundred and seven teachers in 19 sites implementing the HSTW reform in Virginia participated in the study. Of the purposive sample of 1207 teachers to whom study questionnaires were forwarded by mail, 674 responded and returned their questionnaires. The questionnaire consisted of three sections: the Stages of Concern section (Hall, Wallace, & Dossette, 1973), the Adoption-proneness section (Oscarson, 1977), and the demographic information section. Data were analyzed, using descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis of variance procedures (α = .05). Results revealed that teachers with no HSTW reform experience (N = 131) had highest concern at the personal stage, followed by teachers in their first year of experience (N = 207), and teachers in their second year of experience (N = 230). Teachers in their third year of experience (N = 70) revealed the least concern at the personal stage. There was significant change in teachers’ concern associated with amount of experience F(21, 1880) = 12.32, p = .00 (p < .05). Teachers with more experience had peak concerns at the consequences and collaboration stages while teachers with less experience had peak concern at the personal stage. Results agreed with the theory which states that as experience in reform use increases, concern moves from informational and personal stages to consequences and collaboration stages. Change in teachers’ concern as a function of education level was significant F(28, 2502) = 2.09, p = .001 (p < .05). Teachers with doctoral degrees, followed by those with 30 credit hours above the master's degree, revealed more collaboration concern than teachers with associate, bachelor’s, and master's degrees. Concern change due to teaching area was not significant F(7, 630) = 1.81, p = .08 (p > .05). The concern profiles of vocational and academic teachers were parallel and coincident, but not level. Teachers’ concern change as a function of hours of related training was significant F(14, 1256) = 12.12, p = .00 (p< .05). Teachers with no reform-related training had peak concern at the personal stage while those with more than 15 hours of training had peak concerns at the collaboration and consequences stages. Teachers who had 15 hours or less of training had lower personal concern than those who had no training, but higher than those who had more than 15 hours of training. Teachers’ concern as a function of adoption-proneness was significant F(7, 630) = 14.53, p = .00 (p < .05). While all the teachers revealed similar informational, personal, and management concerns, teachers who were more adoption-prone had more intense concern at the consequences and collaboration stages. / Ph. D.

More than four million disabled individuals, of whom forty percent are learning disabled, receive special education support in part by federal funds, as provided by Public Law 94-142 (U.S. Department of Education, 1985). Several programs are designed to serve these students. Unfortunately, increasing numbers of students with learning disabilities are dropping out of the school system before completing these programs. This study was designed to describe a number of demographic and school experience factors associated with learning disabilities. Subjects included 70 (46 males and 24 females) graduates and dropouts who participated in a shared time vocational education program at six career centers in a large urban public school system, and exited in 1989 and 1990. Follow-up data were collected from former students, parents, or relatives by telephone or mail survey. Data were collected in the following categories: further education and training, independent living status, employment history and experience, rating of occupational skills, and support service delivery. Data were presented in a descriptive format. Results revealed that the majority of graduates and dropouts were not adjusting to their post-school life, especially dropouts. Few sought further education and training, and most of the students were still living with their parents. Although half of the students were working, the majority were not working in the occupation in which they were trained. Those students who were working in the occupation in which they were trained were in child care, barbering, and business. / Ed. D.

The life span of facilities produced by the Architecture-Engineering-Construction industry is typically 25 years or more Several distinct phases characterize the life span of a facility. Each of these phases involve numerous participants from different professional disciplines. These participants generate and use a lot of information about the facility. Current methods used by the industry to convey this information are drawings and specifications. However. these drawings and specifications reflect only a summary of the information generated and used by the project participants This summarized information only describes the product. Information about the process of generating these information becomes implicit in the drawings and specifications. Rationale is the collective term for this set of implicit process information. The main issue addressed by this dissertation is the need to communicate design rationale information. Design rationale is a subset of the entire rationale generated for a facility Design rationale refers to information about the design process. Explicitly stating design rationale information reduces the chance of misinterpreting design drawings and specifications. The primary objective of this dissertation is to determine a data structure capable of representing design rationale information. This data structure also allows a computer system to perform analytical tasks on the design rationale data. Examples of analytical tasks a computer system can perform on design rationale data include: generating a parameter dependency network and resolving data conflicts. This dissertation defines this data structure as two separate but complementary modules. The Knowledge Representation Module assists in gathering project-specific product information. The Rationale Storage Module assists in capturing project-specific process information. This dissertation discusses each of these two modules in detail. The secondary objectives of this dissertation include: (1) defining a computer program architecture, (2) creating a computer program interface, and (3) verifying the appropriateness of the data structure in representing design rationale. A proof-of-concept computer program, DRIVE, applied to an actual value engineering study project accomplishes these objectives. / Ph. D.

Protein Kinase C (PKC) represents an important regulatory element in the signal transduction pathways of mammalian cells. Research interest has increased enormously since the discovery that PKC plays critical roles in cell differentiation, tumor promotion, oncogenesis and cell regulatory processes. The primary driving force of this project was the study and development of enantioselective PKC inhibitors. To accomplish this objective the four stereoisomers, (2S/4S)-, (2RI4S)-, (2R14R)-, and (2S/4R)-6-N,N-dimethyl-2-methyl-2-oxo-l,3-dioxa- 4-pentadecyl-6-aza-2-phosphacyclooctane bromides (la-d) were synthesized and evaluated. Long-alkyl chain optically pure epoxides, the key intermediates for the synthesis, were prepared from relatively inexpensive glyceraldehyde surrogates. Several other intermediates exhibited other biological responses including spermicidal, anti-HIV, mycobactericidal, and anti-cancer activities. / Ph. D.

This study investigated the relationship between students' age, achievement, evaluation of the instructors and the match-mismatch of students' and instructors' learning styles. Seventeen (17) business instructors and 302 business students comprised the population. The students were selected as an intact group enrolled in the participating faculty members' class. The relationship between age and learning style mismatch and evaluation and age and learning style mismatch and grade was not significant using Kolb LSI and Gregorc Style Delineator. The particular learning style of the instructor did not significantly affect grade nor evaluation using Kolb LSI and the Gregorc Style Delineator. However, submodel analysis revealed that instructors' learning style converger contributed to grade and accommodator style contributed to evaluation using Kolb LSI. Instructors' learning styles abstract sequential and concrete random contributed to grade using the Gregorc Style Delineator. The particular learning style of the student did not affect the relationship between learning style mismatch and grade and learning style mismatch and evaluation using Kolb LSI and the Gregorc Style Delineator. Submodel analyses indicated that students with learning styles accommodator and diverger who matched their instructors contributed to grade and students with learning style diverger when matched contributed to evaluation. The findings of this study were generally contrary to research. / Ed. D.

Time to doctoral degree has increased consistently in American universities since 1967, in some fields by as much as two years. At the same time, rates of completion have decreased. It is predicted that this pattern will persist, resulting in a diminished supply of highly trained workers in the future. The present research was designed to analyze time to doctoral degree and completion rates by academic department, and to identify departmental factors that positively or negatively affect these outcomes at one land-grant, research institution. This topic is significant to all aspects of higher education: students, departments, and universities. For students, increased time and lower completion rates diminish their competitiveness in the job market, morale tends to decline, and the tendency to not finish increases over time. For the department and the university, attractiveness to other students is decreased, and the number of new students who can be accepted may be reduced. A reduction in the pool of applicants due to the increased time to degree and lower completion rates may create both a supply and demand problem, and an inability for higher education to meet the demand. Given the high costs associated with graduate education, the current national climate of diminishing resources for higher education, and increased competition for these resources between undergraduate and graduate programs, it is critical to further examine the outcomes of graduate study. This research employed quantitative and qualitative methods. It was conducted in two phases. The first phase focused on calculations of time to degree and completion rates by academic department for students who began a program leading to the doctor of philosophy degree between the fall, 1986 and spring, 1990 semesters. Data were analyzed through the end of the fall, 1995 semester. The second phase of the study involved interviews with graduate students and faculty from selected departments to identify departmental factors affecting time to degree and completion rates, and to explore whether faculty opinions differ from those of students, and whether faculty and students opinions differ among departments. Results of this study allowed the researcher to identify variables that explain achievements and failures within the graduate education process, and provide evidence for designing and re-designing graduate programs and policies. Results may contribute to a better understanding of the factors affecting graduate education outcomes at this particular institution, and may guide university administrators in implementing strategies to improve graduate student success. / Ph. D.

This series of studies created and validated a role-play measure of cigarette, alcohol, and drug refusal skills, the Behavioral Substance Refusal Test (BSRT) for seventh and eighth graders, which included a measure of self-efficacy and outcome expectancies, the Role-play Self-Efficacy and Outcome for Refusal Test (RSORT). A series of focus groups asked seventh and eighth graders to discuss specific situations involving peer pressure to use drugs. These discussions were used to create the scenes for the behavioral drug refusal measure, which was based on the Behavioral Assertiveness Test for Children - Revised (Ollendick, 1981) and included both verbal and nonverbal components of aggression. Two additional categories of assertive behavior, statement of consequences and verbal repertoire, inductively determined from previous research on behavioral measures of assertion (Weist & Ollendick, 1991 ), were added to enhance the measure. In the first study, a multi-trait multi-method matrix (MTMMM) examined the measure's internal consistency and construct validity. The BSRT demonstrated promising convergent validity, but it did show a large amount of method variance. This method variance indicated that role-play and self-report measures of drug refusal skills measure different constructs. Further studies must determine whether the behavioral or self-report measures of assertion are more valid. The MTMMM indicated that the relationships between the constructs assertion, aggression, and passiveness may be more complex than is indicated in previous research on assertion, and suggestions are made for future measures of these constructs. In the second study, peers rated the seventh and eighth graders' role-play performances and confirmed that subjects who received high drug refusal scores on the BSRT were not rejected by peers and were perceived as effective by their peers. / Ph. D.