Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-134).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2010. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 155-180). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, 2001. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 9, 2004). Includes bibliographical references (p. 51-57).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2009. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 119-137).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 105-115).

Recently the question of eco-labelling has become increasingly important, especially when used as a green marketing tool. Surprisingly, the marketing placebo effect of eco-labelling and the influence it has on the performance of a product has received little attention. The purpose of this study is to explain the placebo effect of eco-labelling on consumer attitudes. Fishbein’s model of attitudes is implemented whereby a focus group is used as a basis to create a questionnaire and a tasting experiment. The findings of the study provide an explanation and evidence of the placebo effect of eco-labelling. The product with an environmental label is perceived as tastier, healthier and of higher quality than the same product without ecological label.

In the United States, prominent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in rates of unintended pregnancy, abortion, and unintended births exist. Recent analysis suggests that Latinas are three times more likely to experience an unintended pregnancy than non-Latina white women. More than half of pregnancies among Latinas (53%) in the United States are unintended and have higher unintended births as they are less likely than black women to have an abortion. In addition, in 2006 the unintended pregnancy rate was highest among women aged 20-24. Little research has 0been conducted to understand unintended pregnancy particularly among young adult Latina women. The purpose of the study is to determine and understand the meaning of unintended pregnancy among Latina subpopulations and examine the perceived consequences and management of unintended pregnancy among Latina subpopulations. Between May 2012 and October 2012, twenty in-depth-interviews were conducted with U. S. born- Latinas between 18-25 years of age seeking a confirmation pregnancy test at clinics in which some provided abortion services. Latinas in the study's meaning of pregnancy came from their complicated life situations, and were facilitated by Latino cultural beliefs, such as fatalism, religiosity and familismo. Many held favorable and positive meanings of their unintended pregnancy, particularly those who continued their pregnancies to term. Consistent with several other studies, the act of deliberately trying to plan a pregnancy was foreign to many of these women, particularly because a pregnancy was something that should was not in their control and left up to God. Most of the Latinas in the study felt that women should not plan their pregnancies and doing so was going against fate and natural life course. Public health research overwhelmingly highlights the negative maternal and child health consequences of unintended, while many women in this study perceived the negative consequences of unintended pregnancy to be primarily emotional and social. The inquiry found stigma surrounding unintended pregnancy among Latinas in this study. More than half of the women in the study resorted to termination of their pregnancy and cited fears of family reaction, fears their partner would deny paternity or responsibility, and/or desires to continue schooling, community and societal attitudes toward an unintended pregnancy and religiosity, as influencing this decision. In addition, contributing to the stigma were the stereotypes of Latinas. Latinas decision to continue their pregnancies to term or have an abortion was provoked by diverse and interrelated factors. Although a few Latinas in the study stated their partner's had an influence on the pregnancy resolution decision, all Latina stated that ultimately they were in control over their pregnancy resolution decision. Even when Latinas partners did not agree with their decision, women still performed their intended pregnancy resolution decision. . Family planning services might benefit from intervention designs with the following features that address the cultural needs of this population; a) highlight/stress the importance and benefits of delaying a pregnancy, not discuss pregnancy planning which was found to be irrelevant to these women, b) incorporate and address cultural constructs such as familismo and fatalism as protective factors rather than risk factors, and c) link and discuss issues such as poverty, education, insurance, stigma, and mental health issues. Many women reported these factors as perceived consequences and influencing the management of an unintended pregnancy. Interventions may be aimed at improving provider communication with Latinas about prevention of unintended pregnancy as well their pregnancy resolution options. Future public health campaigns might benefit from incorporating promotores de salud who had similar experiences in curriculums already discussing reproductive health. Support groups and mental health counseling was suggested as needed among participants that terminated their pregnancies. Future research should continue to focus on the multiple levels of influence and the contribution they make on the meaning and consequences of unintended pregnancy. In addition, the role of cultural protective factors in strengthening families and communities merits further exploration. This study increased our understanding of what unintended pregnancy means in the Latino community, and explored it from a comprehensive, multi-dimensional, and structural perspective. Understanding these factors are important and first steps to addressing an issue that affects Latinas, their families, communities, and the nation-at large.

The aims of this study were to examine the relations among social capital, human capital, economic capital, and children’s socioemotional well-being during the transition from late childhood to early adolescence and to test an ecological-transactional model of children’s social capital. This work was informed by sociological and economic theory on social capital, human capital, and economic capital (e.g., Becker, 1993; Bourdieu, 1986; Coleman, 1988; Foster, 2002) and two principal frameworks in developmental psychology: ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998) and the transactional model of child development (Sameroff, 2009). Social capital was conceptualized as both a family-level and a community-level phenomenon, distinguishing between family social capital and community social capital. A major hypothesis was that family social capital and community social capital, alongside family-level human capital and economic capital, are associated with low levels of socioemotional problems. Family-level variables were considered to be nested within the more distal ecological context of community social capital, and the indirect relation of community social capital to socioemotional well-being through family social capital was also considered. Another postulation was that children’s socioemotional well-being and the social capital that inheres in family relationships (i.e., family social capital) are mutually influential, changing over time in a transactional manner. In this vein, children were regarded as agents of social capital, both “creating” and utilizing it to their developmental benefit (or detriment as the case may be). These family-level transactional processes were nested within the context of community social capital. Results indicated that community social capital had little association with family social capital and children’s socioemotional well-being as indexed by internalizing and externalizing problems. However, caregivers’ human capital and economic capital were significant predictors of family social capital. In turn, family social capital was strongly related to socioemotional problems. Notably, harsh parenting behavior, a measure indicative of the health of the caregiver-child relation and thus the potential for social capital to be realized in their interactions, was the strongest predictor of socioemotional well-being. / text

Preference is commonly incorporated into educational interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. Preference assessments have a solid research base indicating that they are more reliable tools for finding preference than the subjective opinions of parents and teachers. As evidence-based practices have been emphasized, the preference assessment has been a regular component of interventions and instructional programs for the population. Along with the utility, research regarding the assessment and relevant variables has also increased. However, many questions still exist and wait for more inquiry. One of the practical issues is the occurrence of challenging behaviors of individuals with disabilities during preference assessments. Highly occurring challenging behavior during an assessment may interrupt the procedure and lead to inaccurate results about the individual’s preference. That may ultimately affect the effectiveness of the intervention or instructional program. Using a procedure that does not evoke challenging behavior is necessary for accurate results as well as ethically responsible. Therefore this study examined the relation between functions of challenging behavior and three commonly used preference assessment procedures: Paired-Stimulus (PS), Multiple-Stimulus without Replacement (MSWO), and Free-Operant (FO). This study had two phases: Functional analyses and preference assessments. First, functional analyses were conducted to identify the function of challenging behaviors. The participants were nine children with developmental disabilities whose functional analysis results indicated their challenging behavior was maintained by access to tangible items (5), attention (2), and escape (2) reinforcers. After identifying the behaviors’ functions, preference assessments were implemented to compare the rates of the challenging behaviors. Each preference assessment format was conducted 5 times, in a random order for each participant. The results of the study demonstrate that the occurrence of challenging behavior with different functions was different depending on procedure formats. This suggests that there would be a relation between functions of challenging behavior and preference assessment formats. In other words, depending on the function of challenging behavior, the assessment procedure may act as a trigger evoking the challenging behavior. This study discussed practical guidance to prevent challenging behavior during preference assessments. / text

Virtual-reality neuropsychological tests offer a novel way to assess real-life executive functioning within the context of standardized test conditions whilst maximizing ecological validity. Given the limited empirical evidence base for many of these virtual-reality tests, the current study aimed to further examine the relative ecological validity, sensitivity to brain-injury and diagnostic accuracy of the virtual-reality based Jansari assessment of Executive Functions (JEF). To do this, the test was compared to seven standard tests of executive function, in a New Zealand sample of 27 brain-injured and 28 non brain-injured participants matched for age, gender and education. The JEF’s ecological validity was supported, with JEF total percent scores exhibiting large correlations with participants’ independently reported levels of everyday functioning, as measured by the Dysexecutive Questionnaire: Independent-Rater (DEX-IR) and Patient Competency Rating Scale-Relative (PCRS-R) (both rs = 0.606, p < 0.001). Compared to the standard executive function test variables included in the current study, the JEF’s associations with the everyday functioning measures were the largest, but only significantly larger than the respective correlations of some standard executive function test variables. These results indicated that the JEF is trending towards being relatively more ecologically valid than most of the standard executive function tests included in the study. The JEF also exhibited good sensitivity to brain-injury and diagnostic accuracy for discriminating brain-injured from non brain-injured participants, which was generally consistent with most of the standard tests, but only significantly better than some. These results provide empirical support for the JEF’s clinical utility, particularly in the assessment of brain-injured persons’ functional abilities. It also suggests that both virtual-reality and standard executive function tests have a place in the routine neuropsychological test batteries used to assess brain-injured persons.