This study investigated the effects of aural, visual, and motoric cues on tempo modulation discrimination among musicians and nonmusicians. While listening to music during these three conditions, subjects manipulated a Continuous Response Digital Interface (CRDI) demonstrating perception of tempo alteration. Data were analyzed according to three different perspectives: deviation, latency, and accuracy. Subjects' motoric responses and perception of task ease were also examined. / Music experience was a determining factor in differential response to tempo modulation discrimination among subjects. Musicians more accurately detected tempo changes than nonmusicians. Musicians were better at detecting tempo acceleration. Nonmusicians were more accurate with tempo deceleration. Most demonstrated shorter latencies in initial CRDI pointer movement during tempo acceleration. Although listening condition had little effect on latency scores, musicians correctly identified tempo change more often when simply listening. Nonmusicians were more accurate when listening and watching a conductor. While no significant differences were found between groups concerning perception of which tempo change was easiest to detect, a significant number of musicians and nonmusicians reported tempo change detection was easiest to perceive during the Aural/Motoric condition. / The data suggest the ability to internalize steady beat such that discriminatory comparisons of external aural stimuli may be made is perhaps developmental. Data indicate nonmusicians benefit from receiving tempo information through bimodal sensory stimulation, particularly aural and visual. Approaching music education through several sense modalities may promote development of abstract music concepts among learners. Knowing students' music learning proclivities may prove useful in guiding young music learners in developing aural discrimination. / These findings may be equally important for conductors of experienced musicians. Musicians demonstrated greater accuracy while listening only and may have perceived conflicting information when watching a conductor. Perhaps musicians expect more nuance from the ensemble conductor. While changes in tempo promote musical interest, musicians readily detect such alterations. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-05, Section: A, page: 1677. / Major Professor: Clifford K. Madsen. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

This study concerns the Criteria-Based Content Analysis (CBCA), an interview technique developed to determine the truthfulness of child sexual abuse allegations. The technique uses a set of 18 verbal criteria which indicate truthfulness. The technique was developed in Europe and has been shown to be effective in distinguishing between fabricated and truthful statements. But, the population that the technique was based on was limited to white Europeans. Since cultural and racial differences have been noticed in non-verbal cues to deception, it was suspected that the verbal cues may similarly be affected. Therefore, it was hypothesized that the CBCA would not be useful when applied to the statements of black speakers as well as those of white speakers. / The results first demonstrated that the technique, as it is currently applied, is not effective in distinguishing between truthful and fabricated statements of any speaker. The fact that this study was the only one in which written transcripts were exclusively evaluated may have contributed to that result. Non-verbal factors must have contributed to the positive results of past research. Moreover, strictly applying the technique in the conventional way results in severely elevated false positive ratings. / Second, by applying a discriminant function's linear combination of the criteria instead of the sum of the criteria in each statement, it was shown that the criteria were useful in making the truthfulness discriminations. It was also revealed that the linear combinations of criteria for whites and blacks differ. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-07, Section: A, page: 2616. / Major Professor: John C. Brigham. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This was a three-year longitudinal investigation designed to (1) examine the stability of behavior problems (inattention/overactivity, aggression), academic achievement (grade point average), and achievement-related beliefs (academic self-concept, behavior self-concept, ability attributions for academic failure, ability attributions for behavior difficulties) from elementary to middle school and (2) explore causal relationships among achievement, behavior problems, and beliefs. During the 1991-1992 academic year, 207 children in grades 6, 7, and 8 were evaluated. All the children in the present study had been tested three years prior when they were in elementary school. / An examination of mean changes over time found a mean decline occurred in Academic Achievement, Behavior Self-Concept, and Ability Attributions for behavior problems and academic failures. Interestingly, the predicted mean decline for Academic Self-Concept was not obtained. Mean teacher ratings of Aggression and Inattention/Overactivity declined. However, for Inattention/Overactivity, males declined more than females. The stability of children's rank-ordering on each variable was assessed by the correlations between the Time 1 and Time 2 scores. All correlations were moderate and significant. / The regression analyses supported the hypothesis that early behavior problems lead to maladaptive beliefs which lead to academic problems. However, the nature of the relationship depended upon the specific behavior problem and belief being considered. The hypothesis that early academic failure could lead to later behavior problems, particularly off-task behaviors, also was tested. Early academic problems were found to be predictive of later Inattention/Overactivity. However, this relationship was not mediated by beliefs. Early academic problems were not predictive of later Aggression. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 3053. / Major Professor: Barbara Licht. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This study was conducted with the intention of investigating the effects of small-cooperative group learning on students' achievement and affective behaviors, and developing a descriptive model of grouping patterns based on students' interactions and interviews. Students' interviews provided information concerning their feelings and reactions to the method and the group memberships in small-group cooperative learning. / Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used in gathering information for the study. One hundred and sixty tenth grade students were involved in the experiment in learning mathematical topics. / To develop the grouping patterns, small heterogeneous and homogeneous groups were formed by initially recording students' mathematics ability, gender and field-dependency. Students' social problems and cognitive differences were also considered in forming the groups. Student's individual role, their way of interacting with the tasks, and the level of collaboration of each group in mathematical problem-solving activities were observed. During the observations in classrooms and in separate rooms, ethnographic methods were used in the study. Selected groups with different combinations of memberships were videotaped to get information during small-group problem-solving activities. / The findings of this study indicated that small-group cooperative learning opportunities in mathematics classrooms showed significant impacts not only on students' achievement but also on students' mathematics anxiety. Most students preferred small group learning, but some high-achieving field-independent males did not prefer small-group cooperative learning when the group members did not fit their will. Most students felt that they had more opportunity for learning mathematics through small groups. / With respect to the grouping patterns, this study found that either homogeneous or heterogeneous groups could be interactive, but, the most interactive groups were groups in which: (1) there were no social and cognitive difference problems in the group members, (2) students' characteristics, such as mathematics ability, gender, and field-dependency, are mutually supportive of each others' learning, and (3) the combination of the group members had to make each member of the group believe that in that group all members could work and solve mathematical problems together. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 3059. / Major Professor: Janice Flake. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

National reform initiatives suggest the need to restructure art education to demonstrate more evidence of critical thinking. Advocates of two of the various competing paradigms dominating thinking in the field of art education posit that only their respective approaches to art study are best suited to this end. / Quasi-experimental research employing a non-equivalent control group design was employed to investigate the effects of teaching strategies associated with the two methodological orientations to art study known as the studio-based creative free-expressive approach and the Discipline-Based Art Education approach which served as the independent variables in the study. The primary dependent variable of cognitive development was pretested and posttested with the Developing Cognitive Abilities Test (DCAT) (1989), an instrument containing test items correlated to the first five levels of Bloom's (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook I: Cognitive Domain distributed within the three sub-test areas of verbal abilities, quantitative abilities, and spatial abilities. The other dependent variables of artistic aptitude and attitudes toward art in terms of tolerance for ambiguity when viewing new or unusual works of art were also pre and posttested using measures adapted from The Second Assessment of Art 1978-79: Released Exercise Set (No. 10-A-25). / As a review of the literature revealed both strong support and much criticism for each of the two art education approaches used in the experiment, all hypotheses were stated as null hypotheses. Following nineteen weekly intervention sessions, the sixth grade students in the control and experimental groups were posttested with identical forms of the instruments. Findings from t-test analyses of the differences in the difference of the means and standard deviations from pretesting to posttesting revealed no statistically significant difference at the.05 level of confidence in the performance of the control or experimental groups on any of the measures. Thus, all null hypotheses were accepted, suggesting that the methodological argument regarding the best means to enhance critical thinking skills may be a moot point and irrelevant to the goals of art education. Future researchers need to investigate the wholistic perspective provided by philosophical rather than psychological conceptions of critical thinking. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-08, Section: A, page: 2975. / Major Professor: Charles M. Dorn. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

<p> The purpose of this exploratory qualitative research study was to identify the elements of adventure travel experiences that contribute to the process of transformational learning in adults. A qualitative research design was employed for this study. The sources of data were twelve pre-existing and de-identified interview transcriptions. A textual analysis was performed on the data, using an <i>a priori</i> approach to coding and analysis. An analysis of the data identified seven key themes that were critical for transformational learning in adults: (a) A Call to Adventure; (b) Being Open to Experience; (c) Entering a Zone Unknown; (d) Extra-Ordinary &amp; Challenging Experiences; (e) Meaningful Interactions with Others (f) Re-Connecting to Self; and (g) Taking Action. These themes suggested a process for transformational learning in adults. In addition, (a) the authentic nature of the experience and (b) trip length, were also found to be important factors in transformational learning for these interviewees. These findings also suggest that intentionally designing adventure travel programs around these themes and the emergent transformational learning process has the potential to increase the likelihood of participants experiencing transformational learning through adventure travel.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on Feb. 8, 2010). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-05, Section: A, page: 1781. Adviser: Alan W. Ewert.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2009. / Adviser: Edward S. Shapiro.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Lehigh University, 2009. / Adviser: George J. DuPaul.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2009. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 70-06, Section: A, page: . Adviser: Kiel Christianson. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 259-279) Available on microfilm from Pro Quest Information and Learning.