This study examined the relationship among vocabulary knowledge, syntactic awareness and reading comprehension in 155 English-speaking undergraduate and graduate students. Confirmatory factor analysis analyses show syntactic awareness is highly correlated with reading comprehension; there is strong positive correlation between vocabulary knowledge and syntactic awareness; the same high correlation holds for the relationship between syntactic awareness and reading comprehension. Structural equation modeling indicates that syntactic awareness not only directly affects reading comprehension, but also indirectly influences reading comprehension via vocabulary knowledge. However, neither syntactic awareness nor vocabulary knowledge accounts for unique variance in reading comprehension. Both of them have significant shared variance in predicting reading comprehension. / A Thesis submitted to the Department ofeducational Psychology and Learning System in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2006. / August 28, 2006. / Reading Comprehension, Syntactic Awareness, Vocabulary / Includes bibliographical references. / Alysia D. Roehrig, Professor Directing Thesis; Rihana S. Williams Smith, Committee Member; Richard K. Waguer, Committee Member; Akihito Kamata, Committee Member.

The study was focused on the effects of working memory (WM) capacity and text elaboration on the processing and product of text comprehension. Participants included 73 English-native-speaking university students. A 2 (inferential vs. control target sentence) X 2 (low vs. high elaboration) X 2 (low- vs. high-span) mixed factorial design was conducted, with the former two variables as the within-subject external text factors, and the latter one as the between-subject inter-individual difference factor. Based upon the top and bottom third of a tripartite split of the participants. Read Span (RSPAN; Engle, 2005) percentile scores, 22 low- and 25 high- working memory WM span readers were identified. The activation of primary predictive inferences was measured by the naming task. The text memory was measured by the cued recall task. The reading materials were 24 narrative stories. In each story, the target sentence contained either the inference-evoking or control context for one primary predictive inference. The previous context of each story had either a low or high elaborative causal relation with the event described by the target sentence, thus eliciting either a low or high level of activation of a secondary inference. It was first hypothesized that working memory is a major factor impacting the differences in naming patterns on the primary predictive inferences (H1). Two alternative hypotheses parallel what different theories have predicted. The General Capacity Theory (Engle & Kane, 2004) would be supported if the low-span good readers have slower naming times because it would take the low span more time to shift their attention from the secondary inferential concept to the primary concept (H1-a). Whereas, the Skill Suppression Hypothesis (Gernsbacher & Faust, 1995) would be supported if the low span poor readers have quicker naming times because they would employ the enhancement mechanism (H1-b). The enhancement mechanism refers to when readers are not engaged in deep text processing (i.e., making primary predictive inferences in this study) but accept the superficial meaning of text during reading. Second, it was hypothesized that there would be a significant interaction between the text elaboration and working memory (H2). Third, there should be no significant working memory effect on exact recall of the predictive inference (H3). Finally working memory should contribute to higher-order learning from text (H4). The results demonstrated that difference mechanisms seem to be working for readers with different WM capacities and reading skills in terms of influencing their capability of the online inference computation. In addition, the working memory capacity contributed to a higher-order management of interference by integrating information into a coherent situation model of text. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2007. / August 29, 2007. / Text Elaboration, Working Memory, Predictive Inference, Psycholinguistics / Includes bibliographical references. / Alysia Roehrig, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard Wagner, Outside Committee Member; Akihito Kamata, Committee Member; Ralph Radach, Committee Member; Jeannie Turner, Committee Member; Rihana Williams, Committee Member.

This study occurred within the context of the professional development program, Great Expectations of Oklahoma (GE). This dissertation study investigated the extent to which participating teachers implemented the GE training. A qualitative design was used to investigate why teachers attended this training and how the school administration fostered greater implementation. Previous pilot studies provided insight into ways that elements may lead to teachers' greater implementation of professional development and suggested that Self-Determination Theory would provide a useful framework for the current study's data collection and findings. Deci and Ryan's Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (1985; 2000) states that autonomy (e.g., choice), competence (e.g., enhancing skills), and relatedness (e.g., collegiality) influence individuals' intrinsic motivation. The overarching focus for this qualitative dissertation was to investigate why some teachers are motivated to make changes in their classrooms while others seem to resist change. An underlying premise was that, when teachers feel intrinsically motivated and enthusiastic to attend professional development (through feelings of autonomy), feel competence to implement the professional development strategies and form supportive relationships, greater implementation of professional development may occur. This study investigated how teachers' intrinsic motivation to attend and implement professional development training was supported by the professional development training and the teachers' principal upon returning to school. SDT was used as the theoretical framework to investigate this phenomenon. This dissertation used a case study qualitative design (Creswell, 1998; Merriam, 1998; Yin, 2003) to investigate teachers' motivation and implementation of professional development. In this dissertation, I collected and analyzed data in the school to examine the extent to which elements of SDT positively influenced teachers' motivation to implement the training. Within the school context, I conducted interviews with principals (n= 3) and teachers (n= 8) of GE schools (schools that have attended GE and claim to implement some of its practices) to investigate the extent to which teachers' autonomy, competence, and relatedness were supported within the schools before the training, and if these elements were increased due to the training. Additionally, I interviewed the teachers to explore how elements at the school level and the GE level worked together to enhance teachers' implementation of GE. Finally, I conducted observations of teachers who have attended GE in order to investigate their levels of GE implementation. Within the training context, I conducted interviews with the director of GE and GE staff to provide insight into how the training supports attendees' autonomy, competence, and relatedness. I also conducted field notes to provide evidence of SDT elements (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness) at the training. I investigated the relationship among these elements and the characteristics of the training that support and enhance these elements in synergistic ways at the school level. Specific research questions were: Research Questions 1. In what ways does GE support teachers' autonomy, competence, and relatedness during the training to foster motivation to implement? 2. How do principals support teachers' autonomy to support teachers' decisions to attend GE 3. What is the process by which principals foster or hinder teachers' intrinsic motivation to implement professional development? Research questions One and Two were answered using data that were collected concerning teachers' perceptions of the professional development and the school employees' historical decision to attend professional development training and current levels of implementation. Data demonstrated that teachers whose autonomy, competence, and relatedness were supported by principals were more motivated to implement to a high degree. In contrast, teachers whose autonomy, competence, and relatedness were not supported by principals were less likely to implement the training to a high degree, despite considering the training to be of high quality. Additionally, the alignment of values between the principal and teacher was shown to be vital to teachers' intrinsic motivation to implement the professional development training, regardless of how the teacher felt about the training itself. The third research question was answered using a grounded theory analysis of the interview data. Analysis revealed a model that highlighted the importance of values-alignment within the role-hierarchy (e. g., principal and teacher) for increasing teachers' motivation to implement professional development. The analysis also emphasized ways that relationship affiliations are influenced by the values-alignment within a role-hierarchy. Furthermore, perceptions of personal control also influenced the relationship affiliation among role-hierarchy individuals. The model revealed that a combination of SDT (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and Control-Value theory (Pekrun, 2006) elements more fully described the cycle of building and maintenance of relationship affiliation among different role-hierarchy individuals. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2008. / November 27, 2007. / Values, Motivation, Professional Development, Teacher Training, Values-Alignment / Includes bibliographical references. / Jeannine E. Turner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Ashby Plant, Outside Committee Member; Susan Carol Losh, Committee Member; Alysia Roehrig, Committee Member.

Due to a number of scientific and socioeconomic advances made during the 20th century, older adults with physical disabilities of both early- and late-onset now have the potential to reach average life expectancy. With a considerable body of empirical evidence supporting an inverse relationship between disability and quality of life in older adult populations, research is needed to determine factors that influence the quality of life of older adults with physical disabilities. There are indications in the literature related to quality of life, adaptation to disability, and the sociological approach known as the life course perspective that suggests that quality of life in older adult populations may be different for individuals with disabilities based on: (a) age of disability onset and (b) adaptation to disability. This study utilized a convenience sample of 160 older adult subjects with physical disabilities to answer two research questions: (1) What are the relationships between age of disability onset, adaptation to disability, and quality of life, and (2) Are there differences in quality of life and adaptation to disability between older adults with early-onset and late-onset physical disabilities? Two separate hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to test two specific null hypotheses associated with the first research question: (a) there is no significant association between adaptation to disability and quality of life, and (b) there is no significant moderating effect of age of disability onset on the relationship between adaptation to disability and perceived quality of life. The first null hypothesis was rejected, and it was concluded that a significant positive relationship does exist between adaptation to disability and quality of life. The second null hypothesis was not rejected: Age of disability onset did not moderate the relationship between adaptation to disability and quality of life. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to test the corresponding null hypothesis for the second research question: There are no significant differences in quality of life or adaptation disability between older adults with early-onset physical disabilities and late-onset physical disabilities. Results showed that participants in the early-onset group had significantly higher adaptation to disability scores than individuals in the late-onset group, but that there were no differences between the groups in terms of quality of life scores. Therefore, this null hypothesis was rejected for adaptation to disability scores but not rejected for quality of life scores. Additional analyses performed for the second research question reveal supported that age of disability onset did not affect the relationship between the adaptation to disability and quality of life scores, a finding from the analyses for the first research question. The results of this research study add further evidence for Bishop's disability centrality model, a quality of life-based model of adaptation to disability that is based on the premise that adaptation to disability and quality of life are similar yet unique constructs. This model appears to offer rehabilitation counselors a means of understanding, measuring, and exploring adaptation to disability with their clients that has significant potential for furthering the understanding of individual differences in the response to disability. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester, 2010. / March 2, 2010. / Adaptation To Disability, Quality Of Life, Age Of Onset / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah J. Ebener, Professor Directing Dissertation; Linda Vinton, University Representative; Susan M. Smedema, Committee Member; Barbara J. Edwards, Committee Member.

Americans are the most overweight and obese individuals in the world, and these conditions are associated with many negative physical and psychological conditions. Health psychology research has adequately explained intention and initiation of weight-loss behaviors, but has had less success with their long term maintenance. Additionally, the psycho-social mechanisms that translate intention into action remain hidden and health psychology research relies on time-general designs relating baseline construct assessments to later behavioral performance. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among weight status, decision-making, and nutritional outcomes in an immediate, in-the-moment food selection task to determine whether obese and normal weight individuals make food-related decisions in fundamentally different ways. Twenty-four obese and 23 normal weight participants received instructions about verbalizing decisions and, after two practice tasks, asked to talk aloud as they selected dinner items from a simulated menu from a well-known fast food restaurant. Following protocol analysis guidelines, the verbalizations were recorded, transcribed, and segmented into discrete "thought units", which were coded as one of six possible decision processes. Group differences in the proportions these single units comprised of group totals and, following sequential analysis guidelines, proportional distributions of conditional two-unit sequences were analyzed using chi-square analyses. Results indicated significant differences between the groups in terms of their use of "opposing arguments" in their decision process. Results also indicated significant differences between the groups in terms of two-thought sequences. After proposing an item for consideration, normal weight participants offered more supporting and opposing arguments while obese participants delayed decision making and rejected items. Results indicated that normal weight and obese participants made food-related decisions differently. These findings shed light on cognitive processes involved when individuals decide among food items. Future research can build upon this topic and these methods to eventually develop a thorough understanding of in-the-moment food selection. These findings have clinical relevance as they may be used to help obese individuals make food decisions differently. Clinicians may help clients understand how they make food decisions and help them change their food decisions style in order to increase their chances of long term weight loss success. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2006. / October 17, 2006. / Decision Making, Obesity, Protocol Analysis, Sequential Analysis, Chi Square, Weight Status / Includes bibliographical references. / F. Donald Kelly, Professor Directing Dissertation; Richard Tate, Outside Committee Member; Gary Peterson, Committee Member; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member; Allan Jeong, Committee Member.

Extant literature suggests that the psychological construct referred to as self-esteem is, by virtue of its illusiveness, ambiguity, and multidimensional nature, a variable that remains difficult to conceptualize, operationalize and measure, thus the absence of a consensus among researchers regarding its true meaning and causal effects on aspects of daily living. More importantly, the debate continues about the differences between self-esteem of Blacks and that of Whites, and the impact of welfare dependency on the self-esteem of Black women. Self-esteem is generally viewed as how an individual feels about himself or herself. Data on the link between self-esteem and welfare characteristics seem to be limited and fragmented, hence the need for further research. This study explored the relationship between self-esteem and demographic characteristics of Black women on welfare. The researcher tested for a correlation between self-esteem and (a) Time spent on welfare, (b) The age of first motherhood, (c) Number of children, (d) Parents and/or grandparents on welfare, (e) Perceived barriers to employment, and (f) Completion and non-completion of the Career Quest program held at Florida State University during 1992-1996, sponsored in part by the Florida State Department of Employment and Labor. Data were extracted from information available in files previously compiled by African American women who participated in the Career Quest program. Data analysis was conducted through Analysis of Variance and regression. Three control variables (Education, Participant's Age, and Marital status) were factored in as covariates. The goals of this study were: (a) To expand the pool of available research in this field, (b) to stimulate further interest in self-esteem by students and researchers, and (c) to increase the awareness of professionals and others in the healthcare, education and social work systems who are in a position to influence intervention programs and policies of the need for greater attention to be given to the psychological impact of welfare dependency in relation to Black women. The findings of this study concluded, in general, that self-esteem was not significantly related to characteristics of welfare participation by the population of Black women. This appears to call into question (and possibly debunk) the stereotype of Black women on welfare as having low self-esteem. The results suggested a strong link between some predictor variables and a positive relationship between self-esteem and marital status. Single participants were found to have a higher self-esteem than their married, divorced or separated peers. Overall, the findings of this study suggest that the relationship between self-esteem and welfare characteristics of Black women is inconclusive. It is recommended that the implications for practice and research be noted and further research be conducted in this area. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2005. / October 25, 2005. / Self-Esteem, Impediments to Self-Sufficency, Black Women on Welfare, Poverty In the U.S. / Includes bibliographical references. / Deborah Ebener, Professor Directing Dissertation; Barbara Mann, Outside Committee Member; Gary Peterson, Committee Member.

The purpose of the current study was to test a model that considered factors impacting the career maturity of student-athletes, particularly the relationship between role conflict, athletic identity, and career-related distress, and their effect on career maturity. The participants were 200 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I (NCAA) student-athletes from two universities. Participants were asked to complete a consent form, demographic questionnaire, Part II of the Student-Athlete Questionnaire (Perrin, 1988), Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (Brewer, Van Raalte, & Linder, 1993), Career Thoughts Inventory (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996), and Vocational Identity (VI) scale from My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger, & Power, 1980a). Results indicated that there is a weak positive correlation between role conflict and career-related distress which means that increases in role conflict correspond to increases in career-related distress. In addition, there was a very weak positive correlation between role conflict and athletic identity, as well as role conflict and career-related distress. In the proposed model, 55% of the variance of career maturity was accounted for by role conflict, athletic identity, and career-related distress; however, career-related distress was the only variable that significantly predicted career maturity. The current study found that females reported higher levels of role conflict; however the findings did not find support for gender differences in athletic identity or career-related distress. No significant differences were found across the four years of undergraduate study for role conflict, athletic identity, and career-related distress. In addition, differences did not emerge on role conflict, athletic identity, and career-related distress between student-athletes participating in revenue and non-revenue producing sports. Future research could focus on other factors influencing the career development of student-athletes compared with the experiences of other college students, career development within different sports, and opportunities for creative interventions with the student-athlete population. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2008. / July 11, 2008. / College Student-Athletes, Athletic Identity, Role Conflict, Career Maturity / Includes bibliographical references. / Gershon Tenenbaum, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Steven Pfeiffer, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Andrew Rudd, Outside Committee Member; F. Donald Kelly, Committee Member.

Extensive research has provided much evidence for an attention-based model of time estimation (Zakay, 1992; Zakay, 1993a; Zakay 1993b; Zakay, 1998; Zakay, Nitzan, & Glicksohn, 1983; Zakay & Tsal, 1989); however, limited research on time estimation has been conducted in the sport domain. The purpose of this study was to extend time estimation research and the notion of an attention-based model into the sport arena, specifically basketball. This study implemented principles of the automatization theory (Brown, 1997) to a situation where the task is automatically performed without the need of directed attention. In particular, this study added a familiar time interval, 30 seconds, which was considered familiar to basketball players because they are accustomed to estimating it through the 30 second shot clock. Twenty female individuals within the age range of 12 – 22 participated in the study (i.e., ten basketball players and ten non-basketball players). The participants estimated three different time intervals: the familiar time interval (i.e., 30 s), a shorter time than the familiar interval (i.e., 20 s), and a longer time interval (i.e., 40 s). All estimations were done through a reproduction method. Three types of non-temporal tasks were utilized as interference with the timing task (i.e., cognitive, motor, and visual). Each interference task consisted of two difficulty levels, easy and hard. The cognitive task involved counting backwards by five (i.e., easy) or by three (i.e., hard). Dribbling one basketball was the easy motor task, while simultaneously dribbling three basketballs was the hard motor task. For the visual task participants searched for a target letter, 'K', among circular distracters, C, O, Q, U (i.e., easy) or angular distracters, V, W, X, and Y (i.e., hard). The participants first engaged in a single task, either reproducing the time intervals or performing the non-temporal tasks for all three time interval durations. Each condition consisted of four trials. A week later all participants engaged in the dual tasks, estimating the time intervals while performing the distracter non-temporal tasks. Findings revealed that basketball players experienced less interference from the non-temporal distracter tasks than non-basketball players. Basketball players were more accurate on their time estimations on all three time intervals across all types of interference than non-basketball players. Their closest estimations were during the 20 s time interval. Previous research on time estimation in sport has been extremely limited. This study provides further support for an attention-based model of time estimation, specifically within sport. The findings also suggest that athletes engaged in sport which require time estimation develop a better "sense for time" than people who have not been familiar with time constraints. Interestingly, time estimation of athletes is better than non-athletes not particularly in the specific sport time, but rather along all time estimations alike. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2005. / October 12, 2005. / Transfer, Interference, Attention, Basketball, Time Estimation, Automaticity / Includes bibliographical references. / Gershon Tenenbaum, Professor Directing Thesis; Robert Eklund, Committee Member; David Eccles, Committee Member; Alysia Roehrig, Committee Member.

Making use of the observable response time data now available due to computerized testing offers exciting opportunities for the theory and practice of educational measurement. This study extends item response theory by developing a model that incorporates response time data into an IRT inspired model. A joint distribution is used to simultaneously model response accuracy and response time. The conditional distribution incorporates response time into a one parameter logistic model. The marginal distribution of response time uses a two-parameter Weibull distribution. Three simulation studies are conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the estimation techniques. Item difficulty parameters are estimated using marginal maximum likelihood (MML). Maximum a posteriori (MAP) estimation is used to estimate the latent ability and latent person speed parameters. The simulation studies illustrate that the estimation procedures recovered the item and person parameters quite well. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2008. / October 24, 2008. / Item Response Theory, Response Time, Marginal Maximum Likelihood, Maximum a Posteriori, Weibull Distribution, Joint Distribution / Includes bibliographical references. / Betsy Jane Becker, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Kai-Sheng Song, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Fred W. Huffer, Outside Committee Member; Akihito Kamata, Committee Member.

There is a growing need to use response time data to improve measurement quality with the increasing popularity of computerized testing. This work simultaneously models item response and response time to improve on current IRT models that do not account for response time when there is a time limit in real testing. The joint distribution for item response and response time is presented in this work. It is specified as the product of the conditional distribution of response accuracy given response time and the marginal distribution of response time based on the lognormal distribution. A modified version of Thissen's (1983) log linear model is used to fit the response time. Marginal maximum likelihood estimation is developed and employed to estimate the item parameters. In addition, a maximum a posteriori procedure is developed and implemented to estimate person parameters. Three different simulation studies were conducted to evaluate the precision of estimation procedures. The results of item and person parameter estimates based on MML and MAP procedures were found to be consistent and accurate. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2008. / October 23, 2008. / Marginal Maximum Likelihood, MAP, Response Time, Lognormal Distribution, Item Response Theory, Joint Distribution / Includes bibliographical references. / Betsy Jane Becker, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Kai-Sheng Song, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Fred W. Huffer, Outside Committee Member; Akihito Kamata, Committee Member.