The purpose of the present study was to better understand creativity and creative development as well as the many factors that contribute to the processes that lead young adults to channel their creativity in various fields and degrees of social acceptance. Adolescents, parents, teachers, educational systems, and society as a whole would benefit from a deeper understanding of how creative individuals interact with, shape and seek out environments to fulfil their various creative needs. Society can ill-afford the incalculable loss of squandered or negatively applied creative talent. The present project was guided by an interactionist (Woodman & Schoenfeldt, 1989)/ecological (Harrington, 1990) process model of creativity which takes into account the four major strands (person, process, product and press) of inquiry involved in creativity research and provides the basis for a robust conceptual framework for their holistic study. To this end, a constructivist, qualitative approach was adopted. The research design for the present study adheres most closely to the social constructionist interpretation and application of the grounded theory method as outlined by Charmaz (1990, 2000). Biographical questionnaires and interviews, or "guided conversations", were undertaken with twenty-six (26) participants; ages ranging from 17-31 with the majority (22) aged between 18-24. They were chosen because they are notably creative in fields of varying degrees of social acceptance and because they represent a wide variation of schooling experiences and backgrounds. Specifically, they represented, among many others, high school valedictorians and drop-outs, graffiti artists, JUNO nominated musicians, painters, writers, actors, as well as scientific innovators. They were selected as a result of high school peer and teacher nominations, nominations from two guidance counsellors in a high school, judgement of products, snowballing, and informal peer nominations. Insights resulting from the questionnaire and interviews include a grounded theory process model for the "evolution" of the creative person. In addition, the methodological implications of adopting a constructivist perspective together with the newer relational views of research validity are examined; as are the implications the findings hold for educational policy and practice as well as the potential implications the research holds for the future study of young adults and creativity.

The purpose of the research presented herein was to gain a better understanding of male body image-related behaviors through a multi-phase mixed method approach. With research revealing a noted increase in muscularity in media representations of the male physique in the latter part of the twentieth century, context to the present day ideal male physique was first provided via the examination of sculptures and paintings from ancient Greece to the latter part of the 19th century (phase I). The ideal male physique was further examined in the qualitative phase of the research (phase II) where semi-structured interviews with 11 males were conducted. Data obtained from the interviews also aided in the construction of the Male Body Image Behavior Questionnaire (MBIBQ). The structure and length of the MBIBQ as well as its psychometric properties were next examined with a total of 550 participants in phases III and IV respectively. The examination of art representations of the male physique revealed varied depictions of a muscular ideal with interceding portrayals of thin or nonrealistic interpretations. A number of themes emerged from the qualitative data including the ideal physique and attributes, influences, psychosocial consequences, motivations, and behaviors. An interesting finding was that a few of the males expressed a preference for a female interviewer suggesting that cross-gender interviewing should be considered when examining body image in males. The results from the exploratory principal components and confirmatory factor analyses conducted in phase III revealed that the MBIBQ is comprised of four subscales; weight gain, weight loss, avoidance, and appearance. The more extreme behaviors on the preliminary version of the MBIBQ did not meet the criteria for item inclusion and were thus deleted, suggesting that although males may indicate knowledge of more extreme behaviors, their actual utilization may be limited. Phase IV of the research, conducted with 253 participants, showed preliminary evidence of convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity as well as test-retest validity for the MBIBQ. The MBIBQ is the first of its kind to address several dimensions of body image behaviors in males. The educational implications of the findings for school-based programs are discussed.

Bullying is a problem for schools around the world, and is an important topic for research because it has been associated with negative outcomes on several social, psychological, and academic measures. Antibullying programs have varied greatly in their outcomes, with some studies reporting positive results while others have reported little or no positive impacts. This could be due, in part, to insufficient attention paid to school climate as a possible mediating variable. My dissertation aims to explore the links between school climate and bullying/victimization. Because Tribes (Gibbs, 2001) is a well-developed program intended to improve school climate and is becoming increasingly popular in schools, it was used to explore the links between school climate and bullying/victimization. Tribes is a program that uses a learning-community, whole-school model and aims to create a positive school climate through improved teaching and classroom management, positive interpersonal relations, and opportunities for student participation. A case study methodology was used and data was collected from 2 Tribes elementary schools. One school was in its first year of implementation, and the other school was in its fourth year of implementation. Data sources included: surveys of grade 4-6 students, teacher surveys, student focus groups, teacher semi-structured interviews, classroom and general school observations, teacher focus groups, and interviews with non-teaching staff members. Data from this study indicate which aspects of the school climate may be most important for creating a bully-free environment, and a model is proposed describing possible mechanisms through which school climate can be changed to produce an environment less conducive to bullying. The results of this study also provide local knowledge to the two schools involved regarding the perceived impacts of the Tribes program on school climate and bullying in their schools, and what can be done to further improve school climate and reduce bullying in their schools.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate hyperactive and control childrens' awareness of their behaviors within the school system. In addition, hyperactive children described how medication affects their behavior and whether they feel it is necessary to control their characteristic behaviors. The rationale for the present, study was based on the fact that few studies have asked the hyperactive child about his awareness of his behaviors. Current research indicates the importance of self-perception studies. Researchers have intuitively assumed hyperactive children are not able to understand the affect of others so these children act and react inappropriately in social situations. However, this had not been empirically investigated. This research has implications for how significant others may be expected to interact with hyperactive children. Q-analysis procedures and techniques were used to gather and analyze the data. Three hyperactive children and two control children were requested to describe their classroom behaviors by rank-ordering a comprehensive list of items, each describing one classroom behavior. The items, which were gathered from theory, readings, subjects, and personal observations, were arranged by each subject into a predetermined (pseudo-normal) distribution pattern. The item scores for each subject were correlated and the correlation matrix factor analyzed. Each factor represented a single person. In addition, the difference between z-scores was analyzed which allowed differences between factors to be described. A structured interview was conducted with each subject to obtain further information on the subject's awareness of his classroom behaviors. Hyperactive children described their feelings about their medication regimen. Results indicated there are two subgroups of hyperactive children: ones who are unaware of their characteristic behaviors as negatively affecting significant others and view themselves as popular within the school environment and ones who view their actions as inappropriate with an accompanying low self-esteem with regard to their schooling. The medication interview indicated that hyperactive children feel drugs have a calming effect and they feel the medication is necessary for controlling their behaviors. It was concluded that viewing hyperactive children as unique individuals who may or may not be aware of their classroom behaviors must be incorporated into treatment strategies. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The occurrence of attributions during goal attainment scenarios is important to understand in order to determine how and when individuals tend to process events and make behavioral modifications. In order to study this, a sample of two basketball teams (one male team and one female team) was studied through the course of a season using a standard stimulus, a generalized survey, and game film. According to results of this study, the basketball players in the sample tend to interpret emotions similarly, but process and assign attributions differently based on gender. This process seems to be determined based on field dependence or independence through a difference in relying on the entirety of the proximal context or the abstraction of the event into relevant parts. These findings suggest important interventions for the well-being of players as well as how decision making strategies may be affected by attribution process during play.

This dissertation looked at the relationship between students' evaluations of teaching (SET) at a large research university in the United States and a set of background variables comprised of nine course, instructor, and student characteristics. Data from over 130,000 course evaluations from over 4,000 courses from four distinct departments taught between 2007 and 2014 were analyzed. Student ratings have been used to formally evaluate effective teaching practices at all levels of education for nearly 100 years. The subsequent body of literature examining and challenging this practice is vast and continuously evolving, and largely built on issues of validity, reliability, and bias. The findings have varied considerably over the years, largely due to the institutional-uniqueness of the instruments being used, the differing methodologies used to analyze the data, and disagreement on how to interpret the findings. These issues have allowed SET to continue to be one of the most widely studied and debated topics found in the educational literature. Findings from this study provide further evidence that SET data should not be used to make broad comparative judgments, but are more appropriate as a measure to inform individual instructors. Significant differences were detected from all nine background variables, with meaningful differences observed at the departmental level. While some of the variance in ratings detected can be logically tied to evidence of effective teaching practices, others indicate potential unfair biases that could be harmful if precautions are not taken in how the data are distributed and used.

This dissertation analyzes the utilization of two distinct modes of thinking, divergent and convergent, in the problem solving process. The concept for this study was developed from seminal work done by J. P. Guilford, Alex Osborn, and Sidney Parnes. Based on the assumption that problem solving requires these two distinct modes of thinking, it was hypothesized that a relationship exists between the modes and certain personality types. Two instruments, the Kolb Learning Style Inventory (LSI) and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), were used to gather quantitative data from 177 volunteer subjects. The LSI determined Converger/Diverger styles and the MBTI indicated personality type preferences of Sensing/Intuition (S/N) and Judging/Perceiving (J/P). The responses were analyzed by means of the Pearson chi-square test for significance. As predicted, a significant relationship between LSI Converger/Diverger styles and MBTI personality type preferences for Judging/Perceiving (J/P) was demonstrated. No significant relationship was demonstrated between the Converger/Diverger styles and the personality preferences of Sensing/Intuition (S/N). However, a relationship was shown to exist between Converger/Diverger styles and the combinations of Intuition-Perceiving (NP) and Sensing-Judging (SJ).

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of cognitive group therapy, aerobic exercise, or their combination, on anxiety and stress in college students. Sixty subjects were recruited from a large undergraduate abnormal psychology class. Fifty-three volunteered to participate in the study, and were divided into three experimental groups using matched random assignment. Treatment took place over a six-week period, and groups were labelled as follows; (#1) Cognitive group therapy only, (#2) Aerobic exercise only, and (#3) Cognitive group therapy combined with aerobic exercise. There was also a no-treatment control group (#4) of 17 subjects, consisting of students enrolled in a different course option unrelated to the study. All groups were administered the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the SCL-90-R, and measures of perceived fitness and anxiety before and immediately following the study. The STAI and the perceived measures were also administered after a two-month follow-up. The following hypotheses were presented: (1) Is participation in either aerobic exercise, cognitive group therapy, or the combination of both treatments more effective in reducing anxiety than involvement in a no-treatment control group? (2) Are exercise and cognitive group therapy equally as effective in reducing anxiety? (3) Is a combination of treatments more effective in reducing anxiety than one treatment? (4) Can anxiety reduction be maintained over time? Results indicated that all interventions were equally effective in reducing anxiety, both combined or individually, as compared to no intervention. Combining cognitive group therapy and exercise was not significantly more effective than either individual treatment. Furthermore, although a trend was present, most effects were not maintained after two months. The lack of longer-term effects may have been due to insufficient sample size and power, or the possibility that these interventions were effective in changing transient states but not established traits. Subjects reported that components from both treatments were effective in attenuating anxiety, and identified a number of possible mechanisms responsible for these changes. Further research examining the effects of combining exercise with other therapeutic treatments is warranted.

This study examined four research questions: (1) Are there group differences in working memory between students with ADHD and non-ADHD students matched for grade, reading and sex? (2) Are there strategy efficiency differences between a group of students with ADHD and a group of non-ADHD students? (3) Can a group of students with ADHD gain more on the Swanson Cognitive Processing Test (S-CPT) than a group of non-ADHD students when offered specific strategies to solve problems on the S-CPT? and (4) Can learning be improved for students with ADHD more than for non-ADHD students when teaching both groups specific learning strategies? The Swanson-Cognitive Processing Test (S-CPT) was used to measure working memory, strategy efficiency and gain scores. In Phase I, a between-subjects design, matching students by age, gender and CBM reading quartile level, was used to answer research questions one, two and three. In Phase II, a within-subject, baseline-treatment (A-B) design, was used to determine if students with ADHD who scored low on the Swanson-Cognitive Processing Test (S-CPT) could improve their classroom performance by being taught specific strategies in spelling and arithmetic to answer research question four. The independent variable for research question four was specific learning strategies and the dependent variables were curriculum based measures (CBM) in spelling and arithmetic which were administered three times a week for the eight week period of time the study covered. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in the working memory of students with ADHD, compared to non-ADHD students, in favor of the non-ADHD students, on the S-CPT. This finding supports Barkley's New Theory of ADHD (1997). There was no significant difference between students with ADHD and non-ADHD peers in terms of their Strategy Efficiency Index (SEI) scores on the S-CPT; however, there was a significant difference in their Gain scores on the S-CPT for students with ADHD. Finally, CBM data from Phase II were analyzed. Overall, there was no apparent gain for either the students with ADHD or the non-ADHD students between baseline and treatment phases. However, there were individuals who did have significant gains in the treatment phase.

Differences in beliefs about, reactions to, and perceived control over testing between learning disabled and non learning disabled students at the postsecondary level were investigated. Additionally, the effect of the use of support services by students with LD on their beliefs about and reactions to testing was also investigated. Students with and without LD were given published measures of test anxiety and academic locus of control, as well as survey questionnaires/scales created for the study. Additional information on students' with LD diagnoses and use of support services was gathered from archival data. Results indicated that students with LD reported significantly higher levels of test anxiety, particularly test irrelevant thinking, than their non-LD peers. Students with and without LD also differed significantly in their anxiety ratings of particular evaluation conditions, academic subject areas, and modifications to the testing environment. An external academic locus of control was found to be related significantly to higher test anxiety for all students. For students with LD, use of support services was not related to test anxiety. High levels of test anxiety were found to be related to reported avoidance of testing intensive courses and subject areas for all students. Females consistently scored significantly higher than males on all generalized measures of anxiety. Findings suggest that test anxiety is a phenomenon that varies both quantitatively and qualitatively as a function of individual differences in academic history, areas of academic strength and need, and as a function of specific aspects of the test situation (e.g., subject area testing is being conducted in, presence of distractions); in addition to its well documented negative effects on test performance, test anxiety may also have long term effects on academic and career choices. Support services appear to be perceived as useful by anxious students, however, utilization of such services does not appear to mitigate generalized text anxiety, though use of such services is related to higher GPA. Based on study findings, a variety of possible modifications to the testing environment and to classroom grading procedures at the postsecondary level are suggested.