<p> Bijan Hamidi explores economic systems in video games and expands on the definition of virtual economics to include economic behavior. Gamers commonly look to gain advantages over their opposition during game play. This thesis performs an analysis of how those decisions are constructed and provides insight on where economic principles are found in game play. </p><p> This body of work is based upon preexisting virtual economic works from Edward Castronova, Zachary Simpson, and Richard Bartle. However, this work does not focus purely on economic markets, but extends to study economic behavior exhibited during play.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative, single case study was to understand leadership behaviors that motivate internal stakeholders to trust a leader&rsquo;s vision, embrace change, facilitate employee willingness to passionately implement actions needed for an organizational change initiative and willingly sustain a change initiative. A sample of 20 internal stakeholders was studied, five leaders and 15 followers within an organization of 800+ employees, located in the southwestern region of the United States, which is currently undergoing a change initiative. The research questions were based upon Kurt Lewin&rsquo;s three-step model of change: unfreezing, transitioning, and refreezing. This research asked how leadership behaviors facilitated employee willingness to trust a leader&rsquo;s vision and embrace change, passionately implement actions needed for a change, and sustain a change initiative, making an implemented initiative the new normal for the organization. Three themes emerged to address the research questions: 1) know your audience and walk your talk; 2) communication, vision, trust, and buy-in; and 3) residual passion and perseverance. Findings suggested that leadership behaviors influence internal stakeholders in relation to a change initiative and that leaders who are hands-on, consistent, and demonstrate a clear vision increased the possibility of gleaning passion and trust to increase the potential for success during an organizational change initiative. </p><p>

<p> Leadership transition literature indicated that nonprofit sector current leaders lack understanding of proper ways to make use of relevant management leadership techniques to develop new leaders. New leaders replacing retiring organizational leaders lacked managerial experience and training needed to lead employees and manage organizational resources. The purpose of this study was to explore, understand, and interpret leadership supportive systems techniques that characterize &ldquo;Plan A,&rdquo; vision used for professional development of aspiring nonprofit executives for capacity building of critical leadership skills and management of networking functions toward organizational sustainability. The conceptual framework of this study focused on supportive systems leadership development theory, nontraditional leadership development theory, and &ldquo;Plan A&rdquo; leadership development theory. The study adopted qualitative exploratory-interpretive case study to generate research data through surveys, document analyses, interviews, and focus group discussions for research questions 1 and 2. Data generated were analyzed using embedded thematic data analysis strategy and qualitative NVivo 11 software. The major integrated themes that emerged characterizing the unique features of &ldquo;Plan A&rdquo; vision of nontraditional leadership development techniques were: (a) vision and leadership empowerment, (b) performance and feedback, (c) efficiency and conflict management, and (d) effective communication between leaders and aspiring executives in the workplace. The study contributed to nonprofit leadership transition by interpreting and providing in-depth understanding of leadership development roles that involved leadership development persuasion, collaboration, consultation, and encouragement for aspiring executives to seek leadership roles within the nonprofit management team. </p><p>

<p> Adolescent boys without strong and healthy male role modeling are more likely to act out, dropout, and be behavior referrals at school. A literature review revealed that fatherless (physically or emotionally) boys are two times more likely to drop out of school, which leads to greater opportunities to participate in antisocial behaviors. Identification of this knowledge gap revealed a potential solution as to what adolescent boys are going to receive, and the process designed to meet those missing developmental needs. The research question that was asked and answered: Is there a statistically significant difference in behavior between adolescent boys who attend a 10-week counselor-facilitated group, and adolescent boys that do not attend the adolescent boys&rsquo; group? The introduction of a rite of passage program using an operational model based on psychosocial theory and bioecological theory of human development provides an avenue to redirect fatherless adolescent boys toward healthy emotional adulthood and stay in school. The problem statement outlined Erikson&rsquo;s and Bronfenbrenner&rsquo;s theories of development and offered the pedagogy in the form of a rite of passage to address the healthy developmental needs of adolescent boys. The intervention group and the untreated group had 50 participants. A paired sample t test analyzed the data to determine if there is a difference in the variable before and after treatment comparing all subjects on five different variables. This result showed that boys&rsquo; behavior on average was better after attending the 10-week program. The untreated group effect was significant in a negative direction during the 10 weeks without treatment reflected in the after scores of each dependent variable. The meaningful change in higher scores indicated the effect on boys&rsquo; behavior in school getting worse. Future research could include studying a larger group of boys from a more diversified population and to continue collecting data for a longer time to study staying power of the changes.</p><p>

<p> This dissertation seeks to understand how five women currently enrolled in doctoral level psychology programs emotionally and relationally experience the process of recovery from an eating disorder. Contemporary interdisciplinary discourses are inconsistent in their discussion of recovery, with differing accounts of what constitutes recovery and the typical course of recovery. Using a voice-centered and relational approach, I interviewed five female doctoral-level students in the fields of clinical and counseling psychology about their experience of recovering from eating disorders. Interview data was analyzed using the Listening Guide Method (Brown &amp; Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan, 2015) in order to emphasize the emotional and relational qualities of informant voices. My interest in this subject is, in part, inspired by my personal eating disorder history and doctoral training experiences. Although my personal experiences no doubt shaped what I asked and how I listened to the women in this study, I found that these courageous and honest women independently corroborated three interrelated themes. One, these women&rsquo;s stories each directly addressed a controversial issue in the literature: What is the nature of eating disorder recovery? Is it an end-state or an ongoing process? Two, connection and disconnection from the self and others, which in many respects is perpetuated by societal pressures and expectations placed on women, plays a critical role in the development of eating disorders. And three, the informants highlighted the potentially critical role of self-disclosure in addressing the sensed disconnections from self and others, within both clinical-therapeutic and professional-academic relationships.</p>

<p> This quantitative research study examined the relationship between self-reported job performance and child performance among applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists. Though several studies have demonstrated the benefits of staff training on improving job performance, there remains a gap in research in the field of ABA focusing on training as it relates to child performance. This study included three research questions: Will the implementation of incidental teaching when completing skill acquisition programs improve in applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists after undergoing a brief training package consisting of modeling, rehearsal, and feedback? Will the reported job performance of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists improve after undergoing competency-based training for implementing skill acquisition programs? Will applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapists assess child performance differently after undergoing an intervention to increase job performance? The population addressed in this study was therapists providing ABA services. Purposeful sampling was utilized to recruit 16 participants who were ABA therapists working in the United States. Each was asked to complete both the Task-Based Job Performance Scale and the Academic Performance Rating Scale. The first three with moderate to low scores in both job performance and child performance were selected to undergo an intervention involving training on job-specific skills utilizing a single-subject design. All participants were female. No additional demographic data were collected. Using visual inspection and trend analysis, it was determined the implementation of the incidental teaching of each participant improved after receiving training. When training was complete, each participant was asked to complete the job and child performance scales a second time. Using descriptive statistics, it was determined each participant who received training reported higher job performance post-intervention, but only one participant reported higher child performance. Future research on job performance and its possible effects on child performance is recommended. </p><p>

<p>Research has shown that there is a complex association between emotion regulation difficulties and increased substance use. This study investigated men?s gender role conflict (GRC) as a possible moderator of this relationship. A sample of 144 adult males from the United States completed measures of alcohol use (MAST), non-alcohol substance use (DAST-20), emotion regulation difficulties (DERS), and men?s GRC (GRCS). GRCS was found to significantly correlate with DERS, MAST, and DAST-20. DERS emerged as a significant predictor for alcohol use severity and GRCS as a significant predictor for the non-alcohol substance use severity. In the regression models that included covariates, the age of first use emerged as a significant predictor of substance use severity and only DERS continued to significantly predict alcohol use severity. Men?s GRC was not found to significantly moderate the relationship between emotion regulation difficulties and substance use severity in this sample. A trend was observed where the association between emotion regulation difficulties and alcohol use severity appeared to be stronger at higher levels of men?s GRC. These findings support previous research that has found an association between men?s gender role conflict and substance use severity; however, further research is needed to clarify the nature of this association.

<p> The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NAIC) reports that "...preventing all insider threats is neither possible nor economically feasible..." because the threat is already behind perimeter defenses and often know exactly where vulnerabilities exist within organizations (Cline, 2016). The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence of malicious and unintentional insider threats. Statistically, the numbers support the idea that insider threats are increasing and occurring more frequently. The true numbers, which only account for the incidents that were reported, may be higher than originally expected. The statistical numbers are likely to much higher because organizations fear reputational damage and client loss. Organizations give reasons such as not enough evidence for conviction or too hard to prove guilt. The result of the paper indicates that companies focus most of their resources on external threats and not the insider threat that is costlier to remediate and considered the most damaging of all threats. The research focuses on malicious and unintentional insider threats and how they are different. A 2018 Crowd Research Partners report found 90% of organizations believe they are vulnerable to insider attacks, while 53% of businesses confirmed they had experienced an insider threat in the past 12 months (Crowd Research Partners, 2017a). The insider threat is hard to manage because an organization not only need worry about their own employees they also must monitor and manage third-party vendors, partners, and contractors. However, with a combination of technical and nontechnical solutions, including an insider threat program, companies can detect, deter, prevent or at least reduce the impacts of insider threats. Abstract The National Infrastructure Advisory Council (NAIC) reports that "...preventing all insider threats is neither possible nor economically feasible..." because the threat is already behind perimeter defenses and often know exactly where vulnerabilities exist within organizations (Cline, 2016). The purpose of this research was to determine the prevalence of malicious and unintentional insider threats. Statistically, the numbers support the idea that insider threats are increasing and occurring more frequently. The true numbers, which only account for the incidents that were reported, may be higher than originally expected. The statistical numbers are likely to much higher because organizations fear reputational damage and client loss. Organizations give reasons such as not enough evidence for conviction or too hard to prove guilt. The result of the paper indicates that companies focus most of their resources on external threats and not the insider threat that is costlier to remediate and considered the most damaging of all threats. The research focuses on malicious and unintentional insider threats and how they are different. A 2018 Crowd Research Partners report found 90% of organizations believe they are vulnerable to insider attacks, while 53% of businesses confirmed they had experienced an insider threat in the past 12 months (Crowd Research Partners, 2017a). The insider threat is hard to manage because an organization not only need worry about their own employees they also must monitor and manage third-party vendors, partners, and contractors. However, with a combination of technical and nontechnical solutions, including an insider threat program, companies can detect, deter, prevent or at least reduce the impacts of insider threats.</p><p>

<p> Psychotropic medications rank among the most widely prescribed, largest-selling, and fastest-growing classes of drugs in the U.S. today. Largely attributed to the role of primary care providers in mental health care and the use of psychotropic medications for non-psychiatric conditions, the prevalence of psychotropic medication prescribing is a problem due to side effects, drug-to-drug interactions, and withdrawal effects. Previous research has not reliably explained why practitioners vary in prescribing behavior. This non-experimental cross-sectional quantitative research investigation compared the psychotropic medication prescribing behavior of primary care prescribers from the perspective of the theoretical domains framework (TDF), a validated theoretical framework for identifying factors influencing clinical behavior. The inquiry was guided by four research questions that explored prescribing behavior between primary care physicians (MDs, DOs), physician assistants (PAs), and nurse practitioners (NPs), between high and low prescribers, among high prescribers, and among low prescribers. The Determinants of Implementation Behavior Questionnaire: Psychotropic Medication Prescribing Behavior (DIBQ: PMPB), a unique psychotropic medication prescribing behavior version of the TDF-based Determinants of Implementation Behavior Questionnaire (DIBQ) template was administered to 49 Pennsylvania primary care MDs, DOs, PAs, and NPs. Due to low sample size, the groups were aggregated and compared between MDs/DOs and PAs/NPs. Data were analyzed with the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis H test. Results revealed that mean ranks were significantly different only among low prescribers in which MDs/DOs were significantly higher than PAs/NPs in Socio-political context and Innovation strategy. However, PAs/NPs were higher than MDs/DOs in Social/professional role and identity and Intentions. Findings suggest that differences may be related to division of labor, primary care setting, and age and gender of provider. MDs/DOs may focus more on protocol, organization, and practice-based aspects of running a business, whereas PAs/NPs may have a holistic mindset that is more flexible, accommodating, and sensitive to the patient. These factors should be thoroughly investigated in randomized controlled trials to more fully understand a provider&rsquo;s motivation and pattern for prescribing psychotropic medications, particularly in situations where safer evidence-based treatments exist.</p><p>

<p> The Links that Transition Ambition to Action: Analysis of African American Military Officers Transitioning from the Lower Class Louis C. Hare III, B.S., M.A. M.A. Communication, Hawaii Pacific University, Department of Communication May 2017 Thesis Advisor: Dr. John Barnum The notion of &ldquo;The American dream&rdquo; can perhaps be described by one word: &ldquo;opportunity.&rdquo; This study identifies differentiating factors that affect someone&rsquo;s ambition (motivation) as an adolescent and young adult, and what factors drive a person to seek and achieve their piece of the &ldquo;American dream.&rdquo; More importantly, the primary focus is to identify factors that offer an explanation as to why some people can rise from being raised in a state of poverty to eventually be flourishing members of society, while others (given comparable cultural, socioeconomic, religious, and educational backgrounds) have no such success. The results of this discussion allow for a juxtaposition of these factors, and also inform future efforts to bridge the gap between adolescent ambition and prosperity in America. This study gleans feedback primarily from African American United States Service Academy Graduates, of urban upbringing, ranging from recent college graduates to senior citizens and consists of a mixed-method approach.</p><p>