Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, May 2010. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on June 11, 2010). "College of Nursing." Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-83).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2010. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 125 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 66-77).

Thesis (M Arch)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2010. / Paging varies. Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Zuzanna Karczewska. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 2-8).

Thesis (M.S.) PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / Sleep has been associated with learning flexibility and memory enhancement in several domains, yet little evidence exists on the effects of sleep in early language learning. In our study, we asked whether two-year-old toddlers benefit from sleep when learning the meaning of words. We adapted a paradigm in which two-year-olds were taught novel words, specifically verbs, and were asked to map them to meaning (Arunachalam & Waxman, 2010). Toddlers were first familiarized with a novel verb used in transitive sentences (i.e., “Mary is going to moop the cat”). Next, we assessed whether they mapped the novel verb to a meaning by testing them twice, once immediately after familiarization, and once after a delay of 3-6 hours, during which toddlers either slept or remained awake. At test, they viewed two candidate referents for the novel verb: a causative scene and a synchronous scene. Note that causative events can be described with transitive verbs, but synchronous events cannot. Toddlers’ task was to assign the novel verb to one of the potential visual referents. If sleep promotes language learning, then toddlers will perform better at the second test if they had slept during the delay than if they had not. Specifically, we predicted that toddlers who slept would look more to the causative scene than those who remained awake. Results revealed that toddlers in both delay conditions and even at both tests were not above chance at choosing the causative scene. These results present an interesting paradigm that could be applied to other sleep research studies. / 2031-01-01

The subjects of this research are Kenyan medical scientists. The study aims to investigate the Kenyan medical scientists' information behaviour in the context of their research information acquisition. It also aims to show how research can function in conditions of relative information deprivation. The theoretical framework of the study has been designed to include both quantitative and qualitative methods. Wilson's model of information behaviour is used to develop the conceptual framework of this study. Triangulation is used in data collection and is achieved by the use of interviews, documentary analysis and observation. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques have been used for the analysis of data It is found that the medical scientists work under conditions of relative information deprivation. Libraries are inadequate and have deteriorating collections, while informal personal contacts are difficult to establish and maintain. Personal collections are thin and disparate while travel to conferences is also severely constrained. In spite of this, excellent research is continuing using the limited resources available. An attempt is made to show how research functions.

Most sleep loss research has concentrated on long duration, repeated measures performance of low-level, monotonous tasks, such as vigilance and reaction time, in support of the theory that sleep loss induces a decline in Non-Specific arousal while having no specific effects on functioning. Numerous studies have shown the beneficial effects of caffeine on this type of performance measure. Recent studies have been conducted on executive functioning tasks that are short, novel, and stimulating. These measures display a sensitivity to sleep loss after 36h that is not compensated by waking countermeasures such as motivation and caffeine. These findings suggest Specific effects of sleep loss, contrary to the Non-Specific theory, particularly on tasks associated with frontal lobe activation. Similarities between performance deficits following brain lesions and those observed in sleep loss subjects form the basis of a neuropsychological model of sleep function. This thesis was an endeavour to document the findings of executive functioning sensitivity following 27 and 36 hours of sleep loss, testing the effect of two common countermeasures, caffeine and a nap. It was established that the critical period of sleep loss for executive functioning performance is at 36 hours. Sleep deprivation effects for periods shorter than 36 hours can be countered by a waking countermeasure, caffeine. It was further established that a 2-hour prophylactic nap opportunity inhibited sleep deprivation effects at 36-hr performance testing for executive functions. The systematic analysis of the effects of sleep loss on language skill, a complex task which is possibly an executive functioning task associated with frontal lobe activation but largely neglected in the literature, detected an increase in variability in language skill, and a propensity towards production errors in speech, but not writing, at 36 hours without sleep. This effect was not observed at 27 hours. The findings are discussed in support of a hypothetical consolidated model of Specific and Non-Specific Effects of sleep loss.

The thesis describes investigations into two contrasting aspects of Slow Wave Sleep (SWS). The first is a laboratory based study of the effects of passive heating on the subsequent SWS of six healthy subjects, and the second employs home sleep recording techniques to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of the 'alpha sleep anomaly' in volunteers from the local community.

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Economic explanations vs. cultural concerns. These two branches of research have been established as the two major approaches in understanding the electoral success of radical populist parties. As for economic hardship, the feeling of neglect by established parties and political discontent are considered as mechanisms translating into the preference of anti-establishment parties with a people-centrist rhetoric. From a cultural perspective, radical populist voting has been linked to people holding on to more conservative viewpoints and rejecting the perceived predominance of trends such as multiculturalism and postmaterialism they assume established parties to focus on. While there is evidence suggesting that an unfavorable socioeconomic status does foster voting in favor of populist parties, multiple previous studies agree that cultural or political concerns surpass the explanatory power of economic insecurity in that regard (e.g. Mudde & Rovira Kaltwasser, 2018; Oesch, 2008, Ramiro & Gomez, 2017). Nonetheless, economic approaches of populist voting should not be discarded. Instead, the inconsistency across previous studies in terms of evidence hints at the possibly crucial impact of the research design on the results to be obtained. In this respect, the predominant use of aggregate data in the field does not allow for conclusions on individual voting behavior whereas even the analysis of individual-level data often comes along with a static perspective on single-election years which makes the results context-dependent and limits their generalizability. Next to the substantial investigation on which aspects of socioeconomic hardship increase support for populism, it is another objective of this thesis to contribute to the state of research by illustrating the methodological impact on the evidence yielded. In order to achieve that, this thesis consists of four substudies, each approaching the research question from another perspective to provide a comprehensive overview on socioeconomic drivers of populist voting. Relying on survey data from the Belgian Election Study 2014, for a start it is analyzed if socioeconomic deprivation shapes populist attitudes. For that, both the individual and the contextual situation are considered. Another deepening of knowledge pursued in the first empirical chapter is the disentanglement of three attitude dimensions which are part of the rhetoric used by populist parties but have been cumulated in previous studies (i.e. anti-immigration views, people-centrism, and anti-elitism). The evidence suggests that populist views are stronger among persons with a lower level of education and a stronger sense of relative deprivation. The effect of relative deprivation on people-centrist views is furthermore stronger when the local surroundings are characterized by higher financial wealth. In the second empirical study, the outcome to be explained is the actual voting behavior in favor of a populist party, using the example of Flemish Interest (Vlaams Belang). Again, the analysis is taking place on a small-scale contextual level. The longitudinal perspective on Flemish municipalities covering the period from 2006 to 2018 is an additional contribution. Through the estimation of fixed effects panel regression models, possible sources of biased findings may be partially eliminated. This advantageous statistical method is not only exploited for substantial purposes but also to point out its benefits when contrasting it to other longitudinal strategies, such as separate year-specific and pooled models. Unexpectedly, the local unemployment rate is negatively related to the aggregate success of Vlaams Belang. Nonetheless, the comparison across analytical approaches underlines the relevance of advantageous statistical methods that reduce the risk of an omitted variable biasand allow to consider time trends. The third chapter also relies on a longitudinal design and illustrates the analytical benefits of panel data but gives attention to the individual level, using information from the Dutch LISS panel survey. Like in the previous sub-study, there is evidence illustrating the analytical potential of panel data. In substantial terms, however, multiple characteristics of individual deprivation do not significantly influence the support for radical populist parties. The fourth and final empirical chapter broadens the perspective in several regards as it gives up the previous focus on single countries in favor of a cross-country analysis on the election for the European Parliament 2019. What is more, another form of voting behavior is considered that is theoretically similar to populist voting, namely abstaining. With that alternative outcome being part of the study, additional analyses are conducted to identify attitudinal mechanisms which explain the preference for either populist voting or abstaining. Both prove to be more likely than mainstream party voting among person with a low educational level and frequent educational difficulties. An unfavorable position on the labor market, however, comes along only with an increased tendency of abstention. If socioeconomic vulnerability translates into anti-immigration views, however, radical populist voting is more likely than mainstream party voting or abstaining whereas an emerging political disinterest and feeling of powerlessness explain why socioeconomically vulnerable persons rather choose not to vote at all. The tendency of mainstream party voting is reduced if unemployment or financial troubles translate into the disapproval of politics but neither radical populist party voting nor abstaining are boosted more than the other.