Larger numbers of students are attending four-year institutions than in previous years and are taking longer to complete their degree programs (Barton, 2002; Wirt, Choy, Rooney, Provasnik, Sen, & Tobin, 2004). These same students may also endorse higher levels of narcissism and have unrealistic expectations for their careers (Twenge, 2006). These trends present a challenge to career development professionals working in university and college settings. To assist students in solving their career problems, these professionals often assess vocational interests using Holland's theory and his Self-Directed Search (SDS) instrument (Holland, Powell, & Fritzsche, 1994). Yet, little is known about the relationships between narcissism and vocational interests, as they are assessed by the SDS. There are, however, separate lines of inquiry in the theoretical and empirical literature on narcissism and vocational interests. Narcissism has been well described in both the analytic and cognitive-behavioral traditions (Freud, 1989; Beck & Freeman, 1990). More specifically, two kinds of narcissism, overt and covert, have been empirically distinguished (Wink, 1991). Vocational interests have been described and studied for almost a century (Parsons, 1909). Holland's Theory and the SDS have also been extensively discussed over the past 35 years (Ruff,Reardon, & Bertoch, 2007). One variable, which has been shown to be related to both narcissism and vocational interests, is gender (Bushman & Baumeister, 1998; Holland, Fritzsche, & Powell,1994). Therefore, the question posed by this study was, "What are the relationships among overt and covert narcissistic personality traits and assessed vocational interests with respect to gender?" To answer this question, data were collected for a co-relational study from a final sample of 259 college students enrolled in a career development course at a large southeastern university. In addition to a demographic form, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (Raskin & Terry, 1988), the Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale (Hendin & Cheek, 1997), and the SDS were administered to measure overt narcissism, covert narcissism, and Holland's primary and secondary constructs of vocational interests, respectively. Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated by gender among overt narcissism, covert narcissism, the primary constructs(i.e., the six RIASEC code-types), and the secondary constructs of consistency, coherence, differentiation, commonness, and profile elevation. Significant relationships were found between overt narcissism and the Enterprising code-type for both male and female participants. In males, overt narcissism was found to be significantly related to differentiation using both the high-low and Iachan index methods. However, in females, only the high-low method of calculating differentiation was found to produce a significant relationship with overt narcissism. No significant relationships were found between covert narcissism and Holland's primary and secondary constructs. As demonstrated by z-tests, no significant differences were found by gender for the relationships between either kind of narcissism and vocational interests.Limitations of the study were reviewed including the fact the sample was significantly higher in overt narcissism and lower in covert narcissism than those in past studies. Findings were discussed using a synthesis of the narcissism and vocational interest literature. Recommendations were made for theory development, practice, and future avenues of research. / 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 27, 2008. / Career Development, Gender, Holland Theory, Vocational Interests, Narcissism, Guidance and Counseling / Includes bibliographical references. / James P. Sampson, Jr., Professor Directing Dissertation; Bruce Menchetti, Outside Committee Member; Robert C. Reardon, Committee Member; Gary W. Peterson, Committee Member.

This study examines the effect of parental feedback on young athletes perceived motivation climate, goal orientation, and goal involvement. Additional psychological variables, such as anxiety, affect, performance, and enjoyment were measured. Young competitive male soccer players (n = 81) and their parents were randomly assigned to either ego-oriented or task-oriented parental feedback conditions. Players performed 6 soccer penalty kicks and completed measures of perceived motivation climate, goal orientation, goal involvement, anxiety, affect, performance, and enjoyment prior and after receiving feedback from their parents. Young athletes receiving ego-oriented feedback from their parents increased significantly in their perceived performance motivational climate in both specific (i.e., parental only) and general (i.e., including coach, parents, teammates, etc) levels. Furthermore, these athletes were significantly more ego-involved. Players in the task-oriental parental feedback condition increase significantly in their perception of mastery motivational climate in both levels as well as in their task-involvement. No pre-to-post between groups differences were revealed for anxiety, affect, performance, and enjoyment. / 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, 2009. / October 9, 2009. / Parental Involvement, Young Athletes, Percieved Motivational Climate, Goal Involvement, Emotions, Performance / Includes bibliographical references. / Gershon Tenenbaum, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Robert C. Eklund, Professor Co-Directing Thesis; Alysia D. Roehrig, Committee Member.

The present study evaluated the impact of a work-related interpersonal skills curriculum on the classroom behavior of 114 ninth-graders at a charter school affiliated with a large southeastern university. This seven-week curriculum taught the work-related interpersonal communication skills of self-awareness and corrective feedback, empathic support, assertive responding, and conflict management. The evaluation component of this study addressed the curriculum in terms of three standards: (a) improvement in performance on critical incidents; (b) degree to which participants report having achieved the learning competencies; and (c) participant satisfaction with instruction. The result was a direct relationship between students who completed the curriculum assignments and significant (p < 0.01, B = 0.23) improvement from the pretest to the posttest on the quality of written responses to critical incidents. Seventy percent (70%) of the participants also reported achieving at least thirteen out of the fifteen learning goals and seventy-three percent (73%) reported that they felt satisfied with the instruction. The research component of this study measured changes of the in-class collegial workgroup peer ratings and out-of-class collegial socializing peer ratings over time (baseline, pretest, posttest, and follow-up periods). The changes in means of both peer ratings over time were measured with a within-subjects repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results revealed that both peer ratings declined over time. Post-hoc analyses indicated a significant (p < 0.001; d = 0.4) mean change between the pretest and the posttest for in-class collegial workgroup peer ratings. There was also a significant (p < 0.01; d = 0.27) mean change between the baseline and the pretest, as well as a significant (p < 0.001; d = 0.26) mean change between pretest and posttest. In terms of transfer of learning into interpersonal relationships, 63% of the participants reported that the curriculum helped them improve their relationships with their friends; however, less than half reported that the curriculum helped them improve other relationships. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of the participants endorsed the whole intervention as having been worth their time. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of directions for future research and improving and implementing the curriculum. / 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, 2004. / July 12, 2004. / Evaluation, Interpersonal Skills, Curriculum / Includes bibliographical references. / Gary Peterson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Bruce Menchetti, Outside Committee Member; Briley Proctor, Committee Member; James Sampson, Committee Member.

In this dissertation, a DIF detection method for testlet-based data was developed and evaluated. The proposed DIF model is an extension of a bi-factor multidimensional IRT model for testlets. Unlike other IRT-based DIF detection models, the proposed model is capable of taking LID due to testlets into account and thus estimating DIF magnitude more accurately when a test is composed of testlets. A fully Bayesian estimation method was adopted for parameter estimation. Estimating parameters for the proposed DIF detection model with traditional MLE methods is computationally expensive since the MLE methods adopt approximation methods such as Gaussian quadrature. An MCMC estimation method implemented in this study does not have such a limitation. The proposed DIF model was evaluated by comparing parameter recovery with an IRT-based DIF model with simulated data. Simulation factors in this study were a) magnitude of testlet effect, b) magnitude of DIF, and c) magnitude of item discrimination. Three different levels were considered for the first simulation factor, while the other two factors had two levels. As a result, there were 12 simulation conditions in this study. For each simulation condition, simulation was replicated 100 times. Evaluation criteria were bias, SE, and RMSE of each parameter in the proposed DIF model, as well as DIF detection rate and DIF detection error rate. The proposed DIF model was also applied to a statewide assessment dataset to confirm the utility of the model. Educational implications and limitations of this study were also discussed. / 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, 2009. / February 17, 2009. / Differential Item Functioning, A Bi-factor Multidimensional Item Response Theory, Testlets / Includes bibliographical references. / Akihito Kamata, Professor Directing Dissertation; Fred Huffer, Outside Committee Member; Betsy Becker, Committee Member; Yanyun Yang, Committee Member.

An experiment was conducted to investigate the cognitions and emotions athletes experience in pressure situations. Athlete participants were asked to read either a low self-presentation script, which de-emphasized self-presentation concerns, or a high self-presentation script, which emphasized self-presentation concerns. All participants were then asked to complete measures of cognitive appraisal, associated variables (i.e., self-efficacy, perceived control, and approach/avoidance goal focus), emotion, and the perception of emotion. Participants who read the low self-presentation script reported more of a challenge state of cognitive appraisal, higher self-efficacy, lower avoidance goal focus, and more positive emotion. Participants who read the high self-presentation script experienced more of a threat state of cognitive appraisal and reported more negative emotion. Non-significant differences were found for the perception of emotion, although participants who read the low self-presentation script did perceive positive emotion as comparatively more facilitative to performance and negative emotion as comparatively more debilitative to performance. The results give support to the notion that self-presentation concerns play an important role in explaining performance under pressure. It is suggested that self-presentation imperatives, cognitive appraisal, and emotion should all be included in models which seek to explain the experience and performance of athletes in pressure situations. / 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. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 27, 2012. / Appraisal, Emotion, Psychology, Self-presentation, Sport / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Eklund, Professor Directing Thesis; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member; David Eccles, Committee Member.

Shared Mental Models (SMM) is a dynamic team-related cognitive process that governs team coordination when communication is limited or absent. In team sports, where overt communication is limited, and many actions are reactive in nature, the importance of SMM is prominent. This notion is even more salient under pressure. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop and validate a SMM measure in team sports. At the onset of the validation process, items were generated based on an a priori model which emerged from a separate qualitative inquiry with elite coaches. Following two experts' examination of the relatedness of the items' content to SMM, the Shared Mental Models in Team Sports Questionnaire (SMMTSQ) was administrated to 372 Israeli student-athletes from seven interactive team sports (e.g., soccer, basketball, and volleyball). To validate the structure of the SMMTSQ model, a CFA procedure was employed. Reliability of the SMMTSQ and it scales was estimated using stratified alpha coefficient. In addition, Test-retest reliability was calculated using a subset of 118 student-athletes. Concurrent and predictive validity were examined using team cohesion and perceived performance questionnaires respectively. The results of this study validated the SMMTSQ as a shared cognitions measure. Following its content approval and data collection, the SMMTSQ demonstrated a good fit to the data. Furthermore, stratified alpha coefficients were greater than .90 for all the scales and for the measure as a whole. Test-retest reliability was .86 supporting its stability over 10 days on average. Moderately high correlations with the team cohesion and perceived performance questionnaires supported the concurrent and predictive validity of the SMMTSQ. Overall, the SMMTSQ emerged to be a good instrument for measuring shared cognitions in team sports. Through providing vital information pertaining to areas in which cognitions are shared or unshared in a team, intervention programs can be tailored. Future research may explore the suitability of the SMMTSQ to capture SMM across skill levels and cultures. / 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, 2012. / February 23, 2012. / Shared cognitions, Shared knowledge, Shared mental models, Team coordination / Includes bibliographical references. / Gershon Tenenbaum, Professor Directing Dissertation; David Eccles, Professor Directing Dissertation; Michael Mondello, University Representative; Yanyun Yang, Committee Member.

This dissertation proposes an approach for synthesizing the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) Differential Item Functioning (DIF) index. It is shown that meta-analytic summaries of MH DIF estimates have potential implications for test development through observations of DIF changes. DIF changes could occur if the DIF magnitudes of items vary over time or across different groups. This approach is an extension of meta-analysis techniques for odds ratios. Unlike the typical odds ratio, the MH DIF is a common odds ratio, indicating the average of odds ratios across all matched ability levels. Also, the dissertation examines how the Q test of homogeneity for MH DIF indices behaves as a function of the magnitude of variations in DIF using a simulation study. This proposed approach is used with real data. My example uses data on the reading achievement of standard curriculum students (SCS) and students with disabilities (SWD) on a state-wide assessment. Thus, this dissertation makes a contribution to the understanding of SWD DIF trends in reading achievement by investigating meta-analytic summaries of the MH DIF index. In addition, this dissertation investigates whether the values of DIF for SCS vs. SWD are dependent on the type of reading item tested. Educational implications are discussed. / 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, 2012. / December 20, 2011. / DIFFERENTIAL ITEM FUNCTIONING, MANTEL-HAENSZEL, META-ANALYSIS / Includes bibliographical references. / Betsy Jane Becker, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephanie Dent Al Otaiba, University Representative; Yanyun Yang, Committee Member; Insu Paek, Committee Member.

The purpose of this design experiment was to positively affect motivation, performance, and self-directed learning of undergraduate students enrolled in a tuition-free, public military school. A second purpose was to use new technologies to efficiently deliver these instructional strategies as supplementary course content. This empirical study was conducted during one semester with 784 students, representing approximately 20 percent of the population at the academy. The within-subjects research design used a mixed method approach involving quantitative and qualitative data. Four surveys were used to measure motivation and self-directed learning: (1) the Course Interest Survey developed by Keller; (2) the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey developed by Keller; (3) the Self-Directed Learning Readiness Scale developed by Guglielmino, and; 4) the Self-Directed Learning survey. Students in 48 participating sections were randomly divided into control and experimental groups for each of 16 instructors. Within these courses, students in each section had identical syllabi and classroom-based content. The researcher communicated with control and experimental group students via email, and used email to direct experimental group students to the technology-mediated instructional strategies (TMIS). Strategies were designed using Keller's ARCS model of motivation and delivered via Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), web, CD-ROM, and other technologies. For students in the experimental group, web-based post-strategy SDL surveys were administered throughout the semester, tracking participation, perceptions, and self-directed learning. To provide for a richer study, qualitative data were collected via open-ended questions on the SDL survey and via threaded discussions on web forums. Follow-up interviews also helped triangulate the data. Those students who accessed the TMIS had significantly higher levels of academic performance than control group students. There were also significant differences in motivation and proclivity to be self-directed learners, with higher levels for treatment group students than control group students. These findings suggest that systematically designed technology-mediated instructional strategies can positively effect motivation, performance, and self-directed learning. Further, new technologies such as the PDA can help improve the efficiency of delivering such strategies. Suggestions for future empirical research are presented. / 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, 2003. / November 5, 2003. / Technology-Mediated Learning, ARCS, Motivational Strategies, InstructionalSystems, Interventions, Self-Directed Learning, Self-Regulation, Military Academy, PDA / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert K. Branson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Gary R. Heald, Outside Committee Member; John M. Keller, Committee Member; Walter W. Wager, Committee Member.

Math problem solving has been regarded as one of the major weaknesses in U.S. students' math performance for many years (Orabuchi, 1992). One of the main reasons that students do not perform well in math problem solving may be due to math anxiety. There has been increasing interest in math education areas on how to reduce math anxiety to enhance students' math performance. However, there were few empirical studies which examined the effects of various interventions towards decreasing math anxiety. Given the lack of empirical studies on how to reduce students' math anxiety and to increase math learning, this study examined the effects of emotional support and cognitive motivational messages on math anxiety, self-efficacy, and math problem solving. This study built upon the work done by Shen (2009) by modifying elements of his design and stimulus materials and by introducing a new independent variable: incremental ability beliefs. Thus, two independent variables - one for decreasing affective math anxiety (emotional support) and another for alleviating cognitive math anxiety (cognitive motivational messages) were used in this study. The pedagogical agents were used as a delivering method of a computer based module in this study, but not an independent variable of this study. Emotional support messages were designed to alleviate students' affective dimension of math anxiety. Emotional support messages were developed based on Shen's (2009) study, which was based on the multidimensional coping inventory (COPE) (Carver et al., 1989). In this study, emotional support messages included four scales related to emotion-focus coping, which are: positive reinterpretation and growth (RG), focus on and venting of emotions (VE), use of instrumental social support (IS), and use of emotional support (ES) from COPE (Carver et al., 1989). Emotional support messages were delivered by an instructor agent and peer agent to the emotional support group. Cognitive motivational messages were designed to reduce students' cognitive dimension of math anxiety which related to worry of performing well in mathematics. In this study, cognitive motivational messages specifically contained ability belief change messages to alleviate the cognitive dimension of math anxiety. Implicit theory separated students' ability beliefs into two categories: entity belief and incremental belief (Dweck, 1999). Incremental ability belief messages were provided to the cognitive motivational messages treatment group primarily by a scientist agent in a computer-based module with video clips and short messages which emphasize the students' abilities were not fixed and could be improved through effort. The initial idea for cognitive motivational messages came from an article "You can grow your intelligence: New research shows the brain can be developed like a muscle" which was used in previous experimental study (Blackwell et al., 2007). Thus, cognitive motivational messages were developed by the researcher based on Blackwell et al (2007)'s study and then were reviewed by an expert in motivational design. Eighty-eight GED students enrolled in GED math classes at a community college in Florida were distributed to four groups (emotional support only, cognitive motivational messages only, emotional support and cognitive motivational messages, and a control group) and asked to individually study a computer-based module about vocabulary, concepts, and formulas related to the Pythagorean Theorem for 45 to 60 minutes. Two different math anxiety questionnaires [Mathematics Anxiety Questionnaire (MAQ) (Wigfield & Meece, 1988) and Mathematics Anxiety Scale (MAS) (Fennema & Sherman, 1976)] were used in a pre-test and post-test. Self-efficacy questionnaires were modified to be aligned with the context of this study focusing on math problem solving using Kim's (2004) questionnaire. The math problem solving items were developed based on Shen (2009)'s items. MANOVA results indicate emotional support significantly affect the combined DV of math anxiety, self-efficacy, and math problem solving. A follow-up ANOVA revealed that emotional support had a significant effect on math anxiety and math problem solving. The emotional support group reported significantly lower math anxiety than the no emotional support group. Also, the emotional support group scored significantly higher in the post-test of math problem solving than the no emotional support group. MANOVA revealed a primary effect of cognitive motivational messages on the combined DV of math anxiety, self-efficacy, and math problem solving. A follow-up ANOVA revealed that cognitive motivational messages had a significant effect on self-efficacy. The cognitive motivational messages group reported significantly higher self-efficacy than the no cognitive motivational messages group. MANOVA revealed an interaction effect of emotional support and cognitive motivational messages on the combined DV of math anxiety, self-efficacy, and math problem solving. A follow-up ANOVA revealed that there was an interaction effect of emotional support and cognitive motivational messages on math anxiety. This study shows possibilities of adapting coping strategies as a form of emotional support and use incremental ability beliefs as the content of cognitive motivational messages. Also, the study found that pedagogical agents could be effective as a form of emotional and motivational support for students in a computer-based module. Further research studies which examine the effects of emotional support and cognitive motivational messages with different populations, subject areas, delivery medium, and long term treatment would be needed to expand the findings of this study. It is expected that further research based on this study would improve the nature of treatment and provide more solid evidence to researcher and teachers. / 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. / Summer Semester, 2012. / June 18, 2012. / Cognitive motivational messages, Emotional support, Incremental ability belief, Math anxiety, Math provlem solving, Self-efficacy / Includes bibliographical references. / John Keller, Professor Directing Dissertation; Mika Seppala, University Representative; Vanessa Dennen, Committee Member; Fengfeng Ke, Committee Member.

Coaches play an important role as the leader of teams and athletes. This role can lead coaches to developing strong coach identities. The hypotheses for this study were: (1) male coaches would present stronger coach identities than female coaches, (2) coaches who competed at higher levels as athletes would display similar coach identities as coaches who competed at lower levels as athletes, (3) coaches who have coached or are coaching at higher competition levels would display stronger coach identities than those at lower competition levels and (4) coach identity scores would be related to Coaching Efficacy scores. Coaches of various sports at various levels, with diverse past athletic experience, were recruited to participate in the study (N= 157). The results indicated that gender had no effect on coach identity. The results also indicated that past athletic experience had an effect on coach identity. Specifically, it was found that coaches with past athletic experience at the professional and college level presented stronger coach identities than coaches with past recreational/club athletic experience. As far as coach level, the results indicated that stronger coach identity was presented for coaches at higher levels than lower levels. Lastly, the results indicated that coach identity and coaching efficacy shared a weak correlation. More research is necessary to study how coach identity may affect coaches in order to improve the sporting experience. / 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. / Spring Semester, 2012. / March 14, 2012. / Athlete Identity, Coach, Coach Efficacy, Coach Identity, Coach Identity Measurement Scale, Identity / Includes bibliographical references. / Robert Eklund, Professor Directing Thesis; David Eccles, Committee Member; Gershon Tenenbaum, Committee Member.