This study aimed at examining the dispositional effects of the hot hand and psychological momentum beliefs on mental states such as self-efficacy, perception of control, and cohesion. One hundred and seventy-six male and female participants who have athletic experience in basketball, volleyball, or baseball (NCAA, club, or intramural) were surveyed. Revised versions of hot hand and psychological momentum questionnaires from past studies were used to measure a participant's level of belief in the hot hand and psychological momentum, respectively. The Physical Self-Efficacy Scale (PSE) was used to measure self-efficacy, a revised version of the Self-Control Scale was used to measure perceptions of control, and the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) was used to measure team cohesion. The aim of this study was to examine whether athletes who have strong beliefs in the hot hand and psychological momentum have significantly different levels of self-efficacy, perceptions of control, and team cohesion. Also, it was examined whether skill level was related to any differences in beliefs. Results indicated that athletes with stronger beliefs in the hot hand exhibited significantly higher levels of self-efficacy. Belief in psychological momentum did not predict any of the dependent variables Also, high skilled athletes showed higher self-efficacy levels than low skilled athletes, and low skilled athletes showed higher levels of team cohesion than high skilled athletes. The results suggest that belief in the hot hand can be considered an adaptive belief that can potentially affect self-efficacy in a positive manner. / 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. / Summer Semester, 2014. / July 14, 2014. / Adaptive, Basketball, Hot Hand, Psychological Momentum, Psychology, Sport / Includes bibliographical references. / Gershon Tenenbaum, Professor Directing Thesis; Beth Phillips, Committee Member; Insu Paek, Committee Member.

Approximately 10% of college students participate in Greek life each year, yet minimal research has been conducted on how these social experiences impact career development variables. The purpose of the present study was to examine the impact of Greek life membership on students' level of vocational identity, career decision-making self-efficacy, and goal instability. Participants included 436 seniors, 231 non-Greek students and 205 Greek life students, attending a large public research university during the fall 2012 academic year. Two independent variables (group and gender) and three dependent variables (vocational identity, career decision-making self-efficacy, and goal instability) were explored in the present study, with level of engagement and grade point average serving as moderator variables. The Vocational Identity (VI) Scale from the My Vocational Situation (MVS), Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale--Short Form (CDMSE--SF), and Goal Instability Scale (GIS) were used to measure vocational identity, confidence in making career decisions, and goal directedness, respectively. Additionally, the Revised Student Engagement Questionnaire (Handelsman, Briggs, Sullivan, & Towler, 2005) was adapted for the current study to assess student engagement levels. These measures were selected because of their psychometric properties and widespread use. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and a two-way MANOVA were utilized to examine the first and second research questions, respectively. To explore the final research question, a multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was performed. Overall, the results found that individuals participating in Greek-letter organizations reported a higher sense of vocational identity and career decision-making self-efficacy as well as lower levels of goal instability compared to their non-Greek counterparts. Furthermore, group membership accounted for 4% of the total variance among the three outcome variables. After controlling for the covariate of engagement, the effects of membership in a Greek-letter organization remained significant for career decision-making self-efficacy and goal instability. However, strength of vocational identity did not significantly differ between the two groups after accounting for level of engagement. For each research question examined, gender had no effect. Limitations, implications, and areas for future research are also 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. / Summer Semester, 2014. / March 28, 2013. / Counseling psychology, Educational leadership, Higher education, Higher education administration, Mental health, Vocational education / Includes bibliographical references. / James P. Sampson, Professor Directing Dissertation; Elizabeth B. Goldsmith, University Representative; Janet G. Lenz, Committee Member; Steven I. Pfeiffer, Committee Member.

Research to date has primarily focused on investigating help-seeking attitudes and intentions of the general public regarding mental health treatment, while neglecting an investigation of these factors for graduate students in the field of psychology. A review of existing literature on this topic uncovered themes regarding barriers and facilitators to seeking professional treatment for the general public and graduate psychology students. The current study sought to expand the existing literature base on the topic of help-seeking and professional concerns of the doctoral psychology student population. Participants included 318 graduate students from accredited doctoral programs in clinical and counseling psychology and combined programs from across the United States. A model of six predictor variables, including gender, anxiety level, years of graduate training, history of help-seeking, knowing a colleague/student in one's graduate program who has sought help, and knowing a professor/supervisor/advisor who has sought help, was proposed and analyzed to determine its effectiveness in predicting help-seeking attitudes and professional concerns among doctoral psychology students. Help-seeking attitudes were assessed by performance on subscales from the Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS; Mackenzie, Knox, Gekoski, & Macaulay, 2004)) while professional concerns related to help-seeking were determined by subscale scores on the Trainees' Attitudes Toward Seeking Psychotherapy Scale (TATSPS; Farber, 1999). Multiple regression analyses indicated that the model was significant in predicting all seven criterion variables (subscales from the IASMHS and TATSPS), and accounted for 9% or greater total variance for all but one criterion, need for self-sufficiency, in which the model accounted for 6.9% total variance. Analysis of the specific contributions of the separate predictor variables also demonstrated that level of anxiety, gender, history of help-seeking, knowing a colleague/student in one's graduate program who has sought help, and knowing a professor/supervisor/advisor who has sought help each made separate, unique contributions to the different criterion variables associated with help-seeking attitudes and professional concerns experienced by doctoral psychology students. Following an in depth description and discussion of the aforementioned findings, the limitations and implications for future practice and future research are also 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. / Summer Semester, 2014. / May 5, 2014. / Graduate Students, Help-Seeking, Stigma / Includes bibliographical references. / Debra S. Osborn, Professor Directing Dissertation; Melissa Radey, University Representative; Frances Prevatt, Committee Member; James P. Sampson, Jr., Committee Member.

Frequently researchers base their decisions and interpretations on conclusions drawn from data analyses, but what happens when the data used in the analyses are collected from unreliable instruments or surveys? The instrument may include a particular question that invokes different interpretations based on group membership, thereby placing one of the two groups at an unfair disadvantage. Another challenge occurs when the size of the sample under investigation (i.e., number of respondents or participants) is unavoidably small, adding more uncertainty to parameter estimates. Over the past 50 years, researchers have suggested many different approaches for identifying problematic questions (i.e., items that are biased), but no consensus has been reached as to which method is best. In addition, selecting appropriate methods becomes even more challenging when smaller sample sizes are involved (Lai, Teresi, & Gershon, 2005). This dissertation presents the findings of a study introducing a new method for identifying DIF and potentially biased items. The study explored the use of the Item Information Curve (IIC) as a weighting strategy (i.e., Weighted Area Method - WAM) to the area between Item Characteristic Curves (ICC) as a way to identify problematic questions. Through thousands of simulations, the performance of WAM was compared to two other commonly used methods for detecting DIF - the Mantel-Haenszel approach (Mantel & Haenszel, 1959) and the Rudner's Area method (Rudner, 1977). The results show the effects of sample size variations on identifying modeled DIF items, and the opportunity for future Differential Item Functioning (DIF) analyses using WAM. / 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, 2013. / November 8, 2013. / Differential Item Functioning DIF, Item information curve IIC, Item response theory IRT, Monte Carlo, Simulation study, WAM / Includes bibliographical references. / Betsy Becker, Professor Directing Dissertation; Akihito Kamata, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Fred Huffer, University Representative; Yanyun Yang, Committee Member; Insu Paek, Committee Member.

ABSTRACT This study sought to investigate the relationship between SCT and ADHD in a two groups of college students. One group consisted of 121 participants who were clinically diagnosed with ADHD. The other group was a non-diagnosed control group which consisted of 102 participants who were recruited from general university classrooms. Students diagnosed with ADHD endorsed a significantly higher number of SCT symptoms compared to the control group. Additionally, within the group diagnosed with ADHD, the strongest significant relationship was between symptoms of SCT and symptoms of inattention. The relationship between SCT and symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity was non-significant. There were no significant gender differences in SCT symptoms in either group. The number of SCT symptoms needed to be at or above the 95th percentile in the group diagnosed with ADHD was nine and in the control group it was five symptoms. Informant differences were investigated in the group diagnosed with ADHD and the results indicated that the self-reported score for symptoms of SCT was significantly higher than those reported by an informant rater. SCT was significantly related to symptoms of anxiety and depression. The strongest relationship was between SCT and depression. The relationship between SCT and two timed measures of cognitive functioning was investigated. The results indicated that SCT was not significantly related to a measure of reading fluency or visual matching. This is the first known study to date to have explored the relationship between ADHD and SCT in college students. Recommendations for future research are made. / 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, 2014. / December 13, 2013. / ADHD, SCT / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances Prevatt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lenore McWey, University Representative; Jeannine Turner, Committee Member; Shengli Dong, Committee Member.

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of .DOCTOR EDUCATIONIS in the FACULTY OF EDUCATION In the UNlVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 1975. / A Chinese adage has it that if you are planning for a year buy rice, if for ten years plant rice, but if for 100 years educate your people. Educatron is a vital long-term investment for any forward-looking community. As Bozzoli (1972: 2) puts it, "education is as vital to a nation as is sufficient food and a proper diet". The major purpose of planned education should be to induct the individual into the societal pattern in such a way that his individuality and creativeness is enhanced, not dampened (cf. Stenhouse, 1967). We note that today in all parts of Africa education plays a crucial role in national planning because the future of every independent state depends more than anything else on the rapid and effective development of its educational system. When a metropolitan power relinquishes control, the former subject peoples invariably reorganize the system of education bequeathed to them in accordance with their genuine needs and aspirations. Hopes of achieving higher standards of living and even of attaining viable independence seem to depend almost entirely upon the ability of each budding state to train the human material it requires for service at various levels in the administration. For this to happen there must be statesmen, administrators, scientists, technicians, engineers, doctors, artisans, educationists, and, above all, teachers. These educators are faced with a gigantic task: they are cal.led upon to provide an education which, ori the one hand, will take notice of the essential humanity of the people for whom it is designed and. on the other. enable them to take their full place in a modern scientific-technological world (cf. Duminy, 1968) ~ It is the indigenous educationist who plays a leading role in bringing about a Black-oriented education to satisfy the authentic needs and aspirations of the African. Needless to say, a Black educationist whose outlook is foreign-oriented will find that his services are not required by his newly independent community. He becomes a "foreign native", a sort of a bat that is useful neither to his community nor to the non-Black expatriates. In recent times in South Africa there has come about a political dispensation under which Africans are promised eventual sovereign independence in their own areas referred to as Homelands. The vexed question 0& land consoli~ation has become a formidable bone of contention with some Homeland leaders (Ilanga, 23.7.75). Whether political independence will become a reality or not is neither here nor there. What interests the educationist is that his Homeland at this stage is given some latitude to design and plan its educational system from the nursery school to the postprimary level except for higher education which remains under the control of the Central Government. Soon after attaining partial self-government in 1963 South Africa's first Homeland, the Transkei. commenced reorganizing its educational system. Kwazulu is following suit. She attained legislative assembly status in 1972. Before tbat date the territory was referred to as Zululand. It was an integral part of the Natal Province as was the case at one time with the Transkei and the Cape Province. As such it was subject to the jurisdiction of the Natal Provincial Administration and the Central Government. On attaining partial self-government in 1972, the territory's name changed to KwaZulu. / The Human Sciences Research Council and the University of Zululand

The purposes of this dissertation are to compare how different the resulting proficiency estimates are by using two scale maintenance approaches, the horizontal and vertical approaches, in supporting scale stability across grade within form, within grade across forms, and across grades and across forms, and to thus investigate under which conditions of within-grade variability patterns and examinee sample characteristics one approach is preferable to the other. Since there is no universally accepted growth model in the literature, three different distribution sets were specified and generated with regard to within-grade variability patterns in the simulation data: constant across grades, decreasing variability as grade increases, and increasing variability as grade increases. In addition, two sets of examinee sample characteristics were also specified in the simulation data: small examinee group difference and large examinee group difference. Thus six proficiency distribution conditions were used to generate data in this dissertation. Under the six conditions of proficiency distributions, the performances of the two scale maintenance approaches on the resulting proficiency estimates across multiple forms were the foci in this dissertation. One major implication of this study is that the accuracy in recovering the true examinee proficiencies on the new form across multiple linking appeared to be an interaction among the number of forms or years involved in the linking process, the within-grade variability patterns, and the examinee group differences, but they did not appear to be a function of the maintenance approach implemented. The findings from this study provide important empirical guidance to practitioners on how the vertical scale can be maintained, once a vertical scale is established. If the desired output of a maintained scale is to continue to capture the characteristics of the established scale in terms of grade separation, within-grade variability, and growth implications, the vertical approach appears to be marginally better in achieving these goals. However, the differences observed across three forms are marginal, and in some cases neither approach demonstrates superiority in preserving the same patterns at the baseline scale. Both approaches are able to reasonably well capture the trend of the baseline scale, at least across three forms.

Within the past decade federal education policy has drastically shifted the role of student achievement tests in directing educational decision-making. Despite public policy directives for increased use of test results to improve educational outcomes, there is little understanding in the research literature of practitioners' knowledge and skills in interpreting and using educational data, such as test results, to enhance classroom instruction and student learning. This study surveyed over two hundred educational practitioners (N=220) to learn more about their abilities to locate, interpret and use assessment results, as well as how self-confident they indicated they were in their knowledge and skills regarding assessment practices. Respondents represented a diverse cross-section of practitioners and included practitioners that worked within an AEA, practitioners that worked within a large public school district, and practitioners that worked within a private school setting. The survey that was developed and administered to the practitioners, the Assessment Results Survey, was composed of two separate surveys administered at the same time: The Assessment Results Interpretation and Use Survey and the Assessment Self-Confidence Survey. The first survey assessed practitioners' ability to locate, use and interpret assessment results. The second survey assessed practitioners' self-confidence with respect to assessment practices. Results indicated that practitioners performed well on all sub-scores (Locate Data, Interpret Data, and Use Data) of the Assessment Results Interpretation and Use Survey. Practitioners also indicated high levels of confidence with respect to assessment practices. Background variables such as years of teaching experience, completion of college-level coursework in assessment, and participation in professional development focused on assessment were used to compare practitioners' overall performance and responses on the surveys. Practitioners that received college-level training in assessment demonstrated higher performance on the Assessment Results Interpretation and Use Survey than practitioners that indicated no college-level training. Practitioners that participated in professional development indicated a higher level of self-confidence regarding their assessment knowledge and skills, but did not demonstrate significantly higher performance on the Assessment Results Interpretation and Use Survey than those that had not received professional development.

The purpose of this study was to assess for posttraumatic growth (PTG) in individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study also sought to determine the relationship between PTG and mindfulness for people with RA. RA is a degenerative disease characterized by chronic joint pain and is associated with various kinds of psychological distress, including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. More recently, researchers have looked to ways in which living with RA may also promote personal growth. One of the most commonly researched conceptualizations of growth following hardship is posttraumatic growth (PTG). Some studies suggest that PTG may be positively related to mindfulness, such that people who are more mindful also experience more growth following adversity. The present study examines the extent to which people report experiencing growth as a result of living with RA, as well as participants’ levels of trait or dispositional mindfulness. Descriptive data are presented for all gathered data and the relationship between PTG and mindfulness was examined. Results of this study suggested that people with RA report moderate levels of PTG as a result of navigating this difficult disease. Findings also indicated no significant relationship between PTG and trait mindfulness for this sample of people with RA. Both PTG and trait mindfulness were significantly related to participants’ pain severity, however. The results of this study add to a small body of literature suggesting that people with RA do experience PTG. Understanding the correlates of PTG following RA will help physicians and psychologists maximize opportunities for positive adjustment above and beyond premorbid levels of functioning for those living with RA. This study’s findings also point to the importance of continuing to investigate the relationship between PTG and mindfulness.

Using community college students enrolled in a competency-based psychology course, the investigator studied the interrelationships among three tests of cognitive/learning styles: (1) Group Embedded Figures Test; (2) Kolb Learning Style Inventory; (3) Tenore Learning Style Assessment Inventory. The relationships among these measures as they related to student characteristics were also investigated. The student characteristics included achievement (as measured by grade in the psychology course, cumulative grade point average, grade point average within subject discipline), semester hours of credit completed, ethnic origin (American or ESL), age, and sex. Results indicate that the three assessment instruments are unrelated. The measures appear to be tapping different aspects of cognitive/learning styles. In examining the relation of the various elements of the instruments to selected student variables, the investigator found low correlations. The findings of this study suggest that in the widespread practice of categorizing and labeling types of learning style, operational definitions are not uniform.