Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2005. / Prepared for: School of Education. Bibliography: leaves 126-158. Also available online.

<p> Emerging research indicates human cognition can derive from interactions within their environment and &ldquo;soon few will believe human thinking is computer-like. Instead, as with all animals, our thoughts are based on bodily experiences&rdquo; (Glenberg, 2015, p. 165). </p><p> This study explored how classroom teachers plan and implement purposeful planned movement (PPM) for embodied cognition. There are different types of movement with some movement activities not necessarily serving the purpose of enhancing cognition for academic content. Purposeful planned movement is movement designed to enhance cognition of academic content (Lyding et al., 2014). Insights from teachers effectively planning and implementing PPM in academic classrooms to teach could explain how to utilize this type of instruction (Lyding, 2012; McGregor et al., 2015). </p><p> Findings emerged from a multiple site and multiple case study of four middle grades social studies and English/Language Arts teachers. A cross-case analysis, synthesis of the findings, and thematic interpretations were conducted to explore why and how teachers use PPM for embodied cognition. Interpretations of the literature connected the teacher&rsquo;s use of movement to forms of embodied cognition. The connections help explain positive empirical results from using movement to increase learning within the literature. The findings bridge gaps in the literature on teachers&rsquo; perspectives, planning, experiences, and examples of implementing PPM for embodied cognition.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality types and second language acquisition. The study addressed a problem that is inadequately investigated in foreign language acquisition research; specifically, personality traits as predictors of language learning in college students studying Spanish as a foreign language. The researcher conducted one sample t-tests to assess statistically significant differences between mean personality type score and the test value, as well as, a multiple linear regression analysis. A convenient sample of college students (n=52) completed the Neris Personality Type Indicator at the beginning of the course, and took several examinations throughout the semester. Personality traits were correlated with examination grades. The results of the analysis indicated that personality types were not related to second language acquisition. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis were not significant, F (5,46) = 0.39, p = .85, R2 = .04, indicating that the model consisting of the personality types contributed to 4% of the variance in test grade. Because the model was not statistically significant, the researcher did not evaluate the individual predictors.</p><p>

Immigrant children who experienced mass trauma are likely to experience deep emotional and psychological issues. These issues affect their development and adjustment. It is compounded when they are relocated to another culture especially significantly dissimilar to theirs. The Somali immigrant children who experienced mass trauma bring with them complex traumatic and adaptation issues. These emotional and psychological issues will affect their total development at school, family, and community settings if not adequately addressed. Therefore the purpose of this study is to explore how indigenous Somali cultural knowledge could be used to develop a culturally sensitive school based curriculum to ameliorate the socio-emotional issues of these children. Using a qualitative research approach, immigrant adult Somalis' cultural knowledge will be investigated to learn how they conceptualize trauma or life threatening experiences and their cultural knowledge on healing and coping that could be integrated to develop a culturally sensitive curriculum.

<p> This study outlines the development and initial validation of an abbreviated instrument intended to measure motivation for mathematics of university students in developmental algebra courses. I look across many of the predominant theories on motivation with the aim of representing several of these theories as latent constructs in a single instrument that is short enough to be administered in a reasonable amount of time, but inclusive enough that it could incorporate subscales representing multiple distinct latent factors. This study answers a call by researchers expressing a need to investigate relationships between disparate theories on motivation and is a response to recent studies that have used several subscales from many published instruments in whole or in part as lengthy combined instruments to measure motivation across theories. The practice of utilizing many separate instruments to measure across theoretical frameworks may be unwieldy leading to validity concerns based on response processes, and the practice of taking individual items from separate instruments may potentially be incomplete leading to validity concerns based on the internal structure of the instrument and underrepresentation of the intended construct. </p><p> To answer these concerns and develop a tool for future research, I conducted a three phase study. Phase one of this study asked experts in motivation to comment on and pick the best items from a pool of 122 items sourced from several popular previously published instruments that contained factors associated with self-determination, self-efficacy, achievement goals, and expectancy-value. The commentary by experts gave insight into item alignment with theory, and all items with at least 40% endorsement by experts proceeded to phase two. </p><p> In phase two, cognitive interviews of students and instructors provided insight into the cognitive processes employed in responding to the 53 items endorsed in phase one. Two researchers coded these qualitative interview data with a grounded theory approach and quantified the data using intra-respondent matrices. Effect sizes of each code provided evidence of content validity of preferred items, and concerns over social dynamics, misrepresentation of factors associated with poor wording, and the use of words like &ldquo;very much&rdquo; that forced students to quantify their cognitive processes provided evidence against non-preferred items. </p><p> During phase three I administered an instrument containing the surviving 34 items from phase two to 186 participants from twelve developmental algebra courses. Concerns over the broadness of the domain of mathematics led to the removal of self-efficacy and task-value items, and concerns over the abbreviated nature of the instrument led to the removal of items associated with extrinsic motivation. Concerns over the multilevel nature of achievement structured items led to their removal. Thus an exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the remaining 16 items representing intrinsic motivation, mastery orientations, performance orientations, and expectancy led to a four factor model that discriminated along theoretical lines and was a good fit for the data. A regression of achievement on the four latent factors from this model revealed expectancy to be the only significant predictor of achievement. With gender included as a moderating variable, performance and expectancy were both significant indicators of achievement for females, but expectancy was the only significant indicator for males. The latent factors from the instrument developed for this study had strong bivariate correlations to subscales from previously published instruments that represented similar constructs. </p><p> Several sources provided evidence of content validity. Qualitative data provided evidence in the form of commentary from experts and cognitive interview data from students and instructors. A structural equation model provided evidence of validity based on relationships to other variables. For this model the dependent variable achievement was regressed upon the latent motivation variables with gender included as a moderating variable. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses provided validity evidence based on the internal structure. Validity based on consequences and response processes was controlled by using an anonymous process where participation was blind to instructors and researchers, and the administration of an abbreviated measure in a familiar paper and pencil face-to-face format reduced construct irrelevant variance. </p><p> This process produced a four factor 16 item Motivation for Mathematics Abbreviated Instrument measuring intrinsic motivation, mastery orientation, performance orientation, and expectancy while accumulating validity evidence for three out of five sources of validity. The result of this inquiry was a psychometric instrument that may be used by researchers, practitioners, and grant writers who desire a tool to measure motivation for mathematics across several of the predominant theories on motivation.</p>

Huntington's Disease (HD) is a rare condition that has been under-researched by the medical professions and psychologists alike. There is a clear lack of psychological literature on the subject of HD and furthermore, there are no adequate QoL scales available for use by spousal carers. The development of a HD specific QoL scale (HDQoL-C) for this special population, brings together theoretical constructs and practical application in order to produce a user-friendly QoL measurement for spousal carers of HD patients.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-163).

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology)) - Rhodes University, 2008. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Counselling Psychology.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-84). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.