This paper proposes that remarried families who have a higher level of family ritual observance will also have a higher level of family functioning. This hypothesis was tested in a study involving 60 individuals comprising 30 couples remarried over two years, and with a stepchild under 13 years of age. Each partner responded to a questionnaire composed of family functioning measures (FACES Ill-Adaptability and Cohesion subscales, Family Satisfaction Scale, Quality Marriage Index) family ritual measures (Family Traditions Index, Family Celebrations Scale, Family Time and Routines Index), and demographic information. Data was examined using Correlation, Analysis of Variance, and Regression analysis. Results indicate that women experiencing a higher level of family routines also experience greater family satisfaction. Additionally, women who had counselling in the remarried family, report greater marital quality, and women who work outside the home report a higher level of adaptability. For men, a higher level of cohesion and family celebrations were found for men where the remarried family includes a child from the current marriage. These results suggest that awareness of family rituals present in remarried families and the effect of particular demographic variables can be useful information for both family therapists and the families themselves. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This study investigated the development of two high conceptual level (HCL) teachers in supervision conferences, by examining their responses. HCL teachers were studied because the behaviours associated with HCL functioning can be equated with those which research has identified as characteristic of effective teachers. Furthermore, because studies have found that conceptual level fluctuates easily, it seemed important to investigate the conditions under which supervision might be facilitative of high conceptual functioning. Supervision was thought of as a special case of adult cognitive development. Findings of studies regarding both facilitation of adult cognitive development and supervision of instruction were combined to develop a conceptual model representing facilitation of HCL teacher development. Based on findings reported in the literature, the model postulated that under ideal developmental conditions, an HCL teacher will respond to supervision with comfort and confidence, with active involvement in problem solving, and with autonomous behaviour. The model was used to guide data collection and analysis. For each stage of the model indicators were chosen of teacher's responses and principal's behaviours that the research literature suggests would be apparent under supervisory conditions facilitative of HCL teacher development. These indicators were used to design instruments for the collection of frequency data regarding teacher's responses and principal's behaviours. One of the HCL teachers was supervised by a low conceptual level (LCD principal; the other, by a moderately high conceptual level (M/HCL) principal. The study attempted to ascertain whether the responses of the teacher supervised by the M/HCL principal would indicate that teacher had the better opportunity for development, and whether HCL teacher development seemed to be associated with the supervisor's CL, as previous studies have indicated, or with other factors. Videotapes of supervisory conferences and transcripts of subjects' stimulated recall interviews provided the sources of data. During observation of the videotapes, frequency data were collected by using the instruments that were designed for the study and which asked the question "Are subjects doing this or that?" By contrast, the transcription data collection, which generated the greater amount of data, was more naturalistic and asked "What are the subjects doing?" Unlike those of previous studies, the findings from this study suggested that the HCL teacher who was paired with the M/HCL principal had the lesser opportunity for development. Moreover, the teacher's development seemed to be associated with factors other than the principal's conceptual level, most notably the teacher's high conceptual level and the duration of the principal/teacher supervisory relationship. The findings also suggested that opportunity for development was associated with HCL teachers' comfort and confidence, active involvement, and autonomous behaviour and that the supervisor should facilitate these conditions. Based on the findings, the study concluded that the principal's conceptual level may not be an important factor in HCL teacher supervision, that further study is required to increase understanding of the conditions which nurture HCL teachers' development, that such study should include investigations of teacher/teacher supervision dyads, and that, with slight amendment, the conceptual model could be useful for these studies. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Rapeseed is grown from two closely related species of Brassica in many varieties. The behaviour of seven insects was studied to determine their responses to low erucic acid rapeseed, represented by a typical and a Canola variety of each species. The Canola varieties have a lower gluco-sinolate concentration in the seed coat than typical varieties. The insects were chosen because they were oligophagous or polyphagous. The actions of adults of two species of moths, Mamestra configurata Walker and Plutella maculipennis (Curtis), were studied by using an olfactometer; four species of aphids, Myzus persicae Sulzer, Macrosiphum euphorbiae (Ashmead), Brevicoryne brassicae (Linnaeus), and Acrythosiphon pisum (Harris), were studied when the adults were placed at the base of each type of plant. The insects responded in accordance with their normal associations with cruciferous plants as hosts. Their responses were not materially affected by genetic differences among the four varieties, even though these included distinct morphological and biochemical differences. Behavioural differences towards plant species were observed in the polyphagous aphids, which affected their distribution on the plants. These differences were not associated with varieties or glucosinolate contents. These results indicated that the differences between the two rapeseed species and typical and Canola varieties would neither materially affect the responses of attacking insects nor the resistance of the plants to insect attack in the field. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

Soil-plant relationships around an inland, saline slough were investigated. It was found that the release of soluble salts from feldspar minerals in soil and rock materials, and the gradual transfer of salts downslope had led to the salinization of the slough. The salinity of the slough was found to be related to annual and seasonal climatic cycles. High osmotic pressure and salt content of the soil solution adjacent to the slough precluded the growth of non-halophytic plant species. Within the area of soils affected by salts around the slough, it was found that Saltgrass #1, which occupied the zone adjacent to the slough was more tolerant of saline and alkali soil conditions and of prolonged inundation than Saltgrass #2 which grew in the second zone. Although the distribution of halophytes and non-halophytes was related to soil salinity and alkalinity, the distribution of non-halophytic plant communities within the zone of normal soils was controlled by variations in site microclimate due to the configuration of the landscape. Weathering, the nature and formation of the saline slough, and the nature and distribution of the soils and plant communities were found to be mutually dependent and the products of the same five factors: climate, relief, geologic materials, organisms, and time. / Land and Food Systems, Faculty of / Graduate

M.A. (Psychology) / This study was conducted in an attempt to determine whether children defined as predominating on traits of aggressiveness, assertiveness and submissiveness would model aggressive behaviour elicited by an aggressive teacher within a classroom situation. The experimental hypotheses were: 1. Aggressive children will become more aggressive with an aggressive teacher. 2. Assertive children will become neither more aggressive nor more compliant with an aggressive teacher. 3. Submissive children will become more submissive with an aggressive teacher. One hundred and ninety six primary school pupils in standard two and three were assessed for aggressiveness, assertiveness and submissiveness within their specific classrooms by means of a self - report inventory. The teachers of the classes were tested and assigned to either an experimental aggressive group or a nonaggressive control group. Each class then underwent observation in order to determine whether aggressive teachers had any effects on the aggressive behaviour of aggressive, assertive and submissive children in the normal classroom situation. The results of the study did not substantiate the hypotheses. It was found that aggressive teachers did not necessarily elicit aggressive responses from the children. These findings suggested that situational constraints inhibited aggressive behaviour.

The purpose of this study is to supply additional case material for analysis and study by the potential and beginning foreman. Since it would be impossible to cover all possible situations, only selected cases are presented. The selected cases illustrate problems in foreman-to-employee relationships, foreman-to-foreman and staff-groups relationships, and foreman-to-superior relationships. In the interest of clarity, each case was analyzed as to key points covered or contained, principles illustrated by the case, and recommendations derived from the analysis.

World events of the past few years have cast a shadow of doubt over the ability of the American school, as an agent of a democratic society, to fulfill its dual role of social and academic development. Critics of American education have pointed to social inequalities, economic pressures , technological demands, and many other areas as possible causes for the so-called malfunction of American educational institutions. The world of adult endeavor asks the American college for tremendous increases in student preparation. The college is forced to step up its demands upon the high school, which in turn demands more of the elementary school. Finally the sequence of educational and societal demands ends with the first grade teacher looking at a six-year-old child. On one hand the pressures of society and the educational system threaten her. On the other hand the needs of individual children demand from her far more than just the teaching of academic skills . These forces are in opposition. Should these two entities, the societal demands and child needs, be further reduced before they can be reconciled, or must the teacher of young children reach out for a new dimension in teaching techniques? It is not advisable to permit the rest of human endeavor to race ahead while early childhood education does nothing to keep up. It is unreasonable to presume that old mistakes may, by some educational transmutation, produce new perfect ones. This study seeks, through action research, to find ways to improve early childhood education through study of the teacher-parent relationship.

Romantic relationships are important for social development and can impact an individual’s functioning both positively and negatively, especially when the relationship breaks up. Emotional and cognitive coping strategies including emotion approach coping, avoidance, and rumination and variable response to expressive writing intervention were examined in relation to post-dissolution distress. Undergraduate participants randomized into two groups completed measures of cognitive and emotional coping variables and global distress, with the experimental group completing a three-session expressive writing protocol. Writing samples were rated for processing mode, or the degree of vague general statements. Avoidance and rumination demonstrated significant cross-sectional associations with Time 1 distress controlling for demographics and characteristics of the former relationship. Gender moderated the relationship between rumination and distress. Using a matched sub-sample, the groups did not differ on emotional coping variables or distress. Results demonstrate the importance of examining emotional coping strategies in conjunction with relationship dissolution.

archives@tulane.edu / Positive school climate is associated with a broad range of student benefits across diverse student populations. However, Black1 students often report less positive perceptions of school climate than their peers, which could lead to decreased school engagement. One important aspect of school climate, teacher-student relationships, may promote positive student outcomes such as engagement. Specifically, supportive and structured teacher behaviors are associated with greater student engagement, which in turn may predict ongoing supportive and structured teaching, but current literature examining these associations underrepresents Black students and their teachers. The current study was completed in elementary and middle school classrooms in four New Orleans public charter schools with majority Black student populations. It was hypothesized that across grade levels and levels of teacher experience in education, supportive and structured teaching at the beginning of the year would be positively associated with student engagement at mid-year, and that mid-year student engagement would positively mediate the association between supportive and structured teaching at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year. Results supported the hypothesized association between beginning-of-the-year supportive and structured teaching and mid-year student engagement. However, results did not support the hypothesized association between beginning-of-the-year supportive and structured teaching and end-of-year supportive and structured teaching, nor was there a mediation effect of mid-year student engagement. The current findings extend the literature promoting supportive and structured teaching as an effective tool for student engagement to include classrooms with predominantly Black students. Results and implications are discussed in the context of supportive and structured teaching, student engagement, and the broader construct of school climate. 1The author of the current study notes the diversity of racial and ethnic backgrounds represented by individuals identifying as Black. As this racial group includes individuals with origins from any of the black racial and ethnic groups of the world, including those from African countries and the Caribbean, the current document adopts the terminology of Kena and colleagues (2015) and uses the term Black as an inclusive term representing these diverse groups. / 1 / Elizabeth McIntyre

This study investigated commitment in the romantic relationships of 16 African-American men and women, eight men and eight women, aged 20-23. Ten participants were currently in a committed relationship and six participants were not currently in a committed relationship at the time of the study. Interdependence theory guided this qualitative study to examine how participants defined commitment, what they expected from their partners, sources that were instrumental in their development of expectations of how a partner should behave in a committed relationship, and the meanings they attached to relational alternatives, investments, rewards, costs, and barriers. Results indicated that eight relational themes defined commitment: exclusivity, honesty, being supportive, spending time, communicating, getting respect, trust, and love. In addition, two types of commitment were identified, short-term and long-term. From this sample, there was a connection between the definition of commitment and the meanings attached to relational alternatives, investments, rewards, costs, and barriers. The sources of how a partner should behave served as the context for the definition of commitment and meanings attached to alternatives, investments, rewards, costs, and barriers. Suggestions for future research on close relationships among African-Americans are discussed. / Master of Science