Social networking sites (SNSs) are an increasingly popular channel for communication among college students. Often students disclose more freely via social networking sites than they would in other situations. These disclosures commonly include information about engaging in risky health behaviors (e.g., binge drinking). Study 1 examined students’ impression management goals and self-presentation tactics specifically related to self-disclosures of drinking behavior on SNSs. Findings suggest that students use differing self-presentation tactics across various SNSs in order to achieve their impression management goals and to avoid consequences associated with disclosing about risky health behaviors to certain audiences. Study 2 sought to develop and measure SNS communication about alcohol related activities (SNCAA). It used the theory of normative social behavior as framework for investigating and predicting SNCAA. Additional variables that predict SNCAA were also identified. Findings demonstrate partial fit of the TNSB as a framework for explaining SNCAA. The overarching results of this project suggest a need for interventions aimed at reducing students’ SNCAA as well as increasing their overall knowledge about privacy and safety online.

Adjusting one’s communication is a fundamental requirement for human interaction (Gasiorek, 2016a). Individuals adapt communication behavior according to the circumstances surrounding the situation, resulting in different patterns and forms of speech relative to spouses, family members, coworkers, or friends. Yet, researchers in instructional communication have not yet substantially applied adjustment as a theoretical lens for understanding instructor-student classroom interactions (Gasiorek & Giles, 2012; Soliz & Giles, 2014; Soliz & Bergquist, 2016). Apart from overlooking this useful theoretical approach, instructional communication scholarship can also be improved by accounting for 1) shifting group identities in higher education that change how instructors and students communicate, 2) incomplete conceptualizations of student perceptions in existing research, and 3) a consistent lack of concern for the hierarchical structure of educational data. This dissertation seeks to resolve these limitations through an application of one of the most prominent theories of adjustment: communication accommodation theory (CAT; Giles, 1973; Giles, Willemyns, Gallois, & Anderson, 2007a). The research specifically extends the CAT framework to an instructional setting by investigating how student perceptions of instructor nonaccommodation across several modes of communication (i.e., nonverbal, linguistic/verbal, content, support) influence information processing ability, relationships with instructors, and beliefs about instructors. Data were collected from 573 undergraduate students across 38 sections of a basic communication course (BCC). Students completed an online questionnaire assessing perceptions of the appropriateness of their instructor’s behavior (i.e., nonaccommodation), extraneous load, communication satisfaction, instructor-student rapport, instructor credibility, and instructor communication competence. The results first forward a nuanced measure for assessing nonaccommodation in a manner consistent with the theoretical propositions of CAT. Second, a series of analyses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM; Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002) showed significant associations between perceptions of nonaccommodation across modes and students’ reported classroom outcomes. Interestingly, several of the individual, direct relationships disappeared when multiple modes of nonaccommodation were considered simultaneously, introducing the possibility that individuals may prioritize the appropriateness of certain behaviors within context. The data hierarchy (i.e., students enrolled in course sections) did exert some influence on the relationships between variables, yet the majority of variance accounted for across models occurred at the student level. Implications of the results related to both theory and practice within the basic communication course are presented in the discussion.

This arts-based intervention program was designed to reduce anxiety and aggressive behavior in adolescent girls who were being reared without their fathers during the period of 2010–2015. The research questions were designed to investigate the scope, frequency, and severity of the problem of increased aggressive behavior and anxiety by girls being reared without their fathers; to evaluate the effectiveness of an arts-based intervention in reducing aggressive behavior and anxiety in girls being reared without their fathers; to investigate the ways that the use of an arts-based intervention might improve feelings about family relationships for single mothers and girls being reared without their fathers; and to gather observations and perceptions of all participants of the arts-based intervention regarding its impact on aggressive girls being reared without their fathers. Eight children between the ages of 8 and 17 completed the study. Data collection consisted of administering the following surveys: the Adolescent Anger Rating Scale, the Children’s Aggression Scale, the Parent Adolescent Relationship Questionnaire, and a confirmation interview with parents. An anger-management intervention utilizing the arts as an outlet for self-expression was implemented during the winter 2013 semester. Results showed the implementation fostered peer collaboration and resulted in reduced anger and aggression as well as increased communication and family cohesion. Expression through the arts, coupled with anger-management training, enabled girls to cope with their anger rather than acting out.

The value of improv training extends beyond the stage. Improv has been successfully utilized and applied in a variety of ways in the workplace, school, and community. This study examines the connection between genuine dialogue and improv to determine if improv exhibits dialogic qualities. Three focus groups were conducted with a total of nineteen improv students. Additionally, an interview was conducted with the director of a hospital's Innovation Lab where improv is used in an organizational setting. The conditions for dialogue set by Gordon (2006) served as a guideline for analyzing data. Thematic analysis generated categories used to analyze data. The most prominent of Gordon's conditions for dialogue within improv were Imagination & Innovation, Vulnerability and Immediacy of Presence. The importance of this study, implications and future studies for the connection between improv and dialogue are examined.

<p>Infants must learn to discriminate between individuals in order to determine who is familiar (and likely to provide their basic needs) from those who are unfamiliar (and possibly a threat to their survival). One cue that humans use to discriminate others is the unique sound of each individual’s voice. Until the present thesis, little research existed on the topic of voice discrimination development during infancy. I conducted the first set of studies to investigate whether voice discrimination develops through a process of perceptual narrowing. Perceptual narrowing is defined as an experience-dependent increase in sensitivity to distinctions important in the native environment and a decrease in sensitivity to distinctions not important (often foreign to) the native environment across the first year. It has been described in previous research for the processing of a number of socially-relevant stimuli in the auditory (e.g., musical rhythms and pitches, linguistic phonemes) and visual (e.g., faces) domains. In Chapter 2, I provide the first evidence that narrowing occurs for voice discrimination, with infants specializing for the discrimination of native (human, English-speaking) over foreign (rhesus monkey) vocalizations between 6 and 12 months. In Chapter 3, I establish that the specialization demonstrated in Chapter 2 resulted primarily from familiarity with the vocalization from the human species, rather than the particular language spoken. In Chapter 4, I show that sensitivity to distinctions between monkey voices can be reinstated at 12 months of age, after narrowing has taken place, with two weeks of exposure to monkey voices. Together, these findings indicate that infants become attuned to individual distinctions between human voices by the end of their first year, but that plasticity remains such that sensitivity to distinctions between voices from rarely-heard species can be reinstated with exposure, at least until the end of the first year.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In the digital domain, virtual teams within organizations and corporations are becoming common. Restructuring an organization or corporation is vital because competition and globalization are increasing. In this era of globalization, distributed working groups need to develop a competitive advantage in these ever-changing environments. Historically, teams had experienced problems stemming from geographical and temporal limitations. With the increase of technology in telecommunications, organizations are increasingly forming virtual teams, which have become critical to the survival of nearly any corporate entity. Virtual teams have some of the same problems that regular teams have. One of the key challenges is the method of forming teams, while such challenge is exacerbated in digital environments. Despite the difficulties, the digital environment has made successful team development all the more challenging. The variation in people's skills makes the formation of teams even more difficult. This is why organizations cannot determine in advance if a virtual team will be a success. To evaluate the success of team formation in a virtual setting, this research study assessed the role of different computer-mediated communications (CMC) levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the success of team formation measured by the level of task performance (TP), team cohesiveness (TC), computer skills (CS) and social bond (SB), while assessing the differences on such relationships when controlled for demographic information such as gender, age, education level, academic major, as well as academic year. Empirical data was collected from students at the Medical Sciences Campus in the University of Puerto Rico with 140 usable records. Using three teams and 140 participants, the results indicated that there is a statistically significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the level of perception of CS in team formation. Significant differences were also found in the role of CMC levels employed on the levels of TP, when controlled for gender. In addition, there is a significance difference in the role of CMC levels employed (no-CMC/face-to-face, online learning system, online learning system + social networking site) on the levels of CS, when controlled for education, academic major and academic year. The outcomes of the study contributed to the body of knowledge for both practice and research, to help organizations identify ways to support effective team formations in virtual environments.

The purpose of this paper is to understand and criticize the role of social media in the development and/or encouragement of eating disorders, disordered eating, and body dissatisfaction in college-aged women. College women are exceptionally vulnerable to the impact that social media can have on their body image as they develop an outlook on their bodies and accept the developmental changes that occurred during puberty. This paper provides evidence that there is a relationship between the recent surge in disordered eating and high consumption of social media. I examine the ways in which traditional advertising has portrayed women throughout history, as well as analyze the ways in which this depiction of the female ideal has helped shaped society’s perspectives about beauty and increased the rate of disordered eating among college aged females. Further, this analysis assesses the ways in which the thin ideal as portrayed in advertising encourages women to look a certain, unrealistic way. I also consider various social psychological theories to explain how women in society form their perceptions with a combination of what they see in the media as well as what they see in their friends and family. I demonstrate that social networking sites (SNS) have similar effects on young women as advertising and other forms of mass media do. Therefore, I will argue that SNS, as a combination of real life and a personalized form of advertising, can potentially have the same, yet amplified, consequences. Indeed, I argue that the ubiquitous and enduring nature of social media websites result perhaps in a wider and more detrimental impact to the body image concerns of college aged women than advertising or the media generally.

Suicide touches the lives of millions of people each year in this country alone, yet conversations about suicide loss and survival after a loss remain taboo and often do not happen. The story I performed for this performance autoethnographic study centers on my life as a survivor of suicide. It provides a starting point for dialog regarding trauma, grief, and suicide loss. The narrative was constructed directly following the sudden death of my father, which had a direct effect on my ability to produce artistic work. The development, staging and performance of the story were altered to account for the situational depression I experienced during my creative process. I received feedback from the audience on what aspects of my telling were well developed, and what needed further development. I was able to experience the importance of balance in an autoethnographers personal life when writing about trauma and experiencing it directly.

This project involved the development of a training manual for religious small group leaders to become competent communicators of support, and to understand the nature and role of crisis groups for the purpose of supporting members in crisis.

This exploratory study identified generational preferences for receiving information from management through different communication channels and determined if age predicted productivity for productive and unproductive information received through different communication channels. This is the first study to empirically examine the relationship between age cohorts, communication channel preferences, information categories, and productivity. Sample participants worked as Extension agents at a major land-grant university. The four generations represented in the sample utilized multiple communication channels and were geographically dispersed throughout the state. The survey was administered electronically and completed by 204 (74%) of the eligible 275 employees in the organization. Independent Samples t-tests, General Linear Modeling, ANOVA’s, means analysis and linear regressions were employed to analyze the data to test the hypotheses. Regarding channel preference, the findings determined that face-to-face communication was preferred by both generations for receiving private and confidential information and for training. Media was preferred by both generations for routine and procedural and time-sensitive information. Lastly, the analysis revealed that written documents were the preferred method of both generational cohorts for compensation and benefits. Regarding productivity, the findings determined that age predicted a perceived increase in productivity tasks for production information received face-to-face from management, but did not predict a perceived increase in productivity tasks for the other communication channels. Both generational cohorts perceived productive information received face-to-face from management to increase morale and decrease stress. The cohorts, however, differed on the increase of trust as a result of receiving productive information face-to-face. Both generational cohorts perceived unproductive information received from management through all communication channels to negatively impact productivity tasks. Finally, both cohorts perceived unproductive information received face-to-face from management to negatively impact morale, trust and stress. Empirical examination of generational workforce issues is relatively new to Human Resources and research is needed to further examine generational perceptions. The study begins to open dialogue that the supposed differences inherent in the multigenerational workforce are not as much a factor of the generation as the information. The development of the new instrument in this study provides a new tool to examine organizations preferences and productivity.