MSARCH, University of Cincinnati, 2013, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Architecture

In the past, bazaars constituted a chain of shops along a street that were known to sell a variety of goods. Shopping malls evolved from the traditional form of bazaars where people would frequent to buy goods from local artisans, craftsmen as well as farm products from local farmers. Owing to the oil boom in the Middle East in the late 20th century, particularly, from 1974 - 1980, there was a rapid development of these facilities as people invested oil money in land purchase and construction of commercial buildings. As time went by, investors sought to incorporate leisure facilities into the mall structures thereby creating the modern day malls and bazaars. This was particularly necessary due to the lack of nature parks and other recreational areas, aspects that can be attributed to dry conditions of the region hence limited productive acreage. As a result, malls in Saudi Arabia have become cultural hotspot where people of all ages, nationalities, and races come to meet and interact. The number of people visiting the country has been on the increase. The factors behind visiting this wonderful country are diverse and not limited to the scope of cultural factors and religion, age, gender, among other demographic characteristics. The influence on individuals' capacity to visit shopping malls to purchase their needs, do window shopping, or socialize is therefore varied. The rationale behind this is that while some shoppers seek social exploration, others are after recreational facilities and opportunities. Being an activity that involves face-to-face interactions between buyers and sellers in the mall, shopping has become an agent for breaking cultural boundaries in the society of Saudi Arabia as people interact with each other. This thesis is an observation of the emerging social interactions in the malls in Saudi Arabia.

Committee: Nnamdi Elleh Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Edson Cabalfin Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Architecture

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2006, Psychology/Developmental

Past research has found that different contexts create unique experiences that contribute to a child's development. A context that remains unexplored, however, is the bus ride to and from school. The current study explored the school bus as a unique context for social interaction. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to understand any gender differences, developmental differences, and differences in being an actor versus a recipient in the rate and types of prosocial and aggressive behaviors that occur on the bus ride to and from school. One hundred and fifty-seven elementary school students (78 males and 79 females) in grades 3, 4, and 5 completed a questionnaire concerning the rate and types of prosocial and aggressive behaviors that occur on the school bus. Overall, the results indicated that students were prosocial more often on the school bus than they were aggressive. Regarding the rate of prosocial and aggressive behaviors, the results showed several signficant effects with respect to participant gender, peer gender, being an actor versus a recipient, and age. Regarding the types of social behaviors, five types of prosocial behavior were identified and five types of aggressive behavior were identified. Although the types of social behaviors were consistent with past research, differences found in the current study were distinctive. For example, participants mentioned non-traditionally studied prosocial behaviors (e.g., companionship and benevolence) more often than traditionally studied behaviors (e.g., sharing and helping). In addition, participants mentioned physical aggression more often among their female peers than among their male peers. It is concluded that the present results have important implications for the school bus context and for future research.

Committee: Marie Tisak (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Developmental

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2023, Psychology

This dissertation investigates the neural representation of complex social information by employing multivariate methods such as functional connectivity classification analyses and intersubject representational similarity analyses (IS-RSA). The present research examines the functional network associated with social interactions as well as the association between neural similarity and individual differences in emotional reactivity and empathy. Study 1 utilizes multivariate pattern analyses (MVPA) to classify different categories of social interactions based on connectivity patterns between brain regions involved in social perception. Study 2 uses IS-RSA to investigate how individual differences in emotional reactivity modulates the neural representation of different social interactions. Study 3 explores how idiosyncrasies in behavioral measures of empathy are associated with neural synchrony during the observation of naturalistic social scenes depicting specific characters and various types of interactions. Study 1 demonstrates that contextual categorical information about social interactions is better classified by a network of regions rather than within a single region of interest. Studies 2 and 3 suggest that idiosyncrasies in trait-like attributes such as empathy or emotional reactivity reflects differences in neural representation of complex social information. This research contributes to our understanding of how social information is processed in the brain and sheds light on the impact of individual differences on social perception.

Committee: Dylan Wagner (Advisor); Baldwin Way (Committee Member); Steven Spencer (Committee Member) Subjects: Neurosciences; Psychology; Social Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Human Ecology: Family and Consumer Sciences Education

This dissertation consists of three related research studies investigating attire, social media, and the fear of missing out. The first research study, framed through impression management theory, investigates the association between an employee's chosen work attire and their work productivity while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two surveys collected the data for this research study. The first was completed in June 2020 and is an exploratory qualitative study and the second took place one year later, in June 2021, through an exploratory quantitative study. Results show a weak association between an employee's chosen work attire and self-perceived work productivity measures, specifically related to quality of work, work ethic, motivation at work, and mental health. The second study examines the relationship of social media use and financial hardship. Using insights from the financial capability framework and social identity theory, we ask, first, whether the frequency of social media use across the day is associated with an individual's ability to make ends meet and accumulate an emergency savings one year into the COVID-19 pandemic. Second, this study examines the mediating role of fear of missing out. Using a general population sample from the Socioeconomic Impacts of COVID-19 Survey at Washington University in St. Louis, ordinary least squares (OLS) linear regression findings indicate a strong relationship of social media use and financial outcomes, and that this relationship is partially mediated by the fear of missing out. These results shed light on the role of interventions that target the role of social media use in preventing financial hardship situations. The third study explores the relationship between the fear of missing out, parasocial interactions, social shopping, and wellbeing, specifically looking at social, psychological, and financial wellbeing. Using data collected via Amazon's Mechanical Turk (mTurk), this study examined (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Cäzilia Loibl (Advisor); Jung Eun Lee (Committee Member); Ann Paulins (Committee Member); Julie Hillery (Committee Co-Chair) Subjects: Behavioral Sciences

Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, 2016, Physiology and Neuroscience

Social buffering, a phenomenon in which the presence of a social partner can reduce stress responses, is often most effective between strongly attached partners. Our laboratory previously found a surprising buffering effect of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) response in preweaning guinea pigs by unfamiliar adult males. It was hypothesized that this HPA-buffering effect was driven by social interactions between the two partners and may involve an activation of the prelimbic cortex. Therefore, the current study examined these potential associations. To limit social interactions, the adult male was anesthetized in one condition compared to another condition where the adult male remained conscious. Conscious males, but not unconscious males, significantly reduced cortisol levels, suppressed vocalizations, and increased Fos activity in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). In conclusion, unfamiliar adult males can buffer HPA responses in preweaning guinea pigs via social interactions, which may involve an activation of the mPFC to suppress HPA activity.

Committee: Michael Hennessy Ph.D. (Advisor); Patricia Schiml Ph.D. (Advisor); Michal Kraszpulski Ph.D. (Committee Member); Larry Ream Ph.D. (Other); Christopher Wyatt Ph.D. (Other) Subjects: Behavioral Psychology; Neurosciences; Psychobiology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2007, Physical Activity and Educational Services

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an Adventure Education unit of instruction on the social interactions between students with and without disabilities in general physical education (GPE) classes. Participants were African American, Hispanic, and White American students (girls and boys with and without disabilities) who spoke either Spanish of English as their first language. A multiple baseline across participants design was used (Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 1987). The study was situated in contact theory (Allport, 1954). Data were collected on the social interactions that occurred between students with and without disabilities. Results show that effective facilitation of Adventure Education can potentially increase appropriate and positive social interactions and these results provide evidence that social interactions can increase through effective facilitation and the creation of an environment that encourages appropriate and positive interactions between students. Contact theory was partially supported in this study.

Committee: Samuel Hodge (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Physical

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2006, Physical Activity and Educational Services

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is a debilitating disease of the gastrointestinal tract that affects more than one million people in America (CCFA, 2005). Comorbid anxiety and depression are two common problems for people with IBD. It is well documented in the research literature that increased IBD severity leads to elevated anxiety and depression levels; however, disease severity only accounts for a portion of the variance in anxiety and depression scores. Further, many people with IBD do not develop anxiety or depression, regardless of disease severity. There is a need for research that investigates other possible predictor variables for anxiety and depression for people with IBD. This line of research examined the relationship of coping skills, social support and negative social interactions to anxiety and depression for people with IBD. Results of this study indicated that social support does not correlate with anxiety or depression; however, this may be the result of a skewed distribution and needs further investigation. Negative social interactions do appear to play a significant role in anxiety and depression and need to be included in future IBD studies. Results also revealed that coping skills are an important consideration in both treatment and future research for people with IBD. Overall, information provided by this study will help to improve holistic treatment for people with IBD and provide direction for future HRQOL research in IBD populations.

Committee: Darcy Granello (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Clinical

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2005, Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics

This dissertation provides insights into the process of social capital formation by extending a model of individual social capital investment and empirically identifying factors that affect an individual's social capital behavior. Social capital is defined as those social interactions that generate externalities in which either the interaction or the external benefit persists in time. I extend the neoclassical social capital investment model developed by Glaeser, Laibson and Sacerdote (2002) by introducing instantaneous returns to social interaction as distinct from the stream of future benefits derived from social capital and by redefining the social multiplier to include community institutions and characteristics. The parameters of the social capital investment model are estimated using computational techniques. The estimated parameter values are then used to simulate changes in a representative agent's behavior due to perturbations in the model parameters, individual characteristics or community characteristics. I use survey data collected from homeowners in Franklin County, Ohio, and community characteristics from secondary sources to generate the parameter estimates and simulate investment behavior. There are four important results from this research. First, social capital investment is positively related to educational attainment and negatively related to wages, as has been suggested by others. Second, social capital investment appears to happen without concern for future benefits. Third, personal characteristics affect both the level of investment as well as the volatility in investment over the lifecycle. Fourth, the presence of formal institutions positively affects investment behavior, while community social capital stocks do not affect social capital investment. This research makes significant theoretical and empirical contributions to the social capital literature. The theoretical model provides a framework useful for analyzing social capital formation. (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: David Kraybill (Advisor) Subjects:

MA, Kent State University, 2021, College of Communication and Information / School of Communication Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected first-year college students' experiences at universities and colleges. First-year college students already deal with stressors when entering college or university, and now they must adapt to a collegiate environment in which the classroom is one of their main sources of interaction. With the aid of Tinto's interactionalist theoretical framework (1975), this study explores how the classroom during COVID-19 fosters social integration. It also examines the ways social integration influences students' perceived persistence to degree completion during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study utilizes a survey design to assess students' perceptions of social integration, perceptions of connectedness (both in the classroom and in the university), and intentions to remain at the university for first-year college students. Results of this study indicate that one's background characteristics and time spent with communicative actions in an asynchronous and synchronous classroom environment will impact first-year students' persistence in college. Results also express that when first-year students communicatively interact in a face-to-face manner, they feel more connected with one another. The study helps contribute to understanding engagement, retention, and technology use during a pandemic.

Committee: Jeffrey Child (Advisor); Jennifer McCullough (Committee Member); Suzy D’Enbeau (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication; Higher Education

Master of Science, The Ohio State University, 2019, Environment and Natural Resources

Wildlife value orientations (WVOs) reflect sets of beliefs about preferred modes of treating wildlife and have been found to explain attitudes toward wildlife management interventions. Much research in the academic field of “human dimensions of wildlife" has examined the effects of WVOs on attitudes towards particular management actions, or a handful of particular species. Consequentially, past research has not isolated the effects of species attributes on attitudes. In the current work, I test whether the effects of WVOs on acceptability of lethal removal and risk perceptions about wildlife-related threats differ as a function of the following species attributes: endangered status, taxonomic order (i.e., Herbivora or Carnivora), and whether the species poses a threat. I distributed a self-administered online survey to a panel of 987 individuals using Prolific Academic to measure acceptability of lethal removal and risk perceptions of a species, WVOs (domination and mutualism), and experience with negative human-wildlife interactions in the past year. Moderated linear regression analyses revealed that the effects of the WVOs on acceptability of lethal removal and risk perceptions differed significantly between the experimental treatments. The results indicate that contextual cues about a species can dampen or strengthen the influence of WVOs when people make wildlife-related decisions. When explaining acceptability of lethal removal by a wildlife professional, domination increased acceptability of lethal removal to a greater extent when a species was described as posing a threat or was a carnivore, and to a lesser extent when a species was listed as endangered. When explaining risk perceptions, the relationships between WVOs and taxonomic order and threat treatments were more complex, as 3-way interactions were detected. However, the effects of WVOs on risk perceptions neither increased nor decreased as a function or whether a species was listed as endangered or no (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Alia Dietsch PhD (Advisor); Jeremy Bruskotter PhD (Committee Member); Robyn Wilson PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Social Psychology; Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Management

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Management

Healthcare systems worldwide are challenged with caring for patients with chronic conditions. As of 2014, at least 60% of Americans have at least one chronic condition, with diabetes being among the top five chronic conditions. Although medical management is utilized for glucose control, the majority of diabetes management involves self-care, imposing physical and psychological demands. As a result, there is an underappreciation of the patients' actual workload and burden by providers. Although patients emphasize the importance of interpersonal relationships as a critical component of quality care, there is often incongruence between the goals of providers and the patients. This study aims to identify factors related to interpersonal interactions that influence behavioral change and chronic disease outcomes by exploring the dynamics of the patient-provider relationship. This is a three-part exploratory mixed methods study. In Study 1, thirty Type 2 Diabetic (T2DM) participants were interviewed to explore the social interactions that facilitate behavioral change. Findings showed that positive interpersonal interactions, social relationships, and the ability to cope during disease setbacks or situational events influenced sustained behavioral change. These findings informed measures for Study 2. In Study 2, a quantitative study surveying 423 T2DM participants examined the attributes that influence chronic disease outcomes. Findings revealed coping ability to positively fully mediate the effect of compassion on self-management and treatment satisfaction. Further, coping ability fully mediated the effect of optimism on self-management and treatment satisfaction. Providers enhanced self-management adherence and treatment satisfaction by helping their patients cope with the burdens of diabetes by communicating with compassion and optimism. In Study 3, 422 T2DM participants were surveyed to explore how the patients' perceptions of relationship quality influence c (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Yunmei Wang Ph.D. (Committee Chair); David Aron M.D. (Committee Member); Richard Boland Ph.D (Committee Member); Philip Cola Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Health Care; Health Care Management

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2018, Clinical Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

The ubiquity of technology is reshaping the way teens express themselves and interact with peers. Considering that teens with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience a range of social impairments and that risk behaviors have the potential to be more widespread and damaging online, understanding how teens with ADHD use the Internet is important. The current study included 58 teens (13 to 16 years old) with ADHD. Study aims were to examine these teens' Internet use frequency, preferred online activities, Facebook interactions, and online risk behaviors (i.e., cyberbullying and sexting). Associations between online behaviors and parental monitoring strategies, as well as offline symptoms and behaviors, were also explored to identify potential risk and protective factors. Findings suggested that teens with ADHD use technology in similar ways as do the general population of teens described in previous research but appeared at unique risk of cyberbullying behaviors. Offline risks conferred online risk behaviors. Using Facebook was associated with online risks (e.g., weak online connections) and offline risks (e.g., poorer social skills and more internalizing symptoms). Online social platforms permit the exploration of social behaviors via naturalistic observation. It is imperative researchers gain understanding of the increasingly prevalent online social worlds of teens. Such an understanding may enable researchers to formulate effective social interventions for teens with ADHD.

Committee: Brian Wymbs Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Bernhard Debatin Ph.D. (Committee Member); Amori Mikami Ph.D. (Committee Member); Steven Evans Ph.D. (Committee Member); Timothy Anderson Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2018, Psychology

Previous social psychological research has demonstrated that people have the ability to perceive and interpret complex and dynamic social information with ease (Allport, 1937; Ambady & Rosenthal, 1992). Recent neuroimaging studies have begun to examine the neural mechanisms underlying how we perceive and represent different types of social information using more naturalistic depictions of social content with audiovisual stimuli displaying social interactions. Research using these types of stimuli has shown that the dmPFC is a key region involved in spontaneously processing social information. A primary goal of this research was to neurally decode differences in perceptions of naturalistic social interactions using MVPA. In the present research, we investigated how the brain dissociates different features of social interactions in terms of category and valence. In this study, participants were presented with a series of audiovisual stimuli depicting naturalistic social and nonsocial scenes. We investigated the neural responses associated with viewing naturalistic social scenes as compared to when viewing nonsocial scenes, and how positive and negative social scenes are represented. The results revealed activity in the dmPFC to be associated with viewing social scenes, consistent with previous findings implicating the involvement of the dmPFC in processing high-level, dynamic social information (Iacoboni et al., 2004; Wagner et al., 2011; Wagner, Haxby, & Heatherton, 2016). The results also revealed activation in the vmPFC when investigating how positive and negative social interactions are represented in the brain. Finally, we investigated whether we could decode differences in social interactions in the dmPFC. Importantly, our findings showed that we may be able to neurally classify different features within naturalistic portrayals of social interactions, like valence. This research has important implications for increasing our understanding of the functions of the (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dylan Wagner (Advisor); Steven Spencer (Committee Member); Baldwin Way (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology; Social Psychology

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Allied Health Sciences: Communication Sciences and Disorders

The purpose of this dissertation research was to describe children's pragmatic skills after traumatic brain injury (TBI) within the context of parent-child interactions. Children with TBI are known to exhibit a variety of pragmatic deficits. How these deficits affect a child's ability to interact with parents is largely unknown. Research examining parent and child pragmatic behavior after TBI is needed because parent-child interactions are an important component of a child's recovery. Two exploratory studies were conducted. Participants included ten mothers and their child with TBI. Children were 6-12 years old, had sustained a moderate to severe TBI, and were more than one-year post-injury. All participants participated in both studies. The first study used a phenomenological qualitative approach to describe mothers' experiences communicating with their child with TBI. The mothers' experiences were collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires. Interviews were analyzed using a deductive framework and constant comparison analysis to develop home and outside of the home social contexts and pragmatic deficit themes. The results of the first study showed that mothers primarily described their child with TBI as exhibiting average or near average pragmatic skills at home. However, the majority of mothers observed some problematic communication behaviors resulting in six home and five outside of the home contexts in which pragmatic deficits were observed. These contexts consisted of different pragmatic deficit themes, with only three of ten themes overlapping across environments (home and outside of the home). The second study used a descriptive research design to characterize parent-child pragmatic behaviors during a conversation in the home. During the home visit, children completed language, pragmatics, and general intellect assessments. Mothers completed questionnaires on family functioning and the child's executive function behaviors. Mo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Nancy Creaghead Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Lyn Siobhan Turkstra Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lisa Kelchner Ph.D. (Committee Member); Lisa Vaughn Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Speech Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Wright State University, 2016, Computer Science and Engineering PhD

There is a rapid intertwining of sensors and mobile devices into the fabric of our lives. This has resulted in unprecedented growth in the number of observations from the physical and social worlds reported in the cyber world. Sensing and computational components embedded in the physical world constitute a Cyber-Physical System (CPS). Current science of CPS is yet to effectively integrate citizen observations in CPS analysis. We demonstrate the role of citizen observations in CPS and propose a novel approach to perform a holistic analysis of machine and citizen sensor observations. Specifically, we demonstrate the complementary, corroborative, and timely aspects of citizen sensor observations compared to machine sensor observations in Physical-Cyber-Social (PCS) Systems. Physical processes are inherently complex and embody uncertainties. They manifest as machine and citizen sensor observations in PCS Systems. We propose a generic framework to move from observations to decision-making and actions in PCS systems consisting of: (a) PCS event extraction, (b) PCS event understanding, and (c) PCS action recommendation. We demonstrate the role of Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGMs) as a unified framework to deal with uncertainty, complexity, and dynamism that help translate observations into actions. Data driven approaches alone are not guaranteed to be able to synthesize PGMs reflecting real-world dependencies accurately. To overcome this limitation, we propose to empower PGMs using the declarative domain knowledge. Specifically, we propose four techniques: (a) Automatic creation of massive training data for Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) using domain knowledge of entities used in PCS event extraction, (b) Bayesian Network structure refinement using causal knowledge from Concept Net used in PCS event understanding, (c) knowledge-driven piecewise linear approximation of nonlinear time series dynamics using Linear Dynamical Systems (LDS) used in PCS event understandi (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Amit Sheth Ph.D. (Advisor); Krishnaprasad Thirunarayan Ph.D. (Advisor); Biplav Srivastava Ph.D. (Committee Member); Payam Barnaghi Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Cory Henson Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shaojun Wang Ph.D. (Committee Member); Shalini Forbis M.D., M.P.H. (Committee Member) Subjects: Computer Science

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2013, EDU Teaching and Learning

This dissertation traces the participation of three students across two instructional units during the teaching and learning of argumentation and argumentative writing. The data is drawn from an ethnographically informed study in a 9th and 10th grade English language arts class within a humanities course. The teacher foregrounded argumentative writing as a product of argumentation and taught argumentative elements (i.e., claim, evidence, warrant) progressively, co-constructing knowledge with her students. Using a micro-ethnographic discourse analysis, the researcher analyzed typical and telling events to trace students; participation and triangulated with students; written products and student and teacher interviews. The investigator found that both the teacher and the students understood argumentation as a set of social and relational practices, that they learned and deployed the language of argumentation, and that they created intertextual links as they developed arguments. The teacher provided learning opportunities through multiple levels of classroom activity. The focal teacher had two years to work toward deep understanding with her students. The findings help complicate argumentation as a social and relational process. The study suggests providing students opportunities for taking up and adapting argumentation in a range of ways that are sensitive to student identities and sensitive to an adaptation to a range of tasks opens up space for students and teachers to create arguments. More so, when argumentation is presented as a way of thinking;a habit of mind;rather than a regime of textual discipline, it becomes another way to interact with others and gain deep understanding of academic content

Committee: David Bloome (Advisor); Caroline Clark (Committee Member); George Newell (Committee Member); Cynthia Selfe (Committee Member) Subjects: Education

Master of Liberal Studies, University of Toledo, 2010, College of Arts and Sciences

This paper considers in some detail the technology, use and meaning of prehistoric pottery vessels. This paper has a cumulative focus on “prehistoric” pottery vessels as whole, rather than on those pots found in a specific culture, or dating to a specific time period. As such, issues of pottery production, function and meaning are constrained in their foci. The analysis conducted here establishes that production of pottery was available in all cultures and across continents – even though the “clay” used would not be the same in all locations. In this paper I intend to prove that prehistoric societies developed sophisticated technologies of pottery manufacture and integrated the resulting vessels within networks that operated in their everyday lives.

Committee: Lawrence Anderson-Huang PhD (Committee Chair); Lea McChensey PhD (Committee Member); Edward Schortman PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Ancient Civilizations; Archaeology; Cultural Anthropology; History; Native Americans; Social Research; Technology

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2012, Psychology

Children with high-functioning autism (HFA) and Asperger's syndrome (AS) experience considerable impairment in their day-to-day social interactions. While interventions such as social skills training programs have been developed to address these concerns, there is a lack of ecologically-valid measures to assess meaningful outcomes in children's social interactions. The current study utilized a qualitative approach to develop the Social Interactions Behavior Inventory (SIBI), a parent- and child-report measure examining children's social functioning in the school, community, and home settings. An initial pool of items was generated based on the social functioning literature of children with HFA/AS and expert consultation. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted to obtain parents' and children's feedback regarding the SIBI, and four iterations were completed until a final parent and child version was deemed adequate and satisfactory. Issues regarding parent-child agreement, the use of child self-reports, and parents' knowledge of children's school social behaviors are discussed. Future studies examining the psychometric properties of the SIBI in larger, more representative samples are warranted.

Committee: Mary Fristad PhD (Advisor); Steven Beck PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Luc Lecavalier PhD (Committee Member); Michael Vasey PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

PHD, Kent State University, 2010, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences

Peer-mediated intervention (PMI), a strategy those working in preschool inclusive environments can use, creates opportunities for peers to assume instructional roles to promote positive social behaviors for children with disabilities. The purpose of the study was threefold: first, to examine peer mediators' use of PMI during baseline and intervention; second, to examine the effects of PMI in increasing positive social behaviors and decreasing negative social behaviors of the target children; and third, to examine whether the social skills for target children improved from baseline to intervention following implementation of PMI. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to examine the effectiveness of PMI with three target children. Six children served as peer mediators and were responsible for implementing PMI strategies. Dependent variables were identified measuring child attributes essential to the social area of development (i.e., positive social behaviors) and those that were not desired or considered socially acceptable (i.e., negative social behaviors). Turn taking was selected as the essential positive social behavior for all child participants. Teacher participants trained peer mediators to administer the independent variable, peer-mediated intervention, specifically peer prompting, peer initiating, and/or giving feedback with the support of a social story during free play. Overall, results of the study indicate peer mediators implemented PMI successfully and with fidelity and little training. Target children increased positive social behaviors and decreased negative social behaviors from baseline to intervention. In addition, target children stayed the same or increased their social skills from baseline (pre) to intervention (post). Findings contribute to the literature regarding the effectiveness of PMI as an evidence-based practice for increasing positive social behaviors and decreasing negative social behaviors in the social area of develo (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kristie Pretti-Frontczak PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Sanna Harjusola-Webb PhD (Committee Co-Chair); Jennifer Hauver James PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Special Education

PHD, Kent State University, 2006, College of Education, Health, and Human Services / Department of Educational Foundations and Special Services

This study examined the social interactions demonstrated in the workplace by adult individuals formerly identified as students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders (EBD). This study asked participants to describe the social interactions they demonstrated while employed. They were also asked to describe how they maintained social interactions in order to sustain employment. Eight employed adult males ranging in ages from 20-26 participated in this study. Four of the participants were high school graduates and 4 had chosen to exit high school early. The participants were involved in several interviews and a focus group in order to provide information regarding their employment and the social interaction in which they engaged as employees. The participants also completed a Workplace Interpersonal Skills Inventory (WISI) indicating how they perceived their social interaction during employment. Fellow employees, supervisors, and others knowledgeable about the participants' social interaction at work also completed the WISI. The participants were reluctant to engage in the interview process and required encouragement in order to offer their perspectives about their social interactions during employment. In general, graduates tended to be more productive in the interview process than did nongraduates. Graduates also suggested others who might participate in the study to corroborate their responses. However, one graduate and all nongraduates refused to suggest others and would rather quit the study than provide informants. The lack of informants nominated to complete the WISI made it only possible to make general descriptive observations regarding the WISI data. The participants' interviews and the WISI indicated five major themes regarding their social interaction in the workplace: (a) challenge to gain employment, sustain employment, and be promoted to higher levels of employment, (b) graduates and nongraduates rated their workplace interactions more highly than did in (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Bryan Cook (Advisor) Subjects: Education, Special