Theses and Dissertations - Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling

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The academic achievement gap between African American and White students: an exploratory study on reading achievement and intrinsic motivation
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Herron-McCoy, LaMonica Lanell; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this study was to explore the academic achievement gap between upper elementary African American and White students. This study sought to assess any relationships between whether academic reading, students attitudes toward reading, and academic intrinsic motivation related to ethnicity. This study also sought to assess whether differences in reading achievement, attitudes, and intrinsic motivation varied by ethnicity, gender, or SES. Participants in the study were students enrolled in grades 4 through 6 in a rural West AL school district. Students with parental consent participated by completing the Children's Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Gottfried, 1990) to assess motivation and the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990) to assess reading attitudes. Scores from the SAT 10 and Dibels were also utilized to assess reading achievement. Results indicated that based upon the population observed that SES is an outstanding variable in this study. In addition to research suggesting evidence that SES is a major correlate of the achievement gap, the focus turned towards a specific aspect of SES which is wealth. Children from wealthy families acquire more experiences through provisions of social and cultural capital which may be supportive in explaining the disparities between African American and White students in academics, including reading achievement and intrinsic motivation.
Actual and perceived ideal practices of school psychologists: a regional and state-level comparison of role discrepancies to the national association of school psychologists practice model
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2021) Batt-Rawden, Ashley P.; Burnham, Joy J.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Discrepancies between recommended and actual practices of school psychologists have plagued the field for decades. Previous studies have examined and identified differences in school psychology practices based upon geographical location within the United States as well as between community settings (e.g., rural, urban). The present study sought to fill a gap in the literature (Hosp & Reschly, 2002) by examining the actual and perceived needed practices of school psychologists in the East South Central (ESC) census division of the United States and compare those practices to the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) Practice Model (NASP, 2020c). Sixty-five school psychologists from the ESC division completed an adapted and reproduced version of the NASP Membership Survey (Walcott & Hyson, 2018) measuring a number of demographic variables as well as their engagement in a variety of school psychologist activities and services using a 7-point Likert-scale. Participants rated their actual practice during the most recently completed school year and rated the level of engagement in those same practices they thought was needed to best serve students in their district during a typical school year. Results indicated that as a whole, school psychologists in the ESC division do not engage in a comprehensive service delivery model as recommended by NASP. Rather, their perceived need for services was more closely aligned to the NASP Practice Model (NASP, 2020c). State-level comparisons indicated that school psychologists in Alabama practice under a traditional gatekeeper of special education model (Merrell et al., 2006) compared to their counterparts in Kentucky and Tennessee. School psychologists in Kentucky reported more engagement in mental-health related services than participants from other states. Community-level comparisons indicated that school psychologists practicing in urban settings are more engaged in a comprehensive service delivery model than those practicing in rural or suburban areas. No specific practices were identified as more needed than others by school psychologists in rural settings. Implications for future research include analysis of organizational factors contributing to discrepancies with implications for practice related to advocacy efforts.
Adult literacy learning: perceptions and motivations of volunteer tutors
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) O'Connor, Erin; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Most adult literacy studies tend to focus on learner outcomes, and the few that do include tutors usually focus on their compassion as volunteers and/or assess the effectiveness of tutor training. Since community adult literacy programs are largely dependent on volunteer tutors to provide instruction, tutors come from various backgrounds and are not required to meet a standard of educational training. It should not be taken for granted that tutors are familiar with all of the theoretical approaches in adult literacy instruction, and it is reasonable to assume that different tutors may approach learning situations differently, based on their own underlying assumptions and experiences. This study was conducted to better understand how tutors think about different aspects of their work and why they volunteer for the cause of adult literacy. Findings suggest that most tutors find at least some value in literacy activities representative of the main themes in the literature of the field, and that different subgroups of tutors share preferences for particular types of activities. Findings also indicate that tutors have a sense of universal ethics when they think about fairness in the context of societal organization, view tutoring as a way to express their humanitarian values, and are motivated by the worth they place on literacy in a socially just society.
African american paternal figures’ impact on their daughters’ psychological adjustment and educational outcomes over time
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Holder, Crystal; Tomek, Sara; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This longitudinal study inspects the impact that African American paternal figures have on their daughters’ psychological adjustment and educational outcomes over time. By analyzing the responses of African American adolescent girls ages 11 through 16 who participated in the longitudinal study (2000-2009), the purpose of this study is to: (a) determine whether quality paternal relationships relate to African American adolescent girls’ psychological adjustment over time, (b) determine whether quality paternal relationships relate to African American adolescent girls’ educational outcomes over time, and (c) determine whether the psychological adjustment of African American adolescent girls relate to their educational outcomes over time. This research has implications for families, educators, and clinicians for adolescent research and interventions. The outcomes of this study suggest that warm paternal figures are important to adolescent girls in various ways, particularly during early adolescence. Warm paternal figures were associated with increased girls’ psychological adjustment during early adolescence in this study. Paternal figures also made contributions to girls’ academics in the specific area of mathematics in this study. Additionally, this study suggests that enhanced psychological adjustment affects girls’ achievement in math and reading during early adolescence.
Are empathy traits associated with cultural orientation?: a cross-cultural comparison of young adults
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2017) Gungordu, Nahide; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Empathy plays a pivotal role in social interactions and in academic achievements in fields such as reading and language. Different factors have been investigated regarding empathy; however, the role of culture has not obtained enough attention. The main aim of the present study is identifying the relationship between cultural orientation and the affective and cognitive empathic tendencies of university students in two societies, namely Turkey (N=128) and the United States (N=127). The most prominent empathy scales––the “Interpersonal Reactivity Index” (IRI; Davis, 1983) and the “Empathy Quotient” (EQ; Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004)––were used to measure empathy traits of students and the “Individualism and Collectivism Scale” (Triandis & Gelfand, 1998) was used to measure cultural orientation. The analyses indicated that empathy is negatively related to individualistic orientation, while positively related to collectivistic orientation. Moreover, contrary to the literature, Turkish students obtained higher scores in vertical individualism than U.S. students, while U.S. students obtained higher scores in horizontal individualism than Turkish students. Findings also revealed that Turkish university students have greater personal distress than U.S. university students. In addition, results showed that empathy scores of female participants are higher than male participants and female participants have a tendency toward collectivistic orientation. Other results, their implications, limitations, and suggestions for future studies are discussed as well.
Autonomic arousal and its relationship to child behavior: the moderating role of parenting practices
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Romero, Devon Elizabeth; Lochman, John E.; Burnham, Joy J.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Moderated multiple regression analyses were conducted in order to examine parental involvement, poor monitoring and supervision, and inconsistent discipline as moderators in the relationship between autonomic arousal (i.e., baseline skin conductance level, baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia, skin conductance reactivity, respiratory sinus arrhythmia reactivity) and externalizing behavior. Data was collected from a sample of 360 fourth grade students identified by their teachers and parents as at-risk for moderate to high levels of aggression. The results did not support the research hypotheses posed in the current study. Despite the lack of significant results for the planned hypotheses, exploratory analyses produced useful findings about the complex relationships among these behavioral, physiological, and contextual constructs. Five predictor variables (i.e., parental involvement, poor monitoring and supervision, inconsistent discipline, gender, and RSA reactivity) predicted parent rated externalizing behavior, while gender was the single predictor of teacher rated externalizing behavior. This provided a unique look into how the predictor variables manifest themselves in different environments. Further, this study highlighted the main effects of sympathetic and parasympathetic functioning, which suggest that at-risk preadolescents are maladaptively regulated. For example, higher RSA reactivity indicated that at-risk youth have inflexible parasympathetic responding, which negates sympathetic activation. This main effect of RSA reactivity demonstrates that parasympathetic functioning predicts child behavior over sympathetic functioning in an at risk sample of children. Additionally, physiological response patterns in at-risk children appear to be more convoluted than originally suggested. The current study found higher levels of baseline RSA to be associated with higher ratings of teacher rated hyperactivity in the presence of high inconsistent discipline. This suggests that externalizing behaviors may not be entirely characterized by a single pattern of autonomic arousal (e.g. low baseline). Overall, these results confirm the influence of bioecological interactions on externalizing behavior in an at-risk sample of children and point to a nuanced and complicated picture of the maintenance of externalizing behaviors. This study highlighted relationships among the study variables that will serve to contribute to future research, treatment, and prevention of externalizing behavior in at-risk children.
Autonomy support in US ninth-grade science classrooms: exploring a self-determination model of motivation using national IES data
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Derriso, Anthony; Robinson, Cecil D.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Using self-determination theory (SDT) as a conceptual framework, this research examines motivation in our nation's science classrooms by conducting a secondary data analysis of the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09). The study describes the creation of a valid measure of autonomy support within HSLS:09 and validates critical components of SDT with a nationally representative sample of data. Results indicate males and females do not differ meaningfully on measures of autonomy support, science perceived competence, science interest, or science identity. Autonomy support was a statistically significant predictor of science perceived competence, science interest and science identity, and these relationships were the same for males and females. Among US ninth-graders intending to pursue STEM occupations, 84% are boys and 16% are girls. Science perceived competence and science identity mediated the relationship between science autonomy support and students' intentions to pursue a STEM career. Additionally, science perceived competence and science identity significantly discriminated between students who intended to pursue a STEM occupation and those who did not.
Autonomy support: teacher beliefs and practices during steam instruction and its influence on elementary students
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2017) Sheffield, Adriane Nicole; Robinson, Cecil D.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Autonomy is the sense that one has control over one’s actions within an environment or that one has some degree of choice over his or her own life. Autonomy support involves an individual who is in a position of authority, (e.g., parent, teacher, coach), taking the perspective of another (e.g. student, child), acknowledging their feelings, and providing opportunities for choice (Reeve, Jang, Carrell, Jeon & Barch, 2004; Roth, Assor, Kanat-Maymon, & Kaplan, 2007). STEAM is a curricular framework that emphasizes project-based learning through the integration of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics. This study examined the beliefs and practices of third to fifth grade teachers around student autonomy during STEAM instruction. To meet this purpose, a qualitative analysis of teachers’ epistemological beliefs, classroom instructional practices, and use of autonomy-supportive practices during STEAM instruction was conducted. Next, an examination of students’ perception of and response to autonomy-supportive practices during instruction was conducted using student survey data and coded observations. A belief/practice gap was found among teachers as reported beliefs and teacher practices were qualitatively different. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the impact of student’s perceptions of autonomy, attitudes toward STEAM and teacher’s autonomous practices on student engagement Student perceptions of autonomy and attitudes towards STEAM were found to be significant predictors of student engagement by homeroom, but teacher’s autonomous practices were not at the student level or the teacher level.
Bibliotherapy: an examination of school counselors' attitudes and use
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Townsend, Karen Moore; Satcher, Jamie; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Bibliotherapy has been shown to be a natural, appropriate tool for school counselors, supporting both student therapeutic concerns, as well as the academic goals of the setting. However, no prior research was identified that examined counselors' attitudes toward bibliotherapy or their use of bibliotherapy as a counseling technique in the schools. This study proposed to determine (a) if school counselors differed in their use of or attitudes toward bibliotherapy when compared by student and counselor characteristics, and (b) if selected student and counselor characteristics predicted the counselors' use of or attitudes toward bibliotherapy. The data were collected using an instrument developed for this study, the Attitudes Toward Bibliotherapy Scale. Participants were members of the Alabama School Counseling Association (ALSCA). Of the 870 packets that were mailed to members, 250 usable surveys were returned. The results indicated that counselors' use of bibliotherapy, as well as their attitudes toward bibliotherapy, differed significantly on one variable: predominant gender of the students served. Only one variable was found to significantly predict the counselors' use of bibliotherapy: the average age of the children served. Finally, two variables were found to significantly predict the counselors' attitudes toward bibliotherapy: (a) the average age of the children served, and (b) the number of continuing education activities related to bibliotherapy in which the counselors participated in the past 12 months.
Biofunctional embodiment of moral development: the impact of affect, moral cognition, maturation and experience playing sports on acceptance of aggression in sports by Italian adolescents
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Zengaro, Sally Ann; Iran-Nejad, Asghar; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the relationships between moral judgments, affect, moral disengagement, general aggression, and the self-reported attitudes toward the acceptance of aggression in sports among Italian adolescents. Several research questions guided this investigation: 1) Can moral disengagement, maturation, affect, and sports experience predict the acceptance of aggression in sports? 2) Are there significant differences in a model of acceptance of aggression between male and female participants? 3) Are there significant differences in a model of acceptance of aggression between participants in Northern Italy and Southern Italy? Three hundred thirty-two adolescents from two high schools in northern and southern Italy participated in the study. They completed a demographic questionnaire about their age, gender, height, weight, main sport, years they have played their main sport, and the level of competition. They also completed five questionnaires on moral decision-making in sports, moral disengagement, a general aggression scale, a scale measuring positive and negative affect, and the Defining Issues Test-2. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to identify a model of adolescents who are more likely to approve of sports aggression. The results indicated that the acceptance of sports aggression could be predicted by an integrated model based on the biofunctional modes of constructive and unconstructive functioning. It was found that adolescents who were already in a negative state and who characterized themselves as generally aggressive were more likely to accept sports aggression. Those who participated in sports were more likely to have a positive disposition, which was not a significant factor in accepting sports aggression. The results indicated that participating in sports was not a significant predictor of sports aggression, and it was the adolescents in an unconstructive dispositional mode who were more accepting of aggressive tactics in sports. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of adolescents and their attitudes towards unethical sports behavior and moral decisions.
Black beauty, white standards: a phenomenological study of black american women's perception of body image at a PWI
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2018) Hicks, Adora; Burnham, Joy J.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This qualitative study examined the daily lives and experiences of ten Black American women, looking specifically at perceptions of their body image. The ten women were enrolled undergraduate students at a predominately White institution (PWI) in the southeastern region of the United States. The primary data collection method was in-depth individual interviews and focus groups. Coupled with Patricia Hill Collins’ Black Feminist Thought (2000) and the use of a phenomenological approach, the data were coded and analyzed according to three research questions, which guided this study. Five major themes emerged from this study, shedding light on the perceptions that Black American women have about their bodies when they are enrolled at a PWI. The five themes identified included: (1) experiences prior to college and the current campus culture; (2) Black Capstone Life versus Greek Life; (3) challenges of being Black at a PWI; (4) the concept of unapologetically Black; and, (5) Black girl magic. The ten Black women provided insight about their experiences, including their unique cultural features of beauty and appearance and their dual identity as a Black and female student attending a PWI. This study provided a valued space for Black American women to define and process who they are as Black women at a PWI, indicating the need for such a space and support at other PWIs.
Children's social reasoning in the context of bully victimization
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Porter, Malvin; Curtner-Smith, Mary Elizabeth; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new measure of children's social reasoning about bully victimization, the Children's Bully/Victim Survey (CBVS). The CBVS attempts to assess what children think are appropriate behavioral responses to hypothetical scenarios about being victimized by bullies and about witnessing bully victimization. The study also examined how children explain or justify their actions. Participants in the study included children enrolled in the 5th grade and their teachers from schools in the southeast. This study examined how the quality of children's Action Choices in hypothetical stories about bully victimization relates to their Justification Choices. This study includes the influence of demographic variables such as gender, intellectual ability, bully/victim group membership, story character role, and story form of victimization on children's Action and Justification Choices. Teacher reports of children's behavior were compared with children's self-reports of Action and Justification choices. Significant relationships were found between children's Actions Choices and Justification Choices. However, teacher reports of children's social behavior with peers did not significantly relate to children's self reports of how they would respond to hypothetical bully victimization scenarios. Additionally, child demographic variables did not reflect significant variation between teacher groupings for children's intellectual ability and bully/victim group membership. However, there were significant differences in children's Action Choices and Justification Choices based on gender, story character role and story form of victimization.
Coaching Educators on Educating Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in an Early Childhood Inclusion Setting
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2021) Lane, Morgan Elise; Witte, Tricia; Preast, June L; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
There is a considerable gap between evidence-based interventions intended to support students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and current classroom practice (Anderson et al., 2018; Artman-Meeker et al., 2015). Early childhood programs and educators are in crucial need of additional support and evidence-based services that address the growing need of specialized instruction for students with ASD (Corkum et al., 2014; Dyer & Redpath, 2021; Lauderdale-Littin & Brennan, 2018; Mueller & Brewer, 2013; Wilson & Landa, 2019). This study asked three questions: “Is there a functional relation between educator coaching and an increase in the frequency of the first, then board as measured by a behavior observation?”, “Is there a functional relation between educator coaching and a reduction in the frequency of disruptive behavior as measured by a behavior observation?”, and “Do educators find coaching socially acceptable as measured by a treatment acceptability measure?”. This study used single-case research methodology; specifically, a nonconcurrent multiple baseline design. There was resulting high variability of data across educator-child dyads, with no-to-minimal effect of coaching on educators’ use of first, then boards. Children’s behavior also fluctuated, and no conclusive results were found regarding the indirect impact of coaching educators. While there were limitations and other contextual factors, this study served as a foundation for further research expansion in the area of early childhood coaching.
Codependency among nurses: a comparison by substance use disorder and other selected variables
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Self, Jo Simmons; Satcher, Jamie; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Previous studies have shown that the profession of nursing has inherent risk factors that may contribute to Substance Use Disorder among nurses. One of those risk factors may be codependency. This study explored the relationship between codependency and self-reported history of treatment for SUD among nurses. It also compared nurses' codependency scores by gender, race, birth order, having experienced or witnessed physical violence in the family of origin, having a parent or primary caregiver with SUD, and having a parent or primary caregiver with a history of mental illness. One thousand nurses with active licensure in a southeastern state were mailed survey packets which included the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale and a demographic questionnaire. Two hundred and two surveys were returned. The results indicated that the nurses' codependency scores differed significantly when compared by history of treatment for SUD. Nurses who reported treatment for SUD had higher codependency scores than nurses who reported no treatment for SUD. The nurses also differed significantly in their codependency scores when compared by their having witnessed or experienced physical violence in their family of origin. Those who reported a history of witnessing or experiencing physical violence in their family of origin had higher codependency scores than those who did not. The third significant finding was that nurses who reported having a parent or primary caregiver with a history of mental illness had higher codependency scores than those who did not.
College students information management with parents and moral judgment development
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Collin, Brian G.; Thoma, Stephen; Houser, Rick; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The initial purpose of the current research study was to investigate if college students' current and perceived changes from high school in parental disclosure, secrecy, current information management strategies, and justifications for non-disclosure differed by information type, gender, college experience, and levels of moral judgment development. 256 college students completed questionnaires that assessed the parental communication variables listed along with the Defining Issues Test (DIT-2), an assessment of moral judgment development. College students were most likely to disclose and tell the whole story when parents asked about academics and religious/political views in comparison to the other sampled behaviors. In contrast, subjects were most secretive about risky behaviors and more likely to avoid discussion or omit important details when parents asked about them than the other behaviors. Subjects reported that when they did not disclose risky behaviors it was most likely to avoid punishment or parent disapproval, whereas subjects' most common justification for non-disclosure of academics was to avoid their own feelings of shame and embarrassment. In contrast, privacy was the most common justification for non-disclosure for peer, personal, multi-faceted issues, or religious-political views. Overall, females were less secretive than males, more likely to disclose to the mother, tell the whole story when asked, and less likely to make up a story/lie or avoid discussion when asked about the sampled behaviors. However, collegiate females perceived greater decreases in disclosure of risky behaviors than did males, and in turn they were no more likely than males to tell the whole story when asked about them. As expected, cognitive moral development scores were also positively associated with disclosure to the mother about academics, telling the whole story when asked about both academics and religious-political views, and was negatively associated with lying to parents. Underclassmen reported a greater likelihood of justifying non-disclosure because of sadness and shame than upperclassmen, which was also associated with lower scores of moral judgment development. In turn upperclassmen reported a greater likelihood of justifying non-disclosure because of privacy, which was associated with higher scores of moral judgment development.
Comparing the use of cinematherapy and bibliotherapy to teach character education: a quasi-experimental study
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2019) Davis, Amy Pike; Burnham, Joy J.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Character education, an educational construct which emphasizes educational strategies and targets the specific moral development needs of children (Berkowitz & Bier, 2007), is often taught in the school setting through direct instruction by the school counselor using simple tools such as books and movies. However, there is absence of literature comparing the effectiveness of these tools for providing character education. The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to compare the effectiveness of bibliotherapy (using books in counseling) and cinematherapy (using movies in counseling) on third grade students’ understanding of character education. Third grade students at four schools were randomly assigned by classroom to one of three groups: intervention with books, intervention with movies, or the control. School counselors at four elementary schools presented six classroom guidance lessons focusing on the six character traits of Character Counts! (2017): caring, citizenship, fairness, kindness, respect, and responsibility. The students’ understanding of these character traits was assessed with a pre- and post-intervention test using a researcher developed instrument, Understanding Character Traits Survey (UCTS; Davis, 2017). The psychometric properties of the instrument were investigated using the Rasch model. Rasch model indices of item difficulty, person locations, along with item and person fit statistics were investigated. The researcher-developed instrument exhibited acceptable psychometric properties in the sample examined in this study. Results of the data collected from students’ pre- and post-intervention tests indicate that all groups improved their understanding of character traits over time regardless of intervention group. Therefore, classroom guidance lessons using bibliotherapy and cinematherapy were not supported as mediators in the students’ understanding of character education traits based on pre- and post-test results. There was a statistically significant change in scores between the pre-test and post-test indicating that time was a factor in students’ understanding of character. This study highlighted the value of time on students’ understanding of character and will serve to contribute to future research on character education, bibliotherapy, and cinematherapy and their roles in classroom guidance lessons.
Comparison of Team Sport Athlete's and Individual Sport Athlete's Moral Identity and Antisocial/Prosocial Behavior in Sports
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2021) Hanle, Leah; Walker, David; Han, Hyemin; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In this acknowledgement, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to all the people who have contributed in different ways to the success of this work. Thanks to the members of my committee, Dr. Wind, Dr. Scofield, and Dr. Han. I appreciate the thought-provoking impulses and the expertise. Special thanks to my supervisor Dr. Walker for his critical and helpful suggestions throughout the entire thesis process. I highly appreciate the freedom he gave me in choosing the subject and the path of my research. Prior to the degree, I had no experience in research; - he was very understanding and patient and guided me through the different steps of the project. I would also like to thank my family and friends as they always encouraged me and never made me doubt the overall project. To Jamie - thank you for your tremendous support not only throughout the whole project but especially in the beginning of the writing process. I am very grateful for your emotional support as well as your professional insight and experience that you offered with no hesitation. Finally, to my parents for showing their love and support, for always being there and offering me an open ear when needed, thank you! If I had to take one thing away from this – never doubt!
Counterfactual historical scenarios as organizers of the sources of insightful understanding
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Stewart, William H.; Thoma, Stephen; Tomek, Sara; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Researchers have explored history expertise as a model for developing critical thinking in students. However, if students are not interested in history, they may not see any reason to engage in critical reflection in that area. Therefore, this dissertation compares students' reflection in a domain they described as being more interested in and more knowledgeable about, fiction, with their reflection in history. In a pilot study, participants generated more fictional events than historical events but generated an equal number of historical and fictional counterfactuals. These results are interpreted as support for the idea that, while interest can lead to knowledge, by itself knowledge is insufficient for insightful reflection on a topic. To further explore the role of counterfactual scenarios as a context for insightful reflection, a follow up study was conducted with two types of counterfactual scenarios (fictional, historical) as within-subjects factors, two sources for counterfactual scenarios (student, non-student) as within-subjects factors, and presentation order (fictional counterfactuals 1st, historical counterfactuals 1st) as a between subjects factor. The dependent measures were rated feasibility, interest, and insight quality. The overall purpose of the study is to explore the relationships among counterfactual thinking, interest, and insightful reflection.
Cultural effect on dispositional and intergroup empathy: comparison of iranians, americans, and bicultural iranians
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2020-07) Yaghoubi Jami, Parvaneh; Walker, David Ian; Thoma, Stephen J.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Decades of research makes clear that people’s cultural background and group identity make a substantial impact on their empathic responsiveness. Our current understanding of empathic perceptions and reactions in a group of people, called biculturals, is limited. The majority of the research is correlational focusing on the connection between a set of limited factors and empathy. Moreover, there is growing evidence showing that being “bicultural” is more than having a set of correlational factors. This study argues that the concept of “bicultural” should be addressed as a naturalistic phenomenon requiring naturalistic experiments to have a more comprehensive understanding of the underlying factors. Accordingly, researching on psychological concepts such as empathy among biculturals would be a naturalistic experiment that allows researchers to test different theories regarding the studied phenomenon. This study used a mixed-method research design approach with a greater emphasis on quantitative strands. To address the purpose of this study, participants’ dispositional empathy as well as cultural orientation and sensitivity toward other cultures was measured through self-reported questionnaires. Drawing from the existing studies on the interplay between culture and empathy (e.g., Cheon et al., 2011; Yoon, 2014), participants’ empathic reactions toward observing an individual in painful and non-painful situations from ingroup and outgroup cultures was also explored. Additionally, this study explored how Americans and Iranians, two nations that have been represented as threat by their respective governments, viewed each other with a particular focus on the most dramatic incidents in the political relationships between these countries (Shahghasemi, 2017). Findings from the present study suggest that cultural orientation significantly affects empathic responsiveness. However, the relationship is dependent on the component of culture as well as on different components of empathy in different settings. Moreover, unlike their government and previous studies (Gerges, 1997), both nations had a positive viewpoint about each other and did not perceive each other as enemies. There was no sign of schadenfreude, the opposite of empathy (Cikara, Bruneau & Saxe, 2011), as all participants believed the two incidents should have not happened and they tried to be empathic toward observing other people in pain regardless of the person’s nationality. It seems the new generations in both populations, are developing their own viewpoint in which they try not to mirror the image created by their government (Johnston Conover, Mingst, & Sigelman, 1980).
Describing and testing a measure of Confucian self: a preliminary validity study
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2014) Jiang, Hong; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This study attempted to describe Confucian ethics by presenting its conceptual structures and comparing it with Western ethics, and to develop and test a measure of the Confucian self. The theoretical foundations for Confucian ethics and the Confucian self were formulated from the theoretical domains of Confucian philosophy, Western philosophy, and moral psychology. The study consisted of two phases. Phase one focused on pilot studies in which the psychometric properties of the Confucian self-measure were assessed with 43 Chinese undergraduate students' responses to surveys for identifying Confucian traits as priming items and evaluating contents of the instrument of the Confucian self. Phase two concentrated on formal studies in which nomological and predictive validities of the Confucian self-measure were examined, through testing its relationships with other moral constructs, including moral judgment, moral behavioral tendencies, and attitudes toward behavioral outcomes. The sample consisted of 380 Chinese and 250 American undergraduate students. The data revealed that the Confucian self was perceived as one unit (rather than the twofold one as defined in the literature) and equally described self-development for the contemporary young people regardless of nationality and Chinese regions. The findings provided evidence that the Confucian self independently influenced moral behavioral tendencies and attitudes toward behavioral outcomes across cultures. The American group demonstrated a stronger relationship between the Confucian self and moral behavioral tendencies than the Chinese group. Moral judgment demonstrated a stronger relationship with attitudes toward behavioral outcomes only for the Americans. For the Chinese subgroups (rural-town and urban cohorts), there were no significant relationships among the Confucian self, moral judgment, and moral behavioral tendencies and attitudes toward behavioral outcomes. Overall, this research provided evidence that supports the existence of the Confucian self as a moral construct. It demonstrated a good reliability and validity of the Confucian self-instrument and produced evidence of the relationships among the Confucian self, moral judgment, moral behavioral tendencies and attitudes toward behavioral outcomes. Implications, limitations, and future work were discussed as well.

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