Degree Level

Should Corrective Feedback Come Before or After Responding to Establish a "New" Behavior? (open access)

Should Corrective Feedback Come Before or After Responding to Establish a "New" Behavior?

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal form and timing of feedback to establish a "new" behavior. It examined the relative effectiveness of delivering a corrective feedback immediately before the learner responds to a previously incorrect trial as compared to delivering a corrective feedback immediately after the incorrect response is made. Corrective feedback delivered immediately before the next opportunity to respond produced better learning than corrective feedback delivered immediately after a response. The Feedback Before condition decreased errors during training and increased acquisition rates. Results also indicated an interaction between time of feedback delivery and the complexity of the task. As the task complexity increased, the results were more dramatic in favor of the Feedback Before condition.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Roberts, Pamela J.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Comparison of Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Tests in Adults (open access)

Comparison of Visual and Auditory Continuous Performance Tests in Adults

Two continuous performance tests were administered to normal adult subjects. The mode of presentation (visual or auditory) and the type of task (vigilance or distractibility) were varied, and their effects on performance measured. Data were collected on eighty-two subjects, and results indicated that auditory presentation of stimuli increased the difficulty of both tasks. Results also suggest that the distractibility task administered in either mode was more difficult than the vigilance task. Intercorrelations among the four continuous performance tasks are provided. Normative data are presented on all four tasks administered. A measure of symptoms of attention-deficit disorder in adults, the Adult Behavior Checklist, was found to correlate significantly with another measure of pathology, the SCL-90-R.
Date: December 1993
Creator: Taylor, Cindy J.
System: The UNT Digital Library

'...and one of time.': A Composition for Full Orchestra with Narration

Access: Use of this item is restricted to the UNT Community
‘...and one of time.' is a reinterpretation of a small musical moment from Philip Glass' opera, Einstein on the Beach, centered around the phrase "Berne, Switzerland 1905." This reinterpretation is realized through the use of several different compositional techniques including spectral composition, micropolyphony and dodecaphony, as well as the application of extra-musical models developed by Alan Lightman, John Gardner, Italo Calvino and Albert Einstein.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Rinker, John Thomas
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Influence of Flamenco on Selected Works of Picasso (open access)

The Influence of Flamenco on Selected Works of Picasso

This thesis investigates, analyzes, and discusses Picasso's imagery in the cultural context of the nineteenth-century Spanish tradition of flamenco. Two published photographs featuring the elderly artist with the gypsy guitarist Manitas de Plata initiated the study, and led me to the conclusion that selected works by Picasso were influenced psychologically, thematically, and formally by his youth which was spent in the Andalusian province of Malaga and later in Barcelona. Picasso's early artistic education occurred at precisely the same time and place as The Golden Age of Flamenco in Spain, a cultural phenomenon that profoundly affected both his life and art.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Twell, Mary Tudor
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Model of Salespeople's Training Attitudes and Related Outcomes (open access)

A Model of Salespeople's Training Attitudes and Related Outcomes

Today many selling organizations are reexamining and revising their philosophy for managing salespeople because of increase costs of hiring and maintaining a sales force. More than everm management is looking for ways to assist salespeople in becoming more productive and effective faster. One avenue for enhancing salespersons' performance is through improved sales training practices. improved sales training practices should help salespeople view training, and how sales training transcends to the job environment. Considering the need for greater understanding concerning salespeople's perceptions of sales training and assuming the influence of those perceptions on job performance and other outcomes, this study develops and executes an analysis of several proposed relationships among personal characteristics, job related characteristics, perceived training needs, sales training variables, and related outcomes. The program of research identifies and evaluates salespeople's attitudes toward sales training and specifies influences of those training perceptions on salesperson' behaviors and general attitudes. As well, a relationship between salespeople's transfer of training materials, their use, and individual performance are evaluated.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Wilson, Phillip H.
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Desires of Rebecca Horn: Alchemy and the Mechanics of Interpretation (open access)

The Desires of Rebecca Horn: Alchemy and the Mechanics of Interpretation

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the use of alchemy within the work of Rebecca Horn, to elucidate its presence in her work, and to illuminate its purpose as a personal philosophy and as a creative tool. The use of alchemy within Horn's work occurs as a process of revelation and transformation. Alchemy is revealed as a spiritual philosophy and as an interpretative system through the changes that occur in Horn's oeuvre. Throughout Horn's career, alchemy has developed into an interpretive system, a type of spiritual and cosmic perspective, that allows the artist to study, access, and meld diverse realities (sacred and profane) and diverse social systems (religious and scientific) into a more holistic and spiritually infused reality for herself and society-at-large. The purpose of her work is to help reinvest contemporary life with a spiritual presence by offering a model and a means of bringing the sacred into the profane.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Dunlop, Douglas Donald
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Politics of Poverty: George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London" (open access)

The Politics of Poverty: George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London"

"Down and Out in Paris and London" is typically perceived as non-political. Orwell's first book, it examines his life with the poor in two cities. Although on the surface "Down and Out" seems not to be about politics, Orwell covertly conveys a political message. This is contrary to popular critical opinion. What most critics fail to acknowledge is that Orwell wrote for a middle- and upper-class audience, showing a previously unseen view of the poor. In this he suggests change to the policy makers who are able to bring about improvements for the impoverished. "Down and Out" is often ignored by both critics and readers of Orwell. With an examination of Orwell's politicizing background, and of the way he chooses to present himself and his poor characters in "Down and Out," I argue that the book is both political and characteristic of Orwell's later work.
Date: May 1992
Creator: Perkins, Marianne
System: The UNT Digital Library
Scientific Considerations of Olestra as a Fat Substitute (open access)

Scientific Considerations of Olestra as a Fat Substitute

Olestra is, a sucrose polyester, a noncaloric fat substitute, made from sucrose and several fatty acid esters. It has been approved by the FDA as a food additive used in preparing low-fat deep-frying foods such as savory snacks. Available literature on olestra was evaluated that had both positive and negative connotations. Clinical trials in numerous species of animals including humans were conducted to determine if olestra would affect the utilization and absorption of macro- and micronutrients; the effects of olestra on growth, reproduction, or its toxicity were also examined. The roles of olestra as a fat substitute, how it could effect on humans and the environment, and the potential impacts from its use in large amounts were assessed. Olestra can be removed from the environment by aerobic bacteria and fungi which may be isolated from activated sludge and soils.
Date: December 1999
Creator: Rattagool, Kullakan
System: The UNT Digital Library
Computer Applications to Second Language Acquisition (open access)

Computer Applications to Second Language Acquisition

This thesis is intended to give a panorama of technology in foreign language pedagogy. Although my field of study is French, the computer applications under scrutiny do not relate solely to the teaching of French. This paper begins with a criticism of the rigid listen-and-repeat language laboratory concept while tracking the rise of communicative language learning theory; follows the microprocessor revolution in language consoles; documents the development of computer-assisted instruction; showcases software evaluations of computer-assisted language learning; explores telecommunications; discusses satellite dishes and other computer peripherals; presents the results of a survey of Texas universities; and concludes with the presentation of the evolving language media center.
Date: May 1991
Creator: Guillory, Helen E. (Helen Elizabeth)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Subcellular Localization of N-acylphosphatidyl-ethanolamine Synthase in Cotyledons of Cotton Seedlings (open access)

Subcellular Localization of N-acylphosphatidyl-ethanolamine Synthase in Cotyledons of Cotton Seedlings

N-acylation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) with free fatty acids catalyzed by N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine (NAPE) synthase was reported in cotyledons of 24-h-old cotton seedlings. Here I report subcellular localization of this enzyme. Differential centrifugation, sucrose density gradient fractionation,aqueous two-phase partitioning and electron microscopy techniques were utilized to elucidate subcellular site(s) of NAPE synthase. Marker enzymes were used to locate organelles in subcellular fractions. Differential centrifugation indicated that NAPE synthase is present in more than one organelle and it is a membrane bound enzyme. Sucrose density gradient fractionations indicated that NAPE synthase is present in membranes derived from endoplasmic reticulum (ER),Golgi and possibly plasma membrane (PM) but not mitochondria, glyoxysomes or plastids. Aqueous two-phase partitioning experiments with cotton and spinach tissues supported these results but Goigi appeared to be the major site of NAPE synthesis. Electron microscopy of subcellular fractions was used to examine isolated fractions to provide visual confirmation of our biochemical results. Collectively, these results indicate that NAPE is synthesized in plant ER, Golgi and possibly PM.
Date: December 1995
Creator: Sriparameswaran, Anuja
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Running Speed on VO2 Kinetics in the Severe Exercise Domain (open access)

The Effect of Running Speed on VO2 Kinetics in the Severe Exercise Domain

There has been an interest in the kinetics of the V02 response during exercise at various intensities. However, most studies focus on the response of submaximal intensities whereas few studies have examined V02 kinetics at severe intensities. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of exercise intensity on V02 kinetics over a range of severe intensities.
Date: December 1997
Creator: Williams, Christine Suzanne
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personality Correlates of Anorexia Nervosa in a Nonclinical Sample (open access)

Personality Correlates of Anorexia Nervosa in a Nonclinical Sample

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between anorexia nervosa and several personality traits. Past research in this area has been contradictory for several reasons. Sociocultural theories have described the media's role in promoting eating disorders by portraying a thin body-type as the ideal. However, they have neglected to describe the personality ideal which our society promotes in women. It is proposed here that anorexics incorporate and oppose this ideal. Therefore, the anorexic personality is one filled with conflict.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Rogers, Rebecca L. (Rebecca Lynn)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Critical Power as a Predictor of Performance in a Bicycle Time Trial (open access)

Critical Power as a Predictor of Performance in a Bicycle Time Trial

Certain measures of aerobic power have been shown to have a high relationship with endurance performance. Critical power (CP) has also been shown to be well correlated to endurance performance, but few studies have evaluated its use in a competitive scenario. In this study, cardiorespiratory-metabolic measures were evaluated in 13 highly trained cyclists to determine their relationship to performance in a 17 km time trial. Critical power, determined from the nonlinear power-time model, was also evaluated to determine its relationship to performance in a 17 km time trial. Results indicate that the traditional indicators of V02max and ventilatory anaerobic threshold were well correlated to TT performance (r=-0.86, r=-0.79, respectively). The principal finding from this study was that performance in a bicycle time trial is related to CP at least as well as to cardiorespirator-ymetabolic measures. In fact, the results fromthis study suggest that the relationship between performance and CP is stronger (r=-0.89). Use of the critical power concept is attractive because testing requires only a cycle ergometer and a stopwatch to estimate a parameter of aerobic fitness.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Dangelmaier, Brian (Brian S.)
System: The UNT Digital Library
In Vitro Studies of Nuclear Changes in Mammalian CNS Neurons Subjected to Rapid Acceleration Impact Injury (open access)

In Vitro Studies of Nuclear Changes in Mammalian CNS Neurons Subjected to Rapid Acceleration Impact Injury

An in vitro model of Rapid Acceleration Impact (RAI) Injury was used to study the effects of multiple impact (220 g/impact, 3-5 sec intervals) trauma on cultures of murine CNS cells. Investigations with spinal cord cultures showed that 1) multiple impacts delivered tangential to the plane of cell growth caused neuronal death (12% after 3 impacts to 46% after 10 impacts); 2) multiple impacts delivered normal to the plane of cell growth were much less effective (8% dead after 10 impacts); 3) most neuronal death occurred within 15 minutes after injury 4) morphological changes observed included increased nuclear prominence and somal swelling; and 5) pretreatment with ketamine (0.1mM) reduced cell death from 51 to 14% and reduced somal swelling. Identical studies performed on cortical cultures revealed minimal differences between the two tissues in their response to multiple tangential impacts.
Date: May 1995
Creator: Wolf, Amy
System: The UNT Digital Library
Alcohol Use, Violence, and Psychological Abuse in Intimate Relationships (open access)

Alcohol Use, Violence, and Psychological Abuse in Intimate Relationships

Women in distressed relationships who had sustained severe psychological abuse and either no, moderate, or severe violence from their partner were included (N = 93). Men's and women's alcohol use did not differ with level of violence. Different patterns were found in the moderate violence group regarding women's beliefs about their partner's substance problem, men's psychological abuse, and the relationship of men's and women's quantity of alcohol use and times intoxicated. Uncertainty resulting from moderate violence may strengthen the emotional impact of psychological abuse. Even when psychological abuse is exacerbated by violence, women may use active coping techniques rather than drinking to cope with abusive relationships. The findings suggest that an inordinate focus on alcohol abuse may be ineffective in combating the problem of domestic violence.
Date: August 1998
Creator: Falla, Karen M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
An Investigation of Young Children's Awareness of Line and Line Quality in Art and Graphic Reproductions (open access)

An Investigation of Young Children's Awareness of Line and Line Quality in Art and Graphic Reproductions

The purpose of this study was to determine whether kindergarten children possess the ability to recognize, match, and discuss lines and line qualities. Using graphics and art reproductions, three matching tasks were constructed which examined young children's awareness of the line qualities of length, width, straightness, direction, movement, and uniformity. Graphics and art reproductions were also used to construct two tracing tasks employed to examine young children's awareness of actual and implied lines. The tasks were administered to 69 kindergarten students from four elementary schools in a public school district in the north central Texas area.
Date: December 1994
Creator: Young, Jeffry R. (Jeffry Ray)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Nineteenth Century Light and Color Theory: Rainbow Science in the Art of Frederic Edwin Church (open access)

Nineteenth Century Light and Color Theory: Rainbow Science in the Art of Frederic Edwin Church

The purpose of this study was to investigate the depiction of rainbows in the art of Frederic Church in relation to mid-nineteenth century scientific developments in order to determine Church's reliance on contemporary concerns with light and color. An examination of four Church paintings with rainbows, three oil sketches, and nearly a dozen pencil drawings shows that Church's rainbow art represents a response to mid-century cultural values connecting science and art. Changes within Church's rainbow depictions occurred as the artist explored the visual representations of light, synthesizing the scientific knowledge of light and color available to him, and reconciling that information with the requirements of art.
Date: May 1991
Creator: Upchurch, Diane M. (Diane Marie)
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Study on U.S. Japanese Foreign Trade (open access)

A Study on U.S. Japanese Foreign Trade

This research presents an in depth discussion and analysis on U.S. Japanese foreign trade. It is divided into two parts. The first hypothesis states that the appreciation of the dollar in the early eighties is positively correlated with the U.S. trade deficit, especially with Japan. The second hypothesis states that Friedrich Von Hayek's Theory of Social Order applies to the development of capitalism in that country. This can also be divided into two parts, a) this generation of Japanese consumes, saves, and invests differently than previous generations, and b) Japanese consumption and investment patterns follow U.S. consumption and investment patterns with a lag.
Date: August 1995
Creator: Hachem, Daniel R. (Daniel Raymond)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Investigating the Delivery of Therapeutic Recreation Services on the Internet: a Pilot Study Using Leisure Education for the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse (open access)

Investigating the Delivery of Therapeutic Recreation Services on the Internet: a Pilot Study Using Leisure Education for the Prevention of Alcohol Abuse

This pilot study, grounded in social learning theory, demonstrated that leisure education services can be delivered on the Internet. Participants (n=40) successfully accessed the Web page program and responded to instruments and surveys. The treatment group (n=16) effectively completed four leisure education sessions on-line. Confidentiality, privacy, and anonymity issues were controlled. Responses were monitored and feedback provided as to the complexity of the program and comprehension of the participants. The leisure education program had no significant effect on posttest measures of alcohol expectancies and leisure motivations. Mean changes frompretest to posttest may indicate trends. The small n and convenience sample may have introduced many extraneous variables. Professional implications include compliance issues (57% experimental mortality rate), technology-related anxiety, and limited professional competency to work in this environment. Future research which examines the provision of leisure education and other components of therapeutic recreation service on-line is warranted.
Date: December 1998
Creator: Mainville, Sylvie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Red Dresses for Funerals (open access)

Red Dresses for Funerals

Red Dresses for Funerals contains a scholarly preface concerning the nature of factuality versus credibility in the writing of fiction. Four original short stories are included in this thesis. "A Night With Lawrence Welk" explores the relationship between a patient and student intern psychologist. "Red Dresses for Funerals" is about a wedding that plays a significant role in a variety of the characters' lives. "Trace Elements" is the only story involving young children. "Trace Elements" explores the beginning of understanding of some of the grimmer aspects of reality. "Expectations, Great and Otherwise" addresses the issue of denial. These stories are linked by their setting, a small town in Texas.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Brooks, Michelle Marie
System: The UNT Digital Library
Heresy vs. Orthodoxy: The Preus/Tietjen Controversy (open access)

Heresy vs. Orthodoxy: The Preus/Tietjen Controversy

Using the framework set up by rhetorical critic Thomas M. Lessl in his article "Heresy, Orthodoxy, And The Politics Of Science", this study examines the ways in which heretical discourse defines community boundaries and shapes perceptions of right belief. Specifically, this study analyzes the historic conflict in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod which produced the doctrinal statement "A Statement of Scriptural and Confessional Principles". Comparison is made between this event and other "heretical" conflicts in other discourse communities. This study concludes that community boundaries must be drawn, and that a doctrinal or policy statement is a useful rhetorical tool to accomplish such a task. Rhetorical critics may assist in this by examining heretical conflicts as historical trends, rather than emotional dissonance.
Date: August 1991
Creator: Barnhart, Melody R. (Melody Ruth)
System: The UNT Digital Library
Personality Characteristics Considered Important for Children by Parents (open access)

Personality Characteristics Considered Important for Children by Parents

The primary research questions dealt with whether parents consider different personality characteristics of importance for boys and girls. Data were collected by conducting a telephone survey of a random sample of parents in the city of Denton with children under the age of eighteen living in the household. Respondents were asked whether they considered the personality characteristics of responsibility, strict obedience, being respectful of the opinions of others, showing good manners, being independent, and having loyalty to a religion not important, somewhat important, or very important for boys and girls. Of the respondents fifty-nine were fathers and one hundred and twenty-one were mothers. The analysis of the data revealed that mothers and fathers have similar attitudes concerning the importance of these personality characteristics.
Date: December 1991
Creator: Romm, Mary E. {4} (Mary Elizabeth)
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Effect of Verbal and Graphic Feedback on Direct Care Trainers' Data-Tecording Behavior (open access)

The Effect of Verbal and Graphic Feedback on Direct Care Trainers' Data-Tecording Behavior

This study investigated the effects of verbal and graphic feedback alone and in combination with praise on the data-recording behavior of 12 direct care trainers (DCTs) who recorded their reinforcer deliveries as they interacted with mentally retarded clients. An additional variable examined was the effect of time of delivering feedback on subsequent data-recording behavior. Feedback was delivered by the experimenter. Correspondence checks were conducted and a three-phase multiple condition experimental design was used. All feedback conditions produced an observable difference in DCT data-recording behavior. Time of delivery of feedback also appeared to have an effect on the amount of data recorded by DCTs.
Date: May 1994
Creator: Morris, Timothy Jewlon
System: The UNT Digital Library
Television as an Instrument for Bridging Cultures: A Study of Television's Effects on Taiwanese Students in the United States (open access)

Television as an Instrument for Bridging Cultures: A Study of Television's Effects on Taiwanese Students in the United States

This study tested American television effects on Taiwanese Students in uncertainty reduction and stereotype forming. The study consisted of a questionnaire analysis and a focus group discussion. Fifty-five subjects responded to the questionnaires and twenty of them joined two group discussions.
Date: August 1994
Creator: Lu, Ray C. (Ray Chun)
System: The UNT Digital Library