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The purpose of this thesis study was to examine whether the "war on cancer" metaphor influences cancer perception and treatment decision. A total of 249 undergraduates (152 females) from a large southwestern university participated in an online survey experiment and were either randomly assigned to the control condition (N=123) or to the war prime condition (N=126). Participants in the control condition did not receive the metaphor manipulation while participants in the war prime condition received the subtle "war on cancer" metaphor prime. After the prime was given, participants read a scenario, answered questions related to the situation, and responded to demographic questions. The results suggested that, compared to participants in the no-prime condition, participants exposed to the war metaphor were more likely to (a) view melanoma as an acute disease, (b) choose chemotherapy over molecular tests, and (c) prefer more aggressive treatment. These findings illustrated the unintended consequences of the "war on cancer" slogan. The results were encouraging and in the predicted direction, but the effect size was small. The discussion section described possible future directions for research.
ContributorsShangraw, Ann Mariah (Author) / Kwan, Virginia (Thesis director) / Neuberg, Steven (Committee member) / Cavanaugh Toft, Carolyn (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Resilience is defined as an individual's ability to cope or "bounce back" after experiencing stressful life events (Rew et al., 2001). Survivors of trauma who express high levels of resilience are more likely to experience positive future life outcomes than equally troubled peers with lower resilience scores. It is possible to increase resilience by targeting several core factors: (1) personal competence, (2) sense of belonging, (3) sense of optimism (Lee et al., 2009). I developed an eight-week creative writing curriculum to boost these three core factors in the hopes of both increasing resilience in homeless youth while also introducing creating writing as an effective coping strategy. Each one-hour session included free-form writing exercises, mindfulness practices, writing workshops, and group presentations. Prompts and activities were carefully developed to encourage resilience-building in a group of homeless children and adolescents of ages seven to fourteen at Homeward Bound in Phoenix. With sample writing works and facilitator feedback, this curriculum was designed to be exceptionally easy and cost effective for future implementation. I hope that other organizations in the future will consider implementing this program to help build resilience in youth who have experienced childhood trauma.
ContributorsPopeski, Cara (Author) / Popova, Laura (Thesis director) / Cavanaugh Toft, Carolyn (Committee member) / Pickhart, Kalani (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Current literature on sustainability education and its core competencies (systems thinking, normative, interpersonal, strategic, and future thinking) has yet to acknowledge the K-12 level, concentrating instead on higher-level institutions. To initiate study at the critical K-12 level, a curriculum module composed of four lessons to address the wicked sustainability problem of drought in the Sonoran Desert was developed, piloted, and evaluated. The framework of each lesson combined the core competencies and the 5Es pedagogy (engage, explore, explain, elaborate, and evaluate). Two lessons were successfully piloted in two seventh grade middle-school science classes in Phoenix, Arizona. Topics addressed were the water cycle, types of drought, water systems, and mitigation methods. Evaluation determined a high level of student engagement. Post-pilot teacher questionnaires revealed a high degree of support for inclusion of sustainability education and core competencies addressing drought in future opportunities. It is concluded that lessons in the future can adopt the core competences of sustainability with the support of educators in Arizona.
ContributorsComeaux, Victoria (Co-author) / Harding, Bridget (Co-author) / Larson, Kelli L. (Thesis director) / Frisk Redman, Erin (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12