Browsing by Subject "perception"
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Item A Report Outlining the Perception of Police by Police Officers and the General Public(Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT), 1993) Price, Joe S.Item African American Fathers? Perceptions of Childhood Overweight: An Exploratory Study(2012-02-14) Byrd, VanessaChildhood overweight/obesity (CHO) is a serious health concern for children and adolescents. Despite increased efforts to prevent CHO, prevalence rates have actually increased. Evidence suggests that parents are critical to successful interventions to reduce CHO among children. While research efforts aimed at parental inclusion have increased, limited research has been conducted to investigate fathers? perception of CHO, or their influences on their children?s health. The objective of this two-phase study was to answer three research questions: a) How does the extant literature operationalize African American parental perceptions of childhood overweight/obesity? b) What are African American fathers? perceptions of CHO? and c) How do African American fathers perceive CHO in relation to their own child?s weight status? Evidence-based studies reveal that fathers have the potential to play a significant role in CHO prevention. Phase one (literature review) revealed that published studies on parental perception of CHO either exclude fathers, include them only in data collection, and/or report no results specific to paternal perception. Thus, an exploratory qualitative study was needed to explore African American fathers? perceptions of CHO. In phase two (qualitative study), four fathers were interviewed about their perceptions of CHO and how they contextualize this problem. The results indicated fathers believe that weight categories are racially & culturally insensitive and do not account for individual health status or differences in body/bone structure, and that parents with overweight children are financially disadvantaged, irresponsible and overworked. Fathers also indicated that colloquial terms (e.g., chunky, husky, big-boned, thick) were commonly substituted medical definitions for overweight and that child/teen sports participation was motivated by health, as well as non-health related benefits (e.g., competitiveness, educational scholarships). Further, fathers? identification of CHO is subjective and includes visual means and parental assessment of health status (e.g., child mobility/activity levels). Implications of this study are that additional studies are needed to clarify fathers? roles in CHO and that future studies should consider complex familial structures, as well as reframe prevention efforts to focus on optimal child health as opposed to weight labeling and focusing on parents? accuracy in identifying weight categories.Item Consumer Perception of Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken, and Fish(2013-08-05) Grimshaw, Kaitlyn EOne of the greatest challenges to developing successful marketing strategies in the food sector is gaining a better understanding of the diversity of consumer needs (Onwezen et al., 2012). It is important to understand consumer perceptions of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and fish regarding consumption levels, price, nutrition, animal handling, and animal welfare to help the industry educate and market to consumers, as well as understand perceived misconceptions. Moral and ethical beliefs, consisting of concerns for animal welfare, are reported as main reasons to avoid meat (Hoek et al., 2004). Consumers view high animal welfare standards at the production stage as an indicator that the resulting food is safe, healthy and of high quality (Verbeke et al., 2010). To gain a better understanding of consumer perceptions, an online survey was developed utilizing Qualtrics Q University Survey software (Qualtrics Labs, Inc., Provo, UT, United States). A total of 1,602 surveys were completed. Data was analyzed utilizing PROC Mixed procedure of SAS (v9.3, SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Data was also analyzed using PROC Factor to determine factor analysis and Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Three consumer groups were determined: protein eaters, fish-only eaters, and vegetable-only eaters. Econometric analysis was also conducted using the Multinomial Logit (MNL) Model with STATA Statistics/Data Analysis (v12, StataCorp, College Station, TX). This model was designed to explain choice of protein eaters, fish-only, and vegetarian consumers. Varying levels of significance (P > | z | ? 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1) were used. Three groups were identified: protein eaters, fish-only, and vegetable protein-only. Consumer groups from both statistical analyses were evaluated for perceptions of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, and fish healthfulness, animal handling and animal welfare. The data indicated that females were less likely to consume animal protein by 4.4% while consumers with a history of family disease were more likely to consume animal protein by 3.3%. As income level increased, likelihood of consuming protein decreased for income levels of $30,000-$59,000 (9.9%), $60,000-$99,000 (9.4%), and $100,000-$199,000 (5.9%), respectively. Thirty-six percent of consumers indicated animal welfare was somewhat important, while another 22% and 11% responded that it was very important and extremely important, respectively. When asked how often they purchased natural/organic, grass-fed, and free-range/cage-free products, 50%, 60%, and 63%, respectively, indicated they purchased these products less than once every 2-3 months. Although consumers were emotionally invested in animal welfare, those emotions did not necessarily reflect purchasing habits.Item Design for the Frail Old: Environmental and Perceptual Influences on Corridor Walking Behaviors of Assisted Living Residents(2010-10-12) Lu, ZhipengRegular walking has several physical and psychological benefits for frail older people. However, many residents in long-term care facilities are too sedentary to achieve these benefits. Indoor walking appears to be a feasible way to promote active living among these residents and yet, there is little research that has been done in this regard. The researcher conducted two studies in Central Texas to explore how corridor design features influenced indoor walking behaviors among assisted living residents. In the first study, the researcher carried out six focus groups with 50 assisted living residents, discussing how they perceived the indoor corridor as "walkable." Residents reported that a walkable corridor should be safe, comfortable, and having beautiful/interesting things to see. In the second study, the researcher further examined the relationship between the built environment and walking behaviors among 326 residents from 18 facilities in a major city of Texas. The results indicated that 'perceived looped corridor' and 'number of stories' were significantly associated with residents' frequencies of indoor recreational walking. In addition, the availability and quality of sitting space around mailbox areas influenced the number of "walking to mailbox" trips. This research provides empirical evidence to develop activity-friendly facility design guidelines, and to create environmental interventions to facilitate active lifestyles among long-term care residents.Item Elementary Teachers' Perceptions of Instructional Leadership and Student Achievement(2013-04-18) Mumphord, Karen MonetteThis quantitative study has two purposes. The primary purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers? perceptions of principals? instructional leadership affects student achievement in Texas suburban elementary schools. The secondary purpose of the study was to learn whether school demographic variables or prior achievement predict the level of instructional leadership elementary school teachers report for their principals. The primary outcome of instructional leadership was the achievement of fifth grade students who attended five select suburban elementary school districts in Texas for the 2011 ? 2012 school year. The data collected for this research examined the two-year performance of the fifth grade students on their Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills reading test. Data were also collected from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade elementary teachers who attended one of the 97 participating schools from the five school districts. The teachers completed a voluntary survey during a faculty meeting. The survey asked teachers to report their perceptions of instructional leadership. The survey questions tapped four primary areas of instructional leadership: setting goals, providing professional development, monitoring and providing feedback, and establishing high standards. The main hypothesis was that instructional leadership would have a direct effect on student achievement. A variety of statistical techniques, such as factor analysis and multilevel analyses, were utilized for this study. A factor analysis method was used to create a measure of degree for instructional leadership in schools and multiple regression methods were utilized to test the relationship between instructional leadership and school SES, ethnicity, and prior achievement. This study found a modest direct relationship between instructional leadership and reading achievement. More specifically, teachers? perceptions of instructional leadership were a marginally statistically significant and positive predictor of between school variation in student achievement in reading. Additionally, the study revealed that the school socioeconomic status, ethnic composition, and prior achievement do not predict instructional leadership. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.Item Sensthetics: a crossmodal approach to the perception, and conception, of our environments(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Nanda, UpaliThis dissertation counters the visual bias, and the simplistic approach to the senses, in architectural thought, by investigating the connections among different sense modalities (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch). Literature from the cognitive sciences shows that sensory modalities are connected perceptually; what we see affects what we hear, what we smell affects what we taste, and so on. This has a direct impact on the perceptual choices we make in our day-to-day lives. A case study conducted in an urban plaza investigates the perceptual choices people make (or what they attend to) as they explore their physical environment. Results show that people construct subjective and embodied mental maps of their environments where sensory impressions are integrated with cognitive concepts such as emotions or object recognition. Furthermore, when one sense is muted (such as closing the eyes) other senses are prioritized. A theoretical framework termed as the "Sensthetic Model" is developed illustrating the interdependence of sensory, kinesthetic and cognitive factors, and the hierarchical and lateral relationship between sense-modalities. The latter is the focus of studies with architecture students in abstract thinking exercises: a) Hierarchical: Students perceive a hierarchy of senses (sensory order) when they think about different places. Vision is primary, but not always. Touch, classically relegated to the bottom of the hierarchy, is often higher in the hierarchy and coupled with sound. b) Lateral: Students associate colors with different sounds, smells, textures, temperatures, emotions and objects and cross over modalities conceptually, with a degree of consistency. There are more associations with emotions and objects (which are not constrained to a single sense-modality), than with purely sensory images. Finally, the theoretical model is further developed as a tool to think "across" modalities (crossmodally) based on the identification of sensory orders and sensory correspondences. By focusing on the sensory modalities (nodes) and the relationships among them (connections), the model serves as a conceptual tool for professionals to create sensory environments. This dissertation is an initial step beyond the aesthetics of appearance, towards the Sensthetics of experience.Item The role (relationship) of visual and motor imagery in estimating reach(Texas A&M University, 2007-09-17) Ammar, Diala FouadThe primary intent of this study was to explore fundamental questions about the role and relationship between motor (MI) and visual (VI) imagery within the context of estimating reach. Experiment 1 examined and compared VI and MI tasks under matched environmental conditions with the intent to explore the distinction and cooperation of the visual and motor systems in representing actions. The design of this experiment included an interference paradigm modified from Stevens (2005) in which six blocks of trials (conditions) were used: MI, VI, MI with visual interference, MI with motor interference, VI with motor interference, and VI with visual interference. Results indicated that MI was significantly more accurate than VI in regard to total error, distribution of error and mean bias (p <= .05). Significant increases in the number of errors and estimation bias were found when the modalities for the imagined task and the interference task were matched. The data showed that motor tasks interfered with the ability to MI, whereas visual tasks interfered with the ability to VI. Experiment 2 included a response-delay paradigm modified from Bradshaw and Watt (2002) in which eight blocks of trials were used: MI and VI conditions with no-delay and delays of 1-, 2- and 4 s. Overall, this experiment demonstrated that response-delay influenced accuracy of the MI (visuomotor) task, but not the VI (perceptual) task. That is, after a 4s delay, error in MI increased significantly. Interestingly, these results may indicate a crucial temporal constraint for the representation of distance, isolated in the visuomotor system. In view of both experiments, the findings are consistent with the notion of a distinction between vision for perception (VI) and vision for action (MI) as advanced by Goodale, Westwood & Milner (2004). In conclusion, VI seems to delineate relevant spatial parameters within the environment and then transfer the information to MI. At this point, information is computed in terms of biomechanical possibilities for a certain movement. In summary, just as perception and action are firmly linked, so too are MI and VI.Item Understanding and addressing perceptual challenges for adult Vietnamese-speaking ESL students(2009-08) Lauzon, Anna Cecile; McGregor, Lin A.; Schallert, Diane L.Pronunciation instruction in the English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom often focuses exclusively on production and fails to address students’ perception problems. This report attempts to explain why L2 learners struggle to perceive and produce segments accurately in their L2 and what can be done to help L2 learners overcome these problems. Accordingly, the report explores how L1 experience and segmental differences between Vietnamese and English contribute to these English language learners’ perception and production problems. The report also considers instructional methods that can be used to help ESL learners overcome their perception and production challenges and recommends several approaches for addressing segments that are often difficult for Vietnamese learners.