We explore the relations between the notion of distance and a feature set--based concept of similarity and show that this concept of similarity has a spatial interpretation that is complementary to distance: it is interpreted as "direction." Furthermore, we show how proper normalization leads to distances that can be directly interpreted…

Early adolescence represents a particularly vulnerable period of development during which young people are susceptible to establishing lifelong behavior patterns associated with poor life, health, and educational outcomes. Previous research demonstrates older adolescents and young adults often experience negative life events (NLEs) prior to…

Exergames (active video games that require kinesthetic movement) played in proximity to other players or against a gaming machine have been linked to positive increases in cognitive functioning. This study tested to see if remote exergame play over the Internet had an impact similar to exergames that are played in proximity. The study shows that…

This study compared two phonological assessment tools for use with young Spanish-speaking children in the American Southwest, FON and STAR. Each was administered to 27 1-, 2- and 3-year-old monolingual Spanish-speaking children in the greater Phoenix area. Analyses compared the children's rate of response, complexity of the children's productions,…

The purpose of this study was to identify academic factors that might predict online course success for community college students. Online course success was a focus of national research and debate as studies consistently indicated lower success rates in online courses as compared to traditional courses; however, research that identified academic…

This dissertation sought to explore the choice-of-college decision of academically talented students using Chapman's (1981) Model of College Choice to inform the selection of variables. This study focused on what factors influenced the decision of students who earned an A/A+ average in high school to enroll in their first-choice institution of…

Examined in 4 experiments 3- and 4-year-olds' ability to communicate about containment and proximity relations. Found that when describing where a toy mouse was hidden, children were more likely to successfully disambiguate a small landmark when it was in, rather than next to, the large landmark. Three-year-olds initiated searches faster when the…

Using 1960 and 1970 census data, the following hypotheses were tested: the level of women's labor force participation will be higher in urbanized metropolitan vs sparsely populated nonmetropolitan counties with a higher participation rate appearing in the nonmetro counties within commuting range of metro counties, though these differences will…