Most of the world's languages include multiple varieties and dialects. Individual ability to successfully alternate between these varieties can be a socio-cultural and academic necessity for many bilingual speakers, including children in the US who alternate between African American English (AAE) and Mainstream American English (MAE). This…

With the rise of bilinguals globally, extensive research has been conducted to understand how bilingualism affects cognitive functions differently from monolingualism, with significant implications for bilingual education, healthcare, and other fields. Specific to language processing, differences have been identified between second language (L2)…

Mandarin lexical tone learning has repeatedly been identified as a difficult linguistic feature for non-native speakers of tonal languages like English, even for native English learners of Mandarin at high proficiencies (e.g., Pelzl et al., 2019b). Sound perception training has been shown to help native English speakers perceive lexical tone…

Reading is a complex task that requires integration of information across brain systems that support sensory, language and cognitive processing. Individuals vary widely in reading ability: some read almost effortlessly, while others struggle to make sense of printed text. Factors at multiple levels from genes and brain through environment…

Educator expertise is urgently needed in supporting young children displaying early markers of dyslexia; yet, there remains an abundance of neuromyths associated with dyslexia that need remediation in order to provide effective interventions. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine kindergarten through Grade two educators' baseline…

The problem addressed by this study was the commonly held belief that lack of confidence, preparedness, educational neuromyths, and little or no professional development are factors that impede early childhood teachers' implementation of brain-based learning strategies in the daily curriculum design structure. This qualitative narrative inquiry…

Early childhood language experiences influence how a child's mind and brain process language and acquire literacy. For children growing up bilingual, their two languages interact in their minds, and these cross-linguistic influences can lead to unique neurocognitive mechanisms for language and reading compared to monolinguals. In this…

Research has shown that adult learning is a complex and integrative process that requires an interdisciplinary lens of study. Thus, to understand the cognitive dimensions of learning, a multidisciplinary approach is needed. This single case study aimed to examine how the role of language function in self-reflection supports the socio-cognitive and…

Trauma informed educational practice emerges as a result of contemporary advances in medical science, technology and national forms of mental, behavioral health, and social service advocacy. It is not known how special education teachers working in the non-public special education setting view the implementation of trauma informed educational…

This multimethod study utilizes methods of grounded qualitative meta-analysis and transdisciplinary textual analysis to examine the extent to which the phenomenon of student spiritual formation at Christian higher education institutions reflects the growing body of literature on human development from the field of affective social neurobiology.…

The general public harbors misconceptions about mental illnesses; particularly, auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Misconceptions about the causes, dangerousness, and treatment of mental illnesses constitute barriers for treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a neurobiological refutation text was more effective than a…

Clear speech is a speaking style that has been shown to improve intelligibility in adverse listening conditions, for various listener and talker populations. Clear-speech phonetic enhancements include a slowed speech rate, expanded vowel space, and expanded pitch range. Although clear-speech phonetic enhancements have been demonstrated across a…

Patient falls are an ongoing concern for health systems in the US and in the setting where this project took place. Inpatient falls affect consumers and health providers because falls often result in patient morbidity and mortality, legal risk, increased length of stay, and increased costs. The purpose of this project was to evaluate the existing…

Drawing from complexity theory, this dissertation develops a schema of rhetorical memory that exhibits extended characteristics. Scholars traditionally conceptualize memory, the fourth canon in classical rhetoric, as place (loci) or image (phantasm). However, memory rhetoric resists the traditional loci-phantasm framework and instead emerges from…

Two leading theories regarding the neurocognitive basis of attentional disorders are the executive dysfunction theory and the state regulation theory. The executive dysfunction theory takes a top-down approach, explaining the symptoms of ADHD as a byproduct of general deficits in executive functioning--particularly disinhibition. The state…