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Brock University’s Digital Repository is an online archive showcasing and preserving the Brock community’s scholarly output. Researchers can disseminate their work by depositing it in this Open Access repository, which provides free, immediate access to users while also allowing Brock scholars to track downloads and views of their scholarship.

By archiving your work in the Brock Digital Repository, you grant the James A. Gibson Library a non-exclusive right to publish your work via the repository in perpetuity. Works deposited are distributed under a Creative Commons CC-BY licence. You retain full copyright as author of the material and may reuse your content as desired. The full depositor agreement may be reviewed here.

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  • 'With texting, I'm always second guessing myself': Teenage perfectionists' experiences of (dis)connection online

    Blackburn, Melissa; Zinga, Dawn; Molnar, Danielle S. (2024-03-11)
    Little is known about how perfectionistic adolescents experience social connection in online spaces. The current qualitative study addressed this gap by examining themes related to social (dis)connection in online and in-person settings from semi-structured interviews with 43 adolescents (Mage = 15.16, SD = 2.43; 62.8% female; 58.1% white; 54.4% self-identified perfectionists). Results demonstrated that perfectionists expressed feeling less connected online than non-perfectionists, likely driven by heightened levels of interpersonal sensitivity. However, a subgroup of perfectionists sought out meaningful online relationships, often in response to a fear or experience of rejection by in-person peers. The results highlight the role of interpersonal sensitivity in fuelling feelings of disconnection among adolescent perfectionists in both online and in-person settings, as well as the importance of self-monitoring in the social experiences of perfectionistic youth.
  • (Re-)balancing the Triforce: Gender representation and androgynous masculinity in the Legend of Zelda series

    Stang, Sarah (Human Technology, 2019)
    The Legend of Zelda series is one of the most beloved and acclaimed Japanese video game franchises in the world. The series’ protagonist is an androgynous male character, though recent conversations between Nintendo and players have focused on gender representation in the newest title in the series, Breath of the Wild. Considering these discussions, this article provides an analysis of Link, the protagonist and player character of The Legend of Zelda series. This analysis includes a discussion of the character’s androgynous design, its historical context, official Nintendo paratextual material, developer interviews, and commentary from fans and critics of the series. As an iconic androgynous character in an incredibly successful and popular video game series, Link is an important case study for gender-based game scholarship, and the controversies surrounding his design highlight a cultural moment in which gender representation in the series became a central topic of discussion among players and developers.
  • Preserving Academic Integrity in Ontario High Schools: Emerging Challenges

    Sharma, Sunaina; Kumar, Rahul (2024-02-23)
    The qualitative study explores the challenges and issues faced by secondary school teachers in Ontario due to the proliferation of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in education. The study employed a semi-structured interview format with volunteered teachers, recorded and transcribed using AI technology, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The preliminary results suggest that teachers face significant challenges in adapting to the changing educational landscape, including the need for administrative support and the development of coping mechanisms. The discussion is focused on supporting secondary school teachers as we march towards postplagiarism.
  • Post-activation potentiation and potentiated motor unit firing patterns in boys and men

    European Journal of Applied Physiology, 2023-12-30
    Background: Post-activation potentiation (PAP) describes the enhancement of twitch torque following a conditioning contraction (CC) in skeletal muscle. In adults, PAP may be related to muscle fibre composition and is accompanied by a decrease in motor unit (MU) firing rates (MUFRs). Muscle fibre composition and/or activation is different between children and adults. This study examined PAP and MU firing patterns of the potentiated knee extensors in boys and men. Methods: Twenty-three boys (10.5±1.3 years) and 20 men (23.1±3.3 years) completed familiarization and experimental sessions. Maximal isometric evoked-twitch torque and MU firing patterns during submaximal contractions (20% and 70% maximal voluntary isometric contraction, MVIC) were recorded before and after a CC (5s MVIC). PAP was calculated as the percent-increase in evoked-twitch torque after the CC. MU firing patterns were examined during submaximal contractions before and after the CC using Trigno Galileo surface electrodes (Delsys Inc) and decomposition algorithms (NeuroMap, Delsys Inc). MU action potential amplitudes (MUAPamp) and MUFRs were calculated for each MU and exponential MUFR-MUAPamp relationships were calculated for each participant and trial. Results: PAP was higher in men than in boys (98.3±37.1% vs. 68.8±18.3%, respectively; p=0.002). Following potentiation, the rate of decay of the MUFR-MUAPamps relationship decreased in both contractions, with a greater decrease among boys during the high-intensity contractions. Conclusion: Lower PAP in the boys did not coincide with smaller changes in potentiated MU firing patterns, as boys had greater reductions in MUFRs with potentiation compared with men in high-intensity contractions.
  • Leveraging Wikipedia in undergraduate health sciences education: a key tool for information literacy and knowledge translation

    Smith, Denise (University of Alberta, 2023-12-01)
    Background: Academic institutions and libraries are familiar with Wikipedia. There is growing momentum in higher education for using Wikipedia as a learning tool in various contexts. These include, but are not limited to, the use of Wikipedia-based assignments to teach information literacy, science communication, evidence-based practice, and more. Although there is growing acceptance of Wikipedia’s value in the classroom, there are limited exemplars available for how it is applied in undergraduate health sciences education. Description: This program description describes a librarian instructed course in the Bachelor of Health Sciences Program at McMaster University in which students dedicate one academic term to learning about Wikipedia content production and making contributions to a health-related Wikipedia article of their choice. Outcomes: In the five iterations of this course that have been offered, undergraduate health sciences students have made significant contributions to 25 health-related articles in Wikipedia. They have added more than 120,000 words and over 2,000 references to high-quality literature. In class, conversations emerged about the meaningfulness of the editing Wikipedia, information literacy, and knowledge translation.
  • Assessing changes to adolescent health-promoting behaviors following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-methods exploration of the role of within-person combinations of trait perfectionism.

    Blackburn, Melissa; Methot-Jones, Tabitha; Molnar, Danielle S; Zinga, Dawn; Spadafora, Natalie; Tacuri, Natalie (2022-01-01)
    The current work provides a multi-methods exploration of how within-person subtypes of self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) and socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) were related to shifts in health-promoting behaviors among adolescents following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Study One tested the 2 × 2 and tripartite models of perfectionism through a quantitative test of how such subtypes predicted changes in health behaviors pre-pandemic to intra-pandemic among 202 adolescents (M = 17.86, SD = 1.421). Results indicated that the combination of high SOP/high SPP was linked to the most maladaptive changes to health-promoting behaviors, supporting the tripartite model. Study Two aimed to contextualize these findings by analyzing semi-structured interviews with 31 adolescent self-identified perfectionists (M = 15.97, SD = 1.991) during the initial lockdown mandate. Results indicated that participants experienced a welcome break and found more time to engage in health-promoting behaviors. However, those high in SOP - regardless of their level of SPP - had more difficulty relaxing due to a resistance to relenting their perfectionistic standards. Altogether, these findings support the exacerbating role of SOP when combined with SPP posited by the tripartite model of perfectionism with respect to adolescents' health-promoting behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Raising the Bar: Testing Prospective Relationships Between Multidimensional Trait Perfectionism and Undergraduate Academic Achievement

    Blackburn, Melissa; Puffer, Hanna; Molnar, Danielle S.; Zinga, Dawn (Elsevier, 2024)
    Prospective associations between trait perfectionism and academic achievement among undergraduate students were tested via a random intercept cross-lagged panel model. Undergraduate students (N = 316) who were enrolled in the core first- and second-year courses of a social sciences undergraduate program (Mage = 18.01 years, SD = 0.06; 74.86% female) completed surveys on multidimensional perfectionism and authorized the use of institution-verified grades for research. At the between-persons level and in line with previous research, self-oriented perfectionism (SOP) was positively linked with academic achievement whereas socially prescribed perfectionism (SPP) was negatively related with academic achievement. At the within-persons level, an increase in academic achievement at the end of students’ first year of university, compared to their own personal mean, predicted an increase in SPP at the midterm of their second year of university, demonstrating that academic achievement may encourage undergraduate students to “raise the bar” via amplifying their perfectionistic tendencies.
  • Scoping Review of Environmental and Sustainability Education in Teacher Education: Historical Context of Research and Preliminary Results

    Karrow, Douglas D; Docherty-Skippen, Susan Maureen; Blom, Rob (2024-01-09)
    To identify the international trends in environmental and sustainability education in teacher education (ESE-TE) research, we (Doug and Susan) report research from a scoping literature review. Different from international literature reviews in ESE that have examined policy issues, sustainability pedagogies, and how ESE is embedded in TE curriculum, our study focuses on all aspects of ESE relevant to TE. We screened 2,142 research articles spanning over five decades and 81 countries. Of the 788 articles deemed eligible (i.e., English-language, peer-reviewed, pre-service/in-service teacher education that explicitly mentioned ESE-TE research), data from 637 studies have been included in this study. Our research analysis included quantifying the geographic, temporal, and methodological trends, and a qualitative exploration of the research problems/context themes. While 82% of the research articles we examined were empirical, the most prevalent problems investigated across all of the studies centred on the themes of TE commonplaces (34%), competencies and literacy (20%), and awareness (16%). While no definite conclusions may be drawn until the complete data set has been analysed (a forthcoming paper), preliminary findings suggest a disparity of ESE-TE research in Asia, South and Central America, and Africa. Preliminary results also suggest that more research in the context of TE praxis is needed.
  • Demonstration of deterministic diffusion in two dimensions

    Fukś, Henryk (2023-12-18)
    Video recording (animation) of the time evolution of deterministic cellular automaton emulating diffusion in 2D. Detailed description of the cellular automaton in: H. Fukś, Four state deterministic cellular automaton rule emulating random diffusion. In B. Chopard, editor, Cellular Automata, ACRI 2022, LNCS 13402, pages 142--152. Springer, 2022, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14926-9_13 .
  • Deterministic cellular automaton rule emulating 2D diffusion

    Fukś, Henryk (2023-12-18)
    Files defining 8-state cellular automaton emulating diffusion in 2 dimensions. Rule definition is in golly's .rule format. Sample initial pattern is included. Details of the rule are described in: H. Fukś. Four state deterministic cellular automaton rule emulating random diffusion. In B. Chopard, editor, Cellular Automata, ACRI 2022, LNCS 13402, pages 142--152. Springer, 2022, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14926-9_13 .
  • Demonstration of density classification by two 2D probabilistic cellular automata

    Fukś, Henryk (2023-12-15)
    Demonstration of the solution of the density classification problem for initial density 0.501, performed by a pair of 2D cellular automaton rules described in H. Fukś, "Solving two-dimensional density classification problem with two probabilistic cellular automata", Journal of Cellular Automata, 10(1--2):149--160, 2015 (also availabe at https://arxiv.org/abs/1506.06653). The rules used are generalized ECA 184 with random "lane changes" and generalized ECA 232 with random "crowd avoidance".
  • Program constructing lunar tables for ecclesiastical moon

    Fukś, Henryk (2023-12-15)
    Python program producing lunar tables similar to those found in Martyrologium Romanum. Its main purpose is to determine the age of the eccesiastical moon on a given calendar day, using algorithm given in Martylorogium Romanum and implemented as described in H. Fukś, Antiquitates Mathematicae, Vol 16 (2022) , 259-282.
  • "Assistant Professor with an Asterisk": Conflicting Tensions in the Workplace Experiences and Professional Identities of University Faculty on Fixed-Term Contracts

    Gosine, Kevin; Kristofferson, Robert; Skrubbeltrang, Glenn; Webber, Michelle (University of Calgary, 2021)
    Drawing on identity work theory and social capital theory, this qualitative study explores how Canadian university faculty on fixed-term contracts construct their professional identities in response to the opportunities and limitations associated with their employment. Study participants generally appreciate their remuneration, relative professional autonomy, the control they have over the products of their labour, and the opportunity to teach at the postsecondary level. Positive aspects of their employment, however, were undercut by various professional limitations. These limitations include job precarity, little acknowledgment of their contributions to their fields or to their universities, limited access to research funding, and the challenge of building bonding (i.e., intra-institutional) social capital. The perceived disconnect between participants' professional qualifications and the precarity of their employment situation further undermines their ability to cultivate positive professional identities. Participants negotiate the contradictory tensions of their employment via one or more of the following adaptive strategies: 1) pursuing research as best they can given prevailing obstacles; 2) making teaching the focal point of their professional identities; and 3) utilizing bridging social capital to create opportunities and forge connections beyond the university. Future research directions are discussed.
  • Young Children’s Ability to Describe Intermediate Clothing Placement

    Wylie, Breanne E.; Stolzenberg, Stacia N.; McWilliams, Kelly; Evans, Angela D.; Lyon, Thomas D. (Sage Publications, 2021)
    Children’s ability to adequately describe clothing placement is essential to evaluating their allegations of sexual abuse. Intermediate clothing placement (partially removed clothing) may be difficult for young children to describe, requiring more detailed explanations to indicate the location of clothing (e.g., the clothes were pulled down to the knees). The current study investigated 172 3- to 6-year-olds’ descriptions of clothing placement when responding to commonly used questions (yes/no, forced-choice, open-choice, where), as well as children’s on-off response tendencies when describing intermediate placement (i.e., labeling the clothing as fully on or off). Results revealed that where questions were superior in eliciting intermediate descriptions, even for the youngest children. Children sometimes exhibited tendencies to describe intermediate placements as “on” or “off,” which varied by question-type and clothing placement. The implications of the findings for interviewing young children about sexual abuse are discussed.
  • Pseudotemporal invitations: 6- to 9-year-old maltreated children’s tendency to misinterpret invitations referencing “time” as solely requesting conventional temporal information

    McWilliams, Kelly; Williams, Shanna; Henderson, Hayden M.; Evans, Angela D.; Lyon, Thomas D. (Sage Publications, 2023)
    Forensic interviewers ask children broad input-free recall questions about individual episodes in order to elicit complete narratives, often asking about “the first time,” “the last time,” and “one time.” An overlooked problem is that the word “time” is potentially ambiguous, referring both to a particular episode and to conventional temporal information. We examined 191 6-9-year-old maltreated children’s responses to questions about recent events varying the wording of the invitations, either asking children to “tell me about” or “tell me what happened” one time/the first time/the last time the child experienced recent recurrent events. Additionally, half of the children were asked a series of “when” questions about recurrent events before the invitations. Children were several times more likely to provide exclusively conventional temporal information to “tell me about” invitations compared to “tell me what happened” invitations, and asking “when” questions before the invitations increased children’s tendency to give exclusively conventional temporal information. Children who answered a higher proportion of “when” questions with conventional temporal information were also more likely to do so in response to the invitations. The results suggest that children may often fail to provide narrative information because they misinterpret invitations using the word “time.”
  • The Difficulty of Teaching Adults to Recognize Referential Ambiguity in Children’s Testimony: The Influence of Explicit Instruction and Sample Questions

    Wylie, Breanne E.; Gongola, Jennifer; Lyon, Thomas D.; Evans, Angela D. (Wiley, 2021)
    Adults often fail to recognize the ambiguity of children's unelaborated responses to “Do you know/remember (DYK/R) if/whether” questions. Two studies examined whether sample questions and/or an explicit instruction would improve adults' ability to recognize referential ambiguity in children's testimony. In Study 1 (N = 383), participants rarely recognized referential ambiguity in the sample questions or in children's testimony, and answering sample questions had no influence on their ability to detect ambiguity in children's testimony. Study 2 (N = 363) attempted to clarify the meaning of ambiguity for participants with explicit instructions. Results revealed that although an explicit instruction improved performance on sample questions, this also led to an overcorrection, and instructions and sample questions only modestly improved adults' ability to recognize referential ambiguity in children's testimony. Ultimately, the absence of an effective strategy for alerting adults to the problem of referential ambiguity highlights the dangers of DYK/R if/whether questions.
  • Child witnesses productively respond to "How" questions about evaluations but struggle with other "How" questions

    Henderson, Hayden; Sullivan, Colleen E.; Wylie, Breanne E.; Stolzenberg, Stacia N.; Evans, Angela D.; Lyon, Thomas D.; Cross, Theodore P.; Vandervort, Frank E.; Block, Stephanie D. (Sage Publications, 2023)
    Child interviewers are often advised to avoid asking “How” questions, particularly with young children. However, children tend to answer “How” evaluative questions productively (e.g., “How did you feel?”). “How” evaluative questions are phrased as a “How” followed by an auxiliary verb (e.g., “did” or “was”), but so are “How” questions requesting information about method or manner (e.g., “How did he touch you?”), and “How” method/manner questions might be more difficult for children to answer. We examined 458 5- to 17-year-old children questioned about sexual abuse, identified 2485 "How” questions with an auxiliary verb, and classified them as “How” evaluative (n = 886) or “How” method/manner (n = 1599). Across age, children gave more productive answers to “How” evaluative questions than “How” method/manner questions. Although even young children responded appropriately to “How” method/manner questions over 80% of the time, specific types of “How” method/manner questions were particularly difficult, including questions regarding clothing, body positioning, and the nature of touch. Children’s difficulties lie in specific combinations of “How” questions and topics, rather than “How” questions in general.
  • Describing Coercion in the Courtroom: The Influence of Language and Maltreatment Severity on Jurors' Perceptions of Child Witnesses

    Wylie, Breanne E; Stolzenberg, Stacia N; Evans, Angela D (2023-10-30)
    Regardless of compliance to coercion by an alleged perpetrator, child maltreatment is abuse in any form. However, the extent to which coercion is described as an obligation (mandatory compliance) or permission (optional compliance) is legally relevant. The present investigation examined how attorneys question children about coercion and how children describe coercion in courtroom investigations of alleged child sexual abuse, and whether such language influences jurors’ perceptions of children’s testimony. Study 1 assessed 64 transcripts of children’s testimonies and revealed that both attorneys and children use coercive language. Problematically, terms of permission were used when describing sexual abuse, potentially implying compliance was optional. Study 2 presented 160 adults with transcript excerpts, varied by coercive language (obligation or permission) and maltreatment type (sexual abuse or punishment). Coercive language influenced perceptions of coercion and whether the adult was to blame. Maltreatment type influenced perceptions of severity, credibility, and verdict. Overall, coercive language and maltreatment type influence perceptions of how the event unfolded

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