Digital Commons Network^™

Nightmares, Anxiety, And Kindergarten-Aged Children, Megan A. Dandurand

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The current study investigated the relationship between nightmares and anxiety traits in young children. Nightmare experience was measured through parent and child reports of nightmare occurrence, frequency, and distress. A sample of 37 parent-child pairs completed a demographic questionnaire, parent and child reported nightmare questionnaire, and a parent-reported anxiety scale. Results indicated that children reported significantly more nightmares than their parents, however there was no difference between parent versus child reported nightmare distress . Results indicated that parents who rated their children to have higher anxiety also reported their children to have more frequent nightmares. A similar trend, that was …

The Effect Of Physical Attractiveness On Perceptions Of Mental Illness, Caitlin P. Garstkiewicz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The following study examined the influence of the Halo Effect, specifically the physical attractiveness stereotype, on perceptions of mental illness. The physical attractiveness stereotype states that individuals who are physically attractive will be attributed positive personality traits. In this study, participants were asked to view either physically attractive or non-attractive individuals while listening to a description of a mental illness attributed to the person shown in the image. It was hypothesized that participants who were presented with physically attractive images would rate the description of mental illness more positively than when viewing images of physically unattractive people. The hypothesis was …

Traditional Masculinity & Advertising Image Approval, Danielle W. Kailing, Peggy Cantrell Phd

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This project investigates the relationship between adherence to traditional masculinity and approval of selected advertising images. Because traditional masculinity includes characteristics supportive of aggression and dominance; I hypothesize that an increase in adherence to traditional masculinity will correlate with approval of the violence found in some print advertisements. Participants include 259 men who completed an anonymous, online, survey. Adherence to masculinity is measured using the Male Role Norm Inventory-Revised (MRNI-R) (Levant, et. al, 2007). Each picture is scored on a 5-point Likert Scale. As hypothesized, an increase in total MRNI-R score, is significantly correlated with an increase in the approval …

The Effects Of Environmental Enrichment On Nicotine Sensitization In A Rodent Model Of Schizophrenia, Marjorie A. Schlitt, Elizabeth D. Cummins, Daniel J. Peterson, Russell W. Brown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Environmental enrichment, for more than fifty years, has shown to increase learning in behaviors and to alter some brain structures (Renner and Rosenzweig). Some brain changes that occur when environmental enrichment is implemented include the following: increases in cortical thickness, especially the occipital cortex, increases in size of neuronal cell bodies, number of dendrites and dendritic spines, increases in astrocyte branching, increases in the number of brain blood capillaries, and increases in mitochondria (an indication of higher metabolic activity) (Stairs and Bard). It has been shown in research studies that rats in the environmental enrichment group are less sensitive to …

Rural Pediatric Primary Care Practice Patterns As A Result Of An On-Site Behavioral Health Consultant: A Retrospective Analysis, Kayla D. Mccarter

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nationally, it has been estimated that 10 to 21% of children with psychosocial concerns are seen in primary care settings (Jellinek et al., 1999; McInerny, Szilagyi, Childs, Wasserman & Kelleher, 2000; Palermo et al., 2002). Often, however, children go undiagnosed with/treated for psychosocial concerns in pediatric primary care due to lack of physician time and poor referral rates to mental health providers. Evaluations of integrated care models, in which a behavioral health consultant is present in primary care practices, has shown to increase the availability of mental health services (Stancin, Perrin, & Ramirez, 2009). Using extant data from patient records …

Does Nicotine Alter What Is Learned About Non-Drug Incentives?, Tarra L. Baker

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs known to man, yet it has limited reinforcing effects in humans and non-human animals when it is not self-administered in tobacco products. One hypothesis for these paradoxical effects of nicotine is that the effects of the drug in the brain alter acquisition of incentive learning. The hypothesis for this study is that nicotine will increase the value of cues paired with a reward. To test this hypothesis, 26 Sprague Dawley Male rats were randomly assigned to one of three groups Pre-NIC (the critical experimental group), Post-NIC and SAL. Each group received a …

Neuromodulation Therapy Mitigates Heart Failure Induced Hippocampal Damage, Timothy P. Diperi

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Nearly half of the people diagnosed with heart failure (HF) die within 5 years of diagnosis. Brain abnormalities secondary to CVD have been observed in many discrete regions, including the hippocampus. Nearly 25% of patients with CVD also have major depressive disorder (MDD), and hippocampal dysfunction is a characteristic of both diseases. In this study, the hippocampus and an area of the hippocampal formation, the dentate gyrus (DG), were studied in a canine model of HF. Using this canine HF model previously, we have determined that myocardial …

The Mental Health Status Of Deaf And Hard Of Hearing Children In The Mainstream Education System, Jessica Sommers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Corticosterone On Birdsong In The Adult Zebra Finch, Pavlina Faltynek

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effectiveness Of Mindful Eating In A Student Population, Myles A. Maillet

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Identifying Whether The Mystery Man Or Elimination Lineup Method Is Most Effective For Children, Logan Ewanation

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Barriers To Care, Krista Nyssen

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Online Communication In Dating Relationships: The Impact Of Cyber Dating Harassment On Self-Esteem And Academic Engagement, Kaitlin Hancock

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Colour And Emotional Intensity, Bryanna Lucyk

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Motivation Framing And Content Domain On Intentions To Eat Plant-Based Foods, Terra N. Duchene

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Subjective Emotion And Colour Use In Drawings, Christie Purchase

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Exploring Big Data Analytics: Predictors Of Psychological Well-Being In A Canadian Sample, Canaan Legault

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Examining The Underlying Complexity Of Free Market Beliefs, Chad R. Buckland

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

The Relation Of Co-Rumination To Romantic Relationship Quality, Haley Keast

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

An Exploration Of Maternal Sensitivity And Mind-Mindedness In Mothers Of Deaf Children, Benjamin W. Dantzer

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Risk Behaviours And Service Use Intensity In Child Mental Health Care, Hayley A. Mangotich

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

Objective

Little is known regarding factors that predict Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) use. The current study examined risk behaviours (e.g., danger to self, danger to others) among children with mental health issues as predictors of service use intensity (i.e., total visits) over 1 year, and across time (i.e., number of visits per two-month period).

Methods

Secondary data analyses of CAMHS chart review data spanning a 5-year period at 6

children’s mental health agencies across Ontario from youth between the ages of 4 and 11 (N = 356) were conducted. Child risk behaviours were measured using the …

Adventure Based Counselling: Promoting Positive Interpersonal Behaviour In Mentally Ill Offenders, Taylor C. Salisbury

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effectiveness of an adventure-based counselling (ABC) program on interpersonal behaviour within a forensic psychiatric population. Very little research has examined the effectiveness of an adventure-therapy approach with this population, and to our knowledge, an ABC program has never been attempted, much less examined for efficacy. Participants in this study were offenders at the Southwest Center for Forensic Mental Health Care in St. Thomas, Ontario who were designated not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. Offenders took part in a 12-session ABC program which addressed interpersonal skills through various challenge …

The Relationship Between Emotion Regulation And Executive Functioning After Sleep Restriction In Healthy Preschool Children, Jessica R. Danilewitz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Executive functions are a set of higher level cognitive processes that are necessary for the self-regulation of behavior and emotion, which allow individuals to engage in planned, goal-oriented behavior, and guide attention. Emotion Regulation (ER) is the ability to control emotional arousal and adapt to the demands of the daily environment. Sleep has been demonstrated to be important for daily functioning in children, adolescents and adults. However, the impact of emotion regulation on the relationship between sleep and executive functioning (EF) in healthy preschool children has not yet been tested. This study investigated the relationship between ER, EF, and negative …

Condom Use Among Young Males, Michelle E. Camilleri

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Using the Information-Motivation-Behavioural Skills Model, the present study examined the relationship between condom use motivation and behavioural skills and their independent and joint influence on condom use consistency among adolescent heterosexual males. Participants were 98 currently sexually active, heterosexual males aged 18-23 (M = 18.5). Each participant was given a series of questionnaires to measure 5 dimensions od Attitudes Towards Condoms, Perceptions of Social Norms, condom use consistency, 3 types of condom-obtaining negotiation strategies, and 4 types of condom-avoiding negotiation strategies. Results indicated that the Pleasure dimension of Attitudes towards condoms, was positively correlated with condom use and the …

The Effects Of Musical Mood And Musical Arousal On Visual Attention, Angela B. Marti Marca, Tram Nguyen, Jessica Grahn

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The presence of music is a visceral part of the human experience and its influence on cognitive function is a growing area of research in psychology. In particular, perceptual properties of music (mood and arousal) have been shown to significantly affect performance. There has been minimal research in the field on the interaction of mood and arousal and their influence on attention, thus the purpose of this study. Fifty undergraduate students currently enrolled at the University of Western Ontario were recruited for this study. Given that music is a highly subjective experience, participants rated an assortment of music clips on …

Effects Of Classroom Design And Atmosphere Towards Affective Reactions And Memory Of Content, Brittney Bonnick

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to investigate how a classroom’s design can alter an

individual’s memory of content and affective reactions towards the experience. 123 University of

Western Ontario Undergraduate students who were part of a first year psychology participation

pool listened to a video lecture on schizophrenia and then completed two paper and pencil

questionnaires. The first was a multiple-choice assessment of participant memory for lecture

material, and the second was a Likert scale on the perceived learning experience. The

atmosphere of the classroom as well as the design of the desk arrangements was changed for

different …

The 4d-Model Of Trauma-Related Dissociation: Validating A Novel Theoretical Framework Through An Attachment-Oriented Approach, Matthew F D Brown

Undergraduate Honors Theses

A recent framework known as the 4D-Model of Trauma-related Dissociation (Frewen & Lanius, 2014) differentiates between symptoms of clinically significant distress based on whether the symptoms do or do not intrinsically exemplify trauma-related altered states of consciousness (TRASC). Undergraduate students (n = 342) participated in an online survey and completed several measures assessing childhood experiences and psychological symptoms. Female PTSD patients (n = 25) completed similar measures before entering treatment. Within the student sample, NWC symptoms were endorsed as occurring more frequently than TRASC symptoms. On average, symptoms of NWC were more strongly intercorrelated than symptoms of TRASC. …

The Interaction Between Spatial Working And Reference Memory In Rats On A Radial Maze, Nicole Ann Guitar

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The present study investigated the interaction between working and reference spatial memory in an effort to develop an animal model of this interaction. Twelve male Long-Evans rats were tested on an eight-arm radial maze in a two-phase procedure. In the study phase, a rat was allowed to enter four randomly selected arms for a food reward placed at the end of each arm. The test phase allowed the rat access to all eight arms, but only the previously unentered arms contained food. Two of the correct test arms were defined as reference memory arms because they were always correct. The …

Punchline Predictability, Comprehension Speed, And Joke Funniness: Investigating Incongruity Theories Of Humour, Robert J. Fearman

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Surprise is an important element of many cognitive theories of humour (e.g., Suls, 1972): the less predictable the punchline, the funnier a joke is expected to be. Many theories also predict a curvilinear relationship between speed of joke comprehension and funniness: jokes that are too easy or too difficult should be less funny than those that require an intermediate amount of processing. This study was designed to investigate these two assumptions of past theories. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 183) participated online and completed two tasks. The Joke Completion Task required the participants to read the joke stem of …

Selecting And Striving For Goals, Angela Allan

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Mental Contrasting (MC) is a self-regulating strategy in which one identifies a goal, visualizes a positive outcome, and then considers a current personal obstacle to that goal. Agency thinking signals an individual’s confidence in her ability to execute the necessary goal-directed behaviours (Snyder, 2002). 99 university students selected an academic goal and conducted either a MC or control exercise. Subjects completed agency scales before and after treatment and goal commitment scales following treatment. How does Mental Contrasting impact students’ sense of agency and commitment toward an academic goal? It was hypothesized that goal commitment scores would be greater for the …