Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 13 of 13
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Data Analysis Using Item Response Theory Methodology: An Introduction To Selected Programs And Applications., Geoffrey L. Thorpe, Andrej Favia
Data Analysis Using Item Response Theory Methodology: An Introduction To Selected Programs And Applications., Geoffrey L. Thorpe, Andrej Favia
Psychology Faculty Scholarship
There are two approaches to psychometrics. Classical test theory is the traditional approach, focusing on test-retest reliability, internal consistency, various forms of validity, and normative data and standardization. Modern test theory or item response theory (IRT) focuses on how specific test items function in assessing constructs. IRT makes it possible to scale test items for difficulty, to design parallel forms of tests, and to provide for adaptive computerized testing (DeMars, 2010). “(T)he basic concepts of item response theory rest upon the individual items of a test rather than upon some aggregate of the item responses such as a test score” …
Hypertension And Cognitive Functioning: A Perspective In Historical Context, Merrill F. Elias, Amanda L. Goodell, Gregory A. Dore
Hypertension And Cognitive Functioning: A Perspective In Historical Context, Merrill F. Elias, Amanda L. Goodell, Gregory A. Dore
Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers
Our objective is to characterize the development of the literature on hypertension and cognitive functioning from a historical perspective. This goal was stimulated by the review on “Historical Trends and Milestones in Hypertension Research” in the October 2012 issue of Hypertension. Our specific aims are threefold: (1) to trace and describe the history of this area of research; (2) to identify milestones in knowledge and methods; and (3) to discuss briefly how this literature translates into patient care. The topic is of major relevance to research and practice because hypertension is a well-known risk factor for decline in cognitive performance …
Exploring The Alcohol Deprivation Effect In Withdrawal-Seizure Prone And Withdrawal-Seizure Resistant Mice, Peter Brooks
Exploring The Alcohol Deprivation Effect In Withdrawal-Seizure Prone And Withdrawal-Seizure Resistant Mice, Peter Brooks
Honors College
The alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) refers to a temporary increase in alcohol intake following a period of alcohol deprivation. Repeated ADE studies (Sinclair & Senter, 1968, Melendez, 2006) have shown that there is an innate tendency to increase consumption when access to alcohol is limited, and the ADE is considered to be an animal model for relapse drinking. The present study is the first to examine the ADE in mice selectively bred for high and low susceptibility for withdrawal seizures, withdrawal-seizure prone (WSP) and withdrawal-seizure resistant (WSR) mice, and the purpose of it was to determine the presence or absence …
The Effects Of Suggestion On Dream Recall Frequency, Jack Obery
The Effects Of Suggestion On Dream Recall Frequency, Jack Obery
Honors College
The present research was designed to examine whether the power of suggestion can play a substantial role in a participant’s dream recall frequency (DRF; i.e., the average number of dreams remembered nightly). Nineteen students participated in a lab session in exchange for course credit, during which they completed a task assessing working memory capacity and several questionnaires. Of the 19 students, five chose to participate in the second phase of the study, for which they received $10. These five participants were randomly assigned to a “high dream capacity” group (i.e., told they have the highest dream capacity of anyone studied …
Imagine A Better World: Two Studies Of Imagined Intergroup Contact, Charles J. Bergeron
Imagine A Better World: Two Studies Of Imagined Intergroup Contact, Charles J. Bergeron
Honors College
A growing body of evidence indicates that positive contact with outgroups improves attitudes towards those outgroups. Unfortunately, those with the most negative attitudes towards outgroups often have the fewest opportunities to meaningfully interact with members of those groups. These studies investigate the effects of imagining intergroup contact with a Muslim person on measures of explicit (Studies 1 and 2) and implicit (Study 2) anti-Muslim prejudice among the most ideologically intolerant individuals. Local and national participants were asked to complete a short imaginative exercise followed by a brief online questionnaire. Results indicate that imagined intergroup contact was effective in improving attitudes …
A Study Of Childhood And Late Adolescent Fear: The Role Of Fear In Socioemotional Functioning, Stephanie M. Guillemette
A Study Of Childhood And Late Adolescent Fear: The Role Of Fear In Socioemotional Functioning, Stephanie M. Guillemette
Honors College
The purpose of this study was to investigate the role that fear in childhood plays in socio-emotional functioning in late adolescence. In addition, the role of parental support in this relationship was examined. Participants included 70 college students, ages 18-25 years, who completed measures that assessed their fears and perceptions of social support from parents in childhood, as well as aspects of their present wellbeing (e.g., self-esteem, mood, depressive symptoms). Results interestingly indicated that, “someone in the family dying” was the most highly rated fear in both childhood and late adolescence. Also, fear of family members dying and family members …
Gender Differences And Cognitive Constructs In Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Olivia Anna Teer
Gender Differences And Cognitive Constructs In Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Olivia Anna Teer
Honors College
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), a psychological disorder currently recognized by the DSM-IV-TR, is typically associated with distorted cognitions, particularly in regards to high levels of excessive worry. Accordingly, much research has attempted to better understand these, and other cognitive factors that may predict symptoms consistent with such a diagnosis. One study conducted by Tull and colleagues (2009) found that cognitive factors such as anxiety sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation may serve as predisposing factors in the development of GAD. My study continues this line of research by assessing the predictive nature of several cognitive constructs (i.e., worry, rumination, coping …
Transdiagnostic Factors: The Mediating Role Of Rumination In Health Anxiety And Premenstrual Distress, Kristina S. Anderson
Transdiagnostic Factors: The Mediating Role Of Rumination In Health Anxiety And Premenstrual Distress, Kristina S. Anderson
Honors College
Recent evidence has suggested that multiple disorders may share transdiagnostic factors. Transdiagnostic means a factor that may account for the comorbidity of symptoms between certain psychopathologies. Recently, researchers have posited that rumination, the tendency to dwell on thoughts and feelings, may be a transdiagnostic factor in several psychological disorders. It is also possible that rumination may exacerbate other psychological constructs or physical concerns (e.g., experiential avoidance, health anxiety, premenstrual distress). Previous research found that rumination partially mediated the relationship between anxiety sensitivity and premenstrual distress. In addition to the research on correlates of premenstrual distress, recently researchers have begun to …
Coping And Gender Differences In Seasonality And Seasonal Affective Disorder, Alisha S. Gagnon
Coping And Gender Differences In Seasonality And Seasonal Affective Disorder, Alisha S. Gagnon
Honors College
Research indicates an individual’s tendency to ruminate in response to seasonal changes predicts the severity of seasonality as well as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). However, research on the relationship between other coping strategies and SAD is sparse. My hypothesis was that maladaptive coping strategies such as mental disengagement would be related to higher levels of SAD. My research used archival data from 607 undergraduate students who reported on SAD symptoms and a variety of other measures. Statistically significant differences between coping strategies were found for women and men. In addition, predictors of seasonality were not consistent across gender. The present …
Improving Assistive Technology Through Phenomenology: A Comparative Analysis Of Research Methods, Rafael M. Ramos Iv
Improving Assistive Technology Through Phenomenology: A Comparative Analysis Of Research Methods, Rafael M. Ramos Iv
Honors College
The work discussed in this thesis contrasts traditional interviewing perspectives with those of phenomenological methods for conducting research for use in the development of assistive technology. Assistive technology helps to provide greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks that they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. However, users of certain technologies from the field, such as visually impaired users of navigational devices, often report dissatisfaction based on features of the device that are necessarily linked with their experiences …
Sentencing And Treatment Of Juvenile Offenders: A Review And Critique, Jessica R. Talbot
Sentencing And Treatment Of Juvenile Offenders: A Review And Critique, Jessica R. Talbot
Honors College
Adolescents account for a large percentage of crime. Given this, it is vital that we are constantly examining and critiquing the juvenile justice system to ensure positive outcomes such as low recidivism. This thesis takes an in-depth look at the ways in which the United States responds to this unique class of offenders and which treatment options are most effective. Several factors play a role in the selection of a program for individuals in the juvenile justice system, including definitions of violence, assessment, and availability of the treatment desired.
Unsupervised Category Learning With Integral-Dimension Stimuli, Shawn W. Ell, Gregory F. Ashby, Steven B. Hutchinson
Unsupervised Category Learning With Integral-Dimension Stimuli, Shawn W. Ell, Gregory F. Ashby, Steven B. Hutchinson
Psychology Faculty Scholarship
Despite the recent surge in research on unsupervised category learning, the majority of studies have focused on unconstrained tasks in which no instructions are provided about the underlying category structure. Relatively little research has focused on constrained tasks in which the goal is to learn pre-defined stimulus clusters in the absence of feedback. The few studies that have addressed this issue have focused almost exclusively on stimuli for which it is relatively easy to attend selectively to the component dimensions (i.e., separable dimensions). In the present study, we investigated the ability of participants to learn categories constructed from stimuli for …
Spatial Working Memory For Locations Specified By Vision And Audition: Testing The Amodality Hypothesis, Jack M. Loomis, Roberta L. Klatzky, Brendan Mchugh, Nicholas A. Giudice
Spatial Working Memory For Locations Specified By Vision And Audition: Testing The Amodality Hypothesis, Jack M. Loomis, Roberta L. Klatzky, Brendan Mchugh, Nicholas A. Giudice
Spatial Information Science and Engineering Faculty Scholarship
Spatial working memory can maintain representations from vision, hearing, and touch, representations referred to here as spatial images. The present experiment addressed whether spatial images from vision and hearing that are simultaneously present within working memory retain modality-specific tags or are amodal. Observers were presented with short sequences of targets varying in angular direction, with the targets in a given sequence being all auditory, all visual, or a sequential mixture of the two. On two thirds of the trials, one of the locations was repeated, and observers had to respond as quickly as possible when detecting this repetition. Ancillary detection …