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An Examination Of Relations Among Fear, Guilt, Self-Compassion, And Multicultural Attitudes In White Adults, Whitney W. Black

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Structural racism is often perpetuated by well-intentioned White individuals who passively accept or are unaware of its existence. However, when their perceptions and understanding of the world are challenged through learning about structural racism, White people may experience emotions such as fear, and guilt, which seem to serve either a debilitating or a motivating role in multicultural attitude development. Self-compassion, which is the ability to process distressing emotions without resorting to avoidance of the emotional experience, may help White individuals work through strong negative affect that accompanies an awareness of structural racism and ultimately aid in the development of multicultural …

Effects Of Social Interaction On Morphine Conditioned Place Preference In Adolescent Male Rats, Virginia G. Weiss

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The fact that adolescents commonly initiate drug use in social settings is well established. Both clinical and preclinical research has investigated how social interaction is altered by a variety of drugs of abuse. What is less understood is how the rewarding value of drugs of abuse is affected by the presence of social peers. This dissertation aimed to investigate the interaction of morphine and social play on conditioned place preference (CPP) in adolescent male Sprague Dawley rats, using both behavioral and immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods. Rats were exposed to morphine (0, 1, or 3 mg/kg; s.c.), social interaction, or a combination …

Exploring Illusions Of Height In Suit Design, Michael P. Lee

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Objective: The goal of this research was to explore how the design of clothing, specifically the design of the suit, can create height illusions.

Background: Taller people enjoy many advantages, such as increased income and perceived attractiveness. These advantages motivate people to try to appear taller than they actually are, and clothing experts provide advice on how to accomplish this. However, there is little empirical evidence to validate the illusory effects clothing might have on overall height perception. The few studies that have explored illusions of body size created by clothing design have been limited in two important ways – …

Characterizing The Role Of Glucocorticoids In The Sign Tracking Behavior Of Male Japanese Quail (Coturnix Japonica), Beth A. Rice

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

A devastating feature of drug-dependence is the susceptibility of relapse (40-60%) after stretches of abstinence. One theory that may account for relapse suggests that drug cues (e.g., paraphernalia) may increase stress hormones, and this may prompt relapse. Repeatedly pairing a neutral cue with a reward is commonly utilized to measure what subjects learn about a cue that is predictive of reward. Research has shown that animals that attend to a cue more than to the reward (sign trackers) may be more vulnerable to drug addiction. Additionally, research has shown that sign tracking is associated with an increase in corticosterone (CORT), …