Digital Commons Network^™

Perceiving The Poster: How Suspicion Of Motives May Impact Perceptions Of Potential Allies Engaging In Online Activism, Kathrina Z. Durante

Honors Theses

Social media posts signaling support for various social and racial justice movements have emerged as an important aspect of social media use. However, little research has investigated how these posts and the social media users behind them are perceived by members of disadvantaged groups﹘those the messages are presumably intended to “help.” Though the post’s content and poster’s identity are likely important, the primary aim of this study is to investigate an individual difference variable in the perceiver, specifically disadvantaged group members’ Suspicion of Motives Index (SOMI) scores, which measure a general tendency to perceive White individuals’ attempts at non-prejudice to …

Individual Differences In Processing Of Garden-Path Sentences: The Role Of Obsessive- Compulsive Personality Traits, Antonio Cardoso

Honors Theses

A great deal of previous research has investigated the real-time processing and offline interpretation of garden path (GP) sentences. This work has shown that GP sentences cause substantial processing disruptions, as revealed by regressive eye movements during reading, as well as incorrect answers to comprehension questions. The current study was designed to investigate whether variability in the processing of GP sentences could be explained by individual differences in personality traits, specifically obsessive-compulsive personality traits. In an eyetracking while reading experiment, participants read GP sentences with both a comma manipulation and a verb type manipulation. Results replicated previous findings in that …

When Does The Positivity Effect Emerge? : Age-Related Emotional Biases At Encoding And Retrieval, Hannah Wolfe

Honors Theses

The Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST) posits that as their future time perspective shrinks, older adults tend to be more motivated by emotionally meaningful goals and therefore experience what is called the “positivity effect” with age (Carstensen, 2006). The positivity effect had been studied in both attention biases (Isaacowitz et al., 2006a) and memory biases (Kensinger, 2008), with older adults dwelling longer on and better remembering the positive stimuli over the negative. Yet, few studies have measured emotional biases at both the encoding and retrieval phases, which is why this study uses eye-tracking to determine whether any biases in gaze patterns …

The Social Basis Of Emotion: Affective Consequences Of Social Comparisons With Competitive And Cooperative Others, Celinda M. Reese

Master's Theses

The present research explores the affective consequences of social comparisons made by cooperators and competitors. Participants (75 males, 90 females) were randomly assigned to either a cooperative or competitive condition in which they either performed better or worse than a partner. Participants were asked to imagine themselves in a particular situation and then report their emotional reaction to the scenario. Consistent with R. Lazarus' cognitive appraisal theory of emotion, participants in the cooperative condition reported anger when their partner's actions hindered goal attainment but reported joy when the partner promoted goal attainment. Consistent with T. Wills' theory of downward social …

The Future Of Elderly Women : Psychosocial Factors Influencing The Aging Transition, Michelle Dever

Honors Theses

In the U.S. today there is an increasing number of elderly in the population. There are over twenty million persons who are 65 years of age and older. It is predicted that there will be over 32 million older Americans by the year 2000. There has been a greater increase in the number of older women compared to men with women having a greater life expectancy also. The effects of aging on individuals and their ability to adapt to society needs to examined in our society today. There is a special need to study elderly women and the difficulties they …

Residence, Perceived Latitude Of Choice And Desired Control Among The Long-Livin, Steven R. Shank

Master's Theses

Perceived control, perceived choice, and residential setting are important factors which need to be addressed in research involving long-living. The focus of this study was to determine the relationships among thee variables. The search for an interaction between residential setting (either high or low constraining) and perceived choice and its effect on perceived control distinguishes this study from previous research.

Psychological Needs Of The Elderly : Community, Religious Affiliated Institutions, And Public Institutions, Sharon Bonaventura

Master's Theses

Although research has shown that psychological needs change as a person ages, available data on the relationship of psychological needs and types of residential institutions for the elderly are limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible connection between a particular residential environment and the elderly's psychological needs. Forty-five elderly females ages 62 through 89, participated in this study. Subjects were chosen from one of three residential groups, community, religious affiliated institutions, and public institutions. All subjects were asked to complete the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. In addition, demographic data were collected on each subject. Results from …

The Biological, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, And Social Psychological Perspectives Of Athletic Participation, Katharine R. Johnson

Honors Theses

Why become an athlete? Why all the long hours of continuous dedication? Would male and female athletes answer these questions differently?

The following essay is a review of the potential reasons why individuals strive to become athletes as perceived by the biological, psycho-dynamic, humanistic, and social psychological perspectives. Emphasis is placed on differences between the sexes when the perspective under discussion considers these differences to be relevant.

Concept Formation And Development In The Congenitally Blind Child, Kimberly J. Franco

Honors Theses

T.D. Cutsforth once stated that "no single mental activity of the congenitally blind child is not distorted by the absence of sight." Blindness permeates the intellectual functioning of language, thought, comprehension and conceptualization. Ultimately, the child lacking vision will both understand and respond to the world in a manner unlike that of a sighted child. This incongruous interaction breeds frustration since the blind are a minority in a world which concentrates on the characteristics, needs, behaviors, and accomplishments of sighted individuals. Lacking the visual modality, the blind rely on the information about the objective world which they receive from people …

Rotc Vs Non-Rotc Students: Demographic, Attitudes, Behavior, And Personality Differences, Mark A. Pieffer

Master's Theses

This study looked at similarities and differences between those students who take ROTC at the college level and those who do not. Two hundred sixteen male students at the University of Richmond who had taken the Omnibus Personality Inventory as a freshmen completed a 26-item questionnaire concerning their family economic levels, homes, and past and present school situations. One hundred of the students were past or present ROTC students, while the remainder students have never taken a ROTC course at the college level. A contingency analysis was run on the questionnaire answers and it was found that ROTC students earn …

Male/Female Conceptualization Differences In Children Of Single Fathers And Dual Parent Families, Patricia A. Riley

Honors Theses

Fifteen single fathers and their children and fifteen presently married fathers and their children were Ss in this study to investigate differences in male/female conceptualizations between the children of the two different family structures as well as the influence of the fathers' self-reported sex-role on the children. The BEM Sex-Role Inventory was administered to the fathers and the Kagen Symbolic Conceptualization Test was given to the children. Analysis results indicate no sex-role differences among both groups of fathers. Children's responses were significant when 1) scores of children of married fathers and children of single fathers were compared on the feminine …

Life Satisfaction And Aging: A Comparison Of Life Satisfaction Index A, The Tennessee Self Concept Scale And Correlates, Ann Rowley Penberthy

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between life satisfaction and other relevant variables in a sample of noninstitutionalized older Americans. Recent research has related satisfaction with life to adjustment in aging. Previous studies, however, have used a variety of methods to measure life satisfaction or self-concept. This study was designed to be an analysis of the Tennessee Self Concept Scale and the Life Satisfaction Index A with selected personal and behavioral variables. 59 subjects, primarily Jewish, aged 56 to 91 were tested during their regular activity meetings at the Jewish Community Center of Richmond, Virginia. The …

The Effect Of Public Commitment On Attitudes In Consonant And Dissonant Situations, Mark Joseph Slichter

Master's Theses

A primary objective of the study was to treat commitment as a discrete independent.variable, avoiding the confusion resulting from inferential and partially confounded designs employed in most previous commitment studies, and this objective was achieved. Separation of commitment as a distinct variable allows specific inferences to be made about its function in the attitude change process.

An Analysis Of Differentiating Personality Factors Between Incarcerated Heroin Addicts And Non-Addicts, Richard Whitely Davis

Master's Theses

The present study was designed to determine if long-term heroin addicts could be differentiated from short-term users and non-users of heroin on a personality inventory and by comparing their worlt histories and interpersonal relationships . Subjects were incarcerated felons at the Virginia State Penitentiary for men, and the data was collected while the men were still in the institution's Receiving Cell. First it was hyr)othesized that four factors (C, L, M, and O) from Cattell's 16 P. F. Questionnaire would be critical in discriminating addicts from non-addicts. When compared, the addict profiles and non-addict profiles did not differ significantly …

Personality Differences Between Males And Females In A Student And Bank Management Sample, Michael G. Howie

Master's Theses

To clarify some of the findings reported in the litera­ ture concerning the female personality and more specifically the personality of female bank managers, the Guilford­ Zimmerman Temperament Survey was administered to 33 male and 33 female bank managers and 33 male and 33 female students planning careers in business. A 3 factor ANOV showed that Ss differed significantly between samples and between sexes, but on only one personality trait; emotional stability. A t-test was performed on the scores of the masculinity trait when no significance was found on that trait with the ANOV method. This test showed a significant …

Personality Characteristics Related To Volunteering, Pseudovolunteering And Non-Volunteering For Different Kinds Of Psychological Experiments, Donald S. Sale

Master's Theses

Volunteer subjects are utilized in a large portion of experiments concerned with human behavior. Yet the use of volunteers is a form of systematic sampling bias which may well distort research findings. This study was undertaken to explore some of the factors related to volunteering for psychological experiments at Richmond College in the hope of providing future researchers with insight into reasons why the use of volunteer subjects may bias their research results and of stimulating them to use more representative, albeit less convenient sampling procedures.

A Study Of The Occupational Pattern Of The Presbyterian Ministry Of The Synod Of North Carolina, James F. Hubbard

Master's Theses

The Synod of North Carolina of the Presbyterian Church in the United States operates a Guidance Center on the campus of st. Andrews Presbyterian College at Laurinburg, North Carolina. Similar centers are in operation in other states by the appropriate Synod of the church. It is the task or these centers to provide a program or testing and counseling for high school Juniors and Seniors from local churches throughout the state. Candidates for the ministry are also examined and reports made to the Presbytery in charge. The emphasis is upon vocational and educational guidance. The Guidance Center in North Carolina …

Presentation Factors As Critical Variables In Learning By Program, Guide, And Self Study, Charles Holman Jennings

Master's Theses

Visionary suggestions for improving formal education are now at last becoming realities. More and better equipped plants are rising. Teachers' salaries are on the increase. More updated text books are available. Ability grouping is Widely practiced. A wider range and greater depth or course offerings enhances the high school curricula. Increased alumni contributions and government grants are leading to expansion of staff and facilities at the college level. However, none of these consider how a student learns. Thus none copes directly with the most basic o! needs, that of making the teaching-learning process itself more effective and efficient. The approach …

Effect Of Successive Training Of Different N-Lengths Under Partial Reinforcement On Resistance To Extinction, Edward Dale Walters

Master's Theses

This experiment was designed to teat a theoretical interpretation based on Capaldi's modified aftereffects hypothesis. It held that the conditioning successively of different S^Ns to the lever-presaing response would lead to increased resistance to extinction.

A Study Of Factors That Discriminate Between Different Degrees Of Religiousness In People, Stuart W. Omohundro

Master's Theses

The first question that will probably confront the reader of this paper will be, what is meant by religiousness, be measured or compared between personalities or groups? The same question has been asked of psychologists about other terms such as intelligence and emotion, either of which could be substituted in the title of this paper and still not make it any clearer. The answers to this question have varied except where operational definitions have been demanded, which, of course, boil down to emotional or intellectual behavior as measured by a given test in relationship to others taking the test. Religiousness …

An Analysis Of Academic Achievement In Psychology, Charles Spital

Master's Theses

Some kinds of educational tests have been in use for centuries, dating back to oral tests of Socrates. It was not until 1845, however, that the brilliant Horace Mann first pointed to the advantage of written essay examinations over oral. And even then he could not precipitate any great rush toward the use of written tests.