Digital Commons Network^™

Conceptual Representation In Bilinguals: A Feature-Based Approach, Eriko Matsuki

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A challenge for bilinguals is that translation equivalent words often do not convey exactly the same conceptual information. A bilingual exhibits a “semantic accent” when they comprehend or use a word in one language in a way that is influenced by knowledge of its translation equivalent. Semantic accents are well-captured by feature-based models, such as the Distributed Conceptual Feature model and the Shared (Distributed) Asymmetrical model, however, few empirical studies have used semantic features to provide direct evidence for these models. The goal of this thesis is to use a feature-based approach to identify conceptual differences in translation equivalent words …

Understanding And Coping With Possible Depressive Symptoms: An Extension Of The Self-Regulation Model, Melissa N. Mohan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation used Leventhal’s Self-Regulation Model (SRM) as a theoretical framework to examine how undergraduates make sense of and cope with symptoms often associated with depression. Students completed questionnaires about possible depressive symptoms (not labelled as such); as well as other components of the SRM, including demographics, psychosocial context, current psychopathology, cognitive appraisals and emotional reactions. Previous SRM studies have often focused on how people make sense of depression once symptoms have coalesced into a clearer clinical picture. In contrast, Part 1 of this dissertation focused on an earlier application of the SRM to a range of vague, generally mild …

Semantic Processing Of Nominal Metaphor: Figurative Abstraction And Embodied Simulation, Hamad Al-Azary

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

In a metaphor such as that lawyer is a shark, the concept lawyer, which is the metaphor topic, and the concept shark, which is the metaphor vehicle, interact to produce a figurative meaning such that lawyers are predatory. Some theorists argue that sensorimotor properties of the vehicle are the basis of metaphor comprehension (Gibbs & Matlock, 2008; Paivio, 1979; Wilson & Gibbs, 2007). As such, that lawyer is a shark is processed by an embodied simulation where sensorimotor imagery associated with sharks is simulated (e.g., sharks hunting in deep water). However, the long-standing assumption is that metaphors are …

Developing And Testing A Novel Intervention To Reduce Household Food Waste, Paul Van Der Werf

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The amount of food wasted is a topic of societal and academic interest. As academic research in this area is nascent, there are significant knowledge gaps, which this dissertation seeks to narrow, pertaining to: (1) the measurement of food waste; (2) the human behaviors that lead to wasting of food; and (3) the development of efficacious food waste reduction interventions.

A systematic literature review of 55 food waste estimates showed that on average 114.3 kg/capita/year is wasted from consumption (i.e., household) and 198.9 kg/capita/year across the entire food supply chain. There is considerable uncertainty with this data because of the …

Searching For Wisdom: A Phenomenological Investigation Of Women's Perspectives Following Participation In An Ovarian Cancer Supportive Care Group, Helen Butlin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study used a novel methodology of hermeneutic-poetic-phenomenology to explore perspectives of women living with ovarian cancer. Each had participated in a supportive care group process Soul-Medicine prior to volunteering. Three women, Beth, Carrie, and Denise contributed to this study. The methodology was grounded in Gaston Bachelard’s philosophy of poetic-phenomenology. Data was analyzed with attention to image-centred knowledge; material imagination; reverie; and horizons of hope to elucidate their implicated aspects of wisdom and the ways participant’s formed their personal wisdom integrating feminist theories of embodiment and bioethics.

Findings are framed through three images of a uniquely formed inner ‘wisdom-compass’, an …

Cardiodynamic Associations With Resilience In Undergraduate Students And The Effect Of A Mentorship Intervention, Rachel J. Knetsch

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The National College Health Assessment (NCHA) indicates that a majority of Canadian university students report feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious during their undergraduate studies. Resilience refers to positive adaptation, or the ability to maintain or regain mental health, despite experiencing adversity (Herrman et al., 2011). While autonomic indices have been used to describe chronic physiological stress, the role of heart rate variability (HRV) as an index of resilience remains unclear. This research tested the hypotheses that (1) there is a relationship between HRV and resilience scoresand (2) a mentorship intervention will improve HRV and resilience outcomes. Fifty-seven first year students …

The Development And Validation Of A Preliminary Meditation Intentions Questionnaire, Daniel Kharlas

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Meditation programs and mindfulness interventions have become increasingly popular over the last 30 years in both clinical and non-clinical populations. However, challenges such as motivating participants in 8-week programs and adherence rates are issues in many mindfulness meditation interventions. The Meditation Intentions Questionnaire (MIQ) was developed as a measure intended to guide participants to set their own goals and intentions for meditation. The MIQ has six subscales with 8 items each. The subscales assess intentions for participating in meditation programs in the following domains: cognitive enhancement, increased emotional control, greater positive affect, stress relief, spiritual discovery and psychological discovery. Items …

The Politics Of Wounds, Jonathan Nash

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

What configuration of strategies and discourses enable the white male and settler body politic to render itself as simultaneously wounded and invulnerable? I contextualize this question by reading the discursive continuities between Euro-America’s War on Terror post-9/11 and Algeria’s War for Independence. By interrogating political-philosophical responses to September 11, 2001 beside American rhetoric of a wounded nation, I argue that white nationalism, as a mode of settler colonialism, appropriates the discourses of political wounding to imagine and legitimize a narrative of white hurt and white victimhood; in effect, reproducing and hardening the borders of the nation-state. Additionally, by turning to …

Development Of A Three-Factor Model Of Psychological Ownership Of Country: Applications For Outgroup Attitudes And Citizenship Behaviors, Joshua D. Wright

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mechanisms linking social identification to negative outgroup attitudes is a prevailing inspiration for research in intergroup relations. Psychological ownership—the possessive feeling that some object is ‘mine’ or ‘ours’—has been proposed as one possible mechanism. Social identification is a precursor to developing feelings of ownership over ideological spaces, such as countries or territories. Subsequently, ownership may drive negative outgroup attitudes through exhibition of one’s right to control the use of the ingroup’s space. Psychological ownership may also have positive roles in developing citizenship behaviors, such as through voting or buying ingroup national products. The following program of research tests these ideas. …

Ipad Use To Enhance Conversations Between Persons With Dementia And Their Family Caregivers, Kelsey Dynes

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Electronic conversational memory notebooks, a more current application of previous hardcopy versions, consist of personally relevant photographs and accompanying sentences. The notebooks help persons with dementia access memories during conversations. Person-centred communication (PCC) recognizes the individual, accommodating for personal beliefs and intentions. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether persons with dementia and their family caregivers could be educated and trained to use PCC while using an iPad-based electronic conversational memory notebook. Seven persons with mild to moderate dementia and their family caregiver completed the six-week study. Participants were educated and trained to use PCC while conversing …

Examining Eudaimonic Well-Being In Sport, Despina Kouali

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The general purpose of this dissertation was to examine eudaimonic well-being in sport. This dissertation was divided into three studies. Study 1 was designed to develop a sport-specific eudaimonic well-being measurement tool (EWBSS; Eudaimonic Well-Being in Sport Scale) and included three phases. During Phase 1, 19 items were created by two investigators and five of these items were selected by five experts to represent eudaimonic well-being in sport. Phase 2 assessed the factorial validity and reliability of the EWBSS on a large sample (N = 400) with competitive level athletes from various individual and team sports with results demonstrating …

Examining Child Sex As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Cortisol Reactivity And Symptoms Over Time, Andrew R. Daoust

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Females’ reactivity to stress appears to be closely tied to internalizing symptoms, while males who are under-reactive may be at risk for externalizing problems. Little is known about when such differences emerge, despite possible implications for early prevention. Cortisol reactivity to a laboratory stressor was assessed in 409 three-year-old children along with children’s parent-reported internalizing and externalizing symptoms, which were re-collected at child ages 5 and 8. Multilevel modelling was used to investigate whether the relationship between cortisol reactivity and symptoms differed between boys and girls longitudinally. Over time, girls with lower cortisol reactivity showed a decrease in depressive symptoms …

Trajectories Of The Effects Of Sad Mood Induction Procedures (Mips), Jennifer C. P. Gillies

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mood Induction Procedures (MIPs) are used widely in cognitive vulnerability to depression research. Although research supports certain MIPs as effective, little research has validated the assumption that MIP-induced sad moods are sufficiently persistent. This study addressed three questions: How long does an MIP-induced mood last? What are the shapes of the trajectories of the mood effects? Do these trajectories differ by type of MIP? Four-hundred-and-one undergraduate students were randomly assigned to undergo one of three commonly used sad MIPs or a neutral MIP. Mood was repeatedly measured immediately prior to and following the MIP.Results did not support the widely held …

Risk Perceptions Of Smoking In China, Imran Syed

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Approximately one million smokers die in China every year. Risk perceptions of smoking have been theorized as being important in explaining behaviour change and have been found to be associated with initiating and quitting smoking. This study examined the extent to which smokers in China perceive risks associated with smoking (i.e., perceived likelihood of getting a smoking-related disease) and the roles of socio-demographic factors (i.e., gender, age, ethnicity, income and education) and knowledge of the consequences of smoking in explaining risk perceptions of smoking. Participants included 4861 smokers from six cities in China. The prevalence of perceived risk for smoking …

Understanding Stigma, Secrecy, And Sex In Cnm Relationships, Rhonda Balzarini

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Scholars have posited that the family system is becoming more diversified with increases in same-sex, mixed sex, and consensually non-monogamous relationships. While same-sex and mixed-sex relationships have received considerable attention, public and academic interest in consensually non-monogamous relationships have increased dramatically. Yet despite increased interest, little is known about the ways in which relationships with various partners in non-monogamous relationships differ, whether differences that emerge are influenced by experiences of stigma or the desired role of different partners, whether stigma was driven by one’s relationship orientation, and how individual’s sexual attitudes impact the decision to pursue consensually non-monogamous arrangements. This …

Empowering Employees To Reduce Perceptions Of Workplace Incivility, Chloe A. Cragg

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Incivility is a low intensity deviant behaviour of ambiguous intent that is pervasive in many organizations. Given the cost of incivility to the employee and the organization, it is important to understand how individuals perceive this behaviour. We believe that employees who have access to opportunity, information, resources and support in their organization (i.e., structural empowerment) will be more psychologically empowered, and thus better equipped to cope with workplace stressors, leading to a reduction in the perception of uncivil behaviour. We tested our hypotheses using a survey approach with an online sample of 364 working participants. Regression analyses, mediation analyses …

Examining Rating Source Differences In Narrative Performance Feedback, Kevin Doyle

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of the present study was to examine the narrative feedback quality and content of comments from supervisors, peers, and subordinates in a multisource performance feedback context. Research on performance management interventions tends to focus on issues such as rater training, scale development, scale formats, and reducing test and rater bias. However, other components in performance management interventions have received little attention, including narrative feedback. Narrative feedback takes the form of written comments describing the ratee’s performance on different dimensions. The narrative feedback quality variables included favorability, specificity, goal content, and feedback length. Predictor variables of narrative feedback quality …

Relating Sensory Sensitivity And Repetitive Behaviours In Autism Spectrum Disorders, Samantha E. Schulz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The heterogenous expression of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) complicates our etiological understanding of the disorder. By focusing on the most commonly-reported symptom of ASD, namely sensory processing dysfunction, this project attempts to determine the underlying factors of autism-related restricted interests and repetitive behaviours (RRBs). The specific aims of this project are to examine the relationship between sensory sensitivity and RRBs and to compare current questionnaire measures of sensory processing issues to more objective measures, specifically, a psychophysical behavioural task of visual sensitivity. A positive relationship was found between sensitivity and RRBs in both autistic children and their TD peers. Furthermore, …

Does Self-Regulation Mediate The Relationship Between Locus Of Control And Resiliency Related Outcomes?, Alexander J. Mcgregor

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Locus of control has been implicated in predicting mental wellbeing outcomes in a variety of theories and empirical studies, however the mediating mechanisms between the trait and mental wellbeing are not well known. The king and Rothstein (2010) model of resiliency posits self-regulation as the active mechanism that leads to recovery in resiliency related outcomes following significant adversity. These self-regulatory processes are predicted by a series of related traits, such as self-efficacy, neuroticism, or conscientiousness. This study investigated the mediating role of affective, behavioral, and cognitive self-regulation between locus of control, depression, and anxiety using mediation analysis. The results indicated …

Investigating The Interaction Of Emotion And Cognition: Conflict Adaptation And The Impact Of Emotionally-Salient Distraction, Samantha Goldsmith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Individual differences in cognitive control have significant implications for a broad range of everyday functions, from driving a car to maintaining healthy relationships. In a world filled with salient, task-irrelevant information, it is imperative to investigate cognitive control in the context of distraction. The current study investigated the interference effect of emotional versus non-emotional distraction in a conflict adaptation paradigm. Forty-seven young adults completed several individual difference measures and an emotional flanker task. Results failed to support the hypothesis that distractor valence would interact with prior and current flanker congruency, but showed a trend toward an effect of distractor valence …

When Your Boo Becomes A Ghost: The Association Between Breakup Strategy And Breakup Role In Experiences Of Relationship Dissolution, Rebecca B. Koessler

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Two studies examined ghosting, a unilateral breakup strategy that involves avoiding technologically-mediated contact with a partner instead of providing a verbal indication of the desire to break up. Study 1 solicited open-ended responses regarding experiences with ghosting and explored associations between ghosting and a variety of dispositional and situational variables. Study 2 investigated differences in the process of relationship dissolution and post-breakup outcomes as a function of breakup role (disengager or recipient) and breakup strategy (ghosting or direct conversation) across two samples. Recipients experienced greater distress and negative affect than disengagers, and ghosting disengagers reported the least amount of distress. …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Humor Styles And Depression, Marisa L. Kfrerer

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present study examined the relationship between humor styles and depression using two methods of examination: (1) the mean humor style differences between individuals who reported that they had been diagnosed with depression versus those who did not report being depressed; and (2) a short scale assessing depressed affect. Participants were 878 adult Australians. With respect to mean differences, depressed individuals were found to use self-defeating humor more, and self-enhancing humor less than non-depressed adults. When the depressed affect scale score was analyzed, negative correlations were found between depressed affect and both positive styles of humor, affiliative and self-enhancing. Additionally, …

The Influence Of Romantic Rejection On Change In Ideal Standards, Ideal Flexibility, And Self-Perceived Mate Value, Nicolyn H. Charlot

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Prior research has explored how ideal romantic standards are predictive of future partner characteristics, and how these standards change within relationships, but not how they develop in single individuals. The present study sought to determine whether repeated experiences of romantic rejection and acceptance over time would influence ideal standards and the related constructs of ideal flexibility and self-perceived mate value in a community sample (N = 211). As expected, experiences of rejection predicted decreases in ideal standards and self-perceived mate value, and increases in ideal flexibility. Experiences of acceptance did not have an effect. Gender and self-perceived mate value …

Standing And Dynamic Sitting In The University Classroom, Siobhan Smith

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Students almost exclusively sit in class, which translates to large amounts of forced sedentary behaviour and this in turn may have negative health consequences. The effect alternative postures have on classroom performance of university students remains unknown.

Using a randomized counterbalanced design, pilot study 1 (N=40) and 2 (N=20) investigated the effect of alternative postures on 3-minute and 50-minute classroom performance, respectively. In study 3, university students’ (N=1005) and faculty (N=218) acceptability to alternative workstations in the university classroom was assessed using a mixed method approach.

This thesis provides preliminary evidence that there is no difference between classic sitting, dynamic …

Post-Traumatic Growth And Pregnancy: Exploring The Experiences Of Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse, Alexandra Canzonieri

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Eighteen women in their second trimester of their first pregnancy who were survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and between the ages of 19 to 48 years old, were interviewed. Each participant was asked a series of questions including their thoughts about becoming a mother and how their lived experiences have changed their perception about raising a baby, their hopes for their baby and how their own beliefs have changed. A thematic analysis was conducted on 18 verbatim transcripts. Transcripts consisted of 120 statements that were coded into 4 major themes. The current research identified four major themes including Change in …

Exploring A Mindfulness-Informed Social Emotional Learning Program In Kindergarten Classrooms: The Moderating Role Of Participant Characteristics On Behavioural Outcomes, Nicole Off

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The importance of early intervention using social-emotional learning (SEL) programs is well documented, although less is known about mindfulness informed SEL programs such as MindUP™. Previously, research on MindUP™ has been limited to samples with older children and examining the universal effects, not considering individual characteristics. The present study explored changes in young children’s behaviours, as well as possible subgroup effects based on participant characteristics following MindUP’s™ implementation. MindUP™ was delivered to 285 children in 15-junior/senior kindergarten classrooms across eight high needs schools in a Southwestern Ontario school board. The present study used a subset of those data (N …

Crossover Kids: Maltreatment Experiences, Subsequent Maladjustment, And Systems Of Care, Blake Stewart

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Recent research suggests that youth (12-16) who have experienced the Child Welfare System (CWS) are more likely to be involved in early criminal and delinquent behaviour. These youth who are involved in this system of care are more likely than youth in the general population to “crossover” into another system of care - The Youth Justice System (YJS). While the CWS does not cause youth to crossover to the YJS, precipitating experiences such as maltreatment histories, mental health concerns, and psychosocial issues are possible factors that may exacerbate problems experienced in the CWS. The current study focused on these precipitating …

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder In Crossover Youth: The Pathway To Development And The Relationship With Life-Time Offending, Hailey Kolpin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

A large portion of justice-involved youth have previously been involved with the child welfare system; termed crossover youth. What is less understood is the trajectory of crossing over and the potential role of mental health problems. Using the theories of developmental traumatology and Moffitt’s developmental taxonomy of antisocial behaviour, the present study investigated the ability of several factors to distinguish and predict crossover youth who develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study of 299 justice-involved youth, chi-squared analyses found that several factors were able to differentiate youth with PTSD and/or associated symptoms from those without. Logistic regression indicated that …

Supporting Dynamic And Distributed Decision Making In Acute Care Environments: Insights From A Cognitive Ethnography, Anthony Naimi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The way that medical decisions are carried out in hospital environments has undergone radical changes in recent years, in part as a result of the changing landscape of care. To make decisions, physicians are expected to keep abreast of a growing and changing body of medical and patient knowledge, collaborate more with clinical colleagues, and utilize more technologies to inform care than ever before. This dissertation reports on a five month cognitive ethnography in an ICU in Ontario Canada, and utilizes distributed cognition to understand the challenges that physicians face in making decision in modern acute care environments. It also …

Settlement Experiences Of Syrian Refugees, Jennifer Perkins

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Statistics Canada (2017) reports that over 40,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since November of 2015. This large influx of refugees, some with psychological trauma, poses a great responsibility to service providers to ensure services meet the needs of their new clientele. One service provider in Midsized City, Ontario, which will be referred to as The Resource Center, has taken a new and culturally informed approach to providing service. This center has held multiple “Welcome Neighbour” events across the city to invite newcomers to form a closer community and give them the platform to express their needs as refugees. …