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Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Descriptive Study, Erica Jex Gergely Dec 2012

Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy: A Descriptive Study, Erica Jex Gergely

Dissertations

The current study seeks to examine the program operations and treatment practices of individuals and organizations providing equine-assisted therapy services nationwide. Currently, there are several hundred programs across the United States that utilize equine-assisted therapy to treat common mental health problems in children, adolescents, and adults. Not all equine therapy programs function under the same theoretical model and therefore do not deliver treatment services using equivalent principles or techniques. In addition, program policies, procedures, and ethical guidelines of each provider vary. To date, there exists a paucity of research regarding equine-assisted therapy including both qualitative and quantitative data.

The present …


Examining The Role Of Research Mentoring In Predicting Research Self-Efficacy Among Minority Professional Psychology Doctoral Students, Donald Edward Knight Dec 2012

Examining The Role Of Research Mentoring In Predicting Research Self-Efficacy Among Minority Professional Psychology Doctoral Students, Donald Edward Knight

Dissertations

The involvement of racial/ethnic minority doctoral students in the conduct of psychological research is of significance in meeting the mental health challenges of an increasingly diverse US population. However, scant empirical evidence exists regarding the mentored research experiences and resulting increases or decreases in confidence these students encounter in conducting research. The purpose of this study is to examine predictors [i.e., Research Mentoring Experiences (RME), perceptions of the Research Training Environment (RTE), and Interest in Research (IRQ)] of research self-efficacy among a sample of racial/ethnic minority PhD students in APA-accredited clinical and counseling psychology programs. The study is guided by …


An Evaluation Of Social Capital's Effect On Depression Among Adolescents, Ezechukwu Awgu Dec 2012

An Evaluation Of Social Capital's Effect On Depression Among Adolescents, Ezechukwu Awgu

Dissertations

Mental illness has been described as a “global burden of disease,” and depression accounts for a large part of the burden (Aslund, Starrin, Nilsson, 2010). In 2009, 35.7 percent of the adolescent population in the United States who reported past-year symptoms of a major depressive episode, for example, feelings of sadness, discouragement, loss of feelings of self-worth, and loss of interest in social activities, also used illicit drugs including marijuana, inhalants, hallucinogens, cocaine, heroin, and prescription-type psychotherapeutics for non-medical purposes (SAMHSA, 2009, APA, 1994). Additionally, substance abuse due to alcoholism was among the major causes of death for adolescents aged …


Effects Of D-Galactose Treatment And Moderate Exercise On Spatial Memory In Rats, Amanda R. Austin Dec 2012

Effects Of D-Galactose Treatment And Moderate Exercise On Spatial Memory In Rats, Amanda R. Austin

Dissertations

Cognitive decline is a process frequently associated with aging. Physical exercise appears to counteract cognitive decline, specifically spatial abilities, and decreases the effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS) associated with aging. In addition, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) are well recognized as chemical mediators of the neurophysiological benefits of exercise.

In order to study the impact of exercise on spatial memory and neurotrophic factors, this study utilized an animal model of accelerated aging involving chronic d-galactose administration. Specifically, previous research indicates daily injections of d-galactose for 6-10 weeks may increase ROS in mice and …


Health And Relationship Variables Impacting Psychological And Social Well-Being Among Predominantly White Middle Class Adults 65 And Older Who Receive Assistance With Their Care From Family Members, Alyssa C. Ford Dec 2012

Health And Relationship Variables Impacting Psychological And Social Well-Being Among Predominantly White Middle Class Adults 65 And Older Who Receive Assistance With Their Care From Family Members, Alyssa C. Ford

Dissertations

The majority of care to persons 65 and older in the United States is provided by family members. Previous research among older adults who receive assistance with their care from family or friends, while sparse, has identified variables that appear to impact the well-being of such persons. These variables include reciprocity, dignity, self-perceived burden, mental health status, and physical health or disability status. However, these variables have not been studied together. The purpose of this dissertation research was to examine these variables individually and collectively as they relate to well-being.

A sample of 71 adults, ages 68 to 97, who …


Personality And Religiosity: The Influence Of Normative Personality On Black Sunni Muslims' Religious Attitudes And Practices, Halim Khidher Naeem Dec 2012

Personality And Religiosity: The Influence Of Normative Personality On Black Sunni Muslims' Religious Attitudes And Practices, Halim Khidher Naeem

Dissertations

There is a dearth of literature on Black Sunni Muslims in the field of psychology. More so, there is no literature specifically analyzing the influences upon Black religiosity. The literature has established that personality has significant influence upon religiosity. The literature also says that females are more religious than their male counterparts. The present study analyzed the influence of personality, gender and social class upon religiosity for Black Sunni Muslims. The following hypothesis was investigated: Personality, gender, and social class will affect religious attitudes and practices.

A canonical regression analysis using SPSS revealed that personality, gender and social class had …


Comparing The Effects Of Simulated, Intelligent Audible, Checklists And Analog Checklists In Simulated Flight, Bryan Hilton Dec 2012

Comparing The Effects Of Simulated, Intelligent Audible, Checklists And Analog Checklists In Simulated Flight, Bryan Hilton

Dissertations

This study examined the effect of using a simulated intelligent audible checklist in simulated flight as compared to a standard analog (paper) checklist. Participants were three Western Michigan University students in the College of Aviation. All participants were licensed pilots with instrument ratings. The main dependent variable was the number of checklist errors or omissions committed by the pilots in simulated flight. During each flight, each participant could make up to 42 errors. The error count would initiate at the appropriate time to perform the “before-take off checklist” and would end one minute after parking the plane, the logical time …


Behavior Based Sales: A Study Of Behavioral Techniques For Sales Performance Improvement, Peder Henrik Seglund Dec 2012

Behavior Based Sales: A Study Of Behavioral Techniques For Sales Performance Improvement, Peder Henrik Seglund

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the impact of a behavior-based sales training package on sales performance for the sales divisions of two different organizations located in separate cities in the Midwestern United States. The independent variable was a package that included: behavior-based sales training; feedback; and reinforcement. The primary dependent variable was sales performance results, which is a measure of the participants’ closing percentage. Secondary dependent variables included income, participant attendance at sales meetings, participant satisfaction, and changes in knowledge (at site 2 only).

The intervention package was implemented at each site over a course of …


Performance On A Data Entry Task When Participants Receive Three Different Types Of Graphic Feedback, Sarah E. Vanstelle Dec 2012

Performance On A Data Entry Task When Participants Receive Three Different Types Of Graphic Feedback, Sarah E. Vanstelle

Dissertations

This purpose of the present study was to compare the effects of three types of graphic feedback on worker performance and satisfaction. The first type displayed individual performance (IF), the second displayed individual performance and average group performance (SCF-GA), and the third displayed individual performance for each individual in the group (SCF-IP). Participants were 54 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of the three groups. They performed a computerized data entry task that simulated the job of a medical data entry clerk. The primary dependent variable was the number of correctly completed patient records. Secondary dependent variables included: …


School Counselors' Activities In Predominantly African American Urban Schools, Lacretia T. Dye Aug 2012

School Counselors' Activities In Predominantly African American Urban Schools, Lacretia T. Dye

Dissertations

Urban school reform has begun to penetrate the school counseling profession in both theory and practice. The American School Counseling Association’s National Model (ASCA, 2005), as well as the Transforming School Counseling Initiatives component of the Education Trust (2007) are initiatives within the school profession promoted, in part, as responses to urban school reform. In particular, the ASCA National model is a “call to action” for school counselors to promote student success by closing the existing achievement gap whenever found between students of color, poor students, or underachieving students and their more advantaged peers (ASCA, 2005). However, little information is …


First-Generation, African American Students' Experiences Of Persisting At A Predominantly White Liberal Arts College, Candy S. Mccorkle Aug 2012

First-Generation, African American Students' Experiences Of Persisting At A Predominantly White Liberal Arts College, Candy S. Mccorkle

Dissertations

Generational status of students is one of the variables that colleges and universities are starting to track and study in order to gain a better understanding of its impact on retention and persistence of students. This phenomenological study provides narrative from five first-generation, African American students who attend a predominantly White liberal arts college in the Midwest; their stories provide a snapshot of how they experienced college, made meaning of those experiences and the impact of these experiences and meaning-making on their motivation to persist in college. These five students participated in individual audio-taped interviews that were analyzed and coded. …


Child Parent Relationship Therapy For Parents Of Children With Disruptive Behavior, Alison Moses Aug 2012

Child Parent Relationship Therapy For Parents Of Children With Disruptive Behavior, Alison Moses

Dissertations

Young children who display extreme levels of disruptive behaviors are at increased risk for later academic difficulties, poor social relationships and adolescent delinquency, making early intervention efforts a priority. Studies evaluating Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) have demonstrated its effectiveness in improving parental empathy, improving parental acceptance, decreasing parenting stress, and decreasing perceived child problem behavior. These outcomes, however, must be evaluated in light of several research limitations (e.g., lack of randomization, use of non-standardized measures, lack of treatment integrity data). Well conducted studies that assess the effectiveness of CPRT on specific presenting problems are needed to evaluate better the impact, …


Identifying Mechanisms Of Change: Utilizing Single-Participant Methodology To Better Understand Behavior Therapy For Youth Depression, Andrew R. Riley Aug 2012

Identifying Mechanisms Of Change: Utilizing Single-Participant Methodology To Better Understand Behavior Therapy For Youth Depression, Andrew R. Riley

Dissertations

The study’s primary goal was to provide a model for studying therapeutic mechanisms of action at the single-case level. By controlling for non-specific early responses, identifying potential mechanisms of action a priori, taking frequent measures of mechanisms and dependent variables, rigorously evaluating internal validity, and using a variety of analytic methods, a unique model for analysis of potential mediators was created. Eleven depressed youths were recruited to receive first a non-directive therapy (NDT), followed by a behavioral therapy (BT) for those still displaying high levels of symptoms. Four participants responded to NDT. Of the remaining seven, all showed some improvement …


The Effects Of Repeated Resurgence Conditions On The Magnitude Of Resurgence, Ryan Nathaniel Redner Aug 2012

The Effects Of Repeated Resurgence Conditions On The Magnitude Of Resurgence, Ryan Nathaniel Redner

Dissertations

Resurgence is defined as the recurrence of a previously reinforced behavior, under the condition that reinforcer delivery ceases for a more recently reinforced behavior. The current study investigated the effect of repeating the resurgence procedure six times with pigeons and two times with rats to determine the effect of repetitions on the magnitude of resurgence. Three phases were repeated: (a) Response 1 was reinforced while there were no programmed consequences for Response 2, (b) Response 2 was reinforced and Response 1 was extinguished, and finally (c) there were no programmed consequences for either response. The results indicated that the magnitude …


What Psychotherapists Have To Teach Us About Childhood Developmental Trauma: The Roles Of Attachment Orientation And Coping Strategy, Rebecca Klott Aug 2012

What Psychotherapists Have To Teach Us About Childhood Developmental Trauma: The Roles Of Attachment Orientation And Coping Strategy, Rebecca Klott

Dissertations

Psychotherapists have been found to have higher rates of childhood developmental trauma when compared to non-clinicians, yet they do not report more distress. The current study added to the literature regarding the experiences of psychotherapists and explored a theoretical model integrating attachment and coping as mediators for the relationship between childhood developmental trauma and psychological distress among psychotherapists.

A total of 130 masters' level psychologists participated in this study. These participants were asked to complete the following measures: The Child Abuse and Trauma Scale (Sanders& Becker-Lausen, 1995), the Ways of Coping-Revised (Folkman & Lazarus, 1985; Folkman, Lazarus, Denkel-Schetter, DeLongis, & …


Mine Detection Rats: Effects Of Repeated Extinction On Detection Rates, Amanda M. Mahoney Aug 2012

Mine Detection Rats: Effects Of Repeated Extinction On Detection Rates, Amanda M. Mahoney

Dissertations

In recent years, giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) have been used successfully for detecting landmines in Mozambique. The rats are trained to detect mines through the use of operant conditioning techniques, in which the indicator response (stopping and digging) is rewarded (reinforced) with food when it occurs within one meter of a landmine and not rewarded when it occurs under other circumstances. Because handlers do not know the location of landmines when the rats are used operationally, and therefore cannot ascertain if an indication response is correct (near a mine) or incorrect, no rewards are delivered in …


Predictors Of Counselor Self-Efficacy Among Master's Level Counselor Trainees: Impact Of Cohort Versus Non-Cohort Educational Programs, Regina Lynn Meyer Aug 2012

Predictors Of Counselor Self-Efficacy Among Master's Level Counselor Trainees: Impact Of Cohort Versus Non-Cohort Educational Programs, Regina Lynn Meyer

Dissertations

Self-efficacy, a central component of Bandura's social cognitive theory (SCT), is an important construct in the realm of therapist development and has been associated with client outcome. Researchers have found that some of the strongest predictors of counselor self-efficacy are level of experience, level of training, state anxiety, and trait anxiety. Missing from this body of literature, however, is an understanding of how the educational format of training (i.e., cohort versus non-cohort) impacts counselor self-efficacy. Because cohort membership has been associated with professional confidence and self-esteem, it was hypothesized that educational format would contribute significant variance to counselor self-efficacy scores. …


Social Justice, White Racial Identity, And Multicultural Competency Among White Master Level Trainees In Counselor Education And Counseling Psychology, Sara Rebecca Streufert Aug 2012

Social Justice, White Racial Identity, And Multicultural Competency Among White Master Level Trainees In Counselor Education And Counseling Psychology, Sara Rebecca Streufert

Dissertations

In recent years, scholars have become more vocal regarding counselors and counseling psychologists’ responsibilities to advance efforts for social change (Goodman et al., 2004; Speight & Vera, 2004; Vera & Speight, 2004). As a result, empirical investigations have started to evaluate variables that may contribute to trainees and mental health professionals’ desire to participate in social justice advocacy (Beer, 2008; Caldwell, 2008; Landreman et al., 2007; Nilsson & Schmidt, 2005). However, most of these studies do not focus on trainees and mental health professionals who identify as White. The present study used quantitative analyses to explore nine hypotheses regarding the …


Lesbian/Queer/Same-Gender-Loving Women Graduate Students In Mental Health Related Fields: A Grounded Theory Of Attitudes Toward Transgender Individuals, Bonnie M. Benson Jun 2012

Lesbian/Queer/Same-Gender-Loving Women Graduate Students In Mental Health Related Fields: A Grounded Theory Of Attitudes Toward Transgender Individuals, Bonnie M. Benson

Dissertations

Transgender (trans) issues are an emerging area of research within counseling psychology. As such, little is known about how individuals form their attitudes toward trans people. Despite evidence that lesbian women are one group that has held biased views of the trans population, the literature has not addressed the perceptions that lesbian women have of trans individuals. Furthermore, the campus climate literature has attended to how LGBT students experience campus discrimination, but this literature has not addressed within-group differences, that is, attitudes and interactions among LGBT members of a university community, such as those between lesbians and trans people. The …


In Their Own Words: The Lived Experiences Of Unemployed African American Men, Kenlana R. Ferguson Apr 2012

In Their Own Words: The Lived Experiences Of Unemployed African American Men, Kenlana R. Ferguson

Dissertations

Due to staggering unemployment rates, African American men's experience with work in the U.S. has historically received widespread attention in the media and social science literature. Terms such as black male unemployment crisis, puzzle, epidemic and catastrophe have been used to describe the unemployment woes of black. Attempts at explaining why African American men are experiencing such difficulty in the world of work has been undertaken across the disciplines, however much of this work has amounted to nothing more than acknowledgement that isolating independent factors as causes does not suffice and that a more interdisciplinary framework is needed if we …