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B.F. Skinner's Theory Of Performance Excellence: A Radical Behavioral Perspective, Thomas Fritze

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner was a revolutionary in the field of psychology, particularly noted for his development of a philosophy of science and an approach to psychological study labeled radical behaviorism (Rachlin, 1995). To Skinner, psychology was synonymous with an organism's interactions between its environment and its own behavior - and behavior was defined accordingly. This way of studying psychology differed greatly from preceding behavioral iterations in psychology and kept up with advances in ·established fields of science. Due to the deficiencies of the behavioral tradition coming before Skinner, misunderstandings by many psychologists and scientists of the Skinnerian approach were …

Integration And Segmentation Conflict During Ensemble Coding Of Aspect Ratio, Elric Matthew Elias

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The visual system often integrates information that "goes together". Once information has been integrated, summary information (e.g., average emotion or average size) can be extracted; this occurs during ensemble coding. Integration thus allows for fast and efficient generalizations about sets to be made. In contrast, the visual system sometimes segments input that does not go together. For example, the perception of objects can be exaggerated away from natural category boundaries (e.g., a perfect circle is a category boundary; it is neither "flat" nor "tall"). Segmentation allows the visual system to make quick categorical distinctions. Much of the time, integration …

Psychotherapy Task-Based Assessment Of Therapists' Multicultural Orientation: A Measurement Development Study, Shaakira Haywood Stewart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Multicultural competencies (MCCs) have laid the foundation for therapists and researchers to strongly consider culture as an important factor in psychotherapy. More recently, Owen (2013) developed the multicultural orientation framework (MCO) to better explicate the MCCs for psychotherapy. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop a Multicultural Orientation Performance Task (MCO-PT) and coding system with therapists-in-training. For the MCO performance task, participants responded to eight brief simulated therapy situations that centered on the intersection of various cultural identities. Responses were recorded and coded for multicultural orientation. Prior to administration, vignettes were vetted by experts in the field. Approximately 100 …

The Role Of Psychological Flexibility In Graduate Student Stress And Well-Being, Aaron Hudyma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the prevalence of mental health concerns among graduate students (Evans, Bira, Gastelum, Weiss, & Vanderford, 2018), research on graduate student mental health lags behind that of undergraduates (Hyun, Quinn, Madon, & Lustig, 2006). This study utilized Lent's (2004) social-cognitive model of well-being to examine factors thought to contribute to graduate student well-being in a sample (N = 301) of graduate students in the United States. In particular, the role of the construct of psychological flexibility was examined for its influence on other factors in the model. Results indicated that the model demonstrated a good fit to the data …

Defining The Relationship: Intentional Decision-Making And Sexual Risk In Adolescent And Young Adult Romantic Relationships, Kayla Knopp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents three manuscripts addressing different sets of findings related to the "defining the relationship" (DTR) talk in adolescents' and young adults' romantic relationships. Paper 1 describes descriptive results from two studies, one utilizing a college undergraduate young adult sample (N = 341) and the other using a nationwide online sample of 15 to 17-year-old adolescents (N = 248). Key findings from Paper 1 indicate that DTR talks were used frequently in the relationships of young people, and were associated with relationship commitment and sexual behaviors. Paper 2 describes more in-depth analyses testing associations between having a …

A Dyadic Perspective On Young Adult Dating Aggression, Ann Lantagne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Guided by the dynamic developmental systems theory (Capaldi, Knoble, Shortt, & Kim, 2012), the present studies examined individual and relationship level risk factors for dating aggression. A series of Actor Partner Interdependence Models (APIM; Kenny, 1996; Kenny & Cook, 1999) were used to assess associations between males' and females' risk factors and dating aggression within 137 young adult couples. Findings indicated that both partners' reports of a number of relationship characteristics were associated with aggression, including negative interactions, satisfaction, jealousy, and anxious and avoidant relational styles. Moreover, there were actor partner interactions between male and female jealousy, anxious styles, and …

Assessing The Effectiveness Of Goal Setting In Group Treatment In A Correctional Institution, Marisa Kostiuk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Incarcerated offenders represent a large proportion of the American population. Additionally, incarcerated offenders also have high rates of mental health disorders and psychological distress. Given that a significant number of incarcerated offenders also struggle with mental health concerns, providing effective treatment is crucial. However, the examination of outcome-based research has lagged considerably with this particularly vulnerable population. One notable aspect of an individual's adaptive and healthy functioning is the development and implementation of prosocial goals. Despite the well-developed literature base on the beneficial impacts of goal setting, the use of goal setting as a treatment intervention has been largely overlooked …

Beyond School Engagement: School Adaptation And Its Role In Bolstering Resilience Among Youth Who Have Been Involved With Child Welfare Services, Skyler S. Leonard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Youth involved with the child welfare system are at significant risk of poor school functioning and mental health. Little research has explored how the connection to school impacts known relationships between adversity and youth outcomes. The following project sought to shed light on the role of schools in conferring risk or resilience for youth in contact with the child welfare system, with regard to their mental health. The overall aims of this project were to (1) improve our conceptualization of school adaptation, with particular attention to individual variation along multiple dimensions of school adaptation, (2) examine the relationship of …

Anti-Fat Bias And Attentional Capture, Larissa Catherine Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Explicitly-rated anti-fat attitudes are correlated with weight-based discrimination, which is rampant in society today as many countries grapple with soaring rates of obesity. Early perceptual processes, such as conscious awareness and visual attention, may be biased based on the weight of the perceived or the perceiver, or any number of individual perceiver characteristics regarding weight-biased attitudes and experiences. The three experiments presented used continuous-flash suppression (CFS) to mask body stimuli, thereby hoping to gain insight into attentional capture of unseen images and its relation to anti-fat attitudes. The pattern of findings in the three experiments presented suggest that what makes …

Commitment And Romantic Alternative Monitoring, Lane Laurel Ritchie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines cognitive and behavioral factors involved in the management of potential alternative partners. Two studies are described here, each in a separate paper. The first study investigates perceptions of potential alternative partners as presented in an experimental paradigm (Study 1) and the second study examines links between alternative monitoring and relationship outcomes, measured longitudinally in survey research (Study 2). In the first study, Perceptual Downgrading and Relationship Commitment, I use a well-established paradigm to test a novel series of questions: Do individuals in committed relationships perceive attractive others as less attractive than single people do? This phenomenon …

Individual Adjustment As A Predictor Of Improvements In Romantic Relationship Quality From Adolescence To Adulthood, Jamie Novak Shoop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous work suggests that individuals who experience a poor quality romantic relationship during adolescence are at heightened risk of experiencing poor quality romantic relationships in adulthood. However, this literature has not yet identified factors that may predict which individuals will go on to experience improved romantic relationship quality in adulthood, despite having experienced a poor quality romantic relationship during adolescence. The goal of the current study was to examine whether adolescents' psychosocial adjustment (internalizing and externalizing symptoms, substance use, and self-esteem) predicted improvements in the quality of their subsequent romantic relationships. Data were drawn from a community sample of 200 …

Exploring The Role Of Relapse For Women In Recovery From An Eating Disorder, Britney Tibbits

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Eating disorders are serious mental health problems with high relapse rates (Arcelus, Mitchell, Wales, & Nielsen, 2011; Herzog et al., 1999). Research has demonstrated that eating disorder populations show interpersonal deficits at baseline compared to comparison groups (Arcelus, Haslam, Farrow, & Meyer, 2013; Grissett & Norvell, 1992; Ivanova et al. 2015; Tiller at al., 1997), specifically in assertiveness (Behar, Manzo, & Casanova, 2006; Constantino & Smith-Hansen, 2008; Duchesne et al., 2012; Hartman et al., 2010). The goal of this research was to explore the variables related to relapse and make the social and interpersonal growth that occurs in recovery visible …

"Stretched Thin": Pregnancy And Motherhood In Clinical And Counseling Psychology Doctoral Programs, Kimberlee Yalango

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Given that women now earn the majority of psychology doctoral degrees in the United States (Aud et al., 2012), there needs to be consideration of unique social and systemic difficulties that women may face during their studies. One particular issue of importance is women's choice to become pregnant and start families during their graduate education. Despite the challenges of becoming pregnant during a doctoral program and balancing the roles of mother and student, there has been limited research that examines this phenomenon. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of women who become pregnant during their time …

Exploring The Moderation Mechanisms Of The Association Between Acculturative Stress And Social Self-Efficacy Among Asian International Students, Jinzhao Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Asian international students account for 70% of international students in the U.S., which makes 4.3% of total population enrolled in American universities and colleges. They experience stress related to adapting to mainstream culture in the U.S. (i.e., acculturative stress), which negatively impacts their mental health and view of self. The negative impacts also include willingness and ability to perform social behaviors and to maintain interpersonal relationships (i.e., social self-efficacy). Previous acculturation studies proposed from a theoretical perspective that several factors may alleviate the negative impact of acculturative stress and enhance Asian international students' social self-efficacy. These factors include acculturation orientation …

The Use Of Clinical Judgment In Differentiating Symptoms Of Autism Spectrum Disorder From Those Of Other Childhood Conditions: A Delphi Study, Staci Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

More and more, due to long waiting lists at diagnostic clinics and access barriers for certain segments of the population, schools are often the first environment in which children are evaluated for ASD (Sullivan, 2013). And while accurate identification of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is essential for proper treatment and service provision, large percentages of school and community-based identifications of ASD are overturned when children are re-evaluated with strict clinical criteria (Wiggins et al., 2015). In part, challenges faced in accurately differentiating ASD from other conditions may be contributed to the diagnostic complexities of the condition itself. Clinical expertise is …

The Intersection Of Mindfulness, Teacher Efficacy And School Climate: A Pilot Study, Sarah K. Killion

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Burnout, teaching self-efficacy, and school climate are hot topics in education. Daily stressors create feelings known as burnout, including emotional exhaustion, detachment from teammates, and a decline in feelings of professional competence. The alarmingly high rate of educator turnover illustrates a critical juncture in education. Therefore, interventions are required to improve a teachers' ability to manage student behaviors, provide quality instruction, maintain student engagement, and sustain an atmosphere of collegiality with teammates and administrators.

Mindfulness is a concept that is best understood as moment-to-moment, non-judgmental awareness cultivated through the practice of meditation and calming activities. These interventions are being utilized …

The Cultural Transmission Of Gender Roles In Childhood, Sarah Ariel Lamer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the present work, I summarize extant theories and evidence on how children learn about gender roles and test an ecological framework for gender-role learning (i.e., the Gendered Ecology Model). Existing theory has demonstrated that children begin to form symbolic representations of gender as young as 9 months and acquire basic gender stereotypes about behaviors and activities considered appropriate for each gender by 3 years. Theories have proposed several potential sources and moderators of how children learn about the roles that women and men generally hold. However, no theories have examined these sources from an ecological approach, leaving open the …

Resonances Of Love And Social Complexity In The Circadian Novel: Virginia Woolf, Christopher Isherwood, And Mulk Raj Anand, Mikayla Marie Peters

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Both Mulk Raj Anand and Christopher Isherwood admired and borrowed from Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway to build their own circadian novels. This thesis attempts to apply three major theories from three different disciplines - narrative theory, sociology, and psychology - to three major circadian novels to explain how societal pressures and the past influence the protagonists' connections with others. Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway (1925), Anand's Untouchable (1935), and Isherwood's A Single Man (1964) all use a circadian (single-day) structure to explore how the past influences every decision in a single day. This thesis combines Michel de Certeau's Theory of the Everyday …

Exploring Early Temperament Predictors Of Maladaptive Behavior In A Group Of Elementary School Age Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Caren D. Rhodes-Doudna

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current study is an ex post facto nonexperimental design analyzing archival data collected from previous trials of a large-scale longitudinal study conducted by researchers at JFK Partners, Center of Excellence in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in collaboration with the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School (Principal Investigator: Susan Hepburn, Ph.D.). Specifically, the study looked at the temperament characteristics of mood, intensity, adaptability, and approach measured within early childhood and how they relate to later maladaptive behavior within a group of elementary age children diagnosed with ASD. Maladaptive behavior is a particularly salient outcome, as it impacts the child and …

Self-Compassion Versus Self-Esteem For An Experience Of Ostracism, Russell S. Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-compassion refers to an adaptive way of responding to the self when in distress and consists of three main components: mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness. Self-compassion offers a promising alternative to the construct of self-esteem for predicting and influencing responses to ostracism, a specific type of social exclusion in which an individual is ignored for unknown reasons. The present study examined the differential associations of trait self-compassion and trait self-esteem with attribution, emotion regulation, shame, and prosocial responses following an experience of ostracism using the Cyberball ostracism paradigm. Undergraduate participants (n = 219) completed trait self-esteem and trait self-compassion …

Social Support Satisfaction As A Protective Factor For Postpartum Maternal Distress, Amy-Lynn Elisabeth Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social support has been identified as a protective factor for postpartum maternal distress, a prevalent women's health issue, and most research focuses on the amount of support women receive. However, research in this area has failed to explore whether increasing satisfaction with social support may be a worthwhile approach to alleviating postpartum maternal distress, beyond increasing amounts. There is also little known regarding specific aspects of support, like satisfaction with emotional and instrumental support, that might lead to differences in postpartum distress outcomes. In this prospective, longitudinal study, we hypothesized that greater social support satisfaction will be associated with less …

Implementation Of Screening And Outcome Measures At A Cancer Specific Mental Health Clinic, Hannah Katz

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

There is limited research examining the overall distress levels of cancer patients and caregivers longitudinally, as well as how to best implement distress surveys into a general community clinic. This study had two aims: (1) To implement surveys in a community-based clinic that serves cancer patients and their family members; and (2) To gain an understanding of the outcome of psychotherapy. The study included 15 participants—eight patients and seven student therapists—over a five-month period in the Center for Oncology Psychology clinic. Patients and therapists were matched in dyads. Surveys were provided to patients at three time points. Additionally, an outcome …

Becoming A Better Therapist: Eight Lessons From Running, Kelsey Hyde

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper seeks to identify lessons that can be taken from the sport of running to serve as a map for learning skills needed to become a better therapist. The practice of running mirrors the practice of learning therapy skills. This paper takes the lens of how to practice to become a better runner and applies it as a new approach to skill development for therapists. Additionally, this paper incorporates self-reflection and disclosure as I myself identify as a female runner and therapist. I will use personal examples to highlight the ways that lessons from running have served as a …

A Behavior Analytic Translation Of Erving Goffman's Frame Analysis, Tim Chi

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The sociologist Erving Goffman's 1974 work, "Frame Analysis," is an attempt to account for how people construct and organize meaning in their experiences. The central principle in this approach is that of the frame: An abstractive concept that refers to the totality of environmental events and stimuli exerting some influence on how people behave in a particular setting and time, with respect to the expectations, roles, and norms to be observed.

Though Frame Analysis was developed within the discipline of sociology, it converges in apparently useful ways with the work of clinical psychology, both in its content and epistemology. Goffman's …

The Utility Of Neuropsychological Measures On The Differential Diagnosis Of Adhd-Inattentive Type Versus Anxiety In A Pediatric Outpatient Behavioral Health Population, Emily Stapleton

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This study examined the differences in inattention and executive function between a group of children diagnosed with ADHD and a group diagnosed with anxiety disorders to establish differential profiles for these two disorders. This study evaluated the differences among children with ADHD and anxiety disorders, using parent-report and performance-based measures of inattention and anxiety. A retrospective chart review was completed for a total of 58 patients who met the criteria for an anxiety disorder or for ADHD-C and ADHD-I at the completion of the neuropsychological assessment. Analyses compared the ADHD group and the Anxiety group on select scales and subscales …

Development And Validation Of The Family-School Partnering And Collaboration Scale, Carly Anne Sorenson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are many positive effects that family, school, and community partnerships (FSP) have on student achievement, behavior, and social-emotional development (Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003; Epstein, 1994, 2011; Graham, 2011; Henderson & Mapp, 2002; Jeynes, 2005, 2007; Ulugag, 2008). Due to the many benefits FSP have on student educational outcomes, current education reform efforts and legislation have mandated the implementation of FSP practices in schools. Additionally, legislation has called for increased accountability efforts to ensure that educators have appropriate levels of FSP skills and competencies (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Education, 2016). As such, …

Utilizing Music Therapy To Enhance Competency Restoration Treatment, Cory Linder

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

In Dusky v. the United States (1960), the Supreme Court ruled that the U.S. Constitution requires all defendants to be competent to proceed before the judge issues a verdict. Specifically, to stand trial, defendants must have a factual and rational understanding of court proceedings and the capacity to work with their attorneys. Those who are found incompetent to proceed frequently have severe and persistent mental illness and often exhibit cognitive deficits (Mossman et al., 2007). Competency restoration utilizes therapeutic services to treat symptoms that inhibit defendants from being opined competent to proceed. Existing research suggests music therapy can be used …

Sex Topics In Therapy: A Literature Review And Proposal For Continuing Education, Courtney Gallagher

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Sex topics should be welcome in the therapy room. Sexual identity, practices, concerns and questions should not be considered a "taboo" subject in the therapy room, yet clients remain reluctant to bring up such topics with their therapists. In order to ensure that clients feel free to bring into the room such themes that are a large part of their life, clinicians need to be trained and competent in sex topics. The following literature review examines the history of femininity and masculinity and what "facts" have continued to permeate into our profession, the history of sex expectations, language about sex …

Telebehavioral Health Program Needs Assessment Conducted At Aurora Mental Health Center, Iwei Wang

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The purpose of this project was to conduct a needs assessment for a Telebehavioral Health Program at Aurora Mental Health Center (AuMHC) to determine how telebehavioral health aligns with the organization’s interests, needs, services, target population, and readiness for telebehavioral health services. This investigator used survey and content analysis methods to conduct this investigation. Findings of this assessment showed that both literature and existing programs at AuMHC were supportive of moving forward with telebehavioral health services. Considerations of AuMHC’s contextual conditions and recommendations for successful implementation are provided.

Adverse Childhood Experiences, Neuroadaptation, And Resilience: Does Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Go Far Enough?, Tracie Abbott

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) pose a significant public health risk. Current literature suggests ACEs have the potential to significantly disrupt sensitive periods of neurodevelopment. These neuroadaptations can result in social, emotional, and cognitive impairments that place a child at a significantly greater risk for adopting health risk behaviors and lifestyle factors that lead to the major causes of disease, disability, social problems, and early death in adults. Mental health clinicians have a unique opportunity to intervene by working with families to alter the trajectories of the child’s health risk behaviors and lifestyle factors. Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), a …