Digital Commons Network^™

The Embodied Causal Learner, Vanja Vlajnic

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Traditionally, cognitive psychology has assumed a disembodied learner and thinker. However, an emerging approach known as embodiment posits that seemingly irrelevant motor or perceptual aspects of a task can affect higher-level cognition. The findings from such embodiment studies have also been shown to extend into real-world settings. For example, children who were taught mathematical concepts while required to make gestures consistent with the problem’s solution were more likely, on average, to apply the mathematical concepts correctly in the future (Cook, Mitchell, & Goldin-Meadow, 2008). For this specific study, the area of causal learning was examined.

The primary goal of this …

Exploring Acceptance Of Using An Online Platform To Teach Parents Of Children With Autism Methods In Applied Behavior Analysis (Aba), Marwah S. Zagzoug

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Background and Purpose of the Study: A diagnosis of autism can lead to lifelong struggles for parents and children. These families face profound difficulties in coping with stress while seeking out early interventions and managing imperative service needs. Parents are increasingly turning to the internet for information, advice, and even formal training. Breakthroughs in technology have made the internet more accessible and more sophisticated. The involvement of parents in applying intervention strategies to help their autistic children has long been advocated as a useful approach. Enabling parents as interventionists provides renewed confidence and reduced stress for parents as well as …

Mental Health Screening Of Veterans Diagnosed With Cancer: Analyzing Psychological Distress And Attitudes Towards Seeking Professional Psychological Help, Jessica Jean Baptiste

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Studies analyzing mental health care utilization in veterans with a co-occurrence of a medical and psychological diagnosis are still underrepresented in the literature. The primary purpose of this study is to examine psychological screening methods of veterans diagnosed with cancer and determining when these veterans are more likely to endorse psychological symptoms. This information can contribute to the discussion of effective ways of integrating mental health screening in specialty care settings. A correlational, causal-comparative research design is employed to answer the study research questions and hypotheses. The participants include Vietnam, Korean, and World War II veterans seeking oncology services at …

Examining The Relationship Between Bicultural Stress, Mental Well-Being, Perceived Social Support, And Education Among People Of African Descent, Zemed Beraki Berhe

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Studies investigating the bicultural experiences of people of African descent are significantly underrepresented in the literature. The primary purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the relationship between experiences of bicultural stress and mental well-being. In investigating this relationship, perceived social support and education were examined as protective factors, and its relationship to bicultural stress for this population. With the ultimate goal of this information contributing to the understanding of bicultural processes within this population and the relationship to mental health outcomes. A non-experimental (non-randomized) research design was utilized to examine the study research questions and hypotheses. The participants …

Construct Validation Of The Psychosocial Costs Of Racism To Whites Scale For Ashkenazic Jews In The United States, Emile Tobias Berk

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study is a construct validation of the Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (Spanierman & Heppner, 2004) with Orthodox and non-Orthodox Ashkenazic (of European descent) American Jews. While Jewish-American biculturalism has been explored at length, there is a dearth of psychological research on Jewish-White biculturalism (Langman, 1999). Furthermore, the literature has yet to explore the impact of Jewish religious diversity on Ashkenazic-American self-perception as racially White beneficiaries of unearned privilege.

The Psychosocial Costs of Racism to Whites Scale (PCRW) measures three dimensions of White racial attitudes: White Empathic Reactions Towards Racism, White Guilt, and White Fear of Others. …

One-Session Mindfulness Meditation: The Effects Of Stress Anticipation, Christina Dorothy Colgary

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The current study concerns three main questions that are related to mindfulness meditation: the benefits of a brief preventative one-session mindfulness meditation, the effects of mindfulness meditation compared to a concentrative meditation, and correlations between rumination and stress when facing anticipated and unanticipated stressors. Type of meditation and whether or not participants could anticipate an upcoming stressor were varied in four conditions. Participants completed one 20-minute session of either mindfulness meditation or guided imagery meditation and were informed of a speech preparation task either before or after completing the meditation. Both one-session of mindfulness meditation and guided imagery meditation were …

Examining The Effect Of Education Type On Common Misconceptions Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Monica De Iorio

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

It has been widely shown that misconceptions related to traumatic brain injury (TBI) are held among both family members of people with TBI and the general public. These misconceptions have the potential to increase the distress of people with TBI and negatively impact rehabilitation processes. Although increased education has often been suggested to reduce misconceptions, few studies have examined which methods are most effective in providing information to the public. In the current study, I investigated the effects of existing education materials – either a TBI factsheet or personal stories of people with TBI. These materials are currently easily accessible …

Ethnicity, Qualifications, And Peer Influence: Relative Effects In A Simulated Hiring Decision, Victoria Lynn Kerns

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Past research has examined the effects observed when résumés varying only in a name or a particular characteristic that is often stereotyped against receive differential feedback (see, for example, Derous et al., 2009). The current study sought to build on that design, adding the influence of peers as a possible way to reduce this discrimination in hiring.

Participants viewed two résumés varying in qualifications, one belonging to a seemingly Anglo candidate and one belonging to a seemingly Arab candidate. They chose a candidate for the position in the presence of peer influence which favored one candidate over another, or peer …

An Investigation Of Short-Term Memory Functioning In A Neurodevelopmental Rat Model Of Schizophrenia, Ashley M. Moyett

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Schizophrenia is a debilitating disorder characterized by positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms. Cognitive deficits affect one’s learning and memory due to a dysfunction in the brain, inhibiting a normal functioning life. The self-medicating hypothesis states that ninety percent of people with schizophrenia smoke, because nicotine use improves these cognitive deficits. The cytokine hypothesis states that inflammation due to prenatal infection is associated with schizophrenia. These increased proinflamatory cytokines can damage the brains of the fetuses, which can cause schizophrenic-like symptoms in rats. The present study used Lipopolysaccharides to activate the cytokine-mediated inflammatory response injected into pregnant dams. A T-maze was …

The Short And Long-Term Effects Of Chronic Ketamine During Adolescence On Object Recognition Memory In Rats, William Hardin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Prior research has demonstrated that ketamine causes deficits in object recognition and location memory following both acute and chronic administration (Pitsikas & Boultadakis, 2009; Venãncio et al., 2011). Although it is well established that abuse of many different kinds of drugs during the critical developmental period of adolescence can lead to impairments in cognition later in adulthood (Gilpin et al., 2012; Wagner et al., 2010), no research has investigated the effects of chronic ketamine administration during adolescence and its effects on behavior in adulthood. With recent research establishing that chronic ketamine during adolescence produces late-onset alterations in electrophysiology during adulthood …

Power To The People: A Comprehensive Look At Crowdsourcing Initiatives In Cultural Institutions, Danielle Pace

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Today, crowdsourcing has become an integrative approach to completing projects using the help of the general populous. These projects aid museum staff by processing large quantities of data, which otherwise could not be completed due to time and/or staff restraints. Through crowdsourcing, cultural institutions have the ability to outsource these tasks to volunteers, who can complete them at much faster rates. Although staff members are needed to validate and supervise these projects, crowdsourcing remains a useful tool in increasing public interactions and project efficiency.

This thesis presents a thorough outline of what crowdsourcing is, how it is being utilized, and …

Effects Of 17Β-Estradiol On Learning And Memory And Strategy Use During A Hole Board Spatial Navigation Task In Aged Male Rats, Megan Berthiaume

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Treatment with 17β- estradiol has been shown to ameliorate age related deficits in spatial learning and memory as well as to promote the use of an allocentric strategy during spatial navigation. While the majority of research using 17β- estradiol has been done using females rodents, there have been studies showing an improvement in spatial learning and memory and promoted use of allocentric strategies in spatial navigation in males as well. In males testosterone (T) is metabolized into estradiol by aromatase. As circulating levels of T decline with aging there is less available T to be metabolized into estradiol. The current …