Digital Commons Network^™

The Perception Of Peer Support By Young Stroke Survivors, Katherine E. Mcgurk

Theses : Honours

Social support buffers against the negative effects of significant life events, and peer support is particularly beneficial for individuals experiencing serious health concerns. Stroke is one such event, and often results in a variety of physical and psychological impairments that negatively affect quality of life. Although considered primarily as a condition of the elderly, approximately 20% of strokes occur in people younger than 55. Despite facing significant psychological challenges including negative body image, pressure to return to work, anxiety, isolation, and depression, few younger stroke survivors access peer support services. This study explored young stroke survivors' perceptions of peer support …

An Exploratory Study On Reaction Time To Valenced Memories: The Importance Of Individual Differences, Emrah Ates

Theses : Honours

It is commonly accepted that valence has influences on long-term memory, but there are diverse results concerning methodology and the effect size. The literature is mixed with some authors reporting evidence consistent with negativity bias, others reporting evidence consistent with positivity bias and still others reporting no effect of valence on certain types of memory. This review argues that while there are divergent results for recall rate studies, reaction time studies and emotional Stroop task studies showed predominant negativity bias in long term memory. Moreover, many of the studies reviewed were solely concerned with group effects, rather than individual differences. …

Young Women's Perspectives On Tanning In Solariums: A Constructivist Grounded Theory Study, Michelle Louise Russell

Theses : Honours

Despite Australia's general public awareness regarding the dangers of UVR exposure, young women continue to tan in solariums. This study utilised a qualitative approach with eight in-depth interviews to explore young women's perspectives on tanning in solariums. The 'core category' or storyline underlying participants' responses was 'being in control'. Three core themes emerged from the data: 'positive reinforcers', which related to attractions and motivations to tan, 'possessing knowledge' which concerned the different types of knowledge which participants held, and 'change' which represented participants' outcomes from external pressures. It was found that body image concerns and reinforcing rewards were motivators to …

Predicting Adolescent Intentions To Use Sun Protection: Extending The Theory Of Planned Behaviour, Geoffrey Stephen Caratathis

Theses : Honours

There has been much psychological research conducted on the motivations to engage in suntanning and to a lesser extent, sun protective behaviours. The research has shown that compared to all other age groups, adolescents have the greatest desire to obtain a suntan, expose themselves to the sun the most and typically do not engage in sun protective behaviours. The theory of planned behaviour has been used a number of times to predict the intentions and the behaviours of deliberate sun exposure and to a lesser extent, sun protection. However, the theory of planned behaviour has often been unsuccessful in accounting …

Supporting Decision Making In A Complex World, Jonathan Tall

LSU Master's Theses

Recent research has questioned whether explicit thinking is necessary or even useful for complex decision making (Gladwell, 2005; Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006; Newell, Wong, Cheung, & Rakow, in press). The present research approaches this issue by examining how different types of decision support facilitate/hinder performance in a diagnostic medical task. The results from 3 experiments indicate that providing an external memory aid improves performance in complex tasks. Additional support in the form of a coding procedure improved awareness of the magnitude of drug effects, but did not improve detection of negative side effects. The results suggest that while performance is …

Functions And Correlates Of Deliberate Self-Harm Among Adjudicated Male Adolescents, Jenna Silverman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Deliberate self-harm (DSH) is self-inflicted physical injury without suicidal intent. Recent studies indicated that more adolescent males engage in DSH than previously identified. Research demonstrated that DSH is common in forensic settings and highly correlated with several mental health disorders. This study included 103 adjudicated male adolescents assessed for DSH and mental health concerns. Twenty-two participants with DSH history and 21 controls were interviewed about coping skills, mental health problems, and DSH functions. Results indicated that 66%, especially African American and Hispanic participants, reported DSH history. Participants with DSH history reported more aggression, emotional lability, alienation/boredom, and internalizing disorders but …

Examining Compressed Speech Listening Measure With College Students Who Are Visually Impaired Or Blind, William J. Marks

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Psychological assessments are a way of gaining some understanding of an individual in order to help make informed decisions (Sattler, 2001). These assessments offer potentially important and valuable information that can assist individuals with impaired vision in learning additional skills, improving deficient abilities, and in providing diagnostic information for future research. In addition, psychological assessments are frequently used to diagnosis a variety of psychological and learning disorders. Assessing individuals with impaired vision presents a variety of challenges from those encountered with the general population.

The current study provided an investigation into the relationship of the results of the compressed speech …

Parental Substance Abuse And Child Neglect: A Controlled Trial Of A Developed Treatment Manual, Valeria Romero

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The maltreatment of children is a devastating social problem in the United States. Many researchers and child welfare workers believe the recent increase in child neglect is directly correlated to an increase in parental substance abuse. There is a strong relationship between child neglect and parental substance abuse; however there are limited treatments that address both issues simultaneously. The present case studies evaluated the efficacy of a newly developed Family Behavior Therapy (FBT) program for child neglect and parental substance abuse utilizing controlled single case methodology. The Family Behavior Therapy (FBT) program is an integration of two published FBT interventions; …

Gender Differences In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders And Comorbid Psychopathology, Julie Hess

LSU Master's Theses

Abstract Children and adolescents diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) frequently exhibit symptoms that are not associated with the core features of ASD. These symptoms may meet criteria for an additional diagnosis; however, accurate assessment of comorbid psychiatric conditions in ASD has been hindered by a lack of measures designed for this specific purpose. The newly constructed assessment measure, Autism Spectrum Disorders-Comorbid for Children (ASD-CC) has been developed specifically for examining comorbid psychiatric disorders in ASD. Therefore, this study set out to assess differences in the endorsement rates of psychiatric symptoms in children and adolescents diagnosed with ASD compared to …

Affective Reactivity Of Speech Disturbances In Schizotypy, Kyle Stuart Minor

LSU Master's Theses

Speech disturbances (SD) are a stable, pernicious symptom of schizophrenia that increase when negative emotion and/or arousal are elicited. While considerable research has examined SD in patients with schizophrenia, much less is known about individuals at risk for the disorder, who demonstrate schizophrenia-like, or schizotypic, traits. The present study examined SD and speech reactivity to stress, termed affective reactivity (AR), produced during a laboratory procedure in separate groups of controls and individuals with psychometrically identified schizotypy. This project had two primary aims: 1) to examine SD severity across schizotypy symptoms and 2) to examine how SD varies as a function …

Diversity Issues In Recruitment And Retention Of Clients For Parenting Classes, Rachel Elizabeth Davis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Parenting skills classes are an effective means of preventing and remediating juvenile delinquency, youth violence, and child maltreatment. In particular, juvenile delinquency and child maltreatment disproportionately affect low-income African American families. Unfortunately, data from most parenting classes suggest dismal attendance and participation rates for racial- and ethnic-minorities from low-income backgrounds. The lack of effective recruitment may be due, in part, to the level of cultural competency inherent in the design, content, and implementation of existing parenting classes. Using semi-structured interviews and the qualitative methodology of grounded theory, this study explored the self-reported parenting beliefs, values, and struggles of a sample …

Evaluating The Response Styles Theory Of Depression Using Descriptive Experience Sampling, Theresa A. Scott

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Response Styles Theory of Depression states that there are two main responses to depression: distraction and rumination. Though it is believed distraction helps to alleviate feelings of dysphoria, the theory suggests rumination actually prolongs and intensifies episodes of depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1990, 1991). Rumination is also believed to play a role in the higher rates of depression seen in women (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1990, 1991). In 1987, Nolen-Hoeksema created the Response Styles Questionnaire (RSQ) as a measure to identify those who tend to use distraction or rumination as a psychological response to feelings of sadness or depression. The goal of this study …

Patient-Focused Research: Examining The Psychotherapist As A Feedback Receiver, Michael Haderlie

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The provision of feedback to psychotherapists regarding patient progress has been shown to produce improved therapy outcomes. However, little is known regarding therapists' responses to feedback. The current research examined novice therapists' perceptions of feedback based on the Outcome Questionnaire-45 (OQ-45). It was hypothesized that feedback would be considered more valuable when it was negatively-valenced (i.e., indicated that patient response to therapy was worse than expected). Patients (N = 19) of 5 trainee psychotherapists completed the OQ-45 before each session. Therapists then received feedback and rated it based on several characteristics. As hypothesized, negatively-valenced feedback was rated as more valuable …

Processes Of Disposition Development In K--5 Teachers, Deborah A. Obara

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Educators concur that teacher competency requires more than teaching knowledge and skills; competency requires appropriate professional dispositions. The development of professional dispositions is an expected outcome of teacher education programs. Since 2002, program accreditation has been contingent on documentation that prospective teachers have met national standards for dispositions. The body of educational research on disposition assessment has been growing. Research on disposition learning and development, however, has been impeded by the prevailing conceptualization of dispositions as fixed traits resistant to change. The present study conceptualized dispositions as malleable constructs within a theoretical framework that synthesized a cognitive model of thinking …

Health Motivation In Health Behavior: Its Theory And Application, Xiaoyan Xu

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present research proposed a definition and a theoretical model of health motivation that consists of four stages: development of health motivation tendency, formation of health intention, initiation of health related action, and persistence in actions to achieve goals developed at the first stage. Based upon this model, two health motivation scales - the Health Motivation Scale in Physical Activities (HMS-PA) and Health Motivation Scale in Healthy Eating (HMS-HE) were developed. Two studies were conducted to validate the validity of the scores obtained by these two scales. Study 1 proposed a definition and a theoretical model of health motivation, as …

Midlife Career Change And Women: A Phenomenological Examination Of The Process Of Change, Terry Ann Bahr

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine how fourteen women between the ages of thirty-five and fifty years old experienced the essence of making a midlife career change. Of further interest were the unique dimensions of each participant in their experience of this internal process of change. This study was an exploratory and inductive search for common themes and differences that these women shared throughout their experience of making a midlife career change.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted and thematic analysis was made by the construction of profile narratives for each participant. Five emerging themes were extracted from the …

Biofeedback Assisted Relaxation Training Program To Decrease Test Anxiety In Nursing Students, Catherine Andrea Prato

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nursing programs have been cited as being among the most stressful undergraduate programs. Students' knowledge and skills are consistently tested and monitored, and students may fail a course or be dropped from their nursing program if scores are not above a certain standard. Anxiety reactions are common to situations perceived as threatening; however, excessive anxiety may paralyze an individual and interfere with effective learning, functioning, and testing. Numerous studies have found increased anxiety causes physiological changes including increased respirations and heart rate, and decreased peripheral skin temperature. The purpose of this study was two fold. First test anxiety was measured …

Child Neglect And Trauma: The Additive Traumatic Effects Of Neglect On Maltreated Adolescents, Adrianna Rachel Wechsler

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Child maltreatment affects thousands of youths in the United States and poses numerous detrimental effects to individuals, families, and the community. Neglect is the most commonly reported and least studied form of child maltreatment. All types of child maltreatment may result in negative outcomes, but the chronic and pervasive nature of child neglect poses a significant threat to child development. No studies have been published evaluating the role of child neglect in the development of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and PTSD-related symptoms. This study examined whether neglect has an additive traumatic effect on maltreated youth. The first hypothesis was that …

Neurocognitive Deficits And Functional Outcome In Bipolar Disorder, Danielle T. Bello

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Bipolar disorder affects approximately 1% of the population. It is a severe and debilitating illness, causing serious impairment of interpersonal, occupational and social functioning. The disorder is characterized by marked mood swings as well significant neurocognitive deficits. Based on work with other psychiatric and neurological disorders, neurocognitive deficits in bipolar disorder are expected to be strong predictors of functional capacity. However, few studies have evaluated the consequences of neurocognitive deficits in this disorder. Most available studies have focused on the clinical correlates of functional outcome, such as number of hospitalizations, age of disorder onset, and severity of symptoms. While useful, …

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Other Consequences Of A Picu Admission, Stephanie Ann Stowman

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Currently, there is a paucity of literature regarding children's experiences in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) relative to caregivers' experiences. Children admitted to a PICU and their caregivers are at risk for various psychopathology. Disorders commonly identified in seriously ill children include depression, anxiety, acute stress disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Caregivers of seriously ill children are at increased risk of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, acute stress disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Researchers often fail to examine all relevant psychopathology and contributing factors and stressors, such as family environment, in seriously ill children and their caregivers. This study assessed …

Race Stereotypic Crimes And Juror Decision Making: Hispanic, Black, And White Defendants, Joseph Francis Boetcher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A race stereotypic crime is a crime that most people tend to associate with a certain race. This is a type of racial bias that affects juror decision making by undermining the presumption of innocence and lowering the prosecution's burden of proof. Two studies investigated race stereotypic crimes. Study 1 used a new scale to identify race stereotypic crimes for black, Hispanic, and white males. Study 2 used a mock juror paradigm with a realistic stimulus and sensitive measures to focus on the influence of this type of bias on mock juror decision making. Study 1: Participants were 143 undergraduate …

Measuring Applicant Faking With Job Desirability: Prevalence, Selection, And Measurement Issues In An Applied Sample, Esteban Tristan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Research has found that the use of social desirability scales to measure faking is problematic. The current study employed a job desirability scale consisting of job-specific bogus biographical items as an alternative faking measure in an applied setting. Using a 2 (applicants versus incumbents) x 2 (sales versus managers) design, participants (N = 958), participants completed a set of personality, social desirability, and job desirability measures. Results indicated that applicants outscored incumbents on personality measures. However, the effect size for conscientiousness was larger for the manager job whereas the effect size for extraversion was larger for the sales job, indicating …

Attentional Limitations And The Visual Pathways, Satomi Maeda

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The present study tested the hypothesis that three visual pathways (i.e. parvocellular, magnocellular, and koniocellular pathways) may influence the degree of dual-task interference using dual-task methodology. The magnocellular pathway consists of feature-coding mechanisms that are sensitive to transients and motion, and is thought to process information about the locations and movements of objects. The parvocellular pathway consists of feature-coding mechanisms that are sensitive to red-green and brightness information, while the koniocellular pathway consists of feature-coding mechanisms that are sensitive to blue-yellow chromatic information. Both the parvocellular and the koniocellular pathway are thought to process information useful for identifying objects. The …

Role Of Enriched Representations In Collaborative Planning Processes, Elizabeth A. Lerner

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The current study addressed the function of representing constraints in a display that is used for the process of planning on a team level. The experimental task was a modification of a game entitled 10 Days in Africa in which the players must complete a journey through the continent of Africa. Dyads participated in the game by constructing their own planning representations, as well as collaborating with the other player. We augmented the standard Gantt chart representation of timeline events with representations for the constraints holding between adjacent events. To examine the function of constraint representation in planning, we examined …

Bounded Rationality In The Emergency Department, Markus Alexander Feufel

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed at understanding bounded rationality - that is, how simple heuristics result in satisfactory outcomes - in a naturalistic setting where agents have to meet environmental demands with limited resources. To do so, two methodological approaches were taken, an observational and an experimental study of U.S. emergency physicians who have to provide a satisfactory level of care while simultaneously coping with uncertainty, time and resources constraints. There are three major findings. First, based on observations of 12 resident and 6 attending physicians at two Midwestern emergency departments (ED), ED physicians use at least two general heuristics. One heuristic …

Role Of Assigned Team Goals In The Relationship Between Individual Difference Factors And Self-Set Goals In A Pre-Team Context, Anupama Narayan

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of individual difference factors, i.e., core self evaluations, cognitive ability, and task specific self-efficacy, on self-set goals and whether those effects were moderated by an assigned team goal in a pre-team context. It was hypothesized that the relationship between individual difference factors and self-set goals for potential team members would be differentially affected by the difficulty of the assigned team goal. I assessed these relationships for individual performance and individual satisfaction. In addition, I examined whether gender, task type, and team composition interacted in their effects on self-set goals. …

Dynamic Decision Making In Surgery, Lisa Marie Kervin

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Following Dominguez (1997), we tested for differences among 10 resident surgeons' eye-scanning patterns during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy video. We measured time, number of fixations on anatomy and instruments, discomfort level ratings, notation of cystic artery, and conversion to open-incision. We expected our 10 residents would fall into two scanning strategies, proactive or reactive. Proactive strategists were defined as more skilled (year in residency, cases performed), anticipatory of danger (time and fixations on anatomy), observant of the pulsing cystic artery, and converting from laparoscopy to open when highly uncomfortable. Reactive strategists were expected to spend more time on instruments, have low …

Visual Contributions To Spatial Perception During A Remote Navigation Task, Candace Lee Eshelman-Haynes

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the implications of perception and action coupling for the design of control and display interfaces in remotely piloted vehicles. Three experiments were conducted: spatial arrangement, path perception, and remote navigation. The results showed that panning independent of forward motion gives observers a greater sense of depth in a scene and aides in efficient navigation while rotation during forward motion results in ambiguities during passive observation. This research has implications for the design of control and visualization interfaces for remote navigation.

Error Management Training: Further Tests Of Mediation And Moderation, Zachary T. Kalinoski

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated an alternative training approach that would improve transfer performance scores above traditional training approaches. Specifically, error-management training was proposed to help trainees learn complex tasks, as opposed to error-avoidant training approaches, which sought to give trainees step-by-step protocols for learning that would minimize the occurrence of errors during training. This study was designed to examine the effects of training type on transfer performance and transfer errors, as well as the effects of meta-cognition, emotion control and cognitive appraisals as mediators of the training type-performance relationship. A third issue of this study investigated the personality-training type interactions from …

The Effect Of Story Structure On Memory For Technical Instructions, Pamela R. Dowling

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Stories represent an important key to how people remember information. Psychology has characterized stories in terms of grammars, which are lists of components typically found in stories (e.g., setting, protagonist, causal sequence etc.). This has a tendency to limit the definition of a story to grammars and negate the importance of ideas such as content. The present research hopes to expand the definition of a story by introducing another set of literature, namely speech act theory. According to speech act theory, conversations include more information than regular text regarding expectations among the conversational participants and common patterns of conversational exchange. …