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Combined Pharmacotherapy For The Treatment Of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation And Recovery Of Function Following Prefrontal Cortex Controlled Cortical Impact In Rats, Abby Nicole Kyser Jan 2009

Combined Pharmacotherapy For The Treatment Of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation And Recovery Of Function Following Prefrontal Cortex Controlled Cortical Impact In Rats, Abby Nicole Kyser

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Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common among military personnel, resulting from bomb blasts and explosions. The secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines following TBI has been linked to cerebral edema and neuronal loss. The use of lovastatin for TBI has been suggested to be neuroprotective by combating cytokines and inflammation. Fluoxetine has been suggested to aid in the prevention of edema during secondary injury processes, as well as having a relationship to neural plasticity. Seventy-six Long-Evans rats were randomly assigned to CCI (controlled cortical impact) or sham-operated as well as one of the following drug conditions: no treatment, vehicle, Fluoxetine only, Lovastatin …


Innovativeness And Online Shopping Adoption, Blake Edward Hodges Jan 2009

Innovativeness And Online Shopping Adoption, Blake Edward Hodges

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This study was designed to examine the role of innovativeness in online shopping. Innovativeness is one of the more widely studied phenomena in the domain of consumer research and is said to play a prominent role in the adoption of new products (Im, Bayus & Mason, 2003, Midgley & Dowling, 1978). However, issues regarding the validity of the innovativeness construct as well as its scales still remain. Using responses from an online survey given in the United States regarding online shopping habits, the effectiveness and validity of two innovativeness scales were examined both alone as well as in larger models …


Identity Distress Surrounding Retirement, Jennifer Colbert Jan 2009

Identity Distress Surrounding Retirement, Jennifer Colbert

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The purpose of this study was to examine identity distress surrounding retirement. From past literature I hypothesized that individuals would experience more psychological distress after retirement compared to before and those who earned a professional degree would experience more distress than others. I also hypothesized the longer time retired the less distress, and those who were forced to retire would experience more distress after retirement than those who retired voluntarily. Results of the study conducted with 40 retired people in the United States revealed only one significant result. Those who were forced to retire showed increased levels of identity distress …


Examining The Role Of Talker-Specific Details In The Perception Of Words Spoken By Famous Talkers, Alisa M. Maibauer Jan 2009

Examining The Role Of Talker-Specific Details In The Perception Of Words Spoken By Famous Talkers, Alisa M. Maibauer

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Previous work demonstrates that talker-specific details tend to affect language perception relatively late in processing. One possible explanation for this time-course effect may be that the listeners in the previous study were presented with unfamiliar talkers. Under conditions where one has been repeatedly exposed to a talker, as is typically the case with famous people, talker-specific details may affect perceptual processing relatively early. The present research sought to explore the potential for relatively early talker effects in the perception of words spoken by famous talkers in a speeded-shadowing task. Words were presented using a long-term repetition priming paradigm where half …


The Effect Of Priming A Thin Ideal On The Subsequent Perception Of Conceptually Related Body Image Words, Teresa A. Markis Jan 2009

The Effect Of Priming A Thin Ideal On The Subsequent Perception Of Conceptually Related Body Image Words, Teresa A. Markis

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There is a substantial amount of empirical evidence in support of the claim that the thin ideal portrayed by the mass media leads to body image dissatisfaction. Furthermore, a disturbance in the perception of body image is an essential feature of eating disorders. The Stroop task has been adapted to provide a measure of selective processing for body image related words in eating disordered individuals. Building upon this previous work, the present study was designed to examine the effect of priming the thin ideal on the subsequent perception of body image related words in participants without an eating disorder. In …


Does Optimal Distinctiveness Contribute To Group Polarization?, Joo Hwan Lee Jan 2009

Does Optimal Distinctiveness Contribute To Group Polarization?, Joo Hwan Lee

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Group polarization occurs when group members have more extreme views after learning others in the group have similar attitudes. This effect has been found in numerous studies (e.g., Stoner, 1969 Mackie, 1986). Several theories, such as self-categorization theory and social comparison theory have been used to explain the phenomenon of group polarization. In the current research, an alternative framework based on optimal distinctiveness theory was proposed as a way to predict group polarization. This theory claims that individuals have two conflicting needs- the need to belong and the need to be distinct. When one of these needs is unmet, people …


The Impact Of A Mindful State On Ego-Salience And Self-Control, Robert J. Goodman Jan 2009

The Impact Of A Mindful State On Ego-Salience And Self-Control, Robert J. Goodman

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Convergent findings among several distinct lines of research have revealed that mindfulness, an open and receptive form of present-centered awareness, is positively associated with numerous indices of well-being. Much of this research has focused on dispositional mindfulness, the frequency with which one enters into mindful states over time. However, state mindfulness, the degree to which one is mindful at a specific point in time, has been left relatively unexplored. Current theories suggest that many beneficial effects attributable to mindfulness are due to changes in the way one relates to thoughts about the self. In this study we hypothesized that a …


The Examination Of Threat And Affiliative Tendencies Through Pronoun Usage In Relation To Consumer Evaluations, Sarah M. Digioia Jan 2009

The Examination Of Threat And Affiliative Tendencies Through Pronoun Usage In Relation To Consumer Evaluations, Sarah M. Digioia

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This study further examines the relationship between threat and affiliative tendencies. Under threat, there is a tendency to embrace others in efforts to reduce threat and uncertainty. This study explores whether product advertisements that use inclusive pronouns (e.g., we, our) lead products to be perceived as more attractive/valuable under threat (compared to low threat). Therefore, this study employs a 2 (threat: low vs. high) X 2 (ad reference frame: inclusive pronouns vs. 3rd person) between-subjects design. Data from 145 university student participants were collected. To manipulate threat, participants were told they would be taking part in a learning exercise and …


The Traumatic Events Inventory: Preliminary Investigation Of A New Ptsd Questionnaire, Kirk Robert Bryant Jan 2009

The Traumatic Events Inventory: Preliminary Investigation Of A New Ptsd Questionnaire, Kirk Robert Bryant

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The purpose of this study was to assess the preliminary psychometrics of the Traumatic Events Inventory (TEI), a new Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) scale designed to identify individuals who are malingering. Participants were students and members of the community who were instructed to feign PTSD or to perform normally. The internal consistencies of the TEI full-scale as well as the subscales were high. Construct validity was examined by comparing scores on TEI to participants' performance on malingering indices of the TMT, the Digit Span, the Digit Symbol, and the RAVLT. The TEI full-scale, as well as many of the …


Dependent Personality Inventory-Revised (Dpi-R): Incorporating A Dimensional Model In The Assessment Of Dependent Personality Disorder, Laura A. Gluszik Jan 2009

Dependent Personality Inventory-Revised (Dpi-R): Incorporating A Dimensional Model In The Assessment Of Dependent Personality Disorder, Laura A. Gluszik

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the Present Study Was Designed to Assess the Reliability and Validity of the Dependent Personality Inventory-Revised (Dpi-R Poreh & Huber, 2007). One-Hundred and One Students at a Midwestern University Were Administered the Scale in Addition to the Dependent Personality Questionnaire (Dpq Hyler, 1994) and Interpersonal Dependence Inventory (Idi Hirschfeld, Klerman, Gouch, Barrett, Korchin, Chodoff, 1977). Following the Screening, 11 Students Who Scored the Highest on the Scale and 13 Students Who Scored in the Average Range Were Identified and Asked to Participate in the Second Phase of the Study. These Students Were Then Blindly Interviewed by the Co-Investigator Using the …


Developing New Indices For The Identification Of Poor Effort, Scott A. Magnuson Jan 2009

Developing New Indices For The Identification Of Poor Effort, Scott A. Magnuson

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The purpose of this study is to gather data in order to develop new indices to aid clinicians in more accurately distinguishing between patients feigning posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and those with genuine PTSD. Participants were administered a battery of tests that included the Digit Span, Digit Symbol, Trail Making Test (TMT), and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT) twice, once while performing genuinely and again while simulating PTSD. The results of this study found that trails 21-25 of part A of the TMT are a good indicator of poor effort. This measurement was found to have high sensitivity (90.7 …


Preliminary Study Of The Narcissistic Personality Questionnaire, Ethan H. Motter Jan 2009

Preliminary Study Of The Narcissistic Personality Questionnaire, Ethan H. Motter

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This study was designed to create a new measure for narcissism. Furthermore, the NPQ will be based on the 9 DSM-IV-TR criteria for narcissism. The NPQ will be compared to the NPI with is a more established instrument of narcissism. The study examined 124 students from a certain midwestern university in north east Ohio. Results indicate that the NPQ has a higher reliability than the NPI. Additionally, the NPQ displays a high construct validity due the high correlations between the NPQ and the NPI. However, future studies should attempt to replicate the results as well as measure divergent validity in …


The Effects Of Practice And Load On Actual And Imagined Action, Christopher Stephen Bialko Jan 2009

The Effects Of Practice And Load On Actual And Imagined Action, Christopher Stephen Bialko

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Research has shown similarities between actual movement durations (AMD) and imagined movement durations (IMD). These similarities are believed to reflect the extent to which an action is represented by an internal model or emulator in the brain. Differences in AMD and IMD could be due to the employment of online feedback processes during actual movement in addition to emulated feedback as suggested by emulation theory. The current study was framed by these basic components of emulation theory. Methodology similar to a study by Papaxanthis, Schieppati, Gentili, and Pozzo (2002) was used to examine AMD and IMD of the arm under …