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Encoding Style Of Positive Autobiographical Memories: Relationship To Mood Repair, Memory Functioning, And Depression, Ena Begovic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The recall of positive autobiographical memories is an effective strategy for improving negative mood among healthy persons, yet individuals with a history of depression often fail to derive emotional benefits. Depressed and depression-vulnerable individuals also exhibit deficits in their autobiographical memory characteristics. Scholars have implicated deficits during autobiographical memory retrieval as a cause of mood repair and memory impairments, however the role of memory encoding has largely been overlooked. The current study manipulated encoding style to examine subsequent effects on mood repair efficacy, memory characteristics, and memory accuracy. Fifty-five formerly depressed and 68 never-depressed participants were assigned to employ either …

The Effect Of Increased Sleep On The Circadian Rhythm Of Salivary Cortisol Concentrations, Mariah Jacqueline Scott

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Cortisol is a salivary marker for the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) component of the stress response. The activity of the HPA demonstrates a circadian rhythm. It is well known that sleep deprivation increases cortisol concentrations. In this study, we looked at the effect of an increase of one-hour sleep for one month on the circadian rhythm of the HPA.

Eight college subjects (n=8) collected saliva during their normal sleep wake cycle every 4 hours for 24 hours. Saliva collections were repeated after a month of increase of sleep by 1-hour. The subjects also completed demographic forms that asked for age, sex, …

The Impact Of Balance Disturbance On Cognition, Erin Quasney

Dissertations (1934 -)

There have been remarkable gains within the scientific literature over the last few decades contributing to our understanding of the sequelae, recovery, and treatment of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), yet our knowledge of relationships among symptoms remains elementary in comparison. Cognitive and balance deficits are two of the most prevalent consequence of mTBI. There is some indication that a challenge to one or both of these functions can result in cognitive detriments due to constraints on attentional capacity. However, the evidence remains both conflicting and sparse. This study examined the impact of increasing balance challenge on attention and working …

Cooperation And Facets Of Psychological Collectivism As Antecedents Of Team Mental Model Similarity, Neal Benoit Outland

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated the role of facets of trait psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Concern, and Goal-Priority) and the personality trait cooperativeness in the development of Team Mental Models. Team Mental Models (TMMs) are shared representations of a work team’s context that aid a team in directing behaviors and coordinating actions. I utilized Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro’s (2001) taxonomy of team processes to explicate and test a model detailing the role of composition in TMM development. Data were collected from 35 teams of 5 individuals who completed a computer simulation in which the team interdependently replicated pictures using blocks. Multiple regression …

The Acute Effects Of Nicotine And Exercise On Working Memory, Steven Guirguis

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Nicotine, an alkaloid found in tobacco leaves, has been used by humans for its psychoactive properties for centuries. Specifically, nicotine has been consistently shown to improve cognitive performance (Heishman, Kleykamp, & Singleton, 2010). Similar effects also have been shown with exercise (Chang, Labban, Gapin, & Etnier, 2012). The purpose of the present study was to examine whether a 20 min bout of moderate-intensity exercise enhances cognitive performance (working memory) as effectively as 4 mg of NICORETTE® gum in a non-smoker population. Twenty-three non-smokers (M age = 25.87; 13 female) underwent a three-week randomized counterbalanced procedure. The N-Back Task was used …

Genetic Risk For Increased Oxidative Stress In The Aging Brain:Implications For White Matter Integrity And Cognition, Lauren Salminen

Dissertations

Oxidative stress is a key mechanism of the aging process that can cause damage to brain white matter and cognitive functions. Allele variations of two polymorphisms (SOD2, CAT -262) have been associated with abnormalities in antioxidant enzyme activity, suggesting a risk for enhanced oxidative damage to brain white matter and cognition among older individuals with these genetic mutations. The present study utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neuropsychological assessment to compare differences in microstructural white matter integrity and cognitive performance among 96 older adults (age 50-85) with and without genetic risk factors of SOD2 (rs4880) and CAT -262 (rs1001179). Results …

The Interaction Of Crystallized And Fluid Abilities In Aging And Speech Perception, Avanti Dey

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In a series of studies, I examined the degree to which fluid and crystallized abilities contribute to and interact during speech perception. During the aging process, crystallized abilities (e.g., linguistic and word knowledge) are largely preserved, while fluid abilities involved in the online manipulation of information (e.g., working memory and inhibitory control) decline with age. Importantly, these two components are critical for successful speech perception and comprehension. While prior research has proposed that older adults rely on crystallized knowledge to compensate for cognitive deficits in difficult listening conditions, this hypothesis has not been directly tested. Younger and older adults completed …

Mechanisms Responsible For The Development Of Causal Perception In Infancy., Nicholas A. Holt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of the current dissertation was to investigate the mechanisms that contribute to the emergence of causal perception in infancy. Previous research suggests that the experience of self-produced causal action may be necessary to promote the development of causal perception (Rakison & Krogh, 2012). The goal of the current study was two-fold: (1) to further explore the roles of self-produced action, haptic, proprioceptive and visual information, and parental interaction on young infants’ understanding of causality. To assess the impact of these factors on infants’ causal learning, 4½-month-olds were randomly assigned to one four conditions. Three of the conditions (Active …

Genetic Moderators Of Cognitive Decline In The Health And Retirement Study, Shannon K. Runge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current dissertation used a gene x environment (G x E) approach to examine the independent and interactive effects of specific genetic variants and participation in physical and cognitive/social activities (PA and CSA) on cognitive performance in 4,764 participants of the Health and Retirement Study. Using three-wave data, three sets of multi-level growth models were conducted to examine baseline, longitudinal, and interactive effects of genotype (i.e., ApoE, COMT, and BDNF) and CSA/PA on performance across five cognitive measures: immediate, delayed and total word recall, and serial 7s and backwards counting.

At baseline, the ApoE ε4 allele predicted …

Factors Affecting Athlete Adherence After Disqualificaiton From Competitive Sports, Aaron Myers

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of the current study is to examine the relationship between athletic identity, social problem-solving ability, cognitive distortions, depression, and locus of control in predicting adherence to medical advice after athletes have been instructed to stop participating in sports for a cardiac condition. The measures included the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale (AIMS), the Social Problem-Solving Inventory, Revised, Short Form (SPSI-R:S), the Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (ICD), the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control scale, Form C (MHLC-C), an adherence measure, and demographic questionnaire. Results revealed significant findings. The internal locus of control, social problem-solving ability, …

Motor Skills Among Preschool-Aged Children Born Prematurely, Brittany Nicole Peters

Wayne State University Dissertations

It has been documented that children who are born prematurely are at risk of experiencing motor skills deficits early in life; however, little is known about the relationships between early perinatal risk factors and later motor abilities. The current investigation attempted to gain better understanding regarding the influence of gestational age and sex on early motor development among a cohort of preschool-aged children born prior to 34 weeks gestation (N = 104). Additionally, relationships between motor performance and other abilities, namely cognitive and language, were examined. As hypothesized, degree of gestational immaturity was significantly associated with poorer performance on specific …

The Effect Of Social Media On Sexual Cognitions And Behaviors, Joshua Duarte

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Pop culture and social media have become a prime source of entertainment and communication. The current study focuses on the potential effects of consuming this form of media and how it affects our sexual cognitions and behaviors. A sample of nine hundred and two university students were given self-reporting questionnaires concerning demographics, sexual cognitions, and exposure to sexual content in music. An analysis of music artist’s posts on social media was also performed. It was hypothesized that artists who have sexual content published in their work will also have the same amount of sexual content on social media. However, there …

Cognitive Distortions: Predictors Of Medical Adherence And Health Behaviors Among Women At Risk For Breast Cancer, Amanda Viner

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between cognitive distortions and health behaviors among women at risk for breast cancer. Sixty-eight participants completed an online survey consisting of demographic information, the Inventory of Cognitive Distortions (ICD), and the Health Adherence Behavior Inventory (HABIT). Results of the study indicate that health behaviors decrease as thinking becomes more distorted. The data also suggest that various cognitive distortions predict worse adherence, including fortune telling, minimization, and magnification. These findings have implications for the role of clinical psychologists in healthcare settings, and for the utility and implementation of cognitive behavioral interventions to increase early detection and …

Predictors Of Likeliness To Engage In Radical Animal Rights And Environmental Activism, Patsy Mckenzie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Radical animal rights and environmental activism is considered domestic terrorism under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Traditional models of terrorism purport that there is a path to radicalization that is influenced by an individual's sense of identity and ideological beliefs. Using collective identity theory and cognitive experiential self-theory as the framework, the purpose of this quantitative study was to examine whether social identity, cognitive processing mode, and ideological beliefs were predictors for engagement in radical animal rights and environmental activism. The Three Factor Model of Social Identity Scale, the Rational Experiential Inventory, and the Activism Orientation Scale were used to …

Cognition Of Shared Decision Making: The Case Of Multiple Sclerosis, Katherine Domjan Lippa

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The increasing emphasis in the medical community on shared decision making and patient centered care suggests that patients play a role in their care, but research on clinical reasoning almost exclusively addresses practitioner cognition. As patient involvement increases, it is important to understand the effect patients have on clinical cognition. This necessitates moving beyond a model that equates clinical cognition with practitioner cognition to incorporate the influence of patient cognition and dyadic patient-practitioner cognition. In this dissertation, I suggest that patient-practitioner interactions constitute a distributed cognitive system. As a result patient cognition and the nature of the interaction inherently contribute …