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Differential Effects Of Ovarian Hormones On The Left And Right Cerebral Hemispheres: Evidence From Perceptual And Motor Asymmetries, Larissa Araxe Mead
Differential Effects Of Ovarian Hormones On The Left And Right Cerebral Hemispheres: Evidence From Perceptual And Motor Asymmetries, Larissa Araxe Mead
Digitized Theses
In the present series of experiments, the possibility that ovarian hormones act differentially on the left and right hemispheres of the adult human brain was investigated through the assessment of several behavioral asymmetries. Lateralized behaviors or performance patterns are believed to arise through underlying functional or neurochemical asymmetries in the brain. Therefore, an asymmetric effect of ovarian hormones on the underlying brain areas may be revealed as an alteration in the laterality of these behavioral patterns.;The first study involved the administration of a battery of visual and auditory perceptual asymmetry tests to a group of young women. Test sessions took …
The Effects Of Retinal Eccentricity On Prehension And Perception, Kelly Jane Murphy
The Effects Of Retinal Eccentricity On Prehension And Perception, Kelly Jane Murphy
Digitized Theses
The effects of retinal eccentricity on prehension and on the perception of object dimensions was investigated. Human subjects reached out and grasped different sized objects viewed at different peripheral positions along the horizontal and vertical meridians. The sensitivity of visuomotor grip scaling to object width was compared with visuoperceptual judgements about object width.;When retinal eccentricity was varied in the temporal field, along the horizontal meridian, it was found that reaches in peripheral vision were slower and exhibited longer deceleration periods relative to reaches in central vision. Further, the amplitude of the grasp, though scaled to object width, increased as object …
A Two-Factor Model Of Women's Sexual Decision-Making, Sandra Marie Houston
A Two-Factor Model Of Women's Sexual Decision-Making, Sandra Marie Houston
Digitized Theses
This dissertation reports on three studies which examined correlates of number of sexual partners and of motivations underlying the decision to have sexual intercourse with a new partner among heterosexually experienced undergraduate women. In Study One (N = 117), women's reports of a greater number of sexual partners were associated with liberal attitudes, erotophilia, more frequent masturbation, lower romantic relationship satisfaction, and a self-gratification orientation to sexual decision making, as measured by the Sexual Decision Making Scale (SDMS), developed for this research. In Study Two (N = 238), women's reports of a greater number of sexual partners were associated with …
Visual Indexing And Inhibition Of Return Of Visual Attention, Christopher R. Sears
Visual Indexing And Inhibition Of Return Of Visual Attention, Christopher R. Sears
Digitized Theses
When an observer's visual attention is involuntarily drawn to a particular spatial location by a highly salient cue, the processing of stimuli appearing at that location is facilitated. When attention is then disengaged from the cued location, subsequent shifts of attention (either voluntary or involuntary) to the same location are inhibited. This inhibition in returning attention to a previously attended location delays the processing of stimuli appearing there, a phenomenon known as inhibition of return (IOR). IOR is a particularly intriguing phenomenon because it suggests that the attentional system has some means of keeping track of previously attended locations. That …
The Standardized Memory Assessment: A Psychometric Evaluation Of A Computerized Cognitive Battery, Michael David Rannie
The Standardized Memory Assessment: A Psychometric Evaluation Of A Computerized Cognitive Battery, Michael David Rannie
Digitized Theses
The purpose of this study was to begin developing and to examine psychometrically a computerized assessment of memory: the Standardized Memory Assessment (SMA). Computers open the door to great opportunities for the field of psychological testing, offering many advantages for purposes of standardized assessment. Of foremost advantage is that computers allow for testing constructs that were previously difficult or impossible to test, such as comprehensive measure of memory.;The psychometric properties of the SMA were examined by analyzing the data obtained from a sample of 227 undergraduates. It was determined that most subscales and scales of the SMA had moderate reliabilities. …
Money Beliefs And Quality Of Life, Or, What Is Money For, If It Doesn't Buy Happiness?, Rosalind Maureen Callard
Money Beliefs And Quality Of Life, Or, What Is Money For, If It Doesn't Buy Happiness?, Rosalind Maureen Callard
Digitized Theses
Can money buy happiness? Few psychological studies have systematically attempted to answer this question, although several have shown a small (.11 to.19) but significant correlation between income and quality of life. It is argued in this study that the relationship between income and quality of life is complex. Aspects of money that might affect quality of life were identified as money beliefs, money goals, appraisals of finances, financial situation and money behaviours. The study then focused on the money beliefs aspect. Money beliefs were identified and described using a qualitative research paradigm. A scale of money beliefs (the Money Beliefs …
Inhibition-Confrontation Model Of Coping And Uncertainty Orientation: Individual Differences In The Disclosure Of Traumas, Melissa Christine Brouwers
Inhibition-Confrontation Model Of Coping And Uncertainty Orientation: Individual Differences In The Disclosure Of Traumas, Melissa Christine Brouwers
Digitized Theses
Supporters of the inhibition-confrontation model of coping assert that inhibition of thoughts and feelings associated with traumatic life events requires the expenditure of physiological resources. This places the body under stress and results in an increased vulnerability to illness. By disclosing the traumatic event, it is believed that inhibition is released, reducing the strain on the body and the proclivity toward disease.;The primary purpose of the present study is to broaden this model by demonstrating that differences in uncertainty orientation will mediate the extent to which disclosure results in a release of inhibition for all persons. The theory of uncertainty …
Information Processing In Anxiety And Depression: Attention Responses To Mood Congruent Stimuli, Glen Edward Berry
Information Processing In Anxiety And Depression: Attention Responses To Mood Congruent Stimuli, Glen Edward Berry
Digitized Theses
Previous research (e.g., MacLeod & Mathews, 1990) has found that anxious individuals show an attentional bias towards negative information, but evidence for such a bias in depressed individuals is equivocal. Conversely, there are fairly consistent findings that depressed individuals display a recall bias for negative information, whereas the findings for anxious individuals are mixed. However, task demands from this research may not have allowed anxious and depressed subjects to process information to the same extent. In the present study, 15 clinically depressed, 15 clinically anxious, 16 community control, 17 mildly depressed, 19 mildly anxious, and 17 nonclinical control subjects were …
Infants' Use Of Spatial Co-Location In A Cross-Modal Perception Task, Kimberley Diane Fenwick
Infants' Use Of Spatial Co-Location In A Cross-Modal Perception Task, Kimberley Diane Fenwick
Digitized Theses
The role of spatial co-location between sight and sound in infants' cross-modal learning was examined. In Experiments 1 and 2, 4- and 6-month-old infants were familiarized with toys and an accompanying soundtrack using a cross-modal learning paradigm. Across conditions, spatial congruity between sight and sound was varied so that the sound was: (1) co-located with one toy (40 cm from midline); (2) 20 cm to the far side of one toy toward midline; (3) 20 cm to the far side of one toy opposite midline; and (4) 60 cm to the far side of one toy opposite midline. In Experiment …
An Examination Of Whether Irony And Sarcasm Are Different Terms For The Same Psychological Construct, Christopher James Lee
An Examination Of Whether Irony And Sarcasm Are Different Terms For The Same Psychological Construct, Christopher James Lee
Digitized Theses
Researchers have studied counterfactual statements, such as "There's not a cloud in the sky!" uttered during a violent thunderstorm, both as instances of irony (Jorgensen, Miller & Sperber, 1984; Kreuz & Glucksberg, 1989; Katz & Lee, 1993) and as instances of sarcasm (Gibbs, 1986; Kreuz & Glucksberg, 1989). It is not surprising that some terms are used inconsistently in a young field of investigation such as the psycholinguistics of irony and sarcasm. However. the inconsistent use of the terms irony and sarcasm across different empirical studies is problematic when research participants are asked to judge whether or not counterfactual statements …
Social Rank And Foraging Behavior In Rats: Effects Of Food Size, Density And Distribution, Maria Phelps
Social Rank And Foraging Behavior In Rats: Effects Of Food Size, Density And Distribution, Maria Phelps
Digitized Theses
A number of field studies, conducted with birds, have found that dominant birds aggress against subordinate birds to attain priority of access to food. However, the level of aggression exhibited by dominant birds varied in accord with a cost-benefit analysis of the physical properties and spatial organization of the resource base. When the costs of aggression exceeded the benefits gained from resource defense, dominant birds decreased the level of aggression. Because rats also forage in groups and form functional social hierarchies, it was predicted that dominant rats, like dominant birds, would decrease aggression as a function of three resource attributes. …
The Role Of Literal Meaning In Proverb Comprehension, Nigel E. Turner
The Role Of Literal Meaning In Proverb Comprehension, Nigel E. Turner
Digitized Theses
According to the 'Standard Pragmatic Model of Language', a person initially attempts to understand figurative sentences such as metaphors and proverbs in terms of their literal meaning and only processes the figurative meaning when the literal meaning is found inadequate. Experimental studies have failed to support this model; however, many of these studies confounded literalness with conventionality. Furthermore, the role of literal meaning during figurative language comprehension remains unresolved. The purpose of this thesis is to conduct a more valid test of the Standard Pragmatic Model, and to determine the role of literal meaning during proverb comprehension. In the first …
Maternal Depression, Perceptions, Contextual Stress, And Parenting, Christine Marie-Antoinette Wekerle
Maternal Depression, Perceptions, Contextual Stress, And Parenting, Christine Marie-Antoinette Wekerle
Digitized Theses
The relationship between maternal depression and parenting was explored in three distinct ways: (1) the direct effect of maternal depression, as it is measured proximally and distally to parenting, (2) the moderation of proximal and distal maternal depression by contextual stress, and (3) the mediation of proximal and distal maternal depression by maternal perceptions of child problem behaviour. Two aspects of maternal behaviour were examined: aversive parenting (negative control strategies, negative affect, lack of positive control strategies) and positive affect (positive affect and affection).;A community sample of 95 mother-child dyads participated in 12, 1-hr in-home behavioural observations. Also, mothers completed …
Self-Concept Dimensions Associated With Eating Disturbance, Sandra Ann Yuen
Self-Concept Dimensions Associated With Eating Disturbance, Sandra Ann Yuen
Digitized Theses
The present thesis provided a detailed examination of the self-concept variables associated with eating disturbance. Two distinct self-concept variables, namely, the content and evaluative dimensions of self, were evaluated in relation to global measures of bulimia nervosa. These self-concept dimensions were further examined in relation to the eating pathology and general maladjustment features of bulimia, including the behavioural, motivational, and cognitive-affective components of eating disturbance.;Study 1 examined the actual and ideal self-concept content dimensions and the self-certainty and attribute importance evaluative self-dimensions, across the domains of body image, depressive personality, sociability, and social roles. Individuals reporting higher levels of bulimia …
The Quality Of Mother-Infant Interactions In Families At Risk For Maladaptive Parenting, Anne Krupka
The Quality Of Mother-Infant Interactions In Families At Risk For Maladaptive Parenting, Anne Krupka
Digitized Theses
Two related studies of mother-infant interactions during the first year were carried out. In Study 1, the process of attachment was examined from a developmental psychopathology perspective. In Study 2, an intervention program based on attachment theory was evaluated. The findings revealed a possible pathway to insecure attachment relationships, and provided a rationale for theory-based early prevention.;Study 1 was cross-sectional and longitudinal with 68 high-risk mother-infant dyads (mean maternal age, 17.9 years). A multimethod approach including home observations, questionnaires, interviews, and coding of key episodes, was used to measure cognitive and socioemotional characteristics of the infants and different aspects of …
Depression And Vulnerability: The Role Of Mood And Depression History On Cognitive Processing, Scott Bradley Mccabe
Depression And Vulnerability: The Role Of Mood And Depression History On Cognitive Processing, Scott Bradley Mccabe
Digitized Theses
Cognitive theorists hypothesize the existence of a causal cognitive vulnerability for depression that exists as either a continuously observable trait-like difference (i.e., the main-effects model) or a latent factor observable only in interaction with life events or mood (i.e., the interaction effects model). The current investigation examined the main-effects model and one form of the interaction-effects model that emphasizes current mood as the activator of latent cognitive vulnerability, the Differential Activation Hypothesis (DAH). When primed by sad mood, vulnerable individuals purportedly process environmental information in a manner similar to currently depressed individuals, making them more vulnerable for depression.;Studies of cognition …
Traits, Situations, And Managerial Behaviour: Test Of A Trait Activation Hypothesis, Robert Preston Tett
Traits, Situations, And Managerial Behaviour: Test Of A Trait Activation Hypothesis, Robert Preston Tett
Digitized Theses
Results supporting the predictive validity of assessment centres (e.g., Gaugler, Rosenthal, Thornton & Bentson, 1987) are at odds with widely reported findings that behavioural consistency among assessment centre exercises is low (e.g., Sackett & Dreher, 1982). Lack of behavioural consistency raises doubts as to how assessment centres work. Drawing from principles of person-situation interactionism, a trait activation hypothesis is proposed to help explain the conflicting findings and direct development of valid simulation exercises. The hypothesis holds that the behavioural expression of a trait requires arousal of that trait by trait-relevant situational cues. Cross-situational consistency in behaviour is thereby conceived to …
Personality-Oriented Job Analysis, Maryann Frances Fraboni
Personality-Oriented Job Analysis, Maryann Frances Fraboni
Digitized Theses
The purpose of the present research was to develop a personality-oriented job analysis measure that could be used to identify non-cognitive person attitudes relevant to a given job. One application of this new job analysis measure could be to use it within a person-job (P-J) fit predictive framework.;Three studies were conducted. The first study was aimed at testing an initial item pool developed for the personality-oriented job analysis measure and selecting the best items for each scale. The job analysis measure was constructed to assess (a) 15 personality traits measured by the Jackson Personality Inventory (Jackson, 1994) and (b) 12 …
The Effects Of Preadministration Of Nmda Antagonists On Kindling With Carbachol, Deborah Michelle Saucier
The Effects Of Preadministration Of Nmda Antagonists On Kindling With Carbachol, Deborah Michelle Saucier
Digitized Theses
This thesis evaluated the hypothesis that N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activity is essential for the development of kindling and/or the maintenance of the kindled state in male hooded rats. Kindling was produced by the infusion of carbachol, a muscarinic cholinergic agonist, directly into either the basolateral nucleus of the amygdala or the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. The infusions of carbachol took place over 70 seconds and were given every 2 days. At a previously determined time before the infusion of carbachol, either APV (DL-aminophosphonovaleric acid, infused into the site of recording) or NPC 17742 (2R,4R,2S-(2-amino-4,5(cyclohexyl)-7-phosphonoheptanoic acid, i.p.) was given. Both …
The Dimensionality Of Managerial Third-Party Interventions In Conflict Among Subordinates And Their Relationship With Desired Outcomes, Patrick Gregory Irving
The Dimensionality Of Managerial Third-Party Interventions In Conflict Among Subordinates And Their Relationship With Desired Outcomes, Patrick Gregory Irving
Digitized Theses
The purpose of this thesis was to conduct preliminary research designed to move toward the development of a prescriptive model of managerial third-party intervention in conflicts between subordinates. Similarities have been noted between Sheppard's (1984) recommendations for the development of such a model and the Vroom-Yetton model of managerial decision making (Vroom & Jago, 1988: Vroom & Yetton, 1973).;Two studies were conducted that examined aspects of Sheppard's recommendations. Study 1 was designed to examine the underlying dimensionality of a set of 25 conflict intervention strategies derived from the literature. Participants were asked to rate the similarity-dissimilarity of pairs of strategies. …
Cognitive/Decisional Predictors Of Coping Propensity And Stress Arousal: Validation Of A Choice/Control Schema, Mary C. Lees
Cognitive/Decisional Predictors Of Coping Propensity And Stress Arousal: Validation Of A Choice/Control Schema, Mary C. Lees
Digitized Theses
Although stress investigators have intimated that decisional processes comprise important precursors to coping activity, there have been few attempts, within the stress domain, to conceptualize coping behaviour in the context of stress-relevant decisional models. In the present dissertation, an attempt was made to evaluate Neufeld's (1982) choice/control model. This model, which was derived from subjective expected utility theory, makes three interrelated hypotheses regarding the determinants of coping propensity and anticipatory stress arousal. Hypothesis One states that the propensity to engage in counterstress activity will be an inverse function of the ratio of the expected value of stress, given counterstress activity, …
Intellectual Ability, Reaction Time And Working Memory In Young Children, Linda Theresia Miller
Intellectual Ability, Reaction Time And Working Memory In Young Children, Linda Theresia Miller
Digitized Theses
Intelligence has been shown to correlate with reaction time and memory capacity in adults. Research with adults has demonstrated that individuals who score higher on psychometric measures of intelligence also tend to have faster, less variable reaction times and longer short-term, or working, memory spans. Research with youths suggests that similar relationships may also be present in children; however, research to date has not studied these relationships in young children. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the results previously found in adults, demonstrating a relationship between intellectual ability, speed of information processing and memory capacity, could also …
Studies Of The Visual Detection Of Bilateral Symmetry, Andrew Mark Herbert
Studies Of The Visual Detection Of Bilateral Symmetry, Andrew Mark Herbert
Digitized Theses
Ernst Mach (1897) first observed that bilateral symmetry was most easily observed when the axis of symmetry was vertical, and proposed this occurred because of symmetric connections across the vertical midline of the visual system. This neuroanatomical account has been reasserted by Julesz (1971) and Braitenberg (1984, 1990). Braitenberg suggested that the corpus callosum could serve as a conduit for connections between cells representing symmetric areas in space around the vertical midline. If vertical symmetry in the visual system mediates the vertical advantage there are a number of predictions that follow. One would expect that the tuning of symmetry detection …
Information Processing In Chronic Pain: The Role Of Depression, Michael Douglas Boissevain
Information Processing In Chronic Pain: The Role Of Depression, Michael Douglas Boissevain
Digitized Theses
Over the last three decades, chronic pain has become conceptualized as a multidimensional phenomenon, in that cognitive and emotional factors have become acknowledged as important contributors to the experience and expression of chronic pain. Although this general theoretical understanding of chronic pain has become widely accepted, there has been relatively little research to date which attempts to delineate the specific ways in which cognitive operations may be influenced by various dimensions of chronic pain. The present dissertation represents an attempt to expand upon the empirical knowledge regarding cognitive processing in chronic pain. Specifically, the present project has been designed to …
Hand And Hemispace Differences In The Visual Control Of Aiming Movements, David Peter Carey
Hand And Hemispace Differences In The Visual Control Of Aiming Movements, David Peter Carey
Digitized Theses
The purpose of this thesis was to examine left and right hand performance in three aiming movement experiments, designed to identify differences in movement kinematics when task demands were varied along dimensions thought to differ between the hemispheres. In Experiment 1, fourteen subjects were required to make aiming movements with the index finger to single light emitting diodes (LEDs) or to the midpoints of two simultaneously illuminated LEDs. Movements were recorded using a WATSMART system (Northern Digital, Inc.). Contrary to previous claims, no evidence was found for left hand advantages in accuracy in hand-invisible conditions. The large advantage in accuracy …
The Construction Of Target Similarity In Social Identification, Vuk Vuksanovic
The Construction Of Target Similarity In Social Identification, Vuk Vuksanovic
Digitized Theses
Two investigations were carried out to examine self-perceptions and the role of motivation in individual-based social identification. It was hypothesized that states of threatened self-esteem would lead individuals to self-ascribe traits belonging to a valued social target. In experiment 1, subjects performed a task, following which they received one of two performance feedback treatments (success; failure). They were then assigned a famous historical figure, Napoleon Bonaparte, and half were led to believe that they shared his day of birth. Ratings made of both the target and the self revealed that conditions of failure feedback (regardless of the birthday manipulation) led …
Stochastic Models Of Encoding-Latency Means And Variances In Paranoid Schizophrenia, David Nelson Vollick
Stochastic Models Of Encoding-Latency Means And Variances In Paranoid Schizophrenia, David Nelson Vollick
Digitized Theses
In the present dissertation, a review of the research literature examining (a) schizophrenic cognitive impairments, (b) neurological correlates to these impairments, and (c) the reasons for the recent developments in stochastic modeling and the theories behind them was undertaken. Data from previous research, plus data collected for the current work, were then analyzed employing stochastic models.;With respect to the first topic, research into these impairments has fostered a myriad of hypotheses as to their genesis. At one time or another, every step in the chain of information processing had been proposed to be involved in this impairment. More recently, a …
The Influence Of Eye Movements And Surround Contours On The Generation And Interocular Transfer Of The Motion Aftereffect, Lawrence Andre Symons
The Influence Of Eye Movements And Surround Contours On The Generation And Interocular Transfer Of The Motion Aftereffect, Lawrence Andre Symons
Digitized Theses
Despite its considerable use as a psychophysical tool, relatively little attention has been paid to factors that might influence the interocular transfer of the motion aftereffect. The present thesis reports five experiments that examined the role of eye-movements and their interaction with surround contours in the generation and interocular transfer of the motion aftereffect. Experiment 1 compared the amount of transfer of three different aftereffects when the non-adapted eye viewed a dark occluder or an equiluminant occluder. Equiluminant occlusion enhanced interocular transfer of the motion aftereffect but no the other two aftereffects. Experiment 2 showed a similar enhancement of interocular …
Binocular Interactions In Individuals With Anomalous Early Visual History, Marla Ellen Wolf
Binocular Interactions In Individuals With Anomalous Early Visual History, Marla Ellen Wolf
Digitized Theses
The present set of experiments used adaptation procedures to explore binocularity in individuals with abnormal binocular vision. The first series of experiments examined interocular transfer because this measure has been used previously to test for the presence of binocular neurons (Movshon, Chambers and Blakemore, 1972). Experiment I examined the test-retest reliability of this measure. Interocular transfer was found to be reliable. The results of Experiments II-IV clearly show that individuals with anomalous early visual history (A.E.H.) are capable of interocular transfer of a magnitude associated with normals.;Experiments III and IV also addressed the organization of binocular channels in individuals with …
The Impact Of Value Priorities And Organizational Commitment On Likely Responses To Work-Related Ethical Problems, Jonathon David Kovacheff
The Impact Of Value Priorities And Organizational Commitment On Likely Responses To Work-Related Ethical Problems, Jonathon David Kovacheff
Digitized Theses
The purpose of this thesis was to conduct preliminary research concerning how a manager might resolve a work-related ethical problem. In a series of three experiments, subjects were asked to determine how a manager might respond to a superior's request to dump chemical wastes. Based on the work of Tetlock (1986), Seligman & Katz (1988), and Randall (1987), it was proposed that information regarding the manager's value priorities and organizational commitment might help determine the manager's likely responses to this request. In Study 1, subjects were told that a manager was either a value monist (i.e., he valued either an …