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Cognitive And Emotional Abnormalities In People With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Philip Watson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-system autoimmune disorder characterized by the production of autoantibodies (ABs). Approximately 30-50% of patients produce ABs directed against N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid receptors (NMDARs). Previous research with animals has identified these ABs as being associated with amygdala damage and a deficit in fear conditioning. People with SLE can have damage to the amygdala. This study aimed to determine if emotional processing deficits occur in people with SLE and to associate such deficits, if they exist, with anti-NMDAR AB presence, length of disease, cognition, and mood. Fifty-eight (11 AB+, 24 AB-, 23 healthy) women participated in tasks …

Constitutively Embodied Emotions, Daniel Shargel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

My primary thesis is that emotions are partially constituted by bodily states. My view derives from the James-Lange tradition, but contrary to Neo-Jamesian theories, I claim that emotions are partially constituted by integrated peripheral bodily states and brain states, rather than bodily perceptions. This view may seem vulnerable to two obvious critiques: emotions, unlike bodily states, have intentional objects, and neuroscientists have already identified the neural basis of emotions, so there is no reason to look for constituents outside of the brain. I argue on the basis of social psychology research that emotions are not intentional states, since they do …

Anger And Punishment: Natural History And Normative Significance, Isaac Thane Wiegman

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

I argue that the evolutionary history of anger has substantive implications for normative ethics, undercutting some of the evidence for retributive theories of punishment. In the process, I develop an evolutionary account of anger, its relation to psychological traits of other animals, and its influence on action. First, I offer a tentative evolutionary story about anger that can explain retributive intuitions concerning punishment. This explanation undercuts these intuitions as evidence for retributive beliefs by showing that they were selected for their biological consequences rather than their accuracy (concerning the value of retributive punishment). I develop the evolutionary explanation by raising …

William James' Theory Of Emotion, James Southworth

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

William James’ theory of emotion has had a profound impact within philosophy and psychology over the last 130 years. While his counterintuitive James-Lange theory has been widely criticized, it has also had its supporters over the years, including recently. In part one, I argue that critics and advocates alike have misinterpreted James due to a neglect of his overarching framework as developed in The Principles of Psychology. The James-Lange theory remains silent on a number of philosophical questions, including the relationship between emotion and consciousness and the nature of an emotional feeling. By considering James’ views on these and …

Emotional Interference Of Response Inhibition In Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Thomas Grover Adams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have hypothesized that failures of inhibition are partially responsible for habitual and perseverative symptoms that are unique to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). It is also well known that sequelae of emotional processes are also implicated in the etiology and maintenance of obsessions and compulsions. However, little research has tested how emotional processes moderate inhibitory functions in OCD. In the present study, high contamination phobic (HCP, n = 17) and low contamination phobic (LCP, n = 30) participants completed an emotional go/no-go task, which measured the interfering effects contamination-threat processing on action restraint. The present study had a two level between-subjects-quasi-independent …

Auditory Processing Deficits In Bipolar Disorder With And Without A History Of Psychotic Features, Ryanna Verbiest

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Auditory perception deficits have been identified in schizophrenia and linked to dysfunction in primary auditory cortex. There is also evidence that primary auditory cortex abnormalities are associated with positive symptoms, particularly auditory hallucinations. Given the evidence that individuals with bipolar disorder frequently experience auditory hallucinations, it may be that individuals with bipolar disorder who also exhibit psychotic symptoms demonstrate similar impairment in auditory perception tasks. Additionally, these deficits may contribute to impaired social interactions, as they are likely to interfere with accurate perception of emotion from spoken words. The current study examined this matter by comparing performance of 50 individuals …

The Role Of Regret And Its Applications In Is Decision Making, Eunhee Park

Computer Information Systems Dissertations

Although IS studies have begun to recognize the role of emotion in decision making, the research in this area is still in its infancy. The exploration of IS decision making phenomena through the lens of regret can offer rich implications to both research and practice. The presence of regret, for instance, can explain how and why IS decision makers choose a certain option. Motivated by the gap in the literature, the three papers in this dissertation investigate the role of regret in decision making in IS contexts. Specifically, the three projects investigate the following: IT real options decision in the …

Gratitude: A Basic Human Emotion For Initiating And Strengthening Interpersonal Relationships, Adam Randall Smith

Open Access Dissertations

Gratitude may function to foster human sociality. Exactly how gratitude performs this putative function, however, is a question that has received little scientific attention. Many recent investigations—primarily concerned with the positive emotional outcomes associated with the experience of gratitude—have overlooked the fundamental mechanistic operations that might produce gratitude. My dissertation addresses this oversight by capitalizing on advancements in the evolutionary psychological study of function and internal regulatory variables. I approach gratitude as a psychological adaptation that functions to coordinate behaviors that initiate and strengthen interpersonal relationships in conjunction with an internal regulatory variable responsible for tracking interpersonal welfare valuation, the …

Emotion Regulation To Facilitate The Process And Products Of Learning In Online Learning Environments, Amber Chauncey Strain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Emotional experiences occur often during online learning and need to be successfully regulated. In this dissertation, three interventions were tested to gauge their effects on engagement and performance. These interventions used or combined elements of cognitive reappraisal and situated context construction. Ethnically diverse adult learners ranging from 18 to 68 years of age (N = 209) used one of these strategies or no strategy (control) in an online learning environment. It was predicted that participants who used these interventions would experience more engagement and higher learning outcomes than a control condition. It was also predicted that the combined use of …

A Comparison Study On Violent Video Games: Explained By The Gamers Themselves, Christopher John Kneifer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative focus groups analysis examines the harmful effects of violent video games on emotions and behavior by comparing violent video game player's responses to that of non-violent video game players of the same age group. Research on the effects of video games has been done since the 70s, yet more research is needed to better understand the potentially harmful emotional and behavioral effects of playing violent games, especially from the gamers' perspectives. This thesis presents a qualitative analysis of data obtained from focus group sessions among undergraduate college students. Results of the analysis supports the presence as well as …

From Crime To Punishment: Moral Violations And The Social Function Of Emotion, Michael Ray Brubacher

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Punishments that are issued by the criminal justice system can enhance factors related to recidivism or contribute to offender rehabilitation. Investigating the ecological element of public attitudes toward punishment can inform efforts of second-order change for reducing recidivism and improving offender and community wellbeing (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Kelly, 1966; Watzlawick, Weakland, & Fisch, 1974).

The form and duration of punishments can be influenced by the goals that punishments are meant to achieve. Punishment goals include retribution, incapacitation, individual deterrence, general deterrence, rehabilitation, and restorative justice. Each of the goals can lead to sanctions that impact offender behavior differently yet substantive predictors …

Feeling Images: Subjectivities And Affective Experience In The Egyptian Revolution, Brice Woodcock

Theses and Dissertations

During the Egyptian Revolution, beginning in 2011 and continuing throughout this project,, images were used to garner support for or against various movements. When viewers disagreed with the version of events suggested by the images, these viewers remained unmoved by them even if the image depicted violence or death. In order to understand how this is possible, this work undertakes a study of the intimate relationship between affect and the viewer's point-of view, also known as their “subjectivity" in the context of images from the Egyptian Revolution. The participants of this project were not passive observers, but rather almost instantaneously …

Rummaging Through The Wreckage: Geographies Of Trauma, Memory, And Loss At The National September 11th Memorial & Museum At The World Trade Center, Jacquelyn Micieli-Voutsinas

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation traces the emergence of 9/11 memory as it is shaped in relation to the event's memorialization at nationally-dedicated landscapes of memory. Focusing on the National September 11th Memorial & Museum, The National Flight 93 Memorial, and the National Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, my research examines how cultural memory is mediated through the establishment of `places of memory' within the built-environment. Here, I argue, the preservation of place acts as a repository of national memory by safeguarding the history of 9/11 for future generations. Contextualizing these landscapes of memory within the global war on terrorism, my analytical framework engages the …

The Effectiveness Of Emotional Motivational Feedback Messages, Firat Sarsar

Middle-Secondary Education and Instructional Technology Dissertations

An important technique for learning, feedback has been described as responses to students’ behaviors, tasks, assignments, and outcomes. In this study, the researcher used a new kind of feedback message called an Emotional Motivational Feedback Message (EMFEM). EMFEM is a feedback message which includes motivational strategies and emotional content for motivating and encouraging students to learn more and to focus on a specific topic. EMFEM is based on Visser and Keller’s (1990) motivational message design, which was influenced by Keller’s (1987) ARCS theory and emotional content strategies. Because EMFEM is primarily used in text-based, online learning environments, it is limited …

An Exploration Of The Relationship Between Academic Emotions And Goal Orientations In College Students Before And After Academic Outcomes, Stephanie L. Dietz

Psychology Dissertations

In this dissertation, the intersection between emotion and motivation was explored. Participants in this study were given a survey at two time points during the semester. Using this data, the factor structure for the motivation construct as described by Elliot and colleagues were explored using a MTMM model. Leading from the measurement model from the CFA, results indicated that emotion and motivation are highly related, but in different ways depending on if the students have had academic feedback. The academic feedback also may change some students’ motivational orientations, based on their emotional reaction.

A Child-Driven Metadata Schema: A Holistic Analysis Of Children's Cognitive Processes During Book Selection, Jihee Beak

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to construct a child-driven metadata schema by understanding children's cognitive processes and behaviors during book selection. Existing knowledge organization systems including metadata schemas and previous literature in the metadata domain have shown that there is a no specialized metadata schema that describes children's resources that also is developed by children. It is clear that children require a new or alternative child-driven metadata schema. Child-driven metadata elements reflected the children's cognitive perceptions that could allow children to intuitively and easily find books in an online cataloging system. The literature of development of literacy skills claims …

When The Distance Is Too Much, Nicholas Hruby

Theses

When the Distance is Too Much explores the landscapes' potential as metaphor for an individuals' state of mind. The landscapes act as a projection of human emotion. To portray the tension between our internal self verse our projected, public self, I juxtaposed the confining domestic living spaces with the vast landscapes. The domestic spaces illustrate temporal living conditions and undefined parental roles. This series of images was created in response to the experiances of isolation from family. The work is a representation of a universal human experiance of distance and strain.

Emotions As Accelerants And Retardants Of Goal Pursuit, Anthony G. Salerno

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation examines the interplay between different discrete emotions and goal states on motivated behavior. Previous research on emotion has typically focused on goal pursuit as a consequence of emotion. Similarly, research on goals has shown emotion to be a consequence of consumer’s motivated behavior. The current research examines the concurrent influence of emotion and goal states on each other to then influence people’s subsequent motivated behavior. Across three essays, this research examines how the pursuit of various hedonic and self-regulatory goals can be informed by different discrete emotions such as sadness, pride, and envy, to then influence people’s goal-directed …

Anger In The Courtroom: The Effects Of Attorney Gender And Emotion On Juror Perceptions, Christian B. May

Honors College Theses

This study sought to examine the effects of gender stereotypes of emotional expression on jurors’ perceptions of an attorney’s competence. Participants watched a video of a closing statement of a male or female attorney expressing either anger or neutral emotions and were asked to give a verdict and rate the attorney’s competence. Participants rated an angry male attorney highest in competence and an angry female attorney lowest in competence. Results also showed that participants who viewed a male attorney were more likely to attribute the attorney’s emotions to the situation compared to participants who viewed a female attorney. The implications …

Emotion Capture: Emotion Mimicry Using Facial Motion Capture, Thomas Emmauel Haley-Hermiz

Open Access Theses

This study explored the application of facial motion capture to Autism Spectrum Disorder therapy. The FaceShift technology was utilized in a behavior change intervention for children with ASD. The intervention focused on using facial expressions to display emotions.

The results of the study exhibit that all students involved achieved a higher percent in both facial expressions attempted and successfully demonstrated in intervention over baseline. However, this increase was not maintained in generalization. Without a successful generalization the intervention would not be recommended in its current framework. Recommendations for further research are provided.

Neuroscience And Galen: Body, Selfhood And The Materiality Of Emotions On The Early Modern Stage, Devon Wallace

Dissertations

From antiquity until the turn of the nineteenth century, temperament, mood and personality were believed to exist within, be managed by, and interact with material substance. Before the medical revolution of the late seventeenth century, early modern theories of anatomy and medicine were primarily based on the writings of Galen, who lived in the second century but was him influenced by a much older medical and philosophical tradition. In this period, the playwrights raise the same central question that now appears in so many reactions to the increasingly accepted "neurocentric" world view: "to what extent do I have an emotional …

Uncovering The Sub-Text: Presidents' Emotional Expressions And Major Uses Of Force, Elias Assaf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The global context of decision making continues to adapt in response to international threats. Political psychologists have therefore considered decision making processes regarding major uses of force a key area of interest. Although presidential personality has been widely studied as a mitigating factor in the decision making patterns leading to uses of force, traditional theories have not accounted for the emotions of individuals as they affect political actions and are used to frame public perception of the use of force. This thesis therefore measures expressed emotion and cognitive expressions in the form of expressed aggression, passivity, blame, praise, certainty, realism, …

Mountain Roots: Artistic Inquiry Into The Science And Spirit Of Mountains, Celeste Bickford

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The future of mountain landscapes will be shaped by the landscape-related decisions we make today. These decisions are influenced by two major factors: what we know and how we feel. The interplay between emotional and analytical information is what motivates the decisions we make related to mountain environments and landscapes. Taking this into consideration, a partnership between art and science and a conversation between emotion and analysis can be instrumental in forming a holistic view of how humans relate to particular landforms such as mountains. This interplay between emotional and analytical information manifests in the decisions people make in relation …

Emotional Processing In Self-Narratives As A Predictor Of Outcome In Emotion Focused Therapy For Child Abuse Trauma (Eftt), Shayna Hannah Nussbaum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study is the first to test a model of emotional change processes in self-focused sessions of emotion-focused therapy for trauma (EFTT), whereby early expressions of distress (e.g., fear, shame) shift to Advanced Meaning Making (AMM) states (e.g., assertive anger, grief) in later sessions. Archival data (videotaped sessions, self-report measures) from a previous study (Paivio, Jarry, Chagigiorgis, Hall, & Ralston, 2010) were utilized. Emotional processing was rated using the Classification of Affective Meaning States (CAMS; Pascual-Leone & Greenberg, 2007). Result of odds ratio analyses revealed increases in expression of AMM in late sessions compared to early sessions. Results of …

The Effect Of Mood On Set-Switching Abilities In Younger And Older Adults, Olivia Chu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that changes in our moods can affect our performance on cognitive tasks. Most studies to date have used young adults and the interaction between mood, cognitive performance and age have rarely been examined. There are age-specific changes in executive functions and mood regulation. This study examined the effect of mood on set switching and inhibitory control by comparing performances in young and older adults after neutral, positive and negative mood inductions using forced cued based switching tasks. In a neutral mood, older adults showed reduced set switching abilities and inhibitory control compared to young adults. Consistent with the …

Touching Plantation Memories : Tourists And Docents At The Museum, Eddie Arnold Modlin Jr

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Plantations are one of the long-standing symbols of the U.S. South. Today, almost four hundred former plantation sites are museums. Over the last fifteen years a sustained, critical consideration of how slavery is remembered at these sites has developed in the academic literature. Geographers have argued that remembering slavery at these sites is geographic not only because most of these sites are in the South, but also because the public spatializes memory in certain ways at these historic places. To date, much of the memory literature about plantation museums focuses on the roles of these museums and their staff in …

Examining Emotional Responses To Effective Versus Ineffective Virtual Buddies, Kathleen Ingraham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore the impact of virtual character design on user emotional experience and user behavior in a simulated environment. With simulation training increasing in popularity as a tool for teaching social skills, it is essential that social interactions in virtual environments provide authentic opportunities for practice (Swartout et al., 2006). This study used Interactive Performance Theory (Wirth, 2012) to examine the effect of designing a virtual buddy character with ineffective traits instead of effective or expert traits. The sample population for this study (n = 145) consisted of first year university students enrolled …

"My Gut Has To Feel It": A Participatory Action Research Study Of Community College Educators Navigating The Emotional Terrain Of Human Rights Education, Lindsay Padilla

Doctoral Dissertations

Informed by feminist theories of emotion and the concept of critical emotional praxis, this PAR study highlights the emotional terrain of four Northern California community college teachers who teach human rights. The following meta-question guided this research: "Given the role of emotions in challenging injustice, as well as in engaging in personal and societal change, what role do emotions play when teaching in a community college?" Data sources included journals, monthly meetings, final reflection narratives, and exit interviews, which were culled for emergent themes. The findings indicate that the co-researchers in this study experienced emotional ambivalence (the simultaneous experience of …

Release From Proactive Interference : The Impact Of Emotional And Semantic Shifts On Recall Performance, Hugh Knickerbocker

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Proactive interference (PI) occurs when the recall of newly learned information is blocked by previously learned information (e.g., recalling an old list of food items when trying to recall a current list of food items during grocery shopping). Release from PI occurs when newly learned information is recalled without interference from previously learned information. Release from PI has been observed when making changes to the to-be-remembered items. Experiment 1 found significant release from PI when category shifted from a neutral category to an emotion category or an emotion-laden category. Experiments 2 and 3 compared the release from PI when shifting …

Examining The Relations Between Disgust, Fear, And Eating Disorder Symptomatology, Lisa Marie Anderson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Exposure interventions for eating disorders typically identify fear as a key treatment target (i.e., fear of fat) and integrate a hierarchical list of the patient's fears into treatment. Recently, research has suggested that the disgust emotion may be equally important for exposure efficacy, as it appears to be more resistant to extinction than fear. Currently, the independent contributions of fear and disgust to eating pathology are unknown, which may limit our ability to develop and implement the most effective exposure interventions. Thus, the current study employed hierarchical multiple regression analyses to evaluate each emotion's relative contribution to eating disorder symptoms …