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Understanding The Glass Cliff Effect: Why Are Female Leaders Being Pushed Toward The Edge?, Yael S. Oelbaum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The glass cliff effect describes a real-world phenomenon in which women are more likely to be appointed to precarious leadership positions in poorly performing organizations, while men are more likely to be appointed to stable leadership positions in successful organizations (Ryan & Haslam, 2005). This effect represents a subtle, yet dangerous, form of gender discrimination that may limit workplace diversity as well as women’s ability to become successful leaders. Importantly, research exploring why women are preferred for more perilous leadership positions is lacking. The main focus of this dissertation is to systematically organize previous theory and empirically examine processes underlying …

Examining Relationships Between Basic Emotion Perception And Musical Training In The Prosodic, Facial, And Lexical Channels Of Communication And In Music, Jamie Twaite

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research has suggested that intensive musical training may result in transfer effects from musical to non-musical domains. There is considerable research on perceptual and cognitive transfer effects associated with music, but, comparatively, fewer studies examined relationships between musical training and emotion processing. Preliminary findings, though equivocal, suggested that musical training is associated with enhanced perception of emotional prosody, consistent with a growing body of research demonstrating relationships between music and speech. In addition, few studies directly examined the relationship between musical training and the perception of emotions expressed in music, and no studies directly evaluated this relationship in the facial …

My Mother Needs Me! Is It Possible To Stay Connected While Being My Own Person? The Object Relations Of The Latina “Dutiful Daughter”, Juliana Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Latinas are culturally expected to be “dutiful daughters” establishing strong attachments and adhering to the traditional values characterized by loyalty, cooperation, respect and interdependence within family members. Conventional Latina mother-daughter bonds, therefore, are expected to be exceptionally close. Healthy mother-daughter closeness can be a valuable source of support while closeness without differentiation from the mother may result in a lack of independence and poor interpersonal and personal growth. Mutuality of autonomy, a dimension of object relations (OR) theory, focuses on the progression of separation – individuation from developmentally normative fused representations in infancy to highly differentiated self-other representations as …

Vocal Rhythm Coordination And Preterm Infants: Rhythms Of Dialogue In A High-Risk Nicu Sample, Adrianne E. Lange

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The contemporary bio-psycho-social view of mother-infant relationships holds that early interactions form the foundation of the growing infant’s sense of himself and the world. Prior to the development of linguistically-based communication, nonverbal communication patterns foster the infant’s socio-emotional growth, cognitive capacity and the development of optimal regulatory patterns. Preterm birth significantly alters the typical developmental trajectory on multiple levels and disrupts normal neurobiological and socio-emotional maturational processes, including those that build on early interpersonal experiences with caregivers. The current study of vocal rhythm coordination in preterm mother-infant dyads is the first of its kind. Aspects of infant prematurity (degree of …

Emotion Regulation In Relation To Cognitive Functioning In The Preclinical Stages Of Dementia, Erica P. Meltzer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Emotion regulation (ER) is essential for effective functioning in daily life. Research suggests that ER improves in older adulthood despite concomitant declines in cognition and the presumed neural substrates of ER. The current understanding of ER in older adulthood, and particularly of the relationship between ER and cognition in older adulthood, is limited. This is likely because the construct of ER is challenging to operationalize and, therefore, difficult to study.

The current study investigates ER in relation to cognitive functioning, specifically executive functioning and memory, in individuals with varying degrees of cognitive difficulties (i.e., in the preclinical stages of dementia). …

Possible Underlying Mechanisms Of Hyperactivity In Children With Adhd, Nicole Feirsen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Conceptualizations of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) have evolved significantly over the years. Historically, early conceptualizations of ADHD described hyperactivity as the core symptom of the disorder. However, when the third version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was published (1980), hyperactivity became a specific qualifier of the disorder and was no longer necessary for a diagnosis. Despite this shift in conceptualization of the disorder, there is an abundance of empirical evidence, both recent and historical, supporting the fact that hyperactivity is an enduring and clinically impairing symptom domain in ADHD. Despite having numerous validated instruments available to …

Real Gender: Identity, Loss, And The Capacity To Feel Real, Hannah Wallerstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project concerns gender and feeling real. It begins with a seeming paradox: on the one hand, since Judith Butler (1999; 2011) we can no longer think gender as ontological in any simple sense; on the other, clinical experience and the voices of transgender and gender-queer individuals shows gender to function on the order of reality, and one exceeding the social. In other words, if feeling real depended entirely on being read as such, how would we account for the many who pass easily as “real” men or women and yet feel unreal, or come to feel more real by …

Providing Care For Many In The Context Of Few Resources: Secondary Traumatic Stress, Burnout And Moral Distress Experienced By Healthcare Providers In Rural Uganda, Lauren Michelle Dewey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the context of the global nursing shortage, and particularly in low-resource settings, nurses are at an increased risk for work-related stress problems like secondary traumatic stress (STS), burnout, and moral distress. These three work-related mental health consequences, sometimes associated with absenteeism and intent to leave the profession, could potentially contribute further to the shortage of nurses. This two-part study is a longitudinal examination of the work-related mental health consequences experienced by healthcare providers in rural Uganda. In Study 1, participants (n=208; 159 students and 49 experienced health workers) completed self-report, psychosocial measures at baseline and 134 of the students …

The Discursive Functioning Of Knowledge Claims In Research Studies On Children’S Conceptual Knowledge Of Number, Patrick D. Byers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Researchers interested in the development of conceptual knowledge of number have studied children’s behavior in various tasks or other contexts in order to draw conclusions about what they know. The guiding assumption of this work is that the presence or absence of a given form of knowledge is typically reflected in the ability/inability to perform certain types of behavior. Researchers complicate this assumption when they claim that (1) the ability to perform a given behavior may also reflect simple imitation or rote learning in the absence of understanding, and/or (2) that the inability to perform a certain behavior may reflect …

The Remembrance Of Things Past: Does Self-Report Moderate The Impact Of Childhood Sexual Abuse On Long-Term Psychiatric Consequences?, Christina N. Massey

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research has shown that the relationship between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and psychiatric symptoms is quite varied, with some victims experiencing severe and lasting symptoms and others appearing well-adjusted. Disclosure of childhood sexual abuse has been associated with reduced psychiatric symptoms. Thus, the current study sought to examine the potential moderating effects of disclosure. It was hypothesized that disclosure of childhood maltreatment would be associated with fewer symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and alcohol- and drug-related disorders and that this relationship between disclosure and psychiatric symptoms would remain consistent over time. In addition, it was hypothesized that the moderating effects …

The Effects Of Alpha Oscillations On Touch Perception And Visuo-Tactile Integration, Lei Ai

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Previous studies have shown that touch perception and visuo-tactile integration have large inter-subject/intra-subject variations. For example, touch perception varies across trials and the temporal binding windows of visuo-tactile integration varies across subjects. I hypothesized that the variations might be due to the change of power, phase and peak frequency of brain alpha oscillations. In the first set of experiments, I examined whether the power and phase of alpha oscillations predict successful conscious touch perception. Near-threshold tactile stimuli were applied to the left hand while electroencephalographic (EEG) activity and fast signal optical imaging were recorded over the somatosensory cortex. Alpha power …

Investigating The Construct Of Psychopathy In Lebanese And American Adults, Marie-Anne Issa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychopathy has been primarily investigated in forensic and psychiatric populations in North America. Cross-cultural studies, mainly conducted in Europe, have shown disparities in psychopathy scores and the measures’ psychometric properties, which raise the issue of cultural factors, such as individualism-collectivism, values, and different ways of emotional expression, and the impact of these cultural factors on the construct and its manifestation. Psychopathy has been rarely explored in Arab populations. This dissertation examines the construct of psychopathy among Lebanese adults, to assess its meaning, relevance, and utility among this population and compares the responses of Lebanese to American adults. The design of …

Value Congruence And Unethical Decision-Making: The Dark Side Of Person-Organization Fit, Chad C. Parson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Unethical decision-making (UDM) in organizations is a topic with a long history in practice and a short history in research. The purpose of this dissertation was to explore whether individual and organizational values interacted to predict Person-Organization Fit (P-O Fit) and UDM. Across two studies I tested the idea that individuals would report better P-O Fit in caring ethical climates to the degree that they reported greater trait empathy, and better P-O Fit in instrumental ethical climates to the degree that they reported greater levels of the Dark Triad traits. I also tested the idea that better P-O Fit would …

The Effects Of Goal Orientation And Learning Strategies On Managerial Job Performance, Raphael Y. Prager

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study was to test a theoretical model of the role of informal managerial learning processes in predicting job performance. Using Goal Orientation (GO) as a framework, this study tested the relationships between dispositional GO, learning strategies, and organizational and managerial support in relation to job performance. Participants were 143 employees across several global regions in an insurance firm. Overall, path analyses indicated that dispositional mastery GO was positively associated with learning strategies and job performance. Contrary to hypotheses, the learning strategies did not positively predict job performance. Differential effects were found for the influence of organizational …

Death Priming In Investigations: The Effects On Worldview Threat, Out-Group Derogation, And Stereotyping, Laure Brimbal

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Terror Management Theory (TMT) hypothesizes that thinking about one’s own death creates a need to boost our worldview and our self-esteem in order to cope with this existential threat. Decades of research support the theory’s premises with findings in many different settings (Burke, Martens, & Faucher, 2010). The purpose of this dissertation is to extend the findings of TMT to research on decision making in investigations. In two studies, I evaluated how thinking about one’s death (Mortality Salience, MS) affected mock investigators’ reactions to the outcome of a case they investigated and their perceptions of a suspect, depending on their …

Observational Assessment Of Empathy In Parent-Child Verbal Exchanges And Their Influence On Child Behavior, Patty Carambot

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Empathy, the ability to both experientially share in and understand others’ thoughts, behaviors, and feelings, is vital for human adaptation. Deficits in empathy development have implications across the lifespan for the development of prosocial behavior, social functioning, mental health disorders, and risk for antisocial behavior (e.g., Guajardo, Snyder, & Petersen, 2009; Moreno, Klute & Robinson, 2008). In light of these societal and individual burdens, it is imperative to foster and strengthen the development of this ability early in life to prevent or ameliorate such negative outcomes. This type of prevention can take a variety of forms, but parent and child …

Evaluating The Validity Of Technology-Enhanced Educational Assessment Items And Tasks: An Empirical Approach To Studying Item Features And Scoring Rubrics., Ally Thomas

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With the advent of the newly developed Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards, innovative assessments, including technology-enhanced items and tasks, will be needed to meet the challenges of developing valid and reliable assessments in a world of computer-based testing. In a recent critique of the next generation assessments in math (i.e., Smarter Balanced), Rasmussen (2015) observed that many aspects of the technology “enhancements” can be expected to do more harm than good as the computer interfaces may introduce construct irrelevant variance. This paper focused on issues surrounding the design of TEIs and how cognitive load …

Medication Management In Pediatric Chronic Illness: Should Patient Anxiety Be Considered?, Claire J. Hoogendoorn

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Introduction: There is growing support that psychological symptoms can impact various aspects of disease, well-being, and medical treatment for those with a chronic illness like Crohn’s disease (CD). Yet, almost no studies have examined whether psychological symptoms can influence management or efficacy of patient medication regimens. The aims of this project were to examine whether anxiety predicted pediatric patients’ level of medication management, medication prescription changes, and corticosteroid prescription and duration.

Method: A total of 105 pediatric patients ages 8-18 (M=14.5, SD=2.3) completed a validated anxiety questionnaire during a GI office visit (baseline). Prescribed IBD …

Bully Victimization, Depression, And The Role Of Protective Factors Among College-Age Lgbtq Students, Theresa E. Bhoopsingh

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined the prevalence and impact (or intensity) of four different bullying-victimization forms (physical, verbal, relational, cyber) as experienced by the LGBTQ college-age population. In addition, this study also investigated LGBTQ college students’ bully victimization experiences and their links to depressive symptomatology. The relationship between self-rated victimization and its impact and depression was also explored. Furthermore, given the potential for protective factors of various types to mitigate the negative impact of bullying, this study investigated social supports from family, friends, and campus to determine the strength of their moderating effects, individually and in combination, for each of the sexual …

Role Of Humor In Emotion Regulation: Differential Effects Of Adaptive And Maladaptive Forms Of Humor, Lindsay Mathews

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Humor is widely believed to be an adaptive method of regulating emotions; however, the empirical literature remains inconclusive. One potential explanation for inconsistent results is that humor may be a multidimensional construct. Correlational research suggests that “adaptive” humor styles (Self-Enhancing and Affiliative) are more beneficial than “maladaptive” humor styles (Self-Defeating and Aggressive). The current study examined the effects of humor styles on positive and negative emotion in a sample of 146 young adults. In Part I of the study, participants were 1) randomly assigned to three conditions (adaptive humor, maladaptive humor, and distraction), 2) instructed to write about life events …

Social Cognitive Processes In The Priming Of Mental Illness Stereotypes By The Media, Ginny Chan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In high-profile violent incidents, there appears to be a disproportionate focus on the perpetrator’s mental health status in relation to the incident (Angermeyer & Matschinger, 1996). Several studies have highlighted the biased nature of the media in reporting news on mental illness and its negative impact on general consensus (Corrigan et al., 2013; Wahl, 1992, 2003). Researchers have also suggested that the media is a significant source of knowledge for the public (Jorm, 2000; Wahl, 2003). Based on a social cognitive perspective, pragmatic inference and stereotype priming provide a framework to understand the reader’s comprehension. The current studies aimed to …

The Critical Social Ecology Of Student Success In Higher Education: A Transformative Mixed Methods Study Of Undergraduates' Experiences And Outcomes At The City University Of New York (Cuny), Leigh Shebanie Mccallen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Ensuring success in higher education among historically underserved students is integral to social equity and mobility in the United States today. Scholars have called for research examining the complexity of factors determining educational pathways of students encountering circumstances that hinder progress toward a college degree in the context of broad-access public four-year universities and two-year community colleges, institutions most affected by declining federal and state support for higher education. The current research proposed a multidisciplinary applied model of underserved college student success to examine factors constraining and promoting the educational outcomes and social opportunities of undergraduate low-income, first in family …

Physiological Regulation, Psychosocial Adversity, And Proactive Versus Reactive Aggression: A Longitudinal Study, Wei Zhang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Two types of aggression in children and adolescents have been identified: reactive aggression (RA) and proactive aggression (PA). Despite the accumulating evidence suggesting differential temperamental, behavioral, cognitive, social-environmental, and neurobiological correlates in relation to the two types of aggression, no study has examined emotion regulation in children with RA vs. PA using psychophysiological approaches. In this study a sample of eight to 10 years old children participated in an emotion regulation task in which they were required to either induce or inhibit their emotions. They also reported their aggressive behavior using the Reactive-Proactive Aggression questionnaire (RPQ; Raine et al., 2006). …

An Erp Study Of Sensory-Linguistic Processing In The Context Of Asd Research, Larissa R. Miller

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This thesis considers the questions of what is hindering the language development of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Tomasello’s (2003) theory of language development by use necessitates adequate pattern recognition, intention reading and use for language development. Within these areas there are many variables where language acquisition could become derailed, from basic attention, perception and memory to higher cognitive functions, as well as processing speed and synchronization. Although there is a wide range of language abilities for children on the autism spectrum, the one consistently under developed area is pragmatics. One of the key aspects of pragmatic processing is …

An Analysis Of The Organizational Structures Of New Types Of Children's Associations In Relation To Changing Views Of Children's Capacities As Citizens, Bijan Kimiagar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The goal of this study is to learn how new types of children’s associations around the world are organizing themselves and how their organizational structures reflect contemporary understandings of children’s capacities as citizens. The purpose is to identify different types and qualities of participatory children’s associations and how each affords opportunities for children to exercise their right to freedom of association, develop capacities for self-governance in groups, and promote the principles of inclusion (non-discrimination) and equity (fairness). To this end, I document and analyze diagrams of organizational structures that members of different children’s associations created during the Article 15 Project …

Consciousness, Perception, And Short-Term Memory, Henry F. Shevlin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dissertation Abstract: Consciousness, Perception, and Short-Term Memory

When we engage in almost any perceptual activity – recognizing a face, listening out for a phone-call, or simply taking in a sunset – information must be briefly stored and processed in some form of short-term memory. For philosophers attempting to develop an empirically grounded account of perception and conscious experience, it is therefore crucial to engage with scientific theories of the kinds of short-term memory mechanisms that underlie our moment-to-moment retention of information about the world. To that end, in this dissertation I review recent scientific evidence for a new form of …

Negotiating And Navigating Invisible Food Deserts: An Exploratory Study On Foodways Of Adults On The Autism Spectrum, Jungja Park Cardoso

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

I explored foodways of adults on the autism spectrum in order to understand how they negotiate and navigate their food environments. Foodways are beliefs and practices involved in food production, preparation, distribution and consumption (Counihan 2008). In an effort to hear marginalized voices in autism discourse, I conducted an online survey and interviews in modes chosen by participants to accommodate the communication needs of a wide range of autistic adults. The primary participants were highly educated adults with a formal autism diagnosis (n = 23) and self-diagnosed adults (n = 6). Out of the 29 autistic participants who …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Supervision On Trauma Training Outcomes For Assertive Community Treatment Teams, Sacha Zilkha

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Most individuals receiving mental health care do not have access to evidence-based psychological treatments, regardless of psychological disorder. Despite the development of effective evidence based treatments and available training, clinician uptake and adherence to such treatments has been low. In this study, the effectiveness of a trauma treatment training model was evaluated through a quasi-experimental design to better inform and address the gap between the existence of evidence based care and lack of evidence based treatment options available in the community. Specifically, data from 23 Assertive Community Treatment Teams in NYC that underwent a 1-day ICBT training along with 12-month …

Thiscollegestory.Com: How Interactive Writing Media Influenced The Way First-Year Students Made Sense Of Their College Transition, Philip Kreniske

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Drawing on insights from Bakhtin (1986) that demonstrated the significance of writing as an interaction, and building on recent developments in narrative analysis that offer insights into narrator’s sense making processes (Daiute, 2014; Lucic, 2013); this research explores how freshmen in an educational opportunity program used interactive writing media to make sense of their transition to college. The exploration involved three main questions and each question concerns students’ development over time:

• First, did college students’ writing in two different media (blogs and word-processed text) differ and did these differences change over time?
• Second, how did the narrators and audience interact …

Series Of Intermittent Heroin Injections Enhances Acquisition Of Operant Responding For Cues Paired With Natural Rewards, Jennifer Morrison

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Repeated-intermittent heroin use has been implicated in altering learning processes. Ranaldi et al. (2009) and Morrison et al. (2011) demonstrated that repeated-intermittent heroin administration leads to an enhancement of conditioned reinforcement by a food-paired light stimulus; however, the mechanism governing this effect is still largely unknown. The aims of the present study were to examine modifications in Pavlovian and operant associations for cues paired with natural rewards after a series of intermittent heroin injections. The study consisted of three phases: (1) Pavlovian Conditioning Phase (4 days)- in which three groups of rats had a light stimulus paired with food, and …