Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Suggestibility Of Older Witnesses, Brian H. Bornstein, Christy J. Witt, Katie E. Cherry, Edith Greene

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study compares younger and older adult witnesses’ susceptibility to misinformation. Previous research on the misinformation effect has not measured the relationship between the effect and individuals’ perceptions of their own memory abilities. Such perceptions, and general knowledge of one’s own memory processes, are referred to as “metamemory.” In order to examine the relationship between metamemory and the misinformation effect in the present study, participants also completed a questionnaire that assessed their perception of their memory functioning. Although older persons tend to perceive their memories as being faulty, the correlation between self-assessment of memory abilities and actual memory performance …

Falun Gong And The Politics Of Psychiatry, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes political facets of the institution of psychiatry.

The Differential Relations Of Parent And Peer Attachment To Adolescent Adjustment, Deborah J. Laible, Gustavo Carlo, Marcela Raffaelli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Whether or not close emotional relationships with parents and peers serve similar functions for adolescent adjustment is an issue of increasing interest. The present study was designed to examine the relations between parent and peer attachment and adolescent adjustment. Eighty-nine adolescents (M age = 16.1 years, SD = 1.8 years) completed self-report measures of parent and peer attachment, sympathy, academic efficacy, aggression, anxiety, and depression. Adolescents were divided into four groups on the basis of their parent and peer attachment scores: those high on both, those low on both, those high on peer but low on parent attachment, and those …

Mediator Personality Type And Perceived Conflict Goals In Workplace Mediation: A Study Of Shared Neutrals, Karin Alayne Waller

Dissertations and Theses

The focus of this thesis was around two questions: "Do mediators commonly share a personality typology?" and "Does personality type affect mediators' perceptions of disputants' goals?" The findings of this study have several implications for conflict management and its practitioners. For instance, consideration of one's own personality type can lead to deeper understanding of one's own biases and help develop mediator neutrality. Studies about mediation practitioners can also provide information about this under-represented group for use in career counseling, as well as in public education.

This research suggests that 71% of this group of mediators shared preferences in both the …

Relation Of Therapeutic Alliance And Perfectionism To Outcome In Brief Outpatient Treatment Of Depression, David C. Zuroff, Sidney J. Blatt, Stuart M. Sotsky, Janice L. Krupnick, Daniel J. Martin, Charles A. Sanislow, Sam Simmens

Charles A. Sanislow, Ph.D.

Prior analyses of the National Institute of Mental Health Treatment of Depression Collaborative Research Program demonstrated that perfectionism was negatively related to outcome, whereas both the patient's perception of the quality of the therapeutic relationship and the patient contribution to the therapeutic alliance were positively related to outcome across treatment conditions (S. J. Blatt, D. C. Zuroff, D. M. Quinlan, & P. A. Pilkonis, 1996; J. L. Krupnick et al., 1996). New analyses examining the relations among perfectionism, perceived relationship quality, and the therapeutic alliance demonstrated that (a) the patient contribution to the alliance and the perceived quality of the …

Conditioned Place Preference: What Does It Add To Our Preclinical Understanding Of Drug Reward?, M. T. Bardo, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale: Among the various experimental protocols that have been used to measure drug reward in laboratory animals, conditioned place preference (CPP) has been one of the most popular. However, a number of controversial issues have surrounded the use of this experimental protocol.
Objective: The present review provides a theoretical overview of some critical issues relevant to CPP. The advantages and limitations of CPP are also covered.
Results: Based on modern and traditional theoretical formulations of Pavlovian conditioning, CPP appears to reflect a preference for a context due to the contiguous association between the context and a drug stimulus. Within this …

Self-Mutilation : Using Pain To Cope, Wendy S. Cook

Graduate Research Papers

Self-mutilation is a serious mental and physical health problem that is often under-reported and misdiagnosed. The mutilation is a reaction to negative internal feelings, such as despair, anxiety, anger, or cognitive constriction. The goal of the self-mutilation is relief from emotional pain by using physical pain. The self-mutilator has low self-esteem, bouts of depression, difficulty forming intimate relationships, and usually suffered some type of trauma such as physical or sexual abuse. Pharmacological treatment for the self-mutilator has been experimental but has not been well researched. However, research seemed to indicate that individual and group therapy, specifically cognitive-behavioral therapy, is helpful …

The Effect Of A Suggestive Interview On Children’S Memory Of A Repeated Event: Does It Matter Whether Suggestions Are Linked To A Particular Incident?, Martine Powell, Kim P. Roberts, Donald M. Thomson

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study examined the impact of linking misleading information to a particular occurrence of a repeated event. Children aged 5- to 6-years took part in the same staged event four times and 16 target details varied in each occurrence (e.g., the colour of a cloak varied each time). Three days or three weeks later they were asked questions, some of which included false information, about the final occurrence. The next day, the children were required to recall what happened in the final occurrence. Compared to children whose biasing interview was not focused on any particular occurrence of the repeated event, …

Understanding The Dynamics Of Child Maltreatment: Child Harm, Family Healing, And Public Policy (Discussant's Commentary), Ross A. Thompson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

For almost a half-century, the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation has profiled many of the evolving themes and issues at the heart of psychology. It has also documented, less directly, changes in society. When the symposium was inaugurated in 1951, child maltreatment was a sad reality of life for many children, but it was not a topic of considerable professional attention. With the identification of the "battered child syndrome" (Kempe, Silverman, Steele, Droegemueller, & Silver, 1962) in the early 1960s, however, professional concern with the plight of abused and neglected children quickly grew. National attention to child maltreatment also increased as …

An Updated Look At Depressive Symptoms And Job Satisfaction In First-Year Women Teachers, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This report updates a longitudinal study (I. S. Schonfeld, 1992) of the effects of working conditions on newly appointed womenteachers. The update included a later graduating cohort and additional outcome measures. Moreover, women who were not fully exposed to work stressors (e.g. part-time work, change of schools) were now excluded from the analyses. Among the 184 teachers (average age 27 yrs), work environment measures were more highly correlated with future depressive symptoms, self-esteem, job satisfaction, and motivation to teach than with pre-employment counterparts of the outcomes. Regression analyses underlined the effects of the work environment on …

An Instructor's Guide To Electronic Databases Of Indexed Professional Literature, Scott T. Kidd, Cheryl L. Meyer, Brian M. Olesko

School of Professional Psychology Faculty Publications

This document reviews 20 databases that are relevant to psychology but that are used primarily by professionals in other disciplines. Each database is described, any corresponding paper index is indicated, searching tips are provided, and, when available, free Internet access sites are identified.

Versatility From A Single Song: The Case Of The Nightingale Wren, Daniel Leger, Katherine E. Brooks, Judith E. O'Brien

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Versatility in song production of birds has drawn considerable attention since its description by Hartshorne (1956), who suggested that birds vary their vocal output to avoid habituation in listeners, especially if singing is extensive. The best-known route to song versatility involves creating permutations and combinations of song elements learned from neighbors or relatives, combined with improvisations (Nowicki et al. 1999). Birds may learn whole songs or individual song elements, which then may be arranged in novel ways.

Versatility might be achieved in other ways besides acquiring numerous song types. For example, individuals could shift the tempo of their songs by …

Precious Little Guidance: Jury Instruction On Damage Awards, Edith Greene, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Jury instructions on damage awards are notoriously vague and ambiguous. As a result, awards are sometimes unexpected and seemingly illogical. In this article, the authors argue that jury instructions regarding damages are vague because the law of damages itself is purposefully ambiguous—allowing particularized justice across a variety of different circumstances. The authors review research on comprehension and application of substantive jury instructions related to damages and on procedural variations at trial (e.g., use of preinstruction, bifurcation, blindfolding jurors to various issues, special verdict forms, caps on damages, and instruction revision) that impact the substantive instructions that jurors receive from the …

Striving To Do Well What Comes Naturally: Social Support, Developmental Psychopathology, And Social Policy, Ross A. Thompson, Lenna Ontai

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Social support can have significant stress-preventive and stress-buffering benefits for troubled individuals in everyday circumstances. Consequently, it is not surprising that many therapeutic and preventive programs enlist social support to address problems of child and family psychopathology, especially in the context of “two-generation interventions” that seek to improve child well-being by strengthening parental functioning and parent–child relationships. Home visitation programs are the best known of these two-generation strategies and have become the focus of state-level and national efforts to support families and prevent harm to children. The conclusions of basic research studies on social support converge significantly with the findings …

Introduction Of Motivation And Child Maltreatment: Volume 46 Of The Nebraska Symposium On Motivation, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

There are at least two great luxuries associated with being coordinator of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. One is choosing the topic or major theme of the prestigious and influential conference. The second is selecting the speakers. It is great to sit back and think about all of the leading scholars in the field and decide who you would like to hear speak and have contribute a chapter to the volume. This 46th Annual Nebraska Symposium on Motivation brought together a distinguished panel of scholars who explored issues related to motivation and child maltreatment.

Gender Differences In The Development Of Substance- Related Problems: The Impact Of Family History Of Alcoholism, Family History Of Violence And Childhood Conduct Problems, Stephen T. Chermack, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Bret E. Fuller, Frederic C. Blow

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: This study examined gender differences regarding the relative influence of family history of alcoholism (FHA) and family history of violence (FHV) on reported childhood conduct problems (CCP) and adult problems with alcohol, drugs and violence. Method: The participants were 110 men and 103 women with alcohol-related problems recruited within 30 days of enrolling in treatment for substance abuse or dependence. Participants completed self-report measures of pretreatment violence, FHV, CCP, substance use and consequences, and demographics; a semi-structured interview was used to assess FHA. Results: Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed gender differences with regard to the influence of FHA …

Antipredator Vigilance Of Juvenile And Adult Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrels And The Role Of Nutritional Need, Cody Arenz, Daniel Leger

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Juvenile thirteen-lined ground squirrels, Spermophilus tridecemlineatus, are less vigilant (i.e. they spend less time visually scanning the environment) than adults. To determine whether nutritional need was a potential cause of this difference, we supplemented two groups of free-ranging juveniles during the predispersal stage, while juveniles were still near and around the natal burrows. The high-energy food group (HEF: 11 squirrels) received peanut butter and oats while the low-energy food group (LEF: seven squirrels) received lettuce. Adults (14 squirrels) were also supplemented, but due to their greater home range sizes, it was not feasible to classify them as either HEF …

Decomposition Can Harm The Accuracy Of Behavioral Frequency Reports, Robert Belli, Norbert Schwarz, Eleanor Singer, Jennifer Talarico

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In survey research, the use of decomposition can lead to pronounced reporting errors as seen by overreporting and overall reporting error. A total of 87 subjects answered either decomposed or undecomposed questions concerning telephone calls made by them while at work. The questionnaire conditions varied the length of the reference period (1 week or 6 months), and the type of call (local or long-distance). Decomposition conditions introduced either spatial or temporal cues. In all comparisons, decomposed questions increased over- reporting bias relative to undecomposed questions. In addition, undecomposed questions with a 1-week reference period led to increased overreporting bias in …

Oppositional Defiant Disorder (Odd) In Children And Adolescents, Maria J. Garlie

Graduate Research Papers

This paper is a review of the literature on Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) in children and adolescents. Included in this review is information on the history of changes through which the diagnosis of ODD has gone, a comparison of children with ODD to "normal" children in terms of development, gender differences, co-morbidity, etiology, and treatment interventions.

Early Attachment And Eating Disorders: A Comparative Study Between Anorexia Nervosa And Bulimia Nervosa, Francoise Ringer

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The purpose of this research was to study the association between adult mental representations of curly attachment relationships and eating disorders, and to compare attachment classifications between anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The sample consisted of 62 women with eating disorders, divided between anorexia nervosa [restricting type (n=20) and binge-eating/purging type (n=l6)], and bulimia nervosa (n=26). The measures were (a) a structured interview based on the ''Diagnostic Survey for Eating Disorders" (Johnson and Connors, 1987) and the DSM IV criteria for the classification of eating disorders, and (b) the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) (George, Kaplan and Main, 1985). The AAI …

Positive And Negative Responses To Personal Discrimination: Does Coping Make A Difference?, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although psychological research has found that perceiving personal discrimination is associated with negative psychological symptoms, group consciousness theories suggest that perceiving personal discrimination can be empowering. To attempt to reconcile these presumably opposing findings, the present study suggested that how one copes with perceiving personal discrimination may better predict whether the outcomes are negative or positive than the perception of personal discrimination alone. American female university students ( N = 262) completed a questionnaire assessing their perceptions of personal discrimination, psychological symptoms and psychosocial behaviors. A series of hierarchical regression analyses indicated that coping mechanisms predicted psychosocial behaviors over and …

Utilization Of Global Attributions In Recognizing And Responding To Gender Discrimination Among College Women, Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although learned helplessness theories suggest that global attributions for gender discrimination may serve to promote feelings of helplessness about responding to discrimination, group consciousness theories suggest they may instead be a precursor to enhancing collective actions against discrimination.

To examine this theoretical discrepancy, college women completed measures of attributions for gender discrimination, political consciousness (as measured by common fate), participation in collective action, and helplessness behavior among college women. To examine the unique role of global attributions, participants were included if they made external and unstable attributions for discrimination (N = 231). Structural equation modeling showed hat recognizing discrimination occurs …

Rationality And Responsibility, Stephen J. Morse

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Culturally Competent California Mental Health Services: Model And Example, Richard H. Dana, Myriam Aragon, Terry Kramer

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

Mental health services in the United States were designed for European American consumers, but with burgeoning multicultural populations these services have proven inadequate and underutilized. This paper examines research on cultural competencies of agencies and clinicians relevant to a mental health practice model, the Multicultural Assessment-Intervention Process model (MAIP). This model was modified for systematic application in a California agency, the Tri-City Mental Health Center, to provide a flexible blueprint for major alterations in agency practice and programs that affect the entire system of care. MAIP begins with intake process including client-clinician/ethnicity-Ianguage|match, client acculturation/racial identity status, and clinician cultural competence, …

Play Therapy For Children With Aggressive Behavior, Jennifer M. Brehm

Graduate Research Papers

The purpose of this literature review was to investigate the effectiveness of various play therapy interventions for decreasing developmentally inappropriate aggression of children. Psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, and person-centered approaches of play therapy were reviewed. Each of the three theoretical approaches to therapy was described in relation to the aggressive behaviors of children. Similarities and differences among the three therapies were discussed. Efficacy of the interventions was presented based on published literature only. More studies of the various types of play therapy, particularly in relation to the aggressive behaviors of children, need to be conducted and results disseminated.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder : Developments In The Last Decade Concerning Causes And Treatments, Phyllis Damgaard

Graduate Research Papers

The last ten years have brought major advances in the fields of medicine and technology, advances that have illuminated many of the dark comers of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This article seeks to pull together those illuminating advances, condensing the voluminous information available into comprehensive, but readable, pages. The causes of the disorder are discussed from both the scientific and psychological/social perspectives. The controversy resulting from medicating so many, so young is an integral part of this country's interest in ADHD, due largely to coverage by the popular media.

Research concerning successful treatment strategies is also discussed. Medication, behavior …

The Relationship Between Symptoms Of Perceived Trauma And Verbal Learning And Memory Deficits, Santina Tonizzo

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Recent empirical studies on individuals with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) report an association between PTSD and deficits in short-term verbal memory. While the previous studies utilised a global score of PTSD, the present study assessed the association of individual symptoms as a result of perceived traumatic events with verbal learning and memory deficits. In addition, the severity of the traumatic events was examined as well as gender, age, IQ, education and previous alcohol abuse and drug use. A sample of 148 adults reported to have experienced a traumatic event such as sexual or physical abuse ns children. war veterans, or …

Resource-Allocation Behavior When Payoff Is Not Equal, Eric C. Nolan

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Self-Esteem: The Influence Of Parenting Styles, Jean Wolff

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study examines parent/child relationships and their possible influence on self-esteem. The parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, permissive and unmatched, are assessed (by child report) and compared to levels of global and specific domains of self-esteem to determine whether parenting style influences self-esteem in children. Eighty-four children aged 11-12 years of age; male and female were asked to complete three questionnaires. The questionnaires were: Child Report of Parental Behaviour Inventory (Schluderman & Schluderman, 1970) to ascertain their parent's parenting style; Harter's (1985), Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC), to measure the child's self-esteem and a demographic questionnaire. ANOVA and ANCOVA were used …

The Effects Of Suicide Intent And History Of Self-Harm On Emotional Reactions And Willingness To Help, Paul A. Buttigieg

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The present study was a preliminary investigation of factors that affect potential helpers' emotional responses, perceptions and willingness to help when confronted with information about a hypothetical friend who overdoses. One hundred and forty-two undergraduate students attending Edith Cowan University (Joondalup Campus) were randomly assigned to one of six conditions and read two vignettes. In the first vignette, information was provided of a hypothetical female friend's overdose. The second vignette included information about the overdose that either supported or contradicted information in the first vignette regarding the woman's history of self-harm. Participants then completed a questionnaire designed to measure their …