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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Does The Presence Of A Non-Coincident Visual Spatial Pattern Facilitate Spatial Pattern Learning? Implications For A Dedicated Spatial Pattern Learning System, Scott Katz Apr 2013

Does The Presence Of A Non-Coincident Visual Spatial Pattern Facilitate Spatial Pattern Learning? Implications For A Dedicated Spatial Pattern Learning System, Scott Katz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Spatial pattern learning is defined as an ability to learn spatial relationships of objects in space without the use of discrete visual landmarks or environmental geometry (Brown & Terrinoni, 1996). Spatial pattern learning has been suggested to be a distinct form of learning because it is not affected by cue competition and has been shown to occur in the absence of discrete landmarks and environmental geometry (Brown, Yang, & DiGian, 2002; Sturz Brown, & Kelly, 2009). In the proposed study, the distinctness of spatial pattern learning was investigated. Specifically, human participants searched in an interactive 3-D computer generated virtual environment …


The Effects Of Computer Reliance And Relationships On Memory, Denise Beyer Apr 2013

The Effects Of Computer Reliance And Relationships On Memory, Denise Beyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research supports the notion that the internet may serve as a transactive memory source for many individuals. Because, for many, information from technology is so accessible, humans may be less likely to encode and store information in their memory, potentially resulting in a smaller knowledge base over time (Sparrow, Liu, & Wegner, 2011). The current study examined the effects of exposing participants to a computer, friend, or neutral prime. Procedure order was also varied among the groups to determine whether potential memory failure would occur due to an encoding failure or a retrieval failure. Participants were asked to write out …


Ego Depletion And The Internet: Can We Study Ego-Depletion Online?, Todd Allmond Jan 2013

Ego Depletion And The Internet: Can We Study Ego-Depletion Online?, Todd Allmond

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exercising self-control depletes a finite resource of energy and reduces the ability to control behavior on subsequent tasks. Baumeister and others refer to the attenuation of self-regulation as ego depletion. Recent research has successfully utilized computer based depletion manipulations and measures. Previous research has focused on depletion tasks and measures in a laboratory setting, but no known research has extended ego depletion research to the online environment. The present study attempted to manipulate and measure ego-depletion through an online medium. We hypothesized that participants in the online experimental condition would perform significantly worse on two measures of depletion than participants …


The "War On Terror," Mortality Salience, And American Prejudice Before And After The 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings, Arthur Hatton Jan 2013

The "War On Terror," Mortality Salience, And American Prejudice Before And After The 2013 Boston Marathon Bombings, Arthur Hatton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The United States’ counterterrorism efforts have been framed in various ways in the media and politics, and each framing metaphor varies in its ability to accurately describe counterterrorism (Kruglanski, Crenshaw, Post, & Victoroff, 2007). Each frame also may have effects on the way the public perceives, responds to, and finds acceptable in counterterrorism. One common framing metaphor in American politics is counterterrorism as a “War on Terror.” Terror Management Theory (TMT) predicts that reminding people of mortality has predictable effects on their opinions and behavior. This study seeks to test empirically whether framing counterterrorism as a “War on Terror” acts …


Ego Depletion And Boredom: Does Boredom Compromise Future Acts Of Self-Control?, John Lemay Jan 2013

Ego Depletion And Boredom: Does Boredom Compromise Future Acts Of Self-Control?, John Lemay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored how boredom might influence self-control when participants believed that willpower is unlimited or limited. After completing one of two questionnaires, which induced the belief that willpower is either unlimited or limited, participants then completed one of three tasks. The tasks consisted of a non-ego depleting self-control task, an ego-depleting self-control task, and a task shown to induce boredom, with the nondepleting and depleting conditions having been replicated from research by Job, Dweck, and Walton (2010). In the non-depleting condition, participants completed a task that involved crossing out all occasions of the letter “e” found on two pages …


Psychopathy And Attachment: Examining The Relationship Between Secure Attachment Priming And Psychopathy, Victoria Allen Jan 2013

Psychopathy And Attachment: Examining The Relationship Between Secure Attachment Priming And Psychopathy, Victoria Allen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to employ implicit and explicit security priming in order to examine the relationship between attachment dimensions and expressed psychopathy; specifically, it was hypothesized that security priming would reduce levels of expressed psychopathy. A repeated measures design was also used to assess the association between state attachment variables and expressed psychopathy. The results showed that security priming was effective at reducing expressed psychopathy for individuals high in trait attachment anxiety. Security priming also caused changes in the associative relationships between attachment dimensions and expressed psychopathy. These findings increase our understanding of the relationships between attachment …


Sports Message Boarding: Association With Sports Team Identification And Social Well-Being, Brian D. Carlson Jan 2013

Sports Message Boarding: Association With Sports Team Identification And Social Well-Being, Brian D. Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that participating in or volunteering for sports related activities may increase overall well-being. Additionally, identifying with, or being a fan of a particular sports team may contribute to positive psychological outcomes. However, no study to date has examined whether participation in sports team message boarding is associated with positive psychological outcomes. As a result, the current study sought to determine if positive relationships exist among message board usage, team identification, and positive psychology variables. Three hundred and four members of an online sports message board completed self-report surveys examining message board usage, team identification, and positive psychological traits. …


Inescapable Aversive Stimulus Decreases Subsequent Escape Responding In Humans: An Investigation Of The Learned Helplessness Effect In A 3d Virtual Environment, Zachary Kilday Jan 2013

Inescapable Aversive Stimulus Decreases Subsequent Escape Responding In Humans: An Investigation Of The Learned Helplessness Effect In A 3d Virtual Environment, Zachary Kilday

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exposure to an inescapable aversive stimulus decreases escape responses to subsequent escapable aversive stimuli. This is known as the learned helplessness effect. In the present experiment, human participants were trained in an immersive, 3D virtual environment analog of an operant chamber using an inescapable aversive stimulus, an escapable aversive stimulus, or no aversive stimulus. Then, all participants were tested using an immersive, 3D virtual environment analog of a shuttle box using an escapable aversive stimulus. Participants trained with an inescapable aversive stimulus were slower to escape during testing than participants trained with an escapable aversive stimulus. The current results demonstrate …


On A First Name Basis: Effects Of African American Sounding First Names On The Hiring Decision, Shayna Brown Jan 2013

On A First Name Basis: Effects Of African American Sounding First Names On The Hiring Decision, Shayna Brown

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A controlled experiment contributes to our understanding of the hiring disparity by examining the effect of applicant race and type of applicant first name on hiring decisions. Two- hundred and five participants acted as mock hiring managers and reviewed an application and resume, completed an evaluation of the applicant’s job related characteristics, and made hiring and starting salary recommendations. Measures for stereotype and race activation were also included. Neither applicant race nor applicant name type affected participants’ ratings of job related characteristics such as perceived motivation, intellectual ability, ability to work well with others, and potential in the field. Results …


A Comparison Of The Associative And Multiple Bearing Hypotheses Through Landmark Stability In Humans Using A Virtual Environment, Martha R. Forloines Oct 2012

A Comparison Of The Associative And Multiple Bearing Hypotheses Through Landmark Stability In Humans Using A Virtual Environment, Martha R. Forloines

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The current experiment investigated the mixed results seen in spatial blocking paradigms; there have been procedures that have shown and not shown blocking of added landmarks in the spatial domain. Typically, the Associative theory of learning has been applied to spatial learning. However, spatial blocking paradigms cannot be explained solely with this theory. The Multiple Bearings Hypothesis (MBH) may be able to explain these differences. The current experiment employed a three-phase blocking paradigm to examine what factors are responsible for the mixed results. The first Phase, Phase 0, incrementally shaped human participants' goal location behavior with two ambiguous landmarks. In …


The Influence Of Phenotypic Variation On Criminal Judgement, Jacque-Corey Cormier Jan 2012

The Influence Of Phenotypic Variation On Criminal Judgement, Jacque-Corey Cormier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of phenotypic variation on criminal judgment. This study had two phases. In the first phase, participants rated multiple headshot photographs on the degree to which African American men possess pronounced Afrocentric features (fuller lips, broader nose, curlier hair, darker skin, etc.). The race of the participants predicted 34.2% of the variance in average skin color ratings above all other variables. White participants rated the Black faces as darker than any other participants rated the same faces. Researchers used the faces rated least, average, and most prototypical of Blacks as the …


Motivation, Need Support And Need Satisfaction In Youth Soccer Players, Erica Lippitt Jan 2012

Motivation, Need Support And Need Satisfaction In Youth Soccer Players, Erica Lippitt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: Physical activity levels and obesity rates vary greatly across ethnic groups in the United States (CDC, 2011). One popular way to increase physical activity levels in youth is through youth sport participation, which may be influenced by athlete motivation. Numerous studies have determined motivation levels in youth sport participants, but very little done in comparing levels across different ethnic groups. Identifying differences in motivation levels based on ethnicity can allow coaches and sport administrators to adjust practices and program setups to increase participation and meet needs of player competence. The purpose of the study was to determine if …


Predictors Of Bullying In An Adolescent School Sample, Schell Hufstetler Jan 2012

Predictors Of Bullying In An Adolescent School Sample, Schell Hufstetler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: Bullying is a pervasive problem in our society. Contributing to this problem is the fact that bullying is not well understood. This makes it difficult to design successful interventions. The current study aims to create a complete picture of bullying in order to increase understanding of this behavior. For this study, 59 adolescents completed a survey packet including measures of bullying behaviors and other variables expected to relate to bullying. The results revealed that bullying is a problem for both genders. Multivariate analyses revealed males to be more directly and indirectly aggressive, but there were no significant gender …


"...Bless Her Little Heart!": The Culture Of Honor And Emotion Recognition, Forrest J. Rackham Jan 2012

"...Bless Her Little Heart!": The Culture Of Honor And Emotion Recognition, Forrest J. Rackham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract: Some researchers assert that cultural display rules may explain differences in perceiving emotions (Matsumoto, Yoo, & Chung, 2010). The current study examined the display rule of masking within the Southern culture of honor. It was hypothesized that masking within the culture of honor negatively affects emotion perception sensitivity, particularly in the speed and accuracy of recognizing anger. Southern undergraduate students were primed with the culture of honor and then presented with the Emotional Expression Multimorph Task. Participants chose one of the six emotions (i.e., sad, happy, surprise, fear, disgust, or anger). It was hypothesized participants in the masking …


High School Coaches' Perceptions Of Sport Psychology And Sport Psychologists, Jonathan W. Barnes Jan 2002

High School Coaches' Perceptions Of Sport Psychology And Sport Psychologists, Jonathan W. Barnes

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.


The Perception Of Power: A Revised Model, Bruno Alexander Pelczarski Jan 1993

The Perception Of Power: A Revised Model, Bruno Alexander Pelczarski

Legacy ETDs

There are a number or approaches to the measurement or community power. One is the reputationai method, which focuses upon its perception. It was originally developed during the 1950's by Floyd Hunter as an instrument that measures the reputation tor global levels or power. This approach has been criticized tor failing to address such perceptions as they apply to specific situations. In particular, it does not measure the power of actors and groups from different arenas and their abilities to influence policies and decisions based on those issues affecting the community. The author proposes a reputationai model that focuses upon …


Relationship Among Type A Behavior Pattern, Hostility, And Uncontrollable Event In A College-Aged Population, Marna Elyea Burns Jan 1991

Relationship Among Type A Behavior Pattern, Hostility, And Uncontrollable Event In A College-Aged Population, Marna Elyea Burns

Legacy ETDs

Seventy-two male college students classified as Type A or Type B on the basis of scores on the Jenkins Activity Survey - Form T (JAS-T) were given the Cook and Medley Hostility Scale and divided into four groups on the basis of test scores: A/High Hostile; A/Low Hostile; B/High Hostile; and, B/Low Hostile. Subjects were then randomly assigned to either Group I: Controllable Event or Group II: Uncontrollable Event. Pre- and post-experimental one-minute time estimates and pre- and post-experimental one-minute key tapping sessions were recorded for all subjects. During the experimental condition, subjects in Group I: Controllable Event estimated a …


Individual Differences In Lateralization Of Cognitive Processes: Type I And Type Ii Processors, Walter Berry Branch Jan 1985

Individual Differences In Lateralization Of Cognitive Processes: Type I And Type Ii Processors, Walter Berry Branch

Legacy ETDs

Recent research indicates that the two hemispheres of the human brain serve different functions when processing visual information. Specifically the left hemisphere, for most individuals, is specialized for an analytic or sequential type of processing and the right hemisphere is specialized for a holistic or gestalt type of processing. However this dichotomy is not always found, and it is hypothesized that individual subject differences may partially account for the somewhat inconsistent results in the research literature. The present study attempts to examine the effect of one individual difference dimension upon process lateralization . Subjects were classified into two types, Type …


Reactions To Approach Distance In Overweight And Normal Weight College Females, Ruth Ann Neill Rogers Jan 1982

Reactions To Approach Distance In Overweight And Normal Weight College Females, Ruth Ann Neill Rogers

Legacy ETDs

From a large number of college students two groups of white female volunteers were selected on the basis of their reported height and weight: an overweight group (N^ = 28), consisting of persons at least +11% overweight, and a normal weight group (N^ = 25) consisting of persons within + 5% of normal weight. Heart rate was monitored for a six minute baseline period and a one minute period during which each person was approached by a confed¬ erate to a distance of 30.48 cm, 60.69 cm, or 99.06 cm. All participants completed a Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Scale (CID), the …


Personality Differences Between Attractive And Unattractive High School Females, Andrea Rene Re Jan 1981

Personality Differences Between Attractive And Unattractive High School Females, Andrea Rene Re

Legacy ETDs

High school females (N = 131) were photographed and given the Texas Social Behavioral Inventory (TSBI), Attitudes Toward Women Scale (ATWS), Rotter Internal-External (I-E) Scale, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale (M-C), and Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI). The photographs were rated by four female graduate students in psychology for physical attractiveness and two groups of 36 each were identified: an attractive group and an unattractive group. These two groups were then compared for differences on the five personality tests. The results indicated that attractive females are higher in self-esteem as measured by the TSBI, (t = 2.543, p< .05) and less feminine sex-typed as measured by the BSRI, (t=2.10, p< .05). No other significant differences were found. Findings are discussed in terms of research in the area of physical attractiveness stereotyping as it relates to personality development.


Androgyny And Attribution: Effects Of Sex Role Adoption, Sex-Linkage Of Task, And Outcome On Causal Attributions For Success And Failure, Vally M. Sharpe Jan 1980

Androgyny And Attribution: Effects Of Sex Role Adoption, Sex-Linkage Of Task, And Outcome On Causal Attributions For Success And Failure, Vally M. Sharpe

Legacy ETDs

Thirty androgynous females, 30 androgynous males, 30 feminine females, and 30 masculine males participated at either a masculine-linked task (wiring a telephone), a feminine-linked task (doing needlepoint), or a neutral task (doing anagrams). Half of the subjects were given success feedback; half were given failure feedback. Each subject, after receiving feedback, completed a post-task questionnaire from which causal attribution ratings for four factors: ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck, were obtained. Scores were analyzed by means of 4x3x2 multivariate analyses of variance."Success" subjects attributed success to ability (F=18.007, df=1/96, p


Effects Of Operant Conditioning Of Cooperative Play On Non-Reinforced Behaviors In Severely And Profoundly Retarded Adults, Martha Wade Aenchbacher Jan 1977

Effects Of Operant Conditioning Of Cooperative Play On Non-Reinforced Behaviors In Severely And Profoundly Retarded Adults, Martha Wade Aenchbacher

Legacy ETDs

A group of seven severely and profoundly retarded adults from a sheltered workshop program were trained in cooperative play (basketball skills and hand clapping) using social and edible reinforcement and fading procedures. The generalization effects of the training on non-reinforced (undesirable) behaviors in an extratraining setting was investigated. A reversal technique in which the reinforcement was temporarily withdrawn demonstrated the reliable functioning of the training procedures. Independent observers recorded target behaviors during five phases: Baseline; Training; Generalization Testing; Extinction; Generalization Testing. The rate of undesirable behaviors decreased significantly in the extra-training setting (activity room) following the training phase. The findings …


Response Rate Controlled By Two Liquid Reinforcers In A Multiple Schedule, Randall Lee Morton Jan 1972

Response Rate Controlled By Two Liquid Reinforcers In A Multiple Schedule, Randall Lee Morton

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.


Release From Proactive Inhibition As A Function Of Pleasantness And Unpleasantness Of Encoded Verbal Materials, Fulton Cooper Jan 1971

Release From Proactive Inhibition As A Function Of Pleasantness And Unpleasantness Of Encoded Verbal Materials, Fulton Cooper

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.


Validation Of The Automated Readability Index For Use With Technical Materials, Leroy John Delionbach Jan 1971

Validation Of The Automated Readability Index For Use With Technical Materials, Leroy John Delionbach

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.


The Effects Of Early Handling On Behavior In The Albino Rat, William Reed Tucker Jan 1970

The Effects Of Early Handling On Behavior In The Albino Rat, William Reed Tucker

Legacy ETDs

No abstract provided.