Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Video Modeling To Increase Interaction For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder In A Museum Setting Using An Application On A Tablet, Bethany Miota Miota

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to perform an exploratory study to determine if the ScanDo! app intervention is an assistive technology that increases interaction for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a museum setting. The ScanDo! app intervention presented a video demonstration that modeled the interaction for each learning station by scanning the QR code attached to the station. Using a naturally occurring baseline single-subject design with ABA and reversed ABA phases, two children with ASD and their parents visited the grocery store exhibit at a children’s museum. Observers of the trials and questionnaires completed by parents before …

Hashtagging Your Health: Using Psychosocial Variables And Social Media Use To Understand Impression Management And Exercise Behaviors In Women, Caitlyn Hauff

Theses and Dissertations

Our society has become heavily reliant on social media, especially in the health and exercise domain. Social and environmental factors impact females’ body image perceptions and create body image disturbances, yet little research is dedicated to the exploration of how social media, and social comparisons through social media exposure, impact exercise behaviors and body image perceptions in females. Considering Perloff's (2014) theoretical model, the current study explored how the interaction between individual psychosocial variables and social media use predict exercise behaviors and engagement in impression management in women. Using a mixed methodological approach, the specific aims of this study were …

Apoaequorin Differentially Modulates Fear Conditioning In Adult And Aged Rats, Vanessa Ehlers

Theses and Dissertations

Normal aging is associated with a number of changes in behavioral and cellular function, and is often linked to increased susceptibility to cognitive impairment. The hippocampus has been widely implicated in learning and memory, and many forms of learning that are hippocampus-dependent (e.g. trace fear conditioning) are impaired in aged animals. A proposed contributor to aging-related cognitive impairment is aging-related calcium (Ca2+) dysregulation. This dysregulation is thought to result from changes in specific Ca2+-regulatory mechanisms, including abnormal Ca2+ ion channel activity or expression, as well as reduced Ca2+-binding protein (CaBP) expression, which is associated with cognitive and synaptic impairment. Previous …

The Effects Of Exercise Pattern And Intensity On The Expression Of Flk-1 And Flt-1 Receptors In The Hippocampus And Cerebellum, Morgan E. Stevenson

Theses and Dissertations

Aerobic exercise benefits the body and brain. In the brain, these benefits include neuroprotection and improved cognition. These exercise-induced changes are attributed in part to angiogenesis: the growth of new capillaries from preexisting vessels. One critical factor involved in the regulation of angiogenesis is VEGF and its receptors Flk-1 and Flt-1. Although exercise is generally found to be beneficial, there are wide variations in the exercise regimens used across experiments. This study standardized some of these variations. In this study, rats were either assigned to a voluntary wheel running or a forced wheel running exercise condition. Within each condition, animals …

The Role Of Bdnf In 17Β-Estradiol-Induced Facilitation Of Extinction Of Cocaine Seeking, Hanna Yousuf

Theses and Dissertations

Females are more susceptible to drug dependence than males, and these differences in addictive behaviors are mediated, in large part, by 17β-estradiol (E2). E2 enhances memory in a variety of behavioral paradigms and may act to enhance the formation of drug-related memories. Interestingly, due to its mnemonic effects, E2 promotes drug seeking, but also may aid in extinguishing drug seeking behaviors. Treatment of addiction is modeled through extinction, and the infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex (IL-mPFC) is responsible for inhibiting drug seeking after extinction. However, the cellular mechanisms by which E2 facilitates extinction remain unknown. Previous work suggests that the memory-enhancing …

Examining Psychologists’ Competence And Cultural Adaptations In Therapy When Working With Latina/O Clients, Marisela Lopez

Theses and Dissertations

The following multiple case study used semi-structured qualitative interviews and quantitative data to examine the multicultural competencies and cultural adaptations of four psychologists during a mock therapy session. This study consisted of three components: (1) Pre-Task, a semi-structured interview; (2) Task, each participant completing a mock therapy session with the same mock client and; (3) Post-Task, followed the client sessions and consisted of a semi-structured interview, a demographic questionnaire and two paper-pencil self-report measures. Immediately after each therapy session with the participants, the mock client completed two paper-pencil measures and a brief semi-structured interview about the participants. Three multicultural psychology …

If Or When? Uncertainty's Role In Anxious Anticipation, Kenneth P. Bennett

Theses and Dissertations

Uncertainty is often associated with subjective distress and a potentiated anxiety response. Occurrence uncertainty (OU), or the inability to predict if a threat will occur, has never been compared experimentally with temporal uncertainty (TU), or the inability to predict when a threat will occur. The current study aimed to 1) directly compare the eye-blink startle responsivity of OU and TU, 2) develop a more effective task for isolating uncertain anticipation, and 3) better understand the relationship between individual differences in the intolerance of uncertainty and uncertain anticipation startle responsivity. The novel study showed that OU anticipation is more anxiety provoking …

The Roles Of Work And Family In Men’S Lives: A Test Of Lent And Brown’S (2013) Social Cognitive Model Of Career Self-Management, Shin Ye Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The percentage of dual-earner families in the United States has increased significantly in the last 35 years (Boushey & O’Leary, 2009). One of the corresponding changes in family structure has been a drastic decrease in the breadwinner-housewife framework, which makes up just over 20% of the workforce in the U.S. (U.S Department of Labor, 2011). Although the breadwinner-homemaker framework of work-family balance is no longer pervasive, the majority of discussion in the work-family interface still tends to focus on women’s challenges in balancing work and family needs, likely due to traditional gender role stereotyping. Recent studies reveal that more fathers …

Neural Circuitry Underlying The Intrusion Of Task-Irrelevant Threat Into Working Memory In Anxiety, Daniel Stout

Theses and Dissertations

Dispositional anxiety is an important risk factor for the development of anxiety and other psychological disorders. Symptoms commonly expressed by highly anxious individuals include intrusive memories, uncertainty, and worry — all occurring in the absence of immediate threat. This raises the possibility that anxious individuals have difficulty governing threat’s access to working memory, the mental workspace where goal-related information is actively retained for guiding on-going behavior. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while 81 subjects completed a well-validated working memory task, I show that threat-related and neutral distracters unnecessarily gain access to working memory, as evidenced by increased neural activity …

Exploring Proximal And Distal Psychosocial Stressors Influencing The Health Outcomes Of Urban American Indians In The Midwest, Alina Aloma

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have theorized that colonization and forced assimilation of American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN) in the U.S. are associated with the current health outcomes of AI/AN groups. The literature has begun to link a number of negative health outcomes such as chronic illnesses, substance abuse, grief, depression, and anxiety with distal stressors associated with historical loss, as well as with proximal stressors that are continued reminders of historical trauma such as present day discrimination. The present study utilized a quantitative methodology along with a community informed framework through collaboration with multiple urban AI/AN-serving agencies in a metropolitan area of the Midwest …

The Effects Of Gender Role Conflict, Stigma, And Social Support On Help-Seeking In Male Service Members, Lindsay Erika Danforth

Theses and Dissertations

It is a well-documented fact that men tend to seek professional help less frequently than women. Several factors might affect one’s help seeking behaviors, including gender role conflict, stigma, and perceived social support. This study served to examine help-seeking in male service members; more specifically, it explored how the above mentioned factors influenced attitudes and intentions towards seeking help. It also assessed whether or not the Gender Role Conflict Scale acts as a microcontextual primer. The data was analyzed using a structural equation modeling procedure. Results indicated a poor fit of the model to the data. Results also suggested that …

Examining Heightened Sense Of Incompleteness As A Candidate Endophenotypic Marker For Skin Picking Disorder, Ivar Snorrason

Theses and Dissertations

Excoriation (skin-picking) disorder (SPD) shares genetic underpinnings with obsessive-compulsive disorder, and the phenomenology of both disorders is characterized by heightened sense of incompleteness or “not just right” experiences. The aim of the study was to examine if a general tendency for heightened sense of incompleteness (trait incompleteness) can serve as an endophenotypic maker of SPD. Individuals with SPD (n=32) and matched healthy controls (n=42) completed two validated self-report measures of trait incompleteness and rated photographs designed to evoke a sense of incompleteness. Additionally, unaffected first-degree relatives of the SPD group (n=18) and the control group (n=22) completed the same set …

Evaluating Attentional Bias In Shame Using The Dot Probe Task, Kathleen Marie Grout

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Cognitive theorists have long held that attentional biases are a central feature of psychopathology (Beck, 1976). Although shame plays a key role in psychopathology, research and theoretical models on information processing in shame is lacking. Objective: The considerable overlap both functionally and topographically between shame and negative affective states of anxiety and depression prompted our investigation in to whether there are attentional biases in shame. Method: We compared individuals with low, moderate, and high levels of shame on the dot probe task. We investigated the effect of valence and time course of such biases by exposing stimuli portraying disgust, …

The Mechanisms Underlying Cocaine-Induced Overexpression Of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor (Bfgf, Fgf2), An Effect Reversed By Extinction, Madalyn Hafenbreidel

Theses and Dissertations

Drug addiction is characterized by compulsive drug use and chronic relapse despite negative consequences. Drug-induced structural and functional changes in the brain are thought to underlie these characteristics. One mechanism that may mediate these characteristics are growth factors, such as basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF or FGF2), as they are necessary for cellular growth, survival, differentiation, and have roles in memory, mood, and anxiety disorders. bFGF mRNA and protein expression is increased following stimulant administration and is necessary for stimulant-induced changes in dendrites and behavioral sensitization. Moreover, addiction is maintained by cues associated with the drug, as they can can …

The Impact Of A Gratitude Intervention On Health: A Psychophysiological Approach, Morgan Hodge

Theses and Dissertations

Gratitude has been shown to be beneficial for self-reported positive health measures in previous research (Aghababaei, & Farahani, 2011; Algoe & Stanton, 2012; Emmons & Stern, 2013; Hill & Allemand, 2011; Hill, Allemand, & Roberts, 2013; Hyland, Whalley, & Geraghty, 2007; Lin, 2014; Lin & Yeh, 2014). However, previous research had not evaluated a gratitude intervention in conjunction with physiology. The current study attempted to evaluate the impact of a 14-day gratitude intervention on self-reported health measures, positive emotions, and heart rate and pNN50 in a sample of undergraduate college students. Self-reported health measures were taken before and after the …

Is The Therapeutic Alliance Associated With And Predictive Of Treatment Retention And Outcome Among Latinos?: A Secondary Analysis Of An Rct Of Behavioral Activation For Latinos With Depression Versus Treatment-As-Usual, Maria Magdalena Santos

Theses and Dissertations

A robust association between the therapeutic alliance and various forms of psychotherapy outcome has been demonstrated. The therapist-client alliance has been shown to be associated with and predictive of dropout and depression symptom change with primarily U.S. White samples. The current study examines whether the alliance is associated with retention, as measured by dropout and session attendance, and depression change in a sample of low-income Spanish-speaking Latinos in the U.S. who received Behavioral Activation for Latinos (BAL) with depression or treatment-as-usual (TAU). Given the proposition that BA treatment fosters the alliance systematically throughout treatment, and that usual treatment was not …

Development Of A Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Knowledge Questionnaire: The Relationship Among Disease Proximity, Educational Exposure And Knowledge, Shelbie Sullivan

Theses and Dissertations

There are an estimated 1.5 million people living with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a multisystem autoimmune disorder with a high risk of co-morbid health concerns. The psychological consequences of an SLE diagnosis result in increased daily stress, anticipated stigma, fears of rejection, and increased self-consciousness, all of which can decrease a patient’s quality of life. In order to combat these negative experiences, attempts to increase accurate knowledge of SLE and extinguish SLE misconceptions must be made. The current study aimed to 1) create a medically informed SLE knowledge questionnaire; 2) determine the rate of community members’ SLE knowledge; and 3) …

Neural Plasticity Of Extinction: Relations With Anxiety And Extinction Retention, Emily Louise Belleau

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

NEURAL PLASTICITY OF EXTINCTION LEARNING: RELATIONS WITH ANXIETY AND EXTINCTION RETENTION

by

Emily L. Belleau

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 2016

Under the Supervision of Associate Professor Christine Larson

Anxiety is a significant public health problem characterized by substantial psychological, physical, and economic burden. A key feature of anxiety is the inability to regulate fear. Aberrant extinction of conditioned fear is one prominent model of the etiology of anxiety disorders. Previous studies have shown that the neural circuitry underlying anxiety pathology overlaps with that mediating fear extinction learning. Recently, more precise pathways supporting the expression (CMA-aMCC) and inhibition (BLA-vmPFC) of …

Clarifying The Influence Of Comorbid Depression On Response Inhibition In Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder And Trichotillomania, Gregory Berlin

Theses and Dissertations

Response inhibition performance in Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders (OCRDs) is emerging as a potential neurocognitive endophenotype of these disorders. A point of needed clarification, however, is how unique such performance is to the OCRD spectrum. Specifically, it is unknown whether comorbid depression, a disorder that frequently occurs with OCRDs (60-80%) (Pallanti et al., 2011) and is also associated with cognitive deficits, can influence response inhibition observed in OCRDs. We sought to clarify whether response inhibition performance could be reliably accounted for OCRD symptomology (in obsessive compulsive disorder and trichotillomania specifically) even when taking into consideration the influence of comorbid depression. …

Gender Norm Conformity, Uncertainty, Communication, And Satisfaction Within Romantic Relationships: A Dyadic Model, Ashley Kristine Billig

Theses and Dissertations

Marital satisfaction is associated with better overall life satisfaction (Holt-Lunstad, Birmingham, & Jones, 2008) and myriad positive health outcomes (Beach & O’Leary, 1993; Kiecolt-Glaser & Newton, 2001). Sexual script theory suggests that within heterosexual romantic relationships, scripts are “the mechanism through which appropriate identities are made congruent with desired expectations” (Simon & Gagnon, 1984, p. 53). To examine how gender norm conformity within heterosexual relationships may be influenced by situational cues and to measure how norm conformity is related to interpersonal outcomes, I recruited 35 dyads for participation in a date description task and a questionnaire which measured gender norm …

A Brief Rational Disputation Exercise Enhances Cardiovascular, Anxiety, And Affective Recovery Following Worry-Recall, Michelle Rosalie Di Paolo

Theses and Dissertations

Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) (Ellis, 1958), educates a client on the relationship between one’s irrational beliefs (IBs) and the dysfunctional emotional/behavioral consequences of maintaining those beliefs such as symptoms of anxiety, depression, and sleep dysfunction (Ellis, Gordan, Neenan, & Palmer, 1997), symptoms also commonly correlated with high trait perseverative cognition (PC; Verkuil, Brosschot, de Beurs, & Thayer, 2009). In addition to symptoms of anxiety and depression, high levels of PC, a construct comprised of measures of trait worry and rumination, have been linked to acute cardiovascular (CV) health concerns that overtime when left unmitigated may lead to chronic conditions …

Eye Movement Effects In Simulated Object Recognition Memory Impairment, Dmitriy Kazakov

Theses and Dissertations

Malingering is the purposeful fabrication of symptoms for secondary gain. Memory problems are the most reported symptom, and object recognition tests are often used in clinical settings to evaluate these claims. Past research has shown that eye movements can indirectly index memory, in that greater viewing is directed at studied stimuli 500-750 ms after display onset. The present study evaluated eye movements as a potential method of detecting feigned memory impairment. Forty-eight participants, half simulators, studied standardized images and took a memory test. Several levels of analysis were used to detect broad trends and brief effects. Simulators performed significantly worse …

Relations Between Lab-Based And Parent-Reported Executive Functioning In Children And Adolescents With Williams Syndrome, Gregor Nathanael Pau Schwarz

Theses and Dissertations

Williams syndrome (WS) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by lowered cognitive abilities and significant attention and executive functioning (EF) difficulties. The current study constitutes the first investigating the relevance of performance on an EF task measuring one or more of the “core” EF’s (inhibition, shifting, working memory) to EF behaviors observed by parents of youth with WS. Parent-ratings of their children indicated more EF difficulties in all domains compared to the general population. Performance on the EF task (correct trials during the last phase of the Dimensional Change Card Sort) predicted parent reported general EF difficulties, metacognition, working memory …

Social Referent Influences On Hormonal Contraceptive Decisions, Sarah Elizabeth Kienzler

Theses and Dissertations

Despite evidence that social referents could be influencing hormonal contraceptive decisions in adult women, the current research has done little to investigate this area. The purpose of the current work was to begin to identify whether women’s hormonal contraceptive decisions may be influenced by their social referents’ support for hormonal contraceptive use and social referents’ contraceptive behaviors. Sexually active women (n=194), aged 18-34, completed an online survey examining their sources of contraceptive information, feelings towards pregnancy, contraceptive use/preferences, contraceptive knowledge, and medical mistrust. In addition to this, as part of the survey they identified three important women in their lives …

Cannabis Use And Affective Processing: A Brain Structure Analysis, Kristin E. Maple

Theses and Dissertations

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug amongst adolescents and young adults in the United States. Previously, cannabis and its components have been associated with differences in affective processing and neural functioning. Participants (ages 16-25) were cannabis users and non-users excluded for psychiatric disorders, major medical conditions, and excessive other drug use. A series of multiple regressions examined whether past year cannabis use and cannabis x gender predicted measures of emotional face processing (using the PennCNP affective battery) as well as volumes in bilateral prefrontal, temporal, limbic, and cerebellar regions, as well as frontolimbic white matter tracts. Subsequently, Pearson …

The Effects Of Fastigial Nuclei Inactivation On Social Behavior In The Rat, Vienna Behnke

Theses and Dissertations

Research has implicated the cerebellar deep nuclei in autism. This study questioned whether fastigial nuclei damage accounts for abnormal social behaviors seen in autism. Bilateral cannulation surgery was performed on 13 rats. An ABABAB reversal design was implemented. All animals received a microinfusion of saline during the A phases (baseline). Social interactions were tested using a social interaction chamber and an open field. Seven animals received microinfusions of bupivacaine in the B phase (treatment), which temporarily inactivated the fastigial nuclei. Six control animals received saline again, and social interaction was retested. This sequence was executed three times over six days …

Testing The Effects Of Attention Training At Later Stages Of Processing Among Socially Anxious Individuals: A Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial, Taylor Davine

Theses and Dissertations

Attention bias (AB) modification training is an emerging intervention for the treatment of social anxiety disorder. Research has shown that attenuation of AB leads to reductions of social-anxiety symptoms. To date, researchers have relied primarily on the AB modification paradigm that is designed to improve disengagement from threatening stimuli at early stages of attentional processing. Numerous AB modification studies have demonstrated that individuals who show reductions in AB to threat also show improvement in clinical outcome (e.g., diagnosis, symptoms). These studies provide support for the theory that AB may be a mechanism that causes and/or maintains emotional disorders such as …

Gap Junction Communication In Memory Retrieval And Extinction Of Cocaine Seeking, Michael Fitzgerald

Theses and Dissertations

Blocking drug-associated memory retrieval or enhancing extinction of drug-seeking behavior are two strategies that could limit relapse in drug addicts. The loci of retrieval and extinction memory processes include the prelimbic medial prefrontal cortex and the infralimbic medial prefrontal cortex, respectively. The neurochemical and synaptic mechanisms underlying drug-related behavior have received considerable attention, but extrasynaptic mechanisms are relatively unexplored. One form of cellular communication, gap junction communication, may play a role in drug-related learning and memory. Gap junction communication between neurons and astrocytes provide a cytoplasmic continuity between connected cells and both neuronal and astrocytic gap junction communication have been …

Navigating The Noise: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Introversion, Family Communication Patterns, Family Satisfaction, And Social Self-Efficacy, Kristine Nicolini

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines how introversion, family communication patterns (FCP), and modified communication behaviors relate to perceived levels of social self-efficacy and family satisfaction. Participants (N = 359) were undergraduate students at a large Midwestern urban university. The proposed causal model suggests conversation and conformity levels within a FCP impact whether families employ facilitative or inhibitive communication modification behaviors in interactions with an introverted family member. An Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) method of estimation was used to test the causal model through a comparison of the expected and actual correlation matrix. The results indicated the data were consistent with the proposed …

Counted Out, But Counted On: The Hidden Academic Journey Of Millennial Black Women In Majority White Urban Universities, Danielle Lorraine Apugo

Theses and Dissertations

Eighty percent of Black women (BW) enrolled in colleges and universities attend majority white institutions (Hill, 2009). Though seemingly highly represented in higher education, research studies cite BW as having a graduate degree completion rate of less than 30% (Aston & Oseguera, 2004). A phenomenological study involving 15 graduate (master’s degree candidates) millennial Black women aspiring and/or acting leaders (MBWALs) was conducted to explore the types of peer relationships--A mutual relationship of similar hierarchical status--in terms of educational level or age group--where both parties perceive themselves as equals--(McDougall & Beattie, 1997) MBWALs experience. The study also sought to understand how …