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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Distinguishing High-Quality Audio: The Unique Contribution Of Bit-Depth Resolution?, Benjamin Stone Dec 2023

Distinguishing High-Quality Audio: The Unique Contribution Of Bit-Depth Resolution?, Benjamin Stone

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Individuals are capable of discerning high- and low-quality digital audio, but the current evidence tends to confound sampling rate and bit depth (see Mizumachi et al., 2014). When bit-depth is constant, higher sampling rates can be discerned (Oohashi et al., 2000). It likewise has been argued that 16- and 24-bit audio can be distinguished when sampling rate is constant (Kanetada et al., 2013). The present study aimed to evaluate bit-depth-related perceptual ability using simplified tone stimuli in order to determine at which point from 8- to 24-bit that further increases in bit-depth resolution are no longer perceptually beneficial. Potential contributions …


Exploring The Use Of Time Delay As A Pragmatic Cue In Text Messaging, Nicklas Phillips Dec 2023

Exploring The Use Of Time Delay As A Pragmatic Cue In Text Messaging, Nicklas Phillips

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Text messaging is often used as a stand-in for face to face communication. While texting mimics the rapid back and forth, turn taking nature of oral conversation, it lacks many of the pragmatic cues conversationalists ordinarily rely on to establish common ground and inform their understanding of sometimes nonliteral meaning conveyed to them. To get around this hurdle, texters have developed sets of textisms. These are specific cues that can be used to make up for the lack of pragmatic information in the texting environment. Examples include emoji, emoticons, and punctuation. This is an experimental study exploring whether time can …


Terror Management And The News: An Exploration Into The Effects Of Framing On Mortality Salience, Peter Montwill Aug 2023

Terror Management And The News: An Exploration Into The Effects Of Framing On Mortality Salience, Peter Montwill

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The present study explores the link between Terror Management Theory and the use of its principles within news media. Political news media in the digital age undergoes a variety of framing effects, more specifically episodic and thematic frames of stories. To induce mortality salience, college-aged participants were presented with stories framed from the perspective of an individual’s experience or a general theme of experiences regarding the controversial pro-life topic and a non-controversial hiking topic. These stories are presented in the style of Instagram posts to mirror how college-aged people consume news media. The stories also contain wording designed to induce …


Examining The Influence Of Spectral Envelope Shape On Pitch, Laura Reinert Jul 2023

Examining The Influence Of Spectral Envelope Shape On Pitch, Laura Reinert

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the tritone paradox, there are many questions surrounding how listeners can make pitch judgments since Shepard tones are comprised of all octaves and this makes pitch ambiguous. The current study examined the influences from spectral envelope shape, spectral centroid, chroma, and musical training to identify how timbre and pitch interactions impacted pitch judgments to different tone types, including Shepard tones. Each trial consisted of a standard and a comparison tone differing by spectral envelope shape. Listeners were presented with these tone pairs and asked to judge whether the tone pairs were going up or down in pitch. For Shepard …


Using Free-Operant Preference Assessments And Reinforcer Evaluations To Measure The Stability Of Preferences Over Time In Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Lindsey Histand May 2023

Using Free-Operant Preference Assessments And Reinforcer Evaluations To Measure The Stability Of Preferences Over Time In Individuals With Developmental Disabilities, Lindsey Histand

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The present study investigated the stability of preferences over time using an alternating treatment multielement design across participants. The participants were children between the ages of eight and twelve with developmental disabilities, who also displayed interfering behaviors. The study had a baseline condition and two experimental conditions. During the first condition, the therapist provided contingent reinforcement for correct responses during reinforcer evaluations using highest preferred items. During the second condition, the therapist provided contingent reinforcement for correct responses during reinforcer evaluations using least preferred items. Repeated measures of free-operant preference assessments produced participants’ preference rankings, thus identifying highest and least …


Using Video Prompting For Daily Living Skill Acquisition In Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Meghan Park Mitchell May 2023

Using Video Prompting For Daily Living Skill Acquisition In Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Meghan Park Mitchell

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The current study examined the effects of video prompting on the acquisition of a daily living skill with adults who have intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD). A multiple baseline across participants design was used to assess whether a video prompting procedure was able to teach adults with IDD a daily living skill with minimal socially mediated instruction. It was found that performance increased once the intervention was applied. Future directions for research and application in teaching daily living skills to adults with IDD are discussed.


Using Irtrees To Account For Response Style Effects Between Item Formats, Stephanie Leroy May 2023

Using Irtrees To Account For Response Style Effects Between Item Formats, Stephanie Leroy

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Response styles are consistent person-traits that are defined as the tendency to systematically select responses unrelated to the construct being measured (Paulhus, 1991). Response styles introduce construct-irrelevant variance that distorts observed scores on a measure and biases interpretation of the data. The current study looks at midpoint response style (MRS) and extreme response style (ERS). MRS is the tendency to select the midpoint of a rating scale, while ERS is the tendency to select the endpoints of a rating scale. Previous research sought to either account for response style effects or prevemt them – the current study does both. To …


The Impact Of Covid-19 On Para-Athletes: A Case Study On Motivation And Psychological Training For The 2020 Paralympic Games, Irina Perfilova May 2023

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Para-Athletes: A Case Study On Motivation And Psychological Training For The 2020 Paralympic Games, Irina Perfilova

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the 61-year history of the Paralympic Games, the Games have never been canceled for any public health reasons. In order to participate in the Paralympic Games, the preparation process for professional athletes is planned at least four years in advance. Interruptions to this schedule can present significant challenges for elite athletes. Such was the case in 2020 with widespread cancellations of many athletic events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of in-home isolation can potentially cause athletes to experience different psychological conditions, including depression and anxiety as well as losing motivation. The purpose of this study was to …


The Effects Of A Self-Recording Procedure On Student’S On-Task Behavior, Maria Leventhal May 2023

The Effects Of A Self-Recording Procedure On Student’S On-Task Behavior, Maria Leventhal

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This study investigated the isolated effects of self-management on students on-task behavior through an operant analysis. Two elementary-aged students, receiving ABA services at a special education school were taught to self-record their on-task behavior using a Gymboss miniMAX timer that cued them at variable intervals. Following baseline, students were trained to self-record using Behavior Skills Training. A series of phases was then implemented to gradually increase the intervals. To isolate the effects of self-recording, feedback and reinforcement were not provided. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, a functional relation was demonstrated between self-recording and on-task behavior.


Double Dosing: Investigating The Utility Of Multiple Priming Questions On Test-Taking Motivation, Mara Mcfadden May 2023

Double Dosing: Investigating The Utility Of Multiple Priming Questions On Test-Taking Motivation, Mara Mcfadden

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Priming examinees with questions about intended effort prior to testing has been shown to significantly increase examinee expended effort via self-reported effort and response-time effort. However, this question-behavior effect seems to wear off later in a testing session, specifically when a test is given second in the session. I examined whether administering a second “dose” of the question-behavior effect could combat the decrease in examinee effort later in a testing session. To evaluate whether “double dosing” could increase examinee effort later in a testing session, I randomly assigned examinees to one of three question conditions prior to completing two low-stakes …


Temporal Relevance Of Parent Qualities And Behaviors For Predicting Young Adults’ Emotion Regulation And Romantic Relationships, Saleena Wilson May 2023

Temporal Relevance Of Parent Qualities And Behaviors For Predicting Young Adults’ Emotion Regulation And Romantic Relationships, Saleena Wilson

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The present study sought to compare the utility of adolescents’ parental relationship qualities and behaviors for predicting young adult emotion regulation as well as the mediating role of emotion regulation in the intergenerational transmission of relationship qualities and behaviors. Early adolescence is characterized by the emergence of new emotions, responsibilities, and budding romantic relationships. Parental relationships with positive qualities may provide a safe environment for teens to explore these unfamiliar experiences. In late adolescence, teens depend less on this secure base but benefit from the utilization of specific relationship behaviors, modeled to them by their parents, in increasingly important …


Does A Sender’S And Recipient’S Relationship Influence Readers’ Interpretation Of Message Tone?, Allison Arp Aug 2022

Does A Sender’S And Recipient’S Relationship Influence Readers’ Interpretation Of Message Tone?, Allison Arp

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Given the importance of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and the uniqueness of the cues that have meaning in this environment, research is warranted to investigate how the relationship between the people communicating via CMC might impact the way the message and cues are interpreted. This study aims to investigate whether different inherent levels of authority and familiarity between a message sender and recipient affect how email tone is interpreted. Previous studies demonstrate that when individuals communicate with authority figures, they employ different strategies than when communicating with peers. Furthermore, individuals adapt their behavior to mimic the interactants behavior, which in turn …


Rapid Response Behavior Before And During The Pandemic, Katarina E. Schaefer May 2022

Rapid Response Behavior Before And During The Pandemic, Katarina E. Schaefer

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Different levels of examinee motivation pose a validity threat to the interpretation of test scores. This problem is heightened in low-stakes, remote testing environments. Though some ways exist to gauge average motivation throughout testing, less ways exist to gauge motivation fluctuations throughout a single test. One of those ways is through response times. Specifically, rapid response behavior occurs when examinees quickly answer an item without reading or engaging with the item. At James Madison University (JMU), students participating in campus-wide Assessment Days typically experienced an in-person, proctored Assessment Day. However, that changed during the pandemic. During the pandemic, examinees participated …


Analyzing The Validity Of Self-Reports Of Emotional Responding Using An Electronic Device, Tiffany E. Shiflet May 2022

Analyzing The Validity Of Self-Reports Of Emotional Responding Using An Electronic Device, Tiffany E. Shiflet

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The assessment of internal behaviors such as thoughts, feelings, or physiological symptoms not seen by the naked eye are often assessed with indirect measures such as self-reports and questionnaires given the lack of accessibility and observations by outside observers. The self-management of human behaviors, including internal events, carries socially valid implications for an individual’s quality of life, including children and individuals with neurological, developmental, and intellectual disabilities. This study aimed to address the following question: are there valid measurement procedures (e.g., collecting data on physiological responses) to analyze the correspondence between self-reports of emotional states and observable and measurable overt …


An Analysis Of Behavior Management Strategies Used Within Parent-Child Interaction Therapy To Facilitate Verbalizations By Children With Developmental Disabilities, Megan Barnes May 2022

An Analysis Of Behavior Management Strategies Used Within Parent-Child Interaction Therapy To Facilitate Verbalizations By Children With Developmental Disabilities, Megan Barnes

Masters Theses, 2020-current

We examined the effects of the procedures recommended for interventions using the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) protocols on child verbalizations. The effects of the procedures of Child-Directed Interaction (CDI) were examined in a non-concurrent multiple baseline across participants design. Two seven-year-old participants with developmental disabilities and language delay experienced a baseline condition followed by two experimental conditions during a free play environment. A range of child toys were rotated systematically throughout the study. The total number of therapist-child interactions remained consistent across all experimental conditions. The experimenter received bug-in-the-ear feedback about her use of the therapy components in order to …


Writing While Black: African American Vernacular English (Aave) And Perceived Writing Performance, Jaylin N. Nesbitt May 2022

Writing While Black: African American Vernacular English (Aave) And Perceived Writing Performance, Jaylin N. Nesbitt

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the education system, there have historically been inequities that have severely disadvantaged Black students academically. One area in which these inequities surface is on writing assessments in the form of lower scores. I argue that because the U.S. education system is centered around Standard American English (SAE), it disadvantages those from different linguistic backgrounds, specifically Black students, as they are most likely to be speakers of African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Although there are theoretical justifications for this, past literature has not empirically tied inequities on writing assessments to Black students’ use of AAVE. The current study used Natural …


Links Between Peer Relationships And Social Anxiety Across Adolescence: The Moderating Effects Of Interpersonal Competence, Self-Worth, And Gender, Emily N. Shah May 2022

Links Between Peer Relationships And Social Anxiety Across Adolescence: The Moderating Effects Of Interpersonal Competence, Self-Worth, And Gender, Emily N. Shah

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Links between interpersonal relationships and psychological functioning have been well established in the literature. Specifically, during adolescence, success or distress in peer relationships may have distinct effects on psychological functioning, especially with regard to the development of later social anxiety. The present study aims to examine the ways in which different adolescent peer relationships (i.e., close friendship quality and social acceptance) can predict later social anxiety development. Further, the study considers how different developmental stages of adolescence may impact these relationships, in addition to considering possible conditional effects of interpersonal competence, self-worth, and gender. Early adolescents (age 14) and late …


The Effects Of Cannabidiol Isolate On Menstrual-Related Symptoms, Morgan L. Ferretti May 2022

The Effects Of Cannabidiol Isolate On Menstrual-Related Symptoms, Morgan L. Ferretti

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The current study aimed to examine the potential effects of CBD isolate for alleviating menstrual-related symptoms (MRS). Participants (N = 33, MAGE = 20.50, MBMI = 23.02)were assigned randomly to two open-label dosing groups (160mg, n = 17; 320mg, n = 16) and completed monthly surveys for four months that included MRS-related measures. We examined differences in MRS and related outcomes between baseline and three months of CBD administration. Results revealed reductions in MRS, irritability, anxiety, global impression, stress, and subjective severity scores with a small effect when comparing baseline to all three months of CBD administration. …


An Examination Of Working Memory In Subtle And Mild Cognitive Impairment, Kara Eversole May 2022

An Examination Of Working Memory In Subtle And Mild Cognitive Impairment, Kara Eversole

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is abnormal cognitive decline that may be indicative of an insidious process such as dementia. Individuals with MCI are largely independent in their daily functioning but are at risk of further decline. To more deeply understand the working memory deficits associated with age-related cognitive decline, Lamar and colleagues developed a working memory task with no discontinuation rule: the Backwards Digit Task (BDT). Prior BDT research has demonstrated that individuals with mild cognitive impairment have lower overall scores on this task, and that different subtypes of MCI are more prone to certain errors. Research has not been …


Can Agency And Communion Mediate The Relationship Between Nature Connectedness And Pro-Environmental Behavior Intentions?, Juno Wild May 2022

Can Agency And Communion Mediate The Relationship Between Nature Connectedness And Pro-Environmental Behavior Intentions?, Juno Wild

Masters Theses, 2020-current

The state of our current environment is rapidly declining due to human activity. Therefore, it is imperative to understand ways to promote pro-environmental behavior and what variables may explain this behavior. Previous studies have found that nature connectedness may be one way to increase pro-environmental behaviors and that one’s levels of masculinity and femininity may also affect not only how connected to nature one is, but also how often one may engage in sustainable behaviors. However, to date researchers have not examined the effect of agency and communion, values which every person has regardless of gender, on the relationship between …


The Impact Of Insufficient Sleep And Early Class Start Times On U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Health And Performance, Stephanie Osborn Dec 2021

The Impact Of Insufficient Sleep And Early Class Start Times On U.S. Air Force Academy Cadet Health And Performance, Stephanie Osborn

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Emerging adults face a set of unique obstacles that combine to make getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep per night a challenge. Internally, adolescents and young adults have a biologically based tendency to go to sleep and wake up later. Externally, they may participate in scheduled activities that wake them up early or keep them awake late. One primary obligation that can contribute to short sleep duration in students is early class start times. Emerging adults attending a civilian college may benefit from the ability to set their bedtimes and class schedule. However, their same-aged peers attending a military …


Investigating The Self In Self-Report, Samantha L. Boddy Aug 2021

Investigating The Self In Self-Report, Samantha L. Boddy

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Self-report items are ubiquitous in social sciences and services and medical centers. However, there is some concern about whether people are able to accurately report about themselves. One well-known source of concern is social desirability bias (SDB) or socially desirable responding (SDR), which involves people providing overly-positive responses about themselves that better align with social norms than might their actual attitudes or behaviors. However, several researchers (e.g., Brenner & DeLamater, 2016; Hadaway et al., 1998) suggest that a person’s identity in the area of interest may bias their responding. Specifically, that people interpret and respond to items in terms of …


Binge-Watching And The Spacing Effect, Michael R. Austin Aug 2021

Binge-Watching And The Spacing Effect, Michael R. Austin

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Binge-watching, defined as consuming at least three episodes or three hours of video media in one sitting, is an increasingly prevalent behavior in the digital age. But scant research exists investigating how binge-watching affects memory for what was watched. Literature surrounding the spacing effect, defined as superior memory for information presented repeatedly across longer spans of time, would predict a memory deficit for binged material. However, findings from previous unpublished research by Fogler and colleagues do not align with this prediction. To investigate the dissonance, the aim of this research is to replicate and extend the work of Fogler and …


Relation Between Academic Advisor And Cohort Support With Well-Being In Graduate Students, Morgan Delong Jul 2021

Relation Between Academic Advisor And Cohort Support With Well-Being In Graduate Students, Morgan Delong

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Well-being issues like the limitations of typical treatment protocols and common mitigating factors for mental health problems for graduate students, specifically the importance of therapeutic lifestyle changes (TLCs) were explored. The current study aims to determine if TLCs, individual engagement in the TLCs as well as support of them by mentors and peers, predict overall well-being, satisfaction with the graduate program, and job stress in masters’ students. This study was conducted during COVID-19 which is a limitation.


Identifying Rater Effects For Writing And Critical Thinking: Applying The Many-Facets Rasch Model To The Value Institute, Yelisey A. Shapovalov May 2021

Identifying Rater Effects For Writing And Critical Thinking: Applying The Many-Facets Rasch Model To The Value Institute, Yelisey A. Shapovalov

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Performance assessments require examinees to carry out a process or produce a product and can be designed to have high fidelity to real-world application of higher-order skills. As such, performance assessments are highly valued in higher education settings. However, performance assessment is vulnerable to psychometric challenges that threaten the validity of scores due to the subjective nature of the scoring process. Specifically, raters must exercise judgement to provide scores to examinee work, which may be impacted by rater effects, or systematic differences in how raters evaluate performance assessment artifacts. Research has indicated that performance assessment may never be fully free …


Effects Of First- And Third-Person Point Of View On The Acquisition Of Behaviors Using Video Modeling, Robert Harper Iii May 2021

Effects Of First- And Third-Person Point Of View On The Acquisition Of Behaviors Using Video Modeling, Robert Harper Iii

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Video modeling is an evidence-based practice for teaching behaviors and chains of behaviors to children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to determine whether the viewing perspective of these models played a role in influencing a learner’s acquisition of the target behavior or behaviors. An adapted alternating treatments design was used to examine the effects of these different perspectives affected the learning of two similar behavioral chains in a learner with ASD. Video models from both viewing perspectives were provided to the learner with no additional prompting other than brief verbal acknowledgement of a step’s …


Voluntary Alcohol Consumption And Sleep Deprivation In Rats, Aesha Khan May 2021

Voluntary Alcohol Consumption And Sleep Deprivation In Rats, Aesha Khan

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Alcohol is one of the most common psychoactive drugs and has depressant effects on the central nervous system. The vast majority of research on alcohol and sleep commonly indicates chronic alcohol use has a detrimental impact on sleep architecture and homeostasis. However, less research has been conducted investigating the effects of sleep deprivation on alcohol consumption. Our lab's previous studies have looked at a potential bi-directional relationship between sleep and alcohol with promising results. However, there was concern that the method of sleep deprivation may have resulted in stress. The present study examines the effect of sleep deprivation on voluntary …


The Effect Of Temporal Discounting And Loss Aversion On Mock Plea Bargain Decision-Making, Anisha Patel May 2021

The Effect Of Temporal Discounting And Loss Aversion On Mock Plea Bargain Decision-Making, Anisha Patel

Masters Theses, 2020-current

An overwhelming majority of criminal cases in the United States utilize plea bargaining (90-95%). A plea bargain is an agreement between a criminal defendant and a prosecuting attorney where the defendant agrees to plead guilty, or nolo contendre (no contest), to one or more charges to reduce or drop other charges. The decision to accept a plea bargain must be made by the defendant, so a defendant’s ability to make or communicate competent choices regarding a plea bargain is important. However, defendant decision-making in plea bargaining is not sufficiently prevalent in plea bargaining or decision-making literature. While factors such as …


Antidepressants, Circadian Rhythms, And Cognition: The Effects Of Ssris And Snris On Circadian Rhythms And Cognitive Performance, Gabriel Gilmore May 2021

Antidepressants, Circadian Rhythms, And Cognition: The Effects Of Ssris And Snris On Circadian Rhythms And Cognitive Performance, Gabriel Gilmore

Masters Theses, 2020-current

It has been well documented that individuals with depression commonly experience sleep disturbances. Decreased sleep quality, diminished sleep efficiency, and increased nighttime awakenings are all typical ailments. Deficits in cognitive functioning often co-occur, including impairments in working memory, learning, inhibition, and set shifting. Many studies have found that upon taking antidepressants (i.e. serotonin agonists), individuals with depression experience normalized sleep and cognitive performance. The impact of antidepressants, especially SSRIs and SNRIs, on sleep stages, particularly REM and slow wave sleep, has been the subject of numerous studies. However, there is currently very limited literature that examines their impact on sleep …


Social Exclusion And Children’S Detection Of Duchenne Smiles, Paige Fischer May 2021

Social Exclusion And Children’S Detection Of Duchenne Smiles, Paige Fischer

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Social exclusion threatens a person’s need to belong and prompts them to behave in ways that often facilitate reaffiliation. For adults, exclusion increases attention to social information and facial cues, including an enhanced identification of Duchenne (genuine) and non-Duchenne (posed) smiles. There is some evidence that experiencing inclusion before or after exclusion can buffer or mitigate the experienced effects of exclusion, respectively. This study investigated whether 6- and 7-year-old children (N = 24) are also sensitive to perceptual changes in smiles following witnessed inclusion and exclusion. Contrary to our predictions, children in our study did not demonstrate improved accuracy …