Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Cognitive Content Specificity Hypothesis In Anxiety And Depression, Krystell Adriana Montalvo

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, we recruited 400 participants through an online platform and obtained measures of social anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, dysfunctional attitudes, and irrational thinking. We tested the cognitive content specificity hypothesis which predicts that anxious symptoms will be more highly correlated to irrational and dysfunctional beliefs with anxious cognitive content, and depressive symptoms would be more highly correlated with depressive cognitive content. The results were mixed, but generally showed that depressive cognitive content was more highly correlated to depressive symptoms, especially in the case of the positive association between irrational thoughts about self-depreciation and depressive symptoms.

The Semantic And Acoustic Voice Features Differentiating Neutral And Traumatic Narratives, Yosef Shimon Amrami

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a quantitative and qualitative exploration of how one linguistically communicates emotions through an autobiographical narrative. Psycholinguistic research has affirmed that linguistic features of a narrative, including semantic and acoustic features, indicate a narrator’s emotions and physiological. This study investigated whether these linguistic features could help differentiate between trauma and neutral narratives and if they can predict autobiographical narratives’ subjective trauma ratings (STR). Qualitative analyses of the positive and negative evaluative statements were also conducted, which indicated the narrators’ thought processes during recall. Twenty-two Spanish-English college students participated in this study and narrated both traumatic and neutral narratives. …

Base Rates Of Cognitive And Academic Weaknesses, Allison L. Stafford

Theses and Dissertations

The identification of learning disabilities is critical for receiving intervention services; however, special education eligibility criteria often varies across districts, resulting in large variations in identification rates. (Hallahan, Keller, & Ball, 1986; Scruggs & Mastropieri, 2002; Reschly & Hosp, 2004; Maki, Floyd & Roberson, 2015). A new method for identifying learning disabilities, patterns of strengths and weaknesses (PSW), has risen in popularity as a method for assessing and informing interventions for students with learning disabilities. Despite the growing popularity of PSW approaches, little is known about the prevalence of cognitive and academic weaknesses in the population (Miciak, Fletcher, Stuebing, Vaughn, …

Mindfulness And Cognitive Aging, Elise J. Herndon

Theses and Dissertations

Mindfulness meditation involves the cultivation of a focused, pre-conceptual consciousness that enables increased present-centered awareness of internal states, cognitive processes, and external stimuli (Mikulas, 2011; Kornfield, 2010). Studies suggest that mindfulness practice affects the brain structures and cognitive processes related to fluid intelligence, and may affect fluid intelligence itself among highly experienced practitioners (e.g., Gard, Taquet, et al., 2014; Lazar et al., 2005; Ritskes et al., 2003). Fluid intelligence includes higher-order reasoning and problem-solving abilities that are independent of cultural and environmental influences. These abilities peak in young adulthood, then begin to decay (Cattell, 1987; Goldberg, 2005).

The current study …

Psychometric Evaluation Of An Executive Function Battery For Pediatric Sickle Cell Disease, Melita T. Stancil

Theses and Dissertations

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic disorder which affects hemoglobin and is associated with high rates of neurologic and neurocognitive deficits. Recent studies have indicated executive functioning (EF) as a common area of impairment for children diagnosed with SCD; however, there is no consensus about which measures of executive function are best to use in clinical practice or research. The purpose of the present research is to assess the properties of a new executive function measure, the “EXAMINER” to determine its utility with the SCD population. Thirty-two children with SCD and 86 demographically-matched controls completed established cognitive measures known …

Associations Between Binge Eating And Executive Functioning Among Young Women, Nichole Kelly

Theses and Dissertations

Binge eating is a pervasive disordered eating behavior associated with numerous psychological and physical comorbidities. Preliminary research indicates that emotion regulation difficulties, behavioral impulsivity, and executive dysfunction may contribute to the onset and/or maintenance of these behaviors. However, few studies have utilized neuropsychological measures to examine this link, and the assessment of behavioral and cognitive emotion regulation strategies are limited in scope. The purpose of the current study was to gain a deeper understanding of the emotional, behavioral and cognitive processes associated with binge eating behavior. Greater clarity regarding how these factors relate to binge eating is critical to the …

Predicting Arithmetic Performance From Age And Executive Function Skills, Andrea Molzhon

Theses and Dissertations

The learning of mathematics can be a difficult process for many students. Understanding the cognitive components that contribute to arithmetic achievement may illuminate sources of difficulty and inform the development of better teaching and learning practices. Executive functions (EFs) have been implicated in the development of arithmetic skills in early childhood, but less is known about this relation across middle childhood and beyond. The current study included individuals ages 6-7, 9-10, 12-13, and 18+ years and examined the contributions of 3 components of EF, working memory (WM), inhibition, and set shifting (SS), to arithmetic skills in two domains. It was …