Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Adaptiveness Of Punishing Behavior: A Baseline Study, Levente Littvay

Department of Political Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This study sheds light on the current patterns of punishing behavior. Experimental work with ultimatum bargaining shows that individuals have a high sensitivity to fairness, and when taken advantage of, are willing to endure costs to punish deviant behavior. Third party observers of the unfair behavior asked to represent ultimatum recipients are more hesitant to engage in such punishment. This becomes ever more puzzling when we consider individuals’ high value of their own reputation in similar settings. This leaves both rational choice modelers and political psychologists puzzled. This study presents the baseline model for a research agenda proposing a multi-agent …

Chronic Worry As Avoidance Of Arousal, Louis B. Laguna, Lindsay S. Ham, Debra A. Hope, Christopher Bell

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Previous research suggests that worry is primarily a verbal-linguistic activity that may serve as a method of cognitive avoidance of fearful imagery. The purpose of the present study was to examine cognitive avoidance in high worriers (N = 22) and low worriers (N = 24) using psychophysiological measures and a modified dichotic listening task. The task involved presenting neutral words into an unattending ear while worry or neutral scenarios were presented into the attending ear. Participants were given a surprise word recognition test of the words presented to provide evidence of cognitive avoidance beyond self-report. Contrary to the …

The Factor Structure Of The Anxiety Sensitivity Index Among Northern Plains Native Americans, Peter J. Norton, Tami J. De Coteau, Debra A. Hope, Jessiline Anderson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Within our current research climate, an emphasis has been placed on examining the cross-cultural applicability of psychological tools and exploring their utility with people of different backgrounds. Within this line of investigation lies the risk of classifying people too broadly and masking important regional, tribal, or dialectical differences. This may be particularly potent among Native Americans, given the number of distinct indigenous entities. This study examined the psychometric characteristics of the Anxiety Sensitivity Index with a tribally homogeneous sample, as compared to previous tribally heterogeneous and majority culture findings. Results suggested that data from a homogeneous Native American sample poorly …

Designing A Mixed Methods Study In Primary Care, John W. Crewell, Michael D. Fetters, Nataliya V. Ivankova

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND Mixed methods or multimethod research holds potential for rigorous, methodologically sound investigations in primary care. The objective of this study was to use criteria from the literature to evaluate 5 mixed methods studies in primary care and to advance 3 models useful for designing such investigations.

METHODS We first identified criteria from the social and behavioral sciences to analyze mixed methods studies in primary care research. We then used the criteria to evaluate 5 mixed methods investigations published in primary care research journals.

RESULTS Of the 5 studies analyzed, 3 included a rationale for mixing based on the need …

Conjoint Behavioral Consultation: Involving Parents And Teachers In The Treatment Of A Child With Selective Mutism, Valerie J. Gortmaker, Emily D. Warnes, Susan M. Sheridan

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This paper provides a case example of the effects of a behavioral intervention implemented i.n the context. of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC; Sheridan, Kratochwill & Bergan, 1996) for a five-year-old child with selective mutism. Programming common stimuli was combined with positive reinforcement and ·then implemented by a parent and teacher to improve a child's verbal interactions. Overall, the number of words spoken by the child client per day increased from 0 during baseline to a treatment mean of 7.7 words per day. An effect size of 1.60 was yielded, with 100% non-overlapping data between baseline and treatment phases. Additionally, treatment …

Using Transcendental Phenomenology To Explore The “Ripple Effect” In A Leadership Mentoring Program, Tammy Moerer-Urdahl, John W. Creswell

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Several approaches exist for organizing and analyzing data in a phenomenological qualitative study. Transcendental phenomenology, based on principles identified by Husserl (1931) and translated into a qualitative method by Moustakas (1994), holds promise as a viable procedure for phenomenological research. However, to best understand the approach to transcendental phenomenology, the procedures need to be illustrated by a qualitative study that employs this approach. This article first discusses the procedures for organizing and analyzing data according to Moustakas (1994). Then it illustrates each step in the data analysis procedure of transcendental phenomenology using a study of reinvestment or the “ripple effect” …

Virus And The Whale: Exploring Evolution In A Museum Collaboration, Judy Diamond, Amy Spiegel, Debra Meier, Sarah Disbrow

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

A major new collaboration of museums in the U.S. will teach the public about current research in evolutionary biology. This project, entitled Explore Evolution, combines the strength of interactive exhibits, Web activities and outreach programs for youth to feature seven influential research projects on organisms ranging in size from the smallest, HIV to the largest, a whale. Launched in 2003 and funded by the Informal Science Education Program of the National Science Foundation (NSF), Explore Evolution is one of the most comprehensive informal education projects in the U.S. to focus on teaching about evolution research.

Effects Of A Transdiagnostic Group Treatment For Anxiety On Secondary Depression, Peter J. Norton, Sarah A. Hayes, Debra A. Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Researchers have recently explored transdiagnostic anxiety treatments based on models of anxiety emphasizing a single common pathway across diagnostic categories. Results from a previous study (Norton and Hope, in press) indicated that a transdiagnostic approach was effective for both targeted and untargeted anxiety disorders. Consistent with the tripartite model, the transdiagnostic treatment should also influence symptoms of a broader pathology such as negative affectivity. This follow-up to Norton and Hope found significant decreases in depressed mood for clients undergoing transdiagnostic treatment for anxiety when compared to wait-list control participants. Although not statistically established, severity of depressive diagnoses seemed to generally …

Parenting, Julia C. Torquati

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

How can parents successfully care for their children in the context of homelessness? This is a significant question because families with children represent approximately 40 percent of the homeless population in the United States, and the number of homeless children has been growing since the early 1980s. Negative consequences of homelessness to children’s health, education, and emotional and social development have been well documented. Homeless families in the United States can be considered a subset of limited-resource families, and as such they share some of the same challenges to effective parenting. However, homeless parents face additional challenges, and these challenges …

Caregiving Through A Relationship Lens In Reggio Emilia And A Lab School In Canada, Carolyn P. Edwards, Alex Dougherty

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In recent years developmental scientists have described the tasks of relationship-building that contribute to early development: security and attachment, self-recognition and validation, mutuality and companionship, passionate experience, identification and group belonging, and giving care to others. Relationship-building begins within the family, then, in extending it outside the family, early education can play a key role. This selection contains two parts. The first piece describes the kinds of benefits these widening relationships can provide for very young children and outlines some specific steps that educators in Reggio Emilia, Italy, have taken to ensure the best, most "amiable" environments. The second piece, …

“I Fell Off [The Mothering] Track”: Barriers To ‘Effective Mothering’ Among Street-Level Prostituted Women, Rochelle L. Dalla Dr.

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Ecological theory and basic assumptions for the promotion of effective mothering among low-income and working-poor women are applied in relation to a particularly vulnerable population: street-level prostitution-involved women. Qualitative data from 38 street-level prostituted women shows barriers to effective mothering at the individual, community and societal levels. Suggestions for enhancing the lives and long-term well-being of prostituted women with children are included.

Relational, Cultural, Cognitive, And Affective Predictors Of Prosocial Behaviors [Olumlu Sosyal Davranışların İlişkisel, Kültürel, Bilişsel Ve Duyuşsal Bazı Değişkenlerle İlişkisi], Asiye Kumru, Carolyn P. Edwards, Gustavo Carlo

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This research examined age group and gender differences in adolescent prosocial acts and the associations between these behaviors and peer and parent attachments, collectivistic values, prosocial moral reasoning, perspective taking, and empathy. In this study 550 adolescents (300 boys, 250 girls) from middle and high schools, and college with ages ranging 11-21.5 years (M=15.07, SD=2.50) were recruited from Ankara, Turkey. Results indicate that adolescents displayed compliant prosocial behavior most followed by emotional, anonymous, altruistic, and public prosocial acts. MANOVA analyses revealed that younger adolescents displayed more public and emotional prosocial acts while older adolescents showed more altruistic and anonymous behaviors …

The Selfish Nature Of Generosity: Harassment And Food Sharing In Primates, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Animals may share food to gain immediate or delayed fitness benefits. Previous studies of sharing have concentrated on delayed benefits such as reciprocity, trade and punishment. This study tests an alternative model (the harassment or sharing–under–pressure hypothesis) in which a food owner immediately benefits because sharing avoids costly harassment from a beggar. I present an experiment that varies the potential ability of the beggar to harass, and of the owner to defend the food, to examine the effects of harassment on food sharing in two primate species: chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) and squirrel monkeys (Saimiri boliviensis). For …

Psychometric And Behavioral Measures Of Central Auditory Function: The Relationship Between Dichotic Listening And Digit Span Tasks, Arthur C. Maerlender, Deborah J. Wallis, Peter K. Isquith

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

We hypothesized that the Digit Span (DS) subtest and component tasks (Wechsler, 1991) would show strong relationships with a dichotic listening test (Musiek, 1983). In two sets of archival clinical data (N = 74 and N = 51) we demonstrated that: (a) individuals with central auditory deficits had lower DS scores, F(1, 72) = 7.34, p = .008; η² = .09; and (b) left-ear dichotic deficits impacted forward span, F(2, 48) = 8.45, p = .001. Right-ear dichotic listening performance also accounted for significant vari-ance in digit forward span (R² = 0.17, p = .003). While limited in …