Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Animal Minds And Animal Emotions, Marian Stamp Dawkins

Emotion Collection

The possibility of conscious experiences of emotions in non-human animals has been much less explored than that of conscious experiences associated with carrying out complex cognitive tasks. However, no great cognitive powers are needed to feel hunger or pain and it may be that the capacity to feel emotions is widespread in the animal kingdom. Since plants can show surprisingly sophisticated ‘‘choice’’ and ‘‘decision-making’’ mechanisms and yet we would not wish to imply that they are conscious, attribution of emotions to animals has to be done with care. Whether or not an animal possesses anticipatory mechanisms associated with positive and …

Possible Levels Of Animal Consciousness With Reference To Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Irene M. Pepperberg, Spencer K. Lynn

Sentience Collection

Researchers often study nonhuman abilities by assuming their subjects form representations about perceived stimuli and then process such information; why then would consciousness be required, and, if required, at what level? Arguments about nonhuman consciousness range from claims of levels comparable to humans to refutation of any need to study such phenomena. We suggest that (a) species exhibit different levels attuned to their ecological niches, and (b) animals, within their maximum possible level, exhibit different extents of awareness appropriate to particular situations, much like humans (presumably conscious) who often act without conscious awareness of factors controlling their behavior. We propose …

Syllable Structure Development Of Toddlers With Expressive Specific Language Impairment, Aimée Baird Pharr, Nan Bernstein Ratner, Leslie Rescorla

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

A total of 35 children - 20 with expressive specific language impairment (SLI-E) and 15 typically developing (TD) peers - were compared longitudinally from 24 to 36 months with respect to their production of syllable shapes in 10-minute spontaneous speech samples. SLI-E 24-month-olds predominantly produced earlier developing syllable shapes containing vowels, liquids, and glides. TD 24-month-olds and SLI-E 36-month-olds produced approximately the same proportion of syllable types, with the exception of consonant clusters, where TD 24 month-olds produced more than SLI-E 36-month-olds. TD children at 36 months showed the greatest use of syllable shapes containing two different consonants and consonant …

Beta-Adrenergic Receptor Blockade By Propranolol Enhances Retention In A Multitrial Passive-Avoidance Procedure, Allen M. Schneider, Nancy Koven , '98, Kimberly A. Lombardo , '98, Dimitriy A. Levin , '01, Peter E. Simson , '78

Psychology Faculty Works

The effect of beta -adrenergic receptor blockade on retention in a mildly aversive passive-avoidance procedure was investigated. Rats were given passive-avoidance training-1 trial per day for 4 days-and were administered saline, the centrally and peripherally acting beta -adrenergic blocker propranolol (4 or 10 mg/kg ip), or the peripherally acting P-adrenergic blocker sotalol (4 or 10 mg/kg ip) immediately or 2 hr after the Ist trial. Enhanced retention occurred only with the higher dose (10 mg/kg) of propranolol and only when it was administered immediately after training. The enhanced retention produced by propranolol is discussed in terms of opposing, regionally specific …

Distributive Justice And Perceptions Of Fairness In Team Sports, Leslie Specht

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Distributive justice refers to the perceptions of fairness of outcomes received by individuals for their efforts in organizational settings. Punishment is frequently used to eliminate offensive or undesirable behavior in organizations. The present study was based on distributive justice theory and assessed the effects of severity of punishment and the application of distributive justice rules in a sports team setting. Eight scenarios were developed combining two levels of distribution of punishment (consistent or conditional), two levels of severity of misconduct (severe or moderate), and two levels of severity of punishment (severe or moderate). It was hypothesized that consistent punishment across …

A Descriptive Study Of The Selection Procedures Used By Kentucky Manufacturers, Amy Dumanois

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the selection practices used by manufacturing companies in Kentucky and whether the size of the organization and the number of employees hired in 1999 affected the use of valid selection procedures and compliance with EEO Guidelines. Surveys (300) were mailed to Human Resources professionals with a response rate of 35.7%. The majority of participants reported using three selection procedures: interviews, application blanks, and reference checks. The size of the organization and the number of employee hired in 1999 were not found to be related to the tendency to use a …

The Role Of Gender Interactions, Company Tenure And Job Tenure In Upward Feedback Ratings, Vanessa Johnson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Using feedback scores from an established upward feedback program, the role of gender interactions, company tenure, and job tenure on leadership ratings of managers by subordinates were examined. Four separate analyses were conducted: a 2 X 2 ANOVA, a 2 X 6 ANOVA, and two Aptitude-Treatment Interaction (ATI) regression analyses in accordance with the procedure set forth in Pedhazur (1997). No significant main effects or interactions were found for manager gender and subordinate gender on ratings of managers. Manager company tenure had a significant effect on ratings of managers, R = .002, F (1, 168) = .53, p < .05, but manager job tenure was not found to have a significant effect on manager ratings. Subordinate company tenure also had a significant effect on manager ratings, F (5, 3973) = 5.95, p < .01. A post-hoc Scheffe's test indicated significant differences were shown between subordinates whose tenure was 6 months to 1 year and 1 to 3 years versus subordinates whose tenure was greater than 10 years, p < .05. The need for further research of factors that may influence upward feedback ratings was emphasized; limitations of the study were also discussed.

The Role Of Eeoc Factors In Determining Perceptions Of Hostile Work Environment Sexual Harassment, Libby Miller

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The Equal Employment Opportunity Guidelines on Sexual Harassment identify six factors that are relevant in determinations of sexual harassment. This study attempted to determine if three of these factors (i.e., frequency of harassment, number of victims and number of perpetrators) drive perceptions of what constitutes sexual harassment. Participants role-playing jurors on an hostile environment sexual harassment case demonstrated no differences in perceptions as a function of number of victims or number of perpetrators. The significant effect for frequency of harassment was not in the hypothesized direction, with less frequent harassment being perceived as more likely to constitute sexual harassment. The …

Spontaneous Discrimination Of Natural Stimuli By Chimpanzees (Pan Troglodytes), David A. Brown, Sarah T. Boysen

Sentience Collection

Six chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were presented with pairs of color photographic images of 5 different categories of animals (cat, chimp, gorilla, tiger, fish). The subjects responded to each pair using symbols for "same" and "different." Both within- and between-category discriminations were tested, and all chimpanzees classified the image pairs in accordance with the 5 experimenter-defined categories under conditions of nondifferential reinforcement. Although previous studies have demonstrated identification or discrimination of natural categories by nonhuman animals, subjects were typically differentially reinforced for their responses. The present findings demonstrate that chimpanzees can classify natural objects spontaneously and that such classifications may be …

Exploring The Role Of Therapy Process And Outcome In Interventions That Target Adolescent Identity And Intimacy, Janene R. Bussell

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the feasibility of using a session impact measure with a sample of 24 at risk high school students participating in an intervention targeting identity and intimacy. Three therapists led 3 intervention groups with the same format. The study investigated the impact of therapy process, including Group, Facilitator, Skills, and Exploration impacts as measured by the Session Evaluation Form (SEF). The study also investigated the differential impact of session process on intervention outcome as measured by the CPSS, EPSI, RAVS, EIPQ and Youth Report Form. Analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics, frequencies, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and …

Parental Behaviors In Child Anxiety: An Observational Study, Delight Hicks Carmichael

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The increasing awareness of the prevalence, impairment, and long-term consequences of childhood anxiety disorders have led investigators to explore psychosocial factors in the etiology of these disorders. Recent investigations have begun to focus on family-level processes in the etiology and/or maintenance of childhood anxiety disorders, specifically patterns of parent-child interaction. The present study compared parent-child interactions across three problem-solving tasks of clinically anxious children and their mothers versus non-referred children and their mothers in terms of: 1) direct observation measures, 2) children's, mothers', and independent observer's subjective ratings, 3) and children's evaluations using videotape-aided thought reconstruction.

Results suggested that the …

A Test Of A Tripartite Framework Of Team Strategy Development, Kevin William Brown

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study provided further insight into the process (or processes) of team strategy development and its relationship with team performance. Building upon the taxonomies introduced by Marks, Mathieu, & Zaccaro (in press) and Wood and Locke (1990), this thesis attempted to test a tripartite framework of team strategy development. Specifically, this model posits that strategy development consists of three unique, though interrelated, processes: deliberate planning, contingency planning, and reactive adaptation. It was hypothesized that 1) task complexity would moderate the relationship between the three types of strategy development and team performance, and 2) that the three types of strategy formation …

Attitudinal Outcomes Of Punishment Events In Team-Sporting Settings, Jason Tapp

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The organizational justice perspective suggests that procedural and distributive justice evaluations of a specific punishment event will affect an individual's reactions to the punishment. A 3 (decision-making procedure: autocratic, participative, group) X 3 (punishment severity: low, moderate, high) factorial design was utilized to develop punishment scenarios in team-sport settings which were evaluated by 205 participants. Decision-making procedure and punishment severity both produced significant main effects on evaluations of the fairness of the procedure. Only punishment severity produced a significant main effect on perceptions of the fairness and appropriateness of the punishment, as well as on perceptions of the likelihood of …

Animal Emotions: Exploring Passionate Natures, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

No abstract provided.

Late-Talking Toddlers: Mlu And Ipsyn Outcomes At 3;0 And 4;0, Leslie Rescorla, Katherine Dahlsgaard, Julie Roberts

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Expressive language outcomes measured by MLU and the Index of Productive Syntax (IPSyn) at ages 3;0 and 4;0 were investigated in 34 late talkers with normal receptive language identified between 2;0 to 2;7 and 16 typically developing comparison children matched on age, SES, and nonverbal ability. Late talkers made greater gains than comparison children between 3;0 and 4;0 in both MLU and IPSyn raw score. However, when age-standardized x-scores were analysed, the late talkers were about 2.5 Standard deviations below comparison children on both measures at both ages. At 3;0, 41 % of the late talkers had MLUs above the …

Examining The Relationship Between The Therapeutic Bond And The Phases Of Treatment Outcome, Stephen M. Saunders

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Examined the association between the therapeutic bond—an element of the therapeutic alliance—and treatment effectiveness. 114 psychotherapy clients completed self-report questionnaires at intake and throughout open-ended, psychodynamically oriented psychotherapy. Three bond scales, role investment (RI), empathic resonance (ER), and mutual affirmation (MA), were contrasted to session quality and the three phases of outcome (remoralization, remediation, and rehabilitation). Results indicated that different aspects of the bond predicted session quality and treatment outcome. Clients who felt motivated and invested in therapy (relatively high RI) and who reported that the therapeutic environment was friendly and affirmative (relatively high MA) were likely to rate the …

Social Networks Of Immigrant Preadolescents : Network Structure,Sources Of Support, And Psychological Well-Being, Gastón Luis Bustos

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored social network characteristics and sources of support for immigrant and nonimmigrant preadolescents. The relation between social support and psychological well-being for these children was also addressed. Participants were 782 preadolescents, including 172 immigrants, of diverse income and backgrounds. Students completed the social convoy mapping procedure, answered social support questions, and completed the short form version of the Children's Depression Inventory, the Loneliness Scale, and Self Perception Profile. Immigrant children perceived significantly less total support and close family support than did nonimmigrants. Immigrant children's levels of well-being were significantly lower. Close Family Support was an individual predictor of …

Long-Term Outcomes Of An Abstinence-Based, Small-Group Pregnancy Prevention Program In New York City Schools, Lisa D. Lieberman, Heather Gray, Megan Wier, Renee Fiorentino, Patricia Maloney

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Context: Despite drops in U.S. teenage birthrates, questions continue to arise about how best to reduce the country's adolescent birthrate. School-based programs continue to be considered one of the best ways to reach adolescents at risk of early sexual activity.

Methods: A total of 312 students completed a pretest, a posttest and a follow-up one year after the posttest: 125 who had participated in a 3-4-month-long abstinence-based small-group intervention led by trained social workers, and 187 in a comparison group that received no special services.

Results: There were few significant differences between the intervention and comparison groups at posttest. At …

A Balanced Nitrogen Budget Of The Surface Layer Of The Southern Ross Sea, Antarctica, Walker O. Smith Jr., Vernon L. Asper

Faculty Publications

To understand marine biogeochemical cycles, it is critical to quantitatively balance organic matter transformations within the euphotic zone. Such an assessment for nitrogen is difficult because of lateral advection, uncertainties in individual measurements, the complexity of elemental transformations (including nitrification and denitrification), and the difficulty of collecting data on appropriate space and time scales. Two cruises were conducted to the southern Ross Sea, Antarctica, to understand the time-varying fluxes of nitrogen into its various pools. From these data a balanced inventory was constructed. Nitrate removal in the upper 200 m was balanced by particulate and dissolved organic nitrogen production, ammonification, …

Human Error And Accident Causation Theories, Frameworks And Analytical Techniques: An Annotated Bibliography, Douglas A. Wiegmann, Aaron M. Rich, Scott A. Shappell

Publications

Over the last several decades, humans have played a progressively more important causal role in aviation accidents as aircraft have become more [complex]. Consequently, a growing number of aviation organizations are tasking their safety personnel with developing safety programs to address the highly complex and often nebulous issue of human error. However, there is generally no “off-the-shelf” or standard approach for addressing human error in aviation. Indeed, recent years have seen a proliferation of human error frameworks and accident investigation schemes to the point where there now appears to be as many human error models as there are people interested …

Working With Fathers...Dads & Emergent Literacy, Glen F. Palm

Child and Family Studies Faculty Publications

Part of the "Working with Fathers: Methods and Perspectives" column published by Family Information Services (Minneapolis, MN) and here published with their generous permission..

An Analysis Of Academic Reputation As Perceived By Consumers Of Higher Education, Michael J. Conard, Maureen A. Conard

Psychology Faculty Publications

A college's academic reputation (AR) plays a significant role in positioning the institution. Survey responses of college-bound high school seniors suggest that a majority of respondents view successful postgraduate careers as very important to the perception of AR and very likely to be attributed to a college with very good AR. A principle components factor analysis revealed three factors that describe the perception of AR (i.e., Academic Concerns, Campus Ethos, Practical Value). In a similar analysis three factors were found likely to be associated with very good AR (i.e., Curricular Concerns, Exclusivity, Career Preparation).

Portrait Of George W. Bush As A “Late Bloomer”, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This essay documents some of the enduring personal characteristics that provide an empirical basis for assessing George W. Bush’s outgoing, adventurous personality pattern.

The Character Of Hillary Clinton, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This essay documents some of the enduring personal characteristics that provide an empirical basis for assessing Hillary Rodham Clinton’s dominant, ambitious personality pattern from a psychobiographical, psychohistorical perspective.

Dynamical Balance In The Indonesian Seas Circulation, William H. Burnett, Vladimir M. Kamenkovich, David A. Jaffe, Arnold L. Gordon, George L. Mellor

Faculty Publications

A high resolution, four-open port, non-linear, barotropic ocean model (2D POM) is used to analyze the Indonesian Seas circulation. Both local and overall momentum balances are studied. It is shown that geostrophy holds over most of the area and that the Pacific-Indian Ocean pressure difference is essentially balanced by the resultant of pressure forces acting on the bottom.

The Darwin Is In The Details, Douglas T. Kenrick, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Comments on the article by A. H. Eagly and W. Wood which examined the origins of sex differences in human behavior. Eagly and Wood argued that social structural theory can explain the origin of psychological sex differences. The present authors suggest that evolutionary models of sex differences are based on a much broader foundation that Eagly and Wood imply. They note that Eagly and Wood misconstrued previous age preference findings as supporting the "common knowledge" that men prefer younger women. Eagly and Wood also showed that as societies approach gender equality in resource access, some sex differences in mate preferences …

Eye Position Signal Modulates A Human Parietal Pointing Region During Memory-Guided Movements., J F Desouza, S P Dukelow, J S Gati, R S Menon, R A Andersen, T Vilis

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we examined the signal in parietal regions that were selectively activated during delayed pointing to flashed visual targets and determined whether this signal was dependent on the fixation position of the eyes. Delayed pointing activated a bilateral parietal area in the intraparietal sulcus (rIPS), rostral/anterior to areas activated by saccades. During right-hand pointing to centrally located targets, the left rIPS region showed a significant increase in activation when the eye position was rightward compared with leftward. As expected, activation in motor cortex showed no modulation when only eye position changed. During pointing to retinotopically identical …

Investigating Emotional Intelligence In Children: Exploring Its Relationship To Cognitive Intelligence, Margaret Allen

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The phrase emotional intelligence was made popular in the mainstream culture by Daniel Goleman's book Emotional Intelligence. Goleman's book focuses mainly on aspects of emotional intelligence in adults, as does most of the literature that exists concerning emotional intelligence. The little empirical research that exists in the field of emotional intelligence has been conducted primarily with adults. With the advent of the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version, it has become possible to measure this construct in children. In the current study, sixty children ages nine to twelve were administered the BarOn EQ-i:YV and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children …

The Effects Of Corporate Culture On The Value Of Performance Appaisals, Connie Pearson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research project attempts to provide information that will determine the effects of corporate culture on the value of performance appraisals in an organization. To provide analysis for this theory, the researcher utilized information found in prior written literature that examined results of performance appraisals and conducted interviews in various manufacturing organizations on results not yet published. In particular, the researcher examined the development and practice of performance appraisals at Logan Aluminum Inc. and used this team management greenfield site as a basis for looking at results from other organizations. Results of the study found strong evidence to support the …

A Comparison Of The Situational And Patterned Behavioral Description Interview In Predicting Job Performance, James Little

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The preference for the use of employment interviews over other selection measures is evident in the wide usage, popularity and the vast amount of research on the utility and psychometric properties of interviews over the last 60 years. Although the vast majority of interview research has focused on the factors influencing the interviewer's rating and comparing unstructured to structured interviews formats, little in the way of comparing structured formats (i.e., the situational interview and patterned behavioral description interview) has been performed. This researcher addressed this specific concern in regard to soft-skills in a retail setting. After development of situational and …