Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Role Of "Perceived Audience" In The Telling Of Autobiographical Memory Narratives, Gregory Peter Cvasa

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Autobiographical memory is the recollection of facts and events that have been interpreted and integrated into a consistent story about one's self (Bruner, 1987; Neisser, 1988). Repeated studies have shown that the characteristics of the audience are an important factor that influences narrative structure and content. The purpose of this particular study was to address whether or not the physical presence of a person differently influences the structure and content of written types of narrative reporting. Narrative structure included the details and length of the respective narratives, while the content we studied included emotional terminology, references to others, and narrative …

In Search Of A Cause, Charles D. Dolph

Psychology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Professor Burnout: Satisfaction With Salary And Perception Of Student Competence, Danielle Smith, Bethany Burmeister, Randy Carden

Modern Psychological Studies

This study examined the relationship between professor burnout and satisfaction with salary and satisfaction with their students. Twenty-seven undergraduate professors at a small, liberal arts university in the southeast responded to the Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educators Survey and three items measuring satisfaction with salary and perception of competence and dedication of their students. Salary was found to be negatively related to emotional exhaustion. Ratings of student competence and dedication were negatively related to depersonalization and positively related to personal accomplishment.

Color Inversion And Detail Effects On Face Recognition, Jill G. Boltjes, Courtney L. Rust

Modern Psychological Studies

Two separate studies were completed to demonstrate the importance of color location and focus on face recognition. The first study manipulated Gaussian Blur (GB) and inversion (IN). GB is the process of taking an image out of focus, the higher the cycle the more out of focus the image will appear. IN is the process of changing the dark color with light color and the light color with dark color, like a colored photographic negative. In the study, twenty celebrity faces (10 female and 10 male) were exposed to six different manipulations: three levels of GB and two levels of …

Individualism, Collectivism, And Dissonance: A Within-Culture Comparison, Lindsey M. Streamer

Modern Psychological Studies

Cognitive dissonance was examined among individuals with collectivist and individualist tendencies within a culture. To arouse dissonance, participants wrote counter-attitudinal essays under either high-choice or low-choice conditions. Participants were also given an individualism-collectivism questionnaire. Results indicated that participants in the high-choice condition experienced more cognitive dissonance (measured by degree of attitude change) than participants in the low-choice condition. Participants who scored high in individualism showed no significant difference in dissonance experienced compared to those who scored low in individualism. These results suggest that differences in cognitive dissonance experienced cross-culturally are due to factors other than individualism. Possible alternative explanations for …

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Task Difficulty, Defendant's Race, And Race Salience On Conformity In Mock Jury Deliberations, Allegra Giorgia Poggio, Amy Bradfield Douglass

Modern Psychological Studies

Understanding what factors affect conformity in jury deliberations is an essential part of understanding the decision making process of reaching a verdict. This study manipulated three variables in a case summary: race salience (not salient vs. salient), defendant race (Black vs. White), and task difficulty (easy vs. difficult). The study used a mock deliberation paradigm based on Kassin, Smith, & Tulloch (1990). Participants read a case summary and provided a verdict with a short explanation. After doing so, participants read notes containing the verdicts and explanations of 5 other fictitious participants. Participants' verdicts were always in the minority. After viewing …

Psychological And Demographic Predictors Of Cellular Phone Use Of College Students, Crystal M. Mcwhirter, Linda J. Palm

Modern Psychological Studies

The present study examined psychological and demographic predictors of cellular phone use of college students. The participants were 158 undergraduate students enrolled at a public university in the Southeastern United States. Each participant reported demographic information and completed the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, the Trait Scale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Cellular Telephone Inventory. Participants' responses to the Cellular Telephone Inventory produced four measures of cellular phone use: daily phone use in minutes, instrumental use, emotional/social use, and problematic use. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine the degree to which a set of six predictor variables (self-esteem, trait …

Startle Response Probability And Amplitude May Be Independently Modulated By Affective Foreground Stimulation As Acoustic Probe Intensity Decreases, Adam K. Wilke

Modern Psychological Studies

The magnitude of the eyeblink reflex to an acoustic startle probe is reliable potentiated to highly arousing unpleasant foreground stimuli and inhibited to highly arousing pleasant foreground stimuli across all probe intensity levels. The present study examined the response magnitude findings of Cuthbert, Bradley, and Lang (1996) as response amplitude and probability. Medium arousal pleasant pictures produced larger blink amplitude responses than unpleasant pictures of the same arousal level to 80 and 95, but not 105 dB acoustic startle probes. This effect was opposite for high arousal pictures at all intensity levels. Response probability means decreased from pleasant to unpleasant …

Complementarity In Romantic Relationships: Constructs Involved In Individual And Partner Change, Rebekah L. Davis, Wind Goodfriend

Modern Psychological Studies

The purpose of the current research was to investigate complementarily vs. similarity in romantic partners, as well as changes in partners' life skill levels over time. It was predicted that individuals would be more complementary to each other than similar, that they would be more likely to improve their weaknesses if they were high in Type A personality and growth, and if they perceived that their partners wanted them to improve. Surprisingly, none of these hypotheses were supported. However, improvement on life skills was positively correlated with both relationship duration and relationship satisfaction. Implications and future research possibilities are discussed.

Living With Dying: Grief And Consolation In The Middle English Pearl, Karen A. Sylvia

Honors Projects

Analyzes the themes of grief and consolation in the Middle English poem, Pearl, and compares this work to Boethius's The Consolation of Philosophy and Chaucer's The Book of the Duchess. Applies the five psychological stages of grieving identified by Kubler-Ross to the poem's Dreamer and concludes that, at the poem's end, the Dreamer has failed to finish the grieving process.

Body Parts And Early-Learned Verbs In Japanese And English, Josita Maouene, Shohei Hidaka, Mounir Maouene, Linda Smith

Josita C Maouene

No abstract provided.

Immunological Effects Of Written Disclosure In Athletes, Kristen Thatcher

Honors Theses

Many studies have demonstrated the health benefits of written disclosure of traumatic or stressful events. These benefits include improved psychological well-being, fewer health clinic visits, shorter hospital stays after surgery, and increased immune function. In athletes, high immune function is necessary to ward off illness during training and competition, but much research has shown that athletes tend to have lowered immune function. Therefore, writing about traumatic events may be a way for athletes to remain healthy during their seasons. To test this hypothesis, 21 varsity athletes and 15 individuals who exercised less than three hours per week participated in the …

Splashpads, Swings, And Shade: Parents' Preferences For Neighbourhood Parks, Patricia Tucker, Jason Gilliland, Jennifer D. Irwin

Geography & Environment Publications

Background

Physical activity is a modifiable behavior that can help curtail the increasing worldwide problem of childhood obesity. Appropriate recreational opportunities, including neighborhood parks, are particularly important for promoting physical activity among children. Because children's use of parks is mainly under the influence of their parents, understanding parents' preferences is essential for creating the most inviting and usable park space to facilitate children's physical activity.

Methods

Eighty-two intercept interviews were conducted with a heterogeneous sample of parents / guardians watching their children at neighborhood parks in London, Ontario. Parents / guardians were asked questions about how often they frequent the …

Social Skills Group Therapy For Children With Emotional And Behavioral Problems, Lilith Chunn

Social Work Theses

The topic of this research was the utilization of social skills group therapy with children with poor social skills and emotional and behavioral problems. The literature explains that group therapy has many benefits to clients that are not available in individual work with clients. Social skills group therapy is theorized to be helpful for children with mental health disorders, especially children who are physically aggressive. In this type of group therapy, it is effective to teach children the phases of using social skills and using discussion and role-play to understand each social skill. A social skills therapy group was conducted …

Beliefs Of Violence-Sensitive And Violence-Tolerant People, Amethyst Brell

Senior Honors Projects

Every person views the world through a different lens, and one can never fully understand the motivations and opinions of someone else. However, experiments and statistics can shed some light onto people’s thought patterns and behaviors. When horrific acts of violence occur, many people strive to understand why they happen. Through my study I hope to help solve some of the mysteries behind the different ways people interpret violence. I want to see why some people tend to be more sensitive to violence and why some are more tolerant of violence. I am doing this by building on previous research …

Temperamental And Joint Attentional Predictors Of Language Development, Brenda J. Salley, Wallace E. Dixon Jr.

ETSU Faculty Works

Individual differences in child temperament have been associated with individual differences in language development. Similarly, relationships have been reported between early nonverbal social communication (joint attention) and both temperament and language. The present study examined whether individual differences in joint attention might mediate temperament-language relationships. Temperament, language, and joint attention were assessed in 51 21-month-olds. Results indicated an inverse relationship between aspects of temperamental difficulty, including low executive control and high negative affect, and language development. Temperamental aspects of negative affect were also inversely predictive of joint attention. However, the utility of a model in which joint attention mediates the …

The Body, The Hands And Early Verbs, Josita Maouene, Linda Smith

Josita C Maouene

No abstract provided.

Response Validity In Forensic Neuropsychology: Exploratory Factor Analytic Evidence Of Distinct Cognitive And Psychological Constructs, Nathaniel W. Nelson, Jerry J. Sweet, David Tr Berry, Fred B. Bryant, Robert P. Granacher

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Forensic neuropsychology studies usually address either cognitive effort or psychological response validity. Whether these are distinct constructs is unclear. In 122 participants evaluated in a compensation-seeking context, the present Exploratory Factor Analysis examined whether forced-choice cognitive effort measures (Victoria Symptom Validity Test, Test of Memory Malingering, Letter Memory Test) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition (MMPI-2) validity scales (L, F, K, FBS, Fp, RBS, Md, Dsr2, S) load on independent factors. Regardless of factor rotation strategy (orthogonal or oblique), four response validity factors emerged by means of both Principal Components Analysis (82.7% total variance) and Principal-Axis Factor Analysis (74.1% …

How Do Psychology Researchers Find Studies To Include In Meta-Analyses?, Julie Arendt

Articles

Meta-analysis is a technique used in a variety of disciplines to combine and summarize the findings of previous research. One step in the production of a meta-analysis is a thorough literature search for relevant studies. A variety of methods can be used to increase the number of studies that are found. This study examines the extent to which some of these steps were taken in meta-analyses published in American Psychological Association in journals in 2004. Some techniques were applied in almost all of the meta-analyses, and other techniques were applied in few of the meta-analyses. Implications of these results for …

The Transition From Preschool To School For Children In Ireland: Teachers Views, Mary O'Kane

Articles

There is a wealth of international research on the transition from preschool to school from a range of perspectives. Following on from such research, the issue of transition is emerging as an important new construct in early childhood care and education (ECCE), with a transition-to-school framework replacing the construct of school readiness as a focus of research interest. There has been limited research into transition practices in Ireland and this study is the first comprehensive research looking at this area from an Irish perspective1. Phase I of this study involved conducting a questionnaire on the transition from preschool to formal …

Assessing Observed Character Strengths In Groups Using Streamed Video And Video Ipods, Jonathan P. Floyd

The Corinthian

Positive psychology is a developing trend in modern psychological studies. Among the many facets of positive psychology are the values in action signature strengths, a collection of 24 positive attributes that are related to basic good character traits in all people. These strengths were recognized and researched as a way in which to cultivate good character through examining the positive side of individuals. The research examined the effectiveness of the values in action signature strengths survey as an evaluation tool to be used in group development activities.

Instead Of Erklären And Verstehen: William James On Human Understanding, David E. Leary

Psychology Faculty Publications

Perhaps more than any other American psychologist and philosopher, William James (1842-1910) was intimately familiar with contemporary European thought and debate, including the discussion of Erklären and Verstehen advanced by Wilhelm Dilthey (1833-1911) and others around the turn of the twentieth century. Even before this discussion was initiated, James had been dealing with related issues, pondering alternative solutions, and formulating his own original views on human understanding. These views coalesced in a distinctive approach to cognition. Fundamental to this approach was a belief in possibility and probability as innate features of the physical as well as mental manifestations of the …

Impact Of Training On School Psychologists' Knowledge And Attitudes Regarding Children With Chronic Health Issues, Abby Baker

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Children who have chronic medical illnesses must rely on their families and schools to create an environment that allows goals in the areas of development, of academic, social, familial and life-skills to be individualized to accommodate the capabilities of each child. School psychologists are an essential part of blending a child’s needs and academic fit. Although school psychologists receive some training in child psychopathology, they lack the necessary training in the areas of acute and chronic illness, in order to work with the health care system and to collaborate with pediatricians. The emergence of the field of Pediatric Psychology in …

Risk Markers Associated With Physical And Psychological Abuse By Intimate Partners Against Women In Substance Abuse Treatment, Scott J. Buchanan

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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The Origins Of Shared Intuitions Of Justice, Owen D. Jones, Paul H. Robinson, Robert Kurzban

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Contrary to the common wisdom among criminal law scholars, empirical evidence reveals that people's intuitions of justice are often specific, nuanced, and widely shared. Indeed, with regard to the core harms and evils to which criminal law addresses itself-physical aggression, takings without consent, and deception in transactions-the shared intuitions are stunningly consistent across cultures as well as demographics. It is puzzling that judgments of moral blameworthiness, which seem so complex and subjective, reflect such a remarkable consensus. What could explain this striking result?

The authors theorize that one explanation may be an evolved predisposition toward these shared intuitions of justice, …

Internal Psychological States In A Diverse Work Environment, Vincent Valdez Cordero

Theses Digitization Project

The study examined the internal states (self-esteem and ethnic identity) that may affect individuals in a diverse work environment and lead to conflict. In particular it was expected that ethnic identity and self-esteem would mediate the relationship between diversity and conflict. Participants from a wide variety of organizations in Southern California completed an online survey. Statistical analyses revealed that self-esteem and ethnic identity did not mediate the relationship between diversity and conflict. However, many of the variables were significantly related to each other. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Influence Of Teamwork Aptitude And Personal Characteristics Of Team Members On Team Effectiveness: How Should We Form Effective Teams?, Shinko Kimura

Theses Digitization Project

This study examines the factors that are important for team success by exploring the best possible criteria for selecting members for teamwork. Two models of team composition were proposed, productivty and synergy. The findings are discussed for their implications for team satisfaction and productivity.

Out-Group Exploitation Through Depersonalization In A Prisoner's Dilemma Game, Risa Ohkawa

Modern Psychological Studies

The experiment examined how salience of out-group membership affects an individual's tendency to financially exploit an out-group member in a prisoner's dilemma (PD) game and a monetary bonus allocation task. It also examined the role of depersonalization of self and others. Half of the research participants played a PD game to win money with an imaginary opponent, who had a foreign accent, and the other half did with an opponent, who spoke fluent English. A salient indication of out-group membership was present in the former (accent) condition, and it was absent in the latter (control). Participants were also asked to …

The Relationship Between Daily Spiritual Experience And Practice, And Health And Life Satisfaction In Doctoral-Level Counselors, Carol A. Gernat

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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