Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Communication Of Mental Health Diversity To The Early Childhood Age Group: “The Adventures Of Anxious Anderson, Distracted Daniel, And Organized Olive”, Jessica Gower

Honors Projects

In this project, I aim to explore various aspects of communication, cognitive ability, and mental health diversity in early child development. The three research questions guiding this project are: What cognitive and language abilities do children in the early childhood stage of development have? What are the most effective strategies for communicating information about mental health disorders to children ages 4 to 7 through storytelling? And lastly, how do anxiety, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) manifest, particularly in children? The storybook's purpose is to create a sense of empathy and understanding of mental health diversity in children …

A Manualized Occupational Therapy Communication Skills Intervention For Veterans With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Kiara Ainsworth, Steven M. Gerardi

Spring 2024 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects many individual's participation in daily activities. There is a lack of research in the area of occupational therapy (OT) treatment for veterans with PTSD. However, there has been an expressed need in the literature for a developed intervention for veterans with PTSD that includes communication skills as a component. To date, a manualized communication skills OT intervention for veterans with PTSD has not been created. The purpose of this paper was to develop a resource tool for occupational therapists to utilize as an intervention when treating veterans with PTSD using the framework of the Model …

The Effects Of Communication, Knowledge Sharing, And Trust On Agile Virtual Team Effectiveness, Ivana Pino

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Ongoing globalization and the evolution of technology in the workplace reinforce the need for virtual teamwork. Individuals working together across the globe comprise virtual teams. Many teams across industries value and use agile methodology to manage their projects. Research shows that agile virtual teams face challenges based on social and organizational problems such as lack of trust, knowledge sharing, and suitable communication. Therefore, this quantitative study aimed to address a gap in the current literature on the effect that communication, trust, and knowledge sharing have on agile virtual team effectiveness. Additionally, the aim was to determine the moderating effect of …

Impaired Discourse Content In Aphasia Is Associated With Frontal White Matter Damage, Junhua Ding, Erica L. Middleton, Daniel Mirman

Moss-Magee Rehabilitation Papers

Aphasia is a common consequence of stroke with severe impacts on employability, social interactions and quality of life. Producing discourse-relevant information in a real-world setting is the most important aspect of recovery because it is critical to successful communication. This study sought to identify the lesion correlates of impaired production of relevant information in spoken discourse in a large, unselected sample of participants with post-stroke aphasia. Spoken discourse (n = 80) and structural brain scans (n = 66) from participants with aphasia following left hemisphere stroke were analysed. Each participant provided 10 samples of spoken discourse elicited in three different …

After The Disaster Guidebook: Designing A Post-Disaster Communication Intervention For Rural Landowners, Channing Bice, Susan Carter

The Journal of Extension

Extension is well-positioned to facilitate communication strategies that foster community resilience and disaster recovery, particularly for rural residents. This paper proposes a new approach to post-disaster communication that strengthens rural community capacities in locally and culturally relevant ways. The findings revealed specific post-disaster information needs, preferences for local resources, and communication that encourages resilience through a document analysis and interviews with informants recovering from the 2020 Colorado wildfires. The practical recommendations discussed serve as a starting point for Extension professionals in other areas to consider ways to engage with their communities before, during, and after a disaster.

The Long-Term Effects Of Child Abuse And Neglect On Communication And Conflict Management Within The Military Marriage, Gennifer L. Van Pelt

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study utilized a qualitative, phenomenological approach to examine the lived experiences of five active-duty military-affiliated couples within which at least one partner reported a history of moderate to severe childhood maltreatment. The goal was to identify thematic constructs that revealed themselves over the course of five interviews conducted with both individuals as well as with the couple in tandem that identify long-term effects of childhood maltreatment on relational functioning with a specific focus on communication and conflict management within the relationship. Interview data combined with the completion of an attachment questionnaire identified three primary themes and one subtheme including …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Collaboration Between School Psychologists And Board-Certified Behavioral Analysts, Taylor Bronaugh

Department of Graduate Psychology - Graduate Student Scholarship

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of communication styles brought on by distanced learning and its effect on collaboration for school psychologists and Bord Certified Behavioral Analysts (BCBAs). Prior studies have addressed collaboration habits between these school-based professionals. The current study aims to analyze the impact that COVID-19 had on these practitioners’ collaboration habits and to investigate their current communication and collaboration habits. A mixed methods locally developed anonymous survey was created and used for data collection. Participants were recruited through social-media groups and via word-of-mouth sharing. 20 school-based practitioners shared their perceptions and experiences with …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Collaboration Between School Psychologists And Board-Certified Behavioral Analysts, Taylor J. Bronaugh

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of communication styles brought on by distanced learning and its effect on collaboration for school psychologists and Bord Certified Behavioral Analysts (BCBAs). Prior studies have addressed collaboration habits between these school-based professionals. The current study aims to analyze the impact that COVID-19 had on these practitioners’ collaboration habits and to investigate their current communication and collaboration habits. A mixed methods locally developed anonymous survey was created and used for data collection. Participants were recruited through social-media groups and via word-of-mouth sharing. 20 school-based practitioners shared their perceptions and experiences with …

Neural Mechanisms Of Lexical Semantics: Investigating The Roles Of Hubs And Distributed Action-Perception Systems, Nicholas Andrew Riccardi

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the meaning of words and concepts is vital for communication, forming relationships, and navigating everyday life. Loss of this knowledge through brain damage can have drastic consequences for one’s health and well-being. It is therefore important to learn how this information is organized anatomically in the brain. In this dissertation, I report a series of structural and functional neuroimaging studies in healthy adults and survivors of stroke seeking to understand how lexical semantics are represented. Specifically, I used a variety of tasks to examine the contributions of putative ‘hubs’ and distributed action-perception systems. Results indicated that damage or disruption …

Destined Failure, Chengjun Pan

Masters Theses

I attempt to examine the complex structure of human communication, explaining why it is bound to fail. By reproducing experienceable phenomena, I demonstrate how they can expose communication structure and reveal the limitations of our perception and symbolization.I divide the process of communication into six stages: input, detection, symbolization, dictionary, interpretation, and output. In this thesis, I examine the flaws and challenges that arise in the first five stages. I argue that reception acts as a filter and that understanding relies on a symbolic system that is full of redundancies. Therefore, every interpretation is destined to be a deviation.

Communicating Indirect Feelings: American Stories Of Indirect Experiences, Susan Hess Lawson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The words people use to describe indirect human experiences and how narratives play a role are examined within qualitative research. The problem is that some people have difficulty communicating indirect experiences, and few studies have examined the issue. The purpose of this qualitative narrative research study was to examine how people who encountered indirect communication in their lived experiences can communicate the indirect experiences and messages they received. The theory guiding this study is the indirect communication theory as it relates to Communicating Indirect Feelings (CIF). The definition of CIF is how people attempt to communicate indirect feelings for shared …

Plant Sentience: "Feeling" Or Biological Automatism?, Andrea Mastinu

Animal Sentience

Sentience refers to the ability of an organism to have subjective experiences such as sensations, emotions and awareness. Whereas some animals, including humans, are widely recognized as sentient, the question of whether plants are sentient is still debated among scientists, philosophers, and ethicists. Over the past 20 years, many scientists such as Trewavas, Baluška, Mancuso, Gagliano, and Calvo have reported interesting discussions about memory, behavior, communication, and intelligence in plants. However, the reported conclusions have not convinced the entire scientific community. In this commentary, I would like to focus on two critical aspects related to sentience: cognition and emotion

Exploring The Link Between School Discipline And Restoring Relationships Using Restorative Conferences!, Derrick C. Bailey, Julia Bullock

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Participants will be able to identify the link between effective restorative conferences and school discipline. They will learn strategies that are effective for reactive and proactive conferences. Participants will analyze scenarios of actual conferences and prepare a list of things to avoid. Participants will learn how to use data to assess the effectiveness of their conferences and adjustments that may need to be made.

Are You Blue? Personality, Communication, And Leadership, Hillary Gleason

Academic Chairpersons Conference Proceedings

This workshop will identify participants' dominant personality styles utilizing the True Colors questionnaire developed by Don Lowry in 1978. To that end, there will be a discussion on each color's communication and leadership strengths, weaknesses, and stressors. This is a fun activity that requires movement and most people enjoy. Finally, participants will be paired up with rotating partners and given a departmental chair scenario wherein they need to communicate and lead by utilizing what they have learned about dealing with the personality types of the colors. This exercise will help participants develop a strategic approach to their communication in order …

The Role Of Argumentation On High- And Low-Creative Performing Groups: A Structuration Analysis Of Undergraduate Students’ Group Discussion, Ingrid P. Hernandez Sibo, David A. Gomez Celis, Shyhnan Liou, Brandon Koh, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Communication is essential for group creativity, and involves cognitive and social processes. However, research rarely investigates how these two processes unfold from a communication perspective, and its consequences on group creative performance. This study adopted the structuration theory as a framework that is capable of integrating both approaches in the study of in-group communication. In particular, we employed a structuration view to examine group argument; a social practice defined as both a system (argumentative patterns of interactive behaviors) and a structure (rules and resources undergirding the system). By applying the Conversational Argument Coding Scheme (CACS) and Lag Sequential Analysis (LSA) …

We Need More Than 'Luck': How Students Learn About Pleasure, Eliza Koch

Summer Research

Sex education primarily focuses on reducing the negative consequences associated with sex. Pleasure is often left unaddressed despite the impact it has on sexual and overall health. The present study investigated how people learn about sexual pleasure. Nine female and fem-identifying participants aged 20-24 completed interviews about their experiences learning about sex and sexual pleasure. Grounded theory was used to code interview transcripts. Participants identified flaws in learning from a variety of sources, including sex education, parents, friends, partners, and media. These flaws indicate a need for improvements to sex education, such as promoting communication and media literacy skills.

Directional Speaker Poster, Eugene Ng, Bryan Wong, Ruhaan Das

Student Works

Changi Airport is set to expand with a new terminal, Terminal 5. Currently, many of the airport's processes are manual, requiring a high dependence on staff. This proposal aims to incorporate automation and AI for a smoother passenger experience.

Analyzing The Effects Of Video Games On Social Anxiety And Communication, Ana S. Quigley

Senior Projects Spring 2023

Those with high levels of social anxiety can struggle with their communication skills, and confidence in communication. By using a virtual platform such as Zoom to communicate with others, individuals with social anxiety have shown decreased levels of anxiety, even noting that they prefer the virtual platform over face-to-face encounters (Yen et al., 2012). Video games can increase this level of anonymity that could be felt through zoom, by removing the ability to see the other individual’s face. This gives video games the opportunity to decrease anxiety levels while still requiring a degree of communication. Participants will be randomly sorted …

Community-Based Organization Leaders’ Communication Effectiveness And Effects On Performance Outcomes, Troy N. Nicholas

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this study was to determine if effective leader communication builds employee relationships that improves organizational performance. Organizational communication is a prominent factor that impacts the outcome of an organization’s goals and assists in executing its mission. There remain some gaps in the current literature considering the work environment and the attitudes of employees as they relate to organizational communication. To address the gap, the constructive grounded theory model was used to construct and analyze a theory of organizational communication. The sample for the study included 12 participants who were leaders or employees in a community-based organizations in …

Religiosity, Family Sexual Communication & Gender As Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Oral Sex Among College/University Students In The United States, Antoinette Napier

Dissertations

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether religiosity, family sexual communication and gender were predictors of attitudes toward oral sex among college/university students in the United States.

Method

Participants completed several surveys, which measured participants' personal religiosity, family sexual communication, and attitudes toward oral sex. A path analysis model was used to analyze the relationship between the proposed variables.

Results

The path analysis hypothesized model resulted in a poor fit for the data. The model was respecified by removing three items which showed weak beta weights. The respecified model produced a good fit for the data. The …

Black Marriage, Attachment And Connecting In Relationships: An Observational Multi-Method Study Investigating The Effects Of The Getting The Love You Want Workshop On Black Couples’ In-Session Attachment, Interactions, Marital Satisfaction And Communication, Paula Smith

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

The focus of this dissertation is examining the impact of Imago Relationship Therapy (IRT), more specifically the “Getting the Love You Want” workshop (GTLYW), on five Black/African American couples’ attachment, interactions, marital satisfaction and communication. This study examines Black couples’ lived experiences through a modified version of a quantitative measure, called the Patient Attachment Client System (PACS), the Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire-Revised (MSQ-R), semi-structured questionnaires to measure qualitative data as well as direct observation of participants’ interactions. PACS analyzes how patients’ in-session discourse enables them to share present experiences and link these processes with their attachment structure. In this view, attachment …

Needing More, Needing Less: Unravelling Why A Prompt Dependency Cycle Forms In Neurodiverse Relationships, Bronwyn Maree Wilson, Susan Main, John O’Rourke, Eileen Slater

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Social interaction is a fundamental component of relationships; however, the key features of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) include marked and lifelong impairments in social interaction that adversely affects abilities to fulfil this essential relationship requirement. Despite the momentum of worldwide research on ASD, there is insufficient empirical study on adults with ASD and their relationships. This research examined the reported social interaction needs of adults when involved in neurodiverse relationships (relationships that include adults with ASD and neurotypical (NT) adults). The use of an advocacy/participatory approach allowed for a detailed investigation of the characteristics of participants’ interpersonal communication. It was …

Fertility Counseling For Couples, Brennan Peterson, Kristy Koser

Marriage and Family Therapy Faculty Books and Book Chapters

This chapter addresses the role, and importance, of individual counseling and psychotherapy in providing psychological assistance and support to patients who are struggling with infertility and loss. Depression and anxiety are the two most frequent emotional sequelae of the infertility experience. The chapter therefore speaks not only to what factors contribute to making fertility counselors effective in their work, but also addresses specific treatment approaches that can yield positive outcomes in working with this unique population. These approaches include psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive–behavioral therapy (including dialectical behavior therapy and trauma-focused therapy), and supportive counseling. A brief history and description of each …

A Quantitative Study Examining Individual Employee Experiences Of Change Initiatives And The Impact On Employee Perceptions Of Change And Attitudes, Adrienne Marie Read

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Current organizational change management models focus on information sharing as the primary mechanism for involving employees in change initiatives, but most change initiatives fail due to limited attention given to organizational members impacted by change. The current study provides empirical evidence for more tangible methods of employee involvement by examining individual experiences of organizational change and the influence of involvement factors (leadership communication and work contribution) on employee perception of change and job attitudes (organizational commitment and turnover intentions). A causal-comparative design was implemented using a 39-item survey administered to 344 participants who have experienced an organizational change. The nonparametric …

Understanding Across The Senses: Cross-Modal Studies Of Cognition In Cetaceans, Jason N. Bruck, Adam A. Pack

Faculty Publications

Cross-modal approaches to the study of sensory perception, social recognition, cognition, and mental representation have proved fruitful in humans as well as in a variety of other species including toothed whales in revealing equivalencies that suggest that different sensory stimuli associated with objects or individuals may effectively evoke mental representations that are, respectively, object based or individual based. Building on established findings of structural equivalence in the form of spontaneous recognition of complex shapes across the modalities of echolocation and vision and behavior favoring identity echoic–visual cross-modal relationships over associative echoic–visual cross-modal relationships, examinations of transitive inference equivalencies from initially …

Cross-Modal Perception Of Identity By Sound And Taste In Bottlenose Dolphins, Jason N. Bruck, Sam F. Walmsley, Vincent M. Janik

Faculty Publications

While studies have demonstrated concept formation in animals, only humans are known to label concepts to use them in mental simulations or predictions. To investigate whether other animals use labels comparably, we studied cross-modal, individual recognition in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) that use signature whistles as labels for conspecifics in their own communication. First, we tested whether dolphins could use gustatory stimuli and found that they could distinguish between water and urine samples, as well as between urine from familiar and unfamiliar individuals. Then, we paired playbacks of signature whistles of known animals with urine samples from either the same …

A Life Lived With Schizophrenia: When Mother’S Love Is Kept In The Dark Exploring Maternal Communication And Attachment Organization In Families With Schizophrenia, Myrsini Stefanidou Marini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, research into the transgenerational transmission of attachment styles has shown that a mother’sattachment style often predicts the attachment style of her infant. Fearsome parental behavior has been found to predict disorganized attachment in infants, which is further associated with a range of mental health disturbances in adolescence. Furthermore, regular patterns of disturbed communication between mother and child have also been found to lead to ‘schizophrenic’ thinking and behavior in the child’s life. While acknowledging that genetic and other biological factors contribute to the emergence of schizophrenia, this study focused on disorganized attachment and disturbed communication between mother …

Children’S Social Judgments Of Others On The Basis Of Dialect-Specific Vocabulary, Madison Myers-Burg

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many studies suggest that young children prefer speakers who speak similarly to them. Children demonstrate social preferences for speakers of their own native language over speakers of a non-native language as well as for speakers of a familiar accent over speakers of an unfamiliar accent. Recent research suggests that young children will similarly show preference for speakers who use familiar dialect-specific vocabulary over speakers who use vocabulary specific to an unfamiliar dialect. The current study investigated potential motivations behind young children’s preferences for familiar dialect-specific vocabulary. Fifty participants ages fifty-one months to ninety-five months (Mage =72.6 months) viewed an animated …

Relationship Talk With Partners And Friends During Emerging Adulthood: The Role Of Relationship Satisfaction, Christine So, Katherine L. Fiori, Christina M. Marini, Blakely A. Murphy, James B. Stein

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Research indicates that discussing one’s romantic relationship with one’s partner benefits individual well-being and reduces uncertainty about the future of the relationship. Implications of relationship talk with friends remain less clear, though talking with friends may actually increase uncertainty about the relationship (e.g., by making one’s partner jealous of these friends), particularly for emerging adults. Relationship talk with friends may be especially likely to promote relational uncertainty for couples who are already unsatisfied in their relationships. In this study, we explored whether relationship talk with one’s partner and one’s friends would each be uniquely associated with depressive symptoms and uncertainty …

Improvising: A Grounded Theory Investigation Of Psychology Students' Level Of Anxiety, Coping, Communicative Skills, Imagination, And Spontaneity, Olga Temezhnikova

The Qualitative Report

The aim of this study was to gain insight into the phenomenon of improvisation, how it is manifested in communication, and to conceptualize the process of improvisation in general. I aimed to construct a model for use in teaching and further analysis of training programs that target and develop improvisation skills in communication. The ability to communicate is part and parcel of psychologists’ work. I develop and supervise interactive classes and training programs to promote improvisation and communication skills, using the grounded theory of improvisation in communication under conditions of high uncertainty. The improvisation sessions were videotaped, transcribed, and analyzed. …