Psychology Commons^™

Validity Of The Perceptual Ability Test, Brandon Schmid

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), a subtest of the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), has been used for many years by US Dental Schools to evaluate the perceptual ability of incoming applicants of their program. Perceptual ability is broadly defined as the ability to accurately process and interpret visual sensory information. Perceptual Ability skills are important in the field of Dentistry, as they are critical to the applied use of various dental tools and in surgical skills. It is assumed that performance on the PAT is predictive of dental students’ surgical skill development. However, multiple studies have found that the PAT …

An Examination Of The Neural Basis Of Self-Reflectivity In Schizophrenia, Britan M. Heavrin

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Metacognition is a term that refers to the act of thinking about thinking. The self-reflective aspect of metacognition specifically, has been shown to be impaired in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. The Default Mode Network (DMN) is a set of cortical regions that demonstrate coordinated activation during the resting state of the brain. The DMN has been linked with various aspects of self-awareness and has been hypothesized as a possible source of dysfunction in patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. The current study bridged these findings by using electrophysiological measures to investigate the neural basis of self-reflectivity in a psychiatric group. A Repeated …

Music Listening As Therapy, David M. Rosenblatt

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Music is a universal phenomenon and is a real, physical thing. It is processed in neural circuits that overlap with language circuits, and it exerts cognitive, emotional, and physiological effects on humans. Many of those effects are therapeutic, such as reduced symptoms of physical and mental ailments. Music is the result of the elements rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, dynamics, and form. Rhythm is the focus of pop music, and melody is the focus of classical music. The mind perceives and organizes music in learned, consistent ways in order to generate predictions and extract meaning. There are perceptual laws and information …

The Effect Of Grapes In Mice With Alzheimer's Disease And Brain Injury, Nikita Mistry

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder resulting in cognitive and memory deficits and deposits of amyloid beta (Aβ) in the cortex and hippocampus are thought to be significant contributors to the disease process. Increasing evidence suggests that foods rich in polyphenols, such as pomegranates and grapes, may have neuroprotective effects in both rodents and humans. Our previous research has shown that a pomegranate-enriched diet decreased Aβ plaque load and improved behavior in Tg2576 mice. In this study, we determined whether a grape-enriched diet altered Aβ neuropathology and TBI in PSAPP mice. Mice received either craniotomy or a moderate …

Lateralization Of Emotion, Reaction Time, And Skin Conductance Responsiveness, Kimberley Erin Rose

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Bilateral presentations of brief (250 ms), unmasked emotional and neutral stimuli were examined in two experiments with primarily female samples. Reaction time and accuracy data were used to measure perception of emotion and skin conductance response (SCR) was used to measure experience of emotion. Both words and pictures were used to account for hemispheric differences in language and visuospatial dominance. Response time was faster to emotional pictures than words. Reaction time and speeded accuracy data did not support right hemisphere hypothesis (RHH) or valence hypothesis (VH) in the expected manner. Data suggested emotion caused greater interference under speeded conditions in …

Ethical Decision-Making Regarding Multiple Relationships Between Therapist And Client, Diana Jochai

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The current study examined a new conceptual model of factors critical to a therapist’s decision-making process when faced with the potential of a nonsexual multiple relationship with a client. This new model was founded on the conceptual framework proposed by Street, Douglas, Geiger, & Martinko (2001) and integrated the components of the decision-making process and the individual and situational factors influencing those components identified in existing general conceptual models and specific behavioral guidelines. For the ethical decision-making process to begin, a practitioner must be able to recognize the presenting problem as an ethical dilemma (Brazerman, 1986; Jones, 1991; Street et …

The Effect Of Levels Of Processing On Event-Related-Potentials, Warren Scott Merrifield

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The primary research question for this study was to determine if physiological correlates of encoding and retrieval could be observed across three levels of processing. It was hypothesized that physiological correlates of encoding and retrieval would be observed at electrode sites near Cz with the semantic processing condition yielding the most positive going event-related-potential, the phonological processing condition yielding an intermediate positive going event-related-potential, and the perceptual processing condition yielding the least positive going-event-related-potential. The experiment had a study phase and test phase. For the study phase, participants were encouraged to process the target word at one of three different …

Cognitive And Psychophysiological Investigation Of Chronic Pain, Amy D. Clegg

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Using Bower’s (1981) associative network model of mood and memory, and Klinger’s theory of current concerns, it was hypothesized that the experience of chronic pain may be functionally similar to a mood state and that the chronicity of the condition may maintain it as a current concern. Specifically, it was hypothesized that chronic pain patients would not show any differences in reaction time and accuracy when making lexical decisions about pain-related, neutral, and nonwords. However, it was anticipated that chronic pain patients would show differences in physiological responding (particularly, increased skin conductance responses) when compared to controls. Results confirmed that …

Parental Perception Of The Neonate, Liza Ann Webb

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine maternal and paternal perceptions of the neonate. The Broussard Neonatal Perception Inventory was used to measure perception.

Thirty couples who delivered normal, healthy, first-born infants at a Naval Hospital in San Diego volunteered for the study. Consent forms were signed during the hospital stay and the Broussard Neonatal Perception Inventory was administered to both parents in the homes when the infants were one month old.

Statistical analysis of data showed that mothers and fathers did rate their one-month-old infants as above the average infant using the Broussard Neonatal Perception Inventory. The range …