Psychology Commons^™

Parental Factors Impacting Neurobehavioral Late Effects In Latino Pediatric Cancer Survivors, Pamela R. Perez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

While the survival rate for children with cancer has increased markedly over the past 50 years, the side effects resulting from cancer and cancer treatment have become a major concern for health care providers and families alike. Survivors of childhood cancers are at risk for late occurring sequelae, called late effects, which are associated with disease, chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Neurobehavioral late effects are some of the most debilitating late effects found, particularly in survivors of central nervous system (CNS) cancers. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of clinical and socio-demographic parenting factors on neurological late …

The Effects Of Observers’ Expectations And The Probability Of A Change Occurring On Change Detection Performance, Robert A. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The change probability effect is a term coined by Beck et al. (2004) and it suggests that changes that are expected or "probable" are detected more easily than changes that are unexpected or "improbable". This research study investigates the change probability effect and the differences between observers who are looking for changes and those who are unaware that changes may exist. The results suggest that observers who are not expecting a change to occur are more likely to detect an improbable change than a probable change. The findings from this study have real world applications and also have implications for …

Living Large: The Powerful Overestimate Their Own Height, Michelle M. Duguid, Jack A. Goncalo

Jack Goncalo

Three experiments tested the prediction that individuals’ experience of power influences perceptions of their own height. Power decreased judgments of an object’s height relative to the self (Study 1), made participants overestimate their own height (Study 2) and caused participants to choose a taller avatar to represent them in a second-life game (Study 3). These results emerged regardless of whether power was experientially primed (Study 1 and 3) or manipulated through roles (Study 2). Although a great deal of research has shown that physically imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, this work is the first to show that …

The Relations Among Laterality, Cortisol, And Approach-Avoidance Behavior In Garnett's Bushbaby (Otolemur Garnettii), David Burton Hanbury

Dissertations

Many studies to date have demonstrated that approach and avoidance behaviors are processed asymmetrically in the brain and may be reflected in measures such as handedness. The purpose of this study was to extend work in primates on this topic to Garnett’s bushbaby, a prosimian species. Furthermore, to determine whether measures in addition to handedness relate to approach-avoidance behavior, lateralized differences in tympanic membrane temperature were assessed. Cortisol measures were also obtained to determine whether it was related approach-avoidance behavior and handedness. Eleven captive-born Garnett’s bushbabies (Otolemur garnettii) were evaluated for handedness and responsiveness to novelty. Moreover, the …

To Succeed In Life And Business, Adapt And Fail Productively, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

Most people don't make very much of their bread toasters. These small but hardy metal boxes often come at low prices (from $7) and are not terribly difficult to operate. All in all, this is not the best example of a sophisticated, complicated or inventive home appliance.

Individual Differences In Zebrafish (Danio Rerio) Behavior: Implications For Personality, Christina Nicole Toms

Master's Theses

Individual differences (IDs) in zebrafish (Danio rerio) behavior were examined across time and contexts in order to investigate personality traits. Zebrafish (N = 30) were exposed to six behavioral tasks that were collectively expected to capture (a) aggression, (b) boldness/shyness, and (c) fear. The tasks included a small open field, mirror exposure, emergence, large open field, novel object, and predator exposure tasks. IDs in behavior were found to be consistent across time for a majority of behaviors and consistent across contexts for all but two behaviors. Convergent and discriminate evidence was examined for the three constructs. There was …

The Effect Of Improvisations And Observations On Standardized Patient Encounters, Subjective Workload And Stress, Elizabeth T. Newlin-Canzone

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Standardized patients (SPs) are people trained to present a medical case for teaching and assessing medical students and they simultaneously perform several demanding tasks including portraying the patient, assessing the learner, and providing feedback. This study investigated the effect of improvisations and multiple task performance on the ability to observe another's nonverbal (NV) behaviors and rate their communication skills. Subjective reports of mental workload and stress were also obtained. The first study involved undergraduates interviewing for a job. Type of interview (rote and improvisational) and type of observation (passive and active) were manipulated within groups. Based on theories of attention …

Childhood Depressive Symptoms: Comparison Of Diverse Medical Diagnoses, Ida Babakhanyan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Childhood depression is a serious problem and has long term implications including increased risk for suicide and comorbid conditions. In addition, depressed children are at greater risk for social difficulties, non-compliance to medical regime, and academic difficulties. Children undergoing a medical illness are at increased risk for developing depression, however, there have been few recent studies looking at emotional distress for this population. With thousands of children hospitalized every day, assessing for depressive symptoms is important in order to provide proper referrals and treatment recommendations following discharge. The purpose of the current study was to increase understanding of pediatric depression …

Integrating Terror Management Theory Into Fear Appeal Research, David Hunt, Omar Shehryar

David M. Hunt

Fear appeal communications have sustained the interest of researchers for over a half century. The dominant paradigm guiding fear appeal research asserts that differences in level of fear lead to differences in the persuasiveness of a message. Research grounded in the level of fear perspective has produced equivocal results, failed to explain why fear appeals sometimes backfire, and has not provided an a priori explanation for who may reject fear appeal messages. By emphasizing differences between individuals’ responses to the fear of death versus the fear of physically or socially undesirable consequences, terror management theory (TMT) offers a complementary theoretical …

The Structure Of Equine Personality, Rachel Etta Kristiansen

Dissertations

The current study was designed to investigate the structure of equine personality. Two personality questionnaires were replicated from previous studies and implemented simultaneously to test the theory that different questionnaires may extract different personality structures. Breed and sex differences were also hypothesized to be significantly different for some personality dimensions. A total of 827 horses were rated on a 90-item personality questionnaire. Participants were recruited online via email and completed the survey at their own convenience. An additional 121 respondents rated a horse that had already been rated; these results were used to calculate inter-rater reliability.

After data collection was …

A Field Experiment To Test The Effects Of Automated Feedback And Monetary Incentive On Speeding Behavior, Ian J. Reagan

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This field experiment tested the effects of two systems on speeding, mental workload, and driver acceptance of the systems. Using GPS technology integrated with GIS referenced speed limit information, eight vehicles were instrumented in a manner that allowed real time knowledge of vehicle speed relative to the speed limit. Fifty participants drove these vehicles, with each individual driving his or her assigned vehicle for a four week trial. During one week, 40 participants experienced an automated feedback system, which provided visual and auditory alerts when they sped five or more mph over the limit. Twenty of these 40 individuals experienced …

Effects Of Mood On Using Analogies To Solve Problems And Reduce Conflict, Erin Good

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Past research has shown that analogies and metaphors can be useful tools in problem solving tasks (e.g., Gick & Holyoak, 1980). In addition, mood has been shown to have an effect on a person’s ability to generate solutions to problems (Abele, 1992). The present study was designed to investigate how mood affects analogical problem solving, especially in relation to conflict resolution. I examined whether mood has the same effect on the use of analogies to solve interpersonal conflict problems as it does on the use of analogies to solve cognitive problems. In this experiment, participants began by writing about an …

Feeling Of Knowing And Retrieval Failure: Tip-Of-The-Tongue State Is Not The Only Option, Amanda C. Gingerich

Amanda C. Gingerich

We investigated whether individuals are able to differentiate being in a tip-of-the-tongue state from the metacognitive experience of knowing information, but being unable to recall it. Results indicate that being unable to recall known information is separate from, and more common than, experiencing a tip-of-the-tongue state.

Speeded Retrieval Abolishes The False Memory Suppression Effect: Evidence For The Distinctiveness Heuristic, C. S. Dodson, Amanda C. Gingerich

Amanda C. Gingerich

We examined two different accounts of why studying distinctive information reduces false memories within the DRM paradigm. The impoverished relational encoding account predicts that less memorial information, such as overall famililarity, is elicited by the critical lure after distinctive encoding than after non-distinctive encoding. By contrast, the distinctiveness heuristic predicts that participants use a deliberate retrieval strategy to withhold responding to the critical lures. This retrieval strategy refers to a decision rule whereby the absence of memory for expected distinctive information is taken as evidence for an event’s nonoccurrence. We show that the typical false recognition suppression effect only occurs …

Why Distinctive Information Reduces False Memories: Evidence For Both Impoverished Relational-Encoding And Distinctiveness Heuristic Accounts, Amanda C. Gingerich, C. S. Dodson

Amanda C. Gingerich

Two accounts explain why studying pictures reduces false memories within the Deese-Roediger-McDermott paradigm (J. Deese, 1959; H. L. Roediger & K. B. McDermott, 1995). The impoverished relational-encoding account suggests that studying pictures interferes with the encoding of relational information, which is the primary basis for false memories in this paradigm. Alternatively, the distinctiveness heuristic assumes that critical lures are actively withheld by the use of a retrieval strategy. When participants were given inclusion recall instructions to report studied items as well as related items, they still reported critical lures less often after picture encoding than they did after word encoding. …

A Rat Model Of Gambling Behavior And Its Extinction: Effects Of "Win" Probability On Choice In A Concurrent-Chains Procedure, David N. Kearns, Maria A. Gomez-Serrano

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

Two experiments examined the effects of varying the probability of “wins” within a rat model of gambling. On a concurrent-chains procedure, rats could choose between a “work” lever on which a fixed 20 responses produced a food pellet or a “gamble” lever, where on some trials (“wins”) only one response was required for reinforcement while on other trials 40 responses were required. Despite the fact that the work lever was always associated with the higher overall reinforcement rate, rats frequently chose to respond on the gamble lever. The frequency with which rats chose the gamble lever varied as a function …

Editorial Comment: Turning The Corner At Analysis Of Gambling Behvaior, Jeffrey N. Weatherly

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

No abstract provided.

Are We Becoming Superhuman Cyborgs? How Technomorphism Influences Our Perceptions Of The World Around Us, Heather Christina Lum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although traditionally researchers have focused on making robotics more user-friendly from a human perspective, a new theory has begun to take shape in which humans take on the perspective of a robotic entity. The following set of studies examined the concept of technomorphism defined as the attribution of technological characteristics to humans. This concept has been mentioned anecdotally and studied indirectly, but there is nothing currently available to tap in to the various forms that technomorphism may take. Therefore, one goal of this dissertation was to develop a scale to fill that purpose. The results of the Technomorphic Tendencies Scale …

Comparing Three Strategies Of Motivating Gambling Behavior In The Laboratory Environment, Jeffrey M. Peterson, Jeffrey N. Weatherly

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

The present study compared three methods of motivating participants’ gambling behavior in a laboratory environment. Thirteen university students played in three sessions of video poker, which differed in whether participants were 1) asked to play “as if” gambling real money, 2) staked with real money, and 3) in competition with other participants for a gift card. Also measured was whether participants’ reported annual income would influence their gambling behavior under these conditions. Results showed that the number of hands played and the accuracy of game play did not differ across the different sessions. The number of credits bet, which is …

Discounting By Problem And Non-Problem Gambers When The Hypothetical Context Is Manipulated, Jeffrey N. Weatherly

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

The majority of the previous research on delay discounting in pathological gamblers has found that these individuals discount monetary consequences more steeply than do nongamblers. The present study attempted to replicate this effect, as well as determine whether changes in the context in which the discounting decision was made would differentially influence the discounting of non-gamblers and problem/pathological gamblers. Participants discounted $1,000 after being informed that their hypothetical annual salary was a certain amount. Participants then completed the discounting task a second time after being informed that their hypothetical annual salary remained the same, had been halved, or had been …

The Contingencies Controlling Gambling Behavior: A Preliminary Cultural Analysis In American Indian University Students, Jeffrey N. Weatherly

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

Research on pathological gambling has suggested that the disorder afflicts American Indians at a greater frequency than the majority population. The present study investigated whether potential pathology and/or contingencies maintaining gambling behavior differed between 29 American Indian undergraduate students and 29 Caucasian students who were matched to the American Indian students in terms of sex, age, and grade point average. The American Indian participants scored lower on all dependent measures of gambling than did the Caucasian students, although several of the differences approached, but did not reach, statistical significance. The present results suggest that the increased rates of pathological gambling …

Do Scores On The Gambling Functional Assessment-Revised Predict Discounting Of Delayed Gains And/Or Losses In A University Sample, Jeffrey N. Weatherly

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

The present study investigated whether participants’ scores on the Gambling Functional Assessment – Revised (GFA-R) would be predictive of their level of discounting of delayed hypothetical monetary gains and losses. One hundred twenty eight university students completed the GFA-R and a discounting task involving two hypothetical monetary amounts that were framed either as gains or losses. Participants endorsed gambling for positive reinforcement significantly more than gambling for negative reinforcement. They discounted losses significantly more than gains and displayed a magnitude effect for losses (the effect was not statistically significant for gains). GFA-R scores were significant predictors of discounting for only …

Video-Poker Play In The Laboratory: The Effect Of Information And Monetary Value On Rates Of Play, Jeffrey N. Weatherly, Kevin S. Montes, Chase Rost, Daniel Larrabee

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

Previous research has found that participants will risk more credits across a video-poker session when they are required to play the optimal cards than when they have complete control over the game, a finding that would seem at least partially inconsistent with the illusion of control (Langer, 1975). Forty-two participants were recruited to play video poker in two sessions, one in which the game informed them of the optimal cards to play and one in which it did not. The session length for some participants was limited by time and for other participants by the number of hands played. Some …

Altering Probability Discounting In A Gambling Simulation, Benjamin N. Witts, Patrick M. Ghezzi, Jeffrey N. Weatherly

Analysis of Gambling Behavior

In gambling, our decisions regarding what gambles to take and how much we are willing to wager might, in part, be influenced by our histories with respect to gambling outcomes. Given a less temporally-distant history with gambling that favors losses, wins, or breaking even may create alterations in one’s discounting pattern, albeit most likely temporary. Given the topographical similarity between gambling procedures and probabilistic discounting tasks, probability discounting was used to assess potential changes in discounting resulting from a gambling task designed specifically for this study. Probabilistic discounting patterns for 38 undergraduate students before and after exposure to a simulated …

Comparing Conscientiousness And Neuroticism In Predicting Task Performance And Contextual Performance, Lu Qin

Theses Digitization Project

The primary aim of this proposal is to address the relationship of effort intensity to neuroticism in predicting task performance and compare conscientiousness and neuroticism in predicting task performance and contextual performance. Building on previous studies' results, Big Five personality factors were examined as correlates of job performance. A pilot survey was distributed to a total of 251 participants who were working at least 20 hours a week collected from five organizations in the Los Angeles area.

Reward Probability And The Variability Of Foraging Behavior In Rats, W. David Stahlman, Aaron P. Blaisdell

Psychological Science

The connection between reduced reinforcement probability and increased behavioral variability hasbeen well established in recent years (Gharib, Gade, & Roberts, 2004; Stahlman, Roberts, & Blaisdell, 2010). Researchers have hypothesized that this relationship is an adaptive one - it is beneficial for animals to increase behavioral variability in response to low likelihood of success,because this increase in variability potentially allows them to discover new behavioral options that are more highly rewarded. We conducted a study to investigate the relationship between behavioral variability and reward probability in an ecologically valid experimental task. We trained rats to search for hidden food in the …

Self-Regulation Among Highly Prejudiced People: A Tool For The Amelioration Of Racial Bias, Kristina L. Silverbears

WWU Graduate School Collection

The source of motivation to respond without prejudice varies among individuals and is connected to their evaluations of biased materials. People who are highly internally motivated to respond without prejudice tend to be lower in prejudice than are people who are highly externally motivated. High internal motivation is typically associated with less biased responding, but when bias does occur feelings of self-directed negative emotions often result. For low prejudice people these self negative feelings can lead to a system of responses culminating in future self regulation. The same self-negative feelings do not function identically for people who are higher in …

Self Discrepancy And Narrative Repair, Lauren E. Jennings

WWU Graduate School Collection

Personal narratives have been shown to play an important role in creating a stable sense of self, yet little research has examined this in experimental designs. Thus, this study explored the utility of narrative, in comparison to other mechanisms (e.g., self-affirmation, distraction), for coping with threats to self-concept by examining affective and cognitive repair after experiencing a threat. Participants (N = 331) received false physiological feedback suggesting a prejudiced response to African Americans and obese people and were induced to complete one of five repair techniques. Participants also completed affect and self-concept measures pre-study, post-threat, and post-repair. Overall, threat-specific and …

Measuring Smoking-Related Attentional Bias With A Change Detection Task, Gordon T. Barker

WWU Graduate School Collection

Despite well known health risks, cigarette smoking remains very prevalent in the United States. In addition, those who attempt to quite are very likely to relapse. Cognitive predictors have not been well examined to date, despite evidence from the Incentive- Sensitization model of addiction that cognitive processes play a large role in relapse and continued addictive behavior (Robinson & Berridge, 1993). To address if the cognitive adaptations involved in the Incentive-Sensitization model are permanent or semi-permanent, this current study examined the abilities of current smokers (n = 15), former smokers (n = 13), and never smokers (n = 15) to …

Bis-Bas, Dispositional Influences On Cardiac Reactivity To Naturally Occurring Stressors, Nicholas P. (Nicholas Peter) Goodman

WWU Graduate School Collection

Research has relied primarily on laboratory settings to examine how emotions and physiology are affected by acute experiences of stress. This is because it is difficult to manipulate acute stress outside the lab and without a discrete manipulation it is difficult to measure physiological and emotional arousal during acute stress. This study found evidence that everyday stress predicts temporary changes in blood pressure. The purpose of this study was to investigate Gray's (1987) behavioral inhibition (BIS) and behavioral activation (BAS) systems, and to identify divergent cardiovascular and emotional outcomes to natural stressors for each of these systems. The data from …