Psychology Commons^™

Vulnerability: Sensation And Subjectivity In The Late Victorian Novel, Michael Shelichach

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

“Vulnerability: Sensation and Subjectivity in the Late Victorian Novel” explores how developments in the science of psychology in the second half of the nineteenth century destabilized the genre of literary realism in Britain. Prominent mid-Victorian psychologists theorized a subject with a highly impressionable brain and nervous system. This new understanding of the mind’s potential vulnerability to external influence impelled contemporary novelists to contemplate the extent to which subjective interiority could be altered by the environment. Through close readings of canonical realist novels like Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations, George Eliot’s The Mill on the Floss and Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone …

Social Production Of Intellectual Disability And The Mechanics Of Moral Exclusion: Past, Present, And Future, Emese Ilyes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The institutionalized dehumanization in the United States continues to allow for people who are categorized as intellectually disabled to be legally warehoused and paid as little as pennies per hour to complete rote, repetitive work within segregated environments. An entire court case was conducted about whether a man labeled as intellectually disabled was able to engage in a consensual relationship or whether he was the victim of sexual assault without ever allowing him to express his desires and lived experiences. This project is an attempt to explore a theoretical, historical explanation for how humanity is denied in some bodies, how …

The Effect Of Anticipatory Anxiety On Fear Extinction Learning, Daniela C. Echeverria

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Adaptive regulation of fear is dependent on successful fear extinction learning; therefore, investigating factors that both enhance and diminish fear extinction learning is a critical line of research. In the present study, we induce mild anticipatory anxiety during fear extinction learning in an attempt to modulate how participants extinguish fear memory. In the experiment, we apply a classic three-day fear learning protocol to both control participants (N = 20) and an experimental group (N = 20) with fear acquisition, fear extinction, and fear recovery phases; each phase is separated by a period of 24 hours and we use a skin …

From Psychology To Phylogeny: Bridging Levels Of Analysis In Cultural Evolution, Mason Youngblood

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cultural evolution, or change in the socially learned behavior of a population over time, is a fascinating phenomenon that is widespread in humans and present in some non-human animals. In this dissertation, I present an array of cultural evolutionary studies that bridge pattern and process in a wide range of research models including music, extremism, and birdsong. The first chapter is an introduction to the field of cultural evolution, including a bibliometric analysis of its structure. The second and third chapters are studies on the cultural dynamics of music sampling traditions in hip-hop and electronic music communities and far-right extremism …

Delayed Modulation Of Glutamate Receptors By Anti-Epileptic Drugs After Traumatic Brain Injury In Rats, Edgar Rodriguez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant health concern. Around 74 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury worldwide. The damage caused by TBI produces two types of injury; primary and secondary injuries. Primary injury is caused within milliseconds and is irreversible. Secondary brain injury is delayed and produced by molecular, cellular, and structural disruption after the initial injury. One of the most devastating dysfunction after TBI is glutamate neurotransmitter overactivation that could lead to neurotoxic levels of glutamate in the brain (i.e., excitotoxicity). Excitotoxicity has been linked with the development of epilepsy after TBI, also known as post-traumatic epilepsy …

Anticipatory Fear And Psychopathic Traits In Adolescents, Catherine Chan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychopathy is characterized by impulsive antisocial behavior, interpersonal and affective deficits such as lack of guilt, empathy, and remorse. An affective deficit observed in individuals with psychopathic traits is the lack of anticipatory fear. In a fearful situation, individuals generally develop fear and associate it with the situation, so they know to avoid it in the future. The ability to anticipate fear prevents individuals from committing wrongdoings due to the negative consequences that arise from it. However, individuals with psychopathic traits have been found to show reduced anticipatory fear, which in turn may contribute to more antisocial behavior. To date, …

Characterizing The Brain Dynamics And Eye Movement Behavior Of Memory-Guided Saccades: A Preliminary Investigation Of Distractor Influence On Memory-Guided Saccades, Angelo V. Colmenero

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research has helped to shed light on the functional organization and neural mechanisms of distractors on memory-guided saccades. In our current study we have utilized eye tracking and EEG technology to simultaneously record the changes in saccadic eye movement (SEM) behavior and event-related potentials (ERPs) associated with performance on a memory-guided saccade task with distractor conditions. Thirteen healthy control participants (n = 13; 6 female) were tasked to complete 864 memory-guided saccade trials with both visible (white) and invisible (black) distractors presented on a black background before saccade initiation. Compared with the control (black) distractor condition, distractor presentation produced a …

Learning To Feel Safe: A Translational Study Of The Influence Of Safety Learning On Anxiety-Related Overgeneralized Fear, Hyein Cho

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental health diagnoses, affecting about a third of the population in their lifetime. However, approximately a third of individuals with anxiety do not respond to current treatment approaches, highlighting the need to identify additional potential therapeutic mechanisms. Safety learning is one such mechanism, but methodological challenges and a dearth of research have prevented the field from advancing the understanding of the role of safety learning in the etiology and remediation of anxiety disorders. Animal research, using single-cued safety learning paradigms, has yielded promising early findings, demonstrating that safety learning directly reduces anxiety-related behaviors …

Circuits Underlying Serotonin Mediated Sex Differences In Fear Learning, Rebecca Ravenelle

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-related disorder characterized by intense fearful memory formation. Women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD, indicating there may be sex differences in the underlying neural circuits. Given that serotonin (5-HT) dysfunction is implicated in PTSD, and 5-HT modulates fear learning, we investigated whether there are sex differences in the modulation of fear learning by 5-HT. We administered the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram (20mg/kg or 10m/kg, i.p.) once to male and female mice prior to auditory fear conditioning and tested the effects on fear memory the next day. We found …

Environmental Cues And The Sociospatial Imaginary: An Examination Of Spatial Perception And Meaning-Making In A Gentrifying Neighborhood, Todd Levon Brown

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

What could be more ordinary or pedestrian than two people walking down an urban street and talking about what we see and what we make of it? Yet this simple, quotidian act of walking a street—seeing, perceiving and experiencing physical spaces, places and objects—and making meaning of what is encountered, is the basis of my dissertation. It is also my basis for claiming that I have learned a great deal—and much unexpectedly—about how differently different people see and interpret the urban streetscape. What are the various environmental cues that stand out to different individuals? What are the psychosocial imaginaries that …

The Space Love Maps: A Blackgirl Legend In Three Plots, Loren S. Cahill

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This is a love story from one Blackgirl (Boylorn, 2016) from St. Louis to Blackgirls in Philadelphia. It radically traces love across plots of race, gender, time, space, and affect. This text will provide non-conventional maps for how Blackgirls, young and old, have been memory keepers, cultural workers, love pillars, freedom mappers, and actors since before the inception of American slavery (Brown, 2013; Hartman, 2019; Hooks, 1993; Nash, 2013; Walker, 2004). Specifically, it will argue that we have problematized the settler-colonial project of mapping (McKittrick, 2006) and moved away from viewing space as an entrenchment of empire. Further, we have …

Improving The Accuracy Of Juror Self-Reports Of Bias During Rehabilitative Voir Dire, Natalie Gordon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The courts have long acknowledged pretrial publicity (PTP) as a source of juror bias. To safeguard defendants due process rights, jurors who harbor bias are frequently asked during voir dire if they can set aside their bias and be fair and impartial. Yet, jurors’ self-reports of their ability to be fair and impartial are largely inaccurate. For example, regardless of their level of exposure to PTP, jurors typically report an ability to be fair and impartial. Therefore, this method of so-called “juror rehabilitation” is ineffective. This project examines conformity pressures that may be inhibiting accurate self-reporting during juror rehabilitation and …

Traces Of Absence: How The Trauma Of The Yemenite, Mizrahi And Balkan Kidnapped Children Affair Is Present In Photographs And Home Movies, Natalie Haziza

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Between 1948 and 1956, an estimated thousands of babies and young children were kidnapped through the state medical system, in the newly established State of Israel. They were offered for adoption to barren parents (often Holocaust survivors), sold to international adoptive families (often in the United States), and in the most disturbing cases used in medical experiments. Parents were often told that their children had died during routine medical care, but were provided with neither death certificate nor body. The majority of the victims of these kidnappings were Mizrahi - Jewish immigrant families from Arab and Muslim countries. Most families …

Examining The Transient Neural Dynamics Underlying Working Memory Maintenance For Complex Visual Stimuli, Chelsea Reichert Plaska

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Working memory (WM) is the temporary storage of information to accomplish a future goal. The WM delay period is the time after encoding but before retrieval when information is being maintained, typically in the absence of relevant stimuli. Understanding how the brain supports maintenance during the delay period, and how neural activity and connectivity are related to memory is critical for advancing both basic knowledge as well as informing declines in memory and cognition related to neurodegenerative diseases and healthy aging. An open question in the field of WM research is how information is stored during this delay period. One …

Young People’S Perception Of Opportunities To Participate In Democratic Governance, Jennifer Nga Yu Tang

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (United Nations General Assembly, 1989) accords all young people the right to be heard and make decisions on matters affecting them. Despite the fact the United States remains the only country in the world not to have ratified this document, a number of American cities have nevertheless begun to engage young people in community decision-making (e.g., in neighborhood associations or community boards). However, as of yet there are few actual opportunities for youth to participate fully in the governance of their cities. This study examined the perspectives of young people …

Mitigating Resurgence In Functional Communication Training: Teaching Varied And Complex Responses, Charlene N. Agnew

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Functional communication training (FCT) is a commonly used intervention for treating problem behavior wherein the reinforcers contributing to problem behavior are (a) identified through functional analysis and (b) then provided contingent on an alternative communication response. However, following successful teaching of an FCR, resurgence of problem behavior may occur in natural settings when the FCR is exposed to intentional or unintentional extinction conditions. We investigated teaching a second FCR following initial FCT, in one of two forms (varied topography or increased complexity) as a method for reducing resurgence of problem behavior. In order to account for history of reinforcement, we …

Smartphones And Somatizing, Jonathan Berkowitz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project explores the relationship between smartphone use, somatizing, and mentalized affectivity. The sample consisted of 511 iPhone users who completed an online survey that included scales measuring somatizing, mentalized affectivity, and general symptoms, as well as measures of smartphone engagement and addiction. Participants also provided data from their screentime application, and information about game-playing tendencies. A series of regression models were used to analyze data.

Results showed that smartphone addiction and game playing predicted somatizing, and did not interact with mentalized affectivity. Game-players somatized more than non-game players, and within the game-playing subgroup, those who reported spending more time …

The Different Components Of Active Shooter Incidents: Examining The Co-Occurrence Of Offender And Incident Characteristics, Jeffery R. Osborne

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present dissertation examined 198 United States single-offender active shooter incidents and thematically differentiated cases based on 1) offender backgrounds, 2) precipitating stressors, 3) offender routine activity, 4) crime scene location, and 5) incident characteristics. Doing so contributed to the increasing number of studies that have stressed the importance of creating empirically-based models to better understand active shooter incidents and the offenders who are responsible. To structure this investigation into active shooter incidents, concepts within Environmental Criminology and Crime Analysis were paired with analytical methodologies seen in Offender Profiling and Investigative Psychology research.

The findings illustrated that offenders could be …

School Recess And Changes To Children's Play Opportunities In New York City, Keyonna Hayes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The policy, No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 in US public schools was designed to improve how children learn and test in schools, but it has resulted in the decline or removal of recess from most schools. This thesis examines two important issues. The first issue is to assess the play opportunities that public elementary schools offer to children, in terms of both the time available for recess and the quality of the spaces and resources for play during recess. The second issue is to learn, alongside the question of the quality of school recess, how parents’ work …

How Psychotherapists Practice In The Digital Era, Josh Weinstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The digital era, marked by digital devices connected via high speed data networks, has altered human experience in profound ways over the past 40 years. The potential for novel forms of human relating and fulfillment of desire has led to myriad changes in behavior, thought and unconscious activity. While many adapt or thrive in expanded reality, for some, the digital can be context, source and/or location for psychological affliction. When those who suffer seek psychological relief, how psychotherapists listen for, conceptualize and work with the effects of the digital matter a great deal. While theoretical and quantitative research literature exists …

Exploring The Effects Of Coworker Ostracism On Feedback Inquiry And Voice: The Mediating Role Of Proactive Motivation, Ethan G. Rothstein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Coworker ostracism occurs when employees perceive that their coworkers are ignoring or excluding them. The current work examines how coworker ostracism predicts feedback inquiry and voice, two proactive behaviors important for individual and organizational success. Specifically, I explored whether these relationships are mediated by three proactive motivation states: organizational identification, control appraisal, and positive affect. I also examined whether political skill and perceived organizational support (POS) moderated the relationships between coworker ostracism and proactive motivation states, as well as the proposed indirect effects. I collected data from 309 participants via TurkPrime, using a two-wave lagged design with measurements separated by …

Investigative Decision Making And Its Association With Critical Thinking Skills, Thinking Styles, And Law Enforcement Experience, Teresa Curmi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Decision making is an important aspect of the investigative work performed by law enforcement officers. The processes involved, though, including the collection, interpretation, and use of evidence, can be influenced by biases in thinking and reasoning such as confirmation bias. This issue could contribute to missed leads on the offender responsible for committing a crime when investigative efforts become focused on the wrong individuals. This study is interested in whether law enforcement officers with certain thinking skills and individual characteristics are better equipped to avoid such issues. More specifically, the study was designed to analyze whether there is an association …

The Role Of Perceived Warmth And Competence In Civil Trials With Corporate Litigants, Alexander C. Jay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Corporations are involved in approximately 40% of all civil litigation (Langton & Cohen, 2008), yet there is much to be learned concerning how jurors make decisions in trials involving corporate litigants. Mock juror research suggests that for-profit corporations are treated more harshly than other defendants, such as non-profit corporations and individuals (e.g., Hans, 1998). This discrepant treatment of for-profit corporate defendants might be linked to unmitigated stereotypical perceptions of them being low in warmth (i.e., likely to have immoral intentions) but high in competence (i.e., likely to be capable of acting on those intentions; Aaker et al., 2010). Research shows …

Illegitimate Tasks And Performance Outcomes: The Moderating Role Of The Perception Of Coworker Sharing Illegitimate Tasks Experiences, Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Illegitimate tasks are unreasonable and unnecessary tasks that violate an individual’s work identity and the existing literature suggests that they can be linked with various employee strains. The detrimental aspect of illegitimate tasks is mainly based on the recipients’ perception rather than on their inherent characteristics, yet prior research on illegitimate tasks fails to account for contextual factors that might affect the perception of this experience and its outcomes. In addition, behavioral outcomes within the domain of employee performance, such as in-role performance and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) have been largely overlooked. The current research explored the relationship between perceived …

An Evaluation Of An Application Designed For The Ipad® To Measure Stimulus Overselectivity For Future Use In Autism Research, Adrienne A. Fitzer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Twenty-three college students participated in two studies evaluating an application designed to measure stimulus overselectivity in pictures depicting facial affect. We analyzed whether this application worked as designed by evaluating whether it could provide a robust analysis of the types of errors users make (e.g., by matching by the top features, the bottom features, or not by the top or the bottom features), and the extent to which the application worked to decrease selective responding in the event a user was not matching consistently by all features. We also evaluated if participant scores on the Autism Quotient and RAADS-14 could …

Migration And Work: A Cross-National Comparative Analysis Of Migrant Groups And Their Labor Experiences, Post Migration, Jill Douek

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although there is a large body of literature about migration and employment post migration, much of it is limited to study designs restricting either migrant groups or countries. In other words, current research is limited to focusing either a) only on one migrant group (usually expatriates), thereby failing to compare it to other migrant groups within the same country or cross-nationally or b) on multiple migrant groups in one country, thereby making it difficult to draw comparisons cross-nationally across those migrant groups. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to 1) examine the career-related outcomes, post migration, of three …

Antecedents Of Borderline Personality Disorder And Antisocial Personality Disorder: An Examination Of Gene X Environment Interactions, Amy L. Medina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Current thinking suggests that genotypes associated with impulse-control disorders and negative emotionality, such as monoamine oxidase-a (MAOA), interact with negative early environmental factors like childhood maltreatment and develop into the disorders know as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD). Using existing data from a prospective cohort design study of the consequences of child abuse and neglect, participants (N = 896 represent individuals with documented histories of child abuse and neglect and a matched comparison group that were followed up into adulthood and interviewed. A subsample of 631 participants gave permission for DNA extraction and analyses during …