Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Aquatic Therapy On Vagal Tone And Social Behaviors In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brittany Nichole Bell

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Aquatic therapy has been shown to have behavioral benefits for participants with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) including social and swimming skills. The mechanism through which aquatic therapy has these effects has not been demonstrated. It is noted that several aspects of swimming programs such as deep breathing, physical exercise and cold exposure have been shown to increase vagus nerve activation (Mason et al.,2013; Presmanes et al., 2015; Yuan et al., 2001). Using a quasi-experimental block design, the present study evaluated the effect of aquatic therapy on vagal tone as well as behavior in participants with ASD (n=32) and without ASD …

From Early Childhood To Adulthood: Leader Development In Indonesia, Charlina Gozali

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Leaders influence their surroundings in many ways. In companies, leaders impact work satisfaction, commitment, and engagement (Kouzes & Posner, 2015). In schools, leaders affect student behavior and learning outcomes (Wallace, 2006). Utilizing the Productive Giftedness Model (Paik, 2013, 2015), the present research examines the individual aptitude, instructional, and environmental factors that influence the development of young leaders in Indonesia. Participants in the study were recruited by Indonesia Mengajar , a highly selective intervention program in Indonesia which aims to improve educational conditions around the nation through the mobilization and equipping of local stakeholders. In order to examine leader development from …

Teaching Texting On A Smart Phone To Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder (Asd), Jenna Gilder

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Children and adolescents diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have deficits in social communication ( Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -5th edition, APA, 2013). These deficits are significantly pronounced when individuals with ASD attempt to engage in conversations. Due to advances in technology, children and adolescents are now conversing through computer mediated communication (CMC; Pew, 2015, 2018). Texting in particular is one popular form of CMC that may mitigate the non-verbal social skill deficits seen in individuals with ASD, such as eye contact and tone of voice. Despite the potential of texting and its' popularity as a CMC …

Who Should Lead? Effective Influence As A Product Of Group Context And Group Purpose, Nicolas Barreto

CGU Theses & Dissertations

One of the most important features of any group is who is most influential, who leads. Expectation states theory (EST) and the social identity theory of leadership (SITL) both make predictions about which group member will have the most influence. EST argues that group members follow whomever they believe will lead the group to success. SITL states that the individual who best embodies the group’s defining attributes has the most influence. This dissertation proposed that influence and leadership in a group are dependent on group features, and it tested two such features: (a) a group’s social context and (b) a …

Making Us Look Bad Vs. Making Us Uncertain: Examining The Motivations Underlying Derogation Of Ingroup Deviants, Mark Jeffrey Rinella

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Subjective group dynamics theory posits that groups favorably evaluate normative members and derogate deviant members to restore or maintain the subjective validity of their group’s norms. Research supports this explanation; however, the pattern of evaluations differs depending on how deviants are defined. Some research has defined deviants as group members who violate generic, socially valued prescriptions (generic norm deviants), while other research has defined deviants as members who diverge from specific group defining norms (oppositional norm deviants). This dissertation proposes that two different social identity motives—self-esteem and uncertainty reduction—underlie the derogation of these different types of group deviants. Specifically, it …

Investigating Metacognitive Fluency As A Judgment Cue In Choice Overload, Michael R. Ho

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Choice overload describes the finding that individuals report being less satisfied and defer choice more often when choosing from larger rather than smaller choice sets. Researchers have proposed various theoretical models to account for this phenomenon; however, these models have yielded conflicting results. Critically, little research has sought to identify the cognitive mechanism underlying choice overload. The present study reviews models of choice overload and offers a more parsimonious account of choice overload. More specifically, metacognitive fluency, or the subjective interpretation of choice difficulty, plays a critical role during choice and may account for conflicting results in current choice overload …

A Multinational Study Of The Etiology And Clinical Teleology Of Moral Evaluations Of Patient Behaviors, Anna Yu Lee

CGU Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation is a collection of four studies which collectively explore a hypothesized construct of ‘moral evaluation of patient behaviors’ (MEPB) as a driver of health professionals’ readiness to interact humanistically with their patients. In these studies, ‘humanistic interactions’ refer to the non-technical, intangible skills and factors of clinical competence; the factors specifically explored in these studies were compassion toward patients, self-efficacy for treating patients, and optimism toward patient treatment. For the purpose of specificity, all factors were examined as they pertained to patients with substance use disorders. Survey data from a convenience sample of 524 health professionals (i.e. physicians, …

The Use Of Graphic Conceptual Models In Theory-Driven Evaluation, Susana Marianne Bonis

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Theory-driven evaluation has been adopted by numerous philanthropic organizations and government agencies across the world. Many evaluators also have embraced elements of theorydriven evaluation, regardless of their approach to evaluation. In theory-driven evaluation, the beliefs or assumptions behind an intervention are made explicit and used to guide the evaluation. These may be based on the perspectives and experiences of stakeholders, social science theory, observation, and previous evaluation and research. A graphic conceptual model, often in the form of a logic model or theory of change, is commonly developed to show how an intervention is expected to lead to desired outcomes. …

Can Metacognitive Monitoring Ability Be Trained?, Erica Abed

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Low performers tend to greatly overestimate their performance on a task, but high

performers slightly underestimate their performance; the unskilled-unaware effect (Kruger & Dunning, 1999). Because assessment of one’s own skill (monitoring) impacts future decisions, such as selecting information to re-study (control), low performers may be disadvantaged in both what they know and what they are likely to learn. Although most research has attempted to reduce metacognitive errors in low performers by training cognitive ability (e.g., teaching them to perform better on a task), training metacognitive ability may be both more efficient and more likely to transfer to other tasks. …

Needs Assessment Of Parent Training Programs For Parents Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Using A Phenomenological Approach, Caitlyn Bailey Gumaer

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Parenting a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often associated with high stress, depression, anxiety, and reduced quality of life due to the ongoing nature of care (Seltzer, Krauss, Orsmond & Vestal, 2001; Evans, 2010). To remediate the difficulties that parents of children with ASD experience, parent training programs have become an integral and necessary component in the treatment of ASD. The most common type of parent training programs is behavioral parent training, based on the principles of ABA (Najdowski & Gould, 2014). Despite its advantages, researchers have found parent involvement in behavioral parent training to be more burdensome …

Pathways For Integration And Growth: Exploring Love, Passion, And Peak Experience, Monica N. Montijo

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Love, passion and peak experiences are connected to flourishing as generally positive, energizing and intense experiences that make life worth living. Although they share theoretical overlaps as potent sources of integration and growth (Mouton & Montijo, 2017), love, passion, and peak experience have rarely been examined together or across cultures. The purpose of this study was to (a) explore how, if at all, subjective accounts of love, passion, and peak experience increase organization of the self through integration and differentiation by satisfying basic psychological needs (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and helping to develop psychological complexity (Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde, 1998), and …

Onward And Upward: Strategies To Boost Need Satisfaction In Emerging Adulthood, Susan Mangan

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Emerging adults (18-30 years old) may be vulnerable to reduced well-being and psychological need satisfaction, which refer to a meta-theory of self-determination theory which reflects the degree to which individuals feel skilled (competence), connected to others (relatedness) and in control of their own decisions (autonomy) (Deci & Ryan, 2011). Increasing psychological need satisfaction represents one promising strategy for increasing well-being (Mackenzie, Karaoylas, & Starzyk, 2018). To date no positive psychology interventions have been created specifically to foster need satisfaction; however, four interventions have examined need satisfaction as an outcome. In this study, these four positive psychology interventions were tested to …

Improving Outcomes For Children Impacted By Adverse Childhood Experiences (Aces): A Study Of Intervention Effectiveness Guided By Developmental Theory, Lisa Teachanarong Aragon

CGU Theses & Dissertations

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is the term often used to refer to a set of negative experiences occurring in childhood that hold high potential for inducing toxic stress and complex trauma in children (Felitti et al., 1998). Studies have shown that ACEs are common, often co-occur, and exhibit a strong dose-response relationship to many developmental outcomes across the lifespan (e.g., Anda et al., 2006; Blodgett, 2014; Dong et al., 2004; Metzler et al., 2017). As public awareness of ACEs, their prevalence, and their impact has spread, public interest in implementing effective prevention and intervention strategies has also increased (Donisch et …