Psychology Commons^™

Integrating Artificial Intelligence And Augmented Reality For Enhanced Task Performance In The Construction Industry, Aasish Chandrika Bhanu

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The Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) sector, characterized by its complex tasks, often faces challenges in adopting cutting-edge technologies, a trend that can significantly hinder productivity improvements compared to other industries. This dissertation explores the emerging integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) within the AEC domain, investigating how effectively this can be implemented to potentially revolutionize industry practices. AI could be used in the AEC domain for advanced analytical and decision-making processes, while AR could be used for training, visualization, and remote collaboration.

In scenarios where construction site workers require expert guidance, these technologies could be helpful. …

The Game Is The Game: Othermothering And Hbcu Student Affairs Job Burnout: A Quantitative Study, Adolphus A. Mcdonald Iii

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This study investigated the use of othermothering as a relationship building approach in student affairs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and its association with job burnout outcomes in HBCU student affairs professionals. Job burnout outcomes affect job turnover intention decisions (Michaels & Spector, 1982); therefore, this quantitative study investigated whether othermothering and additional demographic factors were a root cause to job burnout and job turnover intention among HBCU SAPs. The review of literature provides knowledge on the foundation of othermothering which began as a term to describe Black slave women caring for children displaced and separated due to …

How Far Does The Apple Fall? Intergenerational Processes Underlying The Attainment Of Decent Work And Implications For Occupational Health And Well-Being, Baylor A. Graham

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Despite decades of progress spurred by the Decent Work Agenda (International Labor Organization, 1999), efforts to improve working conditions, ensure fair wages, and establish health and well-being as fundamental standards in employment practices continue to be sorely needed. The burden of inadequate decent work has demonstrated profound effects on individual health and well-being. However, the effects of inadequate decent work are rarely investigated over long periods of time and are entirely unexplored in relation to effects on children as they age and enter the workforce themselves. Accordingly, this dissertation investigated the intergenerational effects of decent work, extending beyond the immediate …

Cyber Threats, Cyber Risks, And Cybersecurity Responses: Modeling Whole-Of-Nation Strategy Implementation For American Organizations And Citizens, Vincent Leon Guerrero

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Amid a landscape of cyber attacks on America occurring below the threshold of armed conflict, strategic national policy efforts recommend a whole-of-nation approach where individuals and public and private organizations increase their defensive posture in cyberspace. Motivation to address the risk of a cyber event includes a continuum of cyber threats that can range from low-level disruptive events to cybercrime and cyber espionage to the possibility of a potentially catastrophic attack on critical infrastructure. In this dissertation, I conduct a survey experiment of various cyber threat conditions and cyber policies to model cybersecurity responses, risk perceptions to a possible cyber …

Mental Health Of Healthcare Workers In Kosovo During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Latif Hoxha

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ABSTRACT

This study explored the mental health of healthcare practitioners in Kosovo during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the prevalence of stress, depression, and anxiety, and the associated individual, family, and work-related factors. The research employed a cross-sectional design with a sample of 449 healthcare workers from two hospitals in Kosovo. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) was used to assess mental health symptoms, while socio-demographic and work-related information was collected through a questionnaire.

Based on the descriptive statistics of DASS-21 scores, the prevalence of mental health issues among the participants included high levels of depression (18%), anxiety (25%), …

Disrupting The Cascade: Using Improvement Science To Mitigate Negative Outcomes Associated With Exclusionary Discipline Practices In Schools, Katelyn Singleton

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The use of exclusionary discipline practices in schools has continued to increase since the advent of Zero Tolerance discipline policies in the 1990s. Research indicates that these practices are largely ineffective in addressing behavior, and result in detrimental outcomes for students and communities. This study focused on the use of Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEPs) as a form of exclusionary discipline. Using an improvement science design, the purpose of this study was to identify how DAEPs can be leveraged to mitigate negative outcomes associated with exclusionary discipline. Specifically, this study sought to understand how implementing explicit skill instruction and adult …

Understanding Road Users’ Use And Misuse Of Fluorescent And Retroreflective Materials At Night, Savana King

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Nighttime pedestrian fatality rates in the U.S. continue to rise. Nighttime visibility aids – including retroreflective garments – can enhance the conspicuity of pedestrians to drivers at night. Yet, pedestrians rarely take advantage of retroreflectivity and instead often wear fluorescent garments that are not useful at night. This research explored whether road users’ misunderstandings of two critical principles – retroreflectivity and fluorescence – support the misuse of visibility-enhancing garments. This project also explored whether materials that combine retroreflectivity and fluorescence (“combined-performance materials”) circumvent road users’ misconceptions. Two experiments quantified observers’ expectations for how bright fluorescent, retroreflective, or fluorescent-retroreflective materials will …

Going, Going, Gone: The Influence Of Job And Home Demands And Resources On Emergency Department Nurse Turnover, Jordan Gail Smith

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Nurse turnover, which challenged healthcare organizations even before the pandemic, reached alarming rates across hospitals worldwide during COVID-19. Due to the unprecedented and stressful nature of the pandemic, recent investigations have focused primarily on exploring job demands and nurse turnover intentions. While job demands are critical to understanding turnover, this narrow scope ignores the possible influence of other factors such as job resources and demands and resources external to the work domain. This study utilized archival qualitative data from a longitudinal survey of Emergency Department clinicians to analyze research questions and hypotheses. The first aim of this study was to …

Investigating Bimanual Haptic Exploration With Arm-Support Exoskeletons, Balagopal Raveendranath

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The ability to judge properties like weight and length of hand-held objects is essential in industrial work. Sometimes workers use devices like exoskeletons, which can augment their ability to lift and move heavy objects. Previous studies have investigated the perceptual information available for one-handed weight and length judgments. The current study investigated how blindfolded participants bimanually heft and wield objects to explore haptic information, to perceive object heaviness or length. The study also investigated the effects of using an arm-support exoskeleton (ASE) on the perceived weight of hand-held objects. We empirically tested whether people wield and manipulate objects differently, depending …

An Exploration Of The Efficacy Of Virtual Agents Within Smartphone Mental Health Applications, Stephanie Six

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The prevalence of depression in the U.S. has increased over the past decade, leading to an all-time-high during the COVID-19 pandemic (WHO, 2022). With this increase, the number of mental health applications (MHealth apps) on virtual e-stores increases in tandem. Despite this expanding number of MHealth apps, few demonstrate a foundation in empirical research. One design factor that may influence usability and effectiveness is the inclusion of virtual agents. Three studies were conducted to investigate users’ preferences for a variety of characteristics associated with virtual agents. In Experiment 1, users completed a single-session, three-stage CBT-based interaction with virtual characters and …

Shift Schedule Justice And Clinician Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Approach, Caroline George

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Emergency Physicians (EPs) work in stressful and unpredictable work environments. Due to these factors and the nature of their work scheduling (in shifts), EPs experience heightened levels of adverse work outcomes. As such, it is important for EPs to believe their shift schedule is fair, and for them to have adequate recovery time away from work. The present research examined the effects of Emergency Department leadership approving a 1-hour increase to EP shifts, equating to roughly two fewer shifts per month (8-hour shifts will become 9-hour shifts). As such, EPs should experience more time off from work per month, allowing …

Engineering Team Success: Evaluating Perceptions Of Teamwork Processes And Emergent States Effects On Team Outcomes, Lauren Kistler

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The increasing reliance on teams in modern organizations demonstrates the value and relevance of teamwork in the professional world (Porter et al., 2003). Despite the substantial amount of team research focused on team effectiveness (Mathieu et al., 2008), further investigation is warranted to provide more nuanced insight into team dynamics. The present study examined perceptions of team processes and emergent states to assess how they impact perceptions of team satisfaction and potency. Perceptions of strategy formulation, role clarity, team monitoring and backup, monitoring goal progression, coordination, trust, psychological safety, team potency, and team satisfaction were measured with a sample of …

The Relationship Between Wisdom As Self-Transcendence And Employee Adaptive Performance: The Mediating Role Of Openness, Saeed Andaji Garmaroudi

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This dissertation delves into the exploration of wisdom as self-transcendence within organizational contexts. Self-transcendence is characterized by qualities such as a sense of connectedness with others and the world, moral maturity, the experience of emotions such as peace and awe, and a sense of life's meaningfulness. While self-transcendence is shown to be generally associated with positive outcomes, this dissertation takes a specific focus, aiming to empirically investigate whether these positive consequences of self-transcendence extend to organizational settings to positively impact organizationally-desired outcomes. Specifically, the study seeks to investigate the relationship between employees’ wisdom as self-transcendence and their adaptive performance. Given …

Did That Help? Harnessing Natural Language Processing To Uncover Characteristics Of Peer Feedback And Their Impacts On Teamwork-Skills Learning., Annamaria V. Wolf

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Peer Evaluation Systems (PESs) allow members of student teams to provide one another with computer-mediated feedback in the form of qualitative, open-ended comments. The current research leverages unsupervised Natural Language Processing (NLP), namely Biterm Topic Modeling (BTM) and sentiment analysis, to uncover latent topics and degree of positivity and negativity expressed in peer feedback, respectively. BTM results revealed a 6-topic model that was reliably replicated over 10 Gibbs initializations 80% of the time. Topics were labeled Timely Communication, Idea Generation, Coordination & Adaptation, Work Quality, Team Support & Focusing, and Work Accountability. Qualitative comparison suggests that these topics demonstrate …

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence For Team Cognition In Human-Ai Teams, Beau Schelble

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Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies have enabled AI to be applied across a wide variety of new fields like cryptography, art, and data analysis. Several of these fields are social in nature, including decision-making and teaming, which introduces a new set of challenges for AI research. While each of these fields has its unique challenges, the area of human-AI teaming is beset with many that center around the expectations and abilities of AI teammates. One such challenge is understanding team cognition in these human-AI teams and AI teammates' ability to contribute towards, support, and encourage it. Team cognition is …

All Hands On Deck: Choosing Virtual End Effector Representations To Improve Near Field Object Manipulation Interactions In Extended Reality, Roshan Venkatakrishnan

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Extended reality, or "XR", is the adopted umbrella term that is heavily gaining traction to collectively describe Virtual reality (VR), Augmented reality (AR), and Mixed reality (MR) technologies. Together, these technologies extend the reality that we experience either by creating a fully immersive experience like in VR or by blending in the virtual and "real" worlds like in AR and MR.

The sustained success of XR in the workplace largely hinges on its ability to facilitate efficient user interactions. Similar to interacting with objects in the real world, users in XR typically interact with virtual integrants like objects, menus, windows, …

Parental And Individual Correlates Of Work Ethic In Young People In Albania, Eljona Elmazi

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the work ethic strength, dimensions, and correlates in young people in Albania. The review of the available research concluded that, regardless of the attention that youth-related topics have received in the last decade, there was a considerable gap in the understanding of the state and correlates of the work ethic in this group. Using the Multidimensional Work Ethic Profile – Short Form, the work ethic strength and dimensions were explored in an Albanian sample of (N = 501) 18 to 24 years old, otherwise known as Generation Z. Data were collected via …

The Effects Of Primary And Secondary Task Workloads On Cybersickness In Immersive Virtual Active Exploration Experiences, Rohith Venkatakrishnan

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Virtual reality (VR) technology promises to transform humanity. The technology enables users to explore and interact with computer-generated environments that can be simulated to approximate or deviate from reality. This creates an endless number of ways to propitiously apply the technology in our lives. It follows that large technological conglomerates are pushing for the widespread adoption of VR, financing the creation of the Metaverse - a hypothetical representation of the next iteration of the internet.

Even with VR technology's continuous growth, its widespread adoption remains long overdue. This can largely be attributed to an affliction called cybersickness, an analog to …

“If I Was That Cop…”: Improving Attitudes Toward Police Through An Educational Intervention For Use-Of-Force Knowledge And Empathy, Randle Aaron Molina Villanueva

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While public outrage in response to excessive force is appropriate and understandable (e.g., Rodney King), there are also use-of-force instances which may be misconstrued as excessive by civilians due to a lack of understanding of the law, policies, and procedures for police use of force (UOF). This can lead to negative perceptions of police officers. This poses a threat to healthy police-community relations, as positive perceptions of the police are reliable predictors of compliance and voluntary cooperation with them (Choi, 2021). To balance overly negative perceptions of police who are following protocol and potentially increase the positivity of perceptions, this …

Circumventing Ableism: A Grounded Theory Study Exploring Caregiver Strategies To Promote A Positive Identity, June Furr

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This qualitative research study explores how caregivers and persons with disabilities navigate the rhetoric of disability and caregiving through the interviews of fifteen caregivers and fifteen persons with disabilities using the lens of grounded theory and Burke’s (1952) dramatistic pentad. Significant findings describe how focused disability description can circumvent ableism when rhetorical resources that assist caregivers and persons with disabilities to navigate the rhetoric in disability descriptions are provided. Disability description theory includes the three stages that define, collaborate and revise, and practice and apply a disability description. This qualitative research offers an introduction into the phenomenon of …

The Role Of Attention Control In Automation Performance, Claire Textor

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Research in human-automation interaction has demonstrated that some individuals are more severely impacted by the negative effects of unreliable automation (i.e., exhibit lower performance) than others. A body of work has sought to explain this variability through individual differences, primarily investigating the role of working memory. However, not all studies have demonstrated a clear relationship between working memory capabilities and performance when using automation. Engle’s (2002) controlled attention theory of working memory posits that the relationship between working memory and other cognitive constructs such as fluid intelligence can be explained through a shared reliance on attention control. Studying the role …

Meaning Matters: Cognitive Crafting As A Sensemaking Mechanism And Motivational Process To Enhance Gig Driver Well-Being, Gwendolyn Paige Watson

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As the gig work sector of the workforce continues to grow, organizational psychologists must actively contribute to raising the bar for gig drivers (e.g., ride-hailing, food delivery) so that they are not merely surviving but also thriving through their work. In my dissertation, I tested cognitive crafting as a positive meaning-making process that helps gig drivers make sense of their interactions with customers, generates positive, motivating states such as work engagement, and promotes positive outcomes such as work-related well-being and job satisfaction. My dissertation employed a mixed-methods design. The daily diary built on qualitative data results that identified interesting - …

Addressing Vaccine Hesitancy Through A Trust In Science Training Intervention, Nathan Dumessa

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Vaccine hesitancy is an ongoing public health issue that has been underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic and has implications for future pandemics and other vaccines. This research aimed to understand and address the factors associated with hesitancy. Study 1 was a correlational study that measured several factors that could predict vaccine hesitancy among Black and White participants recruited online (n = 364). Findings suggest that trust in science was the strongest predictor of attitudes towards the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness, which in turn strongly predicted vaccine hesitancy. Study 1 established the direct and indirect relationships between several predictors of …

A New Comprehensive And Practical Taxonomy Of Demands Healthcare Professionals Experience: The Development Process And Testing Using Machine Learning, Phoebe Xoxakos

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Given the complex (Ratnapalan & Lang, 2020) and high stress environment of healthcare organizations (Freshwater & Cahill, 2010), a better understanding of the conditions in which healthcare professionals work is important. Although previous research has resulted in somewhat limited categories of the demands on healthcare professionals (Borteyrou et al., 2014; Shanafelt et al., 2020), a comprehensive taxonomy that covers the breadth and depth of demands is lacking. Using longitudinal data collected over 28 measurement waves spanning two years during the COVID-19 pandemic, the present studies outline the development of a taxonomy based on an in-depth literature review of related workplace …

Investigating Drivers’ Knowledge And Experience With The Anti-Lock Braking System (Abs) Which Led To The Development And Evaluation Of An Emergency Braking Training Exercise Using A Driving Simulator With Haptic Pedal Feedback, Lauren Mims

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The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the extent to which drivers do or do not have knowledge of and experience with the anti-lock braking system (ABS) and then to explore the development and evaluation of a driving simulator task specifically designed to address emergency braking with haptic brake pedal feedback. The anti-lock braking system (ABS) was created to help drivers in emergency braking situations by preventing skidding and loss of control due to locked wheels. Vehicles with conventional (pre-ABS) brakes required the driver to “pump” the brake pedal, or to rapidly press and release the brake pedal, during …

Evaluating Privacy Adaptation Presentation Methods To Support Social Media Users In Their Privacy-Related Decision-Making Process, Moses Namara

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Several privacy scholars have advocated for user-tailored privacy (UTP). A privacy-enhancing adaptive privacy approach to help reconcile users' lack of awareness, privacy management skills and motivation to use available platform privacy features with their need for personalized privacy support in alignment with their privacy preferences. The idea behind UTP is to measure users' privacy characteristics and behaviors, use these measurements to create a personalized model of the user's privacy preferences, and then provide adaptive support to the user in navigating and engaging with the available privacy settings---or even implement certain settings automatically on the user's behalf. To this end, most …

Evaluation Of Life Cycle Costs, Benefits, And Public Perceptions Of Greywater Reuse Systems For Supplementing Conventional Water Delivery, Sreeganesh Reddy Yerri

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The water utility industry is under enormous pressure to meet the challenges of increasing demands due to population growth, lifestyle changes, and depleting freshwater resources. The current and predicted future deficit scenarios challenge water supply managers to come up with a sustainable and reliable alternative source while making the supply infrastructure smarter and resilient. One such alternative source is the greywater that is available at the point of consumption itself. With certain limitations, there have been studies performed to evaluate the life cycle costs and expected monetary benefits of decentralized greywater reuse systems, but the public and health bureaus are …

Fair, Equitable, And Just: A Socio-Technical Approach To Online Safety, Daricia Wilkinson

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Socio-technical systems have been revolutionary in reshaping how people maintain relationships, learn about new opportunities, engage in meaningful discourse, and even express grief and frustrations. At the same time, these systems have been central in the proliferation of harmful behaviors online as internet users are confronted with serious and pervasive threats at alarming rates. Although researchers and companies have attempted to develop tools to mitigate threats, the perception of dominant (often Western) frameworks as the standard for the implementation of safety mechanisms fails to account for imbalances, inequalities, and injustices in non-Western civilizations like the Caribbean. Therefore, in this dissertation …

The Influence Of Pedestrian Biological Motion On Time-To-Collision Estimates At Night, Ellen C. Szubski

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The incidence of pedestrian fatalities has increased dramatically, and insufficient conspicuity at night has been identified as a significant problem. Placing retroreflective markings on a pedestrians’ extremities increases pedestrian conspicuity to drivers at night by capitalizing on our perceptual sensitivity to biological motion (biomotion). This study sought to determine whether biomotion also affects drivers’ ability to judge when they will arrive at pedestrian’s location. Here, 126 participants viewed prerecorded 25-second videos of a nighttime approach towards a walking pedestrian. The pedestrian wore one of five clothing configurations while walking from one of three approach angles. Prior to the vehicle reaching …

On The Frontlines Of Covid-19: A Jd-R Approach To Better Understand Emergency Medicine Clinicians' Psychological Well-Being, Riley Mccallus Pegram

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Healthcare organizations have been heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, with emergency departments (EDs) facing especially large burdens. Increased patient volumes, fewer opportunities to disengage from work, and the persistence of the pandemic over many months continue to place demands on emergency medicine clinicians (EMC) and may elevate their levels of psychological stress. Psychological resilience and meaningful work experiences may protect EMC from these negative effects but may also be negatively impacted by high levels of ED crowding. Using the Job-Demands Resources model as a theoretical framework, this dissertation sough to explore how ED crowding (measured objectively and subjectively), psychological …