Psychology Commons^™

Third-Wave, Mindfulness-Based Therapies As Treatments For Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Xander Kahle, Avery Waklatsi, Amy Pytlovany

Student Research Symposium

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe, difficult-to-treat neuropsychiatric condition that affects millions of people throughout the world. The current first-line psychotherapy for OCD is exposure and response prevention (ERP). ERP is effective but flawed, and researchers seek alternative OCD treatments. We examined two third-wave, mindfulness-based therapies (1) acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and (2) mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) as treatments for OCD. We expected ACT/MBCT to have (1a) significantly higher OCD symptom reduction rates, (1b) higher treatment response rates, and (1c) lower dropout rates than a control (progressive relaxation training/PRT), as well as (2a) equal/higher OCD symptom reduction rates, (2b) …

Daily Work, Nonwork, And Stress Experiences Of Students, Erika A. Schemmel, Tori L. Crain, Rachel G. Lucas-Thompson

Student Research Symposium

A substantial body of literature exists that examines work, nonwork, and stress in employed adults. Less is known about experiences of stress in adolescents and emerging adults. The goal of the present study is to examine the association between daily activities and next day stress within a sample of students. We propose that students use their personal resources to meet school demands, and then need to replenish those resources, or stress may ensure. One aim of this study is to examine the relationship of hours of exercise and sleep with students’ reports of stress the next day. Additionally, many students …

Mental Health In Student Leadership: Perceptions Of Ability, Rose M. Jardine

Student Research Symposium

This proposal aims to evaluate the relationship between perceptions of mental health and leadership ability among student leaders in university communities.

Over fifty participants, including faculty and students, from Oregon universities and community colleges are expected to contribute to this study. Participants will answer a survey and be randomly assigned to one of four situations describing a student leader’s disclosure or non-disclosure, both with and without Bipolar 1 Disorder. Bipolar 1 Disorder was chosen for this study based on its intermittence, varying severity, higher associated stigma, and symptomatology that can include externally perceived increased productivity. They will respond to this …

Understanding Work And Sleep Through A Machine Learning Approach, Jennifer Saucedo, Josh J. Prasad, Tori L. Crain

Student Research Symposium

The present study will utilize machine learning methods to find the individual factors (e.g, demographic, lifestyle, contextual, work-related) best predict sleep. I will examine (1) whether machine learning techniques better predict sleep over linear prediction methods and (2) what factors are most important when predicting sleep. Using government-funded data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), a variety of prediction methods will be utilized to evaluate and compare predictive performance across 2018, 2019, and 2020. Results found will have a variety of theoretical and practical implications for scientists and practitioners.

The Effects Of Approach And Avoidance Dispositions And Sense Of Power On Promotive And Prohibitive Voice Efficacy, Christopher J. Waterbury, Avery N. Waklatsi, Amy Pytlovany Ph.D.

Student Research Symposium

Developments in research on promotive and prohibitive voice in workplaces have important implications for organizational innovation and prevention of unethical behavior. Drawing on theory that approach and avoidance dispositions predict promotive and prohibitive voice, and mediate the effect of a sense of powerfulness or powerlessness to predict voice or silence, the proposed study hypothesizes that approach and avoidance disposition will explain differential effects of personal sense of power on an employee’s perceived efficacy of promotive and prohibitive voice. 200 front-line restaurant workers will be recruited and randomly assigned to receive a (1) powerful prime, (2) powerless prime, or (3) control …

Feedback Timing: Relationship To Student Success In Online Education, Emaleia J. Anton, Nicholas A. Smith

Student Research Symposium

It’s important that researchers identify factors that support student success in online education because utilization of remote learning has increased over the years. Feedback timing is a vital factor contributing to student success in online educational environments. The purpose of this research is to experimentally examine effects of feedback timing on online student success, which this study operationalizes as student perception of self-efficacy. Conducting a between-subjects experimental design, 100 undergraduate students will participate in an online synchronous crash course and will be randomly assigned to different conditions of the independent variable where they will receive either prompt or delayed feedback …

The Impact Of Professors’ Heterosexual Identity In Higher Education Classrooms, Sam Barr

Student Research Symposium

This proposed study is concerned with lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) student’s perceptions of classroom climate, and the potential negative impacts of these perceptions. A poor classroom climate can decrease student participation and contribute to minority stress, which can be a barrier to successful higher education. In this study, we plan to inspect the impact of professors’ heterosexual identities on their scores of Classroom Diversity Climate (CDC). We hope to recruit heterosexual Portland State University professors and their students for our study. After randomly assigning professors to either an intervention on integrative heterosexuality or to a waitlist (control) group, we …

Use Of Mdma & Psilocybin In The Treatment Of Ptsd, Camden Grant-Howard, Joel Steele

Student Research Symposium

For years, the promise of psychedelics in therapeutic settings has been deterred by their general illegality. However, present day research shows promise in treating varying mental disorders. Amongst these disorders is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the organization, PTSD United, PTSD presently effects about eight percent of Americans. Many of the current treatments only offer symptomatic relief and do not work for every case of PTSD. Psychedelics presently offer an alternative method of healing that focuses on treatment of the core issue with an emphasis on human connection and guided confrontation of emotions and/or trauma. Currently, it is …

Socialsibs: The Effects Of A Hybrid Intervention On The Core Social Communicative Behaviors Of Children With Asd, Marissa Montejano

Student Research Symposium

Purpose/Introduction
Social communication challenges are a central feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD; APA, 2013). Social communication skills are often a key focus of intervention; however, generalization of skills to natural contexts, particularly peer relationships is a challenge for many children on the spectrum (Ferraioli & Harris, 2011; Schreiber, 2011; Wang & Spillane, 2009).

Socialsibs is a hybrid intervention that targets social interaction, communication, and reciprocity using a combination of video modeling and sibling-mediation within a naturalistic behavioral framework. The intervention was examined within a waitlist control design study with children with ASD and their neurotypical siblings. The current poster …

Exploration Of Ayahuasca’S Mechanisms In The Treatment Of Stimulant Use Disorder, Aaron M. Eisen, Nicholas A. Smith, W. S. Griesar

Student Research Symposium

Stimulant use disorder presents an enormous epidemic in our society; further research on new treatment methods remains necessary. Ayahuasca (an entheogenic medicinal plant extract distinguished by the serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine in combination with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor) may potentially be such a treatment for stimulant use disorder. Four theories hypothesize the biochemical, physiological, psychological, and transcendent mechanisms describing ayahuasca’s potential as a therapeutic treatment. To investigate ayahuasca’s potential as a mechanism of treatment, we propose a placebo-controlled experimental design comprising of 50 participants who are moderate daily consumers of methamphetamine. We expect that ayahuasca treatment will result in reduced substance …

Barriers To Mental Health Service Access Among Women At A Large Public University, Auburn Beebe

Student Research Symposium

• College students are dealing with serious mental health issues, and represent an important population to access when providing mental health services.
• In particular, college women show a significant need for mental health services.
• Though most universities provide free mental health counseling services, many students are unaware or reluctant to use those services.
• Many factors contribute to this reluctance such as lack of knowledge about services and perceived stigma.
• This study seeks to add to the existing body of literature on college student mental health by identifying barriers to mental health service access at a large public university, while uniquely focusing …

Mindfulness Meditation As A Stress Reactivity Intervention: An Event-Related Potential Study, Jessica L. Trottier, Barry S. Oken

Student Research Symposium

The biological and neural mechanisms of stress have been extensively studied and supported, but are still unclear. Event-related potentials (ERP’s) emitted by neurons in the brain are a useful tool in measuring stress because they reflect neural response in real-time, to the millisecond, versus typical biological markers, which are typically evaluated before and after a stress test. The neurobiological relationship between ERP’s and stress originates in the anterior cingulate cortex, which in turn activates the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis; the main physiological cascade fueling the stress response and its chronically harmful symptoms. Malfunctions in the stress response, as in the cases of …

Individual And Group Differences In Sound Category Learning, Ben Carlstrom

Student Research Symposium

Abstract: We examined the role of procedural-, declarative-, and working-memory systems in adults learning novel sound categories. Adults have fully developed declarative-memory skills that sometimes inhibit their ability to learn implicitly/procedurally (Filoteo, Lauritzen, & Maddox, 2010). Models of impaired language like the Procedural Deficit Hypothesis suggest that procedural-memory deficits are predictive of language-learning outcomes (Lum, Conti-Ramsden, Page, & Ullman, 2011). This study tested the hypothesis that language structure is best learned implicitly/procedurally, which has implications for L2 learning and language impairment. The novel sound categories presented to participants varied along a phonologically non-native dimension, pitch, and a native dimension, vowel …

Associations Between The Willingness To Exert Cognitive Effort And Smoking Abstinence, Austin A. Phanouvong

Student Research Symposium

In decision-making tasks, individuals who prefer smaller, immediate rewards over larger, delayed rewards (delay discounting) are less likely to quit smoking. Indeed, decision-making tasks with delayed reward costs are sensitive to many aspects of substance use disorders. However, other reward costs might also be important. Our study focused on one of these other reward costs, which was cognitive effort (CE). 22 current smokers who were anticipating quitting in the near future were recruited to validate if more CE discounting predicted shorter abstinence times in reinforced smoking lapse period. Each participant had to be over the age of 21, and smoke …

Expanding Stereotype Content Beyond Warmth And Competence, Lauren S. Park

Student Research Symposium

Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, and Xu’s (2002) stereotype content model (SCM) has emerged as one of the most influential models of person perception in contemporary scholarship, and the organizational literature has begun to use this model for diversity management (Lyons et al., 2016; Martinez, White, Shapiro, & Hebl, 2016). However, data we have collected indicate that this two-factor solution may not be sufficient for all groups. Furthermore, the factor structure of the SCM items has never been examined empirically. The construct of morality, though largely ignored in contemporary Western psychology, has been proven to be the most important basis on which …

Combat Experiences, Personality, Iso-Strain, And Sleep Quality Affect Posttraumatic Stress Among Working Post-9/11 Veterans, Gilbert Patrick Brady Jr., Leslie B. Hammer, Olivia C. Preston, Anna K. Nishen

Student Research Symposium

We investigated the effects of combat experiences (CES), personality traits, sleep quality and iso-strain on posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) among a sample (N=382) of working, post-9/11 Veterans. As prior occupational stress research has neglected the role of personality traits, we sought to examine how two of the Big Five traits (i.e., Neuroticism and Conscientiousness) affected PTSS. Greater scientific understanding of how personality contributes to the post-deployment etiology of PTSD may help customize interventions aimed at reintegrating Veterans. Baseline data were drawn from the five-year, randomized control, Department of Defense-funded “Study for Employment Retention of Veterans” (SERVe). After controlling …

Analytic Thinking Predicts Vaccine Endorsement: Cognitive Style As An Antecedent Of Vaccine Attitudes, Daniel A. Anderson

Student Research Symposium

Relationships between cognitive style (CS) and affective orientation toward childhood vaccines (AO) were tested in a sample of US adults, controlling for known covariates. Findings suggest an analytic cognitive style predicts greater likelihood of endorsing childhood vaccination (higher AO). Results highlight relationships between individual cognition and cultural influences upon vaccine-beliefs.

Locke, Figure, And Judgement: A Consistent Answer To The Molyneux Problem, Jamale Nagi

Student Research Symposium

Ever since the early modern period the Molyneux Problem has been a topic of debate both in the philosophy of perception and the psychology of perception. The problem centers on whether the senses share representational content between one another, or does each sense modality have its own stock of representational content that becomes associated with the others after some habituation. For example, if you knew a shape only by touch, could you identify that shape when seeing it for the first time without being allowed to touch the object? Typically, rationalists have held to the former claiming yes, while empiricists …

Deception Detection In Clinical Interview, Olivia Preston, Melissa Lewis

Student Research Symposium

The objective of Forensic Assessment of Client Truthfulness (FACT) measure is to detect deception in forensic psychology consultations. A statistically significant tool using verbal content analysis was created, based a synthesis of previous research in the field. This presentation reviews the research project and highlights one phase of the study where ratings true and deceptive statements in cases of accused sex offenders or insanity defense claimants were compared. Multiple ANOVAs, t-tests, and factor analyses were conducted. When FACT scores were dichotomized, 86% of the ratings characterized the true statements as true, and 81% of the ratings categorized the false statements …

Attributes Of True And False Statements Of Criminal Defendants, Camilla Cummings, Olivia Preston, Nicolette Wise, Shawn A. Johnston

Student Research Symposium

The research study uses a verbal content analysis measure, the Forensic Assessment of Client Truthfulness, derived from the most empirically-supported measures in deception detection (i.e. Criterion-Based Content Analysis and Reality Monitoring). This measure is employed in the study to distinguish between true and false statements in forensic psychological evaluations. The study contains four research conditions including the true and false statements of men accused of sex offenses and of men claiming an insanity defense. Using a repeated measures design, the four statements were rated by 127 university students. Using factor analyses, ANOVA analyses, and t-tests, the results showed that the …

Direct Versus Indirect Assessment Of Truthfulness, Lauren Bowling, Olivia Preston, Bridgette Norris, Jennifer Gill, Shawn Johnston

Student Research Symposium

This study uses a verbal content analysis measure, the Forensic Assessment of Client Truthfulness (FACT), derived from the most empirically-supported measures in deception detection, Criteria-Based Content Analysis and Reality Monitoring. This study tests the accuracy of the indirect assessment of truthfulness (i.e. consideration of the FACT criteria, which are empirically-related to truthfulness) in comparison to direct assessment of truthfulness (i.e. subjective consideration of whether a statement is true or false). The FACT, an indirect measure, is employed along with a direct assessment of truthfulness to distinguish between true and false statements. The study contains four research conditions including the true …

The Pid-5 Does Not Contain Validity Scales. Do You Care?, Carisha Kelsey, David G. Fischer

Student Research Symposium

The most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) provides clinicians with a new personality assessment tool, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5. It is one of a number of assessments provided for use “in research and evaluation as potentially useful tools to enhance clinical decision-making…” The PID-5 does not contain validity scales to assist clinicians in assessing personality and making diagnostic decisions. This research project seeks to answer the question, “Can the PID-5 be a useful tool without a set of validity scales provided to assist in the interpretation of results?” A literature …

Affect Perception In Computer Mediated Communication, Rachel E. Townsend, Chris Allen

Student Research Symposium

The perception of affect influences the subjective perception of an individual’s environment (Isbell & Burns, n.d.). Accurate affect perception leads to increased resilience and positive coping mechanisms when faced with daily life stressors (Robinson, 2012). Communication technologies have revolutionized the ways in which individuals connect to one another professionally and socially (Walther, 1996). This study investigated accurate affect perception in computer mediated communication (CMC) from a multidisciplinary perspective.

Communication research posit several theories to accommodate the ways in which we communicate using CMC (J. B. Walther, 1996). Personality research has documented the correlation between the traits extraversion and neuroticism with …

Through A Veteran's Eyes: The Transition Of The Army Leader Into The Civilian Workforce, Maria Carolina Gonzalez-Prats

Student Research Symposium

In the next five years, over a million service members will be transitioning back into civilian life, the majority from tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. This qualitative study, completed as a satisfying requirement for the Masters of Psychology in Organization Development degree at Sonoma State University, explored the experiences of leaders, as well as the challenges and enablers that effect their transition from the Army to the Civilian workforce. The thesis also examined the impact on both the military and civilian communities. Data was collected using interviews with ten Army leaders, whose time in service ranged from four to 22 …

Study Of Employment Retention Veterans (Serve): Improving Reintegration Of Oregon National Guard And Reserves In The Workplace, Gilbert Patrick Brady, Jr., Leslie B. Hammer

Student Research Symposium

This presentation will provide an overview of the recently funded Department of Defense grant (Principal Investigator, Leslie Hammer, Ph.D.). Since 9/11 over 2.8 million United States military personnel have served in and around Iraq and Afghanistan. By 2018, the number of post-9/11 veterans is projected to top 3.1 million. Of these most recent veterans, 18% have difficulty holding a job and many experience family difficulty. Presently, a third or more of these post-9/11 veterans – some 874,728 service members and counting – have deployed to various global hotspots as active-duty reservists of the U.S. armed forces. Unemployment, underemployment and mental …

The Story And Song Centered Pedagogy: Teaching Empathy In The Classroom, Parfait Adegboyé Bassalé

Student Research Symposium

This presentation was given as part of the Panel Presentation Studies in Education at Portland State University's Research Symposium. The Story and Song Centered Pedagogy (SSCP) is an educational framework that uses songs, stories and reflective questioning to increase empathy with an audience. In a preliminary study conducted with high school students, I tested the prediction that being exposed to the SSCP would increase empathy. I focused on the Emotional Concern (EC) and Perspective Taking (PT) subscales of the renowned empathy measurement tool: the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Subjects self-reported their answers to the IRI before and after undergoing the …

Evaluating A Possible Association Between Déjà Vu Frequency And Memory Performance To Explain Déjà Vu, Duncan Prince, Caleb Archuleta

Student Research Symposium

Prior research shows that reported frequency of déjà vu declines with age. Memory performance also declines with aging. This study investigated separately a relationship of recollection and familiarity performance with déjà vu frequency, in a sample of college students to control for age. The hypothesis was that there will be a positive correlation between déjà vu frequency and recollection, and there will not be a correlation between familiarity and déjà vu frequency. The Inventory for Déjà Vu Experiences Assessment, a valid and reliable instrument, was used to quantify déjà vu frequency. Recollection and familiarity were quantitated separately by a memory …