Psychology Commons^™

Influence Of General Self-Efficacy On The Effects Of A School-Based Universal Primary Prevention Program Of Depressive Symptoms In Adolescents : A Randomized And Controlled Follow-Up Study., Patrick Pössel, Christiane Baldus, Andrea B. Horn, Gunter Groen, Martin Hautzinger

Faculty Scholarship

Background:  Depressive disorders in adolescents are a widespread and increasing problem. Prevention seems a promising and feasible approach.

Methods:  We designed a cognitive-behavioral school-based universal primary prevention program and followed 347 eighth-grade students participating in a randomized controlled trial for three months.

Results:  In line with our hypothesis, participants in the prevention program remained on a low level of depressive symptoms, having strong social networks. The control group showed increasing depressive symptoms and a reduced social network. Contrary to our expectations, students low in self-efficacy benefited more from the program than high self-efficient students. Social network did not mediate the …

Self-Management Strategies Mediate Self-Efficacy And Physical Activity, Amanda Birnbaum, Rod K. Dishman, Robert W. Motl, James F. Sallis, Andrea L. Dunn, Greg J. Welk, Ariane L. Yung, Carolyn C. Voorhees, Jared B. Jobe

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Self-efficacy theory proposes that girls who have confidence in their capability to be physically active will perceive fewer barriers to physical activity or be less influenced by them, be more likely to pursue perceived benefits of being physically active, and be more likely to enjoy physical activity. Self-efficacy is theorized also to influence physical activity through self-management strategies (e.g., thoughts, goals, plans, and acts) that support physical activity, but this idea has not been empirically tested.

A Social Cognitive Perspective Of Physical-Activity-Related Behavior In Physical Education, Jeffrey J. Martin, Pamela Hodges Kulinna

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purpose of the current study was to examine student and teacher physical-activity-related behavior using the theory of planned behavior and self-efficacy theory. Although teachers reported an overwhelmingly positive attitude toward teaching physical activity lessons to promote fitness development, they only devoted 4% of their class time to actually demonstrating and promoting fitness. Students were quite sedentary during class spending 61% of class time sitting, standing, or lying down. Using hierarchical regression analyses, teachers' attitudes toward teaching physically active physical education classes accounted for 50% of the variance in teachers' intention. Teachers who demonstrated/promoted fitness and who limited their general …

With A Little Help From My Friends (And Substitutes): Social Referents And Influence In Psychological Contract Fulfillment, Violet Ho

Management Faculty Publications

This study investigated employees’ choice of social referents and the impact of social influence on their beliefs of psychological contract fulfillment. Using data from a field study conducted with 99 employees in a research organization, we found that one’s referent choice varied with the domain of promise evaluated. When evaluating the organization’s fulfillment of organization-wide promises, employees’ referents were primarily coworkers with whom they had close direct ties, namely, friends and advice givers. On the other hand, when evaluating the fulfillment of job-related promises, employees’ referents were mainly fellow workers who could substitute for them and people with whom they …

Ethnography In Counseling Psychology Research: Possibilities For Application., Muninder Kaur Ahluwalia, Lisa A. Suzuki, Jacqueline S. Mattis, Cherubim A. Quizon

Department of Counseling Scholarship and Creative Works

The emphasis placed on prolonged engagement, fieldwork, and participant observation has prevented the wide-scale use of ethnography in counseling psychology. This article provides a discussion of ethnography in terms of definition, process, and potential ethical dilemmas. The authors propose that ethnographically informed methods can enhance counseling psychology research conducted with multicultural communities and provide better avenues toward a contextual understanding of diversity as it relates to professional inquiry. (APA PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

Blood Pressure And Cognitive Function In An African-American And A Caucasian-American Sample: The Maine-Syracuse Study, Michael A. Robbins, Merrill F. Elias, Penelope K. Elias, Marc M. Budge

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

Objective: The primary purpose of this study was to examine associations between indices of blood pressure (BP) and cognitive function for African-American participants in the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS). Corresponding data for the Caucasian-American MSLS participants were included to provide a basis for comparison. Interactions of age with BP indices were also assessed in relation to cognitive function. Methods: Data were drawn from the baseline MSLS questionnaires, medical interviews and examinations, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale subtests, and measurements of BP for 1563 participants, of whom 147 were African American. Multiple linear regression analyses were employed to examine the relationship between …

Wonderwise 4-H: Following In The Footsteps Of Women Scientists, Amy N. Spiegel, S. Kay Rockwell, Deanna Acklie, Saundra Wever Frerichs, Kathleen French, Judy Diamond

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Wonderwise 4-H: Women in Science Learning Kits, recently included in the National 4-H Curriculum Collection and widely tested by 4-H leaders, have positively affected youths’ perspectives on science, scientists, and scientific work. Adult leaders who used the multimedia, inquiry-based Wonderwise 4-H kits completed a Web survey describing the impact of the kits on youth. It indicated that the kits increased youth’s interest and understanding of science, broadened their view of scientists, and opened their eyes to the possibility of science in their own futures. More information about Wonderwise 4-H and downloadable activities are available at wonderwise.unl.edu.

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

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

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 …

Actantial Analysis Greimas’S Structural Approach To The Analysis Of Self-Narratives, Yong Wang, Carl W. Roberts

Department of Sociology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper introduces a formal procedure for analyzing narratives that was developed by the French/Lithuanian structuralist, A. J. Greimas. The focus is on demonstrating the utility of Greimas's ideas for analyzing one aspect of personal narratives: identity-construction. Reconstructing the basic actantial structure from self-narratives is shown to provide cues to power differentials among actants as perceived by the narrator. Distinguishing narrated events along conflict versus communication axes helps the analyst determine whether an experiential or a discursive domain is of primacy for the narrator. Moreover, investigation of communicative outcomes can be used to validate (or invalidate) findings on power relations. …

The Importance Of Retrieval Failures To Long-Term Retention: A Metacognitive Explanation Of The Spacing Effect, Harry P. Bahrick, Lynda K. Hall

All Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Encoding strategies vary in their duration of effectiveness, and individuals can best identify and modify strategies that yield effects of short duration on the basis of retrieval failures. Multiple study sessions with long inter-session intervals are better than massed training at providing discriminative feedback that identifies encoding strategies of short duration. We report two investigations in which long intervals between study sessions yield substantial benefits to long-term retention, at a cost of only moderately longer individual study sessions. When individuals monitor and control encoding over an extended period, targets yielding the largest number of retrieval failures contribute substantially to the …

Wonderwise 4-H: Following In The Footsteps Of Women Scientists, A. N. Spiegel, S. K. Rockwell, D. S. Acklie, K. French, J. Diamond

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Wonderwise 4-H: Women in Science introduces youth to contemporary female scientists in their labs, out in the field, and with their families through nine interactive multimedia kits. Youth learn about the scientist’s occupation and participate in hands-on science activities similar to the actual work of a female scientist role model. Using role models was effective in improving youths’ attitudes about science through engaging activities and realistic videos. A web survey of 150 adult youth leaders showed Wonderwise 4-H brings “real science” into youths’ lives by (a) engaging them in actual scientific activities, (b) increasing their understanding of what science is, …

Serum Cholesterol And Cognitive Performance In The Framingham Heart Study, Penelope K. Elias, Merrill F. Elias, Ralph B. D'Agostino, Lisa M. Sullivan, Philip A. Wolf

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between total cholesterol (TC) and cognitive performance within the context of the Framingham Heart Study, a large, community-based, prospective investigation of cardiovascular risk factors. Methods: Participants were 789 men and 1105 women from the Framingham Heart Study original cohort who were free of dementia and stroke and who received biennial TC determinations over a 16- to 18-year surveillance period. Cognitive tests were administered 4 to 6 years subsequent to the surveillance period and consisted of measures of learning, memory, attention/ concentration, abstract reasoning, concept formation, and organizational abilities. Statistical …

Homocysteine, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, And Cognitive Performance: The Maine-Syracuse Study, Michael A. Robbins, Merrill F. Elias, Marc M. Budge, Suzanne L. Brennan, Penelope K. Elias

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

Type 2 diabetes mellitus and higher total plasma homocysteine concentrations are each associated with an increased incidence of cardiovascular disease and with diminished cognitive performance. Relations between homocysteine concentrations and cardiovascular disease incidence are stronger in the presence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, we hypothesized that relations between homocysteine concentrations and cognitive performance would be stronger in the presence of type 2 diabetes. We related homocysteine concentrations and cognitive performance on the Mini-Mental State Examination in 817 dementia- and stroke-free participants of the Maine-Syracuse Study, 90 of whom were classified with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Regardless of statistical adjustment …

Musical Stem Completion: Humming That Note, J.A. Warker, Andrea Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

This study looked at how people store and retrieve tonal music explicitly and implicitly using a production task. Participants completed an implicit task (tune stem completion) followed by an explicit task (cued recall). The tasks were identical except for the instructions at test time. They listened to tunes and were then presented with tune stems from previously heard tunes and novel tunes. For the implicit task, they were asked to sing a note they thought would come next musically. For the explicit task, they were asked to sing the note they remembered as coming next. Experiment 1 found that people …

Mental Concerts: Musical Imagery And Auditory Cortex, Robert J. Zatorre, Andrea R. Halpern

Faculty Journal Articles

Most people intuitively understand what it means to “hear a tune in your head.” Converging evidence now indicates that auditory cortical areas can be recruited even in the absence of sound and that this corresponds to the phenomenological experience of imagining music. We discuss these findings as well as some methodological challenges. We also consider the role of core versus belt areas in musical imagery, the relation between auditory and motor systems during imagery of music performance, and practical implications of this research.

Dissociable Aspects Of Mental Workload: Examinations Of The P300 Erp Component And Performance Assessments, Carryl L. Baldwin, Joseph T. Coyne

Psychology Faculty Publications

Advanced technologies have enabled the choice of either visual or auditory formats for avionics and surface transportation displays. Methods of assessing the mental workload imposed by displays of different formats are critical to their successful implementation. Towards this end a series of investigations were conducted with the following aims: 1) developing analogous auditory and visual versions of a secondary task that could be used to compare display modalities; and 2) to compare the sensitivity of neurophysiological, behavioral and subjective indices of workload. Experiments 1 and 2 confirmed that analogous auditory and visual secondary oddball discrimination tasks were of equivalent difficulty …