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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Essences And Transformations In Objects, Animals, And Humans, Alicia Brooke Smith Dec 2010

Essences And Transformations In Objects, Animals, And Humans, Alicia Brooke Smith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research as to how humans group natural kinds, such as animals, is essential to understanding categorization processes. However, it lacks conventional application and generalization to everyday life. Humans are social beings that encounter a wide array of individuals on a daily basis. In these situations, we are required to consider various properties that make up these people. As Keller (2005) suggests, the way we categorize is shaped by our theories about the world. Therefore, when we determine the rationale behind people’s social categorization processes, we are better able to understand people’s perceptions of their social environment. Moreover, when we conduct …


Learned Attention In Younger And Older Adults, Jared M. Holder Dec 2010

Learned Attention In Younger And Older Adults, Jared M. Holder

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A relatively new phenomenon in learning research called highlighting occurs when participants show a seemingly irrational preference to attribute a stronger cue-outcome association to a later presented perfect predictor when it is paired with an imperfect predictor than that of an earlier presented perfect predictor paired with the same imperfect predictor (Kruschke, 1996). Current research suggests that the highlighting effect depends on the ability to learn to shift attention away from an irrelevant cue toward a more relevant cue in order to reduce errors in causal judgment and preserve an earlier formed association (Kruschke, 2003). Much research has suggested that …


An Examination Of Student-Ahtletes' Perceptions Of Their Academic Abilities, Tiffany Ann White Aug 2010

An Examination Of Student-Ahtletes' Perceptions Of Their Academic Abilities, Tiffany Ann White

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

A common stereotype in our society is that athletes are not as capable of performing well academically as their non-athlete counterparts; they are “dumb jocks”. Do athletes feel that others have lower expectations of them academically? This is important because previous research in education has shown that expectations play a role in academic achievement (for example, Rosenthal and Jacobson’s Pygmalion effect (1968) and self-fulfilling prophecy research). The current study examined student-athletes’ perceptions of this stereotype. Three areas were addressed: athletes’ perceptions of their peers’ awareness that the student is a student-athlete, perceptions of their instructors and peers academic expectations of …


Examining The Relationship Between Body Work And Muscle Dysmorphia Symptoms, Katharine J. Reynolds Aug 2010

Examining The Relationship Between Body Work And Muscle Dysmorphia Symptoms, Katharine J. Reynolds

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether men with a large amount of Muscle Dysmorphia symptoms had a more favorable outlook and opinion of body work. Participants in the current study were a convenience sample of men recruited from undergraduate classes at Western Kentucky University and the community of Bowling Green Kentucky and Somerset Kentucky. A total of 215 men completed the study. Participants completed the Muscle Dysmorphia Inventory (MDI) and the Attitude-Behavior Questionnaire (ABQ). Results indicate scores on the MDI were significant predictors of scores on the ABQ. This suggests that men with a high number of …


Addressing Relationships Among Moral Judgment Development, Narcissism, And Electronic Media And Communication Devices, Meghan M. Saculla Aug 2010

Addressing Relationships Among Moral Judgment Development, Narcissism, And Electronic Media And Communication Devices, Meghan M. Saculla

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Recently, Thoma and Bebeau (2008) reported moral judgment developmental trends among various samples of undergraduates and graduates where increases in Personal Interests reasoning and decreases in Postconventional reasoning were observed. In an attempt to explain such trends, they cited recent trends in increased narcissism among college students (Twenge, Konrath, Foster, Campbell, & Bushman, 2008) and also noted that certain types of technological devices (i.e. social networking websites, cell phones, etc.) may have adverse effects social decision-making and self-presentation. The current study, therefore, addresses the relationships among moral judgment development, narcissism, and electronic media and communication devices (EMCD's). Analyses support that …


Exploration Of The Relationship Between Moral Judgment Development And Attention, Lauren I. Clark Aug 2010

Exploration Of The Relationship Between Moral Judgment Development And Attention, Lauren I. Clark

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research in moral psychology has focused on understanding what factors assist in the development of moral action and decision making. The purpose of this study was to address whether variability in attention relates to moral judgment development. The reason for exploring moral judgment development was to further explore the research of Thoma and Bebeau (2008) who documented that the moral development scores of college and graduate students has been declining over time, with more college-aged students scoring in the lower levels of moral reasoning. Attention was chosen as a viable topic of research, based on the writings of Carr (2008a) …


Knowledge Of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury In Populations That Self-Injure, Darcy Leanne Cates Aug 2010

Knowledge Of Nonsuicidal Self-Injury In Populations That Self-Injure, Darcy Leanne Cates

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Archived data was utilized for the present study which examined knowledge about non-suicidal self-injury, or NSSI, in individuals who engage in various degrees of the behavior and those who do not self-injure. Knowledge about NSSI was measured in three groups of respondents: those with no history of self-injurious behavior (no NSSI group), those with more limited experience with NSSI who reported 1-30 incidences of NSSI (limited NSSI group), and those with an extensive history (extensive NSSI group) who reported over 30 incidences of NSSI. To measure knowledge, participants were asked level of agreement with myths and facts about NSSI using …


Examining The Relationship Between Criticism And Muscle Dysmorphia Symptomotology In Collegiate Men, Lauren M. Menees Jul 2010

Examining The Relationship Between Criticism And Muscle Dysmorphia Symptomotology In Collegiate Men, Lauren M. Menees

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The goal of the current study was to examine the relationship between critical comments that men can recall others making about their bodies and their current level of Muscle Dysmorphia (MD) symptomotology. Participants (N = 118) were recruited via study board from a mid-Western university with a population of 20,674 students. The hypothesis of the current study was that men who can recall critical comments about their bodies will report more MD symptomotology than those who remembered no such comments. In addition, it was expected that out of those who recall critical comments, the more severe or threatening they remember …


The Effects Of Picture Presentation On Male Body Shame And Muscle Dysmorphia, Samantha A. Wilson May 2010

The Effects Of Picture Presentation On Male Body Shame And Muscle Dysmorphia, Samantha A. Wilson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether picture presentation influenced men’s experienced body shame or Muscle Dysmorphia symptomatology, and whether there was a relationship between body shame and Muscle Dysmorphia. Participants were 112 men attending Western Kentucky University. Participants completed the Body Shame Questionnaire and Muscle Dysmorphia Inventory. Participants were randomly assigned to either view eight photographs of average men or eight photographs of muscular men. After viewing the photographs, the participants completed the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale and the Muscle Appearance Satisfaction Scale. Although there was a trend, results indicate that men who view photographs of muscular …


The Effects Of Rater Training On The Relationship Between Item Observability And Rater Agreement, Keaton Edwin Montgomery May 2010

The Effects Of Rater Training On The Relationship Between Item Observability And Rater Agreement, Keaton Edwin Montgomery

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study was an extension of a study conducted by Roch, Paquin, and Littlejohn (2009). They investigated the relationship between rater agreement and the observability of items on a rating form. The current study found similar results in that, as items became less observable, interrater agreement increased. The purpose of this study was to introduce frame of reference training as an extension to the Roch et al. study in order to reverse their findings. In other words, trained raters would be less likely to default to a general impression on less observable items and thus would demonstrate higher rater agreement …