Psychology Commons^™

Does Ses Moderate The Relationship Between Temperament And Emotional And Behavioral Disorders?., Jessica L. Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored whether the relationship between temperament and emotional and behavioral disorders (EBDs) is moderated by socioeconomic status (SES) in a sample of 73 children ages 5 through 15 years. Caregivers completed the Rothbart temperament surveys and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Indicators of SES included total household income and occupational status, while indicators of EBDs included the Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems, and Total Problems scales of the CBCL. Temperament variables included Fear, Frustration, Sadness, and Shyness. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed 4 regressions significant for moderation. A conclusion gleaned from these results is that the relationship between particular temperament …

The Creation Of Art Books With Adolescents Diagnosed With An Eating Disorder: Effectiveness, Self-Esteem, And Related Factors, Eileen Chaves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This pilot study undertook a mixed methods exploration of the interaction of art therapy and self-esteem in an adolescent eating disorder population. Using therapeutic art books in a group format, adolescents created art about their feelings, their eating disorder, or whatever else they deemed important. This art technique is relatively new and novel as an art therapy intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to look at the technique's effectiveness at decreasing participants' negative mood states and investigated the technique's ability to affect participants' perceptions of their self-esteem. Measures of global self-esteem and art therapy related self-esteem were measured using the Rosenberg …

Development And Initial Validation Of The Managerial Success Factors Inventory: Transportation Version (Msfi: Tv), Michael Robert Durr Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop and initially validate the Managerial Success Factors Inventory: Transportation Version (MSFI: TV), a scale generated to more accurately assess managerial competence in transportation than general managerial competence and leadership scales. The literature on managerial competencies, leadership, and the state of transportation management is summarized. Reigning models of general managerial competency were used with focus group and cognitive interview data to develop the scale. The conventional three-phase scale development research design was followed (exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and validation phases) by administering the instrument to a sample of 287 managers from …

The Relationship Between Adolescents' Stage Of Change And Their Ability To Establish A Working Alliance In Psychotherapy, Jennifer Lynn Grote

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the process of psychotherapy with adolescents in group psychotherapy, assessing the adolescents' motivation to change behaviors, also called stage of change beliefs, and how these relate to the quality of the relationship, or working alliance, between the adolescent and therapist. Adolescent ratings of group cohesiveness were also measured. Twenty participants between the ages of 13 and 18 receiving group treatment in an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) at a psychiatric hospital in Colorado were included in the study. The IOP group targeted parents and adolescents and implemented a manualized treatment to improve family communication and adolescent functioning. The …

Personal And Perceived Partner Commitment And Trust As Predictors Of Relationship Satisfaction In Long-Distance And Proximally Close Dating Relationships Of Graduate Students, Camille C. Gonzalez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the current study was to examine Relationship Satisfaction, Personal Commitment and Trust, and Perceived Partner Commitment and Trust among long-distance and proximally close dating relationships of graduate students. The sample included graduate students in long-distance and proximally close dating relationships. The study found that Perceived Partner Commitment significantly predicted Personal Trust over and beyond Personal Commitment. Study results also indicate that Personal Commitment and Personal Trust significantly predicted Relationship Satisfaction, but that, Perceived Partner Commitment did not. Results also indicated that participants in short-term long-distance relationships reported higher levels of Personal Commitment than participants in long-term long-distance …

Manipulating Paradigm And Attention Via A Mindfulness Meditation Training Program Improves P300-Based Bci., Daniel Ryan Berry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To date, only one study has situationally bolstered attentional resources in an effort to improve P300-BCI performance. The current study implements a 4-week Mindfulness Meditation Training Program (MMTP) as a nonmedicinal means to increase concentrative attention and to reduce lapses of attention; MMTP is expected to improve P300-BCI performance by enhancing attentional resources and reducing distractibility. A second aim is to test the efficacy of the checkerboard paradigm (CBP) against the standard row-column paradigm (RCP). Online results show that MMTP had greater accuracies than CTRL and that CBP outperformed the RCP. MMTP participants provided greater amplitude positive target responses, but …

Posttraumatic Growth Following Cancer: The Role Of Cognitive Processing, Anxiety, Depression And Perceived Threat, Jennifer M. Caspari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored several predictors of posttraumatic growth (PTG) in a sample of 169 breast, prostate and colorectal cancer survivors. The first aim was to determine the influence of Anxiety, Depression and Perceived Threat (defined as the combination of Life Outlook Threat, i.e., the degree a cancer diagnosis challenged a survivor's assumptive world, and Physical Threat, i.e., threat to mortality and physical well-being) in the prediction of Positive and Negative Cognitive Processing. The second aim was to examine the effect of Anxiety, Depression, Perceived Threat, and Positive and Negative Cognitive Processing in the predication of PTG.

Cancer survivors who were …

A Longitudinal Study Of Fetal Tissue Transplantation Surgery For The Treatment Of Parkinson's Disease: Can Quality Of Life And Optimism At Baseline Predict Patient Outcome 10 Years Later?, Emily B. Fazio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive condition that affects the physical, emotional, and social functioning of individuals. Freed et al. (2001) conducted a double-blind sham-controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of fetal tissue transplantation for the treatment of advanced PD. The authors of that study examined the effects of the surgery across the dimensions of physical and neurological functioning. A quality of life (QoL) study was conducted to determine if there were differences in QoL when comparing those who received the fetal tissue transplantation with those who received the sham surgery (McRae et al., 2004).

While there is …

An Investigation Into The Relationship Between Conscientiousness, Self-Awareness, And Occupational Stress Outcomes In Culinary Chefs, Tanja M. Hinterstoisser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether, and to what extent, Conscientiousness, as part of the personality construct, and Self-Awareness, as part of the emotional intelligence construct, influence the occupational stress outcomes of absenteeism and burnout in culinary chefs. The research method and design selected for this study was a quantitative correlation and regression. The researcher selected the Self-Awareness factors from the ECI - 2.0, and the Conscientiousness factors from the NEO-FFI to measure the individual and interactive effect on absenteeism and burnout. The experience of burnout itself was measured the Maslach Burnout Inventory - GS, and absenteeism …

Multinational Teams: The Relationship Between Work Values And Productivity And The Moderating Effect Of Degree Of Operational Integration, Kelly C. Kinnebrew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study gathered data from 147 employees in two U.S. headquartered multinational manufacturing companies. Participants responded to questions about their work-related values, perceptions of the productivity of their work teams, and the degree of operational integration between firms‟ foreign affiliate offices and their U.S. based headquarters. Additionally, analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between team productivity and psychic distance, which is a measure of country-level cultural differences. Work values were assessed using The Values Scale (Neville & Super, 1989), perceptions of team productivity were assessed used an instrument by Kirkman and Rosen (1999), degree of operational integration was …

School Refusal Behavior: A Phenomenological Study Of Latino/A Children's Experiences, Mary Ashley Angelo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School refusal behavior (SRB) is a subset of absenteeism in which children either altogether refuse to attend school or experience great difficulty remaining in class for the duration of the school day. Child motivated SRB is a growing problem that now affects between 5% and 28% of children and adolescents at some point during their lives. The effects of SRB can extend well beyond the classroom. Long-term, SRB can lead to delinquency and psychiatric, occupational, and marital problems in adulthood. Additionally, children who consistently exhibit SRB are more likely to drop out of school, thereby limiting their career choices and …

The Effects Of Ego Threat And Self-Esteem Boost On Overall Self-Control Ability., Jessica Rose Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Self-control enables people to make decisions that can promote overall well-being. Such decisions include refraining from overeating or the decision to motivate individuals to persevere when faced with difficulties. The purpose of this study was to determine if not requiring the expenditure of self-control and boosting self-esteem would enable participants to persist longer at a task designed to measure self-control than participants who were required to expend self-control and received an ego threat. No significant main effects were found for self-control manipulations, F (1, 223) = .54, p = .46, or for self-esteem manipulations, F (1, 223) = .01, p …

Temperament-Language Relationships During The First Formal Year Of School., Natasha Benfield Gouge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to investigate temperament-language relationships among school-age children and across a wider variety of SES. Head Start, Pre-K, and Kindergarten classes of 10 elementary schools located in rural Appalachia were sent information about the study and 35 children were consented to participate. Parents completed a short demographic survey and the Child Behavior Questionnaire Very Short Form (CBQ-VSF). Children were administered the Preschool Language Scale-4 (PLS-4). Participants were split into low and high SES groups so associations between the CBQ and PLS-4 scores could be compared at each SES strata. Both reactivity and self-regulation were …

Religious Commitment As A Predictor Of Lower Blood Pressure In High-Risk Pregnancies Of Southern Appalachia., Anna Vadimovna Ermakova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Extensive literature review inspired a mediational model of the relationship between Religiosity/Spirituality (R/S) and Blood Pressure (BP) tested through secondary analyses of data from the TIPS program. Participants included 205 (92.1% Caucasian; age M=23.72, SD=5.33) pregnant Southern Appalachian women drawn from the region's at-risk pregnancy population. The only variables correlated with BP were women's weight (r=.430, r=.467, p<.01, for diastolic and systolic BP, respectively) and prenatal care use (r=.138, p<.05, with diastolic BP), but not R/S. Multiple regression analyses confirmed participant weight as the only significant independent predictor of BP. Previous findings of health benefits of R/S cannot be assumed to generalize to pregnant women without further study. Limitations of this study and possible explanations for the findings are discussed.

Community Perceptions Of Prescription Drug Abuse In Eastern Kentucky., Ashley Marie Browning

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Personal interviews exploring attitudes toward prescription drug abuse were completed by 17 residents over 18 years of age from Kentucky's Pike and Letcher counties. In respect to prescription drug abuse research nationwide, much research has been conducted in eastern Kentucky; however, there are seemingly few studies measuring the thoughts and feelings of community members toward the issue. Data gathered during these interviews were coded and themed for emergent content that revealed the prevalence of drug abuse in communities, the role of medical professionals in prescription drug abuse, and a lack of preventative measures to control the cyclic pattern of prescription …

Do Adult Romantic Attachment Empathy And Social Skills Influence Mate Poaching Infidelity?., James Stephen Gorniewicz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the possibility that adult romantic attachment orientation, empathy, and social skills could either individually or jointly influence the expression of mate poaching behaviors. Participants (N = 404) were recruited from a Southern Appalachian university and ranged in age from 18-60 years, with a mean of 21. Data were collected using a web-based survey system. Results of this study lend support to the growing literature demonstrating a link between adult romantic attachment and mate poaching. Additionally, the present study also added to the literature by showing for the first time 1) a relationship between empathy and mate …

Impulsivity And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (Adhd) Testing Competing Predictions From The Working Memory And Behavioral Inhibition Models Of Adhd, Joseph S. Raiker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Impulsivity is a hallmark of two of the three DSM-IV ADHD subtypes and is associated with myriad adverse outcomes. Limited research, however, is available concerning the mechanisms and processes that contribute to impulsive responding by children with ADHD. The current study tested predictions from two competing models of ADHD – working memory (WM) and behavioral inhibition (BI) – to examine the extent to which ADHD-related impulsive responding was attributable to model-specific mechanisms and processes. Children with ADHD (n = 21) and typically developing children (n = 20) completed laboratory tasks that provided WM (domaingeneral central executive [CE], phonological/visuospatial storage/rehearsal) and …

Age-Typing Across Occupations When, Where, And Why Age-Typing Exists, Michael Dennis Reeves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study sought to determine the direction and degree to which occupations representative of all major occupational categories are viewed as age-typed (i.e., more appropriate for older or younger workers). The 60 occupations examined were the 12 most common and familiar occupations in each of five occupational categories used by the U.S. Census Bureau. I randomly assigned 365 participants to one of three survey conditions. Participants rated the feature centrality, proportional representation, normative age, and optimal performance age of 20 of the 60 occupations and the age-type of 20 different occupations. Results showed that participants reliably rated the occupations …

Cultural Differences In Forgiveness Fatalism, Trust Violations, And Trust Repair Efforts In Interpersonal Collaboration, Jessica L. Wildman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mistakes and betrayals can cause developing interpersonal trust between parties to be broken, and damaged trust can have serious negative impacts on relationships, such as withdrawal from group interaction or the enactment of revenge. Research has suggested that the use of apologies helps to repair damaged trust. However, this research is almost exclusively based in westernized populations and has not begun to explore any cross-cultural differences. Therefore, the primary goal of this comparative cross-national laboratory study was to examine if, and how, the effectiveness of trust repair efforts differs across cultures. The effectiveness of three manipulated trust repair strategies (no …

Mixed Signals At The Intersection The Effect Of Organizational Composition On Ratings Of Black Women's Management Suitability, Laticia D. Bowens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historically, Black women‘s workplace experiences have been understudied, partially due to an implicit assumption that their experiences are subsumed by research on Black men and/or White women. This oversight is even more evident in the field of management. However, considerable attention has been given to the debate about whether Black women are at a double advantage (i.e., as supposed affirmative action ―two-for-one bargains‖) or at a double disadvantage due to their double marginalizing characteristics. Empirical research in the area has found support for each side, furthering the debate, but also advancing an overly simplistic explanation for a set of experiences …

Comprehending Synthetic Speech Personal And Production Influences, Jingjing Wang-Costello

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing prevalence of voice-production technology across societies, clear comprehension while listening to synthetic speech is an obvious goal. Common human factors influences include the listener‟s language familiarity and age. Production factors include the speaking rate and clarity. This study investigated the speaking comprehension performance of younger and older adults who learned English as their first or second language. Presentations varied by the rate of delivery in words per minute (wpm) and in two forms, synthetic or natural speech. The results showed that younger adults had significantly higher comprehension performance than older adults. English as First Language (EFL) participants …

Are We Becoming Superhuman Cyborgs? How Technomorphism Influences Our Perceptions Of The World Around Us, Heather Christina Lum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although traditionally researchers have focused on making robotics more user-friendly from a human perspective, a new theory has begun to take shape in which humans take on the perspective of a robotic entity. The following set of studies examined the concept of technomorphism defined as the attribution of technological characteristics to humans. This concept has been mentioned anecdotally and studied indirectly, but there is nothing currently available to tap in to the various forms that technomorphism may take. Therefore, one goal of this dissertation was to develop a scale to fill that purpose. The results of the Technomorphic Tendencies Scale …

A Configural Approach To Patient Safety Climate: The Relationship Between Climate Profile Characteristics And Patient Outcomes, Sallie J. Weaver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Patient safety climate is defined as a holistic snapshot of enacted work environment practices and procedures related to patient safety, derived from shared perceptions of social and environmental work characteristics. While patient safety climate has been touted as a critical factor underlying safe patient care, our understanding of input factors influencing shared climate perceptions and, in turn, the effects of climate as a collective, group-level construct on important outcomes remains underdeveloped, both theoretically and empirically. Therefore, the current study examines (1) the antecedents that impact individual patient safety climate perceptions and (2) the relationships between hospital unit patient safety climate …

Evaluation Of The Expectancy Challenge Alcohol Literacy Curriculum (Ecalc) For Reducing Alcohol Use Among High School Students, Janani Sivasithamparam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use is the single most alarming behavior among youth in the United States. Adolescents especially are at risk for increases in heavy episodic drinking and drunkenness leading to alcohol-related problems such as academic failure, interpersonal violence, risky sexual behavior and death. In an effort to address this endemic issue, a number of alcohol use prevention programs have been developed and are currently implemented in the high school setting. Many of these programs, however, lack an empirical basis and have been unable to demonstrate significant reductions in alcohol use over time. The need for the development and dissemination of effective …

The Effectiveness Of Virtual Humans Vs. Pre-Recorded Humans In A Standardized Patient Performance Assessment, Joel Palathinkal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Standardized Patient (SP) is a trained actor who portrays a particular illness to provide training to medical students and professionals. SPs primarily use written scripts and additional paper-based training for preparation of practical and board exams. Many institutions use various methods for training such as hiring preceptors for reenactment of scenarios, viewing archived videos, and computer based training. Currently, the training that is available can be enhanced to improve the level of quality of standardized patients. The following research is examining current processes in standardized patient training and investigating new methods for clinical skills education in SPs. The modality …

The Effects Of Scoring Technique On Situational Judgment Test Validity, Daniel S. Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Situational Judgment Tests (SJTs) are frequently used by organizations as a face-valid selection measure with low adverse impact and a relatively strong relationship with relevant criteria. Despite their common use, there remain several research questions regarding the theoretical foundations and characteristics of SJTs. Additionally, developments in SJT scoring provide fertile ground for research to validate new scoring techniques to better predict criteria of interest. Motowidlo and his colleagues (2006) recently developed a scoring technique for SJTs based on the principle of Implicit Trait Policies (ITPs) which are implicit beliefs concerning the effectiveness of different behavioral choices that demonstrate varying levels …

Measuring Multilevel Constructs Theoretical And Methodological Features Of Team Behavioral Process Under Compilational Models, Toshio Murase

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since at least the 1950s, researchers interested in studying the dynamics of small groups have struggled with how best to measure interaction processes. Although team process measurement issues are not particularly unique in terms of content, measuring multilevel phenomena presents an interesting problem because structural aspects are integral components of emergence. The elemental content of multilevel phenomena is wholly unique and distinguishable from the elemental content of composite units, and emerges as individual behaviors compile to higher levels of analyses. Analogous to chemical structures, behavioral phenomena manifest at higher levels in different structural patterns as members connect to one another …

Perceptual Judgment The Impact Of Image Complexity And Training Method On Category Learning, Michael T. Curtis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation was to bridge the gap between perceptual learning theory and training application. Visual perceptual skill has been a vexing topic in training science for decades. In complex task domains, from aviation to medicine, visual perception is critical to task success. Despite this, little, if any, emphasis is dedicated to developing perceptual skills through training. Much of this may be attributed to the perceived inefficiency of perceptual training. Recent applied research in perceptual training with discrimination training, however, holds promise for improved perceptual training efficiency. As with all applied research, it is important to root application …

Examining The Impact Of Leader Social Distance On A Multicultural Team, Granados Deborah Diaz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leading multicultural teams is one of the main challenges faced by today’s leaders. The advantages often associated with multicultural teams (e.g., collaboration and integration of different knowledge, ideas, and approaches to a task) are often the major challenges in leading these teams. The literature on effective multicultural teams has identified leadership as an important factor for team effectiveness. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine the effect of leader social distance in multicultural teams. A lab study was designed to test the impact of experimentally-manipulated leader social distance (socially close or socially distant) on the relationship between team …

Parented Emotion: A Study Of Adult-Children's Emotion Socialization And Family Communication Patterns, Joseph Grant Velasco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the General Theory of Family Communication Patterns (FCPT) and Emotion Regulation Theory (ERT) of Meta-emotion, Parenting, and Child Outcomes, this dissertation sought to investigate adults' emotion socialization in their family of origin through an examination of multiple family schemata. Furthermore, the interactions of parental meta-emotions, family communication patterns, and family communication environments were investigated. Two surveys were used in this study. First, 228 adult-children across two universities in the western United States responded to items retrospectively describing the family communication patterns and family communication environments within their home of origin during their adolescence. Additionally, adult-children described the meta-emotion philosophies …