Psychology Commons^™

Daily Mood-Drinking Slopes As Predictiors: A New Take On Drinking Motives And Related Outcomes, Cynthia D. Mohr, Deborah L. Brannan, Staci Jean Wendt, Laurie Marie Jacobs, Robert Randon Wright, Mo Wang

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Motivational models of alcohol consumption have articulated the manner in which positive and negative experiences motivate drinking in unique social contexts (e.g., Cooper, Frone, Russell & Mudar, 1995). Daily process methodology, in which daily events, moods and drinking behaviors are reported daily or multiple times per day, has been used to examine behavioral patterns that are consistent with discrete motivations. We advance the notion that repeated patterns of drinking in various social contexts as a function of positive or negative mood increases can provide evidence of individual-level if-then drinking signatures, which in turn can predict drinking-related outcomes. The purpose of …

Program Evaluation Of Behavior Management Training For Preschool Teachers: Child Outcomes, Erika Nicole Christianson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Due to the immense challenges faced by young children who exhibit emotion regulation problems, prevention programs have been designed to train teachers on strategies useful for improving classroom behavior. The current study examines the effects of a prevention program implemented in a blended Head Start/daycare setting and evaluates the outcomes of the training on children’s cognitive/preliteracy skills, selfregulation, and social competence in the fall and spring following teacher training. The intervention group (Western Kentucky University Child Care Center) and control group (Bryant Way Child Care Center) were part of a blended Head Start/child care preschool program. Children’s self-regulation, social competence, …

Feeling Sad? Maybe You Are Just Uncertain! A Predictive Test For Depression, Dana Elizabeth Larson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined the relationship between depression and uncertainty within the stress-diathesis model. Depression is a mental health disorder that is wide spread within our society. However, few causes of this disease have been able to be identified. Studies in uncertainty have shown that it is a major stressor in day-to-day life. Previous research has shown that individuals with high levels of uncertainty show higher levels of depression. The stress-diathesis model, a model originally developed to explain differences in development of schizophrenia, provides a theoretically meaningful way to combine these two concepts. The model states that a person who …

Reflections On The Metamorphosis At Robben Island: The Role Of Institutional Work And Positive Psychological Capital, Wayne F. Cascio, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners from South Africa were imprisoned on notorious Robben Island from the mid-1960s until the end of the apartheid regime in 1991. The stark conditions and abusive treatment of these prisoners has been widely publicized. However, upon reflection and in retrospect, over the years, a type of metamorphosis occurred. Primarily drawing from firsthand accounts of the former prisoners and guards, it seems that Robben Island morphed from the traditional oppressive prison paradigm to one where the positively oriented prisoners disrupted the institution with a resulting climate of learning and transformation that eventually led to freedom …

Suicide-Related Imagining And Acquired Capability: Investigating The Role Of Imagery In Self-Harm Behaviors, Tara C. Holaday

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of suicide-related mental imagery in suicidal behavior. It was hypothesized that engagement (frequency, emotional impact, vividness, realism) with suicidal imagery would be related to suicidality, with greater engagement with imagery associated with more suicidal behaviors. Acquired capability for suicide was expected to be a mediator of this relationship. These hypotheses were tested by surveying 237 undergraduate university students (59% female; mean age = 20). Students completed a packet of self-report measures: The Modified Suicidal Cognitions Interview, The Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale, and the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire. Results suggested that …

Operant And Respondent Procedures To Establish Social Stimuli As Reinforcers In Children With Autism, Paloma Rodriguez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the DSM-IV- TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000), one of the core deficits in autism is in the impairment of social interaction. Some have suggested that underlying these deficits is the reality that individuals with autism do not find social stimuli to be as reinforcing as other types of stimuli (Dawson, 2008). An interesting and growing body of literature supports the notion that symptoms in autism may be caused by a general reduction in social motivation (Chevallier et al., 2012). A review of the literature suggests that social orienting and social motivation are low in individuals with autism, and …

Communication And Common Interest, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Manolo Martínez

Publications and Research

Explaining the maintenance of communicative behavior in the face of incentives to deceive, conceal information, or exaggerate is an important problem in behavioral biology. When the interests of agents diverge, some form of signal cost is often seen as essential to maintaining honesty. Here, novel computational methods are used to investigate the role of common interest between the sender and receiver of messages in maintaining cost-free informative signaling in a signaling game. Two measures of common interest are defined. These quantify the divergence between sender and receiver in their preference orderings over acts the receiver might perform in each state …

Local Tobacco Control: Application Of The Essential Public Health Services Model In A County Health Department’S Efforts To Put It Out Rockland, Lisa D. Lieberman, Una Diffley, Sandy King, Shelley Chanler, Maryanne Ferrera, Oscar Alleyne, Joan Facelle

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

In 2000, Rockland County, a small suburban county north of New York City, dedicated $1 million of its Master Settlement Agreement funds to a comprehensive tobacco control program, Put It Out Rockland. Developed and implemented by the county health department, this program used an essential public health services model and an ongoing financial investment, within the context of strong statewide tobacco control efforts, to lower adult smoking rates to 9.7% and to reduce both smoking among youths and exposure to secondhand smoke over the ensuing decade. By combining state funds and local dollars for a total of $6.75 cost per …

Short- And Long-Term Associations Between Widowhood And Mortality In The United States: Longitudinal Analyses, J. Robin Moon, M. Maria Glamour, Anusha M. Vable, Sze Yan Liu, S.V. Subramanian

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Past research shows that spousal death results in elevated mortality risk for the surviving spouse. However, most prior studies have inadequately controlled for socioeconomic status (SES), and it is unclear whether this ‘widowhood effect’ persists over time.

Methods

Health and Retirement Study participants aged 50+ years and married in 1998 (n = 12 316) were followed through 2008 for widowhood status and mortality (2912 deaths). Discrete-time survival analysis was used to compare mortality for the widowed versus the married.

Results

Odds of mortality during the first 3 months post-widowhood were significantly higher than in the continuously married (odds ratio …

Qualitative Perspectives Towards Prostitution's Perceived Lifestyle Addictiveness, Michael W. Firmin, Alisha D. Lee, Ruth L. Firmin, Lauren Mccotter Deakin, Hannah J. Holmes

Psychology Faculty Publications

The aim of the present study was to provide a phenomenological perspective of individuals who actively engage in street-level prostitution and identified a lifestyle addiction associated with their activities. Methods: We interviewed 25 women who were incarcerated in American county jails (at the time of interviews) for prostitution crimes. The transcripts were analyzed for themes that represented the shared consensus of the research participants. Results: Four negative psychological dynamics related to prostitution. First, participants described accounts of physical and emotional violence which they experienced at the hand of clients and others involved in the lifestyle. Second, interviewees explained …

Attachment Style, Early Sexual Intercourse, And Dating Aggression Victimization, Nicole Yarkovsky, Patti A. Timmons Fritz

Psychology Publications

The present study examined relations between attachment style, age at first sexual intercourse, and dating aggression (DA) victimization. In all, 137 heterosexual female undergraduate students 18 to 25 years of age (M = 20.76, SD = 1.87) completed an online questionnaire that included questions regarding sexual history, attachment style (Experiences in Close Relationships Scale), and DA (Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory). Initial bivariate correlations revealed that women reported higher rates of DA victimization if they were more anxiously attached (r = .30, p = .000), had an earlier age at vaginal sexual debut (r = −.19, …

Strength, But Not Direction, Of Handedness Is Related To Height, Ruth E. Propper, Tad T. Brunyé, Karly Frank, Sean E. Mcgraw

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Left-handers are reputed to be shorter than right-handers. However, previous research has confounded handedness direction (left- versus right-handedness) with handedness strength (consistency with which one hand is chosen across a variety of tasks; consistent- versus inconsistent-handedness). Here, we support a relationship between handedness strength, but not direction, and stature, with increasing inconsistent-handedness associated with increasing self-reported height.

Re-Interpreting Melton’S Study Of Gallery Density And Visitor Attention, Stephen Bitgood, Todd Mckerchar, Stephany Dukes

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The works of Edward Robinson and Arthur Melton conducted in the 1920s and 1930s are often cited, but rarely read. The focus of this article is on one of Melton’s (1935) classic visitor studies, re-examined in terms of several explanatory mechanisms including a decision-making model of visitor attention. Melton varied the number of paintings in a gallery from 6 to 36 in increments of 6. As the number of paintings increased, the proportion of paintings actually viewed decreased; however, the average viewing time per painting remained constant. Melton’s findings of decreased attention are discussed in terms of four possible explanations: …

Evaluation Of A Pilot Of The Oregon Department Of Transportation’S Ecodrive Program, Donald M. Truxillo, John Macarthur, Frankie Guros, Layla R. Mansfield

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Economical, ecological, and safe driving – eco-driving – is aimed at reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (Martin, Chan, & Shaheen, 2012). The adoption of energy-efficient driving styles and practices has been recognized as a means of reducing energy consumption, and estimates of energy savings attributed to eco-driving have been reported to range from 5% to as high as 20%, depending on the driving context (Barkenbus, 2010; Stillwater & Kurani, 2013; van der Voort, Dougherty & van Maareseveen, 2001). Eco-driving is being promoted in partnership among the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) (Planning, Safety and Motor Carrier Division), the …

Satisfaction Pursuing Approach And Avoidance Goals: Effects Of Regulatory Fit And Individual Temperaments, Guihyun Grace Park, Linn Van Dyne, Daniel R. Ilgen

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Going beyond previous studies on satisfaction in pursuing approach versus avoidance goals, the current study is the first to examine individual satisfaction in pursuing approach and avoidance goals as determined by regulatory fit between type of goal and type of strategy. Specifically, the present study shows that people with approach goals have greater satisfaction when they use an approach strategy rather than an avoidance strategy. People with avoidance goals have greater satisfaction when they use an avoidance strategy rather than an approach strategy. In addition, we explored how individual differences in the Behavioral Activation System and the Behavioral Inhibition System …

The Effect Of Motive And Coworker Liking On The Intention To Perform Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Caley M. Foster

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is defined as employee behavior that benefits others yet is not required by the employee’s job description. OCB can be divided into two categories: behavior that is either directed toward individuals (OCBI) or behavior that is directed toward the organization (OCBO). Researchers have posited that there are three different motives behind OCB: impression management, prosocial values, and organizational concern. Additionally, researchers have recognized the importance of coworker relationships within organizations and have suggested that the degree to which one likes his or her coworkers may serve as an additional source of motivation to engage in different …

Like Or Dislike: The Emotional Toll Of Being On Facebook, Lauren N. Weathers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined the relationship between affect changes or lack thereof when one logs onto Facebook or Yahoo!. Facebook was specifically chosen for examination in the current study due to its widespread use, its vast effect on society, and its unique features that allow users to obtain information and have social interaction at the same time. Yahoo! served as a control due to the fact that it is a highly popular site that has similar features of Facebook without having the social functions. Both sites allow users to observe news that is pertinent and of interest to them and …

Hyperboloid Discounting Of Delayed Outcomes: Magnitude Effects And The Gain-Loss Asymmetry, Todd Mckerchar, Stephen Pickford, Shannon R. Robertson

Research, Publications & Creative Work

For more than 20 years, a plethora of research has been conducted on the discounting of delayed rewards. In contrast, there has been relatively little research on the discounting of delayed aversive outcomes (e.g., monetary losses). The present study examined the discounting of delayed hypothetical gains and losses by 55 college undergraduates at two monetary amounts, $1,000 and $25,000. A simple hyperbola generally provided very poor fits to the data. In contrast, a hyperboloid provided much better fits to the discounting of all outcomes, and its exponent was frequently less than unity. Although the rate of discounting was greater for …

Treatment Of Psychiatric Inpatients With Relationship Dysfunction Using A Short Term Cognitive Interpersonal Intervention: A Pilot Study, Tamra Rasberry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Relationship conflict for the psychiatric patient can have significant detrimental effects. There are specific types of interactions that can increase conflict and predict the potential for relapse; these have been identified by research and designated as components of Expressed Emotion (EE). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) have been very effective when targeting specific psychiatric diagnoses, but less effective when addressing relationship conflict. The majority of studies addressing relationship conflict have taken place in an outpatient, long-term setting. There is limited research that utilizes an inpatient short-term intensive therapy with relationship conflict as its sole focus, targeting areas …

Empowerment-Based Positive Youth Development: A New Understanding Of Healthy Development For African American Youth, Raphael Travis Jr., Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

A shift occurred in research about adolescents in the general population. Research is moving away from deficits toward a resilience paradigm and understanding trajectories of positive youth development. This shift has been less consistent in research and practice with African American youth. A gap also exists in understanding whether individual youth development dimensions generate potential in other dimensions. This study presents an empowerment-based positive youth development model. It builds upon existing research to present a new vision of healthy development for African American youth that is strengths-based, developmental, culture-bound, and action-oriented. It emphasizes the relationship between person and environment, the …

The Social Ladder: A Rank-Based Perspective On Social Class, Michael W. Kraus, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Melanie B. Tannenbaum

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Scholars across the social sciences have studied social class for centuries. In this review, we suggest that social class is a fundamental means by which individuals are ranked on the social ladder of society. A rank-based perspective on social class shines light on several future areas of research: Specifically, understanding how social class ranks individuals vis-à-vis others leads to predictions about how class is signaled in interactions, influences social cognition and health, is shaped by global economic inequality trends, and changes across the life course. Importantly, our theory highlights the potential of experimental manipulations of social class rank for testing …

Assessment Of Likelihood Of A School Shooting Incident, W. Joseph Wyatt

Psychology Faculty Research

After considering the profiles of several shooters, consideration is given to the efficacy of using a profile to predict future shooting incidents.

Her Voice Lingers On And Her Memory Is Strategic: Effects Of Gender On Directed Forgetting, Hwajin Yang, Sujin Yang, Giho Park

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The literature on directed forgetting has employed exclusively visual words. Thus, the potentially interesting aspects of a spoken utterance, which include not only vocal cues (e.g., prosody) but also the speaker and the listener, have been neglected. This study demonstrates that prosody alone does not influence directed-forgetting effects, while the sex of the speaker and the listener significantly modulate directed-forgetting effects for spoken utterances. Specifically, forgetting costs were attenuated for female-spoken items compared to male-spoken items, and forgetting benefits were eliminated among female listeners but not among male listeners. These results suggest that information conveyed in a female …

Attitude Accessiblity As A Determinant Of Object Construal And Evaluation, Alison I. Young, Russell H. Fazio

Faculty Scholarship – Psychology

Attitude accessibility, the ease with which a given attitude comes to mind, has been demonstrated to affect attention. The current experiments focus on the construal of multiply-categorizable objects. They seek to provide evidence that (a) construals toward which individuals have more accessible attitudes, i.e., those that are more attitude-evoking, are more likely to influence the evaluation of related objects and that (b) this effect of attitude accessibility on construal processes can be extended to a whole series of objects which vary along multiple dimensions. Experiment 1 provides evidence that construals whose related attitudes were made more accessible via attitude rehearsal …

Getting A Grip On Memory: Unilateral Hand Clenching Alters Episodic Recall, Ruth E. Propper, Sean E. Mcgraw, Tad T. Brunyé

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Unilateral hand clenching increases neuronal activity in the frontal lobe of the contralateral hemisphere. Such hand clenching is also associated with increased experiencing a given hemisphere’s “mode of processing.” Together, these findings suggest that unilateral hand clenching can be used to test hypotheses concerning the specializations of the cerebral hemispheres during memory encoding and retrieval. We investigated this possibility by testing the effects of a unilateral hand clenching on episodic memory. The hemispheric Encoding/Retrieval Asymmetry (HERA) model proposes left prefrontal regions are associated with encoding, and right prefrontal regions with retrieval, of episodic memories. It was hypothesized that right-hand clenching …

Lateralized Difference In Tympanic Membrane Temperature: Emotion And Hemispheric Activity, Ruth E. Propper, Tad T. Brunyé

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

We review literature examining relationships between tympanic membrane temperature (TMT), affective/motivational orientation, and hemispheric activity. Lateralized differences in TMT might enable real-time monitoring of hemispheric activity in real-world conditions, and could serve as a corroborating marker of mental illnesses associated with specific affective dysregulation. We support the proposal that TMT holds potential for broadly indexing lateralized brain physiology during tasks demanding the processing and representation of emotional and/or motivational states, and for predicting trait-related affective/motivational orientations. The precise nature of the relationship between TMT and brain physiology, however, remains elusive. Indeed the limited extant research has sampled different participant populations …

Learn To Interview More Effectively, Kristie L. Campana

Psychology Department Publications

No abstract provided.

Political Attitudes Bias The Mental Representation Of A Presidential Candidate's Face, Alison I. Young, Kyle G. Ratner, Russell H. Fazio

Faculty Scholarship – Psychology

Using a technique known as reverse correlation image classification, we demonstrate that the physical face of Mitt Romney represented in people’s minds varies as a function of their attitudes toward Mitt Romney. This provides evidence that attitudes bias how we see something as concrete and well-learned as the face of a political candidate during an election. Practically, this implies that citizens may not merely interpret political information about a candidate to fit their opinion, but that they may construct a political world where they literally see candidates differently.

It's Not All In Your Head (Or At Least Your Brain): Association Of Traumatic Brain Lesion Presence And Location With Performance On Measures Of Response Bias In Forensic Evaluation, William F. Mcbride Iii, M.S., Adam H. Crighton, Dustin B. Wygant, Ph.D., Robert P. Granacher, Jr., M.D., M.B.A.

Psychology Faculty and Staff Research

This study examined the relationship between lesion presence and localization and performance on measures of cognitive response bias, specifically in individuals purporting to have a traumatic brain injury. Ninety-two participants, all of whom were involved in workers’ compensation or personal injury litigation, were administered an extensive neuropsychological battery, including neuroimaging (magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography), at a neuropsychiatric clinic in Lexington, KY. Those with evidence of intracranial injury on neuroimaging findings were placed in the head injury lesion litigation group and were coded based on the anatomical location and type of intracranial injury. Results demonstrated no significant relationships between …

Understanding And Managing The Adhd Experience From Childhood Through Adulthood, John Kuhnley

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.