Psychology Commons^™

Art Therapy For Trauma Survivors, Mercedes Ter Maat

Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches and Lectures

Interested in incorporating art-making into your clinical practice with trauma survivors? This presentation addresses the power of art in recalling the traumatic event and accessing trauma-related emotions in a non-threatening way. Learn how art assists trauma survivors in identifying, expressing, and containing emotions by engaging in a process that creates a safe distance from painful feelings while providing a concrete vehicle to explore potentially volatile emotions. Artwork will be shown to illustrate this process.

Intelligence, Complexity, And Individuality In Sheep, Lori Marino, Debra Merskin

Lori Marino, PhD

Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are among the earliest animals domesticated for human use. They are consumed worldwide as mutton, hogget, and lamb, kept as wool and milk producers, and used extensively in scientific research. The popular stereotype is that sheep are docile, passive, unintelligent, and timid, but a review of the research on their behavior, affect, cognition, and personality reveals that they are complex, individualistic, and social.

People's Self-Reported Encounters Of Perceiving Mind In Artificial Intelligence, Daniel Burton Shank, Alexander Gott

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article presents the data from two surveys that asked about everyday encounters with artificial intelligence (AI) systems that are perceived to have attributes of mind. In response to specific attribute prompts about an AI, the participants qualitatively described a personally-known encounter with an AI. In survey 1 the prompts asked about an AI planning, having memory, controlling resources, or doing something surprising. In survey 2 the prompts asked about an AI experiencing emotion, expressing desires or beliefs, having human-like physical features, or being mistaken for a human. The original responses were culled based on the ratings of multiple coders …

Hating Evil: Understanding The Role Of Evil In Interpersonal Hate, Carmen Merrick

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has demonstrated that hate is a protective emotional response to perceived evil, yet the dimensions by which people perceive evil have not been clearly identified. Research has also indicated that it is evil to feel hate, which presents an interesting paradox: if hate protects us from evil, then how can it be evil to feel hate? The present research attempts to identify the dimensions of evil and elucidate the relationship between hate and evil by comparing it to the relationship between dislike and evil. Study 1 tested how participants identified evil in third person scenarios. As predicted, evil was …

A Case Study Of Junior Elite Tennis Players' And Their Parent’S Self-Talk, Véronique Boudreault, Christiane Trottier, Martin D. Provencher

The Qualitative Report

Automatic self-talk of elite athletes provides valuable insight into their emotional experience and self-regulation strategies in competition. To date, there is a shortage of research examining elite junior athletes’ automatic self-talk in competition through a qualitative lens. Despite parents’ key role in the well-being and performance of their child, there is no study about junior elite athletes’ and their parents’ self-talk during a competition. Hence, the aim of this study is to examine the content of elite junior tennis players’ automatic self-talk as well as the content of their parents’ self-talk regarding their emotions during important matches. In each of …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Christian Nawroth, PhD

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Alan G. McElligott, PhD

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Building Teachers’ Emotional Competence: A Transactional Training Model, Caroline Fulton

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Classrooms are complex entities, where the emotions of students and teachers interact to influence learning, relationships, and students’ social emotional development. Teachers’ understanding of emotional processes within the classroom is critical to effective teaching, promotion of healthy child development, and attaining desired learning outcomes. Further, emotions have powerful consequences for teachers themselves. They affect teachers’ well-being, self-efficacy, and ultimately whether teachers remain in the profession or not. Therefore, teachers need skills to recognize and respond to emotional experiences in the classroom. In the present research project a set of emotional competences relevant to educational practices were developed. These competencies include …

Looking On The Bright Side Of Livestock Emotions—The Potential Of Their Transmission To Promote Positive Welfare, Luigi Baciadonna, Sandra Duepjan, Elodie Briefer, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Christian Nawroth

Elodie Briefer, PhD

Emotions can be defined as an individual’s affective reaction to an external and/or internal event that, in turn, generates a simultaneous cascade of behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes. Those changes that can be perceived by conspecifics have the potential to also affect other’s emotional states, a process labeled as “emotional contagion.” Especially in the case of gregarious species, such as livestock, emotional contagion can have an impact on the whole group by, for instance, improving group coordination and strengthening social bonds. We noticed that the current trend of research on emotions in livestock, i.e., investigating affective states as a tool …

Goats Prefer Positive Human Emotional Facial Expressions, Christian Nawroth, Natalia Albuquerque, Carine Savalli, Marie-Sophie Single, Alan G. Mcelligott

Alan G. McElligott, PhD

Domestication has shaped the physiology and the behaviour of animals to better adapt to human environments. Therefore, human facial expressions may be highly informative for animals domesticated for working closely with people, such as dogs and horses. However, it is not known whether other animals, and particularly those domesticated primarily for production, such as goats, are capable of perceiving human emotional cues. In this study, we investigated whether goats can distinguish human facial expressions when simultaneously shown two images of an unfamiliar human with different emotional valences (positive/ happy or negative/angry). Both images were vertically attached to a wall on …

Looking On The Bright Side Of Livestock Emotions—The Potential Of Their Transmission To Promote Positive Welfare, Luigi Baciadonna, Sandra Duepjan, Elodie Briefer, Mónica Padilla De La Torre, Christian Nawroth

Christian Nawroth, PhD

Emotions can be defined as an individual’s affective reaction to an external and/or internal event that, in turn, generates a simultaneous cascade of behavioral, physiological, and cognitive changes. Those changes that can be perceived by conspecifics have the potential to also affect other’s emotional states, a process labeled as “emotional contagion.” Especially in the case of gregarious species, such as livestock, emotional contagion can have an impact on the whole group by, for instance, improving group coordination and strengthening social bonds. We noticed that the current trend of research on emotions in livestock, i.e., investigating affective states as a tool …

Goats Prefer Positive Human Emotional Facial Expressions, Christian Nawroth, Natalia Albuquerque, Carine Savalli, Marie-Sophie Single, Alan G. Mcelligott

Christian Nawroth, PhD

Domestication has shaped the physiology and the behaviour of animals to better adapt to human environments. Therefore, human facial expressions may be highly informative for animals domesticated for working closely with people, such as dogs and horses. However, it is not known whether other animals, and particularly those domesticated primarily for production, such as goats, are capable of perceiving human emotional cues. In this study, we investigated whether goats can distinguish human facial expressions when simultaneously shown two images of an unfamiliar human with different emotional valences (positive/ happy or negative/angry). Both images were vertically attached to a wall on …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Communication Skills Collection

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Perceptual Lateralization Of Vocal Stimuli In Goats, Luigi Baciadonna, Christian Nawroth, Elodie F. Briefer, Alan G. Mcelligott

Social Cognition Collection

Functional asymmetries, for example, the preferential involvement of 1 brain hemisphere to process stimuli, may increase brain efficiency and the capacity to carry out tasks simultaneously. We investigated which hemisphere was primarily involved in processing acoustic stimuli in goats using a head-orienting paradigm. Three playbacks using goat vocalizations recorded in different contexts: food anticipation (positive), isolation (negative), food frustration (negative), as well as 1 playback involving dog barks (negative) were presented on the left and right sides of the test subjects simultaneously. The head-orienting response (left or right) and latency to resume feeding were recorded. The direction of the head-orienting …

Gratitude Reception And Physical Health: Examining The Mediating Role Of Satisfaction With Patient Care In A Sample Of Acute Care Nurses, Alicia R. Starkey, Cynthia D. Mohr, David M. Cadiz, Robert R. Sinclair

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Literature examining well-being benefits of gratitude experiences is currently thriving in psychological science. However, evidence of the physical health benefits of gratitude remains limited. Research and theory in affective science suggests an indirect relationship between gratitude and physical health. This study examines how receiving expressions of gratitude predicts physical health outcomes in a sample of acute care nurses over time. Registered nurses (N = 146) practicing in Oregon completed weekly surveys over 12 consecutive weeks describing their positive and negative events, health, and work-related experiences. Multilevel mediation models revealed that being thanked more often at work was positively related to …

How Radical Are The Implications Of Properzi’S Christ-Centered Perspective On Emotion For Psychology And Psychotherapy?, Jeffrey S. Reber

Issues in Religion and Psychotherapy

Properzi offers a perspective on emotion that is radically different from traditional secular theories of emotion and the psychotherapy approaches associated with those theories, but perhaps his Christ- centered perspective is even more radical than he perceives it. If it is strongly theistic and strongly relational, as it appears to be, then its implications would significantly alter the psychology of emotion and psychotherapy. These implications need to be explicated so it is clear what a Christ-centered per- spective on emotion would mean to the discipline. I have fleshed out three radical implications regarding scope, relational ontology, and mastery discourse to …

The Effect Of Emotional Competencies On Team Functioning, Morgan R. Borders

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Collaboration, cohesion, and trust within teams can lead to beneficial outcomes such as innovation, speed of innovation delivery, enhanced creativity, and improved performance. Because of the prevalence of teams in the workforce, it is important that teams function at their highest capacity. One way to enhance team functioning may be to improve emotional intelligence (EI) in team members. Research has shown that higher EI is related to individual benefits such as stress resilience, better communication, relationship satisfaction, and improved performance. Team benefits of higher EI include greater cohesion, cooperation, trust, and performance. This study examined whether an emotional competency training …

Intelligence, Complexity, And Individuality In Sheep, Lori Marino, Debra Merskin

Animal Sentience

Domestic sheep (Ovis aries) are among the earliest animals domesticated for human use. They are consumed worldwide as mutton, hogget, and lamb, kept as wool and milk producers, and used extensively in scientific research. The popular stereotype is that sheep are docile, passive, unintelligent, and timid, but a review of the research on their behavior, affect, cognition, and personality reveals that they are complex, individualistic, and social.

What We Don't Know About Cephalopods And How To Define It, Catia Correia Caeiro

Animal Sentience

Despite the reputation of octopuses as intelligent animals, their cognitive abilities seem to be mostly unknown. This should be the starting point of a long process of scientific enquiry about these taxa, which must include discussions on operational definitions first and foremost. Discussing octopus mind might prove fruitless without more basic concepts. Some approaches are suggested here.

The Impact Program: Increasing Employability Skills Of High School Students Through Adventure Based Learning, Titina Finch Brown

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

High school students face unique challenges following graduation such as the rising costs of post-secondary education, demands from employers for a highly skilled workforce, and the desire of employers to hire workers who are not only technologically proficient, but also effective communicators and team players. Soft skills have become a commodity to businesses. High schools find themselves more and more responsible for adequately preparing students for a rapidly changing economy. Engaging instruction in social motional learning (SEL) for secondary students is essential in preparing them for this transition. Research shows that Adventure Based Learning (ABL) could be the vehicle for …

The Association Between Body Esteem And Post-Operative Outcomes In Adult Weight-Loss Surgery Patients, Jennifer Rohr Swetkowski

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Bariatric surgery (weight-loss surgery) remains the most effective long-term treatment for obesity, resulting in improved obesity-related comorbidities and increased life expectancy. There remains, however, a limited understanding of predictors and patientlevel factors associated with insufficient weight loss and psychological dysfunction. Body esteem, or feelings of self-worth about one’s body and appearance, is a significant concern for individuals undergoing weight-loss surgery, although the relationship between body esteem and weight loss is complex. Indeed, there is a subset of patients who experience suboptimal weight loss and poor psychological outcomes after undergoing bariatric surgery. This retrospective, longitudinal study examined the relationship between pre-operative …

An Expansion Of A Model Of Depression In Multiple Sclerosis : Emotion Regulation And Coping As Moderators Of The Relationship Between Functional Disability And Adjustment To Disease, Elizabeth W. Raffanello

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune-mediate disease affecting the central nervous system (CNS), producing a range of physical and emotional symptoms. Psychological disorders, particularly depression and anxiety, are common in MS, but only partially accounted for by MS symptoms. The associations between common MS sequelae (e.g., fatigue, pain, disability) and mental health indicators are weak and inconsistent, suggesting the presence of moderators. This research study examined two possible moderators of the association between MS sequelae and adjustment to disease: emotion regulation and coping. Emotion regulation refers to the processes used to modulate emotional experiences. It is closely related to coping, …

Sensory Processing Patterns And Emotion Regulation In Children Presenting With Externalizing Behaviors, Melanie Levitt

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Sensory processing is a neurological process that involves a child’s perception, organization, and reaction to sensory stimuli. Certain groups of people, such as children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), experience more intense sensory processing patterns (Dunn, 2007). Researchers have also observed that children presenting with ASD and ADHD exhibit more externalizing scores as their sensory processing patterns become more intense or problematic (Gourley et al., 2013). However, researchers have not examined the relationship between sensory processing and externalizing behaviors in those not diagnosed with ASD and ADHD. Additionally, there are overlapping neural mechanisms between sensory …

The Role Of Interrole Transitioning In The Conflict And Enrichment Of Work And Family, John Paul Agosta

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study focuses on how full-time, sandwiched workers (i.e., those who are dual-caregivers, providing care to both their children and elders) experience interrole transitioning from both the work and family roles, and tests whether affective reactions to transitioning relate to work and family outcomes. This study has three specific objectives: 1) assess the extent to which bi-directional interrole transitioning (i.e., the switching between two different roles while located in one role) predicts bi-directional work-family conflict; 2) examine if interrole transitioning relates to bi-directional work-family enrichment in this population, and 3) test whether or not employees’ affective reactions to interrole transitioning …

Connectedness To Nature And Pro-Environmental Behaviour From Early Adolescence To Adulthood: A Comparison Of Urban And Rural Canada, Daniel Anderson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Previous research has demonstrated that emotional connectedness to nature (ECN) is one of the strongest predictors of pro-environmental behaviour (PEB). This study investigated the influence of age, gender and living context on ECN and PEB in two Canadian samples.

Study participants completed an environmental survey, which assessed demographic data as well as their levels of ECN and PEB. Project I, which contained 1251 participants, investigated what group factors (age, urban vs. rural living context, male vs. female) contributed to ECN and PEB, as well as whether ECN mediated the relationship between age and PEB. Project II, which contained 84 adolescents, …