Psychology Commons^™

Neuropsychological Malingering Determination: The Illusion Of Scientific Lie Detection, Chunlin Leonhard, Christoph Leonhard

Georgia Law Review

Humans believe that other humans lie, especially when stakes are high. Stakes can be very high in a courtroom, from substantial amounts of monetary damages in civil litigation to liberty or life in criminal cases. One of the most frequently disputed issues in U.S. courts is whether litigants are malingering when they allege physical or mental conditions for which they are seeking damages or which would allow them to avoid criminal punishment. Understandably, creating a scientific method to detect lies is very appealing to all persons engaged in lie detection. Neuropsychologists claim that they can use neuropsychological assessment tests (Malingering …

Moral Disengagement And Psychopathy: A Quantitative Correlational Study On Attachment To God And Empathy, Kimberly Essler

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Moral disengagement and lack of empathy are rising concerns in the United States. Those who are morally disengaged or display limited empathy are often associated with anti-social personality disorder or psychopathy. Studies consistently show trauma and early childhood attachment are predictors for the development of behaviors associated with psychopathy. Current literature has demonstrated semi-effective therapeutic treatment and pharmacotherapy for comorbid disorders and symptoms such as anxiety. However, research fails to adequately address the prevention and treatment of lack of empathy – a major factor in the perilous behaviors of psychopathy. Psychopathy includes structural and functional brain abnormalities in the cortical …

Cognitive Functioning In Well-Controlled Asthma, Erin Walsh

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Asthma is a common lung disease that impacts lung functioning through inflammatory based mechanisms. Past research suggests that decreased blood oxygenation due to asthma attacks may impair cognitive capabilities (Irani et al., 2017). Moreover, the observed differences in cognition between those with and without asthma may be associated with disease severity or asthma control respectively in asthma populations. The current study explored differences in cognitive functioning between college students with and without self-reported asthma. Sociodemographic data, self-reported asthma severity, and measures of asthma control were collected. The current study did not find significant differences in measures of cognitive efficiency between …

Does The Apoe-Ε4 Allele Differentially Influence Cognition: A Longitudinal Investigation In Healthy Older Adults At Risk For Alzheimer’S Disease, Aditya Kulkarni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: The apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele is the strongest susceptibility factor for sporadic, late-onset, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, not all persons who carry the ε4 allele show significant cognitive decline, and thus do not progress to dementia. The impact of the ε4 allele on memory decline has been documented primarily in populations already demonstrating cognitive impairment (i.e., those with mild cognitive impairment or dementia), with fewer investigations completed in baseline healthy older adults. Investigations of the ε4 allele and its influence on non-memory domains are also sparse in the literature. Furthermore, these cognitive investigations are typically cross-sectional and …

Pinpointing The Cognitive Structure Of The Cpt-3: A Case For Distribution Appropriate Statistical Methods, Chandler J. Zolliecoffer

Theses and Dissertations

The present study used the CPT-3 as a model to illustrate the complementary use of distribution-appropriate statistical methods to analyze non-normally distributed empirical datasets. Study results reaffirmed that while group-level analysis (e.g., via traditional parametric group-level analysis or distribution-appropriate group-level analysis procedures) offers insights into performance of the group in aggregate, it is oftentimes inappropriate to presume that patterns reflected by the group are, necessarily, applicable to a smaller subset of respondents. Thus, understanding how subgroups within the population navigate and approach a given task can have direct implications for more personalized/individualized assessment and treatment, especially in clinical and research …

Community Awareness Of Youth Sport Related Concussion: A Neuropsychological Perspective, Ryan D. Bennett, Claire Stafford, Shanna K. Williams, Vijay Bajnath, Chris Burley, Alison Datoc, Alexis Hartman

Journal for Sports Neuroscience

There continues to be growing public awareness regarding concussions and the detrimental effects sustaining such an injury can have on one’s life. Of increased importance is the understanding of how concussions impact children and adolescents, particularly as a result of sport engagements. Contact sports involving youth account for 41% of the concussions seen in emergency departments (Waltzman et al., 2020). Of note, hospital estimates tend to underrepresent the total number of sport-related concussions as they do not factor patients treated in a community setting (Bazarian et al., 2020). In consideration of this public health epidemic, there is a current projection …

The Effects Of Traumatic Brain Injury On Empathy And Quality Of Life, Nicholas James Pek

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Physical, emotional, cognitive, and social problems can all result from a traumatic brain injury. The focus of this present research was to investigate individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI who lack empathy and how that lack in empathy might impact their quality-of-life. Individuals with moderate-to-severe TBI between ages 18 and 65 (N=39) completed questionnaires including the Quality of Life after Brain Injury (QOLIBRI) and Empathy Quotient (EQ) as part of a larger study. A correlational analysis was completed between the total scores on the EQ and total scores on the QOLIBRI before splitting the participants into groups. A relationship between total scores …

Videoconference Administration Of The Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System, Zachary T. Stine

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Neuropsychological assessments rely on standardization, reliability, validity, and normative data to increase the accuracy of clinicians’ interpretations (Lezak et al., 2012). One particular assessment that focuses on examining comprehensive executive functioning is the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS; Delis et al., 2001). Videoconference is gaining in use to provide services within multiple healthcare domains to increase access to care and convenience, potentially reduce costs, and sustain patient satisfaction (Brearly et al., 2017). The literature has shown support for the growing field of telehealth neuropsychology (Brearly et al., 2017); however, many neuropsychological assessments, such as the D-KEFS, have not been normed …

The Relationship Between Maternal Emotion Socialization And Child Executive Functioning And Behavior: Exploring The Moderating Role Of Cortisol, Mayela Norwood

CMC Senior Theses

In the early years of life, the development of children’s executive functioning (EF) and behavior regulation are critical to their later growth and self-sufficiency. Previous studies have indicated that one pathway by which children learn to regulate their emotions is through their immediate social environments (de Cock et al., 2017). Parents, in particular, play a significant role in the development of their children‘s emotion regulation and executive functioning (Fernandes et al., 2022). At the same time, physiological responses to stress also matter. Cortisol, the end product of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, has also been associated with children’s executive functioning and behavior …

Mind Wandering In Daily Life: A National Experience Sampling Study Of Intentional And Unintentional Mind Wandering Episodes Reported By Working Adults Ages 25 – 50, Paula C. Lowe

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Numerous researchers have investigated thinking that drifts away from what the individual was doing, thinking that is known as mind wandering. Their inquiries were often conducted in university lab settings with student participants. To learn about mind wandering in the daily life of working adults, this experience sampling study investigated intentional and unintentional mind wandering episodes as reported by working adults, ages 25–50, living across the United States. In this age frame, work and family responsibilities have increased in complexity and overlap. Using a smartphone app, participants were randomly notified to answer experience sampling surveys six times a day for …

A Longitudinal Study Of Pain In Youth And Young Adults With Spina Bifida: Three Studies Based On The Bio-Neuropsychosocial Model, Diana Margaret Ohanian

Dissertations

Family Functioning, Neuropsychology, Pain, Pain Coping, Psychological Adjustment, Spina Bifida

The Impact Of Cannabis Use On Neuropsychological And Neural Biomarkers Of Treatment Response In Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Melanie B. Thies

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cannabis use among patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders (SSD) is at significantly greater levels than in healthy populations but the impact of cannabis on neural mechanisms of clinical improvement is poorly understood. Cognitive functioning and neural connectivity are disrupted as a result of both SSD and cannabis use, and research indicates that neuropsychological capacity and connectivity of the striatum, a region involved in salience and reward processing, may be integral to effective antipsychotic drug (AP) treatment response. Despite this overlap, no previous research has investigated the effect of cannabis on the brain functions implicated in AP treatment response. The present study …

Serial Position Effect Profiles And Their Neuroanatomical Correlates: Predictors Of Conversion To Alzheimer's Disease, Isabelle K. Avildsen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current study was designed to determine whether targeted, premorbid, neuropsychological measures of the serial position effect (SPE) can detect and explain risk for later development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The study tested the utility of SPE measures in healthy controls (HC) and individuals already diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or AD. Aim 1 was to determine whether these sensitive, valid neuropsychological measures can explain disease risk. SPE of list-learning are highly sensitive cognitive markers that capture important elements of both linguistic and amnestic mechanisms of encoding, learning, and retrieval. Using the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT), we …

Changes In Cognitive Networks As A Result Of Sport-Related Concussion, Grace J. Goodwin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Given the high prevalence of concussion in sports, assessment of cognition has become a standard part of athletics, and results are used to inform return to play decisions. Neurocognitive measures (e.g., ImPACT) generate cognitive composite scores from individual subtests, and these scores are compared at baseline and post-concussion. Declines in scores provide evidence for concussive injury, and athletes undergo repeated assessments until their scores and symptoms improve. Recent research suggests that changes in the associations between test scores may provide important information about cognitive recovery. A network framework may help identify post-concussive cognitive changes that may not be apparent when …

Providing Effective Assessment Feedback To Patients: Lessons Learned From Feedback After A Severe Injury, Kelsie Mcquinn

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

This paper seeks to articulate lessons learned from feedback received after a severe injury in order to help guide neuropsychologists provide effective feedback to patients. Given that there is no agreed upon conceptual framework for providing neuropsychological assessment feedback, parallels are drawn from what works in clinical psychology – the working alliance. I use personal examples to highlight how the working alliance, as well as other psychological principles, can help inform neuropsychologists provide the most effective feedback to patients.

Culture And Language Influence How Hispanics/Latinos In The U.S. Think About Themselves Through Time, Alicia Camuy

Senior Theses and Projects

Culture has been implicated in episodic memory, but this has not been explored in episodic future thought. Episodic information helps to form an identity. Thus, this is an exploratory study to identify unique ways in which Spanish-English Hispanic/Latino populations remember and project to the future, perceive themselves over time, and perceive the passage of time. Participants (n = 50) were healthy bilingual Hispanics/Latinos living in the U.S. tested over Zoom. Materials included background information, an acculturation scale, Temporal Focus Scale (TFS), and Thinking About Life Experiences (TALE) Scale. A time estimation measure and Pre- and Re- experiencing Mental Events (PRIME) …

The Effect Of Creative Art Therapy On Trauma Victims Suffering From Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Sophia Swiatek

Senior Honors Theses

When confronted with a traumatic situation, individuals’ brains often face difficulty in storing and/or processing such experiences. Unfortunately, this presents challenges for accessing those memories later in life, especially if the individuals are solely using speech-based techniques to do so. This fact has spurred research on whether various other therapeutic techniques, such as Creative Art Therapy (CAT), can produce better results in improving the mental health of a trauma victim suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This study attempts to uncover whether age, gender, and/or type of therapy play a significant role in the improvement of CAT clients’ mental health …

A Comparison Of Teleneuropsychological And Traditional Neuropsychological Battery Factor Structures, Alison Datoc

Theses and Dissertations

This study compared the factor structures of a traditional neuropsychological battery, administered in-person, and a teleneuropsychological battery, administered remotely. Participants were divided into two groups dependent on test condition (i.e., in- person or remote). Individuals in the in-person test condition group (n = 100) were selected from a sample of individuals who were assessed in-person in a previous archival study, and individuals in the remote testing condition group (n = 100) were assessed via teleneuropsychology in their home environment.

Two Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method were conducted on the T-scores and scaled scores of each …

Association Of Early Life Stressors With Deficits In Child And Adolescent Cognitive Functioning, Emily M. Deming

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the ACEs questionnaire could be a viable screener tool for identifying children in need of neuropsychological testing. This study consisted of a sample of child participants aged 8-17 years (N=53) who were divided into a no ACEs group or the ACEs group (1 or more ACEs) depending on parental responses to the ACEs questionnaire. Participants completed a series of virtual neuropsychological tests that assessed overall neurocognitive functioning, memory, and attention. No significant differences between the no ACEs group and the ACEs group in performance of the overall Neurocognitive Index, …

Investigation Of A Misophonia And Fluid Intelligence Relationship: Sound Spectrum Variation Impact On Fluid Intelligence Task Responses, Leslie Watson

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT Studies of misophonia have not assessed the impact of music and sound complexity on intelligence in individuals with misophonia. Edelstein et al. (2013) have provided work which pools trigger sound characteristics including sound repetitiveness yet does not include a substantial music subcategory. Utilizing the Cattell–Horn–Carroll model of intelligence, the current study explores the nature of music and music complexity on fluid intelligence, as described by Sternberg (2012). The hypotheses for this study focused on the relationship that complexity and music might have with misophonia. The rate of misophonia in the Mechanical Turk population was hypothesized to be 20%. The …

Neural Correlates And Neuroanatomy Of Juvenile And Adult Contextual Fear Memory Retention, Natalie Odynocki

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

AbstractFear is an evolutionarily conserved mechanism that allows an organism to discern potential harm and act accordingly by engaging in defensive behaviors. While fear is an adaptive response, dysregulation of fear by means of a traumatic event can lead to psychiatric conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Animal research using rodents in Pavlovian context fear conditioning experiments allows for the ability to study the underlying neural circuitry of threat-appropriate and aberrant fear learning and memory that may contribute to PTSD. However, despite reports that women are more than two times more likely to develop PTSD compared to men, the …

Cancer Related Cognitive Impairment In Breast Cancer Patients: Guidelines For Neuropsychological Evaluation And Management, Ali Al-Humadi

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Current literature indicates there is still some debate regarding the scope and severity of cancer treatment related cognitive impairment (CRCI), with a wide variety of complex factors contributing to cognitive decline and discrepancies between objective findings and patient self-report. This paper aims to provide guidelines for neuropsychological evaluation, management, and rehabilitation of CRCI in breast cancer patients based on current research. This paper also aims to discuss current research on proposed mechanisms of action for CRCI, the cognitive domains affected in CRCI, and significant bio-psycho-social risk factors impacting CRCI.

Alcohol Use And History Of Traumatic Brain Injury In College Students: An Analysis Of Neuropsychological And Behavioral Factors, Jessie Tibbs

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Approximately 69,000,000 individuals sustain TBIs each year worldwide. Alcohol use is a known risk factor for TBI. Nearly 50% of individuals with TBI endorse binge drinking, alcohol-related negative consequences, or meet criteria for AUDs. One of the most pressing issues within the alcohol-TBI literature is predicting post-TBI alcohol-related problems, as this results in poorer recovery, rehabilitation, and functioning. Evidence for TBIs causing post-injury alcohol use in those without pre-injury problematic alcohol use is mixed; not all TBI survivors experience alcohol-related problems post-injury. Evidence is mounting that one of the most robust predictors of post-injury alcohol problems is childhood or adolescent …

Cerebellum-Seeded Functional Connectivity Changes In Trait-Anxious Individuals Undergoing Attention Bias Modification Training, Katherine Elwell

All NMU Master's Theses

Anxiety and anxiety related disorders are increasing at a drastic rate in the past decade, with the NIMH reporting that 31.1% of U.S. adults will experience an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives. Anxiety is commonly characterized by increased attention bias to threat. Attention Bias Modification (ABM) is a new treatment used to reduce individual’s attention bias towards threat. The extent to which ABM leads to underlying neural changes is still unknown. The cerebellum is a neglected brain structure, with new research provides evidence that cerebellum’s functional connectivity and shared networks with threat processing regions has a direct …

T-Moca: A Valid Phone Screen For Cognitive Impairment In Diverse Community Samples, Mindy J. Katz, Cuiling Wang, Caroline O. Nester, Carol A. Derby, Molly E. Zimmerman, Richard B. Lipton, Martin J. Sliwinski, Laura A. Rabin

Publications and Research

Introduction: There is an urgent need to validate telephone versions of widely used general cognitive measures, such as the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (T-MoCA), for remote assessments.

Methods: In the Einstein Aging Study, a diverse community cohort (n = 428; mean age = 78.1; 66% female; 54% non-White), equivalence testing was used to examine concordance between the T-MoCA and the corresponding in-person MoCA assess- ment. Receiver operating characteristic analyses examined the diagnostic ability to dis- criminate between mild cognitive impairment and normal cognition. Conversion meth- ods from T-MoCA to the MoCA are presented.

Results: Education, race/ethnicity, gender, age, self-reported cognitive concerns, …

Golf Brain: A Neuropsychological Study Of Performance In Competition, Taylor S. Broughton

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Golf, as a sport, has been described by its masters as a mental game first and a technical skill second. Many players logged countless practice hours only to find suboptimal performance in tournaments; when it matters the most. I investigated the relationship between executive functioning specific to decision-making under anxious arousal and golfers’ performance under anxious arousal. I used a repeated measures design including variety of executive functioning tests to examine participants’ abilities. Participants were recruited from western Oregon including collegiate golfers and university students, and were grouped into non-golfers and golfer groups based on whether they played golf and …

The Roles Of Cardiovascular Disease And Depression In The Relationship Between Respiratory Disease And Neuropsychological Functioning In Older Adults, Alexander J. Gordon

Theses and Dissertations

The pathophysiology of severe respiratory diseases, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), supports the theory that oxygen deprivation to the brain may impact the brain’s execution of cognitive functions. Imaging studies also suggest that neuroanatomical changes in areas of the brain responsible for cognitive processes may be associated with respiratory diseases. Research in this area has failed to conclude definitively, especially in an older adult population, which is more likely to experience comorbid depression and cardiovascular disease, universally acknowledged predictors of poorer cognitive performance, the extent of the relationship between respiratory illness and cognitive functioning. The current …

Executive Functioning And Purpose In Life Among Emerging Adults In College, Alexis Kaylyn Liberto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Executive functioning (EF) is a complex neurocognitive concept that grew from the field of neuropsychology and has been explored through various avenues. The most accepted theoretical organization of EF includes a three-factor model that is comprised of inhibition, updating, and shifting. The three-factor conceptualization can be measured through various objective EF neuropsychological assessments and self-reported levels of EF abilities. Goal-planning and organizing cognitive processes are another important facet of EF, as they involve self-regulation abilities. Individuals able to “regulate” themselves behaviorally and move towards goals tend to be more successful and move towards their purpose in life. A facet …

Psychological Effects Of Testosterone Replacement Therapy For Secondary Hypogonadism, Minerva Spurlock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Hypogonadism negatively impacts various psychological aspects of a male’s life. Males under the age of 50 who experience symptoms of depression or a decreased sense of well-being may not be aware that secondary hypogonadism might be the underlying cause. A gap exists in the literature regarding the psychological effects of testosterone replacement therapy used to treat hypogonadism. The current research project was framed by Engel’s biopsychosocial theory, which encompasses the biological, psychological, and social aspects of a client’s life. The research objective was to determine the relationship between testosterone replacement therapy and the psychological effects of depression and quality of …

Neuropsychological Implications Of Nocturnal Hypoxemia In Sickle Cell Disease, Sheena Ram

Theses and Dissertations

Neuropsychological impairments have been observed in both individuals with sleep-disordered breathing and in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD), but there has been little research on the potential effect of sleep-disordered breathing on neuropsychological function in individuals with SCD. This study aims to examine the effect nocturnal oxygen desaturations have on neuropsychological functioning in individuals with sickle cell disease when compared to those with non-sickle anemia and healthy controls. Thirty-four participants with SCD, 18 non-sickle anemia controls (ACTL), and 29 healthy controls (CTL), ages 9 to 63 years, participating in an IRB-approved Children’s Hospital Los Angeles study of cerebral blood …