Quantitative Psychology Commons^™

Validation Of A Serotonin Depletion Checklist In Parkinson’S Disease, Kelly Diane Darby Holder

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The distinctive pathological marker of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the progressive death of neurons that produce dopamine; however, there are also major alterations in the production of quantities of other neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine and serotonin that contribute to the signs, symptoms, neuropsychological manifestations of the diseases. PD patients can be divided into classes based on the manifestation of motor symptoms, type A, classified as tremor dominant, and type B PD, classified as akinetic. Type B PD patients, often manifest symptoms in which serotonin deficiency plays an important role, such as frontal cognitive impairments, which often includes a history of …

Avoidant Personality Disorder And Social Phobia: Distinct Enough To Be Separate Disorders?, Elizabeth Ralevski, Charles A. Sanislow, Carlos M. Grilo, Andrew E. Skodol, John G. Gunderson, M. Tracie Shea, Shirley Yen, Donna S. Bender, Mary C. Zanarini, Thomas H. Mcglashan

Charles A. Sanislow, Ph.D.

Objective: Existing evidence from anxiety disorder research indicates that social phobics (SP) with avoidant personality disorder (AVPD) experience more anxiety and show more impairment than patients with SP alone. The purpose of this study was to examine whether in patients diagnosed with AVPD, the co-occurrence of SP adds to its severity. We hypothesized that the addition of SP will not add to the severity of AVPD alone.

Method: Two groups of patients (AVPD = 224; AVPD/SP = 101) were compared at baseline and 2 years later on multiple demographic and clinical variables.

Results: Patients with AVPD and an additional diagnosis …

The Effects Of Parcels And Latent Variable Scores On The Detection Of Interactions In Structural Equation Modeling, Thomas D. Fletcher

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Numerous theories in the behavioral and organizational sciences involve the regression of an outcome variable on component terms and their product to evaluate interaction effects. There are numerous statistical difficulties with this multiple regression approach. The most serious is measurement error, requiring the use of structural equation modeling. Jöreskog and Yang (1996) described a nonlinear structural equation modeling procedure that incorporates mean structures in the covariance analysis. They demonstrated that only one indicator for the product term is necessary for model identification. Unfortunately, the Jöreskog-Yang procedure leads to biased estimates of the product coefficient. In this dissertation, I propose that …

Motivated Breast Cancer Screening Behavior And Its Cultural Antecedents, Patricia M. Flynn

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Discrepancies in breast cancer screening behavior exist among various ethnic groups in the United States (Jacobs & Lauderdale, 2001), with Latino American women reporting particularly low screening rates in comparison to Anglo American women (ACS, 2002). Research indicates that behavior is in part influenced by aspects of culture and relevant psychological processes (Betancourt & Lopez, 1993; Betancourt & Fuentes, 2001). This study was designed to investigate the relations among cultural values, attributions regarding the causes for not screening, related emotions, expectancy that screening leads to early detection and value incentive of early detection as determinants of breast cancer screening intention …

Developmental Strategies And Styles And Their Measurement, Wenyu Bai

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

Developmental styles and strategies (DSS) are preferences and repeated patterns in intentional self-development. A taxonomy of DSS based on the convergence of talent development and Sternberg's Triarchic Model of Intelligences was proposed to distinguish school learners, street learners, talent developers (specialists), and all-knowers (generalists). This study explored the reliability of the researcher-developed Educational Developmental Style and Strategy Scale, the relationships of age, gender, birth order, ethnicity, and SES to developmental DSS adoption, and the characteristics of five types of DSS adopters (i.e., street learning specialists, street learning generalists, school learning specialists, school learning generalists, the neutral group). Eighty out of …

Literature Review: Diagnostic Utility Of The Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventories In Various Settings : The Detection And Effect Of Faking Good ; Research Project : The Impact Of Faking-Good On The Mcmi-Iii : Implications For Child Custody Evaluations, Paul Lenny

Theses : Honours

Research surrounding the ability of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI; Millon, 1977, 198 7, 1994) to detect faking good was reviewed; along with the effect faking has on diagnostic accuracy. Limited research indicates moderate success of the MCMI validity indices (VI) at detecting faking good. Suggested improvements include developing a fake-good profile combining the personality scales and VI and developing new base rate adjustments with populations likely to fake good. Faking good reduces the overall diagnostic accuracy of the test but determining local base rates of faking to produce optimal cut-offs for the VI would improve diagnostic utility. Future …

Economic Growth, Saving And Investment, Safdar Khan

Safdar Khan

Extract:
Despite an evident slowdown in major economies around the global amidst a sustained rise in international oil prices, the domestic economy surpassed its growth target by a wide margin for the third consecutive year, witnessing a growth rate of 8.4 percent in FY05, the highest during the last two decades (see Figure 2.1 & 2.2).