Quantitative Psychology Commons^™

The Psychology Of Performance In Elite Youth Soccer Players, Matthew Best

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This study is a holistic assessment of psychological mindsets, which are one’s attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions, in elite youth male soccer players between the ages of 13 and 18 and the exploration of the relationships between these mindsets and performance outcomes. The mindsets that were assessed were expectancy, growth mindset, value, goals, belongingness, grit, and self-regulation, and the performance outcomes were minutes played, goals scored, and goals allowed. The mindsets were selected through a review of research in education and sport. I conducted Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient analyses to assess the validity and reliability of the …

Color-Blind Racial Ideology, Social Justice Attitudes, And Cultural Competency In U.S. Medical Students And Resident Physicians, Jennifer G. Hahm

Dissertations

Health disparities disproportionately affect the lives of racial and ethnic minorities in the United States (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2015; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services NHQR, 2013). Social conditions, social determinants, and structural inequities have been acknowledged as influential forces on minority health (Link & Phelan, 1995; World Health Organization, 2011). Focusing on eliminating environmental and social conditions affecting the health status of racial and ethnic minorities should be a prerogative for healthcare professionals in reducing health disparities. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between color-blind racial ideology and social justice attitudes …

Using Bayesian Multilevel Models To Control For Multiplicity Among Means, Michael J. Zweifel

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

It is well known that the Type I error rate will exceed α when multiple hypothesis tests are conducted simultaneously. This is known as Type I error inflation. The probability of committing a Type I error grows monotonically as the number as the number of hypothesis being tested increases. A class of methods, known as multiple comparison procedures, has been developed to combat this issue. However, in turn for maintaining the Type I error rate below α, multiple comparison procedures sacrifice power to correctly reject false hypotheses. The loss of power is exacerbated when variance heterogeneity is present.

In …

Evaluation And Remediation Of Rater Scoring Of Constructed Response Items, Frank Padellaro Jr

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary focus of this study is the impact of variation in rater scoring of constructed response items for credentialing exams used for licensure or accreditation in a professional endeavor. In this type of exam, a candidate may be asked to write in detail about a legal opinion, an auditing report, or a patient diagnosis (just to name a few examples), and a rater (often a professional from the field) is responsible for evaluating the response (Raymond, 2002). Unfortunately, it is impossible for a rater, even one who is well trained, to make such judgments without some amount of error. …

The Psychological Science Accelerator: Advancing Psychology Through A Distributed Collaborative Network, Hannah Moshontz, Lorne Campbell, Charles R. Ebersole, Hans Ijzerman, Heather L. Urry, Patrick S. Forscher, Jon E. Grahe, Randy J. Mccarthy, Erica D. Musser, Jan Antfolk

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Concerns have been growing about the veracity of psychological research. Many findings in psychological science are based on studies with insufficient statistical power and nonrepresentative samples, or may otherwise be limited to specific, ungeneralizable settings or populations. Crowdsourced research, a type of large-scale collaboration in which one or more research projects are conducted across multiple lab sites, offers a pragmatic solution to these and other current methodological challenges. The Psychological Science Accelerator (PSA) is a distributed network of laboratories designed to enable and support crowdsourced research projects. These projects can focus on novel research questions, or attempt to replicate prior …

Employee Perceptions Of Well-Being Programs, Alice V. Edwards, Susan Marcus

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Measuring the effectiveness of well-being programs in the workplace is important for optimizing the return on investment and selection of programs that meet organizational objectives. A pilot study was performed to assess employee well-being using the Happiness Mini-Survey and a one-sample pre–post study design intended to quickly allow employees to subjectively rate their well-being before and after participating in various classes as part of a well-being program. The findings demonstrated statistical significance in employee subjective ratings; they reported feeling better emotionally, physically, and mentally after participating in the classes. The employees’ self-rating for stress level also had statistically significant improvement …

The Role Of Meaning-Making In Posttraumatic Growth Among Eritrean Refugees With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Yacob Tewolde Tekie

Doctoral Dissertations

The study examined the moderating role of meaning made, meaning making and social support on the relationship between negative life events and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression as well as the facilitating role of these moderating variables for posttraumatic growth(PTG). Eritrean refugees (N = 135) who were residing in Europe were recruited. The results showed that post-migration living difficulties significantly related with negative outcomes. In addition, the results showed that social support moderated the relationship between the number of traumatic life events and anxiety symptoms. However, meaning made and social support were not significant moderators on the …

Using Context Specific Measures Of Maximizing Tendency To Reduce Inconsistency In Findings, Thomas Holzhauer

Theses and Dissertations

The relation between maximizing tendency, the tendency to search for alternatives to make the highest quality decision, and its theorized outcome, regret, has mixed support in previous maximizing tendency literature. In the current study, it was hypothesized that measuring maximizing tendency in different contexts, as opposed to measuring maximizing tendency globally, could reduce this inconsistency. This hypothesis was tested by administering measures of maximizing tendency from different contexts and maximizing tendency without context and using the results in hypothesized models. The models were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and path analysis. Results showed that using context specific …

A Comparison Of Alternative Bias-Corrections In The Bias-Corrected Bootstrap Test Of Mediation, Donna Chen

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Although the bias-corrected (BC) bootstrap is an oft recommended method for obtaining more powerful confidence intervals in mediation analysis, it has also been found to have elevated Type I error rates in conditions with small sample sizes. Given that the BC bootstrap is used most often in studies with low power due to small sample size, the focus of this study is to consider alternative measures of bias that will reduce the elevated Type I error rate without reducing power. The alternatives examined fall under two categories: bias correction and transformation. Although the bias correction methods did not significantly decrease …

Applying Conditional Distributions To Individuals: Using Latent Variable Models, Feng Ji

Theses and Dissertations

This study proposes a new method to interpret individual results of psychological test batteries. The Mahalanobis distance is a commonly-used measure of how unusual an individual’s profile of scores is compared to a population of score profiles. In models in which there is a set of predictors and a set of dependent variables (e.g., cognitive abilities predicting academic abilities), it is useful to distinguish between a profile of dependent scores that is unusual because its profile of predictor scores is unusual and a profile of dependent scores that is unusual even after controlling for the predictors. The conditional Mahalanobis distance …

Internalizing Outcomes Of Self-Objectification As Predictors Of Behavior In Sexual Situations, Kyla Marie Cary

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine various outcomes of self-objectification by creating latent variables encompassing several outcomes. Self-objectification was expected to predict self-surveillance, the behavioral manifestation of self-objectification. Self-surveillance was then expected to predict a latent variable termed internalizing states which encompassed: body shame, appearance anxiety, and sexual self-esteem. Finally, the latent variable of internalizing states was expected to predict a latent variable termed behavior in sexual situations which encompassed: sexual assertiveness, control over sexual encounters, and risky sexual behavior. The participants were 383 undergraduate women between the ages of 18 and 25. The majority of participants …

Measuring Symmetry In Real-World Scenes Using Derivatives Of The Medial Axis Radius Function, Morteza Rezanejad, John D. Wilder, Kaleem Siddiqi, Sven Dickinson, Allan Jepson, Dirk B. Walther

MODVIS Workshop

Symmetry has been shown to be an important principle that guides the grouping of scene information. Previously, we have described a method for measuring the local, ribbon symmetry content of line-drawings of real-world scenes (Rezanejad, et al., MODVIS 2017), and we demonstrated that this information has important behavioral consequences (Wilder, et al., MODIVS 2017). Here, we describe a continuous, local version of the symmetry measure, that allows for both ribbon and taper symmetry to be captured. Our original method looked at the difference in the radius between successive maximal discs along a symmetric axis. The number of radii differences in …

Global Estimation Of Signed 3d Surface Tilt From Natural Images, Seha Kim, Johannes Burge

MODVIS Workshop

The ability of human visual systems to estimate 3D surface orientation from 2D retinal images is critical. But the computation to calculate 3D orientation in real-world scenes is not fully understood. A Bayes optimal model grounded in natural statistics has explained 3D surface tilt estimation of human observers in natural scenes (Kim and Burge, 2018). However, the model is limited because it estimates only unsigned tilt (tilt modulo 180deg). We extend the model to predict signed tilt estimates and compared with human signed estimates. The model takes image pixels as input and produces optimal estimates of tilt as output, using …

Discovery Of Activities Via Statistical Clustering Of Fixation Patterns, Jeffrey B. Mulligan

MODVIS Workshop

No abstract provided.

Beyond Motivation: Differences In Score Meaning Between Assessment Conditions, Nikole Gregg

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Written communication is a skill necessary for not only the success of undergraduate students, but for post-graduates in the workplace. Furthermore, according to employers the writing skills of post-graduates tend to be below expectations. Therefore, the assessment of such skills within higher education is in high demand. Written communication assessments tend to be administered in one of two conditions: 1) course embedded and 2) a low-stakes, non-embedded condition. The current study investigated possible construct-irrelevant variance in writing assessment scores by using data from a mid-sized public university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Specifically, 157 student products were …

Posterior Predictive Model Checking Of Local Misfit For Bayesian Confirmatory Factor Analysis, Chi Hang Au

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Posterior predictive model checks (PPMC) are one Bayesian model-data fit approach. Thus far, PPMC for Confirmatory Factor Analytic applications focused primarily on global fit evaluation, ignoring the nuanced information in local misfit diagnostics. This study developed a PPMC approach for local misfit and applied it to a test-taking motivation scale. If the PPMC approach is effective, fit conclusions derived from the PPMC approach should be congruent with the fit conclusions derived from the Frequentist approach. Number of item-pairs flagged as misfitting and number of disagreements were computed to evaluate congruence. Congruence is achieved if the number of item-pairs flagged as …

The Influence Of Covariate Measurement Error On Treatment Effect Estimates And Numeric Balance Diagnostics Following Several Common Methods Of Propensity Score Matching: A Simulation Study, Heather D. Harris

Dissertations, 2014-2019

In applied intervention studies, researchers frequently aim to make inferences about the impact of a treatment program on participants. However, applied researchers are often faced with threats to the internal validity of their studies, or the extent to which changes in participants’ outcomes can be attributed to the intervention. When researchers are unable to randomly assign study participants to treatment conditions, changes in the intervention outcome might be confounded with systematic differences in participants’ baseline characteristics. Propensity score matching is one technique that allows researchers to account for threats to the internal validity of a study. Specifically, using propensity score …

In Search Of Equality: Developing An Equal Interval Likert Response Scale, Elisabeth M. Spratto

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Attitude scales are an important component of educational and psychological research. One consideration when seeking to make valid inferences from attitudinal data is the issue of the degree to which response options can be assumed to have equal intervals. Many response options on attitudinal measures may produce ordinal-level data rather than interval. This poses a problem for the statistical tests that may be used, as many analyses assume interval-level data. It also poses an interpretational issue if the conceptual distance between response options is not the same – for example, if a researcher believes that someone who answered Agree differs …

Systems Of Quantity Judgment In Various Species: A Meta-Analysis, Tiffany A. Woodard Baker

Dissertations

An abundance of behavioral and neuroimaging literature supports the presence of two cognitive systems for quantity judgments (Agrillo & Bisazza, 2014). In particular, small quantities are thought to be guided by the object-file system, a precise system that uses mental files to map onto real world objects, and large quantities by the approximate number system, an imprecise, estimation system (Dehaene, 1997). Evidence supporting both systems exists in a variety of species including nonhuman primates (Boysen & Hallberg, 2000), birds (Garland, Low, & Burns, 2012), amphibians (Uller, Jaeger, Guidry, & Martin, 2003), and fish (Agrillo, Dadda, Serena, Bisazza, 2009), but support …

Examining Quadratic Relationships Between Traits And Methods In Two Multitrait-Multimethod Models, Fredric A. Hintz

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Psychological researchers are interested in the validity of the measures they use, and the multitrait-multimethod design is one of the most frequently employed methods to examine validity. Confirmatory factor analysis is now a commonly used analytic tool for examining multitrait-multimethod data, where an underlying mathematical model is fit to data and the amount of variance due to the trait and method factors is estimated. While most contemporary confirmatory factor analysis methods for examining multi-trait multi-method data do not allow relationships between the trait and method factors, a few recently proposed models allow for the examination of linear relationships between traits …

Marginal Mediation Analysis: A New Framework For Interpretable Mediated Effects, Tyson S. Barrett

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mediation analysis is built to answer not only if one variable affects another, but how the effect takes place. However, it lacks interpretable effect size estimates in situations where the mediator (an intermediate variable) and/or the outcome is categorical or otherwise non-normally distributed. By integrating a powerful approach known as average marginal effects within mediation analysis—termed Marginal Mediation Analysis (MMA)—the issues regarding categorical mediators and/or outcomes are, in large part, resolved. This new approach allows the estimation of the indirect effects (those effects of the predictor that affect the outcome through the mediator) that are interpreted in the same way …

A Laboratory-Based Experimental Test Of Reasons For Living: Effects On Behavioral Approach Toward A Suicide-Related Stimulus, Sasha Micaella Rojas

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are few laboratory-based experiments that examine the effects of suicide-related risk or protective factors on suicide-related outcomes. Consistent with extant evidence-based theoretical models and treatments for suicidal behavior, it appears that increasing awareness of reasons for living may reduce risk for suicidal behavior. Thus, the current study represents an initial effort to experimentally examine the impact of bringing awareness to one’s most important reason for living on behavioral approach towards a suicide-related stimulus. Random assignment was used to assign an unselected undergraduate sample of 78 participants to complete either a script-driven imagery procedure specific to the most important reason …

Assessing The Ordinality Of Response Bias With Item Response Models: A Case Study Using The Phq-9, Venessa N. Singhroy

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Improper scale usage in psychological and clinical assessment is an important problem. If respondents do not use the scales in a consistent manner, the reliability of a composite is likely to be attenuated. This is particularly problematic when particular items are singled out for special treatment or when subscales are of interest, not just a total score. This study used both non-parametric and parametric item response theory (IRT) methods to gain further insight into the validity of the PHQ-9, a dual purpose instrument that assesses the severity of depressive symptoms using nine Likert-scale items and allows the investigator to establish …

The Effect Of An Extinction Procedure On Level Of Responding To Visual Stimuli In An Evaluative Conditioning Procedure, Allison Hirsch

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Evaluative conditioning is a type of learning that results in the acquisition of likes and dislikes in humans. The procedure that produces evaluative learning is similar to that of Pavlovian conditioning. A consistent observation is that evaluative conditioned responses are less sensitive to extinction procedures than would be expected given the Pavlovian-type conditioning procedure used for acquisition. The present study sought to determine what the effect of an extinction condition was on the level of responding to visual conditioned stimuli in a visual-gustatory evaluative conditioning paradigm. Two dependent measures were used: an explicit measure, and a choice-based preference measure. The …

Summer Camp As A Force For 21st Century Learning: Exploring Divergent Thinking And Activity Selection In A Residential Camp Setting, Myles Lynch, Jonathan A. Plucker, C Boyd Hegarty, Nate Trauntvein

Education

This study investigated change in divergent thinking (DT), an indicator of creative potential, at two gender-specific residential summer camps. Additionally, this study examined whether the change in DT varied by gender and by the type of activities campers self-select. Quantitative methods, using a quasi-experimental design was used in order to understand differences in camper scores. A total of 189 youth, 100 girls, 89 boys, between the ages of 9 and 14 years participated in the current study. Participants were administered a modified version of Guilford's (1967) alternate uses task, a measure of DT, in which respondents were asked questions such …

The Influence Of A Proposed Margin Criterion On The Accuracy Of Parallel Analysis In Conditions Engendering Underextraction, Justin M. Jones

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

One of the most important decisions to make when performing an exploratory factor or principal component analysis regards the number of factors to retain. Parallel analysis is considered to be the best course of action in these circumstances as it consistently outperforms other factor extraction methods (Zwick & Velicer, 1986). Even so, parallel analysis could benefit from further research and refinement to improve its accuracy. Characteristics such as factor loadings, correlations between factors, and number of variables per factor all have been shown to adversely impact the effectiveness of parallel analysis as a means of identifying the number of factors …

Risk Factors For Domestic Homicide: Immigrant & Canadian-Born Populations, Sakthi Kalaichandran

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Domestic violence is a critical human rights issue that can escalate to cases of domestic homicide. Globally, approximately 30% of women in relationships have reported experiencing violence at the hands of an intimate partner. In Canada this pattern is echoed, as over 25% of police-reported violent offences were from victims of domestic abuse. Recent research has revealed that immigrant & refugee victims experience unique risk factors that may render them more vulnerable to this form of violence. Yet, despite this burgeoning research area, and Canada’s diverse population of 6 million immigrants, there is a dearth of research pertaining to domestic …

Factors Impacting Parental Acceptance Of An Lgbt Child, Dani E. Rosenkrantz

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Chrisler’s (2017) Theoretical Framework of Parental Reactions When a Child Comes Out as Lesbian, Gay, or Bisexual suggests that parental reactions to having a non-heteronormative child are impacted by a process of cognitively appraising information about their child’s identity and experiencing and coping with emotional responses, both of which are influenced by contextual factors such as a parent’s value system. However, some religious values can challenge parents in the process of accepting a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) child. The purpose of this study was to test a model that examines the influence of cognitive-affective factors (cognitive flexibility, emotional …

An Examination Of Relations Among Fear, Guilt, Self-Compassion, And Multicultural Attitudes In White Adults, Whitney W. Black

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Structural racism is often perpetuated by well-intentioned White individuals who passively accept or are unaware of its existence. However, when their perceptions and understanding of the world are challenged through learning about structural racism, White people may experience emotions such as fear, and guilt, which seem to serve either a debilitating or a motivating role in multicultural attitude development. Self-compassion, which is the ability to process distressing emotions without resorting to avoidance of the emotional experience, may help White individuals work through strong negative affect that accompanies an awareness of structural racism and ultimately aid in the development of multicultural …

Towards Improving Learning With Consumer-Grade, Closed-Loop, Electroencephalographic Neurofeedback, Zall Soren Hirschstein

Senior Projects Spring 2018

Learning is an enigmatic process composed of a multitude of cognitive systems that are functionally and neuroanatomically distinct. Nevertheless, two undeniable pillars which underpin learning are attention and memory; to learn, one must attend, and maintain a representation of, an event. Psychological and neuroscientific technologies that permit researchers to “mind-read” have revealed much about the dynamics of these distinct processes that contribute to learning. This investigation first outlines the cognitive pillars which support learning and the technologies that permit such an understanding. It then employs a novel task—the amSMART paradigm—with the goal of building a real-time, closed-loop, electroencephalographic (EEG) neurofeedback …