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Attachment Theory : How To Treat Attachment Disorders In Adults, Kristy L. Hrdlicka

Graduate Research Papers

Attachment is a bond formed between two individuals over a period of time, dealing with how they relate to one another through their interactions (Sable, 2000). In this paper, a review of the literature is discussed regarding how the attachments between individuals are formed and the four different patterns of attachment: Secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant, and disorganized. Following the review, practical interventions are also provided for counseling professionals to use when working with clients who have attachment disorders.

Paying For The Crimes Of Their Children: Public Support Of Parental Responsibility, Eve M. Brank, Victoria Weisz

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Parental responsibility laws, varying greatly within and among the states, appeared as one answer to the questions surrounding juvenile crime. Although these laws would seem to garner great public support under the new punitive attitude toward juveniles, no recent empirical studies were conducted on this topic. The current research examined public support of parental responsibility for crimes children commit. Contrary to expectations, public support was found to be relatively low. The public did place some responsibility on the parents when a juvenile crime occurred; however, agreement with blaming and punishing the parents was low. Political ideology and educational status served …

Effect Of Day Length On Sleep Habits And Subjective On-Duty Alertness In Irregular Work Schedules, June J. Pilcher, Heather M. Teichman, Stephen Popkin, Krista Hildebrand, Michael Coplen

Publications

The human circadian system is sensitive to environmental conditions, such as those created by shift work, that affect the timing and duration of sleep. Previous research on the effects of shift work, however, has focused primarily on regularly scheduled shifts. Few studies have focused on irregular and unpredictable on-call shift systems, such as those found in much of railroad operations. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of irregular shift systems experienced by locomotive engineers on the length of sleep-wake periods and the effect of different length sleep-wake periods on self-reported sleep quantity, sleep quality, and …

Minimizing The Pervasiveness Of Women’S Personal Experiences Of Gender Discrimination, Mindi D. Foster, Lydia C. Jackson, Ryan Hartmann, Shannon Woulfe

Psychology Faculty Publications

Given the Rejection-Identification Model (Branscombe, et al., 1999) which shows that perceiving discrimination to be pervasive is a negative experience, it was suggested that there would be conditions under which women would instead minimize the pervasiveness of discrimination. Study 1 (N = 91) showed that when women envisioned themselves in a situation of academic discrimination, they defined it as pervasive but when they experienced a similar laboratory simulation of academic discrimination, its pervasiveness was minimized. Study 2 (N = 159) showed that women who envisioned themselves experiencing discrimination minimized its pervasiveness more so than women reading about discrimination …

When The Advantaged Become Disadvantaged: Men’S And Women’S Actions Against Gender Discrimination, Mindi D. Foster, Stacey Arnt, Jill Honloka

Psychology Faculty Publications

Intergroup theories suggest that different social identities will either discourage or encourage the taking of action against discrimination (Bartky, 1977; Jost & Banaji, 1994). However, research (e.g., Branscombe, 1998) has shown that discrimination is a less negative experience for men than for women. As such, it is possible that men may take greater action than women, regardless of identity. However, men’s responses to their perceived disadvantage has not yet been tested. Among those induced to ascribe to a gendered stereotype identity, men endorsed more action than women did.Among those induced to ascribe to an identity based on a gendered social …

The Role Of Hardiness In Moderating The Relationship Between Global/Specific Attributions And Actions Against Discrimination, Mindi D. Foster, Kenneth L. Dion

Psychology Faculty Publications

In this study, we proposed that individual differences in hardiness may moderate the relationship between global attributions and actions against discrimination. Specifically, global attributions were expected to predict decreased endorsement of actions to combat discrimination among low hardy women. In contrast, global attributions were expected to predict increased endorsement of actions among high hardy women. High and low hardy women were exposed to a laboratory situation of discrimination, and their attributions for, and responses to, discrimination were then assessed. Results showed the expected interaction, but in the opposite direction: among low hardy women, global attributions predicted stronger endorsement of action.Among …

The Effects Of Rapport-Building Style On Children’S Reports Of A Staged Event, Kim P. Roberts, Michael E. Lamb, Kathleen J. Sternberg

Psychology Faculty Publications

Three- to 9-year-old children (N = 144) interacted with a photographer and were interviewed about the event either a week or a month later. The informativeness and accuracy of information provided following either open-ended or direct rapport building were compared. Children in the open-ended rapport-building condition provided more accurate reports than children in the direct rapport-building condition after both short and long delays. Open-ended rapport-building led the 3- to 4-year-olds to report more errors in response to the first recall question about the event, but they went on to provide more accurate reports in the rest of the interview than …

A Comprehensive Evaluation Framework For Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations: Values, Conceptualization, Design, And Action, Geoffrey Nelson, Joanna Ochocka, Rich Janzen, John Trainor, Shawn Lauzon

Psychology Faculty Publications

This article provides a framework for the evaluation of mental health consumer/ survivor organizations that consists of four main components: (a) participatory processes, (b) conceptualization of the activities and outcomes at the individual and systems levels of these organizations, (c) the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for examining activities and outcomes, and (d) dissemination and action. We assert that these components form a comprehensive and holistic framework for evaluating mental health consumer/survivor organizations; we illustrate how these components can be put into action through a case study of four mental health consumer/survivor organizations in Ontario; and we reflect on …

The Effects Of A Persuasive Presentation And Group Discussion On Parental Attitude In A Youth Sports Camp Parent Conference, Nicholas Charles Mirabile

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The general purpose of this study was to increase parental support for inclusion of services for children with special needs. A persuasive presentation and group discussion were conducted at a parent conference at a youth sports camp

The presenter was a social worker who has experience working with children with special needs. The presenter developed the presentation and helped guide the discussion.

Anonymous pre-test and post-test surveys of parental attitude toward the presentation issue were taken. From these surveys, the effects of level of involvement and level of knowledge on level of importance were assessed.

Attitude change occurred in this …

Why Is She So Mean? Review Of Marion K. Underwood, Social Aggression Among Girls. New York: Guilford Press, 2003, Susan M. Swearer Napolitano

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Review of Marion K. Underwood, Social Aggression among Girls. New York: Guilford Press, 2003, 300 pp. $44.00, ISBN: 1572308664 (cloth). $24.00, ISBN: 1-57230-865-6 (paper).

Willingness To Pay For Dentin Regeneration In A Sample Of Dentate Adults, Stephen Birch, Woosung Sohn, Amid I. Ismail, James M. Lepkowski, Robert Belli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: Measurement of individuals’ valuation of dental treatments is important in the evaluation of new technologies. In this paper the value of dentin regeneration, a new treatment for teeth with reversible pulpitis, is measured based on what individuals say they would be willing to pay to receive the treatment.
Methods: A total of 611 randomly selected dentate adults answered willingness to pay (WTP) and dental insurance questions. Detailed descriptions of the process and expected outcomes for dentin regeneration were presented to subjects as part of a larger study measuring preferences for different treatments. WTP was determined for two different levels …

Environmental Risk Factors In Hospital Suicide., Daniel Z Lieberman, Harvey L P Resnik, Vicenzio Holder-Perkins

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Faculty Publications

Suicide of hospitalized patients is the most common sentinel event reviewed by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Shorter lengths of stay, sicker patients, and higher patient to staff ratios challenge the ability of the hospital to maintain safety. Risk factors associated with the physical environment of the inpatient psychiatric unit, cited as the most common root cause of inpatient suicide, may be neglected because evaluation of these factors is generally not included in medical education and training. Minimization of fixtures that can facilitate strangulation and other high risk aspects within the hospital environment is an important element …

The Impact Of Baker Act Examination On Service Use And Cost Of Care For Children In The Florida Foster Care System, Marion Becker, Rebecca Larsen

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Motivation, Drug Abuse, And 50 Years Of Theoretical And Empirical Inquiry, Rick A. Bevins, Michael Bardo

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In reviewing the 25-year history of the Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, Benjamin and Jones (1979) noted that the Symposium was "the longest-lived topical series in American psychology, with 'I national and international reputation" (p. ix). On March 28 and 29 of 2002, with a packed auditorium on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, this record was doubled in life. As the reader will quickly see from the list of contributors, the reputation of the Symposium was also maintained on its 50th Anniversary. Before continuing, we would like to reiterate the thanks in the Preface for all those who supported …

Drive, Incentive, And Reinforcement: The Antecedents And Consequences Of Motivation, Roy Wise

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The aim of scientific explanation is to characterize the important antecedents of observable (or at least objectively confirmable) events. Explanations of behavior in terms of motivational states are appeals to unobservable, internal events for interpretations of behavior that is variable under apparently constant external stimulus conditions (see, e.g., Brown, 1953; Hinde, 1960). To be identified as the cause of a behavior, the unobservable event or condition must preexist the behavioral event to be explained. A behavior cannot be explained by its consequences, though it may be explained as a consequence of similar events in the animal's history. Scientific explanation involves …

Utilities Of Dentin Regeneration Among Insured And Uninsured Adults, Amid I. Ismail, Stephen Birch, Woosung Sohn, James M. Lepkowski, Robert Belli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objectives: This population-based study measured utilities (preferences measured under conditions of uncertainty) of dentin regeneration (DR), a potential new therapy, root canal therapy (RCT), and extraction (EXT).
Methods: A representative sample of dentate adults (aged 18–69 years) was randomly selected from the Detroit area. A computer program was used to administer the standard gamble (SG) method and record utility score (US) for treatment options of a tooth with reversible pulpitis using the SG method. For the SG method, two anchor states were used: filled tooth with full oral health and filled tooth with severe and continuous pain leading to EXT. …

Parenting, Julia C. Torquati

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

How can parents successfully care for their children in the context of homelessness? This is a significant question because families with children represent approximately 40 percent of the homeless population in the United States, and the number of homeless children has been growing since the early 1980s. Negative consequences of homelessness to children’s health, education, and emotional and social development have been well documented. Homeless families in the United States can be considered a subset of limited-resource families, and as such they share some of the same challenges to effective parenting. However, homeless parents face additional challenges, and these challenges …

The Economic Basis Of Cooperation: Tradeoffs Between Selfishness And Generosity, Jeffrey R. Stevens, David W. Stephens

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current study examined the economics of cooperation in controlled-payoff games by using captive blue jays, Cyanocitta cristata. This investigation used a special feeding apparatus to test for the stability of cooperative choice in a series of iterated games. The jays experienced experimentally determined game theoretical payoff matrices, which determined the distribution of food to themselves and their opponent, depending on their decision to cooperate or defect. The experiment tested four game matrices, called the cooperate only, defect only, prisoner’s dilemma, and opponent control treatments. This study found little cooperation in the defect only and prisoner’s dilemma treatments. Cooperation …

Cognitive Constraints On Reciprocity And Tolerated Scrounging, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Fiery A. Cushman

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Commentary on Gurven: "To give and to give not: The behavioral ecology of human food transfers"

Each of the food-sharing models that Gurven considers demands unique cognitive capacities. Reciprocal altruism, in particular, requires a suite of complex abilities not required by alternatives such as tolerated scrounging. Integrating cognitive constraints with comparative data from other species can illuminate the adaptive benefits of food sharing in humans.

Why Be Nice? Psychological Constraints On The Evolution Of Cooperation, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Marc D. Hauser

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Animals often aid others without gaining any immediate benefits. Although these acts seem to reduce the donor’s fitness, they are only apparently altruistic. Donors typically help because they or their kin receive future benefits or avoid costly punishment. Reciprocal altruism— alternating the roles of donor and recipient—has been a well-studied form of cooperation among non-kin because of its intuitive appeal in explaining human cooperation. Despite immense theoretical interest, little empirical evidence substantiates the biological importance of reciprocal altruism in non-human animals. We propose that this is because psychological mechanisms constrain its application in cooperative contexts. In particular, we contend that …

The Mind In The Mind Of The Beholder: Elucidating Relational Influences On Early Social Understanding, Ross Thompson, H. Abigail Raikes

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Relational experiences shape emergent social understanding and two influences deserve particular attention. First, parent-child conversation about shared experiences incorporates both implicit and explicit information about mental states that catalyzes the social construction of understanding, especially in juxtaposition with the child’s direct experience. Second, emotion infuses the contexts and cognitions about social experiences that provoke the child’s constructivist efforts.

Creating Individual Behavior Change Through 360-Degree Feedback: A Development Pipeline Perspective, Victoria Cole Stage

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Ensuring that individuals develop new and more productive behaviors on the job is a challenge for many organizations and a focus of time, effort, and energy spent on programs to facilitate this change. This research was an effort to validate and utilize a framework for understanding how efforts toward individual development are restricted. To do this, I used a new 360-degree feedback instrument called “Time 2 Change” that measures self, manager, direct report, and peer/colleague perceptions of change in the individual. This instrument also measures the individual's perceptions of development enablers, in a framework called a Development Pipeline. As a …

Chronic Pain: The Extra Burden On Canadian Women, Marta Meana, Robert Cho, Marie Desmeules

Psychology Faculty Research

Health Issue: Chronic pain is a major health problem associated with significant costs to both afflicted individuals and society as a whole. These costs seem to be disproportionately borne by women, who generally have higher prevalence rates for chronic pain than do men.

Key findings: Data obtained from 125,574 respondents to the Canadian Community Health Survey (2000–2001) indicated that 18% of Canadian women suffered from chronic pain, compared to 14% of men. This gender discrepancy, however, seemed to be linked primarily to differences in age, income, and education between adult men and women in this large sample. Age, income, depression …

Education Chronicle Issue 1 Number 3, Touro College School Of Education And Psychology - Graduate Division

Yearbooks and Newsletters

"An informational publication of the School of Education and Psychology - Graduate Division"

Mental Health Of Incarcerated Juveniles In Nevada: Final Report, Nevada Institute For Children's Rerearch And Policy, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas, Jennifer Petsonius, Denise Tanata, Michelle Chino Dr

Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy Reports

The prevalence of mental health problems in the juvenile offender population is substantially higher than that of the general population (Cocozza & Skowyra, 2000). Studies estimate that one in five juvenile offenders has serious mental health problems, which is nearly twice the rate of occurrence of mental illness in children and adults in the general population (NMHA Fact Sheet #l). However, there have been several methodological problems encountered in previous research. These include the use of inconsistent definitions and measurements of mental illness; the use of biased, nonrandom samples, a reliance on retrospective case report data, and the use of …

Barriers To Community Mental Health Services For Latinos: Treatment Considerations, Haig Kouyoumdjian, Byron L. Zamboanga, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The underutilization of mental health services by Latinos has been a growing concern in research and clinical practice. This has become increasingly important as the population of Latinos in the United States rapidly rises and the evidence that many are not receiving needed mental health services accumulates. To provide an understanding of the issues, this article provides an overview of risk factors that may influence the mental health of Latinos and examines prevalence rates of psychopathology and service utilization trends. This article then presents a comprehensive review of the socioeconomic, cultural, and psychotherapeutic barriers that prevent Latinos from receiving community …

Sexual Risk Taking In Adolescence: The Role Of Self-Regulation And Attraction To Risk, Marcela Raffaelli, Lisa J. Crockett

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Precursors of adolescent sexual risk taking were examined in a multiethnic sample consisting of 443 children (51% girls) of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth participants. Respondents were 12–13 years old in 1994 and 16–17 in 1998. Controlling for demographic and contextual factors, self-regulation—but not risk proneness—was significantly (modestly) associated with overall sexual risk taking 4 years later, Analyses of individual sexual behaviors indicated that self-regulation may affect choices made after becoming sexually active (e.g. number of partners) rather than the initiation of sexual activity. Measures of parent and peer influence had independent effects on sexual risk taking but did not …

Serotonergic Agents And Alcoholism Treatment: A Simulation, Scott F. Stoltenberg

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Those with early-onset alcoholism may better respond to ondansetron (a 5-HT3 receptor antagonist) than to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) treatment, whereas those with late-onset alcoholism may present the reverse response pattern. Johnson and colleagues proposed a model that attempts to explain the observed treatment response patterns of those with early and late alcoholism onset by focusing on the influence of a common genetic variant in the serotonin transporter regulatory region (5-HTTLPR) on serotonin (5-HT) and dopamine (DA) system function.
Methods: The present study formalizes and extends Johnson’s descriptive model into a computer simulation consisting of differential equations. For …

Determinants Of Satisfaction With An Automated Alcohol Evaluation Program., Daniel Z Lieberman

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Faculty Publications

High rates of untreated mental illness cause serious health problems in the United States and worldwide. The use of computer-administered therapy has the potential to increase access to mental health care for certain patient populations. An online version of an alcohol check-up was developed that guided subjects through a series of standardized questionnaires, and provided them with feedback designed to enhance their appreciation of the negative aspects of their alcohol use. Ratings of the helpfulness of the questionnaires were evaluated in order to determine the characteristics of individuals who would potentially benefit from an automated substance abuse intervention, and to …

The Relationship Between Childbirth Experience And Psychological Functioning In The Postpartum Period, Dena Dian Daniel

Graduate Theses

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between the mother's perception of the birth experience, symptoms of the post-traumatic stress, and symptoms of postpartum depression. Sixty-seven participants ranging from 17 to 40 years of age completed a self-report questionnaire containing items from three instruments including the Perception of Birth Scale, the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and the Davidson Trauma Scale. The findings reveal a more negative perception of the birth experience is significantly related to a greater frequency and/or. severity of. post- traumatic stress and postpartum depression symptoms following childbirth., These findings support the conclusion that an …