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Education Chronicle Issue 1 No. 1, Touro College School Of Education And Psychology - Graduate Division

Yearbooks and Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Pregnancy, Drug Testing, And The Fourth Amendment: Legal And Behavioral Implications, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In its efforts to protect the health of unborn children, the government is increasingly attempting to regulate pregnant women’s conduct. As with other policies affecting pregnant women’s autonomy, these policies have constitutional overtones. In Ferguson v. City of Charleston (2001), the Supreme Court struck down a South Carolina hospital’s policy of testing pregnant women for cocaine and turning positive results over to law enforcement for prosecution. This article discusses the basis of the decision and its legal and behavioral implications. Although the decision came down on the side of pregnant women’s rights, it left unresolved the issue of whether a …

Impact Of Nicotine Withdrawal On Novelty Reward And Related Behaviors, Joyce Besheer, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The authors tested the decreased reward function hypothesis of nicotine withdrawal using a novel-object place conditioning task. A conditioned place preference was evident in controls and in rats that had experienced 4 nicotine withdrawal days, but not in rats that had experienced 1–3 withdrawal days. This implies that the rewarding properties of interacting with novel objects were not readily associated with the environment in which they were paired. Follow-up experiments eliminated other explanations based on withdrawal-induced failures to process object or environment information. Also, expression of conditioning was not affected, indicating that withdrawal likely altered acquisition. Further investigation into the …

An Automated Treatment For Jet Lag Delivered Through The Internet., Daniel Z Lieberman

Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Faculty Publications

Seventy percent of persons who suffer from psychiatric illness do not receive treatment. Cost-effective, automated treatment can be delivered through the Internet but can be complicated by the lack of professional supervision. This open study piloted a fully automated, publicly available treatment for jet lag as a means of highlighting some of the issues involved in delivering treatment over the Internet. Twenty study participants rated the severity of their jet lag symptoms and their adherence to a light-exposure schedule calculated to accelerate adaptation to a new time zone. A significant negative correlation was observed between how closely participants followed the …

Glucuronidation Enzymes, Genes And Psychiatry, Jose De Leon

Psychiatry Faculty Publications

The phase I cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoenzymes have received substantial attention in the pharmacogenetic literature. Researchers are beginning to examine the role of the phase II UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) enzymes, which produce products that are more water-soluble, less toxic and more readily excreted than the parent compounds. Several reasons may have contributed to neglect of UGTs (compared to CYPs) including: (1) the overlapping activity of UGTs and lack of selective probes; (2) the complexity of the glucuronidation cycle; and (3) the difficulty in developing analytic methods to measure glucuronides. Current CYP knowledge is used as a model to predict advances in …

History Of Depression And Smoking Cessation Outcome: A Meta-Analysis, Brian Hitsman, Belinda Borrelli, Dennis E. Mcchargue, Bonnie Spring, Raymond Niaura

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The authors conducted a meta-analysis of published studies to (a) evaluate the premise that a history of major depression is associated with failure to quit smoking and (b) identify factors that moderate the relationship between history of depression and cessation outcome. Fifteen studies met the selection requirements and were coded for various study methodology and treatment characteristics. DSTAT was used to calculate individual study effect sizes, determine the mean effect size across studies, and test for moderator effects. No differences in either short-term (≤ 3 months) or long-term abstinence rates (≥ 6 months) were observed between smokers positive versus negative …

Measuring Damages For Lost Enjoyment Of Life: The View From The Bench And The Jury Box, Susan Poser, Brian H. Bornstein, Erinn Kiernan Mcgorty

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Civil jury instructions are inconsistent in defining what constitutes noneconomic damages, which may include pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, and loss of enjoyment of life (LEL), among other injury sequelae. This inconsistency has been manifested recently in court decisions that have considered whether LEL should be treated as a separate element of noneconomic damages, distinct from pain and suffering. This paper reviews the case law on this issue and also describes a jury simulation experiment. Mock jurors awarded damages after they received instructions on noneconomic damages in which LEL was (1) not identified as a distinct element of damages; (2) defined …

Reward Value Of Cigarette Smoking For Comparably Heavy Smoking Schizophrenic, Depressed, And Nonpatient Smokers, Bonnie Spring, Regina Pingitore, Dennis E. Mcchargue

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: The study goal was to determine whether schizophrenic and depressed smokers perceive the reinforcement value of cigarette smoking differently from nonpsychiatric smokers who smoke as heavily.

Method: The authors assessed the preferences for smoking cigarettes versus engaging in other pleasant activities, the perceived advantages and disadvantages of smoking, and the amount of reinforcement that would be needed to attain smoking abstinence among 26 schizophrenic, 26 depressed, and 26 nonpsychiatric heavy smokers.

Results: Both schizophrenic and depressed participants chose smoking as their preferred activity more often than nonpsychiatric smokers, and they did not differ from each other. The patients also …

Sociocognitive And Behavioral Correlates Of A Measure Of Prosocial Tendencies For Adolescents , Gustavo Carlo, Anne Hausmann, Stacie Christiansen, Brandy A. Randall

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The present study was designed to examine the psychometric properties of a multidimensional measure of prosocial behaviors to use with early adolescents and middle adolescents. One hundred thirty-eight students (X age = 15.8 years; 80 girls; 70% White, non-Hispanic) from a public middle school and high school completed measures of prosocial moral reasoning, sympathy, perspective taking, aggression, ascription of responsibility, social desirability, verbal skills, and a revised prosocial tendencies measure (PTM-R). The questionnaires were completed in two sessions each separated by a 2-week time span (to assess test-retest reliability of the PTM-R). Moreover, teacher ratings of adolescents’ generosity and helpfulness …

Why Was My Major Professor So Busy? Establishing An Academic Career While Pursuing Applied Work, Lee M. Cohen, Robert D. Morgan, David Dilillo, Lisa Y. Flores

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

How do newly appointed academic psychologists with applied interests navigate the diverse and unique challenges of establishing themselves as academicians while pursuing clinical interests? Based on the experience of 4 new professionals. this article highlights the adjustments that must be made when making the transition from trainee to professional, the challenges encountered as a new faculty member, and the pursuit of applied interests as a junior faculty member. Strategies for avoiding the pitfalls that one may encounter when attempting to combine academic with applied interests are discussed.

Atkins V. Virginia: A Psychiatric Can Of Worms, Douglas Mossman Md

Faculty Articles and Other Publications

This article provides a psychiatric perspective on the problems Atkins raises for courts that handle death penalty cases. In contrast to the overarching aim of the majority's opinion in Atkins - making the administration of capital punishment more equitable - the Supreme Court's latest prescription of psychiatric help may only add a new layer of complexity and confusion to the already capricious process through which the U.S. criminal justice system imposes death sentences. The article briefly review's the Supreme Court's 1989 Penry decision, focusing on the role that evidence of mental retardation played in death penalty cases before Atkins was …

Borderline Personality Disorder : A Comparison Of Linehan And Kernberg's Treatment Modalities, Janet M. Riley

Graduate Research Papers

About 30% of clients worldwide are diagnosed as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) (Bohus et al., 2000). BPD is a complex disorder and difficult to treat. Therefore, it is necessary for counselors to gain as much knowledge about treatment modalities and their effectiveness as possible. This paper attempts to define BPD by looking closely at its history.and describing the criteria for diagnosis. Linehan's Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Kernberg's Object Relational Theory (ORT) are compared as to their effectiveness in working with clients who exhibit symptoms of BPD.

A Bdnf Coding Variant Is Associated With The Neo Personality Inventory Domain Neuroticism, A Risk Factor For Depression, Srijan Sen, Randolph M. Nesse, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Sheng Li, Lillian Gleiberman, Aravinda Chakravarti, Alan B. Weber, Margit Burmeister

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Genetic factors influence vulnerability to depression (Sullivan et al, 2000), but no specific genes have been definitively implicated. One promising approach is to determine whether variations in specific (candidate) genes are associated not with disease per se, but with traits, such as personality factors, that are themselves associated with risk for the disorder (Lander and Schork, 1994; Stoltenberg and Burmeister, 2000). Often such traits have a higher heritability than the disease status (Almasy and Blangero, 2001). Neuroticism, as measured by the NEO personality inventory (NEO-PI) (Costa and McCrae, 1997), a psychometrically sound and widely used instrument, is one such trait. …

Social Phobia : Examining The Empirical Shortcomings Of The Most Prevalent Anxiety Disorder, Randall P. Schultz

Graduate Research Papers

Social phobia, which is notably the fear of being negatively evaluated, humiliated, or embarrassed by others in social situations, has become the most prevalent anxiety disorder and the third most diagnosed mental disorder in the nation (Orsillo & Hammond, 2001). Although social phobia is no longer considered to be the "neglected" anxiety disorder (Liebowitz, Gorman, Fyer, & Klein, 1987), it remains an often undertreated, misunderstood, and understudied anxiety disorder (Cuthbert, 2002). The purpose of this paper is to examine the numerous discrepancies and shortcomings within social phobia literature in regards to defining, diagnosing, measuring, and treating social phobia. Recommendations are …

Visual Marking: A Convergence Of Goal- And Stimulus-Driven Processes During Visual Search, Paul Atchley, Sybil E. Jones, Lesa Hoffman

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Watson and Humphreys (1997) proposed that visual marking is a goal-directed process that enhances visual search through the inhibition of old objects. In addition to the standard marking case with targets at new locations, included in Experiment 1 was a set of trials with targets always at old locations, as well as a set of trials with targets varying between new and old locations. The participants’ performance when detecting the target at old locations was equivalent to their performance in the full-baseline condition when they knew the target would be at old locations, and was worse when the target appeared …

The Process And Perspective Of The Therapist In The Treatment Of Self-Mutilation, Megan M. Parketon

Graduate Research Papers

Research for the past 35 years has involved inpatient mentally ill persons who have been institutionalized. Treatment for self-mutilation has also focused primarily on mentally ill and mentally retarded patients. There has been little research done on the specific topic of adolescent female self-mutilation. Self-mutilation has become increasingly prevalent among female adolescents.

In this paper the therapist's perspective of treatment and the therapist's process of treatment were researched. Treatment should be tailored to the specific needs of the adolescent and often involved multiple treatments. Eleven styles of treatment were addressed and the qualities that a therapist needs to possess were …

Childhood Depression And Schools, Jeni Barry

Graduate Research Papers

Depression in children is a problem that is becoming more prevalent. With children and adolescents under more stress and pressure than ever before, the seriousness of the issues children deal with is also intensifying. Depression in children is a major concern because it can interfere with school and academics, social functioning, and even lead to somatic symptoms. If depression is left untreated it can lead to other mental disorders. An important concern is that children who are depressed are at great risk of suicide. Population studies show that at any one time between 10 and 15 percent of the child …

What It Is To Be A Dog: A Qualitative Method For The Study Of Animals Other Than Humans, Kenneth J. Shapiro

Experimentation Collection

No abstract provided.

Dispositional Hardiness And Women’S Well-Being Relating To Gender Discrimination: The Role Of Minimization, Mindi D. Foster, Kenneth L. Dion

Psychology Faculty Publications

Three studies examined whether personality-based hardiness would be associated with mental health benefits in contexts of gender discrimination. Hardy women encountering both a laboratory simulation and a hypothetical scenario of discrimination showed greater self-esteem and less negative affect than low hardy women. However, these benefits were mediated by the use of specific attributions, suggesting that the well-being in hardy women may have been achieved through minimizing the pervasiveness of discrimination. Study three showed this mediation pattern occurred only for participants exposed to higher threat scenarios versus lower threat scenarios of discrimination. Thus, minimizing the pervasiveness of discrimination may have been …

Adolescent Sexuality: Behavior And Meaning, Lisa J. Crockett, Marcela Raffaelli, Kristin L. Moilanen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The emerging sexuality that accompanies adolescence poses fundamental challenges for young people. These include adjusting to the altered appearance and functioning of a sexually maturing body, learning to deal with sexual desires, confronting sexual attitudes and values, experimenting with sexual behaviors, and integrating these feelings, attitudes, and experiences into a developing sense of self. The challenge is accentuated by the unfamiliar excitement of sexual arousal, the attention connected to being sexually attractive, and the new level of physical intimacy and psychological vulnerability created by sexual encounters. Adolescents’ responses to these challenges are profoundly influenced by the social and cultural context …

Triad Girls’ Group Treatment Manual, Michelle Levasseur, Colleen Clark

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Appraisal Processes In Emotion, Phoebe C. Ellsworth, Klaus R. Scherer

Book Chapters

Usually, people's emotions arise from their perceptions of their circumstances-immediate, imagined, or remembered. This idea has been implicit in many philosophical treatments of emotions (e.g., in Aristotle, Spinoza, and even Descartes and James; see Ellsworth 1994a; Gardiner, Clark-Metcalf, & Beebe-Centa, 1980; Scherer, 2000) and explicit in some (e.g., Hume and Hobbes), and it is the central emphasis of current appraisal theories of emotion. Thinking and feeling are inextricably interrelated most of the time: Certain ways of interpreting one's environment are inherently emotional, few thoughts are entirely free of feelings, and emotions influence thinking. Reason and passion are not independent domains, …

Triad Women’S Project: Group Treatment Manual, Colleen Clark, Fred Fearday

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Multicultural Assessment: Research, Training, And Practice, Richard H. Dana

Regional Research Institute for Human Services

The credibility of standard assessment has been questioned by intra-professional debate, diminished by training deficits, redefined as semi-skilled technology by managed care, and compromised for multicultural populations by research bias. Scientific psychology has been responsible for perpetuation of bias and the limited generality of published ethnic minority research. A constructive response to these issues includes more coherent scientific preparation for assessment practice, particularly with ethnic minority populations. Adequate preparation entails careful reformulation of assumptions, redefinition of variables, informed selection of research methodologies, understanding deficiencies in normative data, and using culturally responsible interpretive strategies with standard test data in addition to …

Psychological Consultation With The Roman Catholic Church: Integrating Who We Are With What We Do, Thomas G. Plante

Psychology

The purpose of this article is to detail one professional's experience in developing a close and collaborative professional working relationship with the Roman Catholic Church. This article highlights the integration of one's religious tradition with professional activities that are congruent, including assessment, psychotherapy, research and writing. Three principles for effective collaboration with clergy are presented: understand the faith tradition, develop a shared language, and expand the boundaries of professional activities.

Authoritarianism As An Agent Of Status Quo Maintenance: Women’S Careers And Family Lives, Lauren Duncan, Bill E. Peterson, Erin E. Ax

Psychology: Faculty Publications

We examined how right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) influenced career and family plans and life outcomes in 2 samples of educated women. In the college-aged sample, participants who planned to earn professional degrees scored higher on RWA than those who planned to earn graduate degrees in the humanities or social sciences. RWA was also positively related to the expression of preferences for male partners who possess masculine characteristics. In the midlife sample, RWA scores were higher for participants with traditional career and family outcomes at midlife. For midlife participants following a nontraditional career path, RWA was positively related to compartmentalizing career and …

Danger At The Edge Of Chaos: Predicting Violent Behavior In A Post-Daubert World, Erica Beecher-Monas, Edgar Garcia-Ril

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The Etiology And Treatment Of Nicotine Dependence: A Biopsychosocial Perspective, Lee M. Cohen, Dennis E. Mcchargue, Monica Cortez-Garland, Eric H. Prensky, Sadie Emery

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Chronic use of tobacco-containing products, particularly cigarettes, remains one of the most avoidable causes of death and illness in the United States and claims the lives of more than 430,000 individuals each year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], 1999). The number of tobacco-related deaths alone exceeds that of deaths due to AIDS, murders, other drugs, alcohol, car crashes, fires, and suicides combined (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2002). Illnesses associated with tobacco use include, but are not limited to, laryngeal cancer, oral cancer, esophageal cancer, obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, intrauterine growth retardation, and low …

Web-Based Research: Methodological Variables' Effects On Dropout And Sample Characteristicsweb-Based Research: Methodological Variables' Effects On Dropout And Sample Characteristics, Kevin M. O'Neil, Steven D. Penrod, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Previous research has made a beginning in addressing the importance of methodological differences in Web-based research. The present paper presents four studies investigating whether sample type, financial incentives, time when personal information is requested, table design, and method of obtaining informed consent influence dropout and sample characteristics (both demographics and measured attitudes). Undergraduates were less likely to drop out than nonstudents, and nonstudents offered a financial incentive were less likely to drop out than those offered no incentive. Complex tables, tables that were too wide, requests for personal information on the first page, and the imposing of additional informed consent …

Family Factors That Differentiate Sexually Abused And Nonabused Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatients, Dawn H.S. Reinemann, Kevin D. Stark, Susan M. Swearer Napolitano

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Sexual abuse research has traditionally focused on adult, retrospective accounts of potential correlates of abuse and their impact on functioning. However, only a few studies have examined sexually abused adolescents’ perceptions of their families, and results have proven inconclusive. This study examined whether family factors would differentiate sexually abused and nonabused adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Fifty-seven psychiatric inpatients, ages 11 to 17, who either had experienced sexual abuse or had no history of sexual victimization completed a diagnostic interview and were assessed on a variety of family indices. Results indicated that after controlling for level of depression, sexually abused adolescents could …