Digital Commons Network^™

An Intergenerational Study: Mirrors As A Tool For Self-Reflection, Susan Ridley

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

Globalization and advances in technology have resulted in a loss of cultural, community, and individual identity. Having a strong sense of self can be a protective factor in resisting peer pressure and involvement in negative behaviors, and a determining factor in the formation of one’s coping skills, and resiliency to life’s challenges. This was especially important for adolescents who are negotiating the developmental growth from childhood to adulthood, and older adults who are transitioning from the independence of adulthood to the dependence of old age.

This was a qualitative intergenerational study on the process of self-reflection on identity. Mirrors have …

On The Disambiguation Of Meaning: The Effects Of Perceptual Focus And Cognitive Load, Lynne Kennette

Wayne State University Dissertations

Most research supports a non-selective (or exhaustive) account of activation whereby multiple meanings of a word are initially activated (as discussed in Degani & Tokowicz, 2009). But what happens to the non-selected meaning of an ambigious word (e.g., bark) and how is the decision made to select one meaning over the other? A great deal research by Gernsbacher and colleagues suggests that the non-selected meaning is "discarded" via active suppression, but a competing activation-only account is also proposed by Gorfein's research group. The present dissertation examines meaning-selection in ambiguous words using a word to elicit meaning context (rather than a …

Deconstructing Events: The Neural Bases For Space, Time, And Causality, Alexander Kranjec, Eileen R. Cardillo, Gwenda L. Schmidt, Matthew Lehet, Anjan Chatterjee

Faculty Publications

Space, time, and causality provide a natural structure for organizing our experience. These abstract categories allow us to think relationally in the most basic sense; understanding simple events requires one to represent the spatial relations among objects, the relative durations of actions or movements, and the links between causes and effects. The present fMRI study investigates the extent to which the brain distinguishes between these fundamental conceptual domains. Participants performed a 1-back task with three conditions of interest (space, time, and causality). Each condition required comparing relations between events in a simple verbal narrative. Depending on the condition, participants were …

The Creation Of The Sympathetic Villain In Fritz Lang's M, Laura Hardt (Class Of 2014)

Writing Across the Curriculum

No abstract provided.

Sports Neuropsychology With Diverse Athlete Populations: Contemporary Findings And Special Considerations, Christine M. Salinas, Frank M. Webbe

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper aims to familiarize readers with the contemporary scientific literature available on sports concussion as it relates to populations divergent from adult males who play football and hockey. Herein, we focus on important issues such as age, gender, culture, language, sport type, and premorbid conditions (such as learning disabilities [LD] and attention deficit/hyperactive disorder [ADHD]) that can influence concussion incidence, severity, and recovery

A Study Of Birth Weight As A Predictor Of Cognitive Ability In Childhood : Applications Of Loess Regression And Generalized Propensity Score Methods, Xiaoyuan Tan

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study applied nonparametric loess regression to describe the predictive association between birth weight and cognitive ability in childhood and generalized propensity score methods to control the confounding of multiple covariates that summarize prenatal differences.

Facebook: Shifting Privacy, Identity, And Power Online, Rachel Verni

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Due to staggering technological shifts in recent decades, the Internet has become a routine fixture in everyday life. The popularity of social networking sites, in particular, raises myriad questions regarding identity construction and social interaction. It is also unclear how these practices are related to perceptions of privacy. This dissertation examines how traditional notions of privacy compare, and apply, to privacy on the Internet and considers how issues of power are (re)created in online spaces. By focusing on identity enactment strategies and social connectivity practices, this work sheds light on the ways in which individuals define privacy and choose to …

Criminal, Antisocial, And Temporal Patterns In The Histories Of Serial And Non-Serial Sexual Murderers, Victoria Blair Mesa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Despite its having been the subject of clinical and scholarly inquiry for more than two centuries, empirical research regarding the phenomenon of sexually-motivated homicide remains limited. In particular, relatively few prior studies have focused on perpetrators' criminal and antisocial backgrounds, and these often examine only the data found in official arrest and conviction records, which frequently provide incomplete accounts of offenders' histories. Even fewer researchers have investigated whether temporal patterns exist in the offense histories of sexual murderers. The current study included data on 46 serial and 93 non-serial perpetrators of sexually-motivated homicide, obtained from a large archive. Data collection …

Adolescent Characteristics And Peer Influence As Predictors Of Antisocial Behavior In Males, Benjamin D. Goodlett

Wayne State University Theses

Deviant peer influence during adolescence has been found to predict substance use, delinquency, and aggression. This study examined youth characteristics (prosociality, daring, and verbal ability) along with peer influence (deviant talk) as predictors of antisocial behavior. Peer influence, in the form of deviant talk, was also examined as a potential mediator between youth characteristics and antisocial behavior. The current study added to the literature by examining a slope measure of deviant talk as an organizing feature of peer discussions. Data were collected prospectively from a subsample of 178 youths participating in the Pitt Mother and Child Project. Findings supported daring, …

Sex Differences In The Dopaminergic Regulation Of Courtship, But Not Pairing Behaviors In Zebra Finches, Erin Marie Lowrey

Wayne State University Theses

Dopamine is one of the key ingredients in the glue that cements social bonds in vertebrates. The D2 dopamine receptor has been implicated in the regulation of monogamous pair bonding in the prairie vole. While dopamine affects courtship behaviors in the male zebra finch, the behavioral role of dopamine acting at D2 receptors in both males and females deserves further attention. We hypothesized that the D2 receptor would regulate courtship and pairing behaviors in the male and female zebra finch. Sixteen males and females were tested using a repeated measures design. On day 1, the zebra finches were injected with …

Functional Correlates Of Verbal Working Memory In Healthy Aging And Early Alzheimer's Disease, Michael Adam Sugarman

Wayne State University Theses

Deficits in the working memory system are common in patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, little is known regarding the neurobiological basis of this impairment. The current study examined the neurobiological functional correlates of the working memory system in early AD patients and cognitively intact control participants using a word list repetition task performed during positron emission tomography (PET). Compared to a reading control task, both the AD and control groups utilized a network of parietal, frontal, and cerebellar regions while completing the word rehearsal task. However, control participants displayed greater activation in all regions, especially in the parietal …

The Art Of Work Autonomy: A Test Of Its Influence On Job Embeddedness, Qian Jiang, Chris W. Wright, Amy Smith

Modern Psychological Studies

Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, and Erez (2001) demonstrated that Job Embeddedness is connected to intent to leave and voluntary turnover in employment. Previous researchers have also found that Work Autonomy predicts variables similar to Job Embeddedness (Mitchell et al., 2001). We investigated the factors that impact why people stay at their jobs by examining the relationship between Work Autonomy and Job Embeddedness. Data from 190 currently or previously employed participants were collected. As hypothesized, Work Autonomy was strongly correlated with on/off-the-job fit, on/off-the job sacrifice, on-the-job links and overall Job Embeddedness. However it was not correlated with off-the-job links. Implications …

Good And Bad Group Performance: Same Process—Different Outcomes, R. S. Tindale, Christine M. Smith, Amanda Dykema-Engblade, Katharina Kluwe

Peer Reviewed Articles

Much of the research on small group performance shows that groups tend to outperform individuals in most task domains. However, there is also evidence that groups sometimes perform worse than individuals, occasionally with severe negative consequences. Theoretical attempts to explain such negative performance events have tended to point to characteristics of the group or the group process that were different than those found for better performing groups. We argue that typical group processes can be used to explain both good and bad group performance in many instances. Results from a pair of experiments focusing on two different task domains are …

Iptakalim Preferentially Decreases Nicotine-Induced Hyperlocomotion In Phencyclidine-Sensitized Rats: A Potential Dual Action Against Nicotine Addiction And Psychosis, Nick Volf, Gang Hu, Ming Li

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective: Iptakalim is a putative ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channel opener. It is also a novel nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) blocker and can antagonize nicotine-induced increase in dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens. Our recent work also shows that iptakalim exhibits a clozapine-like atypical antipsychotic profile, indicating that iptakalim may possess a dual action against nicotine addiction and schizophrenia.

Methods: The present study examined the potential therapeutic effects of iptakalim on nicotine use in schizophrenia. We created an animal model of comorbidity of nicotine addiction and schizophrenia by injecting male Sprague-Dawley rats with nicotine (0.40 mg/kg, subcutaneously［sc］) or saline, in combination …

Differential Effects Of Acute Amphetamine And Phencyclidine Treatment And Withdrawal From Repeated Amphetamine Or Phencyclidine Treatment On Social Interaction And Social Memory In Rats, Ming Li, Wei He, Rebecca Munro

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Although animal models based on amphetamine (AMPH) or phencyclidine (PCP) treatment have been used extensively to study the neurobiological and behavioral characteristics of schizophrenia, there are conflicting reports regarding their validity in modeling the negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. The present study examined how acute AMPH or PCP treatment (Experiment 1) and withdrawal from repeated AMPH treatment (Experiment 2) or PCP treatment (Experiment 3) affects social behavior and social recognition memory in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Each subject was tested on two consecutive days. On the first day, the rats were tested four times (5 min/each) at 10-min intervals …

Rotational Head Kinematics In Football Impacts: An Injury Risk Function For Concussion, Steven Rowson, Stefan M. Duma, Jonathan G. Beckwith, Jeffrey J. Chu, Richard M. Greenwald, Joseph J. Crsico, P. Gunnar Brolinson, Ann-Christine Duhaime, Thomas W. Mcallister, Arthur C. Maerlender

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Recent research has suggested a possible link between sports-related concussions and neurodegen-erative processes, highlighting the importance of developing methods to accurately quantify head impact tolerance. The use of kinematic parameters of the head to predict brain injury has been sug-gested because they are indicative of the inertial response of the brain. The objective of this study is to characterize the rotational kinematics of the head associated with concussive impacts using a large head acceleration dataset collected from human subjects. The helmets of 335 football players were instrumented with accelerometer arrays that measured head acceleration following head impacts sustained during play, …

Disentangling The Nature Of The Nicotine Stimulus, Rick A. Bevins, Scott T. Barrett, Robert J. Polewan, Steven T. Pittenger, Natashia Swalve, Sergios Charntikov

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Learning involving interoceptive stimuli likely plays an important role in many diseases and psychopathologies. Within this area, there has been extensive research investigating the interoceptive stimulus effects of abused drugs. In this pursuit, behavioral pharmacologists have taken advantage of what is known about learning processes and adapted the techniques to investigate the behavioral and receptor mechanisms of drug stimuli. Of particular interest is the nicotine stimulus and the use of the two-lever operant drug discrimination task and the Pavlovian drug discriminated goal-tracking task. There is strong concordance between the two methods when using “standard” testing protocols that minimize learning on …

Association Between The Serotonin Transporter Triallelic Genotype And Eating Problems Is Moderated By The Experience Of Childhood Trauma In Women, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Cynthia Anderson, Parthasarathi Nag, Cheryl Anagnopoulos

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective—This study investigated a potential interaction between the triallelic polymorphism of the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) promoter and the experience of childhood trauma on the number of problem eating behaviors.

Methods—The study sample was comprised of 439 (64.7% female) Caucasian college students (mean age = 22.49, SD = 6.12). Participants completed questionnaires that assessed eating problems and experience of trauma in childhood (ages 0-12) and donated cheek cells for 5- HTTLPR and rs25531 genotyping.

Results—Women carrying a lower expressing allele (i.e. LG or S) who were exposed to higher levels of childhood trauma reported significantly higher mean numbers of eating …

Contributions Of Dynamic Systems Theory To Cognitive Development, John P. Spencer, Andrew Austin, Anne R. Schutte

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This paper examines the contributions of dynamic systems theory to the field of cognitive development, focusing on modeling using dynamic neural fields. A brief overview highlights the contributions of dynamic systems theory and the central concepts of dynamic field theory (DFT). We then probe empirical predictions and findings generated by DFT around two examples—the DFT of infant perseverative reaching that explains the Piagetian A-not-B error, and the DFT of spatial memory that explain changes in spatial cognition in early development. A systematic review of the literature around these examples reveals that computational modeling is having an impact on empirical research …

Contributions Of Dynamic Systems Theory To Cognitive Development, John P. Spencer, Andrew Austin, Anne R. Schutte

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This paper examines the contributions of dynamic systems theory to the field of cognitive development, focusing on modeling using dynamic neural fields. A brief overview highlights the contributions of dynamic systems theory and the central concepts of dynamic field theory (DFT). We then probe empirical predictions and findings generated by DFT around two examples—the DFT of infant perseverative reaching that explains the Piagetian A-not-B error, and the DFT of spatial memory that explain changes in spatial cognition in early development. A systematic review of the literature around these examples reveals that computational modeling is having an impact on empirical research …

Willingness To Pay For Country-Of-Origin Labeled, Traceable, And Bse-Tested Beef, Kar Ho Lim

Theses and Dissertations--Agricultural Economics

While previous studies have investigated country-of-origin effect from various angles, it remained unexplored the extent to which Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) affects U.S. beef imports from specific countries. Using choice-experiment data, willingness to pay (WTP) for Australian, Canadian beef in addition to other enhancement attributes were estimated with a Mixed Logit Model and a Latent Class Model. The results revealed unobserved taste heterogeneity and important differences in the WTP between the imported and domestic steak. The Latent Class Model estimated the range of discount needed for consumers to switch from U.S. to Canadian steak was a range from $1.09 …

Law, Environment, And The “Nondismal” Social Sciences, William Boyd, Douglas Kysar, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Over the past 30 years, the influence of economics over the study of environmental law and policy has expanded considerably, becoming in the process the predominant framework for analyzing regulations that address pollution, natural resource use, and other environmental issues. This review seeks to complement the expansion of economic reasoning and methodology within the field of environmental law and policy by identifying insights to be gleaned from various “nondismal” social sciences. In particular, three areas of inquiry are highlighted as illustrative of interdisciplinary work that might help to complement law and economics and, in some cases, compensate for it: the …

The Relative Effects Of Mindfulness And Values On Therapeutic Relationship: Developing Methods Of Manipulating Alliance, Regan Michelle Slater

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Comfactors research indicates that there is a positive relationship between therapeutic relationship and improved client outcomes. However, little research has been done to examine the nature of this relationship. The current study examined the relationship between mindfulness, values, and working alliance. Participants were 59 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: mindfulness plus values, mindfulness, or control. Depending on condition, participants engaged in a mindfulness plus values exercise, a mindfulness exercise, or a wait control. All participants then engaged in a conversation with the experimenter regarding a recent disagreement. Mindfulness and values connectedness were assessed pre-intervention, …

Selective Mutism: Identification Of Subtypes And Influence On Treatment, Christy A. Mulligan

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Selective Mutism (SM) is a psychiatric disorder with a relatively low incidence that impairs social communication in some settings. There are many characteristics that appear similar in some children but are absent in others. Therefore, it was hypothesized that there may be distinct SM subtypes that warrant differential diagnosis and treatment strategies. In this study, 442 Selective Mutism Comprehensive Diagnostic Questionnaires (SM-CDQ) were analyzed to help identify children with specific characteristics that made their SM unique. Participants ranged in age from 3 to18 years old and met criteria for SM. The data were coded based on 203 variables and were …

Investigation Into The Specificity Of Angiotensin Ii-Induced Behavioral Desensitization, Peter J. Vento, Kevin P. Myers, Derek Daniels

Faculty Journal Articles

Angiotensin II (AngII) plays a key role in maintaining body fluid homeostasis. The physiological and behavioral effects of central AngII include increased blood pressure and fluid intake. In vitro experiments demonstrate that repeated exposure to AngII reduces the efficacy of subsequent AngII, and behavioral studies indicate that prior icv AngII administration reduces the dipsogenic response to AngII administered later. Specifically, rats given a treatment regimen of three icv injections of a large dose of AngII, each separated by 20 min, drink less water in response to a test injection of AngII than do vehicle-treated controls given the same test injection. …

Is Selective Mutism An Emotion Regulation Strategy For Children With Social Phobia? A Single Case Design Investigation, Samantha L. Scott

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To determine whether children with selective mutism (SM) withhold speech to regulate their emotional arousal and decrease automatic distress, the current study examines the behavioral and physiological responses of children with SM in comparison to children with social phobia (SP) and children with no psychiatric disorder (TD) as they participate in two social situations. A single case design strategy is used to compare behavioral and physiological responses both within and across groups. Examining the temporal sequencing of behaviors and physiology provides a direct test of the utility of emotion regulation theory as it pertains to children with social phobia/selective mutism. …

Animal Cognition, The Importance Of Touch, And The Cit, Deirdre Yeater

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

A presentation of Professor Yeater's incorporation in her class PSCC103 of 5 in- class discussions comparing human and non-human species, particularly dolphins, with an emphasis on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition and the importance of touch. PSCC-103, The Human Community: The Individual and Society, is a 3 credit course which engages students in a study of the relationship between psychology – the science of human behavior and mental processes, and the Catholic intellectual tradition – which is characterized by rigorous intellectual inquiry and an openness to scientific ideas. This course aims to help us understand ourselves as human persons, as well …

Instructional Technology Usage And Implications For Student Academic Achievement And Further Success, Bradley D. Petry

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The digital divide was once a term used to indicate disparity between socio-economic classes and access to digital devices. The digital divide may now more accurately indicate differences in the types of usage between members of different socio-economic classes. Differences in usage among the middle school student population may play a role in the development of critical thinking and collaborative communication. The Maryland results of the 2010 Speak Up survey – a national student survey regarding the usage of technology - were used in comparison with student respondent school district differentiation and were also compared with student state standardized test …

Analysis Of Verbal Fluency In Amnestic And Non-Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alyssa Weakley

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

No abstract provided.

Factors Associated With A Longer Length Of Stay And Minimal Improvement In An Inpatient Headache Unit, Kristen Wenrich

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The purpose of the present study is to identify psychological factors that predict a longer length of stay (LOS) and minimal improvement in a headache inpatient unit. Research shows that some psychological factors associated with headache disorders, such as anxiety, depression, and maladaptive coping skills, can complicate the disorder. The present study theorized that psychological factors that complicate the headache disorder would predict a longer LOS and minimal improvement. The present study used a quasiexperimental, prospective, cross-sectional survey research design, with multiple regression analyses. There was a total of 51 completed protocols. Of those completed protocols, 78% of participants were …