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Accumulation, Excess, Childhood: Toward A Countertopography Of Risk And Waste, Cindi Katz

Publications and Research

This piece grows out of my on-going project, ‘Childhood as Spectacle’, and my enduring concern with social reproduction and what it does for and to Marxist and other critical political-economic analyses. After more than 30 years of Marxist-feminist interventions around these issues, symptomatic silences around social reproduction remain all too common in analyses of capitalism. Working through these issues and their occlusion, I offer what I hope is a useful and vibrant theoretical framework for examining geographies of children, youth, and families. Building this framework calls into play three overlapping issues; neoliberal capitalism in crisis and David Harvey’s notion of …

Vocal Learning In Grey Parrots: A Brief Review Of Perception, Production, And Cross-Species Comparisons, Irene M. Pepperberg

Sentience Collection

This chapter briefly reviews what is known—and what remains to be understood—about Grey parrot vocal learning. I review Greys’ physical capacities—issues of auditory perception and production—then discuss how these capacities are used in vocal learning and can be recruited for referential communication with humans. I discuss cross-species comparisons where applicable and conclude with a description of recent research that integrates issues of reference, production and perception.

"Why Rebottle The Genie?": Capitalizing On Closure In Death Penalty Proceedings, Jody L. Madeira

Indiana Law Journal

Closure, though a term with great rhetorical force in the capital punishment context, has to date evaded systematic analysis, instead becoming embroiled in ideological controversy. For victims who have rubbed the rights lamp for years, inclusion in capital proceedings and accompanying closure opportunities are perceived as a force with the potential to grant wishes of peace and finality. Scholars, however, argue for rebottling the closure genie lest closure itself prove false or its pursuit violate a defendant's constitutional rights. In order to effectively appraise the relationship of closure to criminal jurisprudence, however, and thus to decide whether and to what …

The Psychopathology Of Cinema: How Mental Illness And Psychotherapy Are Portrayed In Film, Lauren Beachum

Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Hours Of Boredom, Moments Of Terror: Temporal Desynchrony In Military And Security Force Operations, Peter A. Hancock, Gerald P. Krueger

Defense and Technology Papers

The authors examine resultant psychological and behavioral implications for combatant and security personnel performance as viewed through application of a traditional human psychological stress model. Inadequate recognition of the implications resulting from long lull periods, combat pulses, and the need to recover from stress can lead to dysfunctional soldiering as well as poor individual and small unit performance.

Wilderness Beauty: A Means To Resolve Volitional Doubt, Brian T. Scalise

Liberty Theological Review

Doubt is often part of Christian spiritual life. Matured doubt will influence the will (the volition) so as to keep the Christian doubter from acting like a Christian or even desiring the Christian life. This essay seeks to construct a theory designed to engage and help resolve volitional doubt by use of wilderness beauty. This theory incorporates three areas of study—Land and Leisure Management, Abraham Maslow’s metamotivation theory, and Jonathan Edwards' aesthetic theology—to demonstrate the uniqueness and usefulness of wilderness beauty for resolving volitional doubt. Subsequent to the construction of the theory, practical suggestions for its application are given.

Prenatal Undernutrition And Cognitive Function In Late Adulthood, Susanne R. De Rooij, Hans Wouters, Julie E. Yonker, Rebecca C. Painter

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

At the end of World War II, a severe 5-mo famine struck the cities in the western part of The Netherlands. At its peak, the rations dropped to as low as 400 calories per day. In 1972, cognitive performance in 19-y-old male conscripts was reported not to have been affected by exposure to the famine before birth. In the present study, we show that cognitive function in later life does seem affected by prenatal undernutrition. We found that at age 56 to 59, men and women exposed to famine during the early stage of gestation performed worse on a selective …

Junk Science, Test Validity, And The Uniform Guidelines For Personnel Selection Procedures: The Case Of Melendez V. Illinois Bell, Fred B. Bryant, Elaine K.B Siegel

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper stems from a recent federal court case in which a standardized test of cognitive ability developed by AT&T, the Basic Scholastic Aptitude Test (BSAT), was ruled invalid and discriminatory for use in hiring Latinos. Within the context of the BSAT, we discuss spurious statistical arguments advanced by the defense, exploiting certain language in the current Uniform Guidelines for evaluating the fairness and validity of personnel selection tests. These issues include: (a) how to avoid capitalizing on chance; (b) what constitutes “a measure” of job performance; (c) how to judge the meaningfulness of group differences in performance measures; and …

The Etiology Of Conduct Disorder And Its Relation To Antisocial Personality Disorder: A Literature Review, Lyndsi Maciow, Carolyn Mcnamara Barry

Modern Psychological Studies

Antisocial behavior enacts a heavy price on both the individual engaged in the behavior and the society in which he or she resides. Research has shown that among a subset of individuals antisocial behavior is fairly stable from childhood through early adulthood. This review article traces the hierarchical development of antisocial behavior from childhood Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) through the adult diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD), with particular emphasis placed upon adolescent Conduct Disorder (CD). Possible environmental etiological factors of CD are discussed, the most notable being familial discord and low socioeconomic status. Potential biological etiological determinants of antisocial …

Etiological And Gender Perspectives Of Anxiety Disorder Development, Erika L. Harrington, Jeffrey S. Danforth, Margaret Letterman

Modern Psychological Studies

This paper presents a comprehensive, integrative review of research on the biological, environmental, and cognitive etiology of anxiety. Causes of generalized anxiety disorder, specific and social phobias, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder are discussed, as is the role of gender in anxiety development. Biological research concerning genetic heritability, neurobiological structure, and neurotransmitter functioning are reviewed. Environmental factors such as aversive events, parental interactions, environmental control, and learning are discussed, followed by research on cognitive distortions, attribution style, attention biases, and catastrophic cognitions. The review finds evidence of an interaction between biological, environmental and cognitive variables, as well as a mediating …

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder-Like Symptomatology In Pediatric Intensivists, Dina Gabriella Cuervo

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Helping professionals, such as social workers, emergency first responders and medical personnel are susceptible to traumatic stress reactions through indirect exposure to trauma via the traumatized population whom they serve. This phenomenon, known as secondary traumatic stress (STS), mimicking the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder, can have an impact on a provider’s work with his/her patient or have longer-term effects such as deciding to leave the profession. This study found that physicians’ level of job stress was the strongest predictor of STS and that this relationship was also influenced by resiliency, ego strength and attachment style. Individuals with higher levels …

Diagnosing And Treating Adhd: Discipline Differences, Lisa Marie Lliteras

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

According to Barkley (2005), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common reasons children are referred to mental health workers in the United States and is now one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders associated with childhood. The diagnostic criteria and labels for ADHD have changed over the last several decades, and with each change the prevalence rate for ADHD has increased (Wolraich & Baumgaertel, 1997). This increase in the prevalence of ADHD has led to a need for clinicians from different disciplines to assess and treat ADHD. As such, several guidelines from professional associations have been …

Are Unfamiliar Neighbours Considered To Be Dear-Enemies?, Elodie Briefer, Fanny Rybak, Thierry Aubin

Sentience Collection

Background: Discriminating threatening individuals from non-threatening ones allow territory owners to modulate their territorial responses according to the threat posed by each intruder. This ability reduces costs associated with territorial defence. Reduced aggression towards familiar adjacent neighbours, termed the dear-enemy effect, has been shown in numerous species. An important question that has never been investigated is whether territory owners perceive distant neighbours established in the same group as strangers because of their unfamiliarity, or as dear-enemies because of their group membership.

Methodology/Principal Findings: To investigate this question, we played back to male skylarks (Alauda arvensis) songs of adjacent neighbours, distant …

Effects Of Teaching Emotions To Students With High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorders Through Picture Books, Jennifer M. Fletcher

Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) struggle with identifying others' emotions, which impacts their ability to successfully interact in social situations. Because of the increasing number of children identified with ASD, effective techniques are needed to help children identify emotions in others. The use of technology is being researched as a way to help children with emotion identification. However, technology is not always available for teachers to use in classrooms, whereas picture books are much easier to access and have been successfully used to improve students' social skills. Picture books are naturally used in classroom, home, and therapy settings. This …

Emotional Response Patterns And Emotional Numbing In Adult Female Victims Of Sexual Assault With Ptsd, Tristan A. Robinson

Dissertations

DSM symptoms of emotional numbing appear to have a major impact on the course and outcome of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), yet the construct definition of emotional numbing itself has not been clearly established. Two opposing conceptualizations of this construct have been proposed in the traumatic stress literature. One holds numbing to be a form of non-effortful emotional avoidance, akin to dissociation, that results in diminished responsiveness to emotional stimuli in general (Foa, Zinbarg, & Rothbaum, 1992; Foa & Hearst-Ikeda, 1996). The other suggests that numbing entails a deficit in responsiveness to positive emotional stimuli but not to negative emotional …

Marital Behavior, Oxytocin, Vasopressin, And Wound Healing, Jean-Phillipe Gouin, Jeffrey R. Stowell, C. Sue Carter, Hossein Pournajafi-Nazarloo, Ronald Glasser, William B. Malarkey, Timothy J. Loving, Janice K. Kiecoltglaser

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Animal studies have implicated oxytocin and vasopressin in social bonding, physiological stress responses, and wound healing. In humans, endogenous oxytocin and vasopressin levels covary with perceptions of relationship quality, marital behaviors, and physiological stress responses. To investigate relationships among marital behavior, oxytocin, vasopressin, and wound healing, and to determine the characteristics of individuals with the highest neuropeptide levels, 37 couples were admitted for a 24-hour visit in a hospital research unit. After small blister wounds were created on their forearm, couples participated in a structured social support interaction task. Blister sites were monitored daily following discharge to assess wound repair …

Capuchins (Cebus Apella) Can Solve A Means-End Problem, Anna M. Yocom, Sarah T. Boysen

Sentience Collection

Three capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were tested on a 2-choice discrimination task designed to examine their knowledge of support, modeled after Hauser, Kralik, and Botto-Mahan’s (1999) experiments with tamarins. This task involved a choice between 2 pieces of cloth, including 1 with a food reward placed on its surface, and a second cloth with the food reward next to its surface. After reliably solving the basic problem, the capuchins were tested with various alternations of the original food reward and cloth. The capuchins were able to solve the initial task quickly, and generalize their knowledge to additional functional and nonfunctional …

Neural Reuse As A Source Of Developmental Homology, David S. Moore, Chris Moore

Pitzer Faculty Publications and Research

Neural reuse theories should interest developmental psychologists because these theories can potentially illuminate the developmental relations among psychological characteristics observed across the lifespan. Characteristics that develop by exploiting pre-existing neural circuits can be thought of as developmental homologues. And, understood in this way, the homology concept that has proven valuable for evolutionary biologists can be used productively to study psychological/behavioral development.

Neuropsychological Aspects Of Fetal Transplant Surgery For The Treatment Of Parkinson's Disease: A Longitudinal Study, Gina M. Signoracci

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease often characterized at the time of diagnosis by resting tremor, rigidity, and/or bradykinesia. Over the course of the disease, motor functioning, cognitive functioning, and quality of life typically decline as the effectiveness of drug therapies diminishes. This study utilized medical, neuropsychological and quality of life data that were collected as part of a double-blind placebo surgery trial in which 40 patients were randomly assigned to receive bilateral transplantation of embryonic mesencephalic dopamine cells into the putamen or sham surgery. Nineteen women and 21 men participated in the study. Analyses focused on relationships between …

Willingness Of Individuals To Seek Mental Health Treatment: The Impact Of Gender And Parent Therapy Experience, Amanda Kristin Mcclure

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether parent therapy experience and gender influenced men's and women's attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment. Participants included 207 women and 212 men ages 18 to 30 years attending Western Kentucky University. Participants completed a demographics survey and the Inventory of Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Treatment. Results indicated that more favorable attitudes toward seeking mental health services were exhibited by participants who reported that a parent attended therapy. Additionally, a gender difference in attitudes toward mental health services was uncovered, in that women were found to display more positive attitudes toward …

The Other Race Effect : The Role Of Experience And Social Attiudes On Face Recognition, Emily Wheat

Master's Theses

The ORE is phenomenon whereby recognition for own race faces is better than recognition of other race faces. This study examines how non-perceptual factors—social context, attitudes, and experience—impact the ORE. Participants from three different racial groups (Caucasian, Black, Asian) completed a face recognition task screening faces for status-specific targets (baseline, perpetrator, victim), self-report measures of explicit bias and experience with members from other races and a measure of implicit bias. Results indicated that non-perceptual factors impact the ORE. Specifically, Caucasian participants revealed a reduced ORE for other race perpetrators in comparison to victims. Black participants revealed a reduced ORE for …

The Effects Of Chlordiazepoxide On Resurgence In Male Rats: A Preliminary Investigation, Marc Alden Weeden

Dissertations

Resurgence is defined as the recurrence of a previously but no longer reinforced behavior when a more recently reinforced behavior undergoes extinction. The present study investigated the effects of chlordiazepoxide (CDP), a member of the class of drugs known as benzodiazepines, on the resurgence of lever pressing responses emitted by male Sprague-Dawley rats. The general procedure was as follows: An operant (left lever presses) was reinforced and subsequently extinguished. Then, a second operant (right lever presses) was reinforced. Finally, 0, 1, 3, 10, and 30 mg/kg doses of CDP were administered via intraperitoneal injections to groups of nine animals each …

The Experience Of Feelings In Depression, Noelle L. Lefforge

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Emotions, such as sadness, guilt, and irritability, are at the core of depressive symptoms and suggest a need for an in-depth understanding of feelings, the experiential component of emotion, during depression. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the experience of emotion in depressed participants and find out if these experiences are similar to those of nondepressed participants. Descriptive Experience Sampling (DES) was used to sample five depressed and four nondepressed participants for four days and then in a controlled setting while watching positive, negative, and neutral film clips. Due to the limited sample size, this study was …

A Sequential Analysis Of Staff Training Procedures To Efficiently Teach Novice Instructors To Implement Errorless Discrete-Trial Teaching Procedures, Jamie M. Severtson

Dissertations

Discrete trial teaching (DTT) is the most common techniques incorporated into intensive behavioral intervention programs for children diagnosed with autism. Errorless learning (EL) prompt fading strategies are frequently recommended during DTT because they often result in more efficient and effective instruction. Several variables may prevent agencies from offering extensive supervised training to instructors; therefore, timeefficient DTT staff training protocols are needed. The purpose of the present study was to conduct a sequential analysis of the efficacy of three methods for teaching errorless DTT procedures to novice instructors. These methods included: (a) a self-instruction manual, (b) an instructional video, (c) and …

Inferring Rules From Sound: The Role Of Domain-Specific Knowledge In Speech And Music Perception, Aaronell Shaila Matta

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Speech and music are two forms of complex auditory structure that play fundamental roles in everyday human experience and require certain basic perceptual and cognitive abilities. Nevertheless, when attempting to infer patterns from sequential auditory input, human listeners may use the same information differently depending on whether a sound is heard in a linguistic vs. musical context. The goal of these studies was to examine the role of domain-specific knowledge in auditory pattern perception. Specifically, the study examined the inference of "rules" in novel sound sequences that contained patterns of spectral structure (speech or instrument timbre) and fundamental frequency (pitch). …

The Effects Of Headlight Intensity And Clothing Contrast On Pedestrians' Own Estimated Recognition Distances At Night, Rachel Rosenberg

All Theses

Inadequate pedestrian detection is a crucial contributing factor in fatal nighttime collisions involving pedestrians. Pedestrians typically overestimate how recognizable they are to oncoming drivers and little is known about what affects pedestrians' estimates of how recognizable they think they are. This study explored the extent to which pedestrians believed their conspicuity was affected by headlight intensity and clothing reflectance. Participants in four clothing conditions and in four different levels of headlight intensity walked to and from a parked vehicle until they felt recognizable to the driver. Estimated recognition distances did not change with variations in headlight intensity, suggesting that pedestrians …

The 71f Advantage: Applying Army Research Psychology For Health And Performance Gains, Paul T. Bartone, Ross H. Pastel, Mark A. Vaitkus

Books

This book grew out of paper presentations and discussions at the Army Research Psychology Biennial Conference held April 24–25, 2008, in Bethesda, Maryland. It provides a snapshot of groundbreaking research currently being done by Army research psychologists around the globe. The book illuminates the many contributions of Army research psychologists to supporting Soldiers and their families, as well as enhancing their performance and wellbeing.

Information Acquisition And Sociality Among Migratory Birds, Zoltán Németh

Dissertations

Information use is a key feature of adaptive behavior: the better informed an individual, the better it is able to adjust its behavior to meet the demands of a variable world. Therefore, most animals attempt to reduce environmental uncertainty by gathering information when it is available. However, tracking unpredictable ecological factors may carry costs as individuals invest valuable time and energy in the process of information acquisition. Social learning (i.e., use of social information inadvertently produced by other individuals) enables the individual to gain rapid and more complete assessment of its novel environment. This process may be particularly important for …

Increasing Readiness To Change Anger: A Motivational Group Intervention, Gregory Lee Futral

Dissertations

The conceptualization and treatment of problematic anger has received increased attention in the literature in recent years. Among the challenges in working with persons experiencing anger-related difficulties, barriers in forming the therapeutic alliance (Tafrate & Kassinove, 2003), resistance behaviors (DiGiuseppe, 1995), and/or low motivation to change (DiGiuseppe & Tafrate, 2007) have been commonly identified as having the potential to derail the treatment process. Strategies developed to increase treatment motivation and readiness to change, such as those found in the literature on the transtheoretical model (TTM; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982) and motivational interviewing (MI; Miller & Rollnick, 2002), have been proposed …

Positive Versus Negative Neuroimaging In Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Outcome: A Meta-Analysis, Thomas Jeffrey Farrer

Theses and Dissertations

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) can be broken into two categories; complicated and uncomplicated. These categories are based on structural imaging scans during the assessment of the injury. If abnormalities appear in the scan, we refer to it as complicated. The present research aims at determining whether there are differences in the neuropsychological deficits in the presences of positive neuroimaging as opposed to negative neuroimaging. This was accomplished with meta-analytic techniques. It was found that neuroimaging does not predict neuropsychological functioning in the chronic state of mTBI.