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The Role Of Positive Psychology Within Professional Athletes’ Performance, Jasmine C. Olsen

ScholarsArchive Data

This literature review delves into the influence of these practice such as mental resilience, coach-to-athlete relationships, and satisfaction in performance within athletes. It’s aim is to voice any needed changes within such research for future studies.

Perfectionism And Academic Burnout In High-Achieving Undergraduate Students, Hannah Belle Faiman, Gabrielle Strouse

School of Education Faculty Publications

This study examined the relationship between perfectionism and academic burnout, as well as how each construct varies among honors (n = 120), high-achieving non-honors (n = 180), and typical (n = 196) undergraduate students at a mid-sized university in the United States. Results indicated the presence of group differences in perfectionism type: honors students were largely characterized as maladaptive perfectionists; high-achieving non-honors students mostly as maladaptive or non-perfectionists; and the majority of typical students as non-perfectionists. In addition, analyses revealed significant differences in academic burnout by perfectionism type, with adaptive perfectionists exhibiting higher levels of burnout than …

Validity, Reliability, And Norming Of The Novel Psychodynamic Diagnostic Inventory Of Personality Organization, Andrew L. Candreva

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The purpose of this study was to develop a psychometrically sound self-report personality assessment derived from the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual’s (PDM-2) diagnostic framework of personality organization. This assessment, the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Inventory of Personality Organization (PDIPO), was developed from the longstanding history of psychodynamic personality theory. The PDIPO provides a comprehensive evaluation of how clients perceive their own level of personality organization, defined as a continuum from healthy to disturbed or impaired personality functioning. The PDIPO was normed on a representative sample of adults (ages 20–70) in the United States through an online participant recruitment service, Prolific. The 78 items …

Using Video Models Plus Feedback To Teach Interview Skills, Zoe Odom

Honors Theses

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is partially characterized by deficits in social communication and interaction. These deficits can be displayed by struggles in developing relationships and social-emotional reciprocity (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2022). In the context of competitive employment, social skill deficits can impose challenges in securing and maintaining an employment position, with 8.1% of adults with disabilities between the ages of 16-65 unemployed (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2024). Video-based instruction (i.e., video models and prompts) has been used to teach adults with autism a wide variety of skills up to 100% accuracy, including vocational skills such as …

The Impact Of Quiet Quitting On University Students: A Phenomenological Investigation Providing Student Perspectives And Institutional Implications, Molly Caldwell

Honors Theses

This study explored the potential phenomena of quiet quitting in higher education among college students and how they approached their role as a student. The researcher sought to understand if the disconnect observed in current students resembled quiet quitting behaviors and to determine if there was a phenomenon beyond student disengagement. The research questions investigated whether a phenomenon was occurring among college students independent of disengagement, if college students engaged in behaviors indicative of quiet quitting, and if students perceived that quiet quitting had any impact on their educational outcomes such as grades, involvement, graduation, or job prospects. Data collection …

Coping With Distress In Athletes: Strategies And Barriers, Julianna Cheney

Student Works

Cognitive techniques and mental strategies are utilized by athletes to enhance performance in their sport, particularly when it comes to managing physical distress or discomfort. This literature review aims to both compile the most current literature on the cognitive strategies athletes implement to counter physical distress, as well as address the mental barriers they may face. Searches conducted in Google Scholar and PsycINFO as well as articles drawn from the reference sections of chosen articles yielded a total of 11 peer reviewed articles related to the main focus of this literature review. Within the available literature on mental strategies,, there …

Mental Health Wellness For Female Law Enforcement Executives And Their Perception Of Proactive Mindsets, Cindy Elizabeth Baughman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative study aimed to examine how female law enforcement executives perceive the use of mental health wellness in their professions. The phenomenological design provided an increased understanding of the lived experiences of those interviewed, specifically regarding their use of mental health wellness. The snowball sampling technique was utilized to recruit seven female law enforcement executives at the Sheriff, Under Sheriff, Chief, or Deputy Chief rank. One-on-one interviews were completed, data collected from the interviews was transcribed using NVivo software, and collectively, common themes amongst the participants’ interviews were identified. The gap in the research and the associated qualitative interview …

Direct And Mediating Relationships Between Divine Grace, Legalism, And Mental Health, Branwyn H. Mccormick

Senior Honors Theses

Positive psychology has popularized the integration of religious ideas into psychological treatment. According to the literature, the experience of divine grace is correlated with favorable mental health outcomes, whereas legalistic attitudes are correlated with adverse mental health outcomes. It has also been found that the experience of divine grace is a mediator between legalism and mental health. However, the constructs of divine grace and legalism have both been relatively unexplored aside from a few studies using Latter-day Saints (LDS) populations. The current study seeks to analyze relationships between divine grace, legalism, and mental health using a conservative evangelical Christian population. …

Applying Insights From The Enneagram Model Of Human Psychology To Enhance Neutrality And Success In Mediation, Inely Cassía Cesna

Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal

The ancient wisdom of the Enneagram illuminates the complexities of conflict, offering invaluable insights for mediators and individuals alike. Through various case studies and recommendations on practical applications, this Article illustrates how mediators can leverage Enneagram-based strategies to de-escalate conflict and facilitate constructive dialogues. By understanding the nine Enneagram Points, mediators can foster self-awareness, empathy, and communication among the disputing parties. Meanwhile, the Enneagram encourages mediators to self-reflect and address their own underlying emotions during the various mediation stages. Rather than a strict typological tool, the Enneagram’s inner lines, Wings, and Triadic Approaches allow mediators to easily recognize diverse responses …

Self-Scheduled Category Learning In College Students, Emily Mccloskey, Isabella Bozzi, Calista Burke, Abby Vonk, Ryann Mehney, Madeline Bolema

24th Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2025)

Learning new information can be a complex, gradual process. It is important to understand how learning plays out over time. Research has found that spaced schedules — studying new information in multiple sessions spread out over time — are more effective for learning than massed schedules — studying everything in one long session (Carvalho & Goldstone, 2013; Cepeda et al., 2006, Kornell & Bjork, 2008). However, when people schedule their own learning, they prefer massing (Kornell & Bjork, 2008; Tauber et al., 2013). Recent research suggests another type of schedule, clustering, might be more effective than both massing and spacing. …

The Effects Of Visual Dominance And Object Naming On Word Learning In Infants, Ryann Mehney, Calista Burke, Isabella Bozzi, Abby Vonk, Emily Mccloskey, Madeline Bolema

24th Annual A. Paul and Carol C. Schaap Celebration of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity (2025)

Children learn new words every day, a majority of which are nouns (e.g., car, dog, ball). This raises the question: how do infants connect the correct words to each object? Previous research suggests that infants as young as 12 months can learn object names by tracking which words and objects appear together (Smith & Yu, 2008). Additionally, object names may be learned better when the object being named is visually dominant, meaning larger in the infant's view (Yu & Smith, 2012). However, this correlation has not been tested experimentally. This study tests whether visual dominance enhances word learning in infants. …

Emotional Intelligence As A Moderator Between Depression, Loneliness, And Affect Intensity, Ryan Fleig

Theses and Graduate Projects

Emotional intelligence (EI) is a construct that has been present in psychology in various, non-specific forms for many years. Mayer and Salovey (1997) first created a specific construct of EI that centered on four key skills: emotion-perception; using emotions to facilitate thought; understanding one’s own and other’s emotions; and emotion regulation. Research on EI has largely been regulated to social domains, but some literature has established links between overall EI and specific EI skills and clinical symptoms such as depression and anxiety. The current study sought to further the literature on EI in clinical domains by studying correlations between emotion …

Incremental Rehearsal As An Instructional Technique For Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Robert A. Cordova

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Repetition is said to be the most important factor in learning (Symonds & Chase, 1992). A common instructional technique that also incorporates repetition is incremental rehearsal (IR), which is often implemented due to its potential efficiency and effectiveness. Previous research has indicated a positive effect on reading fluency, math intervention, and sight word acquisitions using IR teaching procedures; however, there is a stark lack of application of IR to individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Therefore, the purpose of the study was to evaluate IR as an instructional technique for skill acquisition, specifically within an early intervention setting with young …

Predictors Of Political Participation Of U.S. Social Workers: The Mediating Effect Of Confidence, Maria Wathen, Rachel A. Young, Amy Krings, Teresa Kilbane

Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works

What factors are associated with social workers’ political participation, and how does political confidence mediate those relationships? To answer this question, data were collected in 2020 through an original online survey of members of the U.S.-based National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Informed by self-efficacy theory, researchers conducted a structural equation modeling (SEM) path model with political participation as the outcome variable, and political confidence as a mediating variable. Exogenous variables included: one’s self-reported political orientation, belief that social work has a political mandate, gender, and knowledge about how to effectively participate in politics. Results indicate that high political confidence …

The Impact Of Perceived Discrimination On Mental And Physical Health Among The Hispanic Immigrant Population, Cheyla Tabares Cuesta

Undergraduate Theses

Discrimination has profoundly shaped the lives of individuals within disadvantaged communities, but its impact on mental and physical health has often been overlooked. In this project, I review literature on perceived discrimination based on immigrant status and its effects on psychological and physical health and examine a potential mediator and moderator of these relationships. Specifically, the relationships between immigration-based discrimination and both mental health and physical health may be mediated by perceived stress, meaning that discrimination may lead to higher stress levels, which results in poorer health outcomes. Furthermore, these relationships may be moderated by psychological resilience; individuals with higher …

The Role Of Answer Justification In Multiple-Choice Testing: Effects On Performance And Metacognitive Accuracy, Spenser A. Clark, Michellle L. Rivers, Acacia L. Overono

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Student Research

Multiple-choice (MC) tests are widely used in educational settings but have been criticized for promoting passive recognition rather than active retrieval. Our research explores how adding a simple component to MC tests—answer justification—influences test performance and metacognitive accuracy. Across two experiments, university students studied a textbook chapter and completed either a standard MC test (MC-only group) or an MC test requiring them to justify their answers (answer justification group). Participants also provided predictive and postdictive metacognitive judgments. The results showed that the answer justification group significantly outperformed the MC-only group on an immediate test (Experiments 1 and 2) and scored …

Actions Speak Louder Than Words: Public Perceptions Of Victim Forgiveness And Offender Reparative Effort, Samantha Does

Bridges: An Undergraduate Journal of Contemporary Connections

Passing judgment is an inevitable aspect of human behaviour, particularly in cases of severe wrongdoing or crime. These assessments can affect the individuals implicated in the transgressions, including the victim and offender. This research enhances our understanding of how third parties judge offenders and victims of crime, exploring whether offender participation in rehabilitation, offender remorsefulness, and the victim's forgiveness following a crime influence the third party's judgement of the victim and offender. Participants were presented with a scenario depicting a significant transgression, after which they responded to prompts concerning their perceptions of the event and the people involved. The findings …

Pareidolia And Creative Potential: Exploring Individual Differences In Attention To Pareidolia, Anna Prinz

James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal (JMURJ)

Faces are important stimuli in our environments and elicit a greater attentional response than non-faces. This is also true for pareidolic faces, which are objects in which individuals see features of faces such as eyes and mouths. Creative potential can affect pareidolic processing. Recent studies have found that perceptions of pareidolia occur more often and quickly in individuals with higher creative potential (HCP) compared to individuals with lower creative potential (LCP), which might contribute to greater distractibility for HCP individuals. In the present study, I expected that individuals with HCP would be more distracted by less pareidolic stimuli compared to …

Anxiety Sensitivity And Intolerance Of Uncertainty Uniquely Explain The Association Of The Late Positive Potential With Generalized Anxiety Disorder Symptoms, Matt R. Judah, Hannah C. Hamrick, Benjamin Swanson, Morgan S. Middlebrooks, Grant S. Shields

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Studies suggest that generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptoms are related to late positive potential (LPP) responses to negative images, suggesting greater attention. Anxiety sensitivity (AS) and intolerance of uncertainty (IU) are cognitive factors in GAD vulnerability that may be activated by negative stimuli, thereby explaining why the LPP and GAD symptoms are related. We examined whether AS and IU explain the association of the LPP with GAD symptoms. Eighty-seven (77% women) young adults viewed 60 negative and 60 neutral images. The LPP was examined using both frequentist and Bayesian approaches. This revealed unique indirect effects of the LPP on GAD …

Inside Out 2, Bertha A. Manninen Ph.D.

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Inside Out 2 (2024), directed by Kelsey Mann.

How Do Children Learn How To Learn? Promoting Early Development At Home Through Play: A Scoping Review, Annika J. Larson

Senior Theses

Early childhood is a critical time in human development, during which children are discovering and practicing countless skills, from basic motor and language skills to problem-solving, self-regulation, memory, and other foundational abilities like literacy and math skills. From infancy through childhood, play is thought to be the primary condition under which most early skills are developed and perfected. During this time, young children are especially vulnerable to adversity and negative environmental influences due to their brains’ high plasticity; adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) impact an individual well beyond early childhood, specifically in early skills deficits. Play is known to be a …

Physiological Indicators Of Social Anxiety In Preschoolers With The Fragile X Premutation, Olivia Cyburt

Senior Theses

The Fragile X premutation (FXpm) is a common genetic disorder often characterized by psychiatric impairments, including anxiety. It results from a trinucleotide repeat expansion (CGG) of 55-200 repeats on the FMR1 gene. Despite its association with psychiatric symptoms, there is limited research regarding the relationship between FXpm and anxiety, particularly social anxiety. Early detection of social anxiety is essential for timely intervention, yet it remains challenging to identify in young individuals with FXpm due to limited research. The present study aimed to bridge this gap by examining social anxiety in preschoolers with the FXpm, utilizing both a physiological and behavioral …

Comparing The Strength Of The Confidence-Accuracy Versus Response Time-Accuracy Relationship For Eyewitness Identification, Curt A. Carlson, Robert F. Lockamyeir, Maria A. Carlson, Charles A. Goodsell

Faculty Publications

Research indicates that eyewitness identification (ID) accuracy increases with faster IDs and those supported with immediate high confidence, but it is not clear which measure, confidence or response time, is the better reflector of accuracy. It is also important to know how well these patterns hold up across important factors affecting eyewitness ID accuracy such as memory strength for the perpetrator’s face. We conducted four pre-registered experiments to investigate these issues across different levels of target memory strength (via encoding time or image quality) and ID procedure (showups vs. lineups of different filler quality). Correct IDs were faster than false …

The Effectiveness And Implications Of Telehealth For Mental Health Treatment, Mia Crosby

Senior Honors Theses

As technology has evolved, many mental health professionals have begun to adopt the option of a telehealth format for treatment delivery. Particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the remote form of counseling emerged as an alternative to traditional in-person therapy. This thesis will examine existing studies to evaluate the effectiveness of telehealth counseling, potential implications to consider, and the limitations of this treatment modality. Five themes based on the current research will be discussed: (1) the acceptability and efficacy of telehealth services, (2) the transition and adoption of telehealth, (3) the equivalence of treatment modalities, (4) client and provider …

Investigating Child-Informed Considerations For Animated Picture Symbols Representing Emotion For Aac Use In Children With Asd, Hannah Kitsmiller

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

Development of emotional competence is an important area of consideration when supporting individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Emotional competence includes skills related to identifying and communicating about one’s emotions. Individuals who use AAC may struggle to develop strong skills in emotional competence. One potential barrier to developing emotional competence may be access to symbols that facilitate understanding of the represented emotion. Emotions are abstract and challenging to represent in visual symbols. Additionally, evidence suggests individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have visual perceptual differences when viewing faces. Current emotion symbols are often depicted using isolated facial …

Transgender And Gender Diverse Youth Navigating Relationships And Sexuality: Recommendations For Affirming Clinical Practice, Hannah Marie Coffey

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Healthy relationship development is critical for adolescents’ social-emotional wellbeing, and shifting social expectations and identity development in adolescence can be challenging (Kenny et al., 2013; Roach, 2018). This can be particularly complex for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth given the occurrence of identity development alongside navigating safety, access to affirming spaces, and limited availability of queer-inclusive education (Levitt and Ippolito, 2014; Xing et al., 2015). The positive psychosocial impacts of comprehensive sex education and the relevance of discussing relationships in therapy with adolescents situate mental health providers well to address some of the gaps in knowledge and access to …

A Factor Analytic Investigation Of The Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory - Second Edition In Justice Involved Youth, Mary Alicia Tait

Dissertations (1934 -)

The Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory – Second Edition (MACI-II; Millon et al., 2020) is an adolescent self-report measure of personality and psychopathology. Its predecessor, the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI; Millon et al., 1993) is one of the most frequently used measures in forensic evaluation of justice involved youth (Archer et al., 2006; Baum et al., 2009; Viljoen et al., 2010). The factor structure of the MACI has been evaluated in diverse psychiatric and juvenile justice samples (e.g., Adkisson et al., 2002; Newman et al., 2015; Romm et al., 1999, Salekin, 2002; Woodland et al., 2014) and inconsistent findings have …

Distinct Neuropsychological Profiles Of Acute Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury, Mary Ursula Simons

Dissertations (1934 -)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause significant impairment in a child’s life, particularly impacting their cognitive and psychological functioning. Despite these significant consequences, there are currently no validated treatments to alleviate or mitigate the negative impact of TBI. Failed clinical trials in pediatric TBI are thought to be due to simplistic diagnostic criteria and coarse classification nomenclature (i.e., mild, moderate, severe), which results in significant variability in recovery within a classification category. Furthermore, other variables, such as age, preinjury functioning, social determinants of health (SDOH), and post-injury cognitive functioning, more effectively predict long term outcomes than classification nomenclature, highlighting the …

The Masculine Way, Jessica Asuquo

be Still

This painting was conceptualized after a particularly impactful patient visit. During the visit, the patient described a traumatic event in greater detail, stating that the doctor and I were the first people he had ever spoken to about the event.

I felt both honored and disheartened by this statement. I was honored that this man trusted us with this knowledge. Still, I was immensely sad that he dealt with the trauma of this event alone for decades. I believe he released some of the grief, pain, anger, fear, and hurt when he shared his burden with us, and I will …

Assessing The Association Between Attentional Bias To Climate Change Images And Climate Anxiety, Abby R. Morley

All NMU Master's Theses

Recent research has shown that people with high trait anxiety fixate on images with higher levels of threat when in an anxious state. Climate change is a massive and timely problem with changes in the temperature of oceans and precipitation as well as warming of the Earth. These impacts can lead to climate anxiety. This project aimed to extend previous research regarding attentional bias and anxiety by assessing the relationship between attentional bias and climate change anxiety. Participants completed an eye-tracking task where they were asked to view climate change relevant images paired with climate irrelevant images. Participants then completed …