Digital Commons Network^™

The Reversibility Of Differential Rearing In Rats, Leann M. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Two groups of rats were raised in two different environments for 75 days beginning at 25 days of age. One group was raised in an enriched condition (EC), and one group in an impoverished condition (IC). At 91 days of age, all rats were tested on a spatial reversal learning task to determine if their early environments had affected their learning ability (Test 1). After Test 1 was completed, the rats were then placed in the opposite environment for another 75 days, with a second testing (Test 2) beginning at 165 days of age to determine if the new environment …

French And English Word Reading And Word Decoding Performance In Bilingual Children: How Are Phonological Processing Skills Related?, Catherine Adèle Lafrance

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The French (L1) and English (L2) reading development of bilingual children in French schools was examined using measures of oral language proficiency, letter-name and letter-sound knowledge, phonological processing (phonological awareness, naming speed and working memory), and word decoding over an eight month period. At Time 1 (Senior Kindergarten), a series of multiple regressions indicated that, when controlling for oral language proficiency, letter name knowledge and non-verbal reasoning, L1 phonological awareness was the only consistent and unique predictor of French and English word reading and word decoding performance. At Time 2 (Grade 1), French and English phonological awareness were consistent and …

Experience, Culture And Reality: The Significance Of Fisher Information For Understanding The Relationship Between Alternative States Of Consciousness And The Structures Of Reality, Charles D. Laughlin, Jason C. Throop

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The majority of the world’s cultures encourage or require members to enter alternative states of

consciousness (ASC) while involved in religious rituals. The question is, why? This paper suggests

an explanation for the culturally prescribed ASC from the view of Fisher information. It argues

from the position, first put forward by Emile Durkheim in his magnum opus, The Elementary

Forms of the Religious Life, that all religions are grounded in reality. It suggests that many of the

structural elements of cultural cosmologies are similar and that the ritual induction of ASC may

help to bring individual experience into greater accord …

Gnostic Dilemmas In Western Psychologies Of Spirituality1, Harry T. Hunt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Early Gnosticism is identified as a form of Weber’s inner-worldly mysticism that, following the

critique of Plotinus, entailed spiritual metapathologies of inflated grandiosity, despair, and/or

social withdrawal. These vulnerabilities re-emerge in the naturalistic psychologies of spirituality

begun by Emerson, Nietzsche, Jung, and Maslow and more implicitly within contemporary personality

and neuropsychological research on numinous/transpersonal experience. An updated

version of Gnostic dilemma and its conflicted dualism may be endemic to any would-be science

of the spiritual and to much current transpersonal psychology as well.

The Perennial Philosophy, Axel Randrup

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

What Archetypes Of Representation Do Children Between The Ages Of Four And Seven Employ When Creating Route Maps Of Familiar Interior Spaces?, Christine G. Price

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study investigated the symbols of representation young children choose to incorporate when they draw route maps of familiar interior spaces, based on the premise that development of map-making skills might unfold in much the same stage-like manner as the development of the ability to draw the human figure. In this investigation, children between the ages of 4 and 7 enrolled in a small independent elementary school were each asked to draw a map showing the route a person unfamiliar to the school would take to travel from the child's classroom to the school gymnasium. Strategies during map-making were noted; …

Factors Influencing The Effects Of Realistic Job Previews On Applicant Judgments Of Organizational Attractiveness, Natalie Trask Bourgeois

LSU Master's Theses

Realistic job previews (RJPs) involve the presentation of both positive and negative job attributes to job applicants. Although several researchers have studied effects of RJPs on satisfaction, turnover, and performance, comparatively less research has focused on the effects of RJPs on attraction. This study extends previous RJP research by sampling both students who are education majors and currently employed teachers. It compared their ratings of attraction to organizations represented by an RJP or a traditional job preview (TJP). In addition, both teachers and education students completed a measure of negative affectivity (NA). Contrary to expectations, results of this study showed …

Recovery From Substance Abuse: The Role Of Unsupportive Social Interactions, Michelle Marie Schmitt

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACTRECOVERY FROM SUBSTANCE ABUSE: THE ROLE OF UNSUPPORTIVE SOCIAL INTERATIONSBy Michelle M. Schmitt, M.A., M.S. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University.Virginia Commonwealth University, 2003Major Director: Kathleen M. Ingram, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology It has been estimated that over 20 million individuals struggle with substance abuse and/or dependence each year. Theories of addiction and recovery have long incorporated the notion of social support and helping relationships to facilitate adjustment. However, the literature investigating the role of social support is fraught with contradictions. In addition, in …

The Experiences Of International Students At An Australian University: An Exploratory Qualitative Study, Andrea Halse

Theses : Honours

The number of international students studying in Australia has steadily increased over the last ten years providing many benefits both to the country and Australian universities. However, little is known about the transition experiences of these students and there has been little acknowledgment of the issues facing students adjusting to a new environment and learning context. Typical issues that international students encounter include; language difficulties, homesickness, culture shock, lack of background knowledge and skills, housing difficulties, developing new social relationships and adapting to their new environment. Much of the research has been in the form of questionnaires and surveys focusing …

Home Literacy Environment And Phonological Awareness In Preschool Children: Differential Effects For Rhyme And Phoneme Awareness, Judith G. Foy, Virginia A. Mann

Psychological Science Faculty Works

The literature to date suggests that the best predictor of early reading ability, phonological awareness, appears to be associated with the acquisition of letter-sound and vocabulary knowledge and with the development of well-defined phonological representations. It further suggests that at least some aspects of phonological awareness critically depend upon literacy exposure. In this study of 4- to 6-year-olds, we examine whether aspects of the home literacy environment are differentially associated with phonological awareness. Parental responses to a questionnaire about the home literacy environment are compared to children's awareness of rhyme and phonemes, as well as to their vocabulary, letter knowledge, …

Corpus Callosum Abnormalities In Psychopathic Antisocial Individuals, Joseph B. Hellige

Psychological Science Faculty Works

Context: Psychopathic antisocial individuals have previously been characterized by abnormal interhemispheric processing and callosal functioning, but there have been no studies on the structural characteristics of the corpus callosum in this group. Objectives: To assess whether (1) psychopathic individuals with antisocial personality disorder show structural and functional impairments in the corpus callosum, (2) group differences are mirrored by correlations between dimensional measures of callosal structure and psychopathy, (3) callosal abnormalities are associated with affective deficits, and (4) callosal abnormalities are independent of psychosocial deficits. Design: Case-control study. Setting: Community sample. Participants: Fifteen men with antisocial personality disorder and high psychopathy …

Examining Ethnic Faultlines In Groups: A Multimethod Study Of Demographic Alignment, Leadership Profiles, Coalition Formation, Intersubgroup Conflict And Group Outcomes, Katerina Bezrukova, Karen A. Jehn

Psychology

This study used multiple methods to examine the effects of group member demographic alignment on coalition formation, intersubgroup conflict, and individual and group level outcomes in common-goal groups. The study uses a 2 by 2 experimental design, crossing demographic alignment (alignment vs. no alignment) and group leadership profile (split leaders vs. no split) as between-subjects variables. Data from 5 types of measurement were used to analyze the effects of member alignment and leadership profiles. We distinguish between potential group faultlines (aligned demographic characteristics of members) and active group faultlines (members actually divide into subgroups based on the aligned demographic characteristics) …

Sequelae Of Political Torture: Narratives Of Trauma And Resilience By Iranian Torture Survivors, Nouriman Ghahary

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

The Role Of Alexithymia In Ethnic Groups On Eating-Related Attitudes And Behaviors, Lisa M. Newman

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Alexithymia, a term referring to deficits in ability to describe and differentiate emotions, has been studied in a variety of Caucasian medical and psychiatric populations, including patients with eating disorders. Research suggests that alexithymia is more prevalent among the Caucasian eating disordered population than the general population. However, there is little research on the prevalence of alexithymia or its relationship to problematic eating-related attitudes and behaviors in African Americans. This study investigated and compared the occurrence of alexithymia and its effects on eating-related attitudes and behaviors in Caucasian and African American college women using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 and the …

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

Stimulating Fear Reduction: Visual Stimulus, Verbal And Spatial Concentration And Their Effects On Fear, Gregory E. Dixon

Modern Psychological Studies

Studies have suggested that visual stimuli evoking positive emotions may counter the effects of negative emotions. A high level of involvement in a distracting task may reduce the severity of negative emotions. This study combined visual stimuli with level of mental involvement to determine if they had an effect on fear. It was posited that two types of visual stimuli—amusing and spatial—would lower fear, and a high level of involvement with each stimulus would enhance this effect. The stimuli were delivered over the Internet. Fear level was measured using the self-report for the word "afraid" from PANAS. A significant interaction …

To Read Or Not To Read: The Usefulness Of Informed Consent, Natasha E. Webb, Elizabeth D. Taylor

Modern Psychological Studies

Informed consent is an important ethical factor for medicine, psychology, and other needed disciplines. It is necessary for participants to understand an intended research project or procedure in which they plan to take part. This study examined the usefulness of informed consent by administering such a form prior to an irrelevant questionnaire. A simple task was inserted into the reading, which allowed assessment of whether participants actually read the form. Results obtained through the experiment supported the hypothesis that the majority of the participants would not read the consent form. While less than half of each sex actually read the …

Understanding The Problem Of School Violence: Predictive Factors Of Bullying And Victimization, Alisha Santana

Modern Psychological Studies

With the recent surge in school violence, academics have been motivated to investigate factors that influence this tragic phenomenon. Parents, teachers, and other professionals have made broad generalizations as to why children act so maliciously, and some of the research confirms these common sense notions. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the literature and scrutinize its validity. The current paper examines research addressing predictive factors of both bullying and victimization. Results have shown that access to guns, parenting style, parental involvement, social networks, delinquency, social isolation, and prosocial behavior all are associated with bullying behavior. Similarly, victimization is related to …

The Relationship Between Religious Knowledge And Dogmatism In College Students, Christopher F. Silver

Modern Psychological Studies

The relationship between general knowledge of world religions and dogmatism was investigated in a group of college students in Tennessee. Knowledge of world religions was assessed with a written survey and the scores were compared to scores on the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale. Dogmatism is a reluctance to accept new ideas outside of one's own belief or disbeliefs. The results supported the hypothesis that individuals with high levels of dogmatism would also have low levels of knowledge about religious traditions other than their own. Additional analysis indicated that people who identify themselves as more spiritual than religious had lower dogmatism scores …

Synchrony And Conflict: The Relationships Among Eating Disordered Attitudes, Gender Role Orientation, And Dating Styles, Marybeth R. Schubert, Elizabeth Nutt Williams

Modern Psychological Studies

College students were surveyed to explore the relationship between eating disordered attitudes, gender role, and dating style. Specifically, two theories regarding gender role were examined: femininity theory and discrepancy theory. The premise of femininity theory was supported in that femininetyped individuals were more likely to report eating disordered behaviors. In addition, a new measure of dating attitudes was created to provide an assessment of nontraditional dating attitudes; surprisingly not only did those scoring high on eating disordered behaviors also score low on nontraditional dating attitudes, but so did both feminine and androgynous individuals. The results underscore the complexity of the …

Effects Of Ginko Biloba On Memory In Rats For Maze Tricks, Christopher Deleon

Modern Psychological Studies

Previous studies have investigated the effects of an extract of ginkgo biloba on acquisition, performance and retention in rats. It has been suggested that ginkgo increases mental precision by increasing blood flow to the brain. To determine whether ginkgo is a memory enhancer two female Sprague Dawley rats were tested for maze performance during four stages. Stages included four days of maze performance and four days of no maze performance. Subjects were tested in each stage with or without ginkgo in their water supply. It was predicted that subjects would show improved maze performance as measured by a decrease in …

The Impact Of Previous Operant Learning On Subsequent Maze Learning In Rats, Anissa Adams

Modern Psychological Studies

The inhibition or facilitation of additional learning is a subject that can be investigated with a controlled study. In recent years, there has been an increased interest in the effects of previous learning on the inhibiting or facilitation of additional learning. This study was designed to examine whether or not previous learning (continuous reinforcement in an operant chamber) affects how swiftly a rat learns how to run a maze when compared to naive (untrained) rats. A total of nine rats were used, five were previously CRF trained and the remaining four were experimentally naive. Each rat was deprived of water …

Juror Perception: Criminal Verdicts Based On Race, G. S. Bradshaw

Modern Psychological Studies

Many studies have investigated factors that affect juror decision making. The results of these studies vary. This study was designed to examine the effect of race of jurors on their perceptions of guilt in a criminal case, and whether or not race of the defendant influenced the juror's perception of guilt. College students served as participants and were asked to read a summary of a criminal case in which the defendant was in possession of marijuana. The race of the defendant was varied (black, white, or race not specified) and subjects were required to determine if the defendant was guilty …

Prediction Of Mental Health Treatment Outcome In Asian American College Students, Jamie Michelle Pitzman

Masters Theses

The current study aimed to examine the relationship between presenting problems and treatment outcome among Asian American college students compared to non-Asian students. The present study also provides information about the relationship between treatment outcome and the following types of demographic and treatment related variables: age, gender, ethnic status, year in school, religion, marital status, parents' marital status, referral source, previous counseling, medical problems, and family history of medical, emotional, or substance abuse problems. Data for this study were obtained from an existing database from an East Coast university counseling center. The entire sample consisted of 173 males and 271 …

Relationship Between Evaluative Groups' Perceptions Of Children And Children's Self-Reported Levels Of Self-Concept, Terry T. Burgener

Masters Theses

The significance of significant others' (parents, peers and teachers) ratings on children's self-reported levels of self-concept were investigated. Self-reported levels of self-concept were determined by administrating the Multidimensional Self Concept Scale (MSCS), while parent, peer, and teacher ratings of children were determined by the use of rating scales designed using selected MSCS items. Results indicated that all significant others' ratings were positively correlated to children's self-reported levels of self-concept. Peer ratings were the most predictive of self-reported level of self-concept, while teacher ratings were the second most predictive variable and parent ratings the least predictive variable. The findings are congruent …

Predictors Of Recurrent Child Maltreatment, Bridget Kielty

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between child maltreatment recurrence and several predictor variables in 7 rural counties in central Illinois, an under-studied population in the child maltreatment literature. Additionally, factors that contributed to the decision by Illinois Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) to provide post-investigative services were also examined. Data were obtained from an integrated database maintained by Illinois DCFS. All indicated cases of maltreatment occurring between January 1, 2000 and March 31 of 2001 were examined for a 12-month period following the initial indicated report for child revictimization or perpetrator recidivism. The …

Intention To Pursue Post-Secondary Education, And Related Factors, Among Jamaican Senior High School Students, Teran T. Milford

Dissertations

Purpose of the Study. The proportion of female students in post-secondary schools in Jamaica is approximately twice that of their male counterpart. This is in contrast to the observation that the proportion of male and female students in elementary and secondary schools is about the same. Little or no studies have been conducted to examine factors related to the disproportion of male and female students in tertiary institutions. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the perception of senior high school students regarding their intention to pursue post-secondary education, and to determine the extent to which the value …

A Study Of The Influence Of Birth Order And Other Variables On Student Perceptions Of School Effectiveness In A Southwestern Michigan County, Hamil Tobias

Dissertations

Problem. There is an increasing demand for quality education. In his initiative for education reform, U.S. President George W. Bush promoted the concept of no child left behind, in which he calls for more accountability. It is useful to examine student perceptions of how well the education system functions. Instead of a monolithic view, their perceptions were analyzed by birth order, gender, and ethnicity. The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent student perceptions differed by their birth order, gender, and ethnicity.

Method. This study utilized a 4 x 2 x 2 (birth order by …

Self-Multilating Borderlines: A Hierarchical And Empirical Examination Of Ego And Object Relations Deficits, Julia L. Prillaman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

.

Crime And Violence In Men With Schizophrenia: A Literature Review, Bianca Dijulio

Modern Psychological Studies

This literature review examines the strength of the relationship between schizophrenia and violence, symptoms associated with violence in schizophrenics, and two drug treatments associated with treating violence in schizophrenia. In terms of the relationship between schizophrenia and violence, schizophrenia does not surpass other mental illnesses in its association with violence; however, just as other mental illnesses do, it surpasses the normal population in levels of violence. Two symptoms, hostility and suspiciousness, are common in violent schizophrenics. In contrast, antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy have not been clearly associated with violent schizophrenics, most likely due to methodological problems. Similarly, hallucinations, delusions, …