Digital Commons Network^™

Differences In Friendship Qualities Of Korean And American College Students, Yun-Sun Alexis Bae '03

Honors Projects

The present study explored the friendship characteristics of Korean and American college students. Participants (41 Koreans and 87 Americans) described their friends using a questionnaire (Friendship Quality Questionnaire) and an interview. Because of the inadequacy of the interview coding system, the interview data were not analyzed. Analysis of the FQQ supported the hypothesis that Koreans exhibit higher exclusivity than Americans, but no other country effects emerged. Both U.S. and Korean women reported more intimate disclosure than men. Friendship characteristics of Korea and U.S. students were conceptualized using concepts such as Individualism and Collectivism, Confucianism, and the Korean term "cheong" (affection). …

Semantic Role Parsing: Adding Semantic Structure To Unstructured Text, Sameer Pradhan, K. Hacioglu, W. Ward, James H. Martin, D. Jurafsky

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

There is an ever-growing need to add structure in the form of semantic markup to the huge amounts of unstructured text data now available. We present the technique of shallow semantic parsing, the process of assigning a simple WHO did WHAT to WHOM, etc., structure to sentences in text, as a useful tool in achieving this goal. We formulate the semantic parsing problem as a classification problem using support vector machines. Using a hand-labeled training set and a set of features drawn from earlier work together with some feature enhancements, we demonstrate a system that performs better than all other …

Gender Differences Of College Students And Pathological Gambling, Richard Clyde Vantreece

Theses

Gender differences among college students and pathological gambling have been studied in the past by various researchers. The purpose of this study was to investigate which gender was more likely to be at risk for a pathological gambling disorder. This population is interesting for the purpose of this study because the majority of pathological gamblers report beginning this habit in adolescence. Fifty college students were selected from the Human Subject Research Pool Department. Students completed a demographic sheet and the South Oaks Gambling Screen. T-tests were done to compare the differences among the genders. The results showed no significant difference …

Dynamical Evolutionary Psychology: Individual Decision Rules And Emergent Social Norms, Douglas T. Kenrick, Norman P. Li, Jonathan Butner

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A new theory integrating evolutionary and dynamical approaches is proposed. Following evolutionary models, psychological mechanisms are conceived as conditional decision rules designed to address fundamental problems confronted by human ancestors, with qualitatively different decision rules serving different problem domains and individual differences in decision rules as a function of adaptive and random variation. Following dynamical models, decision mechanisms within individuals are assumed to unfold in dynamic interplay with decision mechanisms of others in social networks. Decision mechanisms in different domains have different dynamic outcomes and lead to different sociospatial geometries. Three series of simulations examining trade-offs in cooperation and mating …

Parental Reports Of The Development Of Autism In Their Children: The Relevance Of Regression, Comorbidity, And Genetics In The Detection Ofearly Characteristics, Robin Page Goin

Theses and Dissertations

Early detection of autism plays an important role in enhancing developmental outcomes for affected children. Identifying potential characteristics of the disorder evident during infancy and toddlerhood aids efforts to screen for such symptoms, which may lead to earlier and more accurate diagnoses; however, it is unclear to what extent certain factors encourage or impede early detection. Because parents are responsible for making decisions on behalf of their children based upon their perceptions of children's developmental progression, caregivers were queried in terms of their beliefs about the development of autism characteristics in their children. Participants included 393 caregivers of children with …

Effects Of Domestic Violence Exposure In Colombian Adolescents: Pathways To Violent And Prosocial Behavior, Roberto Mejia

Theses and Dissertations

A multidimensional model of associations between domestic violence exposure and risk of violence and prosocial behavior was tested in a sample of Colombian adolescents, with attention to impulsivity and substance use problems as mediators of these associations. A representative sample of 1,152 school youths and a convenience group of 148 juvenile offenders aged 11-19 years was recruited from Medellin, the second largest city in this South American country. Assessment was carried out in classrooms in the school sample and in correctional institutions for juvenile offenders. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was utilized to test the conceptually derived models. Similarly, multisample analyses …

Recent Jewish Immigrants' Communication In Postville, Iowa: A Case Study, Anna I. Levina

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

For this paper the author researched Iowa's immigration history and modern day Postville, a small town that represents a tossed salad of cultural, religious, and linguistic diversities. The author analyzed the current effect of immigration as well as the process of integration and assimilation into the small town through the eyes of its immigrants. The major emphasis is placed on Postville located in northeast Iowa. For 150 years Postville was an all-white, all-Christian farming community of 1,000 souls, most of European ancestry. Today the population of Postville has doubled and of the 2,000 people who reside in Postville almost one …

Evaluation Of Computerized Reading Intervention, Jennifer Lynne Koenig

LSU Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a computer-based reading intervention with eight elementary school children. This program, called the Reading Center, utilizes repeated reading, listening passage preview, word drills, and comprehension questions. A multiple baseline design was used to evaluate the intervention effects on oral reading fluency. Results indicated growth in all eight children, with increases between 8.7 and 20 words per week for intervention passages. The implications of the results for the use of computer-delivered interventions are discussed.

Heavy Smokers Choose Large, Immediate Rewards With Large Penalties On A Simulated Task Of Gambling, Michael Shawn Businelle

LSU Master's Theses

The Gambling Task is a complex neuropsychological test (in the form of a card game) that examines the ability of individuals to assess potential immediate gains over long-term losses. Gambling Task performance has been examined in previous studies with individuals who are dependent on alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and amphetamine. These studies have shown that those who are dependent on the aforementioned substances perform more poorly on the Gambling Task than controls. Specifically, in relation to controls, drug/alcohol dependent individuals show impairment by tending to pick more cards that have large immediate gains and very large delayed punishers. The delayed punisher …

An Evaluation Of Distributed Practice Using Constant Time Delay In The Acquisition Of Sight Words With Children, Kashunda Lynn Williams

LSU Master's Theses

Although, distributed practice has been demonstrated to be superior to massed practice for learning, studies examining the degree of distribution needed to obtain this effect remain lacking. This study extends prior research by (1) determining if there is a difference in distributed practice schedules, when the total time to practice remains constant, (2) determining which schedule produces the superior amount of learning, and (3) determining which schedule produces superior retention of learned materials across time. Study participants were general education elementary school students referred for reading assistance. The constant time delay procedure was used to teach the participants sight words. …

The Relationship Of Feeding Problems With The Use Of Antiepileptic Medication Among Persons With Severe And Profound Mental Retardation, Rinita B. Laud

LSU Master's Theses

Epilepsy and/or seizure activity are frequently occurring phenomena and a significant co-morbid condition for persons with severe to profound intellectual disability (Burke, McKee, Pathak, Donahue, Parasuraman & Baltenhorst, 1999). The majority of seizure activity leads to deficits across a number of social, physical,occupational, and personal variables, and if left untreated, may lead to death in these individuals. The treatment of this condition frequently utilizes anti-epileptic medication, but these medications are often associated with a variety of side effects such as dental complications and disturbed gait. Previous researchers have suggested that these side effects may be manifested in forms of maladaptive …

Women's Envy In The Workplace: Contexts And Consequences, Para Ambardar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

There is a paucity of literature on women's subjective experience of being envious or being envied in the contemporary workplace. Yet envy, wanting what another possesses, is believed to thrive in a competitive interpersonal milieu, much like the modern workplace, where employees vie for limited organizational resources and rewards. Accordingly, there is a need to better understand envy's role in the workplace and move from an abstract, context-free conceptualization of workplace envy to one that is more differentiated and context-bound. Eighteen women were interviewed for this qualitative study, using semi-structured interviews. Results were analyzed using both psychoanalytic and social psychological …

Hepatitis C, Quality Of Life And Cognitive Function : An Exploratory Study, John Caithness

Theses : Honours

Active chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a viral infection that affects approximately 150,000 Austra1ians. It has various quality of life impacts and the literature suggests some cognitive ramifications. In this Western Australian exploratory study, 13 healthy students from Edith Cowan University made up a control group. One experimental group consisted of 11 people with CHC and mild liver damage, and a second experimental group consisted of 8 people with CHC and at least moderate liver damage. The participants were assessed with a health-related quality of life questionnaire, the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36); a test of cognitive functioning, the …

Case Study To Evaluate Effectiveness Of A Treatment Approach For Comorbid Anxiety And Depression, Maria Brent

Theses and Dissertations

This case study evaluates the effectiveness of supportive-expressive therapy combined with aspects of cognitive-behavioral therapy in the treatment of an adult female who has breast cancer and is diagnosed with comorbid Generalized Anxiety Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder. The subject had many psychosocial stressors. The subject voluntarily participated in outpatient individual psychotherapy received in a private counseling facility based on the twelve-step model of Alcoholics Anonymous. She completed various formal assessments of anxiety and depression periodically during the course of treatment, as well as a satisfaction survey following the termination of treatment. The literature review, which explored empirically supported treatments …

Brain Potentials Elicited By Prose-Embedded Linguistic Anomalies, Mark D. Allen, Kayo Inoue, Judith Mclaughlin, Lee Osterhout

Faculty Publications

Linguistic theories distinguish between syntax (sentence form) and semantics (sentence meaning). Correspondingly, recent studies have shown that syntactic and semantic anomalies elicit distinct changes in the event-related brain potential (ERP). However, these results have been obtained with highly artificial methodologies and have not yet been generalized to more natural reading conditions. Here, we recorded ERPs while subjects read a naturalistic prose passage. The subjects either read for comprehension with no other task being assigned or read for comprehension and made acceptability judgments after each sentence. Consistent with prior work and regardless of the subjects’ assigned task, syntactic anomalies elicited a …

The Effectiveness Of Behavioral Activation Group Therapy: Treating Comorbid Depression On A Specialized Inpatient Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Unit For Combat Veterans, Theodore P. Wright

Dissertations

The comorbidity of depression and PTSD has been shown to be relatively prevalent. Researchers have found a 70% lifetime prevalence o f comorbid PTSD and depression among combat veterans. This study examined the effectiveness of a behavioral activation (BA) group treatment when administered to combat veterans with comorbid depression and PTSD in the residential treatment program at the Battle Creek Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Forty-five veterans participated in the study. Twenty-four veterans participated in a BA treatment group while in the treatment program. Twenty-one veterans attended the treatment program, but did not participate in the BA treatment group and served …

Artificial Tanning Salon Behaviors, Intentions, And Attitudes In Terms Of Sensuousness And Sensation Seeking., Christopher Jonathan Armes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using the Theory of Alternative Behavior (Jaccard, 1981), we examined the relationship of warmth sensuousness, physical sensuousness, and sensation seeking to individuals' tanning salon behaviors, intentions, and attitudes among undergraduates at a Southeastern university.

Females, high sensation seekers, those high in warmth sensuousness, and those with darker skin types were more likely to tan. Females were more likely to intend to tan in the next year. Those higher in warmth sensuousness were more likely to intend to tan more than 10 times in the next year. Females and subjects higher in warmth sensuousness had more positive attitudes toward tanning. Significant …

An Examination Of Death Salience: A Component In The Death Anxiety Model, Rachel A. Mason

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Reviews of the literature have identified few consistent theoretical approaches in the assessment of death anxiety and death attitudes for patients diagnosed with a potentially life threatening illness, such as cancer. This illness experience forces patients to contemplate their mortality. The present study employed a portion of the Death Anxiety Model to examine the relationships between death salience, beliefs about the self, beliefs about the world, death meaning, and death anxiety. Three groups (N = 121) who differed on death salience were examined: cancer survivors (intrapersonal - high salience), spouses of cancer survivors (interpersonal - moderate salience), and healthy patients …

Medical Students' Personality Characteristics And Academic Performance: A Five-Factor Model Perspective, Filip Lievens, Pol Coetsier, Filip De Fruyt, Jan De Maeseneer

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Objectives: This study investigates: (1) which personality traits are typical of medical students as compared to other students, and (2) which personality traits predict medical student performance in pre-clinical years. Design: This paper reports a cross-sectional inventory study of students in nine academic majors and a prospective longitudinal study of one cohort of medical students assessed by inventory during their first pre-clinical year and by university examination at the end of each pre-clinical year. Subjects and methods: In 1997, a combined total of 785 students entered medical studies courses in five Flemish universities. Of these, 631 (80.4%) completed the NEO-PI-R …

Designed Physical Environments As Related To Selves, Symbols, And Social Reality: A Proposal For A Humanistic Paradigm Shift For Architecture, Ronald Smith, Valerie Bugni

Sociology Faculty Research

In this paper we will begin by briefly describing the concept of self, proceed by discussing the symbolic significance of physical environment, then describe as well as propose a humanist paradigm which we believe should be employed in architectural theory and practice, and finally discuss how the shift to a humanistic paradigm might be accomplished.

Lay Theories And Evaluation-Based Organization Of Impressions: An Application Of The Memory Search Paradigm, Yuk-Yue Tong, Chi-Yue Chiu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

People may believe that personal attributes are fixed entities that cannot be changed (hold an entity theory). Alternatively, they may believe that qualities of a person are malleable (hold an incremental theory). In the present research, the authors used Sternberg's (1966) memory search task to examine entity and incremental theorists' cognitive strategies in memory search. It was hypothesized that entity theorists, who have a greater tendency to make spontaneous evaluation of people, would organize impressions in short-term memory according to whether the stimulus persons are positively or negatively evaluated. Next, they might compare the probe only to the stimulus persons …

Dynamical Evolutionary Psychology: Mapping The Domains Of The New Interactionist Paradigm, Douglas T. Kenrick, Jon K. Maner, Jon Butner, Norman P. Li, D. Vaughn Becker, Mark Schaller

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Dynamical systems and evolutionary theories have both been proposed as integrative approaches to psychology. These approaches are typically applied to different sets of questions. Dynamical systems models address the properties of psychological systems as they emerge and change over time; evolutionary models address the specific functions and contents of psychological structures. New insights can be achieved by integrating these two paradigms, and we propose a framework to begin doing so. The framework specifies a set of six evolutionarily fundamental social goals that place predictable constraints on emergent processes within and between individuals, influencing their dynamics over the short-term, and across …

The Influence Of Warning Label Presentation In Memory Recognition Of Aging Adults, Brian J. Call

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

Research indicates that hundreds of thousands of people are injured each year as a result of poor communication between medical personnel, warning label information, and consumers when taking over the counter or prescription medication. Typically, as adults age, they are increasingly responsible for remembering the hazards of taking medications. If inadequate information exists in memory in regards to side effects, dosage, and other warnings, the likelihood of improper usage will increase. Because aging adults typically have a reduction in cognitive resources, it was hypothesized that older adults would require the aid of additional warning information to assist in the retrieval …

The Performance Effects Of A Low Dose Of Caffeine On A Cognitive Vigilance Task, Suzanne K. Robinson

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to analyze the performance effects of a low and high dose of caffeine on a Bakan cognitive vigilance task. 69 student volunteers participated in the experiment. Participants were randomly distributed among caffeine dosage levels of 0, 20, and 200 mg. The correct response score, which was chosen as the dependent variable, was collected by the vigilance program, however reaction time and false alarm data was also evaluated. These scores were analyzed over time blocks (first, second, third, or fourth ten minute period of the forty minute task). A 3x4 mixed design ANOVA was performed …

A Case Study In The Use Of Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment Of Emotional And Behavioral Symptoms Related To A Traumatic Brain Injury, Urszula Kobylinska

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy techniques with traumatic brain injury (TBI) individuals using a case study format. The subject of this study was a 54-year-old woman who suffered a traumatic brain injury in an automobile accident. For the purpose of this study, she was seen over a six-month period beginning in January 2002. Major emphasis was on reducing depression and anxiety related to TBI and increasing her social and vocational functioning. Anxiety and depression were pre- and post-tested using the Beck Depression Inventory and Sheehan Anxiety Scale. Post-testing suggested significant decreases in …

The Role Of Trust, Leader-Member Exchange, And Organizational Justice In Employee Attitudes And Behaviors: A Laboratory And Field Investigation, Rudolph Joseph Sanchez

Dissertations and Theses

The study of interpersonal relationships continues to be a major focus of theory and research in a wide array of disciplines. The present research examined one of the most prevalent and significant interpersonal relationships in the workplace context—the dyadic relationship between a supervisor and a subordinate. This research examined the relationships between trust, quality of the leader-member exchange relationship (LMX; a measure of the quality of the dyadic relationship), perceived organizational justice, and several employee attitudes and behaviors that are important to individual workers and the organizations in which they work.

Data were collected in both laboratory and field settings. …

Recruitment Of Engaged Couples For Premarital Counseling: An Empirical Examination Of The Importance Of Program Characteristics And Topics To Potential Participants, Kieran T. Sullivan, Carmen Anderson

Psychology

The recent emphasis on prevention in helping couples to avoid marital distress may be limited by lack of participation in prevention programs by engaged couples. The purpose of this study is to understand what potential participants perceive are attractive characteristics in premarital prevention approaches. Eighty-six engaged couples completed questionnaires assessing demographics, personality and the relative importance of premarital program characteristics. The results indicate that leader characteristics, content, and topics such as communication, finances, and problem-solving are the most important elements of premarital counseling to couples. Differences based on gender and risk level are reported. Suggestions are made for more effective …

The Effects Of An Induced Negative Mood State On Ground- Based Learning In Student Pilots, Angela Sophia Wendell

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration's Aviation Instructors Handbook (D.O.T.) (1999) emphasizes that aviation students must maintain a healthy and positive state of mind in order to succeed at learning. Factors such as worry, lack of interest, physical discomfort, and anxiety are all listed as obstacles to a student's ability to learn successfully during flight instruction. In addition, numerous studies support the idea that a negative mood state will have a detrimental effect on learning. This study attempts to investigate the effects of an induced negative mood state on ground- based learning in student pilots.

Differences In Perception And Number Of Incidents Of Sexual Harassment Among College Students In The United States And The Federal Republic Of Germany, Antonia Von Tobiesen

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine the difference between American and German students in perception and frequency of sexual harassment. The participants were female Old Dominion University psychology undergraduates and psychology students from the Universitaet Freiburg. A survey containing the Sexual Experiences Questionnaire {SEQ), the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and modified questions from Gutek's (1985) Main Questionnaire (Women's Version) was used. The survey was designed to reveal sexual harassment experiences in the work environment or in the university setting, while measuring the effect of the experiences on self-esteem and the students' reactions to the incidents. The results indicated that …

A Comparison Of Big-Five Personality Factors Safe Sex Behaviors And Social Desirability Using Paper-And-Pencil And Interactive-Voice-Response Surveys, J. Eric Tedford

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Paper-and-pencil tests (PP) have been the cornerstone of surveys and questionnaires in psychology for well over a century. Researchers have longed for a survey method that would provide similar results and quicker data analysis. There are several methods that have been commonly tested against PP surveys; including computers and computer-assisted telephone interviewing, in which a researcher phones the participant who answers questions by pressing the numbers on the keypad of his phone. Both of these methods have yielded conflicting results that showed them to give either equivalent, more social desirable, or less social desirable answers. There has been relatively little …