Digital Commons Network^™

The Music Channel: Integrating The Harp Into The Communication Process Of Children With Autism, Lori A. Kissinger

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study was undertaken to determine if the harp could be used as a communication channel for children with autism. The two research questions guiding this study were: (1) Will a child with autism utilize the harp to try to communicate a message? And (2) if the harp is utilized by a child with autism as a communication channel, can the receiver decode the intended message? Two qualitative case studies using constant comparison analysis were conducted over a six-day observation period. Five predominant responses emerged: (1) initial reaction to the instrument, (2) bonding with the instrument, (3) socialization through …

Treatment Staff Burnout: Measuring The Effect Of Administrative Support In Adult Male Prisons, Brett Garland

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For the past few decades, criminologists have evaluated the success of treatment programs as the primary strategy to identify the best ways to lower offender recidivism. In doing so, they have repeatedly overlooked staff burnout as a potential barrier to rehabilitation. Because past research in human service agencies in general and prisons in particular has found organizational and administrative shortcomings to have the greatest impact on job strain and discomfort, this exploratory study examined the relationship between administrative support and the burnout of prison treatment staff. Burnout, the dependent variable, was measured by a modified version of an exhaustion index …

Trends. Environmental Issues: Struggles To Think Globally, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the difficulties of thinking globally in the context of environmentalism and environmental policy, even for proponents of environmental stewardship.

Celibacy, Sexual Exclusivity, And Illicit Drug Abstinence: Giving Up The Life As Taboo In Aids Prevention, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article highlights social cognitions that seem to impede cost-effective approaches to AIDS prevention.

Trends. Colombian Rebels And Elite Interests: Rights And Wrongs On Human Rights, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses and analyzes the reactions of elites to rebel actions (e.g., human rights violations, other violent actions) in Colombia.

Terrorism And Remorse: Psychology And The Death Penalty, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article provides commentary on the forensic psychological task to develop information bearing on penalties for convicted terrorists.

Ethics As Therapy: Philosophical Counseling And Psychological Health, Mike W. Martin

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

From the inception of philosophical counseling an attempt was made to distinguish it from (psychological) therapy by insisting that therapy could not be more misleading. It is true that philosophical counselors should not pretend to be able to heal major mental illness; nevertheless they do contribute to positive health—health understood as something more than the absence of mental disease. This thesis is developed by critiquing Lou Marinoff’s book, Plato not Prozac!, but also by ranging more widely in the literature on philosophical counseling. I also interpret philosophical counseling as a form of philosophical ethics.

A Social-Cognitive Information-Processing Model For School-Based Aggression Reduction And Prevention Programs: Issues For Research And Practice, Eric F. Dubow, Paul Boxer

Psychology Faculty Publications

Student aggression in schools continues to be a problem. School-based programs are a critical part of the solution. In this article we review research on the development of aggressive behavior within a social-cognitive information-processing (SCIP) framework. Huesmann (1998) presented a "unified" SCIP model in an attempt to integrate extant models. This model focuses on individuals' (a) attention to and interpretation of situational cues; (b) search for and retrieval of scripts for behavior; (c) script evaluation based on beliefs about aggression, outcome expectancies, and self-efficacy for aggressing or inhibiting aggression; and (d) interpretation of environmental responses to their behavior. We highlight …

Self-Report Of Adhd Symptoms In University Students: Cross-Gender And Cross-National Prevalence, George J. Dupaul, Elizabeth A. Schaughency, Lisa L. Weyandt, Gail Tripp, Jeff Kiesner, Kenji Ota, Heidy Stanish

Peer Reviewed Articles

Little research has examined the structure and prevalence of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms in university students, including whether symptom structure conforms to the bidimensional (i.e., inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity) conceptualization of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders D (;SMV-IV American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and whether self-reported symptoms vary across gender and country. A sample of 1,209 university students from three countries (Italy, New Zealand, and the United States) completed a 24-item self-report measure (the Young Adult Rating Scale) tapping ADHD symptomatology. Factor analyses within the U.S. and New Zealand samples supported a bidimensional symptom structure, whereas weaker support for …

Self-Reported Leadership Experiences In Relation To Inventoried Social And Emotional Intelligence, Lisa M. Kobe, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Jon D. Rickers

Psychology Faculty Publications

Leadership has both social and emotional components. Social intelligence appears to tap the social component found in leadership. Recently, emotional intelligence has surfaced as a stable individual difference variable and appears to tap the emotional component of leadership. Mayer and Salovey (1993) suggested that the emotional intelligence and social intelligence constructs overlap. This study examined the power of both emotional and social intelligence to account for variance in self-reported leadership experiences. One hundred ninety-two university students completed measures of social and emotional intelligence and a measure of leadership experiences. Regression analyses showed that both social intelligence and emotional intelligence accounted …

Time-Shifted Rationality And The Law Of Law's Leverage: Behavioral Economics Meets Behavioral Biology, Owen D. Jones

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

A flood of recent scholarship explores legal implications of seemingly irrational behaviors by invoking cognitive psychology and notions of bounded rationality. In this article, I argue that advances in behavioral biology have largely overtaken existing notions of bounded rationality, revealing them to be misleadingly imprecise - and rooted in outdated assumptions that are not only demonstrably wrong, but also wrong in ways that have material implications for subsequent legal conclusions. This can be remedied. Specifically, I argue that behavioral biology offers three things of immediate use. First, behavioral biology can lay a foundation for both revising bounded rationality and fashioning …

Stress And Coping Experiences Of Women In Transition: From Welfare To Work, William Jesse Gill

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Welfare reform and the consequent emphasis on employment represent a stressful sequence of events in the lives of women who are already facing the chronic stressors associated with single parenting and poverty. The current study assessed the levels of distress, factors contributing to distress, and coping resources utilized among a sample of 60 mothers who were making the transition from welfare to work. Ninety percent of the women were single or separated, and 71 percent were African American. All were receiving public assistance from two neighboring social services agencies in Virginia.

Psychological distress was measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory …

Parenting Behaviors Related To Young Adult Depressive Symptomology, Rebecca D. Abramson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Parental stress, hostility, warmth, acceptance, amount of control, and overall security of parent-child attachment appears to influence childhood and adult adjustment. Several relationships have been found between parenting style and the emotional and psychological well being of children and adolescents (e.g., Baumrind, 1967, 1971; Parker, 1979a, 1979b; Ge, Conger, Lorenz, & Simons, 1994; Ge, Best, Conger, & Simons, 1996). The present study examined the effects of perceived parenting styles on young adults' reported psychological distress and depressive symptomology. Participants viewed both mothers and fathers as equally attentive, supportive, and controlling, while viewing mothers as slightly more caring. However, participants' perceptions …

Trends. The Privileged Status Of The Physical In Health Ideology: The Security Consequences Of Aids, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The author discusses the importance of recognizing both physical and psychological factors of the AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) pandemic on security.

Trends. Trust And Diplomacy: Observations Of The New American President, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the concept of trustworthiness in politics with the relationship between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russia's President Vladimir V. Putin as context.

Trends. A Peculiar Defense Logic: Why Terrorists Should Be Incarcerated Or Killed Without Trial, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The IBPP editor discusses the logic/rationale behind the idea that convicted terrorists facing the death penalty should neither convicted nor face said penalty given that the soldiers are (or consider themselves to be) soldiers in a war.

Trends. The Psychology Of Military Readiness, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

The IBPP editor discusses military readiness and national security.

How Intervention Techniques Altered And Affected Various Teacher And Student Behaviors In A Physical Education Class With The Use Of A Mentor Teacher, Jennifer Lynn Seybert

Graduate Theses

Teaching behavior was assessed in this study over a period of two months in an elementary physical education setting. One non-certified physical education teacher served as the subject. The subject’s teaching behaviors were recorded during eight forty-five minutes classes. The eight sessions were broken down into four cycles with two observations per cycle. Each observation was followed with feedback from the investigator on problem areas. The subject was given suggestions for improvement. Data was accumulated through the use of the Arizona State University Observation Instrument. Variables recorded included event recording for (a) use of first names, (b) pre-instruction, (c) concurrent …

Conversational Patterns In Late Talkers At Age 3, Leslie Rescorla, Arlita Bascome, Jarlette Lampard, Norah Feeny

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Topic choice, topic synchrony, and utterance function during mother-child play sessions at age 3 were examined in 32 late talkers (identified at 24 to 31 months) and 21 comparison children, matched at intake on age, SES, and nonverbal ability. At age 3, late talkers bad significantly lower MLUs and IPSyn scores than comparison children. Late talkers and comparison children did not differ in number of utterances, topic initiation, topic synchrony, use of commands, reactions to commands, or conversational fillers. However, late talkers asked significantly fewer questions, provided fewer answers to maternal questions, made fewer declarative statements, and were less likely …

Adolescent And Young Adult Substance Use: Association With Sensation Seeking, Self Esteem And Retrospective Report Of Early Pubertal Onset. A Preliminary Examination, Catherine A. Martin, T. K. Logan, Carl Leukefeld, Rich Milich, Hatim Omar, Richard Clayton

Psychology Faculty Publications

Structured questionnaires were administered to investigate the relationship between early pubertal onset, substance abuse, sensation seeking, and self-esteem. The current study presents data from 1,002 subjects, who were followed from the 6th to the 10th grades and again at the age of 20. In females, early pubertal onset was associated with greater cigarette use and lower self-esteem. Further the interaction of early pubertal onset and low self-esteem was predictive for cigarette use in females, as was early pubertal onset and high sensation seeking. Late pubertal onset was associated with decreased alcohol use and lower sensation seeking in males, with the …

The Effects Of A Management System In A Non-Profit Association, Lori H. Miller

Masters Theses

The primary challenge for non-profit associations is carrying out the functions that meet the various needs of their members or Board of Directors with restricted income. In many non-profits there are numerous tasks to complete with few personnel. Existing literature on the topic of non-profit management has limited applicability regarding managing staff performance. The current study examined the effects of a management system that included weekly meetings, goals and feedback on the performance of four employees in a non-profit association.

This study was an ABC group design where Condition 'A' consisted of weekly meetings and goal setting, Condition 'B' consisted …

Self-Criticism As Experienced By Performing Artists A Phenomenological Study, Rosemary Hakes

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe and document the essence of the experience of self-criticism for performing artists with the aim of providing recommendations for educational and therapeutic purposes. Moustakas (1994) defines essence as “that which is common or universal, the condition or quality without which a thing would not be what it is” (p. 100). In this study a phenomenological research paradigm was used. Each step in the data reduction process built directly toward revelation of essence through synthesis.

The central question guiding this research was: What is the essence of self-criticism as it is experienced by …

The Differential Impact Of Sexism In Latino Men And Women’S Psychiatric Symptoms, Astrid Magalij Reina-Patton

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The study assessed the reliability of the Spanish and English versions of the Schedule of Sexist Events General Form (SSE-G). The extent to which Spanish and English-speaking men and women differed in their responses on the SSE-G was investigated, as was the degree to which men and women differed in their report of psychiatric symptoms. Further, the extent to which the SSE-G predicted psychiatric symptomology for Spanish and English-speaking men and women was assessed, as was the extent to which sexism (i.e., gender-specific stress) accounted for additional variance in symptoms, above and beyond that accounted for by acculturation, language, and …

The Nature Of The Traumatic Event As A Predictor Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Chronic Low Back Pain Patients, Lorie Tulia Decarvalho

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The present study investigated the specific nature of the traumatic event in patients with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Specifically, the following questions were asked: (1) Do individuals with CLBP evidence posttraumatic stress disorder?, (2) In patients with CLBP, what is the trauma which predicts the development of PTSD- the specific event which led to the lower back pain, any other traumatic event, or is it the chronic low back pain itself which is traumatic? (3) In CLBP patients who evidence PTSD, do the intensity and duration of the trauma predict the development of PTSD? Participants were 112 patients receiving …

"Image Of God'' And Object Relations Theory Of Human Development: Their Integration And Mutual Contribution To Development Of God-Images, God-Concepts, And Relationship With God, Laura Emily Palik

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

In an endeavor to further the work of integration of psychology and theology, this theoretical-conceptual research study examined (a) the meaning of the biblical description of humanity's creation in God's image (Gen. 1.26-27), (b) the relationship between the conceptualization of humans as "image of God" and object relations theory of human development, and (c) the mutual contribution of "image of God" and object relational development to the internal god-images (object-representations) and cognitive god-concepts that persons develop. It was proposed that (a) creation in the image of God is foundational both to understanding humankind as a spiritual-socio-psycho-physiological species and to human …

Parenting Stress In Families With Children With Disabilities, Timothy B. Smith, Matthew N. I. Oliver, Mark S. Innocenti

Faculty Publications

Parenting stress is an important variable to consider in families with children with disabilities. This study evaluated 880 such families, using measures of child and family functioning. Results suggest that factors such as income, time available for interaction with the child, and social support predict parenting stress much better than do aspects of child functioning.

Shame, Grace, And Spirituality: A Comparison Of Measures, Jill D. Spradlin

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Shame is a widely studied aspect of human experience; grace, perhaps its counterpart, has so far largely been overlooked. The relationships among shame, grace, and spiritual well-being were explored. A sample of 115 college-aged participants completed the Internalized Shame (Cook, 1987), Grace (Payton, Spradlin, & Bufford, 2000) and Spiritual Well-Being (Ellison, 1983) scales. It was hypothesized that shame would be negatively correlated with grace and spiritual well-being, and that spiritual well-being and grace would be moderately positively correlated.

The Grace Scale had adequate internal consistency and expected correlations with demographic items. There was no effect for gender on the Grace …

The Mind-Body Problem: A Tuberculosis/Tobacco Example, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article illustrates two conflicts between what is, perhaps, best for the mind and best for the body.

Is Hypochondria Really A Mental Disorder?, T'Aire Wallace

McCabe Thesis Collection

According to Webster's Dictionary, hypochondria means, a morbid condition characterized by the simulation of the symptoms of any several diseases. Convinced of a grave illness, the hypochondrians may suffer acutely, not only from the symptoms of the presumed disease but also from anxiety." Hypochondria is a mental disorder in which the affected person becomes obsessive about sickness and his health (or supposed lack of it). The person often becomes fearful of illnesses despite proof that he or she does not. Many times small symptoms of a common disease might be mistaken or exaggerated into something more severe (such as someone …

The Relationship Between Social And Emotional Intelligence In Children, Shannon Herring

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The relationship between social and emotional intelligence was investigated. The study sample consisted of 31 females and 28 males who were between the ages of 9 and 12. The student participants completed the Social Skills Rating System-Student Form (SSRS), which assesses social competence, and the Emotional Quotient Inventory: Youth Version (EQ-i:YV), which measures emotional intelligence. Parents of the children also completed the Social Skills Rating System-Parent Form for comparison purposes. Both forms of the SSRS yielded statistically significant correlations with the EQ-i:YV. The results indicate that the instruments designed to assess emotional intelligence and social intelligence were highly related. The …