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Availability For Learning:Effects Of Mindfulness Meditation On Student Cognitive Abilities, Alexander Harne

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Reflection And Reification Of Racialized Language In Popular Media, Kelly E. Wright

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

This work highlights specific lexical items that have become racialized in specific contextual applications and tests how these words are cognitively processed. This work presents the results of a visual world (Huettig et al 2011) eye-tracking study designed to determine the perception and application of racialized (Coates 2011) adjectives. To objectively select the racialized adjectives used, I developed a corpus comprised of popular media sources, designed specifically to suit my research question. I collected publications from digital media sources such as Sports Illustrated, USA Today, and Fortune by scraping articles featuring specific search terms from their websites. This experiment seeks …

A Theory Of Veteran Identity, Travis L. Martin

Theses and Dissertations--English

More than 2.6 million troops have deployed in support of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Still, surveys reveal that more than half feel “disconnected” from their civilian counterparts, and this feeling persists despite ongoing efforts, in the academy and elsewhere, to help returning veterans overcome physical and mental wounds, seek an education, and find meaningful ways to contribute to society after taking off the uniform. This dissertation argues that Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans struggle with reassimilation because they lack healthy, complete models of veteran identity to draw upon in their postwar lives, a problem they’re working through collectively …

Narrating Refuge, Colette Daiute

Publications and Research

As I complete this essay, people across the world are protesting a recent Executive Order banning refugees from entering the United States. Millions of people, organizations, other collectives, and even some corporations are crying out in solidarity that it is a human responsibility to provide refuge to those fleeing inhuman conditions. A detailed analysis of the ban and the reaction is beyond the scope of this essay, but my argument is deeply related to the issue at the center of the protests – refuge. I will argue that considering refuge brings to the analysis of contemporary conflict and displacement a …

Adolescents' Experiences Returning To School After A Mental Health Hospitalization, Pamela Iverson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative study explores how adolescents experience transition when they return to school after an acute mental health hospitalization. For this study, the term transition is used to describe the process of adjusting to the return from an acute mental health hospital to school. Eight adolescents from southern Minnesota, ages 15-17, were interviewed about their transition experience for this study. Each participant had experienced an acute hospitalization within 12 months of their interview. Each participant interview was recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using phenomenological research methods. For each participant, an individual textural description, structural description, and textural/structural description was provided through …

Analyzing Songs Used For Lyric Analysis With Mental Health Consumers Using Linguistic Inquiry And Word Count (Liwc) Software, Ashley M. Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Music

Lyric analysis is one of the most commonly used music therapy interventions with the mental health population, yet there is a gap in the research literature regarding song selection. The primary purpose of this study was to determine distinguishing linguistic characteristics of song lyrics most commonly used for lyric analysis with mental health consumers, as measured by LIWC2015 software. A secondary purpose was to provide an updated song list resource for music therapists and music therapy students working with the mental health population. The researcher emailed a survey to 6,757 board-certified music therapists, 316 of whom completed the survey. Respondents …

Effects Of Attention And Color On Motion Perception In Rorschach Inkblot Interpretation, Renee Hunsberger, Keith Feigenson

Modern Psychological Studies

Visual perception facilitates quick reactions to ambiguous stimuli, a crucial survival characteristic in threat appraisal of unfamiliar circumstances. The current study investigated the impact of attention focusing on motion interpretation of ambiguous Rorschach Inkblot images displayed in black or red. Participants focused attention on three characteristics of 4 discrete priming images: identity, color, and motion. Each combination of prime and attentional focus was presented individually and in random order, and then participants were asked to describe a Rorschach Inkblot in open ended form. Motion interpretation was operationalized by the number of responses indicating that an ambiguous inkblot was perceived as …

Metaphorically Framed Stereotypes, Victim Race, And Attitudes Toward Police: Factors Influencing Juror Cognition And Decision-Making In Police Force Cases, Aliza Jo Spruch-Feiner

Honors Papers

In addition to structural issues within the U.S. justice system, psychological factors contribute to the recent pattern of non-indictments of police officers tried for potential uses of excessive force against Black people. This paper examines the effects of metaphorically framed racial stereotypes and victim race on juror cognition, reasoning, and decision-making. A study was administered via Amazon Mechanical Turk to 420 White participants. The hypotheses were tested using a 3 (Black stereotype metaphors vs. non-stereotypical race-neutral dehumanizing metaphors vs. non-metaphoric semantically similar descriptors) x 2 (race of victim of police violence: White vs. Black) factorial design. While no significant effects …

Charting A Path From Data To Action: A Culturally Sensitive Intervention For Adolescent Self-Harm In Sri Lanka, Jeanne Marecek

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Nudging Towards Social Change: The Application Of Psychology And Behavioral Economics In Promoting Responsible Consumption, Larissa Chern

CMC Senior Theses

With workplace disasters in developing countries increasingly in the news, a major question is how to encourage consumers to use corporate social responsibility as a criterion in purchasing. Distinct from environmental concerns, social responsibility is defined here with respect to the humanitarian aspects of corporate practice, including fair wages and working conditions, equitable treatment of the disadvantaged, and restriction of child labor. Although the idea of socially responsible consumption (SRC) was first identified over forty years ago, most recent research on changing consumption habits focuses specifically on environmentally responsible consumption (ERC). Combining the psychological concept of social norms with economic …

Puberty Predicts Approach But Not Avoidance On The Iowa Gambling Task In A Multinational Sample, Grace Icenogle, Laurence Steinberg, Thomas M. Olino, Elizabeth P. Shulman, Jason Chein, Liane Peña Alampay, Suha M. Al-Hassan, Hanan M S Takash, Dario Bacchini, Lei Chang, Nandita Chaudhary, Laura Di Giunta, Kenneth A. Dodge, Kostas A. Fanti, Jennifer E. Lansford, Patrick S. Malone, Paul Oburu, Concetta Pastorelli, Ann T. Skinner, Emma Sorbring, Sombat Tapanya, Liliana Maria Uribe Tirado

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

According to the dual systems model of adolescent risk taking, sensation seeking and impulse control follow different developmental trajectories across adolescence and are governed by two different brain systems. The authors tested whether different underlying processes also drive age differences in reward approach and cost avoidance. Using a modified Iowa Gambling Task in a multinational, cross‐sectional sample of 3,234 adolescents (ages 9–17; M = 12.87, SD = 2.36), pubertal maturation, but not age, predicted reward approach, mediated through higher sensation seeking. In contrast, age, but not pubertal maturation, predicted increased cost avoidance, mediated through greater impulse control. These findings add …

Little Philosophers: Assessing And Prompting Philosophical Reasoning With Children, Makensey Sanders

Honors Theses

There is a debate in academic philosophy and psychology of whether or not children can or should do philosophy. Robert Kitchener asserts that due to cognitive limitations, children under the age of 10 cannot think philosophically (Kitchener, 1990). Murris (2000) challenges Kitchener's arguments and concludes that more research is needed. Further, this is a period during which children show individual differences and development in cognitive capacity, specifically within executive function relating to conscious control that may influence abstract thought (Zelazo et al., 1997). The present study assessed 7- to 9-year-olds' and adults' ability to answer philosophical questions in relation to …

Executive Functions And Word Reading Fluency: A Brief Intervention With Economically Disadvantaged Secondary Students, Vanessa Kim

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This study evaluated the use of a brief intervention that was designed to assist economically disadvantaged secondary students increase their capacity for attention to orthography and increase their ability to shift between rapid sight word recognition and decoding of unknown words in order to improve their word reading accuracy and fluency. The participants (N = 14) were eighth and ninth grade students enrolled in an urban public high school and receiving special education services. The study used analysis of variance for repeated measures and paired measures t-tests to analyze pre- and post-test data. The results indicated significant findings (p < 0.5) in the students’ improvements in their sight word reading fluency and their ability to inhibit impulses and shift cognitive sets with accuracy and speed following the 8-week reading intervention. The findings suggest that exposure to repeated word fluency drills that target attention to orthography and shifting from sight word recognition to decoding may have influenced the students’ self-monitoring skills and offer further support regarding the hypothesized role of executive functions in the act of reading.

The Effect Of Elaboration And Nonelaboration Of Sign List Recall Tasks On Rate Of Learning In Deaf Individuals, Robert Whitaker

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Purpose: Little research has been done on American Sign Language (ASL) based list learning in deaf individuals. The present study examined the effect of elaboration and non-elaboration of sign list recall tasks on rate of learning in deaf individuals. One of the main approaches for instruction of deaf individuals is the use of elaboration, or the combination of visual with linguistic information in the classroom. Visual aids or visual representations of information are commonly recommended as an effective strategy for teaching deaf individuals (DeafTEC, 2014). The main reasons for this approach are the assumption that vision is a stronger more …

‘Why I Sent My Child Away’: Culturally Structured Motivations For Long-Distance Parenting, Deepa Srivastava, Maria Rosario De Guzman

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Although long-distance parenting is often depicted as a response to crisis (e.g., economic) or other stressful life events, it is sometimes undertaken in various culturally normative situations. This current study explores the motivations of South Asian Indian immigrant parents for sending their young children to India to live temporarily with their grandparents. This qualitative study involves in-depth interviews with first generation immigrant parents about their experiences and motivations for sending their children to India. Analysis of the data revealed five themes, namely, (a) contextual and daily challenges in caring for their children in the United States, (b) parents’ concern around …

Acculturative Stress And Depression Among Latinos/As: Investigating The Role Of Neighborhood Context, Rebeca Castellanos

Theses and Dissertations

Latinos/as are the fastest growing demographic in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). As they encounter U.S. society, Latino/as may experience acculturative stress (Berry, 1997). Empirical evidence suggests that Latinos/as in the U.S. report high rates of depression symptoms (Wassertheil-Smoller et al 2014). Acculturative stress has been strongly associated with depression (Driscoll & Torres, 2013) and research suggests that Latino/as may experience acculturative stress differently depending on their generational status (i.e., how recently they or their parents immigrated to the U.S). There is evidence to suggest that contextual factors such as neighborhood context may influence both acculturative stress processes …

Intention To Deceive Alters Access To Semantic Memory, James Nye

Theses and Dissertations

I conceptualize a theory of deception within the perspective of discourse and pragmatics while choosing to examine the decision to engage in deception within the perspective of cognitive psychology. Currently, cognitive perspectives of deception have emphasized that inhibitory control of one’s motor processes are vital because in order to respond deceptively, one must prevent honest behavior from leaking into one’s actions. Although indirect evidence for inhibition is heavily linked with deception, current empirical data connecting motoric control with deceptive responses has been difficult to observe. I propose a theoretical perspective that shifts the role of inhibitory control in deception away …

Examining The Role Of Emotional Intelligence In The Work And Life Balance Of Foster Care Workers, Pamela Applewhite Applewhite

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Foster care workers are an important part of the social service system, as they are the first line of support for children without families or who have been subjected to tragic events leading to their need for foster care. Foster care workers often experience work-life boundary issues due to the emotional nature of their work. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between (a) emotional intelligence and absenteeism and (b) emotional intelligence and work-life balance with foster care workers. Data was collected from foster care workers in the state of South Carolina employed with the Department …

Mechanisms Of Motivational Interviewing In A Parent-Focused Pediatric Obesity Intervention, Nadia Islam

Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric obesity is a major public health epidemic with serious physical and psychological consequences. Difficulty engaging families in treatment is a significant obstacle in addressing pediatric obesity, especially among underserved populations. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, person-centered communication style that has been shown to reduce attrition, increase attendance, and improve patient treatment adherence; however, little is known about the process of MI and how it improves treatment engagement. This study examined clinician and parent language in a pre-treatment MI session that increased initial engagement in a parent- focused pediatric obesity intervention (N= 81). Results showed that increased parent change …

Predictors Of Bullying Role Behavior In Preschool, Kristen Kocher

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Getting The Upper Hand: Natural Gesture Interfaces Improve Instructional Efficiency On A Conceptual Computer Lesson, Shannon Bailey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As gesture-based interactions with computer interfaces become more technologically feasible for educational and training systems, it is important to consider what interactions are best for the learner. Computer interactions should not interfere with learning nor increase the mental effort of completing the lesson. The purpose of the current set of studies was to determine whether natural gesture-based interactions, or instruction of those gestures, help the learner in a computer lesson by increasing learning and reducing mental effort. First, two studies were conducted to determine what gestures were considered natural by participants. Then, those gestures were implemented in an experiment to …

ผลของการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นและการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ต่อเจตคติรังเกียจกลุ่มและพฤติกรรมช่วยเหลือ : การศึกษาอิทธิพลกำกับและอิทธิพลส่งผ่าน, นรุตม์ พรประสิทธิ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

การศึกษาการลดเจตคติรังเกียจกลุ่มด้วยวิธีการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นในต่างประเทศมีจำนวนมาก แต่ในไทยการศึกษาเรื่องนี้ยังคงมีจำนวนน้อย การศึกษาที่ 1 มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาบทบาทการเป็นตัวแปรกำกับของการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ ในการส่งอิทธิพลของการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นที่มีต่อการลดเจตคติรังเกียจแบบเด่นชัด เจตคติรังเกียจกลุ่มแบบแอบแฝง และการเพิ่มพฤติกรรมช่วยเหลือ ผลการศึกษาที่ 1.1 จากนิสิตนักศึกษาระดับปริญญาตรี จำนวน 112 คน พบว่าบุคคลในเงื่อนไขการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ทางลบเมื่อมีการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นจะสามารถลดเจตคติรังเกียจบุคคลรักเพศเดียวกันได้มากกว่าบุคคลในเงื่อนไขการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ทางบวก ผลการศึกษาที่ 1.2 จากนิสิตนักศึกษาระดับปริญญาตรี จำนวน 152 คน พบว่าอิทธิพลของการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นที่มีต่อการลดเจตคติรังเกียจชาวพม่าแบบเด่นชัด การลดเจตคติรังเกียจชาวพม่าแบบแอบแฝง และการเพิ่มพฤติกรรมช่วยเหลือไม่มีความแตกต่างกันระหว่างกลุ่มเงื่อนไขควบคุมการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ กลุ่มเงื่อนไขการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ทางลบ และกลุ่มเงื่อนไขการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ทางบวก การศึกษาที่ 2 มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อศึกษาบทบาทการเป็นตัวแปรกำกับของการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ ในการส่งอิทธิพลของการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นที่มีต่อเจตคติรังเกียจกลุ่มแบบเด่นชัด โดยส่งผ่านการระบุตัวตนกับกลุ่มของตน การคล้อยตามบรรทัดฐาน และการรวมตนเองกับเป้าหมาย ผลการศึกษาจากนิสิตนักศึกษาระดับปริญญาตรี จำนวน 271 คน พบว่าการส่งผ่านอิทธิพลของการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นไปยังเจตคติรังเกียจกลุ่มแบบเด่นชัดไม่มีความแตกต่างกันระหว่างกลุ่มเงื่อนไขควบคุมการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ และกลุ่มเงื่อนไขการเห็นคุณค่าในตนเองจากความสัมพันธ์ทางบวก ข้อค้นพบนี้ถือเป็นส่วนหนึ่งที่แสดงให้เห็นว่าการนำเทคนิคการมองจากมุมของผู้อื่นมาปรับใช้จำเป็นต้องคำนึงถึงบริบททางวัฒนธรรมร่วมด้วย

Taking Things At Face Value: Typeface And Its Influence On Reading, Memory, Judgment And Time Perception, Danielle Hollingsworth

Honors Theses

Differing typefaces, such as serif, sans serif, or script, offer varying physical characteristics and can aid or inhibit legibility. These distinctions between typefaces lead to fonts being deemed as either perceptually fluent or disfluent. As fluency of a text is altered, the notion is offered that processing changes occur, which can influence factors of reading a text. Altering fonts have previously been shown to influence reading speeds, memory, and time estimation judgment. This thesis tests the relationship of font type with these aspects, with the addition of another judgment portion regarding perception of text quality. Determining the aspects which can …

Barriers To The Provision Of High-Quality Early Childhood Education In The Mississippi Delta, Mackenzie Poole

Honors Theses

High-quality early childhood education has been shown to enhance the development of social, emotional, cognitive, language, and literacy skills in young children (Burchinal, Peisner-Feinberg, Bryant, & Clifford, 2000; Loeb, Fuller, Kagan, & Carrol, 2004; Peisner-Feinberg et al., 2001). Barriers encountered when attempting to provide high-quality early childhood education in the Mississippi Delta were investigated by analyzing the opinions and perceptions of early childhood educators. Requests for participation in the study were mailed to 92 child care facilities, and individuals from three licensed child care centers in the region participated. Opinions were gathered using questionnaires (n = 20) and interviews (n …

The Lived Experiences Of Low Income Parents Of Children With Autism, Renee L. Sullivan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous studies indicated that parents raising children with autism (CWA) experience higher rates of stress; however, no qualitative studies have addressed low-income parents' lived experiences of raising CWA. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the challenges that low-income parents of CWA face daily within the framework of family systems theory and biopsychosocial theory. Research questions focused on the impact of income and the core symptoms of autism (social deficits, communication deficits, and repetitive behaviors) on marital and interpersonal relationships. Semistructured interviews with 13 parents were conducted, and transcripts were analyzed for themes using a 4-step process. …

Development And Application Of Self-Awareness In Project Leadership: A Multiple Case Study Of Department Of Defense Project Managers, Jeffrey Brian Hart

Dissertations

Problem

This study explored how Project Managers (PMs) in the Department of Defense (DoD) come to understand, develop, and apply self-awareness in leading their projects. The DoD invests heavily in developing their project leaders by providing training, experiences, developmental assignments, and other tools such as self-assessments presumably to help them lead more authentically and become more self-aware as a way to improve project management. Despite this investment, it is unclear how self-awareness is actually developed in PMs and integrated into their leadership practice. In view of the importance of self-awareness in leadership, more understanding is needed on how self-awareness is …

"You're Doing Fine, Right?": Adolescent Siblings Of Substance Abusers, Cynthia E. Clarfield

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There has been a rising interest in addiction medicine and addiction treatment in both the medical and behavioral health science fields. Research suggests having a family member with a substance abuse problem has negative impacts on both physical and mental health (Orford, Copello, Velleman, & Templeton, 2010a). Despite advances toward understanding the experiences of family members affected by a loved one's addiction, the siblings of substance abusers have been largely excluded from scientific research and literature. As a result, little is known about how siblings experience the impacts of a brother or sister's addiction; even less is known about the …

An Investigation Of In-Session Client Change Language And Stage Of Change, Reyna Patricia Puentes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the practice of Motivational Interviewing, recognizing language is important for understanding where a persona stands in terms of readiness to change when considering a behavior change, such as risky alcohol use. Few studies have examined relationships between language expressed in a BMI and survey measures of stage of readiness to change. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the types of client language in a single BMI session and associations with stage of change among a sample of emergency room/trauma department patients screened for positive BAC and/or risky alcohol use (n = 196). Using structural equation modeling, …

Developing Conceptual Understanding And Procedural Fluency In Algebra For High School Students With Intellectual Disability, Andrew J. Wojcik

Theses and Dissertations

Teaching students with Intellectual Disability (ID) is a relatively new endeavor. Beginning in 2001 with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, the general education curriculum integrated algebra across the K-12 curriculum (Kendall, 2011; National Governors Association Center for Best Practices & Council of Chief State School Officers, 2010), and expansion of the curriculum included five intertwined skills (productive disposition, procedural fluency, strategic competence, adaptive reasoning, and conceptual understanding) (Kilpatrick, Swafford, & Findell, 2001). Researchers are just beginning to explore the potential of students with ID with algebra (Browder, Spooner, Ahlgrim-Delzell, Harris & Wakeman, 2008; Creech-Galloway, Collins, Knight, …

Does Training Enhance Entraining? Musical Ability And Neural Signatures Of Beat Perception, Kira Pinard-Welyczko

Honors Papers

Perception of beat and meter is a nearly universal human skill that requires little to no conscious effort. However, the extent to which music training influences this perception in the brain remains unknown. Music performance requires high sensitivity to timing and physical entrainment to external auditory stimuli. Additionally, compared to untrained individuals, musicians show higher performance on a number of auditory and speech tasks, as well as different brain morphology and fiber connections. Beat and meter perception are thought to be subtended by oscillations of groups of neurons at corresponding frequencies. Here, electroencephalography (EEG) was used to examine the magnitude …