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Use Of The Modified Emotional Stroop Task To Detect Suicide Risk In College Students, Yeunjoo Chung

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

It is a challenge to detect those who are at potential risk for suicide because the base rate of suicidal behaviors in non-clinical samples is low. The aim of the present study was to investigate the concurrent and predictive validity of the emotional Stroop task (EST) as a behavioral marker for suicidal behaviors in a college population. Eight hundred and twenty students were asked to perform the EST and to respond to suicide-related self-report measures and were followed up with18 months later. The results indicated that participants with past suicide attempts had longer response latencies to the word "suicide" as …

Physiological And Subjective Aspects Of Positive Mood In Relation To Executive Functioning: The Potential Moderating Role Of Personality, Luz Helena Ospina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Positive affect has been demonstrated to improve aspects of cognition. However, recent studies reveal that positive affect may hinder the same cognitive processes, such as executive functioning, memory and creativity. These discrepant findings may be due to differing levels of physiological arousal, a component of the circumplex model of affect, which has been largely ignored in affective research. For example, one recent study suggests that positive valence coupled with varying levels of physiological arousal (i.e., low, moderate, and high) may differentially affect performance on tasks of verbal fluency and memory. Furthermore, one other explanation for these inconsistent findings may relate …

Held And Dropped: A Study Of Metaphor And Subjective Experience In A Psychoanalytic Treatment, Alison Michele Ferst

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explores particular patterns of change that might unfold over the course of an intensive psychoanalytic treatment by mapping the forms of change that might take place in terms of a patient's subjective experience and the meaning that the patient attributes to it as reflected in the effort to express that experience in figurative language (i.e., metaphors). The data set was treatment session transcripts provided by P. A. Dewald over a period of 2 years and is partitioned by Dewald into three sequential phases.

Figurative language in general and metaphor in particular consists of essential forms of representation of …

The Development Of Preschoolers' Living Kinds Concept: A Longitudinal Study, Jordan Tessa Margett

Psychology ETDs

The overarching goal of this study was to examine the structural organization of preschoolers living kinds concept and the nature of developmental change in that concept from roughly 3.5- to 4.5-years-old. Specifically, this study was designed to assess whether preschoolers' living kind conceptual development involves progressive elaboration of an existing biologically based skeletal framework or conceptual reorganization. Unlike previous studies, this study employed a longitudinal design, an extensive stimulus set, alternate indices of understanding, and complementary statistical analyses. Thirty-five 3.0- to 3.5-year-olds participated in four testing sessions over the course of one year; each testing session included three phases that …

A Qualitative Examination Of The Psychosocial Adjustment Of Khmer Refugees In Three Massachusetts Communities, Leakhena Nou

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This paper uses a sociological stress process model to explore the Khmer adult refugees' experience in Massachusetts. The analysis is based on the responses of three focus groups in the Khmer communities of Lowell, Lynn, and Revere, Massachusetts. The focus groups provided an in-depth understanding of sources of stress, stress mediators, and psychosocial adjustment/adaptational patterns for Khmer refugees who had experienced the Cambodian genocide. Symptoms and reactions associated with underlying causes of mental health problems had culturally specific relevance to physical illness and mental health.

The Use Of Sandplay Therapy In Urban Elementary Schools As A Crisis Response To The World Trade Center Attacks, Christine J. Yeh, Sara M. Aslan, Violeta E. Mendoza, Mio Tsukamoto

School of Education Faculty Research

We evaluated the use of sandplay therapy with a sample of 32 elementary school students, who were evacuated from school during the World Trade Center Attacks of September 11, 2001. We collected qualitative and quantitative data on each of the students who participated in sandplay therapy. Qualitative data included detailed case notes and photos from each sandplay session with the students. Quantitative data included academic and school-based pre and post-test data. Results reveal student improvements in test scores, counselor and teacher ratings, attendance, behavioral referrals suspensions, and counseling status. Finally, we offer recommendations for the use of sandplay therapy as …

Age Related Decline In Memory: Examining The Mediation Effect Of Processing, Executive Functioning And Intelligence In Normal Adults, Jada J. Stewart

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple mediation analyses that collectively examine the prominent theories of cognitive aging (i.e., Common Cause, Processing, and Executive Decline Hypotheses) along with other cognitive domains that are sensitive to aging are rare. Moreover, having identified that cognition begins to decline as early as 30 years old, few studies have examined the mechanisms that underlie memory change among younger aging individuals. As a result, it is unclear whether relevant mediating variables have been excluded from early research on age-related memory decline, or to what extent rehabilitative strategies are applicable as early interventions for maintaining cognitive functioning into late life.

The present …

2015 Oklahoma Research Day Full Program, Northeastern State University

Oklahoma Research Day Abstracts

This document contains all abstracts from the 2015 Oklahoma Research Day held at Northeastern State University.

Nuclear Family Dynamics: Predictors Of Childhood Crushes And Adult Sexual Orientation, Natalie M. Campbell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study investigated the effects of nuclear family dynamics on childhood crushes and adult sexual orientation. Retrospective data was gathered via an anonymous survey administered using a computer-assisted self-interview program. Data was collected from 1,242 non-transsexual males (age range 18-86) and 2,201 non-transsexual females (age range 18-78). Management of parental disagreements, maternal attitude about sex, parental composition of the nuclear family, maternal affection, and parental demonstration of affection predicted the sex of childhood crushes in males and/or females. Management of parental disagreement, parental attitude about sex, nudity practices within the home, parental demonstration of affection, and parental composition of the …

Trends In Intellectual Disability Identification In West Virginia, Margaret M. Stephens

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of Intellectual Disability (ID) in each of West Virginia’s Local Educational Agencies (LEAs). Publicly available enrollment and disability counts were aggregated and used to calculate an administrative prevalence rate for each LEA annually, from 2004 to 2013. Prevalence was examined within and between LEAs, as well as between regions. The results indicate a decrease in the administrative prevalence of ID in 50 of 55 LEAs over the 10 years examined. Rates within LEAs varied between years. Additionally, school-based prevalence varied between RESAs, with RESA I and RESA VIII exhibiting the …

Esl Students' Language Anxiety In In-Class Oral Presentations, Yusi Chen

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This case study aims to explore connections between ESL students’ speaking-in-class anxiety and their presentation performance, factors causing oral anxiety during presentations, and strategies to regulate L2 students’ speaking anxiety in presentations. Findings of this research contribute to the investigation of speaking-in-class anxiety from non-English major L2 students. Three Chinese ESL students enrolled in the INTO program at Marshall University individually gave two presentations in speaking classes. Triangulated data sources were collected to delve into three research questions. The results suggest that L2 students’ anxiety forms mental blocks during presentations, but it has less influence on their presentation performance. Based …

From Reified Self To Being Mindful: A Dialogical Analysis Of The Mbsr Voice, Michelle H. Mamberg, Thomas Bassarear

Psychology Faculty Publications

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) programs are being incorporated into healthcare systems worldwide. To cultivate present-moment, non-judgmental awareness, MBSR is taught using meditation instructions couched in particular forms of language. Yet the scholarly literature, while replete with empirical validation studies, has little to say about MBSR discourse. Further, although the program may be seen as a cultural hybrid (i.e., American Buddhism), drawing as it does upon traditional mindfulness practices and concepts, MBSR research paradoxically employs methods which presuppose Western notions of self. In contrast, we identify conceptual similarities between the Buddhist notion of anatta, or non-self, and Dialogical Self Theory’s …

What Makes Lawyers Happy? A Data-Driven Prescription To Redefine Professional Success, Lawrence S. Krieger, Kennon M. Sheldon

Scholarly Publications

This is the first theory-guided empirical research seeking to identify the correlates and contributors to the well-being and life satisfaction of lawyers. Data from several thousand lawyers in four states provide insights about diverse factors from law school and one’s legal career and personal life. Striking patterns appear repeatedly in the data and raise serious questions about the common priorities on law school campuses and among lawyers. External factors, which are often given the most attention and concern among law students and lawyers (factors oriented towards money and status—such as earnings, partnership in a law firm, law school debt, class …

Behavioral Neuroscience, Nova Southeastern University

CPS Undergraduate Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Creating Activating Events For Transformative Learning In A Prison Classroom, Cheryl H. Keen, Robert Woods

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

In this article, we interpreted, in light of Mezirow’s theory of transformative learning, interviews with 13 educators regarding their work with marginalized adult learners in prisons in the northeastern United States. Transformative learning may have been aided by the educators’ response to unplanned activating events, humor, and respect, and assumed roles of role model, and counselor. Teachers presented activating events they perceived supported resistant learners to alter their meaning schemes and revise their frames of reference. Administrators of educational programs for marginalized adult learners can help prison educators develop these pedagogical practices. Practitioners and researchers may wish to explore humor …

Spontaneous Facial Behavior Computing In Human Machine Interaction With Applications In Autism Treatment, Seyedmohammad Mavadati

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital devices and computing machines such as computers, hand-held devices and robots are becoming an important part of our daily life. To have affect-aware intelligent Human-Machine Interaction (HMI) systems, scientists and engineers have aimed to design interfaces which can emulate face-to-face communication. Such HMI systems are capable of detecting and responding upon users' emotions and affective states. One of the main challenges for producing such intelligent system is to design a machine, which can automatically compute spontaneous behaviors of humans in real-life settings. Since humans' facial behaviors contain important non-verbal cues, this dissertation studies facial actions and behaviors in HMI …

The Impact Of Prefrontal Cortex "Warm Up" On Immediate Cognitive Reappraisal Ability In Older Adolescents With Elevated Symptoms Of Depression, Emma L. Peterson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive Reappraisal (CR) is a central component of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for adolescent depression. Yet, previous research indicates that a brain region highly associated with successful CR in adults, the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC), is not fully developed until early adulthood. Thus, there is growing concern that CBT interventions directed at building CR abilities in depressed teens might be constrained by PFC immaturity. However, CR is an effective strategy for regulating affect. The current study evaluated an intervention aimed at enhancing CR performance through PFC “warm up” with a working memory task. Additionally, the study examined moderators of intervention response, as …

A Comparison Study: The Kabc-Ii And Wj-Iv Cog With Students Referred For Academic Problems, Desiree Rachelle Nutt

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This study was conducted based on the limited availability of research comparing the KABC-II and WJ-IV COG. The study included 15 Caucasian students and 15 African American students between the ages of 8 years, 0 months to 13 years 7 months who attend a suburban school district in Ohio and were referred due to academic concerns. The sample consisted of 11 females and 19 males with an average age of 11 years, 5 months. Results found the correlation between the GIA and the MPI was r = .83, n = 30, p < .05 and the relationship between the GIA and the FCI to be r = .86, n = 30, p<.05. Results of a t-test found the scores for the GIA and FCI to be significantly different t(29)=3.57, p < .001. Correspondingly, t-test results for the GIA and MPI was t(29) = 3.07, p<.05.

The Use Of Judgement Bias To Assess Welfare In Farm Livestock, L. Baciadonna, A. G. Mcelligott

Sentience Collection

The development of accurate measures of animal emotions is important for improving and promoting animal welfare. Cognitive bias indicates the effect of emotional states on cognitive processes, such as memory, attention, and judgement. Cognitive bias tests complement existing behavioural and physiological measures for assessing the valence of animal emotions indirectly. The judgement bias test has been used to assess emotional states in non-human animals; mainly in laboratory settings. The aim of this review is to summarise the findings on the use of the judgement bias test approach in assessing emotions in non-human animals, focusing in particular on farm livestock. The …

Mexican-Origin Parents’ Work Conditions And Adolescents’ Adjustment, Lorey A. Wheeler, Kimberly A. Updegraff, Ann Crouter

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

Mexican-origin parents’ work experiences are a distal extra-familial context for adolescents’ adjustment. This two-wave multi-informant study examined the prospective mechanisms linking parents’ work conditions (i.e., self-direction, work pressure, workplace discrimination) to adolescents’ adjustment (i.e., educational expectations, depressive symptoms, risky behavior) across the transition to high school drawing on work socialization and spillover models. We examined the indirect effects of parental work conditions on adolescent adjustment through parents’ psychological functioning (i.e., depressive symptoms, role overload) and aspects of the parent-adolescent relationship (i.e., parental solicitation, parent-adolescent conflict), as well as moderation by adolescent gender. Participants were 246 predominantly immigrant, Mexican-origin, two-parent families …

The Impact Of Collective Intelligence And Honest Signaling On Fraud Brainstorming Effectiveness: A Sociometric Investigation Using Wearable Sensor Technology, Allen Hartt

2015

This dissertation investigates the impact of collective intelligence and honest signaling on the fraud risk brainstorming effectiveness of audit groups. Emerging research in psychology shows that collective intelligence, which captures the general ability of a group to perform a wide variety of tasks, is a strong predictor of group performance. Honest signals are nonverbal communication cues that are either so costly to make or difficult to suppress that they are reliable in signaling intent.

The first study of this dissertation provides a summary of extant literature examining collective intelligence and honest signaling, with an emphasis on those studies that have …

Spanish Language, Cultural Knowledge And Teachers’ Professional Development In An English-Only Environment, Sara Soledad Garcia

Teacher Education

This study documents the findings of action research projects generated by two teachers with different cultural backgrounds and grade levels; one is a bilingual Spanish-English high school teacher and the other is an English monolingual first grade-reading teacher. Teachers’ cognitive and professional development is examined by taking into account the results of the action research project on the literacy needs of their students. Qualitative data from teacher interviews and reflections have been collected and analyzed. These teachers as researchers of their own practice plan and integrate cultural interpretation produced by the children to better understand how learners construct knowledge through …

Tweeting About Sexism: The Well-Being Benefits Of A Social Media Collective Action., Mindi D. Foster

Psychology Faculty Publications

Although collective action has psychological benefits in non-gendered contexts (e.g., Drury et al., 2005), the benefits for women taking action against gender discrimination are unclear. This study examined how a popular, yet unexplored potential form of collective action, namely tweeting about sexism, affects women’s well-being. Women read about sexism and were randomly assigned to tweet, or to one of three control groups. Content analyses showed tweets exhibited collective intent and action. Analyses of linguistic markers suggested public tweeters used more cognitive complexity in their language than private tweeters. Profile analyses showed that compared to controls, only public tweeters showed decreasing …

The Impact Of Autobiographical And Vicarious Events On Narrative Identity, Kendall Michelle Soucie

Wayne State University Dissertations

The primary aim of this dissertation was to elucidate the process by which we incorporate the life events of others (vicarious events) into our own lives and, by extension, into our own sense of identity. It was hypothesized that vicarious events from within a person's social network can be as germane to identity development as autobiographical events if the vicarious event involves someone with whom the person is socially-close rather than socially-distant and is an event in which the self was more proximal (shared events) than distal (witnessed or hearsay). The extent to which age, gender, dispositional empathy, and the …

Latino Families' Knowledge Of Bilingual Education, Rosalinda Barragan

Doctoral Research Project

No abstract provided.

From Goal-Striving To "Right Intention": A Grounded Theory Analysis Of Interviews With Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Participants, Julia Field

Undergraduate Review

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) helps people to manage stress reactivity through contemplative practices such as meditation. The creator of the program, Kabat-Zinn, (1994) defines mindfulness as “…paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally” (p. 4). Shapiro et al. (2006) clarified this definition as consisting of three mechanisms of mindfulness. In particular, their mechanism “intention” captures Kabat-Zinn’s phrase “on purpose.” Historically, mindfulness practices were intended to cultivate compassion and enlightenment; thus, these should be included in a psychological model of mindfulness (Shapiro & Schwartz, 2000). In keeping with their approach, this project explored the …

The Effects Of Speech Impairment On Quality Of Life Over Time In Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Jacqueline Kelley Blessinger

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Limited research exists on how speech impairments affect quality of life (QOL) factors over time in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A review of the literature, including the history, disease course, and prevalence of ALS, is presented. Physical and psychosocial functioning, especially the decline of bulbar functioning’s potential impact on QOL factors and communication style, are outlined. This study is a follow-up study on a study by Duff, who found a significant difference in QOL relative to level of bulbar functioning in a cross-sectional design. The current study used a longitudinal design to look at bulbar functioning, specifically levels …

Adhd Versus Ptsd In Preschool-Aged Children: Implications For Misdiagnosis, Klaudette D. Stewart

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been one of the most diagnosed disorders in children since it was included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders−III (DSM−III) in 1980. The number of children who have been diagnosed since that time has grown significantly, raising concerns about the overwhelming number of young children being diagnosed and prescribed medication. According to the literature, young children are diagnosed at a higher rate by pediatric primary care physicians (PCPs) than clinical child psychologists (CCPs) because they are taken to a PCP’s office by a parent, rather than referred from a school environment, …

The Impact Of Jury Instruction Formatting And Insanity Defense Consistency On Juror Knowledge And Decision-Making, Elaine Tsao

Scripps Senior Theses

Past literature has indicated that jury instructions are not written in ways that result in optimal juror comprehension, and can be improved through various ways of simplification. Prototypes of the insanity defense have also been found to influence juror decision-making. Additionally, individual factors such as attitudes toward and myth endorsement of the insanity defense can influence verdict. The following study explored these effects of jury instruction format, insanity defense consistency, and participant factors on jury understanding and decision-making. Three hundred and eighty jury eligible community members were recruited online for this study. Participants were first asked questions pertaining to attitudes …

Building An Adaptive Brain Across Development: Targets For Neurorehabilitation Must Begin In Infancy, Jamie O. Edgin, Caron A. C. Clark, Esha Massand, Annette Karmiloff-Smith

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Much progress has been made toward behavioral and pharmacological intervention in intellectual disability, which was once thought too difficult to treat. Down syndrome (DS) research has shown rapid advances, and clinical trials are currently underway, with more on the horizon. Here, we review the literature on the emergent profile of cognitive development in DS, emphasizing that treatment approaches must consider how some “end state” impairments, such as language deficits, may develop from early alterations in neural systems beginning in infancy. Specifically, we highlight evidence suggesting that there are pre- and early postnatal alterations in brain structure and function in DS, …