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Trends. The Latest On Terrorist Motivation, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article examines the motivations of terrorists for becoming terrorists.

The Influence Of Job Discrimination On The Health Of African-American Males, Jacqueline M. Barnett

Electronic Dissertations and Theses

The goal of the present research was to examine the influence of job discrimination on health. Seventy African American males served as the research participants. The age of the participants ranged from 19-62. The average years of school completed was 12.57. The research included two measures. The Perceive Racism Scale (PRS) and Symptom Checklist 90-revised Scale (SCL-90R). Each of this measures reflect different aspects of psychological distress. The measures were administered in group format, and all participants provided their own answers. Confidentiality of particpants was maintained. The Pearson Moment Correlation showed significant difference between the variables at .01 alpha level. …

Context Effects And Lexical Ambiguity Processing: An Activation-Based Account, Frazier Orgain

Master's Theses

Many studies have been conducted to test the effects of ambiguous words in sentence processing. There are two views: the modularity hypothesis and the interactive hypothesis that dominate this field of study. The effect of ambiguity has been tested in many ways, including gating, cross-modal priming, naming, and self-paced reading. This utilizes the methods of self paced reading with lexical decision and naming tasks to examine the hypotheses as they relate to the access period of lexical differentiation. Results indicate that context has an immediate effect, after which participants look to other factors to discern meaning of a sentence. Details …

An Analysis Of Remote Communication Processes Involved In Video- Mediated And Text-Based Computer-Mediated Communication During Collaborative Problem Solving, Maria Victoria Ramos

Master's Theses - Daytona Beach

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of current available communication mediums on the process of collaborative problem solving tasks in today's modern society. Seven male-only dyads were asked to complete two tasks, both with a finite and definable solution, by communicating through one of three possible ways: face-to- face (FTF), a synchronous text-based computer system (CMC), and a video-mediated system (VMC). The effectiveness of the medium was evaluated based on time to solution, number of turns and words in relation to a visual search task and a spatial task. Results showed a significant difference in time …

An Examination Of The Effects Of Fluency Training On Retention, Distractibility, And Generativity, Victoria Mary Pellettiere

Dissertations

The Precision Teaching movement grew out of a commitment to use frequency as a universal measure of behavior, as well as the desire to employ research methods derived from the experimental analysis of behavior in education (Lindsley, 1991). One component of instruction employing the precision teaching model is fluency training that typically involves exposing learners to the training materials until they have met criteria for both accuracy and speed. Proponents of fluency training ascribe a number of specific benefits to this instructional tool. Lindsley (1992, 1995) and others (Binder, 1993, 1996; Haughton, 1981b) suggested that fluency training enhances retention, endurance, …

The Effects Of Acculturation Level On Boston Naming Test And Controlled Oral Word Association Test In A Sample Ofhisparrics Ofmexican-American Extraction, Megan D. Nicoloff

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This research investigated in the relationship between acculturation and performance on verbal fluency tasks in a sample of 57 Hispanics of Mexican-American extraction. It was hypothesized that as acculturation to Anglo-American culture approaches assimilation, facilitation of word fluency on the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and the Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWA) will increase. As the independent variable, acculturation was examined on three levels: Mexican·oriented, balanced, and Anglo-oriented using Scale One of the Acculturation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans· Second Edition (ARSMA·II). The dependent variables were verbal fluency scores on the BNT and COWA. A 3 x 2 (acculturation group …

Oral Narrative Skills Of Late Talkers At Ages 8 And 9, Joan Manhardt, Leslie Rescorla

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

This study compared the oral narrative skills of 31 school-aged children diagnosed at 24 to 31 months with expressive language delay (late talkers) with those of 23 typically developing peers. Based upon an extensively studied picture-book task, Frog, Where are You?, narratives were elicited from all participants both at age 8 and age 9. At age 9, children were asked to tell the story again and to increase their references to evaluative information (characters' emotions, character speech, and causal explanations of events "supported" telling condition). Groups were compared on Syntax, Story Grammar, Cohesion, and Evaluative Information factor scores derived from …

Transpersonal Psychology As A Scientific Field, Harris Friedman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The importance of the development of transpersonal psychology as a science is considered. Arguments from romanticism, scientism, and constructionism that challenge this possibility are countered. A distinction is drawn between the field of transpersonal psychology as a science and the broader area known as transpersonal studies that may legitimately use scientific or nonscientific methods. The concepts of transpersonal phenomena and transcendent noumena are delineated, the latter being seen as outside of the purview of science. The benefits of embracing a scientific approach are contrasted to a number of epistemological alternatives. The scientific approach is forwarded for its potential contribution towards …

The Role Of Acculturation In Leader-Member Exchange, Dalila Somoza Valle

Theses Digitization Project

In light of the increase of Hispanic Immigrants (i.e 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation) in the U.S. workforce and the impact that the quality of the leader-member exchange has on the organization's success, this study investigated the quality of the relationship that emerges between hispanic subordinates and Anglo-American leaders (i.e who are most representative of the U.S. dominant culture).

In Search Of King Solomon’S Ring: Cognitive And Communicative Studies Of Grey Parrots (Psittacus Erithacus), Irene M. Pepperberg

Sentience Collection

During the past 24 years, I have used a modeling technique (M/R procedure) to train Grey parrots to use an allospecific code (English speech) referentially; I then use the code to test their cognitive abilities. The oldest bird, Alex, labels more than 50 different objects, 7 colors, 5 shapes, quantities to 6, 3 categories (color, shape, material) and uses ‘no’, ‘come here’, wanna go X’ and ‘want Y’ (X and Y are appropriate location or item labels). He combines labels to identify, request, comment upon or refuse more than 100 items and to alter his environment. He processes queries to …

The Re-Cognition Of Being's Infrastructure As Self-Completion, Herbert Guenther

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Wholeness as indivisible and the human being's connectedness with it are the abiding themes

of the Buddhist experience-rooted and process-oriented thinking that goes by the name of

rDzogs-chen. From its basically holistic point of view, the human being is a sub-whole,

similar to a variation on a musical theme. From another point of view, however, based on

the confusion of a compacted (and hence de-compactable) totality with wholeness, the human

being is seen as being a reality that is internally divided and feels uncertain about who/

what he really is. Together, the intolerable feelings of being divided and uncertain cause …

Ethnographic Representation As Relationship, M. M. Gergen, Kenneth J. Gergen

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Unfinished Business: Postmodern Feminism In Personality Psychology, Jeanne Marecek

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Acculturation Level On Verbal Learning In A Sample Of Hispanics Of Mexican-American Extraction, Anita S. Blair

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This study is interested in the relationship of acculturation to performance on verbal learning tasks. The hypotheses of the study are that as acculturation to Anglo American culture approaches assimilation, total recall scores on the California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) will increase and performance on a nonsense word task will not significantly correlate with acculturation level. A review of the literature on acculturation and test bias in Hispanic populations is followed by research on bilingual performance on memory tasks. As the independent variable, acculturation is examined on three levels: Mexican Oriented, Bicultural Oriented and Anglo Oriented using Scale One of …

Concurrent Activation Of High- And Low-Level Production Processes In Written Composition, Thierry Olive, Ronald Thomas Kellogg

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Writing a text requires the coordination of multiple high-level composition processes in working memory, including planning, language generation, and reviewing, in addition to low-level motor transcription. Here, interference in reaction time (RT) for detecting auditory probes was used to measure the attentional demands of (1) copying in longhand a prepared text (transcription), (2) composing a text and pausing handwriting for longer than 250 msec (composition), and (3) composing and currently handwriting (transcription + composition). Greater interference in the transcription + composition condition than in the transcription condition implies that high-level processes are activated concurrently with motor execution, resulting in higher …

Psychometric Investigation Of The Validity And Reliability Of The Beliefs About Voices Questionnaire-Revised In A Sample Of Psychotic Outpatients, John James Blue

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Refractory auditory hallucinations are a continuing problem in the treatment of schizophrenic, schizoaffective and psychotically depressed patient populations as well as patients with psychotic disorder, not otherwise specified. To date, little is known about the assessment of such hallucinatory states. Currently there are only a few instruments designed to examine the characteristics of auditory hallucinations. The study examined the reliability and validity of the Beliefs About Voices Questionnaire-Revised (BAVQ-R) in a sample of psychotic outpatients experiencing refractory auditory hallucinations. The present study consisted of 91 subjects; 57 men and 34 women selected from four separate community outpatient settings, who experienced …

Becoming Visible : A Qualitative Analysis Of Female To Male Transsexuals' Coming Out Experiences, Emily R. Chernicoff

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

This research explores the coming-out processes of 11 transgendered individuals who underwent female-to-male sex reassignment. Its purpose is to expand upon the cultural literacy of clinicians called upon to support transgendered clients who present with the intent to transition. The thesis is predicated on the argument that the differently-gendered constitute an understudied and discrete cultural minority, similar to ethnic, racial and sexual minorities, for whom identity formation is similarly impacted by socio-cultural influences. Qualitative content analysis of transcribed semi-structured interviews was conducted. Phase analysis was found to parallel both Cass's 1979 stage-model theory of sexual minority identity formation, and Devor's …

Using Latent Semantic Analysis To Assess Reader Strategies, Joseph P. Magliano, Katja Wiemer-Hastings, Keith K. Millis, Brenton D.. Muñoz, Danielle Ncnamara

Psychology Faculty Publications

We tested a computer-based procedure for assessing reader strategies that was based on verbal protocols that utilized latent semantic analysis (LSA). Students were given self-explanation-reading training (SERT), which teaches strategies that facilitate self-explanation during reading, such as elaboration based on world knowledge and bridging between text sentences. During a computerized version of SERT practice, students read texts and typed self-explanations into a computer after each sentence. The use of SERT strategies during this practice was assessed by determining the extent to which students used the information in the current sentence versus the prior text or world knowledge in their self-explanations. …

Illumination And Food Deprivation As Determinants For Hoarding In Golden Hampsters, Erin Smith '02

Honors Projects

It is important for animals to adapt to changes in food availability in order to survive. Hoarding is one method of accomplishing this and the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) is particularly adept at hoarding. Previous literature suggests a connection between hoarding and stress. To further examine this connection, the present study looked at the effects of illumination and food deprivation on the hoarding behavior of male golden hamsters. The within-subjects design allowed each of the 12 subjects to be tested in each of the 4 conditions: 1) illumination and food deprivation, 2) illumination and no food deprivation, 3) food deprivation …

The Effects Of Implicit, Explicit, And Synergistic Training On Learning An Artificial Grammar, Thomas James Domangue

LSU Master's Theses

Participants were trained to generate exemplars of an artificial grammar by bubbling-in letters from exemplars (implicit training), observing a diagram of the grammar then reproducing it (explicit training), or tracing the path of exemplars through a diagram of the grammar (synergistic training). Performance was measured using a cued-generate task. It provided a template for an exemplar with two letters filled in. Participants attempted to generate exemplars that fit the template. The computer corrected the exemplar when it matched at least 70% of the letters in a valid string. Results showed that both explicit and synergistic training led to generation of …

Phonemic Awareness In Preschool Children In Relation To Reading Practices In The Home, Anna Hayes

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Research suggests that phonemic awareness predicts later reading achievement and that children from low-SES families are "at-risk" for failing to develop phonemic awareness. Before children enter school, they spend the majority of their time with their caregivers. Therefore, activities that take place in the home are of importance when looking at what fosters development. The present study focused on children participating in two Head Start programs and on their families as well. The parents were interviewed to learn about the home activities, and the children were given a phonemic awareness assessment. The study found that the majority of parents reported …

Does Strength Of Phonological Representations Predict Phonological Awareness In Preschool Children?, Judith G. Foy, Virginia A. Mann

Psychological Science Faculty Works

Previous research has shown a clear relationship between phonological awareness and early reading ability. This article concerns some aspects of spoken language skill that may contribute to the development of phonological awareness, as manifested in rhyme awareness and phoneme awareness. It addresses the hypothesis that phonological awareness abilities are associated with measures that purportedly tap into the strength of phonological representations. We examined rhyme awareness, phoneme awareness, articulatory skill, speech perception, vocabulary, and letter and word knowledge in 40 children, aged 4 to 6, who were just beginning to be exposed to for-mat reading experiences in private preschools. The children …

Making Life And Taking Life: The Psychology Of Assassination In The Mideast, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article explores the variants of assassination through linguistic analysis of political conflict within and between Israel, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and a global context of nation-states and non-state political actors.

A Behavioral Systems Analysis Of Textbook Quality Improvement, Elizabeth T. Suarez

Dissertations

Behavioral systems analysis is a deliberate approach to systems-design that is intended to help a system achieve its ultimate goals. The present study used behavioral systems analysis in an attempt to improve the quality o f a college-level textbook. Formative and expert evaluations were used to assess the needs of the textbook. Once the needs were determined, a six-step process of analysis, goal specification, design, implementation, evaluation, and recycling was used to meet the objectives specified by the needs assessment.

The first objective of this study was to produce and publish an improved edition of a textbook and to begin …

The Making Of A Textbook On Behavior Analysis And Autism A Behavior Analytic Approach, Sebastien Bosch

Dissertations

After deciding that a need existed for writing a textbook on autism from a behavior analytic perspective, Dr. Malott and I developed Behavior Analysis. Autism and Related Disabilities (BAARD) for use by the students enrolled in the autism practicum at Western Michigan University. As in a circular relationship, the practicum students evaluated and guided the subsequent revisions of the manuscript, and the revisions influenced the subsequent evaluations. BAARD covers all the principles and concepts of behavior analysis that are relevant to treatments and issues in autism and related disabilities and numerous treatments and phenomena specific to developmental disabilities.

During its …

A Study Of Directorial Choices In Tennessee Williams' Play Out Cry Focused On Selected Expressionistic Elements, Joyce A. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Tennesse Williams' play, OUT CRY, uses many of the expressionistic and symbolic elements he used successfully throughout his career. The characters of OUT CRY struggle with the fear of isolation, of entrapment and of sexual relationship. The aim of my thesis is to focus on selected expressionistic elements in OUT CRY and to elaborate on the choices I made as a director in using the expressionistic elements to convey the theme of fear inherent in the play.

I have highlighted the methodology of director Harold Clurman in my analysis of the script. Additionally, I adhered to theory of director Francis …

Variability In Word Learning: Phonological Sensitivity And Phonological Memory, Marnie E. Arkenberg

Student Work

Presently, investigators believe that variability in children’s word learning results from individual differences in one of two separate processes thought to underlie word learning: phonological sensitivity or phonological memory. Traditionally, researchers have viewed differences in children’s vocabularies as being the result of differences in either phonological memory or phonological sensitivity. However, there is reason to believe that a different type of relation exists among phonological sensitivity, phonological memory, and vocabulaiy. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the nature of these relations in preschoolers. Three hypotheses were presented: either phonological memory or phonological sensitivity plays a larger role in …

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 …

Communication And Shared Reality: Implications For The Psychological Foundations Of Culture, Ivy Yee-Man Lau, Chi-Yue Chiu, Sau-Lai Lee

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Lau et al present a conceptualization of the evolution of shared beliefs from individual interactions, focusing on the role of communication. They argue that the reciprocal relationship between shared reality and communication enables the development of systems of social representations at an individual level.

"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 …