Digital Commons Network^™

Non-Pedophilic Heterosexual Male Response To Affinity 2.0, Charles D. Crosby

Theses and Dissertations

Given that the Affinity 2.0 is a largely untested instrument that purports to measure sexual attraction, it was unknown whether or not the instrument is temporally stable and would provide a characteristic response curve for normal heterosexual male sexual interest. This study examined the Affinity 2.0, a newly standardized viewing time (VT) instrument that purports to measure sexual interest. More specifically, the Affinity 2.0 was examined in regard to its temporal stability and ability to generate a characteristic curve for non-pedophilic, exclusively heterosexual male interests. This examination was carried out by administering the Affinity 2.0 twice on a sample of …

Males' Ipsative Score Distortion On Affinity 2.0, Jeffrey Brian Madsen

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the frequency of distortion that occurs when raw score patterns of Affinity 2.0, a viewing time measure designed to assess sexual interest, are converted to ipsative scores. Eighty-eight percent of a sample of ninety-nine non-pedophilic, exclusively heterosexual males' profiles sustained some degree of distortion. The study also applied Brown's (2005) approach to predicting distortion with this sample of males' responses. Brown's techniques were largely ineffective in predicting males' distortion scores.

Psychoeducational Dissemination Across Distance: The Viability Of Telehealth With The Deaf Population, Jaime A. B. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Within the deaf population, an extreme mental health professional shortage exists that may be alleviated with videoconferencing technology – also known as telehealth. Moreover, much needed mental health education within the deaf population remains largely inaccessible. Researchers have forewarned that the deaf population may remain underserved if significant changes do not take place with traditional service delivery methods. The goal of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of telehealth in teaching psychoeducational objectives, with special emphasis given to its application to the deaf population. The results of this study indicate that telehealth can be considered to be an efficacious …

Clinical Applications Of Fmri: An Adaptation Of A Standard Neuropsychological Battery, Alina K. F. Ichimura

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to advance the utility of functional brain imaging as a tool for the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders by creating a statistical database of functional MRI (fMRI) brain activation patterns collected from neurologically and psychiatrically unimpaired subjects. Continuous fMRI scans have been obtained from each subject while s/he performed a variety of cognitive tasks that are commonly found in standard neurological and cognitive assessment batteries. The collected fMRI data has been processed, analyzed, and converted into database which can be used as a reference of reliable indices of normal brain activity patterns for …

Body Shape Dissatisfaction: Patterns Of Concern Among Subgroups Of College Freshmen Women, Kristina S Withers Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to determine if there are patterns of differences according to college major in terms of the percentage of freshmen women who score in the clinically significant range on a measure of attitude toward body shape. Participants (N = 1,982) completed a demographic questionnaire and the Body Shape Questionnaire (BSQ) and were divided into subgroups according to their stated college major. Descriptive statistics regarding BSQ scores were calculated for the total sample and subgroups. Results indicated that a greater percentage of participants in Theater, Communications, Psychology, Dance, Business, and Dietetics majors scored within clinically significant ranges on the …

Secondary Intervention For Students At Risk For Emotional And Behavioral Disorders Within A Positive Behavior Support Model, Jennifer Anne James

Theses and Dissertations

Mentoring is an intervention growing in popularity with a weak research foundation. This study combines mentoring and social skill training within a positive behavior support framework. Targeting a fourth-grade, Latino student at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders, this single-subject study looks at his ability to master a specific social skill. The mentor served to reinforce social skill learning through practicing, role-playing, and goal setting. The student was chosen using the Systematic Screening for Behavior Disorders and the social skill was created using the School Social Behavior Scales that identified social skill strengths and weaknesses. Student demonstration of the social …

A Behavioral Intervention Tool For Recreation Managers, Shawn Meghan Burn, Patricia L. Winter

Psychology and Child Development

Depreciative behaviors and other undesirable recreationist actions continue to be a topic of great interest for recreation management (fig. 1, above). Maintaining park ecosystems involves responding to and preventing damage from depreciative recreationist behavior, and recreation managers are charged with developing and selecting effective tools to address the costly and perplexing impacts of undesirable recreationist behavior.

This article describes the Environmental Intervention Handbook for Resource Managers (EIH), a tool we designed to help managers modify depreciative recreationist behavior. The handbook is based on a model of pro-environmental behavior change derived from social science research. It provides “treatments” of depreciative behavior …

Heuristics, Biases, And Philosophy, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Commenting on Professor Cass Sunstein's work is a daunting task. There is simply so much of it. Professor Sunstein produces scholarship at a rate that is faster than I can consume it. Scarcely an area of law has failed to feel his impact. One cannot today write an article on administrative law, free speech, punitive damages, Internet law, law and economics, separation of powers, or animal rights law without addressing one or more of Sunstein's papers. And his work is typically not a mere footnote. Sunstein has changed how scholars think about each of these areas of law. More broadly, …

The Political Personality Of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Aubrey Immelman, Pascal De Sutter

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. The study was conducted from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon’s model of personality.

Information concerning Sarkozy was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality Styles …

The Political Personality Of 2007 French Presidential Candidate Ségolène Royal, Aubrey Immelman, Pascal De Sutter

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Ségolène Royal, candidate of the Socialist Party in the 2007 French presidential election.

The study was conducted from the conceptual perspective of Theodore Millon’s model of personality. Information concerning Royal was collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed on the basis of interpretive guidelines provided …

Directed Forgetting Of Live Motion Events: An Investigation Of A New Stimulus Set, Shawn Dickerson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Instructions to forget presented information are often given and it is necessary to further understand how those involved can be affected by what is called "directed forgetting". The purpose of the current study was to investigate if a video stimuli would produce directed forgetting using the list method and a recognition style test. In addition, viewing live motion events has been suggested to be a more relevant modality to examine directed forgetting and thus another purpose of the current study was to utilize video stimuli to create a more valid assessment of this phenomenon. Participants (N=181) were selected through the …

Partners In Play: How Children Organise Their Participation In Sociodramatic Play, Carmel Brennan

Doctoral

In Ireland, early childhood learning and the role of play in children’s lives is receiving unprecedented recognition in national policy documents (Ireland, 1999c, 1999a, 1999b, 2000, 2004, N.C.C.A., 2004, C.E.C.D.E., 2006b). This thesis links learning and play and proposes to contribute to our understanding of both. The purpose of the research is to explicate the significant processes and outcomes of children’s participation in sociodramatic play. It takes a qualitative, ethnographic, interpretive approach which follows logically from the aim and the sociocultural discourse of learning constructed. This sociocultural discourse frames the observation and analysis of sociodramatic play in the study. Three …

Gender Differences In The Romantic Commitment Of Swingers: A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis, Rachel A. Vedder

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This research examined whether gender differences in romantic commitment among a swing population are mediated by sexual permissiveness. This study also served as an update to past literature and further exploration into swing culture by using qualitative data„such as examining reasons for entering and leaving swinging, level of involvement in the lifestyle, and safe sex practices. Researchers have found significant correlations between gender and commitment (Cupach & Meets, 1995; Duffy & Rusbult,1985-1986), gender and sexual permissiveness (Hong,1991; LaBeff & Dodder, 1982; Oliver & Hyde, 1993), and sexual permissiveness and commitment (Oliver & Sedikides, 1992; Yela, 2000). However, the role that …

Preventing Weight Gain In First Year College Students: An Internet-Based Intervention, Rachel Gow

Theses and Dissertations

The transition to college has been identified as a critical period for increases in overweight status. Overweight college students are at-risk of becoming obese adults, thus prevention efforts targeting college age individuals might be one key to reducing adult obesity rates. The current study developed and implemented an intensive, 6-session, internet intervention. This intervention was evaluated with first year college students assigned randomly to one of four treatment conditions: 1) no treatment, 2) 6-week weight and caloric feedback only, 3) 6-week internet intervention, and 4) 6-week combined feedback and internet intervention. As expected, the combined intervention group had lower BMI …

Reluctant Virginity: The Relationship Between Sexual Status And Self-Esteem, Dina Dimauro

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to identify group differences between sexual status (reluctant virgins, satisfied virgins, and non-virgins) in college students. Specifically, this study explored differences between groups in self-esteem (global, social, and body), dating (length of relationship and number of dating partners), and the beliefs in the double standard mediating differences in self-esteem. It was hypothesized that reluctant virgins would have lower self-esteem and shorter relationships than satisfied virgins and non-virgins. There was modest support for the stated hypotheses: reluctant virgins had lower social self esteem (M= 114.4) than non-virgins (M= 138.5). Reluctant virgins …

Effects Of In-Home Positive Behavior Support Training On Parent Perceptions Of Parent-Child Relationships And Maladaptive Behavior, Elisha K. Kamalu

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of the positive behavior support program Family HOPE conducted in homes of families of children with disabilities. Graduate students conducted an 8-10 week collaborative method of training for parents of children with disabilities to reduce problem behaviors of their child with a disability. The Parent-Child Relationship Inventory (PCRI) and Scales of Independent Behavior-Revised (SIB-R) were given to both experimental and control group families to investigate the program effects on parents' perceptions of limit setting, parental support, frequency and severity of problem behaviors. Results indicated that there was not a significant pre-post difference for either group …

Assessing Item And Scale Sensitivity To Therapeutic Change On The College Adjustment Scales: Working Toward A Counseling Center Specific Outcome Questionnaire, Christian L. Wimmer

Theses and Dissertations

Many college counseling centers use outcome measures to track therapeutic change for their clientele. These questionnaires have traditionally looked primarily at a client's symptom distress (e.g. depression, anxiety, suicidality, etc.) and are used to detect changes in the client's life that are due to therapy. Unfortunately, there is no measure that has been exclusively created and validated for use with college students. The College Adjustment Scales (CAS) form a multidimensional psychological measure designed specifically for use in college and university settings. Even though the CAS was created as a screening tool, it contains items that provide insight into changes that …

Is Talking Online To Unknown People Always Risky? Distinguishing Online Interaction Styles In A National Sample Of Youth Internet Users., Janis Wolak, David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell

Sociology

Abstract

We examined the risk of unwanted online sexual solicitations and characteristics associated with four online interaction styles among youth Internet users. The interaction styles took into account the people with whom youth interacted online (people known in person only, unknown people met through face-to-face friends, unknown people met in chatroom, and other places online) and high- and low-risk patterns of online behavior. The aim was to provide a basis for identifying which youth may be most at risk from interacting online with unknown people.

Factors That Influence Informal Learning In The Workplace, Shelley A. Berg, Seung Youn Chyung

Organizational Performance and Workplace Learning Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that influence informal learning in the workplace and the types of informal learning activities people engage in at work. More specifically, the research examined (1) the relationship between informal learning engagement and the presence of learning organization characteristics, and (2) perceived factors that affect informal learning engagement.

Methodology – Workplace learning and performance improvement professionals were invited to respond to an anonymous online survey, and 125 professionals volunteered to participate in the study.

Findings – This study did not find a significant correlation between informal learning engagement and the …

The Effect Of Poverty On Child Development And Educational Outcomes, Patrice L. Engle, Maureen M. Black

Psychology and Child Development

Poverty affects a child’s development and educational outcomes beginning in the earliest years of life, both directly and indirectly through mediated, moderated, and transactional processes. School readiness, or the child’s ability to use and profit from school, has been recognized as playing a unique role in escape from poverty in the United States and increasingly in developing countries. It is a critical element but needs to be supported by many other components of a poverty alleviation strategy, such as improved opportunity structures and empowerment of families. The paper reviews evidence from interventions to improve school readiness of children in poverty, …

Are Maximizers Really Unhappy? The Measurement Of Maximizing Tendency, Scott Edward Highhouse, Dalia L. Diab, Michael A. Gillespie

Psychology Faculty Publications

Recent research suggesting that people who maximize are less happy than those who satisfice has received considerable fanfare. The current study investigates whether this conclusion reflects the construct itself or rather how it is measured. We developed an alternative measure of maximizing tendency that is theory-based, has good psychometric properties, and predicts behavioral outcomes. In contrast to the existing maximization measure, our new measure did not correlate with life (dis)satisfaction, nor with most maladaptive personality and decision-making traits. We conclude that the interpretation of maximizers as unhappy may be due to poor measurement of the construct. We present a more …

Fire/Emergency Medical Services And Coping Methods: Mitigating Traumatic Stress Symptomatology, William Mark Holland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Firefighters and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) professionals must cope with a variety of job-related stressors. One significant stressor for fire/EMS providers involves exposure to personally disturbing incidents (PDIs). To manage the untoward effects of exposure to PDIs, fire/EMS professionals use a variety of coping methods. In this study, the effectiveness of various coping methods utilized by fire/EMS professionals for mitigating the negative effects of exposure to PDIs was examined. This study provides some clarity by identifying the subjective distress associated with certain PDIs and pinpointing detrimental coping methods of fire/EMS personnel through scores on the 28-item General Health Questionnaire and …

Disruptive Effects Of Aβ Oligomers To The Radial-Arm Maze Performance Of Rats, Kineta Lynn Morgan-Paisley

Dissertations

Converging lines of research have implicated a causal relationship between oligomers of amyloid-β and the cognitive impairments associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, very few studies have provided direct experimental evidence of this relationship and none of those studies have used an established model of working memory. The present study used an established model of working memory, the radial-arm maze, to examine the effects of amyloid-β oligomers on the memory of two groups of rats. The experimental group received ICV injections of the culture media (CM) of Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells transfected with a human mutation of APP containing …

Child Sexual Trauma: Testing The Robustness Of Browne & Finkelhor's Theory, Jose Mauricio Ramirez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Trauma has received great attention in the last three decades and a major societal issue today is child sexual abuse. Twelve percent of victims of maltreatment every year are victims of child sexual abuse (CSA). Several studies have suggested that the prevalence of CSA in women is in the range of 6% to 62% depending on how the data was collected (e.g., interviews, surveys) and the nature of the population sampled (e.g., general population, clinical population). Because of CSA, victims are impacted by the experience and encounter a change in the way they perceive the world on both the way …

Broadening International Perspectives On The Legal Environment For Personnel Selection, Brett Myors, Filip Lievens, Greet Van Hoye, Steven F Cronshaw, Antonio Mladinic, Viviana Rodriguez, Herman Aguinis, Dirk D Steiner, Florence Rolland, Heinz Schuler, Andreas Frintrup, Ioannis Nikolaou, Maria Tomprou, S Subramony, Shabu B Raj, Shay Tzafrir, Peter Bamberger, Marilena Bertolino, Marco Mariani, Franco Fraccaroli

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Perspectives from 22 countries on aspects of the legal environment for selection are presented. Issues addressed include a) whether there are racial/ethnic/religious subgroups viewed as “disadvantaged minority”, b) whether research documents mean differences between groups on individual difference measures relevant to job performance, whether there are laws prohibiting discrimination against specific groups, d) what is required to make and refute a claim of discrimination, e) what are the consequences of violation of the laws, f) whether particular selection methods are limited or banned, g) whether preferential treatment of members of minority groups is permitted, and h) whether the practice of …

International Perspectives On The Legal Environment For Selection, Brett Myors, Filip Lievens, Steven F. Cronshow, E Schollaert, G Van Hoye, A Mladinic, V Rodriguez, H Aguinis, Dd Steiner, F Rolland, H Schuler, A Frintrup, I Nikolaou, M Tomprou, S Subramony, Sb Raj, S Tzafrir, P Bamberger, M Bertolino, M Mariani

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Perspectives from 22 countries on aspects of the legal environment for selection are presented in this article. Issues addressed include (a) whether there are racial/ethnic/religious subgroups viewed as "disadvantaged,'' (b) whether research documents mean differences between groups on individual difference measures relevant to job performance, (c) whether there are laws prohibiting discrimination against specific groups, (d) the evidence required to make and refute a claim of discrimination, (e) the consequences of violation of the laws, (f) whether particular selection methods are limited or banned, (g) whether preferential treatment of members of disadvantaged groups is permitted, and (h) whether the practice …

Emotional Speech Corpus Construction, Annotation And Distribution, Brian Vaughan, Charlie Cullen, Spyros Kousidis, John Mcauley

Conference papers

This paper details a process of creating an emotional speech corpus by collecting natural emotional speech assets, analysisng and tagging them (for certain acoustic and linguistic features) and annotating them within an on-line database. The definition of specific metadata for use with an emotional speech corpus is crucial, in that poorly (or inaccurately) annotated assets are of little use in analysis. This problem is compounded by the lack of standardisation for speech corpora, particularly in relation to emotion content. The ISLE Metadata Initiative (IMDI) is the only cohesive attempt at corpus metadata standardisation performed thus far. Although not a comprehensive …

The Relationship Between Psychological Well-Being And Work Productivity: Validation Of The Oq Productivity Index, Vinessa Kaye Trotter

Theses and Dissertations

Managed Mental Health Care (MMHC) began blanketing the United States when cost of care rose exponentially. MMHC is one avenue many employers and insurance companies have chosen to provide employees with mental health treatment at controlled costs. However, not all employers view supplying their employees with mental health treatment beneficial, as they do not know mental health problems can significantly decrease work productivity. Brown and Jones (2005) used the Social Role Scale (SR) of the Severe Outcome Questionnaire (SOQ) to estimate work productivity in employees under the assumption that the scale measures work productivity. The purpose of this study was …

The Evidence And The Expert: Judgments Of Their Relative Importance In Confession Adjudication, Morgan S. Moffa

Psychology Theses

Forensic evidence is gaining prominence in both the media and in courts. As a result, the role of expert witness testimony in cases involving a disputed confession is unclear. The current study examined the effects of expert witness testimony, commonly-used interrogation tactics, and equivocal forensic evidence, on perceptions both the expert and the evidence. Results indicated perceptions of forensic evidence were a function of expert witness testimony, suggesting the influence of expert testimony on confessions is not limited to perceptions of the interrogation. In addition, evaluations of reliability and probative validity of forensic-type evidence indicated participants’ difficulty in distinguishing between …

Predicting Behavior From Psychopathic And Antisocial Personality Traits In A Student Sample., Maryann Stone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psychopathic personality is associated with a myriad of social and behavioral problems including violence, criminal activity, and overall failure to conform to social standards. In this study, psychopathic and antisocial personality traits are measured in a sample of college students via self-report surveys using questions derived from Hare's Psychopathic Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; 1991). Reliability and factor analyses were used to validate the inventory and create factor-based indices that were used to predict antisocial behavioral outcomes including violence, seeking revenge on persecutors, and suicidal ideation, in addition to other analogous and deviant behaviors. Findings showed a relationship between personality and behavior indicating …