Digital Commons Network^™

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

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

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

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

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

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

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

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

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

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

Psychology Faculty Publications

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

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

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

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

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

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

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

Chronic Restraint Stress Enhances Radial Arm Maze Performance In Female Rats, Rachel E. Bowman, Mark C. Zrull, Victoria N. Luine

Psychology Faculty Publications

Effects of chronic restraint stress (21 and 28 days) on physiological and behavioral parameters in female rats were examined. Total (bound and free) and free corticosterone (CORT) levels were measured at different time points during the stress period. Higher total CORT levels were observed in stressed rats during the stress period but returned to baseline at 15 days poststress. Additionally, free CORT levels decreased across the stress period. Estrous cyclicity was monitored daily in all animals. Stress had no apparent effects on estrous cyclicity, in rats with either normal length or elongated estrous cycles, but stressed females gained less weight …

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

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

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

Mammalian Play: Training For The Unexpected, Marek Špinka, Ruth C. Newberry, Marc Bekoff

Ethology Collection

In this review, we present a new conceptual framework for the study of play behavior, a hitherto puzzling array of seemingly purposeless and unrelated behavioral elements that are recognizable as play throughout the mammalian lineage. Our major new functional hypothesis is that play enables animals to develop flexible kinematic and emotional responses to unexpected events in which they experience a sudden loss of control. Specifically, we propose that play functions to increase the versatility of movements used to recover from sudden shock such as loss of balance and falling over, and to enhance the ability of animals to cope emotionally …

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

Psychology Faculty Publications

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

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

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

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

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

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

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

Mirror Self-Recognition In The Bottlenose Dolphin: A Case Of Cognitive Convergence, Diana Reiss, Lori Marino

Sentience Collection

The ability to recognize oneself in a mirror is an exceedingly rare capacity in the animal kingdom. To date, only humans and great apes have shown convincing evidence of mirror self-recognition. Two dolphins were exposed to reflective surfaces, and both demonstrated responses consistent with the use of the mirror to investigate marked parts of the body. This ability to use a mirror to inspect parts of the body is a striking example of evolutionary convergence with great apes and humans.

Where Lies The Truth On Lying? Hearings Before The United States Senate Judiciary Committee On "Issues Surrounding The Use Of Polygraphs.", Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents several complexities in assessing the validity of the polygraph as lie detector dependent on the construct of a distinctive lie response.

Trends. Diplomacy, Time, And Conflict, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the nature of time in the context of conflict, diplomacy, and conflict resolution.

The Effect Of Age-Related Stereotypes On Memory Self-Efficacy And Memory Task-Performance Of Older Adults, Brenda Karns

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Forty-six older adults participated in a study to examine the hypothesis that there is a significant association between stereotypes of age-related memory decline and memory self-efficacy beliefs. It was also hypothesized that this relationship affects performance on measures of memory performance. A measure of age stereotype vulnerability was assessed along with two measures of memory self-efficacy, four measures of implicit, explicit, and working memory, and two measures of implicit and explicit sequential learning. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the relationships among stereotypes of age, memory self-efficacy, and subsequent performance on various tasks of memory and learning. Emphasis was …

Effect Of Music By Mozart And Sounds Claiming To Contain Beta-Frequency Enhancing Audio Signals On Backward Digit Span Recall, Bryan Pickett

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Neurofeedback is the process of monitoring and manipulating brainwaves. In 1976, Lubar and Shouse used neurofeedback to treat a child with Attention Deficit\ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The most typical method for treating ADHD is to increase beta waves (14+ Hz), which are linked with increased focus and attention and to decrease theta waves ( 4-8 Hz), which are linked to daydreaming states. Recently this principle of increasing focus and attention through increasing beta waves has been used in audio technology that claims to increase beta waves through sound. The idea that sound or music can increase a person's attention, and …

Social Responses To Hiv Positive Suicide Ideators., Saborah Lee Bishop

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine responses to suicidal ideation by an HIV positive male described as heterosexual/homosexual in a promiscuous/monogamous relationship.

Men (101) and women (137) enrolled in introductory psychology courses participated in the study. Participants completed a short demographic questionnaire, read one of four scenarios, and completed the Attitudes and Helping Behavior Scale (AHBS) designed to measure the participantsÆ emotional responses, attributions, and willingness to help the target subject. Present research involved a 2 (sex of subject) x 4 (scenarios) independent groups factorial. Independent ANOVAS were performed to interpret the significance of the main and …

A Correlational Study Of Firefighter Personality Traits And Emotional Exhaustion, Jeffrey P. Mccall

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The occupational stress of the firefighter has received much attention over the last two decades in a variety of professional articles and studies. Elevated levels of stress may facilitate the onset of occupational burnout within this public service. The emotional exhaustion component of Maslach's burnout theory, which can be conceptualized as the first stage of burnout, will be specifically addressed in this study. The subjects were 81 firefighters from a large urban fire department, with a range in age, years of service, marital status, and ethnicity. A Pearson product-moment correlation was conducted to ascertain correlations between personality traits as noted …

The Effects Of Parental Modeling On The Health-Related Behaviors Of American Indian Adolescents: A Culturally Specific Investigation Of Social Learning Theory, Amy Jo Williams

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Health-compromising behavior is a leading cause of death among American Indian (Al) adolescents. Examples of these behaviors include: smoking, alcohol consumption, drug use, and lack of seatbelt use. Theories that predict which Al youth are most at risk for executing these behaviors are needed.

Social learning theory (SL T) has shown adolescents' behaviors are sometimes highly correlated with their parents' behaviors across different ethnic groups. However, there has been little previous research done with Als.

The present study attempted to determine if SLT was applicable to Al adolescents and their parents with regard to four health-related behaviors: cigarette smoking, alcohol …

Establishing Reinforcing Properties In Neutral Stimuli Through Observational Learning With Children, Andrew Waine Gardner

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this study was to observe and analyze the factors that lead to a child's increase in responding to a previously neutral stimulus after observing another child's behavior and consequences in the same setting. The effects of five video presentations on rate of button-pressing responses were observed across four students. Rates of button-pressing behavior on an FR3 schedule of reinforcement were collected for each student using a computer and a metal apparatus with two flat push buttons. Each student completed two baseline phases to establish neutrality of stimuli, and viewed a total of five video presentations. Each video …

Internalizing Symptoms In Adolescents: Assessment And Relationship To Self-Concept, Sue Ann Dowd

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Internalizing disorders cause serious psychological problems for many adolescents. The effects can be both debilitating and long lasting. However, assessment of internalizing disorders has been plagued by limited measurement strategies. Historically, individual measures were developed to assess the narrow-band symptoms that are subsumed under the broad construct of internalizing disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, and social withdrawal). Recently, the Internalizing Symptom Scale for Adolescents has been created. The Internalizing Symptom Scale for Adolescents is a short screening measure that includes newer models of affect such as the tripartite model of affect. Additionally, there has been limited research on the …

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 And Low Back Pain Surgery Outcome, David S. Shearer

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Chronic back pain is a serious problem in the U.S. for which about 10% of back pain sufferers will undergo elective surgery. Unfortunately, back surgery is not successful in alleviating back pain in a substantial number of surgery patients. Various psychological and psychosocial variables have a demonstrated relationship to back surgery outcome. The most widely used personality test used to predict back surgery outcome is the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Past research has shown that elevations on three MMPI clinical scales (Hs, D, and Hy) are positively correlated with poor back surgery outcome. The current prospective study shows a …

Testing Models Of Depression And Paranoia In Men And Women: The Role Of Cognitive Style, Guilt, Shame, And Defense Mechanisms, Chad Sombke

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Gender differences in psychopathology have long been of interest in the fields of clinical, developmental, and personality psychology. Lewis proposed two models to explain the emergence of the development of gender differences in depression and paranoia. Lewis stated that gender differences in depression and paranoia can be traced to corresponding gender differences in cognitive style, guilt-proneness, shame-proneness, and the use of specific defense mechanisms. Although research evidence has validated certain components of these two models, neither model has ever been tested in its entirety. This research project intended to test Lewis's models in their entirety by utilizing structural equation modeling. …

Mothers' Eating Beliefs And Behaviors And Their Relationship To Daughters' Bulimic And Anorexic Symptoms, Colette M. Candy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study examined whether there was a relationship between daughters' eating disorder symptomology and maternal food control and health-conscious eating attitudes. Eighty-eight females with a continuum of eating disorder behaviors (DSM-IV eating disorders through nondieters) and 74 of their mothers participated. Participants completed the Anorexia Bulimia Inventory, two subscales from the Eating Disorder Inventory, the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire, the Family Environment Scale, the Maternal Food Control and Meal Preparation Scale, and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale.

Results indicated that, in general, daughters' reported eating disorder symptomology and perceived familial control were related. Some of the more specific …

A Longitudinal Study Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms In Preschool-Age Children, Jessica Nicole Greenson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is among the most common reasons for referral to children's mental health clinics, with an estimated prevalence of 3% to 5% in the general population of school-age children. Children who exhibit the requisite behaviors may obtain a diagnosis of ADHD at any age; however, symptom onset must occur before age 7 and persist for at least 6 months. Despite these temporal requirements for diagnosis, little empirical information about the manifestation and stability of ADHD symptoms in preschool children exists. This study provides information about the initial presence and stability over one academic year of ADHD behaviors …

Increasing Attendance At Voluntary Academic Tutoring Sessions On A Large University, Meghan Sadler

Honors Theses

High attrition rates have become an impetus for colleges and universities to develop programs to help students during the first years of their education. Various services such as supplemental instruction, tutoring, testing, counseling, college success seminars, and remedial help are offered to help students be successful in their university studies. While these services may be offered, encouraging students to voluntarily attend these sessions is a problem. This study was conducted to analyze the effect of prompts on improving the attendance at voluntary content tutoring sessions at a large Midwestern University. The participants were college students enrolled in any course that …

The Effects Of Cocaine And Morphine Alone And In Combination On The Development Of Behavioral Sensitization, James Espa Woods Ii

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by James Espa Woods II on April 19, 2001.

An Investigation Of The Relationship Between The Family Of Origin And Selected Career Development Outcomes, Timothy Dean Dodge

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine, from the perspective of Bowen family systems theory (Papero, 1990) and Williamson's theory of personal authority in the family system (Williamson, 1981, 1982a, 1982b), the impact of family dynamics on the career development of college students and to overcome methodological weaknesses of prior research in this area. Methodologically, the present study overcomes weaknesses of prior research by providing a unifying theory from which measures of family dynamics are derived and by measuring career outcomes which are logically tied to family dynamics. Career outcome measures selected for the study include vocational identity, career decision-making …

Is Evolutionary Analysis Of Law Science Or Storytelling?, Jeffrey J. Rachlinski

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In recent years, some legal scholars have argued that legal scholarship could benefit from a greater reliance on theories of human behavior that arise from biological evolution. These scholars contend that reliance on biological evolution would successfully combine the rigor of economics with the scientific aspects of psychology. Complex legal systems, however, are uniquely human. Law has always been the product of cognitive processes that are unique to humans and that developed as a response to an environment that no longer exists. Consequently, the evolutionary development of the cognitive mechanisms upon which law depends cannot be rigorously modeled or studied …