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Contextual Unanimity And The Units Of Selection Problem, Stuart M. Glennan

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Sober and Lewontin’s critique of genic selectionism is based upon the principle that a unit of selection should make a context‐independent contribution to fitness. Critics have effectively shown that this principle is flawed. In this paper I show that the context independence principle is an instance of a more general principle for characterizing causes,called the contextual unanimity principle. I argue that this latter principle, while widely accepted, is erroneous. What is needed is to replace the approach to causality characterized by the contextual unanimity criterion with an approach based on the concept of causal mechanism. After sketching such an approach, …

Opportunity Knocks Only Once? Challenging Common Beliefs About Adulthood, Marilyn Montgomery, Camille Debell, Patricia R. Mccarthy, Gerald Parr

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Growth-oriented groups for adults are designed to help individuals learn about themselves for the purpose of making constructive life changes. While the success of such groups always depends to some extent on individual characteristics (e.g., motivation, openness to experience), group success can also be affected by members' beliefs or stereotypes about appropriate age-related behaviour. In this article, proverbs such as Don't change horses mid-stream or Opportunity knocks only once are targeted for discussion by group participants as a means of identifying irrational beliefs, confronting stereotypes, promoting flexible thinking, and examining acceptable adult behaviour.

The Ability Of The Child And Adolescent Functioning Assessment Scale (Cafas) To Predict Discharge Status From An Intensive In-Home Treatment Program, Brenda K. Smith

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Mental health providers are increasing required to document symptoms of clients, level of functional impairment, and improvements in treatment due to increasing pressure from managed mental health to provide the best possible services for the least amount of money and time spent. Thus, instruments that reliably predict functional impairment, length and cost of services are increasing utilized in mental health agencies. One such instrument, the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAF AS), will be reviewed. The purpose of the study will be stated, and the method, procedure, and results will be explained. A discussion will follow detailing a summary …

Sense Of Belonging In The School : Impact On Young Adolescents, Diane F. Broderick

Theses : Honours

The transitional nature of adolescence predisposes the adolescent to the effects of evolving biopsychosocial development changes. However, these transitional processes do not occur in isolation in the adolescent. Using a systems approach, this paper examined the issues surrounding adolescents' sense of belonging (SoB) at school. SoB was identified as a means of providing an understanding of belongingness as a linking and stabilising mechanism for adolescents as they successfully negotiate their biopsychosocial changes. SoB at school appears to be positively reflected in the adolescents' peer competencies, student-teacher relationships, motivation and achievement, participation skills, and the ability to relate to the school …

Dreams And Reflections Under A Hill: Fragments Of A Triviographic Description Of The Umbra Vale By A Xxth-Century Ex-Soviet Transrational Traveler, T. R. Soidla

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Continuity And Modularity In Language Acquisition And Research, Jill De Villiers

Philosophy: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Neuropsychological Perspective On The Efficacy Of Typical And Atypical Medication Treatment For Chronic Schizophrenia Regarding Executive Functioning, Eric Hart

Masters Theses

This study investigated the efficacy of current medication treatment procedures for chronic schizophrenics on neuropsychological measures. A total of twenty participants from the Coles County Mental Health Center, who met DSM-IV criteria for chronic schizophrenia, volunteered to be administered the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)-64 card version as a means of assessing neuropsychological executive functioning. A total of twenty participants free of any diagnosable psychological disorder also volunteered to be administered the WSCT-64, which served as a control group. The staff psychiatrist at the Coles County Mental Health Center completed the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) in order to …

Sorrow Into Joy: A Phenomenological Study Of Adult Women Survivors Of Child Sexual Abuse, Eldine M. Webster

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to learn how six mid-life women who had been sexually abused as children perceived the way in which that early experience had impacted their life to date. Using a phenomenological qualitative life-history approach, each participant was interviewed for a period of from one to three hours. Content analysis of the interviews and member-checking with participants who volunteered to do so resulted in eight major themes emerging from the data: memories, family, career, addictions, depression, boundaries and embodiment, counseling, and synchronicity. The last theme, synchronicity, very closely related to the concept of spirituality and a …

The Nonverbal Communication Of Pain As Recognized By Alternative Health Care Providers, Jodi L. Pope

Masters Theses

Recognizing nonverbal messages of pain in a health care setting is essential. The nonverbal communication of pain is a communication aspect typically overlooked in modern health care environments. This research surveyed alternative health care providers to determine what nonverbal behaviors they recognize as pain indicators and how they react to those behaviors. Massage therapists and chiropractors from a Midwest county filled out surveys and participated in a focus group. Fifty nonverbal pain indicators, such as guarding body parts, postural inequalities, gait, and clenched fists, among others, were charted. Several other topics such as learning how to determine nonverbal pain indicators, …

Attachment Patterns Between Hearing Children And Deaf Primary Caregivers, Bette L. Witcraft

Masters Theses

This study extends previous research on attachment patterns, formed by infants with primary caregivers who noncontingently or inconsistently respond to the infant's attachment signals, to the population of hearing children of deaf primary caregivers. It was hypothesized that, due to the simple mechanical problem of the deaf primary caregiver's inability to hear the infant's attachment signals, e.g. crying, hearing adolescent children of deaf primary caregivers will demonstrate higher Anger Distress Scale scores as measured by the Adolescent Attachment Questionnaire than a control group. Results support the hypothesis. A sample of 19 hearing adolescents with deaf primary caregivers rated themselves significantly …

Psychological Sense Of Community : Adolescents' Response To Exclusion, Sharon J. Van Der Graaf

Theses : Honours

Since modernisation in western society, a number of changes have had a strong influence on the life of Adolescents'. This review examines adolescent development, particularly social role and identity formation, in relation to a changing social environment A brief historical overview is outlined to highlight how economic, political, and social changes have impacted on the development of the life phase, adolescence. The gap between childhood and adulthood is then defined to conceptualise adolescence as a social construction resulting from social changes. Social role and identity formation, and adolescent well-being are then addressed in response to social change. Factors including puberty, …

Research On Faith And Health: New Appoaches To Old Questions, Thomas G. Plante, Allen C. Sherman

Psychology

Does religious faith influence health? Are religious practices associated with altered risks for morbidity or mortality? Do religious or spiritual individuals tend to enjoy better well-being or mental health across the lifespan? Does spiritual or religious involvement change the way individuals adapt to the demands of chronic illness? This volume brings together some of the leading investigators who have explored these intriguing questions. Though research is in its early phases, the chapters that follow review some of what we have learned and begin to trace the outlines of the many mysteries that remain.

Altruistically Inclined?: The Behavioral Sciences, Evolutionary Theory, And The Origins Of Reciprocity, Alexander J. Field

Faculty Book Gallery

Altruistically Inclined? examines the implications of recent research in the natural sciences for two important social scientific approaches to individual behavior: the economic/rational choice approach and the sociological/anthropological. It considers jointly two controversial and related ideas: the operation of group selection within early human evolutionary processes and the likelihood of modularity—domain-specific adaptations in our cognitive mechanisms and behavioral predispositions.

Experimental research shows that people will often cooperate in one-shot prisoner's dilemma (PD) games and reject positive offers in ultimatum games, contradicting commonly accepted notions of rationality. Upon first appearance, predispositions to behave in this fashion could not have been favored …

Granting Forgiveness Or Harboring Grudges: Implications For Emotion, Physiology, And Health, Charlotte Vanoyen-Witvliet, Thomas Ludwig, Kelly L. Vander Laan

Faculty Publications

Interpersonal offenses frequently mar relationships. Theorists have argued that the responses victims adopt toward their offenders have ramifications not only for their cognition, but also for their emotion, physiology, and health. This study examined the immediate emotional and physiological effects that occurred when participants (35 females, 36 males) rehearsed hurtful memories and nursed grudges (i.e., were unforgiving) compared with when they cultivated empathic perspective taking and imagined granting forgiveness (i.e., were forgiving) toward real-life offenders. Unforgiving thoughts prompted more aversive emotion, and significantly higher corrugator (brow) electromyogram (EMG), skin conductance, heart rate, and blood pressure changes from baseline. The EMG, …

Deception In Research: How College Students View Deception, David Devries

Modern Psychological Studies

This study asked college students to evaluate the use of deceptive techniques in psychological research. Ninety-two undergraduates evaluated via a three-point Likert Scale four classic deceptive studies in psychology. Students were asked to rate each study as to how deceptive and harmful it was, how valuable it was, and the cost-benefit to science of the study. Respondents generally believed these studies worth doing; however, around 20 percent felt the cost to the subjects was too high.

Studying The Relationship Between Parental Involvement And Sternberg's Triarchic Theory Of Intelligence, Liliana Munoz Bailey

HIM 1990-2015

Extensive research has been conducted in the area of intelligence. Most of the research in this area has been focused on cognitive abilities. However, little research has been explored other type of intelligence and the environmental factors. The intent of this study was to investigate Sternberg’s Theory of Intelligence and parental involvement. According to this theory an individual’s intelligence is composed of three main domains: cognitive, creative and practical. Every individual possesses these abilities to a greater or lesser degree. Yet, little is known of what factors could lead to the difference in these types of abilities in individuals. Parental …

Introduction: Fear And Loathing Of Evolutionary Psychology In The Social Sciences, Daniel Leger, Alan Kamil, Jeffrey French

Psychology Faculty Publications

When one looks at the intellectual landscape of the modern university, at the scholarly and scientific interests of its faculty, the panorama is seamless. There are no discontinuities. The interests of physicists transmogrify into those of chemists, those of chemists into those of biologists, and so on. The lines, the divisions, between departments have been created out of administrative, not intellectual, necessity.

The Association Of Food Cravings And Preferences With Food Intake, Corby Kyle Martin

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

An ubiquitous assumption about food intake behavior is that people eat the types of foods that they crave and prefer. Food preferences reflect hedonic ratings of the degree to which people like certain foods. The present study investigated the association of food cravings and hedonic ratings with food intake behavior, assessed in the laboratory with a Universal Eating Monitor (Kissileff, Klingsberg, & Van Itallie, 1980). The study sample consisted of 162 adults who completed the Food Craving Inventory (FCI; White, Whisenhunt, Williamson, Greenway, & Netemeyer, 2001), a questionnaire that measures craving, including cravings for specific types of foods (i.e., High …

Center For Psychological Studies 2001-2002 Catalog, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Master's Programs In Metal Health Counseling And School Guidance Counseling Student Handbook 2001-2002, Nova Southeastern University

College of Psychological Services / College of Psychology Postgraduate Student and Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Impact Of A Short-Term Shelter Program On Selected Outcome Indicators Among Youths And Their Parents, Gale Sandra Hackworth

Dissertations

Problem. Innovative services have been developed over the last 10 years to assist families in coping with the increased demands associated with child rearing. One burgeoning area of resource development has been that of"respite" for parents. A variety of programs and methods have been utilized in providing these services. While families frequently proffer the benefit of these programs, there is a relative paucity of data to substantiate these claims. This study has attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of respite programming using outcome indicators which include both objective and subjective measures. This study focused upon families utilizing a short-term respite …

West Virginia Children's Perceptions Of Guns And Violence : Examining Rural/Urban Differences Using The Attitudes Towards Guns And Violence Questionnair (Agvq), Randal Brooks Staats

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

With the recent acts of violence that students have committed while at school, the media, the public, and researchers have investigated why students are displaying these aggressive and violent behaviors. Why are children displaying these acts of violence (e.g., television, video games, lack of family support, etc.)? With everyone pointing a finger as to why children are displaying these acts of violence, a new measure called the Attitudes Towards Guns and Violence Questionnaire (AGVQ) was developed to determine a student's perceptions towards guns and violence. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a significant difference could be found …

Ultimate Coping Strategies: The Differences Among Parents Of Murdered Or Abducted, Long-Term Missing Children, Robert F. Deyoung

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to assess, through naturalistic inquiry, the differences between and relationships among coping strategies of parents of murdered or abducted, long-term missing children, where the offender was non-familial. Multiple data sources were used to examine two areas: The perceptive differences of coping among parents of murdered children in contrast to parents of abducted, long-term missing children, where the offender was non-familial; and the ways in which coping strategies of parents of murdered children differ from the coping strategies of parents of abducted, long-term missing children, where the offender was non-familial.

This phenomenological study used …

Religious Faith And Mental Health Outcomes, Thomas G. Plante, Naveen K. Sharma

Psychology

In this chapter we review recent research regarding the relationship between religious faith/spirituality and mental health outcomes, as well as provide directions for future research and discussion. The specific aspects of mental health and illness that we focus on include well-being, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and schizophrenia. We also briefly discuss research pertaining to religious faith and personality disorders, eating disorders, somatoform disorders, and bipolar disorder.

Clinical Process Related To Outcome In Psychodynamic Psychotherapy For Panic Disorder, Cara F. Klein

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study identified psychotherapeutic processes that relate meaningfully to psychotherapeutic outcome for patients with panic disorder undergoing Panic-Focused Psychodynamic Psychotherapy ([PFPP]; Milrod, Busch, Cooper, & Shapiro, 1997). Subjects were 21 patients who participated in an open clinical trial of PFPP (Milrod et al., in press; Milrod et al., 2000). Patients received 24 sessions over approximately 12 weeks. Each patient was diagnostically screened by an independent evaluator and completed a battery of outcome assessments at baseline, termination and 6-month follow up.

The present study utilized two process measures: the Interactive Process Assessment ([IPA]; Klein, Milrod, Busch, 1999), developed specifically to identify …

Like A Banana Tree : Towards A Model Of Children In Disasters : An Exploration Of An Anthropological Problem, Jennie Anne Ricarda Marten

Theses : Honours

There is currently an emerging literature on the anthropology of disasters, and also an emergent literature on the new anthropology of childhood and children. Despite an extensive search, no significant body of literature on the anthropology of children in natural event based disasters could be found. A central focus of this thesis will be interrogate this gap through a documentary search, to ascertain what factors might influence the absence of children in the anthropology of disasters. To achieve this, the study defines and conceptualizes both the anthropology of disasters and the anthropology of children. Recent research shows that children are …

The Psychosocial Well-Being Of Children From Fly-In/Fly-Out Mining Families, Anne Margaret Sibbel

Theses : Honours

The children of fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) mining employees are exposed to the risk factors for depressive disorders of regular father absence associated with hazardous employment conditions, together with disruptions to family routines. In the absence of previous research in this area, this exploratory study sought to determine whether the levels of depressive symptomatology, anxiety and perceptions of family function of 30 primary school-aged children whose fathers were in FIFO employment were less healthy than those of a Control Group of 30 children whose fathers did not have FIFO employment. The mothers' perceptions of family function were also compared. The children were …

Sex: The Defining Variable In Mate Selection, Shirley A. Forbes, Tanacha Brown, Timothy Adams, Lenore Davis

Modern Psychological Studies

The evolutionary hypothesis of mate selection was tested by combining traits deemed as evolutionarily valued (Cramer, Schaeffer Et Reid, 1996) with pictures showing facial features deemed as physically attractive according to the evolutionary hypothesis (Buss, 1989; Singh, 1995). Traits and pictures not congruent with the evolutionary hypothesis were also presented. Four stimulus persons were presented to ninety-one male subjects and 114 female subjects who were asked to rate their desirability as a mate. The results showed a main effect for stimulus condition, with the physical attractiveness pictures receiving the highest ratings when combined with the valued evolutionary traits, F (3, …

Depressive Symptoms And Academic Achievement In Fourth Grade Students, Michelle L. Harrison

Masters Theses

The relationships among depressive symptoms, peer acceptance, and academic competence were examined in 43 fourth-grade students using a self-report measure of depression (Children's Depression Inventory); a teacher-rated measure of depression (Behavior Assessment System for Children — Teacher Rating Scale); peer acceptance and peer rejection; and grade point average. Results indicated higher levels of self-reported depression than previously found in children of this age. Correlations between self-reports of depression and peer rejection and self-reports of depression and grade point average were significant. The current study also found a significant positive correlation between the two depression scales (Children's Depression Inventory and Behavior …

The Effectiveness Of Non-Directive Play Therapy On Decreasing Inappropriate Behavior, Heather M. Sawyer

Masters Theses

The present study investigated the effectiveness of non-directive play therapy, operationalized as non-contingent attention (NCA), no-demands, and an enriched environment, on three developmentally normal children with a history of abuse or neglect. A single-case reversal-replication design was employed. Baseline consisted of contingent attention, demands, and a relatively non-enriched environment. Results indicated that for one of the participants, NCA, no-demands, and an enriched environment successfully decreased inappropriate play behaviors. More specifically, destructive and disrupted play behaviors occurred much less frequently in both treatment conditions compared to the two baseline conditions. The other two participants did not show any clear pattern of …