Digital Commons Network^™

The Well-Being Of Children As Viewed Through Their Conceptions Of Death, Jennifer Kampmann

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An explorative study was conducted to try and understand how young children’s emerging death concepts form including, (a) what family demographics and child factors contributed to family well-being, (b) did family well-being influence children’s social competence, and (c) did family well-being and children’s social competence influence children’s death conceptions. Although the subject of death contains many unique characteristics, it is not easily separated from other aspects of life; death is inseparable from the whole human experience (DeSpelder & Strickland, 2002). It was the assumption of this paper that children develop their conceptions of death based on the appreciation they hold …

Implicit Transfer Of Motor Ssrategies In Mental Rotation, Maryjane Wraga, William L. Thompson, Nathaniel M. Alpert, Stephen M. Kosslyn

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Recent research indicates that motor areas are activated in some types of mental rotation. Many of these studies have required participants to perform egocentric transformations of body parts or whole bodies; however, motor activation also has been found with nonbody objects when participants explicitly relate the objects to their hands. The current study used positron emission tomography (PET) to examine whether such egocentric motor strategies can be transferred implicitly from one type of mental rotation to another. Two groups of participants were tested. In the Hand-Object group, participants performed imaginal rotations of pictures of hands; following this, they then made …

Using The Theory Of Planned Behaviour To Predict Leisure Educators’ Intentions To Use Instructional Technology, Jennifer Y. Mak, Craig M. Ross

Management Faculty Research

The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991b) was applied to the prediction and explanation of the intention to use instructional technology by using a mail questionnaire (n = 406) of leisure educators in the United States and Canada. Based on structural equation modeling, it was found that the key determinants of the TPB, attitude toward instructional technology, subjective norm toward instructional technology, and perceived behavioural control toward instructional technology accounted for 50% of the leisure educators’ intention to use instructional technology. The strongest predictor of intention was attitude toward instructional technology, followed by subjective norm toward instructional technology and …

Effects Of Solution Elicitation Aids And Need For Cognition On The Generation Of Solutions To Ill-Structured Problems, Adam B. Butler, Lisa L. Scherer, Roni Reiter-Palmon

Psychology Faculty Publications

Numerous techniques have been proposed to assist problem solvers in the solution generation process. We empirically examined the effectiveness of a solution elicitation technique based on the presentation of problem objectives and also examined whether the technique was effective across individual differences in need for cognition (NC). We found that when two conflicting objectives were presented successively, more solutions, more categories of solutions, and more effective solutions were generated than when the same two objectives were presented simultaneously or not at all. However, the results indicated that effective solutions may be more efficiently generated by considering objectives simultaneously. Need for …

The Effect Of Extracurricular Activities On School Dropout, Jilann M. Bush '03

Honors Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between participation extracurricular activities and school dropout. Social and classroom engagement were analyzed as possible mediating factors in the relation. Longitudinal data from a study conducted by French, Conrad, and Turner (1995) was used in the analysis, along with extracurricular data collected from school yearbooks. Hierarchal binary logistic regressions were used to assess the effect of participation in five types of extracurricular activities (athletics, fine arts, academic clubs, interest groups, and leadership positions) on school dropout rates as well as to assess the role of engagement in the relation. Participation …

Enduring Deep Sorrow: Depression Among Religious College Women, Kara E. Wolff '03

Honors Projects

The transition into college can lead to stress which can lead to depression in both men and women (e.g. Lopez & Gormley, 2002). Depression cripples both men and women. The lifetime risk of major depression is 10-25% for women and 5-12% for men (Greenspan, 2001). Mild symptoms rob men and women of energy needed for academic and social pursuits (Beeber, 1999). Depression results in poor over-all functioning, emotional behavioral problems and low self-esteem (Reinherz, Giaconia, Hauf, Wasserman & Silverman, 1999). Individuals with depression also have more problems in intimate relationships with friends and family (Reinherz et al., 1999). This exploratory …

The Role Of Prefrontal Theta Reset In Learning And Memory, Stephen W. Smith '03

Honors Projects

Theta reset, in which the rhythmic firing of neurons stops and then restarts to the onset of a stimulus, is believed to improve encoding and retrieval of stimuli by causing stimuli to be time-locked to waves of depolarization in the HPC. Recent research by Williams et al. (in preparation) has demonstrated that, in rats, theta reset occurs 1) in several cortical areas including the anterior cingulate (AC), 2) occurs during different phases of a working memory task for different cortical areas, and 3) can be predictive of working memory task performance. In the current study, human participants received EEG recording …

Threatening Masculinity And Its Effects On Antigay Attitudes And Behaviors, Frances C. Shen '03

Honors Projects

This study examined the relationship between threatening masculinity identity in men and subsequent antigay attitudes and behaviors. In a group testing session, masculinity levels were assessed in college men using the Male Role Norm Scale. Male participants were called back for the experimental manipulation, in which they were assigned to one of two conditions. In the masculine threat condition, participants took a test supposedly measuring masculine knowledge and received false feedback of poor performance. In the no threat condition, participants took a test supposedly measuring general knowledge without receiving any feedback. Following the experimental manipulation, a male confederate that participants …

Narrative Understanding And Theory Of Mind In Preschoolers, Arpita A. Shah '03

Honors Projects

Social cognitive development is a phenomenon psychologists have studied for many years. Recent studies have focused on children's understanding of a theory of mind, that is, understanding what it means to say that someone thinks, believes, or knows something. In other words, a theory of mind represents an understanding of epistemic mental states that humans use to describe, predict, and explain behavior (Baron-Cohen, 1996). The present study examined the relation between a developing theory of mind and language ability, by specifically examining changes in children's understanding of the feelings, thoughts, and actions of storybook characters. Children (n=21; aged 34 to …

The Effects Of A Parent-Child Communication Intervention On The Worries Of Siblings Of Children With Autism, Erin L. O'Neill '03

Honors Projects

This study was designed to assess the effects of parent-child activities on the siblings and parents of children with autism. Existing research suggests that the experience of having an autistic child in the family is highly variable and may have negative outcomes for the typical sibling. The difficulty in predicting sibling outcome may be caused by the lack of a theoretical framework organizing the factors hypothetically affecting sibling coping abilities, therefore a stress and coping model of siblings of children with autism is provided. Currently there has been only limited information reporting successful intervention efforts for this population. The current …

Three Factors Of The Comprehensive System For The Rorschach And Their Relationship To Wechsler Iq Scores In An Adolescent Sample, James Wood, Radhika Krishnamurthy, Robert Archer

Departmental Papers (Psych)

Principal axis factor analyses of the Rorschach Comprehensive System in a clinical sample of 152 adolescents yielded three clearly defined factors: Synthesized Complexity (defined by Zf, DQ+, and F%), Productivity (defined by R, D, and Dd), and Form Quality (defined by X+%, F+%, and X-%). Variables on the Synthesized Complexity and Form Quality factors were generally correlated with Wechsler Full Scale IQ, Verbal IQ, and Performance IQ scores. Overall, the factors in this adolescent sample replicated factors identified in earlier studies with adults. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

The Reversibility Of Differential Rearing In Rats, Leann M. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

Two groups of rats were raised in two different environments for 75 days beginning at 25 days of age. One group was raised in an enriched condition (EC), and one group in an impoverished condition (IC). At 91 days of age, all rats were tested on a spatial reversal learning task to determine if their early environments had affected their learning ability (Test 1). After Test 1 was completed, the rats were then placed in the opposite environment for another 75 days, with a second testing (Test 2) beginning at 165 days of age to determine if the new environment …

An Examination Of Perceived Stress And Coping Patterns Of Pastoral Wives In The Nigerian Union Mission Of The Seventh-Day Adventist Church, Olufunmilayo Janet Ola

Dissertations

Purpose of Study. Most studies examining stress and coping patterns of pastoral wives have been conducted from an advanced country background. Even though all the researchers agreed that these pastoral wives do experience a certain amount of stress, very little is known about pastoral wives in third-world countries who are faced with poverty, illiteracy, diseases and cultural restraints. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine perceived stress and coping patterns of pastoral wives of the Nigerian Union Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist church.

Methodology. A quantitative method of collecting data was used in this study. The two psychological …

Entheogens: True Or False?, Roger Walsh

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Despite 40 years of dialogue, debate still continues over whether psychedelics are capable of

inducing genuine mystical experiences. This paper first reviews the arguments against this possibility

and shows that all of them contain shortcomings. One reason the debate still continues is

that there has been no adequate theory of mystical states and their relationship to the factors

which produce them. Consequently a theory of mystical states based on Charles Tart’s systems

model of consciousness is proposed. This theory suggests how identical states of consciousness can

be induced by very different means, including contemplative practices and chemical substances,

and yet …

Editors’ Introduction, Harris Friedman, Douglas A. Macdonald

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

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Experience, Culture And Reality: The Significance Of Fisher Information For Understanding The Relationship Between Alternative States Of Consciousness And The Structures Of Reality, Charles D. Laughlin, Jason C. Throop

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The majority of the world’s cultures encourage or require members to enter alternative states of

consciousness (ASC) while involved in religious rituals. The question is, why? This paper suggests

an explanation for the culturally prescribed ASC from the view of Fisher information. It argues

from the position, first put forward by Emile Durkheim in his magnum opus, The Elementary

Forms of the Religious Life, that all religions are grounded in reality. It suggests that many of the

structural elements of cultural cosmologies are similar and that the ritual induction of ASC may

help to bring individual experience into greater accord …

Mysticism And Its Cultural Expression: An Inquiry Into The Description Of Mystical Experience And Its Ontological And Epistemological Nature, Evgeny Torchinov

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The purpose of this paper is to critically explore the nature and ontological and epistemological

significance of differences observed in how various cultural traditions describe and explain such

experiences. After an initial consideration of definitional issues, the article focuses on the arguments

supporting and challenging the idea of mystical experience being a universal phenomenon

and a vehicle for true knowledge. The article also examines the problem of the unity of the mystical

experience as a definite state of consciousness and the multiplicity of its sociocultural and

civilizational expressions and descriptions conditioned by different cultural and historical factors.

An Integral Approach To Depression, Harris Friedman, Douglas A. Macdonald

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Gnostic Dilemmas In Western Psychologies Of Spirituality1, Harry T. Hunt

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Early Gnosticism is identified as a form of Weber’s inner-worldly mysticism that, following the

critique of Plotinus, entailed spiritual metapathologies of inflated grandiosity, despair, and/or

social withdrawal. These vulnerabilities re-emerge in the naturalistic psychologies of spirituality

begun by Emerson, Nietzsche, Jung, and Maslow and more implicitly within contemporary personality

and neuropsychological research on numinous/transpersonal experience. An updated

version of Gnostic dilemma and its conflicted dualism may be endemic to any would-be science

of the spiritual and to much current transpersonal psychology as well.

Integral Approach In Transpersonal Psychotherapy, Laura B. Gilot

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Clinical Depression: A Transpersonal Point Of View, Jaime L. Llabres

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

Spirituality Of Depression, Marc-Alain Descamps

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

The Perennial Philosophy, Axel Randrup

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

NA

An Integral Perspective On Depression, Dinu S. Teodorescu

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The integral approach to therapy proposes to accommodate all the etiological factors of

unipolar depression in its theory, as well as to make use of all existing therapies, both pharmacological

and psychological, in the treatment of unipolar depression. Integral Therapy is

compared to cognitive therapy to find evidence for its superiority over the cognitive

approach. It appears that the cognitive therapy is more cost-effective than Integral Therapy

as an individual approach in the treatment of depression, but that the integral perspective

accounts better for etiological factors.

Patients Presenting For Psychiatric Emergency Services : Clinical Characteristics, Psychosocial Stressors And Disposition, Kristen Maura Cirelli

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

The aim of this study was to describe the characteristics of 600 individuals who presented to two Psychiatric Emergency Services (PES) located in one county of southern New Jersey. A retrospective chart analysis investigated demographic, clinical, and psychosocial variables that describe the PES presenter. It also examined how these variables differ between the urban and suburban sites, and how they affected the disposition decision. Because there is a paucity of information investigating the role that psychosocial stressors play, there was specific focus on psychosocial stressors as defined by Axis IV of the multiaxial system outlined in the American Psychiatric Association's …

Depression, Anxiety, And Locus Of Control In Asthmatic Women, Elizabeth Ann Seebode

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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An Assessment Of The Level Of Job Satisfaction Of Middle School Teachers From Selected Affluent Suburban Public School Districts In Essex County, New Jersey, Anthony V. Lanzo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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What Archetypes Of Representation Do Children Between The Ages Of Four And Seven Employ When Creating Route Maps Of Familiar Interior Spaces?, Christine G. Price

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study investigated the symbols of representation young children choose to incorporate when they draw route maps of familiar interior spaces, based on the premise that development of map-making skills might unfold in much the same stage-like manner as the development of the ability to draw the human figure. In this investigation, children between the ages of 4 and 7 enrolled in a small independent elementary school were each asked to draw a map showing the route a person unfamiliar to the school would take to travel from the child's classroom to the school gymnasium. Strategies during map-making were noted; …

Management Of Agitation In Individuals With Dementia: An Animal-Assisted Therapy Approach, Karen L. Tanner

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Dementia is not a natural and normal part of aging, but rather a symptom of a disease process. Most individuals with dementia experience emotional distress or behavioral problems best summed up by the term agitation. Approximately 90% of individuals with dementing illnesses demonstrate problem behaviors ranging from repetitive verbalizations and wandering to verbal and physical aggression toward self or others. Each evening thousands of older adults in the community and in institutions become agitated, restless, and confused and begin to wander about or scream. This phenomenon is referred to as sundown syndrome, since it occurs in the evening hours after …

Scientific Empathy, American Buddhism, And The Ethnography Of Religion, Daniel S. Capper

Faculty Publications

The expansion of the use of ethnography in the study of religion has led to substantial methodological confusion. The reflexive ethnographic efforts which exist commonly appeal to the need for ethnographer empathy for field subjects, although the nature and ethical ramifications of this empathy remain poorly explored. This essay offers a model of ethnographic empathy in terms of the methodological observations of Weber, Homans, and Kohut. Using a model of empathy in terms of a reflexive “evenly hovering attention” for data collection, possible gains in the field from this model are explored. These gains include overcoming obstacles to data collection …