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Attention Shaping: A Reward-Based Learning Method To Enhance Skills Training Outcomes In Schizophrenia, Steven . M. Silverstein, William D. Spaulding, Anthony A. Menditto, Adam Savitz, Robert P. Liberman, Sarah Berten, Hannah Starobin

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Disturbances in sustained attention commonly interfere with the ability of persons with schizophrenia to benefit from evidence-based psychosocial treatments. Cognitive remediation interventions have thus far demonstrated minimal effects on attention, as have medications. There is thus a gap between the existence of effective psychosocial treatments and patients’ ability to effectively engage in and benefit from them. We report on the results of a multisite study of attention shaping (AS), a behavioral intervention for improving attentiveness and learning of social skills among highly distractible schizophrenia patients. Patients with chronic schizophrenia who were refractory to skills training were assigned to receive either …

The Importance Of Hiv Specialist Services For African Women Living With Hiv In Nottingham: Results Of A Qualitative Study, Eunice Ndirangu, Catrin Evans

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

This article reports the results of a qualitative study of the experiences of African women living with HIV in Nottingham, UK. Globally, sub-Saharan Africa is the region most severely affected by the HIV pandemic [1]. This pattern is also reflected in the UK where African migrants make up 27% of those diagnosed with HIV despite the fact that they constitute less than 1% of the population [2-4]. Healthcare staff play a central role in meeting the prevention and care needs of people living with HIV/AIDS [5]. In contexts of increasing migration, health workers are called upon to recognise the diverse …

Severity Of Child Sexual Abuse And Revictimization: The Mediating Role Of Coping And Trauma Symptoms, Michelle A. Fortier, David Dilillo, Terri L. Messman-Moore, James Peugh, Kathleen A. Denardi, Kathryn J. Gaffey

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Child sexual abuse (CSA) has consistently been associated with the use of avoidant coping; these coping methods have been associated with increased trauma symptoms, which have, in turn, been linked to increased risk for adult sexual revictimization. Given these previous findings, the purpose of the current study was to test a model that conceptualized the relationships among these variables. Specifically, CSA severity was conceptualized as leading to the use of avoidant coping, which was proposed to lead to maintenance of trauma symptoms, which would, in turn, impact severity of revictimization indirectly. This comprehensive model was tested in a cross-sectional study …

Impulsivity And Cigarette Craving: Differences Across Subtypes, Neal Doran, Jessica Werth Cook, Dennis E. Mcchargue, Bonnie Spring

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale: Cigarette smoking has been linked to a number of personality characteristics, including impulsivity. Smokers tend to endorse high levels of impulsivity, and more impulsive smokers have greater difficulty quitting, but little is known about potential explanatory mechanisms. Although indirect evidence suggests craving as a candidate mechanism, direct evidence has been mixed.
Materials and methods: This study assessed whether specific aspects of impulsivity (sensation seeking, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and urgency) were associated with cue-induced craving. Regular smokers (n= 60; 50% female) were exposed to a smoking cue and a neutral cue in a repeated measure …

Sedation And Disruption Of Maternal Motivation Underlie The Disruptive Effects Of Antipsychotic Treatment On Rat Maternal Behavior, Changjiu Zhao, Ming Li

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The behavioral mechanisms underlying antipsychotic-induced maternal behavior deficits were examined in the present study. Different groups of postpartum rats were treated with haloperidol (0.1 mg/kg), clozapine (10.0 mg/kg), chlordiazepoxide (5.0 mg/kg, an anxiolytic) or vehicle (0.9% saline) on Days 4 and 6 postpartum and their maternal behaviors were tested under either pup-separation (e.g. pups were removed from their mothers for 4 h before testing) or no-pup-separation condition. Maternal behavior and drug-induced sedation were further tested for 3 days from Day 8 to 12 postpartum. Results show that pup-separation, which putatively increases maternal motivation, did significantly shorten clozapine-elongated pup approach latency, …

Daily Negative Mood Affects Fasting Glucose In Type 2 Diabetes, Marilyn M. Skaff, Joseph T. Mullan, David M. Almeida, Lesa Hoffman, Umesh Masharani, David C. Mohr, Lawrence Fisher

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective—To examine the relationship between mood and blood glucose in a 21 day daily diary study.

Design—During a home visit, information was gathered from two hundred six persons with type 2 diabetes regarding demographics, disease characteristics and treatment, and depressive symptoms. They had blood drawn at a laboratory, yielding HbA1C. The participants were then telephoned each evening for 21 days and were asked about their positive and negative mood during the past 24 hours. They also tested their blood glucose upon rising in the morning.

Main Outcome Measures—The main outcomes measures were positive and negative affect and fasting glucose.

Results—Multilevel …

Low-Level Lead Exposure And Contingency-Based Responding In Preschoolers: An Exploratory Study, Melanie Mcdiarmid Nelson, Kimberly A. Espy

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Two reversal paradigm tasks (spatial reversal and spatial reversal with irrelevant color cues) originally designed to assess contingency-based responding in primates were adapted for use with 139 preschool children with a mean peak blood lead level (BLL) of 4.2 μg/dl (SD = 2.2). Sixty-nine children with BLL ≥ 5 μg/dl and 70 children with BLL of < 5 μg/dl were included. Results indicated that preschool children with low-level lead exposure take longer to learn associations than preschool children with very low levels of lead exposure, and this difference cannot be attributed to increased distractibility or perseverative responding. These results support the use of these measures to assess specific cognitive functions in preschool children.

Nonparticipatory Stiffness In The Male Perioral Complex, Shin-Ying Chu, Steven M. Barlow, Jaehoon Lee

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose—The objective of this study was to extend previous published findings in the authors’ laboratory using a new automated technology to quantitatively characterize nonparticipatory perioral stiffness in healthy male adults.

Method—Quantitative measures of perioral stiffness were sampled during a nonparticipatory task using a computer-controlled linear motor servo programmed to impose a series of tensile displacements over a span of approximately 24 mm at the oral angle in 20 healthy young male adults. Perioral electromyograms were simultaneously sampled to confirm nonparticipation or passive muscle state. Perioral stiffness, derived as a quotient from resultant force (ΔF) and oral span (ΔX), was modeled …

Gestational Risks And Psychiatric Disorders Among Indigenous Adolescents, Les B. Whitbeck, Devan M. Crawford

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

This study reports on the effects maternal prenatal binge drinking, cigarette smoking, drug use, and pregnancy and birth complications on meeting criteria for psychiatric disorders at ages 10–12 and 13–15 years among 546 Indigenous adolescents from a single culture in the northern Midwest and Canada. Adolescent DSM-IV psychiatric disorders were assessed with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-Revised (DISC-R). Results indicate that maternal behaviors when pregnant have significant effects on adolescent psychiatric disorders even when controlling for age and gender of adolescent, family per capita income, living in a single mother household, and adolescent reports of mother’s positive parenting.

Harriet Martineau And Ireland, Brian Conway, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

The Victorian sociologist-novelist Harriet Martineau visited Ireland on two different occasions, first in 1832 and again, twenty years later, in 1852, just six years after the Great Famine of 1846, when the country was still very much visibly affected by that event. Her latter journey covered some 1,200 miles and encompassed all four provinces that make up the island of Ireland, north and south. Martineau was not the first foreign visitor to nineteenth century Ireland, of course, but she provided one of the few genuinely sociological interpretations during this time period. This chapter, then, examines Martineau's Irish writings and her …

Entrepreneurial Competencies As An Entrepreneurial Distinctive: An Examination Of The Competency Approach In Defining Entrepreneurs, Xiang Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Entrepreneurship is of critical importance to the modern economy. Researchers have studied entrepreneurship for decades. In recent years, significant relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and firm performance has been reported in empirical studies. Applying the competency approach, researchers have assumed that entrepreneurial competency differentiates entrepreneurs from non-entrepreneurs without empirically examining if this is the case. The research conducted under this thesis addresses this gap. Drawing upon a thorough literature review regarding the components, antecedents and performance outcomes of the entrepreneurial competency, we propose the following hypothesis: the entrepreneurs generally possess higher level of entrepreneurial competencies than the non-entrepreneurs, and the entrepreneurs …

On Stock Return Patterns Following Large Weekly Price Movements: The Case Of Hong Kong, Yue Lu

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

In this paper, I examine the short-run and long-run performance of the largest 49 stocks in Hong Kong market which experience weekly price movements of more than ±10% between 1999 and 2007. For both decline and increase events, one-week significant reversal is documented. But such reversal in returns diminishes very quickly within two or three weeks. From a long-run perspective, I find that large price increases are followed by negative performance, which is consistent with the overreaction hypothesis. However, large price declines are also followed by negative cumulative abnormal returns, which supports the underreaction hypothesis. Such findings indicate that the …

Child Protection -- What Ought To Be, Donald N. Duquette

Articles

America's child protection system should not only protect our children, it should protect our liberty. Several recent cases, and perhaps others in your jurisdiction, highlight a general tension in America's child protection system between child protection and family integrity.

A Study Of Constructivist Career Development, Empowerment, Indecision, And Certainty, Nicole R. Skaar, Tabitha L. Grier-Reed, Lorien B. Parson

Faculty Publications

In times of uncertainty and change where the job market is fluid and the U.S. economy is weak, students need to feel empowered to construct their lives and forge their career paths. Constructivism has been suggested as one way to empower people. The current study explored outcomes in constructivist career courses using a quasi-experimental pre/post-test design. The empowerment, indecision, and certainty of 115 culturally diverse college students were measured using the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (CDSE-SF) and the Career Decision Scale (CDS). Results indicated that students in the career courses showed significant increases in empowerment and certainty and significant …

'Race Salience' In Juror Decision-Making: Misconceptions, Clarifications, And Unanswered Questions, Samuel R. Sommers, Phoebe C. Ellsworth

Articles

In two frequently cited articles, Sommers and Ellsworth (2000, 2001) concluded that the influence of a defendant’s race on White mock jurors is more pronounced in interracial trials in which race remains a silent background issue than in trials involving racially charged incidents. Referring to this variable more generally as "race salience," we predicted that any aspect of a trial that leads White mock jurors to be concerned about racial bias should render the race of a defendant less influential. Though subsequent researchers have further explored this idea of "race salience," they have manipulated it in the same way as …

When Child Protective Services Comes Knocking, Vivek Sankaran

Articles

A child protective services (CPS) worker knocks on the door of your client, a 36-year-old mother involved in a contentious child custody case. The worker reveals only that she received an anonymous phone call alleging that your client physically abused her son and now she must investigate those allegations under state law. The worker demands to enter the house, interview the children, and inspect the premises. She threatens that a lack of cooperation may result in the filing of a court petition and the possible removal of the child. Your panicked client calls with a plethora of questions: Can CPS …

Globalization Mitigated: Human Rights, Corporations, And The New World Economy, M. Raymond Izarali

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In this thesis, I argue for a set of basic human rights to constrain the practices of corporate entities in the context of economic globalization. These basic rights are derived through a concrete interpretation of specific articles in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. My focus is on constructing a middle-ground approach to economic globalization by building on the work of Peter Singer, Onara O’Neill, John Bishop, and Leo Groarke, but with particular emphasis on Groarke’s notion of a mitigated capitalism. The underlying objective of the middle ground is to secure globalization’s benefits and circumvent its harms. As I am …

Computer Integration In Elementary And Secondary Schools: Variables Influencing Educators, Julie Mueller

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Given the prevalence of computers in education today, it is critical to understand teachers’ perspectives regarding computer integration in their classrooms. Research identifying stages of implementation, and literature identifying barriers and supports, fall short of explaining what variables impact an educator’s ultimate decision to integrate technology in their instruction. The current research surveyed a heterogeneous sample of 185 elementary and 204 secondary teachers in order to provide a comprehensive summary of teacher characteristics and variables that discriminate teachers who integrate technology from those who do not. Discriminant Function Analysis (DFA) identified the following variables as making unique contributions to discriminating …

Neural And Behavioural Effects Of The Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract Egb 761, Elham Satvat

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Numerous studies have documented the cognitive-enhancing effects of standardized Ginkgo biloba leaf extracts (Ginkgo) both in humans and in rodents. In addition to its antioxidant and platelet-activating factor inhibiting properties, Gingko has been shown to protect cellular membrane fluidity, to enhance cerebral blood flow and microcirculation, and to modulate cholinergic system functioning, properties that have been suggested to underlie its cognitive-enhancing effects. However, the possible neurogenic-enhancing effects of Ginkgo on adult hippocampal neurogenesis as a possible mechanism underlying its nootropic effects have not been evaluated. The experiments discussed in the present thesis assessed such a possibility.

Chapter 1 …

Saltwater Sacraments And Backwoods Sins: Contemporary Atlantic Canadian Literature And The Rise Of Literary Catholicism, Andrew Peter Atkinson

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In the 1990s, Canadian readers were offered a new literary trend: the Atlantic Canadian Catholic novel. In this dissertation, I examine works from six authors whose writing reflects the scope of this trend and I argue for a consideration of their collective impact on our social imaginary. The bulk of my argument is devoted to an examination of the Catholic religious content in the five novels and one memoir: David Adams Richards’ Bay of Love and Sorrows (1998); Ann-Marie MacDonald’s Fall on Your Knees (1996); Lynn Coady’s Strange Heaven (1996); Wayne Johnston’s Baltimore’s Mansion: A Memoir (1999); Patrick Kavanagh’s Gaff …

Keeping Kids Safe In Custody: Youths’ Perception Of Safety While Incarcerated In Canada, Judy Finlay

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Keeping Kids Safe (KKS) is a study that presents an integrated model to demonstrate that the interaction between the predisposition of the youth and the institutional environment acts to promote or deter safety among incarcerated youth. The study illustrates that the peer subculture that produces a spectrum of violence within the institution is dependent on both the extra-custody attributes of the youth that affect his attitudes, beliefs and behaviours and on the critical influence of institutional attributes like program resources, staff/youth interactions and practices of social control. A predisposition that includes child maltreatment and exposure to domestic violence was used …

Augustine's Interpretation Of Romans 7-14-25, His Ordo Salutis And His Consistent Belief In A Christian's Victory Over Sin, Christopher T. Bounds

The Asbury Journal

No abstract provided.

Secondary Traumatic Stress: The Hidden Trauma In Child And Youth Counsellors, Michelle Linda Bloom

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The current research study was conducted to establish evidence based research identifying Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS) in Child and Youth Counsellors (CYCs). 161 CYCs participated in an online survey responding to both demographic questions and Bride’s (1999) Secondary Traumatic Stress Scale (STSS). Data analysis included both descriptive and inferential testing. Scoring of the STSS revealed that 66.1% of the CYCs sampled experienced some level of STS. The overall mean score is 33.65 suggesting that CYCs experienced a mild level of STS. An independent group t-test indicated that CYC’s who were exposed to children and youth’s traumatic experience 1 to 3 …

Internal And External Triggers For Action, Shannon Matkovich

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

When the self paced preparation of an action is interrupted by a stimulus prompting the same motor response there is an increase in the reaction time to the stimulus as compared to an external or simple reaction time (SRT) condition (Obhi & Haggard, 2004). Previous studies have suggested that this cost is not attributable to perceptual or attentional factors. Therefore, to investigate the source of this RT cost we varied the motor demands of movements in Experiments one and two. Results indicated that the level of motor programming demands did not influence the RT cost in these experiments. While RTs …

Non-Biological Caregivers’ Experiences Of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Fasd) Support Groups, Sharon Porty

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Caregivers of children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) are an extremely valuable resource, and supporting a stable and nurturing home environment may be the most achievable intervention to improve the child’s prognosis. Very little research has been done to explore effective interventions that focus on the FASD caregiver, rather than the child, for the purposes of preventing caregiver burnout and placement breakdown. The central purpose of this study is to explore non-biological parent caregivers’ experiences of FASD caregiver support groups in order to capture a better understanding of the value of this resource as one part of a continuum …

Exploring Newcomer Settlement And Integration Supports In Brantford, And Brant-Haldimand-Norfolk Counties: Community-Based Participatory Research, Bharati Sethi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Much of the literature on recent immigrants focuses on a needs analysis from a deficit model where primarily formal services and programs related to employment issues are analyzed from a post-positivist or interpretivist framework. Using a strength-based approach this study examined other settlement issues including employment that are vital to the long-term viability of newcomers and the host society such as access to education, training (language and/or vocational), health care, and social network. Using Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) philosophical framework and methodology, data were generated from various sources—quantitative and qualitative text in the survey questionnaire (service providers and newcomers), …

Voices Of Anorexia Uncovered: The Healing Journey Unveiled, Elisha Van Harte

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric illness. The current rate of anorexia nervosa is 1% in North America, representing approximately three million cases. Consequently, this illness has attracted a growing body of research and treatment. Current research in the field has focused primarily on the etiology of the illness. Furthermore, outcome studies are primarily quantitative in nature and have indicated that there is no treatment modality that consistently results in longitudinal recovery. What appears to be absent from the literature is the exploration of the recovery process from the perspective of those who have recovered. The …

Event Syntax And Event Semantics As Constraints On Availability Of Discourse, Raymond B. Becker

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The understanding of how temporal information constrains situation models is far from complete. In tehse two experiments participants read short stories, where the antecedent sentence was manipulated with respect to varying tense, grammatical and lexical verb aspect (Experiment 1), and then by varying grammatical and lexical verb aspect in conjunction with long and short duration events (Experiment 2). We used electrophysiological measures time-locked to the anaphoric referent to investigate how the brain responds to these temporal constraints. The purpose was to investigate teh possibility that these variables have an influence on the availability of discourse concepts in situation models. In …

The Sexual Health Education Experiences And Needs Of Immigrant Women In Kitchener-Waterloo, Stefani Burosch

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

In Canada, the sexual health education needs of individuals beyond their adolescent years are often overlooked. For immigrant women, silences around issues of adult sexual health are compounded by the perception of mystery and taboos surrounding minority women and sexuality. In exploring the experiences and needs of adult immigrant women related to sexuality and sexual health education in Kitchener-Waterloo—two mid-size cities located within the Waterloo Region in southern Ontario—this study sought to create space for dialogue and to bridge the perceived cultural divide on issues of sexual health that often arises between individuals from different cultural backgrounds.

Using a qualitative …

Assessing Tangible Support Efforts In English Canadian Christian Church Communities, Dana M. Friesen

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis was inspired by one family’s need for support and how it came to be expressed and negotiated within their faith community. The purpose of this study was to survey English-speaking, Christian congregations across Canada in order to discover the range of tangible social supports available to congregants. Tangible supports were defined as practical (i.e. acts of service), material, and social/emotional support. An important component in this study was to identify strengths and gaps in the development and mobilization of congregational supports, as expressed by church leaders. Another important aspect included the exploration of church leaders’ and their congregations’ …