Digital Commons Network^™

Neurobiological Markers Of Risk For Psychopathology In Healthy Youth At Familial Risk For Depression, Bailey Holt-Gosselin

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Family history of depression is a robust predictor of early-onset depression (Elsayed, Fields et al. 2019, Ho, Shah et al. 2022) as well as other types of psychopathology (van Santvoort, Hosman et al. 2015, van Dijk, Murphy et al. 2021) among youth. Youth are at especially high risk when the family members with depression are their parents; youth whose parents have depression are at a 3- to 5-fold increased risk for developing depression themselves (Lieb, Isensee et al. 2002, Williamson, Birmaher et al. 2004). Prior work has indicated that risk may be conferred through alterations in neurodevelopment that precede the …

Imaginative Play In The Inculcation Of Creativity As An Intellectual Virtue, Annie Elisabet Gustafsson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Creativity, defined as the ability to generate original and innovative ideas and products, is widely valued yet not explicitly taught. This largely stems from the understanding that creativity cannot be cultivated through traditional methods like imitation or direct instruction, as such approaches contradict the essence of creativity itself. However, we must not write it off as unteachable. To help us better understand what can be done to teach creativity effectively, we must consider its character.

This paper offers a theory of creativity as an intellectual virtue, drawing on Linda Zagzebki’s components of virtue and aligning creativity with Aristotle’s phronesis and …

The Personality Profile Of Nobel Laureate Pearl Buck, Sophia Geng, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of a psychodiagnostic case study of Nobel laureate Pearl Buck, 1938 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature “for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces.” Guided by the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon, psychodiagnostically relevant data about Buck were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC). Then, the personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC and Millon Index of Personality …

Effects Of Gameplay Context On Visual Search Performance, Cecelia Stoll, Shannon Proksch

Modern Psychological Studies

Games of all modalities have been found to improve different cognitive skills. This experiment examined the cognitive skills of visual attention and search, and explored whether different modalities of one game would have different effects on visual search abilities. Specifically, we asked whether playing a game alone or with a partner, or playing an analog or digital version of this game would have measurable effects on visual attention and search. Participants (N = 30) completed a visual search task before and after playing the card game SET in three different experimental conditions. SET was chosen because of its focus on …

Tiktok And Self-Diagnosing Mental Illnesses: Perceived Reliability Factors, Vulnerabilities, And Dangers, Micah Moulder

Undergraduate Honors Theses

TikTok’s popularity and ease of use with short-term consumption allow for greater access to online information. However, this information is not regulated nor fact-checked. Therefore, many users can acquire and spread the wrong messages, behaviors, and ideas surrounding mental illness. The purpose of this research was to examine the effects and factors of TikTok on self-diagnosing mental illnesses. A large literature was conducted to examine the effects of social media and the harms of self-diagnosing on users. Two studies were then developed and administered to determine the relationship between self-diagnosing and TikTok. Correlations, t-tests, and descriptive statistics were used to …

Go With The Flow: The Psychology And Ethics Of Atomic Motion In Lucretius, Sophia Ophelia Tobár

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Lucretius innovates upon prior Epicurean philosophers by making the discussion of atomic movement in his didactic epic not just a complement to his exegesis of Epicurean philosophy, but in developing new scientific explanations for Epicurean doctrine through the principles of atomic motion. I claim that Lucretian tranquility is a kinetic phenomenon, an approach which provides new insight on the psychological and the ethical elements of his philosophy, and allows his On the Nature of Things to be brought into a fuller conversation with current scholarship on Epicurean psychology and ethics. I examine how atomic movement is emulated on the individual/psychological …

Peer-Assisted Learning In Miller Analogies Tasks, Preston S. Menke

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed to investigate the role of peer-assisted learning (PAL) on individual performance using a relatively complex Miller Analogies Task (MAT). I found that low-ability learners benefitted from PAL. Furthermore, this may be explained by a significant trust mechanism indicating that learners who correctly identified trustworthy peers had greater performance. I did not find support for a significant difference between PAL and individual learning conditions. This study provides evidence for the role of scaffolding, where low-ability learners may benefit from identifying who to guide them when engaging in a social peer-learning task.

A Mixed-Methods Study Of Religious, Spiritual, And Psychological Change In Ireland, James D. Conway

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Throughout the 20th century, over 90% of all individuals living in Ireland identified as Roman Catholic, but recent shifts have altered the country's religious landscape. According to the most recent national census, 70% of individuals still identify as Catholic (Central Statistics Office, 2023). However, they also reported a 187% increase in those claiming “no religion” over the last eleven years—making it now the second largest group (Central Statistics Office, 2023). This mixed-methods study investigated the factors behind these changes, surveying one hundred nine Irish individuals from sixteen counties using six validated measures, and conducting thirteen qualitative interviews. Quantitative and qualitative …

Enhancing A School Readiness Skill Through A Mindfulness-Based Intervention: Soles Of The Feet, Caitlin J. Moen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Approximately one million children enroll in kindergarten each year with varying levels of experience and school readiness. Fundamental school readiness skills parallel executive functioning skills, which multiple interventions are able to target. School readiness intervention programs can be costly and require a considerable amount of training. Teachers and other school staff need an affordable, easy-to-implement intervention that targets critical school readiness skills. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been found to improve executive functioning skills like self-regulation, which is skill for school readiness. Soles of the Feet (SOF) is an evidence-based MBI that has been found effective for increasing self-regulation in schoolaged …

Target Selection And Enhancement During Attentional Tracking, Marvin R. Maechler

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

At any waking moment, we are bombarded with more sensory information than we can fully process. Attention is necessary to deal with the dynamic world we live in. One fundamental function of vision and attention is to keep track of moving objects, but what are the targets of attention during tracking?

One of the first theories of attentional tracking predicted that targets would be selected at early processing stages. By employing the double-drift illusion, which dissociates physical and perceived positions of moving objects, we investigated which of these positions is selected for tracking. Contrary to earlier theories and in line …

The Mediating Role Of Sense Of Coherence In The Relationship Between Positive Childhood Experiences And Alexithymia, Ummu Erturk Yıldız, İbrahim Taş

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study examined the mediating role of the sense of coherence in the relationship between positive childhood experiences and alexithymia. The research was conducted with a total of 507 participants, including 259 women and 248 men aged over 18, selected through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a Personal Information Form, the Positive Childhood Experiences Scale, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, and the Sense of Coherence Scale. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 25 and the PROCESS macro. The results indicated that positive childhood experiences significantly and positively predicted levels of sense of coherence, while they significantly and negatively predicted alexithymia. …

An Examination Of Working Memory In Dancers And Non-Dancers, Mason Low

All Master's Theses

The present study examined the behavioral working memory differences between dancers and non-dancers. Previous research has indicated that dance can provide an enhancing effect on working memory, particularly in non-dancers. A Dance History Questionnaire along with the letters backward, digits backward, digits forward, letters forward, and abstract visual subtests of the Test of Learning and Memory II was used to collect data. The current study found that dancers had greater visuospatial memory than non-dancers and that dance experience may have an effect on certain working memory tests such as the letters forward subtest.

Cognitive Reflection And Socioeconomic Status Predict Children's Explanations Of Inequality, Mykee Vives

University Honors Program Senior Projects

Research suggests children who prefer internal over external explanations of inequality (e.g., innate ability differences vs. structural racism/sexism) are more likely to develop social biases. Adults with greater cognitive reflection (i.e., analytic thinking) and socioeconomic status (SES) are sometimes less likely to engage in internal reasoning about social groups. We investigated whether cognitive reflection and SES similarly predict children’s explanations of inequality. Five to 12-year-old children (N = 162) completed Rizzo et al.’s (2021) explanations for inequalities task for the domains of race and gender. In this task children chose between internal (“because of who they are on the inside”) …

The Development Of A Scale To Measure The Fear Of Earthquake, Mustafa Filiz, Yusuf Karaşın, Yalçın Karagöz

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

This study aims to develop a scale to measure the fear level of individuals towards earthquakes. The population of the research consists of individuals who were directly and indirectly affected by the earthquake that occurred in Kahramanmaraş province of Turkey on 6 February 2023. The sample of the research consists of 357 people who voluntarily participated in the survey. Data were collected through an online survey. Experts’ opinions, literature review and pilot study were utilized in the creation of the scale items. Psychometric properties of the scale were analyzed by test-retest, calculation of internal consistency coefficient, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory …

Exceptionality Of Space: Sexual Violence In “The Camp. A Little Girl From Karabakh” By Gunel Movlud, Eva Lennartz

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

In the autobiographical novel “The Camp. A Little Girl from Karabakh” the Azerbaijani author Gunel Movlud describes her experiences of living in a refugee camp in the Sabirabad region of Azerbaijan. Movlud was forced to flee her home town in the Nagorno-Karabakh region during the First Karabakh War(1988-1994). For five years, she lived in the tent camp. In the novel, Movlud describes the hardships of the life in the camp and different characters from her personal perspective. What is striking from her observations is the amount of sexual violence apparent in the camp and the seemingly tacit acceptance of the …

Impact Of Atheist Identity Disclosure On Experience Of Microaggressions In Therapy, Kimaya Khanolkar

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Khanolkar, Kimaya. (2024). Impact of Atheist Identity Disclosure on Experience of Microaggressions in Therapy [Master’s thesis, Minnesota State University, Mankato]. Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/etds/1453/

'Mark My Words' : Measuring Personality Of Global Leaders, Mahesh Acharya

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the analysis of thousands of speeches delivered at the United Nations General Assembly to detect personality of global leaders, this dissertation adds a stepping stone to the first image research, in particular, the psychological approaches in International Relations and its stream of Foreign Policy Analysis. Theoretically, it advances the trait models of psychological approaches by building on the lexical theory of personality psychology to analyze the traits of global elites. The theory has been tested over decades showing that linguistic cues like utterances not only provide us with the information on semantics but also the speaker including her personality …

Cognitive Indicators Of Performance In League Of Legends Players, Emerson Fant

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project attempts to discover the importance of several cognitive traits in esports performance, specifically League of Legends. The traits (performance indicators) measured are frustration tolerance, locus of control, self-efficacy, and intrinsic/extrinsic motivation. Participants will take several existing tests to measure each trait, as well as provide their League of Legends username(s) so that their results can be compared to their in-game performance. I hypothesize a positive relationship between League of Legends rank and frustration tolerance, internal locus of control, intrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy. I hypothesize a negative relationship between rank and external locus of control, extrinsic motivation, and frustration …

Examining The Effects Of Parameter Correlation And Its Implications For Models Of Learning And Retention: A Large Scale Model Validation : Examining The Effects Of Parameter Correlation And Its Implications For Models Of Learning Andretention: A Large Scale Model Validation, Michael Gordon Collins

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Mathematical models of learning and retention have long been developed in psychology for both basic and applied research. For basic research, models of learning and retention attempt to explain how individuals acquire and retain information over time. While for applied research, models of learning and retention are used to inform education and training decisions. In both of these applications, the primary purpose of using a model is to fit and predict the performance of individuals. However, little attention has been paid to the interpretation of a model’s free parameters (i.e., learning and decay rates) and the effect that a model’s …

Is There More To Organizational Justice Than "Just" Fairness? A Meta-Analysis On The Construct Validity Of Overall Justice, Alec C. Drabish

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Despite there being many meta-analyses on organizational justice in the last 25 years, no meta-analysis has focused on overall justice, a global perception of fairness in organizations. In light of this, my dissertation is a meta-analysis focused on the construct validity of overall justice and its integration with key models of organizational justice. To do this, I identified 183 independent samples from across the globe that use Ambrose and Schminke’s (2009) perceived overall justice scale. From there, I used a combination of traditional meta-analytic techniques and meta-analytic structural equation modelling to test my hypotheses. Foremost, I found that overall justice …

Attentional Demands Of Smooth Pursuit, Sasha Marie Willis

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigates whether maintenance of smooth pursuit eye movements requires attention or if the traditional small-spot pursuit stimulus has propagated this long-held belief by imposing the attentional demands of the saccadic system (through foveation) onto the pursuit task. Using a within-subjects design, we compare single- and dual-task performance for two difficulty levels of an auditory tone discrimination task and a pursuit eye movement task with both small and large pursuit targets (N = 10). Pursuit performance improved when target size increased (for catch-up saccade rate and steady-state gain) and when auditory task difficulty increased (for catch-up saccade rate). …

The Influence Of Intersectionality On Identity And Resilience, Stephanie Washburn

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Co-occurring multiple minority group membership (e.g., ethnic/racial minority and sexual/gender minority) has come to be referred as intersectionality. The purpose of this study was to explore if intersectionality is related to identity and resilience in undergraduate adults. The participant pool consisted of college students from a large metropolitan university in the Southeastern United States, (N = 340), who took an anonymous online self-report survey battery in exchange for course credit. Higher levels of resilience were associated with lower levels of identity distress. Further, identity commitment, but not identity exploration, predicted resiliency. Sexual/Gender Minority (SGM) individuals had lower resiliency than …

The Role Of Multiteam Systems In Prescribed Fire Operational Incidents, Kevin Llanos

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to study how multiteam systems (MTS) are implicated in prescribed fire operations and enhance an interdisciplinary understanding of occupational demands in the industry to mitigate worsening environmental challenges. We study publicly accessible sources through a mixed-methods approach applying I/O psychology and discuss relevant literature. Land management plan documentation is reviewed to explore the structural and functional components of prescribed fire teams. We apply theory-driven coding to analyze prescribed fire incident documentation as we study MTS system processes and develop thematic findings. Lastly, industry job listing content and occupational demands are reviewed. Through this archival …

Active Facilitation Of Helper Dispersal By Parents And Siblings In The Cooperatively Breeding Acorn Woodpecker, Natasha D. G. Hagemeyer, Walter D. Koenig, Eric L. Walters

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Offspring that delay dispersal in cooperatively breeding species have been hypothesized to gain direct fitness benefits via parental facilitation—being passively tolerated on their natal territory by their parents—thereby enjoying enhanced survival and increased probability of acquiring a breeding position in the population. Here we describe active facilitation in the acorn woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) by parents and siblings assisting the dispersal of helpers in their social group. Helpers in this species compete for reproductive opportunities in “power struggles” that take place when all breeders of one sex die or disappear, creating a reproductive vacancy. Individuals compete at power struggles …

Implicit Personality Detection From User Behaviour In Recommendation Systems, Uzma Zubair Shaikh

Master's Projects

Recommendation systems are an integral part of any business, and a crucial factor in determining their success as these systems help businesses in marketing their products to the right kind of audience. Conventional methods of building recommendation systems such as collaborative filtering and content-based recommendation, although effective, suffer from limitations such as cold start and the data sparsity problems. Moreover, these methods aim at finding similar products as user’s past interactions rather than personalizing the recommendations. The upsurge in use of social media, over-the-top content (OTT), and e-commerce platforms has made the task of personalizing recommendations imperative, leading to the …

The Unconscious Mind: Psychoanalysis And Art, Carlie Hoffer

MA Theses

The insights brought to society about the unconscious mind can be solely credited to Sigmund Freud’s groundbreaking works that were published in the early 1900’s. Specifically, the concept of the unconscious mind being a driver for human behavior was a unique theory that Freud introduced to a society that had never considered this possibility before this. The realization and acknowledgement of the unconscious mind as relevant to analyzing human behavior including art inspired other scholars and individuals in the field of psychology to explore a more nuanced understanding of human motivations. His novel ideas about human behavior emerged at a …

Interactions Between Anxiety, Family Influence, And Athletic Status On College Students: A Military School Cohort, Caragh Osborne, Aubrey Whitehead

Modern Psychological Studies

The prevalence of anxiety in college students has increased drastically over the past decade. Previous researchers have typically only examined how to help students while they are at school, however, there could be additional factors contributing to their anxiety prior to attending college. The current study aimed to observe how family influence and athletic status may play a role in anxiety among college students. Participants (N = 42) completed an anxiety symptoms inventory then disclosed how much their family influenced their decision to attend college. A two-way ANOVA indicated that neither athletic status nor degree of family influence had a …

Essays To Empirical Studies: Transferring Introductory Writing Skills To Psychological Research, Anna A. Hubbard

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2024

This research focuses on how skills from introductory English courses are used for research writing in psychology. It explores why introductory English classes are important for psychology majors, what writing skills are used in research writing, and how well psychology students with high school English credits are prepared for research writing their freshman year. Previous research showed that skills from intro English courses need to be retained and built upon. Previous research also showed that psychology students need to have a variety of writing skills by the time they graduate. This research addresses how psychology students who did not take …

On The Influence Of Private Stimulus Magnitude When Reporting Private Events, Christian T. Hickman

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The nature of private events provides challenges to developing a scientific understanding of the conditions under which humans learn to describe private events. Replicating and extending procedures from Stocco et al. (2014), we further evaluated the conditions under which verbal responses come under the control of private stimuli. Given that some participants vocal responses came under the control of public stimuli in Stocco et al. (2014), we implemented more subtle public accompaniments with all participants to reduce the likelihood of public stimuli acquiring control of participant’s verbal responses. Further, we systematically manipulated the visual clarity of the presented stimuli using …

Utilizing Ai Integrated Neuroimaging Technology To Expand Upon Machine Learning In Positron Emission Tomography Technology With The Aim Of Detecting Amyloid Beta Biomarkers Early In The Onset Of Alzheimer's., Ethan S. Terman

UROP Posters

Early intervention in Alzheimer's is vital for treatment. The earlier a professional can detect symptoms and make a diagnosis the earlier a prognosis can be implemented. With the prevalence of data in our day-to-day world combined with Artificial intelligence (AI), utilizing both for machine learning can pave the way for more accurate and efficient detection of Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases. AI combined with Machine learning (ML) increases diagnostic efficiency and reduces human errors, making it a valuable resource for physicians and clinicians alike. With the increasing amount of data processing and image interpretation required, the ability to use AI …