Digital Commons Network^™

Predicting Improvement In Psychiatric Patients: A Longitudinal Examination Of Personal And Environmental Factors, Susan M. Ruscher

Digitized Theses

The present study was designed to assess the six-month effects of stress, self-esteem, social competence, coping, social, and family support on the level of functioning and recovery status of 41 depressed and 43 nondepressed psychiatric inpatients. Diagnostic evaluations and level of functioning were based on DSM-III-R (A.P.A., 1987) criteria using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-III-R - Patient Version (SCID-P; Spitzer, Williams, Gibbon, & First, 1989). Patients were interviewed and completed self-report questionnaires assessing each of the psychosocial variables at three different times: shortly after hospital admission (Time 1), one (Time 2), and six months after discharge (Time 3).;At Time …

Judgments Of Resource Distributions: The Role Of Long-Term Outcomes, Carolyn L. Hafer

Digitized Theses

Equity theory (Adams, 1965; Walster, Berscheid, & Walster, 1976) proposes that people will perceive a distribution of resources as fair when each person in the relationship receives outcomes in proportion to his/her contributions. While equity appears to be a very important determinant of perceived fairness, inequitable distributions may also be judged fair (Deutsch, 1985). For this dissertation, it was hypothesized that many apparently inequitable distributions are seen as fair because the relationship is expected to be equitable eventually. In such a case, equity is still the underlying principle of distributive fairness, though, on the surface, people appear to be defining …

The Classification Of The Schizophrenias According To Symptomatology: A Two-Factor Model, Ian R. Nicholson

Digitized Theses

The purpose of this investigation was to examine a proposed two-factor model of schizophrenic symptomatology (Nicholson & Neufeld, in press). To achieve this aim, a semi-structured interview was administered to one hundred schizophrenic patients and a series of symptomatology scales were rated. Preliminary analysis indicated that these ratings were consistent with previous research in schizophrenia.;The item-level data from the scales was clustered to reduce redundancies in the large amount of data (95 schizophrenia variables) and 26 symptom clusters resulted. These symptom clusters were then rated and subsequently placed into four schizophrenia variable groups (paranoid, nonparanoid, positive, and negative). The four …

Behavioral, Electrophysiological, And Neuroanatomical Plasticity In The Rat, As A Result Of Complex Environment Housing, Eric Lynn Hargreaves

Digitized Theses

Long-term potentiation (LTP) is an electrophysiological phenomenon of neuroplasticity, whereby synaptic transmission of specific brain pathways become enhanced, or potentiated, after the delivery of a series of brief, high-frequency electrical trains. The increase in synaptic efficacy is of substantial duration, and therefore LTP has been likened to the theoretical reverberatory circuit that lead to permanent memory traces, as originally hypothesized by Hebb (1949). To further examine the direct relations between LTP and learning this thesis focused on the paradigm of complex environments, which have been shown to enhance learning, neocortical thickness, and hippocampal evoked potentials. It was decided to examine …

Cognitive Profiles Of Psychological Maladjustment, Henny Alice Westra

Digitized Theses

A review of the literature investigating various cognitive constructs across different maladjustment patterns indicated that, despite numerous cognitive similarities, the content domains to which cognitive processes apply may be one potentially important feature distinguishing various forms of psychological maladjustment. This proposal was empirically tested in a pilot study, in which irrational belief profiles were examined concurrently across four maladjustment patterns: depression, anxiety, the Type A behaviour pattern, and bulimia. Correlational data gathered from 63 introductory psychology students yielded data consistent with content specificity proposals.;Using a university undergraduate population, content specificity proposals were comprehensively investigated across four cognitive components: irrational beliefs, …

The Sexual Media: The Role Of Individual Differences, Anthony Francis Bogaert

Digitized Theses

In two studies, an individual difference approach to understanding sexual media effects was pursued. In Study I, personality (e.g., intelligence, aggression) and individual difference (e.g., prior sexual experience) factors were assessed in a sample of undergraduate males. These males also indicated their preference for various forms of sexual media, including sexual stimuli with aggressive and nonaggressive content. As expected, individual differences were predictive of preferences for different sexual stimuli, with, for example, males lower in intelligence and higher in aggression preferring aggressive sexual stimuli. In Study II, similar personality constructs and individual differences, together with salivary testosterone (T), were assessed …

Finsting Multiple Places In The Visual Field: Evidence For Simultaneous Facilitation, Jacquelyn Ann Burkell

Digitized Theses

Indexing of multiple locations in a visual display was examined in the context of a selective search task. Subjects searched for a conjunctively defined target among subsets of display items randomly distributed throughout the display, identified only by their abrupt onset relative to other items in the display. Experiment 1 indicates that search is faster when observers search selectively over a subset of three display items (among a total of fifteen) indicated as potential target positions. Moreover, this result cannot be due to selective attention to one of the indicated items only, because search times are influenced by characteristics of …

Child Sexual Abuse And The Mother-Daughter Relationship: Moderating Effects, Patricia Anne Bourdeau

Digitized Theses

The enormous variability of negative effects putatively resulting from childhood sexual abuse has prompted researchers to consider situational and environmental factors that may contribute to differential outcome. Because the clinical literature has traditionally focused on sexual abuse of female children, the relationship with nonoffending mothers is thought to play a crucial role in recovery. However, empirical evidence is sparse.;The present study investigated the moderating effects of mother-related variables in relation to features of child sexual abuse and subsequent maladjustment. Child adjustment was assessed by standardized measures, both parent- and child-report. Information about mothers' histories of childhood sexual abuse was obtained …

Polysemy Effects: Evidence For Dual Access Routes To Word Meanings, Yasushi Hino

Digitized Theses

The effects of polysemy (number of meanings) and word frequency were examined in lexical decision and naming tasks. Polysemy effects were observed in both tasks. In the lexical decision task, polysemy was additive with frequency. Polysemy effects appeared for both high and low frequency words. In the naming task, however, polysemy effects interacted with frequency, with polysemy effects being limited to low frequency words. When degraded stimuli were used in both tasks, the interaction appeared not only in naming but also in lexical decision. When pronounceable nonwords were replaced by pseudohomophones in lexical decision tasks, however, polysemy was once again …

The Functional Basis Of Counterfactual Thinking, Neal Joseph Roese

Digitized Theses

The functional role of counterfactual thoughts ("might have been" reconstructions of the past) was explored in three laboratory experiments. Specifically, counterfactual thoughts were posited to serve two possible functions: an affective function (feeling better) and a preparative function (preparing for the future via avoiding the recurrence of negative events). It is argued that counterfactuals as a generic class of cognitions generally serve these two functions, but that specific types of counterfactuals may in particular do so. Two dimensions are described alone which counterfactuals may be classified: direction (upward vs downward) and structure (additive vs subtractive). Upward counterfactuals focus on an …

Pain And Adjustment In Hemophilia, Shara Lee Highgate

Digitized Theses

This study examined psychological factors associated with coping and adjustment in hemophilia, a chronic condition characterized by recurrent pain.;Mild (n = 23) and severe (n = 26) hemophiliacs were compared with rheumatoid arthritic (n = 22) patients and pain-free controls (n = 30) on personality, health beliefs, perceived social support, and experimental pain perception. Pain history, pain coping strategies and disability were compared among medical groups. Hemophiliacs' psychological functioning was within normal limits. Hemophiliacs and arthritics made similar attributions about health control from powerful others, despite hemophiliacs' stronger internality. Medical groups reported greater family support than did controls, but did …

Memory Bias And Body Image Disturbance In Normal Weight Body Dysphoric Women., Jeffrey Duane Baker

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Body dysphoria is common in the general population and is thought to be associated with the development of eating disorders. Few studies have examined the role of cognitive processes in normal weight body dysphoric women. This study proposed an associative memory model of body dysphoria. The model predicted an increased memory bias for negative body words and increased body image disturbance in high body dysphoric subjects induced to a depressive mood. Based on the proposed model of body dysphoria, high dysphoric subjects were also predicted to give more depressive/negative body word associates on a word association task. Finally, the Pathfinder …

Internal Working Models Of Self And Others In Adolescents: A Social-Cognitive Perspective, Saul Rosenthal

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, links between internal working models of attachment and self-concept are examined. Attachment and self-concept researchers discuss mental models of the self and the self in relationships as cognitive processors that affect attention to social information, as well as encoding, interpretation, and recall. Although some research supports the notions of attachment and self-concept constructs, no associations between the two have been previously examined. An argument is presented that concepts of the self and models of important relationships are interdependent. This argument is empirically tested with a sample of adolescent girls and their mothers, who completed a series of …

Accessibility Of Goal Information In A Mental Model, Jason E. Albrecht

Doctoral Dissertations

Most models of comprehension differ in the degree to which they suggest that readers attempt to maintain both local and global coherence. Several models suggest that readers are concerned primarily with maintaining local coherence and only attempt to establish global coherence when there is a local coherence break. In contrast, other models suggest that readers attempt to establish both local and global coherence even when there is no local coherence break. These different types of models make competing predictions about accessibility of goal information during comprehension. Local coherence strategies predict that readers should only have access to goal information when …

Family Systems, Object Relations, And Identity Formation In Late Adolescent College Women, Elizabeth Anne Jordan

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether characteristics of family system and object relations are associated with identity formation in late adolescent women. Identity status, features of family system function and structure, and two dimensions of object relations were assessed in a sample of 204 18- to 21-year-old college women. It was hypothesized that different combinations of family system functioning and object relations dimensions would be found for each of the four identity statuses. Univariate analyses and discriminant function analyses revealed that distinct patterns characterized the family system and object relations of the Diffusion and Foreclosure statuses. The …

Predicted Hue And Saturation For Non-Spectral Lights, Thomas David Kulp

Doctoral Dissertations

The Jameson and Hurvich opponent colors model of hue and saturation was tested for spectral and non-spectral lights. Four observers scaled, using standard color naming techniques, the hue and saturation of both spectral and non-spectral lights. These lights consisted of 11 wavelengths from 440 to 640nm in steps of 20nm and consisted of 5 purities, 1.0, 0.80, 0.60, 0.40 and 0.20. Admixtures of monochromatic light and a xenon-white desaturant yielded the different colorimetric purities. For each observer, chromatic response functions were measured by the method of hue cancellation for each purity, and an achromatic response function was measured by the …

Toward An Understanding Of The Cognitive Etiology Of Depressive Reactions To Life Stressors: An Evaluation Of The Hopelessness Theory Of Depression, Nancy Lynne Asdigian

Doctoral Dissertations

Abramson, Metalsky, and Alloy's (1989) theory of hopelessness depression is the most recent model of depression to emerge from the learned helplessness tradition (Seligman, 1975). Hopelessness theory describes an etiological pathway by which a unique subtype of depression--hopelessness depression--is believed to emerge.

The most proximal cause of hopelessness depression is the formation of a hopelessness expectancy. Experiencing a significant life stressor and either making stable and global causal attributions, anticipating adverse consequences, or inferring derogatory self-attributes is thought to contribute to hopelessness. In turn, generalized tendencies to make stable and global causal attributions, expect negative consequences, or perceive personal deficiencies …

Social Loafing, Social Facilitation And Self-Efficacy Theory: Judgments Of Control In A Group Psychokinesis Task, Mark Jordan Henn

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the effects of self-efficacy and group size on the judgments of control of individual subjects in a group situation. It was predicted that highly efficacious subjects would report more judged control, inefficacious subjects would report less judged control. Group size was predicted to affect judgments of control in a manner consistent with the social loafing and social facilitation literature, such that individually unidentifiable subjects should "loaf" and report less control. Individually identifiable subjects should find their prior efficacy beliefs facilitated, such that high believers feel increasing control with increasing group size and low believers feel decreasing control …

Thalamocortical Contributions To Olfactory Non-Matching To Sample And Discrimination In The Rat, Susan Margaret Koger

Doctoral Dissertations

Twenty-eight male rats were pretrained on a go/no-go, continuous olfactory non-matching to sample (CONMTS) task, and randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups: radiofrequency lesions of either the medial wall or rhinal sulcal cortical projection sites of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus (MDn); lesions of the lateral internal medullary lamina site (L-IML) of thalamus; or sham surgical control.

All three lesioned groups exhibited a significant impairment on initial retraining of CONMTS. However, the two cortical groups rapidly improved, and did not differ from the control animals for the remainder of CONMTS training. Alternatively, the L-IML deficit persisted throughout retraining. The …

Visual Attention And Saccadic Eye Movements In Complex Visual Tasks, John M. Henderson

Faculty Publications

An open peer commentary of Fischer and Weber's article "Express Saccades and Visual Attention" published in Behavioral and Brain Sciences (1993), 16, 553-610.

The Role Of Pre-Response And Post-Response Augmented Learning Variables In Motor Skill Acquisition., M. Jerome Hand

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Verbal instructions, modeling, videotaped replay (VTR), and knowledge of performance (KP) are augmented learning variables that practitioners commonly present to learners to facilitate the acquisition of motor skill. Two experiments are reported that sought to determine how each of these variables affect skill acquisition and the cognitive representations responsible for producing such skill. Learning variables were classified as pre-response (verbal instructions and modeling) or post-response (VTR and KP), depending whether the information given pertained to the subsequent trial or the previous trial, respectively. Experiment 1 investigated the effects of each variable separately, while Experiment 2 examined whether a combination of …

Caregiver Stress And Well-Being As A Function Of Multiple Roles., Gwendolyn Miller Moore

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Predictors of caregiver psychological well-being, including depression, marital satisfaction, positive affect and negative affect were examined as a function of primary and secondary stress. Measures assessing these outcomes as well as role overload, inter-role conflict and care receiver impairment were administered to 77 female caregivers of dementia patients. A comparison group of 80 females was also included. Results demonstrated that noncaregivers experienced significantly higher positive affect than caregivers. In addition, differential mediating relationships were found between primary and secondary stressors contingent upon the type of outcome examined. More specifically, inter-role conflict mediated the relationship between work overload and both positive …

A Criterion Validity Study Of The Schizophrenia Subscale Of The Pimra., Naomi Arffa Swiezy

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Sixty-five mildly to moderately mentally retarded adult patients from institutional and community placements in Louisiana and Texas and with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, depression, or no psychopathology were recruited. The primary goal of the study was to establish the validity of the schizophrenia subscale of the PIMRA for diagnosing schizophrenia among mentally retarded individuals. The same methods utilized to determine the validity of the schizophrenia subscale were also used to replicate the validation of the depression subscale of the PIMRA. In addition, the extent to which other PIMRA subscale scores aid in diagnosis was investigated. Assessment measures included the informant …

Reliability And Validity Of The Teen Substance Abuse Rating Scale., Brett Elliott Hemstreet

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This study used 57 adolescent substance abusers receiving treatment and 510 adolescent controls in a validation of the Teen Substance Abuse Rating Scale (TSARS; Hemstreet, 1991). The TSARS was originally designed as a relatively brief, easy to read self-report questionnaire to discriminate between adolescent substance abusers and nonabusers. The 92 items of the TSARS represent specific behaviors that are answered in a Yes/No format. The TSARS was examined to determine if it would meet validity criteria presented by Winters (1990) and Swadi (1990), as well as those presented in the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (APA, 1985). A principal …

Computer Training: The Role Of Computer Attitudes And Behavior Modeling In The Acquisition Of Declarative And Procedural Knowledge., Drew Benjamin Brock

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

This research examined technology training (using computers as a specific instance of technology) in a framework that integrated concepts drawn from cognitive and social learning theory. Borrowing from cognitive learning theory, two types of knowledge were assessed: declarative knowledge (knowing what) and procedural knowledge (knowing how). Behavior modeling training, drawn from social learning theory, was used as the primary training methodology. It was proposed that the factors contributing to learning as a function of behavior modeling are the same factors that lead to procedural knowledge acquisition. I also examined the effects of two major attitudes toward computers in predicting computer …

Notes From The Underground: Integrating Psychological And Legal Perspectives On Domestic Violence In Theory And Practice, Joan S. Meier

Hofstra Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Pothole Lake Fire: An Analysis Of Emotion In A Successful Emergency Response, Kathleen M. Carley

FMHI Publications

No abstract provided.

Relationship Between Prosocial Orientation And Prosocial Behavior Of Preschoolers, Mark William Thompson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study concerns the multidimensional factors influencing preschoolers' prosocial behavior. Comprehension of this complex phenomenon requires a synthesized, theoretical conceptualization. This study develops the concept of prosocial orientation to meet this need. Prosocial orientation is posited as minimally composed of four core variables: perspective-taking, empathy, moral reasoning, and others-concept. The position is taken in this study that higher levels of some or all of these four variables may cluster statistically among some preschoolers. The second issue proposes that preschoolers with a relatively better developed prosocial orientation (i.e., higher levels of some or all of the four variables) would also likely …

The Short-Term Effects Of A Collaborative Assessment Process In Family Therapy, John Gregory Thompson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quasi-experimental study investigated the short-term effects of collaborative assessment in family therapy. The sample consisted of 39 subjects from 20 families who sought counseling at the family therapy clinic of a midwestern university. Families were sequentially assigned to one of two conditions: collaborative assessment (involving intake and feedback sessions with discussion of the results of the Family Assessment Measure III, followed by eight weeks of family therapy) or eight weeks of family therapy only. Dependent variables measured family dynamics, quality of feedback, and subjects' responses to feedback and therapy. These were measured by the Family Environment Scale, the Family …

Subordinate Independence: A Boundary Condition On The Effectiveness Of Transformational Leadership?, Terry Michael Dockery

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The present study hypothesized that subordinate independence would act as a boundary condition on the effectiveness of transformation leadership; that is, that independence would moderate the relationship between transformational leadership and several dependent variables. More specifically, subordinates who responded favorably to transformational leaders were expected to be low in independence. The dependent variables employed in the study included subordinate reactions to the leader (satisfaction with the leader, perceived effectiveness of the leader, and willingness to exert extra effort due to the leader), individual subordinate performance, and discretionary subordinate organizational citizenship behavior. Study results did not support the hypotheses at the.05 …