Digital Commons Network^™

Testing Assumptions About Laboratory Protocol Fidelity, Tess A. Simpson, Wallace E. Dixon Jr., Albany Guyer

Appalachian Student Research Forum

A recent focus of our Program for the Study of Infancy is the extent to which lab assistants retain fidelity when implementing experimental protocols. Dixon et al. showed that experimenters’ implementations of some aspects of standardized protocols can be influenced by infants’ temperaments. Ellefson and Oppenheimer further found that procedural deviations reduce effect sizes and lead to heterogeneity of findings. In this project, we evaluated archival videos involving experimenters’ implementations of two elicited imitation tasks, “Feed Bear” and “Make a Rattle.” In both tasks, experimenters were assumed to adhere to a narrative script and procedure, which included familiarizing infants with …

Scouts Bsa: A Descriptive Study Of The Scouting Program, Maria Graziano

Psychology Student Scholarship

Maria Graziano ’23
Majors: Biology and Psychology
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kelly A. Warmuth, Psychology

The values of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) are strongly aligned with developmental literature regarding protective traits for youths. In order to assess the presence of some of these protective traits in its participants, established measures were used to create a descriptive profile of the scouts, staff, and adult leaders attending Scout camp. Results showed that Scouts who were more psychologically engaged and connected to their troop showed more positive protective traits. Additionally, male and female participants did not differ on these traits, reflecting adult …

Achievement Motivation And Body Competence As Predictors For Nonhypnotic Suggestibility, Ethan Cohen

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

The present study aims to discover relationships between suggestibility and two predictor variables identified as achievement motivation, and body consciousness. The significance of this study is immense in placebo research due to the studied relationship of suggestibility as a predictor for placebo susceptibility. Relationships between both predictor variables and placebo susceptibility have also been established through research, but there remains a gap in the connection between these variables and suggestibility. The present study administered a survey to participants (N=103), using the Shortened Suggestibility Scale (SSS), Body Consciousness Questionnaire (BCQ), and the Achievement Motives Scale (AMS-R) as the measure of suggestibility, …

The Impacts Of Exercising With External Versus Internal Motives On College Students' Mental Health, Jillian Ulicki

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

This study sets out to determine the impacts of exercising with different motives, specifically external appearance versus internal health, on college students' mental health. The study will also analyze the mental health effects of following fitness-related influencers and content on social media on college-aged students, in addition to the differences in mental health among male and female students in relation to exercise motivators and social media consumption. A survey will be utilized to collect data from undergraduate college-aged students. The goal of this study is to better understand whether certain motives for exercising are healthier for college students' mental health …

Assessing The Dynamic Amongst Self-Compassion, Connection To Nature, And Well-Being, Yueyi Fan

Honors Theses

In 2015, the United Nations deemed promoting individual well-being of paramount importance, along with seventeen other sustainable development goals (to be achieved by 2030). Unfortunately, overall mental health has taken sharp declines with the unprecedented onset of the COVID-19 pandemic (OECD, 2021). According to a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the prevalence of anxiety and depression has increased globally; it has doubled or more than doubled as compared to previous years (OECD, 2021). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported increasing levels of adverse mental health conditions, substance use, and suicidal …

Dance And The Self: An Analysis On The Psychological Impacts Of Dance, Morgan Etzinger

Honors Projects

Professional dancers spend numerous hours immersed into dance culture every single day, learning new technique, practicing choreography, and exercising to stay fit. This study explores how dance affects the self-confidence and self-esteem of dance students. Utilizing surveys, the self-confidence and self-esteem of dance students at BGSU is compared to non-performing arts students. The study of psychology allows for proper analysis on the differences between the two groups, why a difference might occur, and how self-confidence and self-esteem is affected. After gathering data on emotions, perfectionism, comparison, group versus individual performances, personal thoughts, and body image, it was found that dancers …

Academic Impacts Of Later School Start Times, Nicole Swain, Tuyet Tran, Daphne Carrier

Quest

Literature Review

Research in progress for PSYC 2301: Honors General Psychology

Faculty Mentor: Jennifer L. O’Loughlin-Brooks

The following paper represents research produced by students in an Honors General Psychology course. The class assignment introduces students to scientific research and writing through a team-based approach. Each individual student team, composed of two or three members, conducts a comprehensive literature review on a specific psychology topic of their choosing. They summarize and evaluate at least seven pieces of scholarly work, discuss future areas of investigation for the field, and explain how this research might add qualitatively to the existing knowledge of the …

Awareness Of Resources Among Psychology Majors, Michelle Nkansah-Wiafe

Student Research and Creative Activity Expo

Examining the barriers in undergraduate psychology education that contribute to the lack of BIPOC professionals in psychology.

Associations Between Visceral Sensitivity, Body Dissatisfaction, And Restrictive Eating In Undergraduates, Zoe Schneider

Student Research and Creative Activity Expo

My study is examining correlations between visceral sensitivity, body dissatisfaction, and restrictive eating in undergraduates.

Effect Of Substitution Time On Physical, Technical And Cognitive Performance In Sub-Elite Male Field Hockey Players, Thomas W. Spooner, Andrew T. West, Mark Et Willems

International Journal of Exercise Science

International Journal of Exercise Science 16(6): 497-512, 2023. We examined the effects of substitution time (i.e., recovery time) in a simulated field hockey test on physical, technical and perceptual/cognitive performance. Nine sub-elite male field hockey players (age: 20 ± 2 yrs, height: 1.81 ± 0.06 m, body mass: 71 ± 10 kg, body fat: 10.3 ± 3.7%, O_2max: 67 ± 3 completed four 8-min 40-s bouts of high-intensity intermittent exercise with 2-min and 5.5-min substitution time replicating the demands of a 4-quarter field hockey match. After each bout, a 15-m maximal sprint, agility/dribbling test, passing accuracy test, and …

Temperament & Character Account For Brain Functional Connectivity At Rest: A Diathesis-Stress Model Of Functional Dysregulation In Psychosis, Igor Zwir, Javier Arnedo, Alberto Mesa, Coral Del Val, Gabriel A. De Erausquin, C. Robert Cloninger

School of Medicine Publications

The human brain’s resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) provides stable trait-like measures of differences in the perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social functioning of individuals. The rsFC of the prefrontal cortex is hypothesized to mediate a person’s rational self-government, as is also measured by personality, so we tested whether its connectivity networks account for vulnerability to psychosis and related personality configurations. Young adults were recruited as outpatients or controls from the same communities around psychiatric clinics. Healthy controls (n = 30) and clinically stable outpatients with bipolar disorder (n = 35) or schizophrenia (n = 27) were diagnosed by …

Children's Intuitive Theories Of Group Collaboration, Emory Richardson

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Cumulative culture has amplified human knowledge far beyond what any individual learner could teach themselves or even be taught in a single lifetime: a doctor can learn to drive a car without having to literally reinvent the wheel. In some cases, complex artifacts can be produced through the accumulation of incremental improvements over time; but frequently, they’re a product of more or less direct collaboration. But collaboration comes with costs of its own. This thesis is about the cognitive capacities individuals need for collaborative learning to be worth the trouble. I first describe a set of interrelated obstacles to the …

The Evolutionary Origins Of Social Evaluation, Zachary A. Silver

Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations

Social evaluation refers to the process of using observed social behavior to determine who will be a suitable social partner. While this phenomenon is well-documented in this human species, less is known regarding how we acquired the cognitive abilities needed to make this assessment of with whom we should affiliate. To better understand the evolutionary origins of social evaluation abilities in the human species, researchers have explored nonhuman animals’ capacities for social evaluation. In this dissertation, I present three experiments designed to explore whether domestic dogs, a species who evolved alongside humans and who share our social environment demonstrate human-like …

Patriotism And Democratic Education, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

Whether patriotism has a valuable part to play in the educational system of a democratic society is now a highly contentious matter. This chapter argues that it does, principally because such a society is a kind of cooperative practice that requires its members to enact, enforce, and – in most cases – obey the laws that govern their self-governing polity. Democracies rely on rules, and especially the rule of law, to provide the reasonably clear expectations necessary to coordinate public activities and to overcome collective-action problems. By encouraging citizens to set aside personal advantage and play a cooperative part in …

Effect Of Kinesiophobia On Return To Play Of Athletes At Bridgewater College, Jenna Mccaffrey

Honors Projects

Kinesiophobia is known as the fear of movement, injury, or re-injury. It is the primary psychological construct of the Fear Avoidance Model of Chronic Pain under the biopsychosocial model's umbrella. This study tested the effects of kinesiophobia on return to play of athletes at Bridgewater College. Results found that kinesiophobia had no impact on return to play of female athletes at Bridgewater College. Male athletes have a positive correlation between Return Concerns and kinesiophobia.

Modern Cognitive Operations And Hybrid Warfare, Yuriy Danyk, Chad M. Briggs

Journal of Strategic Security

Concepts of cognitive warfare and operations are explored in the context of hybrid warfare, including how cyber technologies promote greater asymmetric opportunities for influence, control, and undermining of one’s adversary. Research areas are analyzed in the interconnection with hybrid cognitive operations. The purpose of the article is to study the features and theoretical and applied substantiation of cognitive actions in cyberspace and through cyberspace and their possible consequences within the framework of hybrid conflicts.

Sentience And Sapience In The One Ring: The Reality Of Tolkien’S Master Ring, Larry L. Burriss

Mythlore: A Journal of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Mythopoeic Literature

In this paper, the author proposes J.R.R. Tolkien’s Ring of Power actually possesses (within the fantasy “frame”) both sentience (consciousness) and sapience (the ability to think and act). Numerous other writers have investigated the literary and mythic origins of the One Ring, but there appears little discussion, beyond its creation, of how and why the Ring does what it does. The author here uses Tolkien’s own writing (rather than the myriad of fan speculation or the numerous adaptations of the Tolkien canon) to show the One Ring has, within the frame of the story, an innate ability to think and …

Therapy Approaches Provided To Traumatized Refugee Children, Esther Ekeh

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The study examined various trauma treatments provided to traumatized refugee children and evaluated their effectiveness. Interviews were conducted with five mental health professionals, comprising two males and three females. The professionals included a psychologist at Caritas, a coordinator at Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS), a manager of an international non-governmental organization (NGO), a clinical psychologist at the Happiness Again Project, and a psychologist at an NGO. All interviews were conducted in person. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the interview data. The findings revealed that play therapy and group therapy emerged as the most effective trauma treatments for traumatized refugee …

An Exploration Of The Social And Economic Factors That Influence The Mental Health Of Lgbtq College Students, Alexandria Mh Fossum

Senior Theses

LGBTQ individuals face a much higher prevalence of psychiatric disorders and mental health issues than their heterosexual, cisgender counterparts. The added academic pressures of college introduce a unique set of challenges that LGBTQ students face. This thesis includes a review of academic literature and data examining the intersections between social isolation, institutional discrimination, and financial insecurity and the effects they have on the mental health outcomes of LGBTQ college students. The paper is accompanied by a documentary consisting of a set of interviews of LGBTQ college students, giving a more personal insight into the multitude of factors that affect their …

Toxic Positivity And Perceptions Of Mental Health, Madeline E. Feltner

Senior Theses

My thesis concerns how toxic positivity, especially the type we commonly see on social media, can affect perceptions and stigma around mental health issues on college campuses. Toxic positivity is the belief that a person should always maintain a positive mindset, no matter what situation they are in, and invalidates negative emotions. Previous research shows that toxic positivity can have a negative effect on mental health, but in this thesis, I study how toxic positivity affects perceptions about others with mental health issues, willingness to interact with those with mental health issues, and self-perception. It is important to research this …

Pregnancy Loss: A Qualitative Exploration Of An Experience Stigmatized In The Workplace, Stephanie L. Gilbert, Jennifer K. Dimoff, Jacquelyn M. Brady, Roderick Macleod, Taegen Mcphee

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Pregnancy loss is often stigmatized and is considered to be a taboo topic in the workplace, causing employees to suffer in silence. Yet, pregnancy loss is unequivocally a workplace issue – it can occur at work and influence work outcomes, such as performance, job attitudes, and employee wellbeing. Unfortunately, there is little research examining the intersection between work and pregnancy loss, leaving employers with little evidence-based guidance on how to support employees during and after pregnancy loss. The purpose of this qualitative study of working women (N = 29) is to provide insight into the ways by which work influences, …

The Impact Of Digital And Traditional Coloring On Death Anxiety In Older Adults, Heejoo Roh, Elizabeth Krumrei-Mancuso, Cindy Miller-Perrin

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The purpose of this study was to examine if coloring mandalas digitally or traditionally has a different impact in reducing death anxiety among older adults. Using random assignment, we compared digital (n = 22) and traditional (n = 26) coloring to a non-art distraction activity (completing a word puzzle; n = 21) for levels of death anxiety following a death anxiety induction. We hypothesized that both digital and traditional coloring conditions would result in lower levels of death anxiety compared to the non-art activity, but that traditional coloring would result in the lowest levels of death anxiety. In addition, we …

What Is Well-Being?, William Tov, Smu Office Of Research

Research@SMU Infographics

Well-being refers to all the ways one can evaluate and experience life positively. SMU Associate Professor of Psychology William Tov and his collaborators identified eight key findings about well-being and reviewed the evidence from research in psychology and a variety of other disciplines.

The Unconscious Never Lies, Judah Brass

Student Research

My paper examines the novel "The Picture of Dorian Grey" by Oscar Wilde from a psychoanalysis lens, exploring the complexity of human emotions and the riveting effects of trauma, repression and human interaction. There is an emphasis on different ways expression of the unconscious or processes of emotions can be benefited through an appropriate mode of processing. This research purpose is to educate on applying a criticism to literature, advocate for mental health awareness, and emphasize the importance of processing emotions in a productive and safe way.

Dorian Grey’s past trauma (lack of father figure) seen through his progressive behavior …

Made In His Image: How Christian God Image Influences Interpersonal Judgments Of Severe Mental Illness, Austin Davis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

After a review of the relevant literature on God image and interpersonal judgment theories and research, a priming study was used to analyze the relationship between God image and judgment of people with severe mental illness. Participants made judgments of a video presentation of a man with schizophrenia either before or after being given a questionnaire about their God image. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) analysis showed no statistically significant differences between those who were primed to reflect on their God image before making the judgment and those who were not, although the small effect size (d = -0.30) indicated …

Secular Ethics, Embodied Cognitive Logics, And Education, Brendan R. Ozawa-De Silva

Journal of Contemplative Inquiry

The Dalai Lama’s model of secular ethics not only makes possible an understanding of contemplative practices within a wider ethical framework, but also helps to illuminate the important question of the relationship between contemplative practices and the religions within which they developed. This article explores that question and proposes an approach to the study of contemplative practices that examines the diachronic and synchronic relationships among embodied cognitive states and the “embodied cognitive logics” inherent in the theories and practices of contemplative traditions. Since secular ethics looks to common experience, common sense, and scientific findings, rather than metaphysics or religion, to …

The Perceived Impact Of Faculty-In-Residence Programs On Faculty Development, Luis Arabit, Leonard Lira, Jennifer Johnston, Lina Anastasovitou, Christine Ma-Kellams, Kyle Hambrook, Ravneet Tiwana, Theodore T. Tsau

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) programs, where students interact with faculty outside of the classroom, have shown positive effects on student success. However, most research does not look at FIR programs from a holistic perspective that examines the impact on faculty. This study investigates the perceived impact on faculty participating in FIR programs. The results add to current literature that faculty-student interactions outside of the classroom are significant for students and faculty, specifically faculty perceptions of performance in teaching and service. The results also indicate positive perceptions by faculty in research performance due to participation in the FIR program. This finding is surprising …

The Impact Of Sexual Violence On Women's Dating Lives: Understanding Enjoyment Of Sexualization Among Sexual Violence Survivors, Jaela Hardin

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This project seeks to understand the relationship between women’s former experiences of sexual violence and their present relationship with sex. Specifically, this study seeks to identify whether women with a history of sexual violence victimization now experience enjoyment of sexualization by others – most often men - in their daily life, as well as whether these same women also engage in self-objectification. Data from a community sample of single women aged 21-30 was collected online to record women’s responses on a variety of measures related to their sex and dating life. This project also explores whether women’s responses regarding enjoyment …

Psychological Skills Of Malang State University Athletes Who Participate In Pomprov 2022, Andito Andito, Panuwun Joko Nurahyo, Kusnandar Kusnandar, Didik Rilastiyo Budi, Arfin Deri Listiandi, Neva Widanita, Ayu Rizky Febriani, Heryanto Heryanto

Indonesian Journal of Research in Physical Education, Sport, and Health

The problem delivered in this study is that some fighters are easily caught when performing side kicks, need help attacking rivals with a higher posture, and need to reach the optimal point when performing splits. This study aims to determine the correlation between leg length and flexibility with the speed of side kicks in martial arts. This quantitative research defines the correlation between the independent and dependent variables. This research uses sampling of 30 fighters by utilizing purposive sampling. The research instrument for limb length uses a rolling meter and flexibility using a side split test, while a statistical test …

Psychological Skills Of Malang State University Athletes Who Participate In Pomprov 2022, Moch. Ghossam Azim, Kurniati Rahayuni, Prisca Widiawati

Indonesian Journal of Research in Physical Education, Sport, and Health

Achievement sports are a form of activity that requires a psychological aspect. The psychological aspect of athletes at the State University of Malang is the key to victory in winning the overall champion of POMPROV 2022. ACSI-28 (Athletic coping stress Inventory-28) is a psychological benchmark in sports achievement, namely (1) coping with advertising; (2) peaking under pressure; (3) goal setting/mental preparation (4) concentration; (5) free from worry; (6) confidence and achievement motivation;" and (7) coachability. This research was conducted to find out the psychological skills of State University of Malang athletes who took part in POMPROV 2022 using ACSI-28. Athletes …