Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Toward A Formal Theory Of Flexible Spatial Behavior: Geometric Category Biases Generalize Across Pointing And Verbal Response Types, John P. Spencer, Vanessa R. Simmering, Anne R. Schutte

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Three experiments tested whether geometric biases—-biases away from perceived reference axes—-reported in spatial recall tasks with pointing responses generalized to a recognition task that required a verbal response. Seven-year-olds and adults remembered the location of a dot within a rectangle and then either reproduced its location or verbally selected a matching choice dot from a set of colored options. Results demonstrated that geometric biases generalized to verbal responses; however, the spatial span of the choice set influenced performance as well. These data suggest that the same spatial memory process gives rise to both response types in this task. Simulations of …

Forensic Interviewing In Child Sexual Abuse Cases: Current Techniques And Future Directions, Lindsay E. Cronch, Jodi L. Viljoen, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In child sexual abuse cases, skillful forensic interviews are important to ensure the protection of innocent individuals and the conviction of perpetrators. Studies have examined several factors that influence disclosure during interviews, including both interviewer and child characteristics. Numerous interviewing techniques have received attention in the literature, including allegation blind interviews, open-ended questioning, cognitive interviewing, the Touch Survey, truth–lie discussions, and anatomical dolls. Recent studies have examined new directions in forensic interviewing, such as structured interview protocols and the extended forensic evaluation model. In addition, the child advocacy center model has been established as a strategy to prevent repeated interviewing. …

Lnteroceptive Pavlovian Conditioning With Nicotine As The Conditional Stimulus Varies As A Function Of The Number Of Conditioning Trials And Unpaired Sucrose Deliveries, Jamie L. Wilkinson, Jennifer E. Murray, Chia Li, Steven M. Wiltgen, Rachel D. Penrod, Sarah A. Berg, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In rats, the pharmacological (interoceptive) effects of nicotine can serve as a signal (conditional stimulus) in a Pavlovian (classical) conditioning task. In this task, nicotine administration (0.4 mg base/kg, subcutaneous) is typically paired with intermittent access to a liquid sucrose unconditional stimulus; sucrose is withheld on saline sessions. An increase in sucrose receptacle entries (goal tracking) on nicotine sessions indicates conditioning. Given our limited understanding of the functional relationships controlling conditioned responding to a nicotine conditional stimulus, the present research examined nicotine's sensitivity to several manipulations shown to affect the conditioned responding in more widely studied Pavlovian conditioning tasks that …

Psychological Profiles And Adolescent Adjustment: A Person-Centered Approach, Lisa J. Crockett, Kristin L. Moilanen, Marcela Raffaelli, Brandy A. Randall

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The association between young adolescents' psychological profiles and their subsequent adjustment was examined in a sample of 606 adolescents (ages 12-13) drawn from the mother-child data set of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. Cluster analysis was used to identify distinct groups of youth based on self-regulation, proneness to risk, self-worth, and perceived academic competence. Five replicable clusters were identified corresponding to optimal, average, behavioral risk, low self-regulation, and emotional risk groups. These clusters were associated with distinct patterns of adjustment 4 years later. At ages 16-17, youth in the optimal group tended to report better academic performance, less problem …

Weekly Problems Scales: Instruments For Sexually Abused Youth And Their Nonoffending Parents In Treatment, Genelle K. Sawyer, Eugenia Hsu Tsao, David J. Hansen, Mary Fran Flood

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study’s purpose was to determine if efficient measures could be created to assess multiple problematic behaviors identified in youth who were sexually abused and in treatment. Because of the lack of easily administered brief instruments that assess multiple domains of interest in this population, complementary parent and child assessment measures were developed. The Weekly Problems Scale–Child Version (WPSC) and the Weekly Problems Scale–Parent Version (WPS-P) were created to monitor the weekly progress of the child and family in treatment and focus specifically on common areas of difficulties in this population. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to assist in identifying …

The Effects Of Prejudice Level And Social Influence Strategy On Powerful People’S Responding To Racial Out-Group Members, Theresa K. Vescio, Sarah J. Gervais, Swen Heidenreich, Mark Snyder

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This research tested the hypothesis that the responding of high, but not low, prejudice White Americans would vary as a function of manipulations of powerful people’s attention to subordinate strengths that facilitate goal strivings versus weaknesses that block goals. To examine this possibility, White participants were assigned to leader roles and an interaction with a low power Black “employee” was staged. Consistent with predictions, findings revealed that high prejudice White participants who were attentive to subordinate strengths and goal strivings versus subordinate weaknesses and blocked goals, evaluated and treated a Black employee more positively. The responding of low prejudice participants …

The Influence Of Schematic Knowledge On Contradictory Versus Additive Misinformation: False Memory For Typical And Atypical Items, Robert J. Nemeth, Robert F. Belli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In the current study, we examined the influence of schema consistency on contradictory and additive misinformation. Sixty-four participants were shown a series of still photographs of common scenes (e.g., a kitchen), were later exposed to narratives containing misinformation, and were then tested on their memory of the photographic scenes. In addition, participants were asked to reflect on their phenomenological experience of remembering by giving remember/know responses. Participants reported greater false memory for schema-inconsistent items than schema-consistent items. The findings failed to replicate Roediger, Meade, and Bergman (2001). Explanations for the discrepant findings are discussed.

Developmental Needs Of Adolescents And Media, Laura M. Padilla-Walker

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Adolescence is marked by a number of physical, cognitive, and social changes that interact to create a number of developmental needs specific to this age group. As adolescents seek to define themselves independently of their parents, they often turn to media as sources of self-socialization and of messages about their identity in terms of gender, sexuality, and ethnicity. Although parents and peers remain influential during this transition, this entry focuses on adolescents’ use of media to navigate developmental changes and cope with the daily difficulties of being teenagers, and on the role of media in shaping adolescents’ development of identity …

Adapting Manualized Treatments: Treating Anxiety Disorders Among Native Americans, Tami Decoteau, Jessiline Anderson, Debra Anne Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Although there is a small but growing body of literature examining the psychopathology of anxiety among Native Americans, no data are available regarding the efficacy of empirically supported treatments for anxiety disorders among Native Americans. Moreover, exceptional challenges arise i adapting mainstream approaches to Native Americans, such as language barriers, contrasting beliefs about the cause and treatment of emotional illness between mainstream and traditional Native American culture, problems with homework compliance, allowing extra time for rapport building, and the need for a spiritual component in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Native Americans also confront the challenges of rural living and …

Classroom-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Intervention To Prevent Aggression: Efficacy And Social Validity, Ann P. Daunic, Stephen W. Smith, Eve M. Brank, Randall D. Penfield

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Classroom teachers need effective, efficient strategies to prevent and/or ameliorate destructive student behaviors and increase socially appropriate ones. During the past two decades, researchers have found that cognitive strategies can decrease student disruption/aggression and strengthen pro-social behavior. Following preliminary pilot work, we conducted a study to determine whether a classwide, social problem-solving curriculum affected measures of knowledge and behavior for 165 4th and 5th grade students at risk for behavior problems. We found significant positive treatment effects on knowledge of problem-solving concepts and teacher ratings of aggression. Outcomes differed across teachers/classrooms, and there was no evidence that booster lessons affected …

Possible Association Between Response Inhibition And A Variant In The Brain-Expressed Tryptophan Hydroxylase-2 Gene, Scott F. Stoltenberg, Jennifer M. Glass, Steven T. Chermack, Heather A. Flynn, Sheng Li, Margaret E. Weston, Margit Burmeister

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The ability to inhibit a response is an important component of normal behavioral control and is an aspect of psychopathology when diminished. Converging evidence implicates the serotonergic neurotransmitter system in response inhibition circuitry.
Objectives — The present study examined potential associations between serotonergic genetic markers and response inhibition as indexed by Stop Task performance.
Methods — College-age participants (N= 199) completed self-report questionnaires, the computerized Stop Task, and donated buccal cells for genetic analyses. Statistics were analyzed by ANOVA.
Results — Stop Signal reaction time was not associated with allelic variation at a monoamine oxidase A promoter length polymorphism or …

Introduction To The Special Issue On Emotion In Legal Judgment And Decision Making, Brian H. Bornstein

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

In the last decade, researchers have shown burgeoning interest in issues at the intersection of emotion and law. Given the longstanding interest in emotion among social (and other) psychologists, most of this research has come from a psychological perspective, but it also includes work with a legal, sociological, philosophical, and neuroscience flavor. The issues are theoretical as well as practical, influencing both psychological theories of emotion and matters of legal practice and policy.

The law adopts a double standard in its treatment of emotion. In some areas, the law explicitly addresses emotion as a legitimate consideration, but in other areas, …

Identity Orientation, Voice, And Judgments Of Procedural Justice During Late Adolescence, Mark R. Fondacaro, Eve M. Brank, Jennifer Stuart, Sara Villanueva-Abraham, Jennifer Luescher, Penny S. Mcnatt

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study focused on the relationship between voice and judgments of procedural justice in a sample of older adolescents and examined potential moderating and mediating influences of identity orientation (personal, social, and collective) and negative emotional response. Participants read 1 of two different family conflict scenarios (voice and no voice) asking them to imagine themselves in a disagreement with their parents over grades and financial support. In the voice condition, parents were described as making their decision after listening to the participant’s input. In the no voice condition, parents were described as making their decision without listening to the participant’s …

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury And Anxiety Sequelae: A Review Of The Literature, Elizabeth L. Moore, Lori Terryberry-Spohr, Debra A. Hope

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

There is scattered but significant psychological and neuropsychological evidence to suggest that mild traumatic brain injury (mild TBI) plays a notable role in the emergence and expression of anxiety. Conversely, there is also empirical evidence to indicate that anxiety may exert a pronounced impact on the prognosis and course of recovery of an individual who has sustained a mild TBI. Although the relationship between mild TBI and anxiety remains unclear, the present body of research attempts to elucidate a number of aspects regarding this topic. Overall, the mild TBI research is rife with inconsistencies concerning prevalence rates, the magnitude and …

Psychopathology In Young People With Intellectual Disability, Stewart L. Einfeld, Andrea M. Piccinin, Andrew Mackinnon, Scott M. Hofer, John Taffe, Kylie M. Gray, Daniel E. Bontempo, Lesa R. Hoffman, Trevor Parmenter, Bruce J. Tonge

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Context—Comorbid severe mental health problems complicating intellectual disability are a common and costly public health problem. Although these problems are known to begin in early childhood, little is known of how they evolve over time or whether they continue into adulthood.

Objective—To study the course of psychopathology in a representative population of children and adolescents with intellectual disability.

Design, Setting, and Participants—The participants of the Australian Child to Adult Development Study, an epidemiological cohort of 578 children and adolescents recruited in 1991 from health, education, and family agencies that provided services to children with intellectual disability aged 5 to 19.5 …

Characterization Of Nicotine’S Ability To Serve As A Negative Feature In A Pavlovian Appetitive Conditioning Task In Rats, Rick A. Bevins, Jamie L. Wilkinson, Matthew I. Palmatier, Hannah L. Siebert, Steven M. Wiltgen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Rationale Pavlovian feature negative discriminations have been widely used to understand inhibitory conditioning processes using exteroceptive stimuli. Comparatively little is known about inhibitory conditioning processes using a drug state as a negative feature. A negative feature signals that presentation of a conditional stimulus (CS) will not be paired with an unconditioned stimulus. Objectives: The present research examined whether nicotine served as a negative feature and started characterizing its properties. Methods and results: In acquisition, rats received intermixed saline and nicotine (0.4 mg/kg, base) sessions. On saline sessions, a 15-s light CS was paired with 4-s access to sucrose; the CS …

Effects Of Temporal Clumping And Payoff Accumulation On Impulsiveness And Cooperation, David W. Stephens, Colleen M. Mclinn, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Animals show impulsiveness when they prefer a smaller more immediate option, even though a larger more delayed option produces a higher intake rate. This impulsive behavior has implications for several behavioral problems including social cooperation. This paper presents two experiments using captive blue jays (Cyanocitta cristata) that consider the effects of payoff accumulation and temporal clumping on impulsiveness and cooperation. Payoff accumulation refers to a situation where the benefits gained from each choice trial accumulate from one trial to the next, and only become available to the animal after it has completed a fixed number of trials. We …

All Parents Are To Blame (Except This One): Global Versus Specific Attitudes Related To Parental Responsibility Laws, Eve M. Brank, Stephanie A. Hays, Victoria Weisz

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Increasing state legislation and media interest give the appearance of public support for parental responsibility laws; however, some national polls suggest otherwise. Based on disparate global and specific attitudes in other areas of the criminal justice literature, it was hypothesized that relatively weak global support for parental responsibility would be diminished even more if a specific juvenile was described. The current studies confirmed that participants were even less supportive of parental responsibility laws when a specific juvenile and his parents were described than they were when they answered questions about parents in general.

Exposure Utilization And Completion Of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Ptsd In A “Realworld” Clinical Practice, Claudia Zayfert, Jason C. Deviva, Carolyn Becker, Julie L. Pike, Karen L. Gillock, Sarah A. Hayes

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study assessed rates of imaginal exposure therapy (ET) utilization and completion of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a clinical setting and examined variables associated with CBT completion. Using a clinical definition, the completion rate of CBT was markedly lower than rates reported in randomized trials. CBT completion was inversely related to severity of overall pretreatment measures of PTSD, avoidance, hyperarousal, depression, impaired social functioning, and borderline personality disorder. Regression yielded avoidance and depression as unique predictors of completion. Most dropouts occurred before starting imaginal ET, although initiating ET was associated with greater likelihood of …

Child Abuse And Neglect, David K. Dilillo, Michelle A. Fortier, Andrea R. Perry

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Although all child abuse is disturbing, the story of Little Diana represents a particularly horrific example—one involving extreme cruelty that resulted the death of a young child. While death is not the most common consequence of abuse, it is the most tragic and unacceptable outcome. What can be gleaned from this case that might prove useful in preventing similar incidents of abuse in the future? In considering this question, two factors emerge that may shed light on important directions for child abuse advocacy. These factors center around the unique challenges faced by immigrant families, and the need for increased perpetrator …

An Exploratory Study Of Constructions Of Masculinity, Sexuality And Hiv/Aids In Namibia, Southern Africa, Jill Brown, James Sorrell, Marcela Raffaelli

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The goal of the current study was to explore notions of masculinity and their linkages to HIV/AIDS among Owambo men and women in Namibia, where an estimated one-fifth of 15–49 year-olds have acquired HIV. Thirteen open-ended interviews and three focus groups were conducted with 50 male and female participants aged 19–50 in rural and urban Namibia. Qualitative analysis revealed six central themes: the evolving meanings of masculinity, power dynamics between men and women, women as active agents, the tension between formal and informal education and HIV transmission, alcohol and masculinity, and the blending of masculinity and explanations of HIV and …

An Sas Macro For Implementing The Modified Bollen–Stine Bootstrap For Missing Data: Implementing The Bootstrap Using Existing Structural Equation Modeling Software, Craig K. Enders

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The Bollen–Stine bootstrap can be used to correct for standard error and fit statistic bias that occurs in structural equation modeling (SEM) applications due to nonnormal data. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the use of a custom SAS macro program that can be used to implement the Bollen–Stine bootstrap with existing SEM software. Although this article focuses on missing data, the macro can be used with complete data sets as well. A series of heuristic analyses are presented, along with detailed programming instructions for each of the commercial SEM software packages.

Desktop Data Sonification: Comments On Flowers Et Al., Icad 1996, John H. Flowers, Kimberly D. Turnage, Dion C. Buhman

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Sonification tools have not yet become typical components of data analysis software, despite dramatic advances in sound-production capabilities of personal computers over the past decade. However, we continue to believe that auditory displays have the potential to be highly useful for “small scale” exploration of data for normally sighted users as well as an alternative format for users with visual impairment. Demonstration of effective examples of auditory data displays and design of flexible software tools for data sonification will be key factors in determining the impact of this method of data representation.

Data Sonification From The Desktop: Should Sound Be Part Of Standard Data Analysis Software?, John H. Flowers, Dion C. Buhman, Kimberly D. Turnage

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

The design of auditory formats for data display is presently focused on applications for blind or visually impaired users, specialized displays for use when visual attention must be devoted to other tasks, and some innovative work in revealing properties of complex data that may not be effectively rendered by traditional visual means. With the availability of high-quality and flexible sound production hardware in standard desktop computers, the potential exists for using sound to represent characteristics of typical “small and simple” samples of data in routine data inspection and analysis. Our research has shown that basic properties of simple functions, distribution …

Will Travel For Food: Spatial Discounting In Two New World Monkeys, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Alexandra G. Rosati, Kathryn R. Ross, Marc D. Hauser

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Nonhuman animals steeply discount the future, showing a preference for small, immediate over large, delayed rewards [1–5]. Currently unclear is whether discounting functions depend on context. Here, we examine the effects of spatial context on discounting in cotton-top tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) and common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus), species known to differ in temporal discounting [5]. We presented subjects with a choice between small, nearby rewards and large, distant rewards. Tamarins traveled farther for the large reward than marmosets, attending to the ratio of reward differences rather than their absolute values. This species difference contrasts with performance on …

Understanding Latino Children And Adolescents In The Mainstream: Placing Culture At The Center Of Developmental Models, Marcela Raffaelli, Gustavo Carlo, Miguel A. Carranza, Gloria E. Gonzalez-Kruger

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Demographic shifts in the U.S. population require developmental researchers to increase their attention to cultural diversity. Conceptual models that incorporate culturally relevant variables and focus on normative and positive development are needed to produce a more balanced understanding of Latino youth development.

The presence of Spanish-speaking people and their descendents in what are now parts of the United States of America dates back to the early sixteenth century. Despite this presence, Latino families and their children have been inadequately— and sometimes inaccurately—represented in the developmental literature. (In this chapter, the term Latino is used to refer to both male and …

Moral Development In Adolescence, Daniel Hart, Gustavo Carlo

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Themes in the papers in this special issue of the JRA on moral development are identified. We discuss the intersection of moral development research with policy concerns, the distinctive qualities of moral life in adolescence that warrant investigation, the multiple connotations of "moral," the methods typical of moral development research, and the influences that shape adolescent moral development. Suggestions are made for new methods and new directions in the study of moral development.

Moral development in adolescence has reached maturity as an area of research. This essay introduces a special issue of the Journal of Research on Adolescence, which …

The Role Of Adult Expectations On The Recovery Of Sexually Abused Children, Haig Kouyoumdjian, Andrea R. Perry, David J. Hansen

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Child sexual abuse is a disturbingly prevalent problem that has continued to receive increased attention in the United States. Because there is substantial variability in how sexual abuse impacts children, it is important to examine potential mediating variables, including the ways in which child and family factors contribute to children’s recovery. One of the most extensively researched family variables has been parental support, and this research has demonstrated a positive relationship between parental support and children’s functioning following sexual abuse. Another family variable that likely infl uences parent–child interactions and children’s recovery is parental expectations. Although adults’ expectations about children …

United Way And University Partnerships In Community-Wide Human Services Planning And Plan Implementation: The Case Of Lincoln/Lancaster County, Nebraska., Alan Tomkins, Nancy C. Shank, Darcy Tromanhauser, Sandy Rupp, Robin Mahoney

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Given the similar interests of United Way organizations and universities in planning, implementation, and evaluation of human services, the two social institutions could be extensively and effectively partnering with one another. However, there is little documentation that such cooperative efforts are taking place. This article describes one such collaboration in Lincoln, Nebraska. The purpose of the article is to show the potential of such collaboration to improve community-wide coordination and outcomes by following the principles of a community-engagement model, to generate more effective use of evaluative tools that can assist in developing evidence-based practices in community planning, and to connect …

Well-Being In Rural Nebraska: 2005 Nebraska Rural Poll Results, Rebecca J. Vogt, Randolph L. Cantrell, Bruce B. Johnson, Alan Tomkins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Nebraska’s economy has begun to improve during recent years. How have these changes affected rural Nebraskans? How do rural Nebraskans perceive their quality of life? Do their perceptions differ by community size, the region in which they live, or their occupation? Who do they feel comfortable talking to about their personal problems? What factors are most important to rural Nebraskans when selecting a behavioral health service provider? This report details 2,851 responses to the 2005 Nebraska Rural Poll, the tenth annual effort to understand rural Nebraskans’ perceptions. Respondents were asked a series of questions regarding their individual well-being. Trends for …