Psychiatry and Psychology Commons^™

Increasing Access To Aba Intervention For Children With Developmental Disabilities In Taiwan, Noel Hsu

Master's Projects and Capstones

Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) uses a behavioral approach to help clients and their behavioral challenges. This treatment has been proven to be a highly effective intervention for children with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorders. It is widely practiced in the United States and many other developed countries; however, this intervention is not widely available in Taiwan. This phenomenon requires our investigation because it raises questions about the available supports and interventions for children with special needs in Taiwan. This project is to explore factors that influence the development of ABA intervention in Taiwan. The goal of this project …

Computational Modeling Of Contrast Sensitivity And Orientation Tuning In Schizophrenia, Steven M. Silverstein, Docia L. Demmin, James A. Bednar

MODVIS Workshop

Computational modeling is being increasingly used to understand schizophrenia, but, to date, it has not been used to account for the common perceptual disturbances in the disorder. We manipulated schizophrenia-relevant parameters in the GCAL (gain control, adaptation, laterally connected) model (Stevens et al., 2013), run using the Topographica simulator (Bednar, 2012), to model low-level visual processing changes in the disorder. Our models incorporated: separate sheets for retinal, LGN, and V1 activity; gain control in the LGN; homeostatic adaptation in V1 based on a weighted sum of all inputs and limited by a logistic (sigmoid) nonlinearity; lateral excitation and inhibition in …

Bendablesound: An Elastic Multisensory Surface Using Touch-Based Interactions To Assist Children With Severe Autism During Music Therapy, Franceli L. Cibrian, Oscar Peña, Deysi Ortega, Monica Tentori

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

Neurological Music Therapy uses live music to improve the sensorimotor regulation of children with severe autism. However, they often lack musical training and their impairments limit their interactions with musical instruments. In this paper, we present our co-design work that led to the BendableSound prototype: an elastic multisensory surface encouraging users to practice coordination movements when touching a fabric to play sounds. We present the results of a formative study conducted with 18 teachers showing BendableSound was perceived as “usable” and “attractive”. Then, we present a deployment study with 24 children with severe autism showing BendableSound is “easy to use” …

Paving The Road To Resilience: A Grounded Theory Pilot Study, Ruchi Shah

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

The purpose of this grounded theory pilot study was to develop a theory about how survival thinking can be fostered into resilience for children from a low socio-economic urban community in Mumbai, India. The study also examined how dance/movement therapy could be utilized to foster these qualities of resilience. Based on experiences with the population, this researcher hypothesized that the children experienced early complex trauma. Data was collected through movement observations of the children, interviews with professionals who have actively worked with them, and the researcher’s reflections of her own body felt experiences after each observation and interview. Data was …

Exploring Kinesthethic Empathy In The Medical Setting: A Heuristic Inquiry, Jenna Maltby

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

The purpose of this heuristic inquiry was to understand how I used kinesthetic empathy while working with children hospitalized on the general pediatric unit and pediatric intensive care unit. I was also interested in exploring whether aspects of kinesthetic empathy might be useful for child life specialists in relationship building. Data were collected using journal entries that depicted my use of kinesthetic empathy after 15 individual dance/movement therapy sessions. The data were analyzed using Forinash’s qualitative data analysis approach. The findings demonstrated that I engaged in kinesthetic empathy by being present, self-referencing, embodying, and using touch. The findings were shared …

An Annotated Bibliography Of Creative Interventions Within Dance/Movement Therapy, Kaitlynn Kavanaugh

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

This annotated bibliography explores how creativity is integrated in dance/movement therapy (DMT) interventions. The central question guiding this research was: How is creativity explicitly implemented in DMT interventions, approaches, and/or theoretical frameworks? Literature was gathered from journal articles, books, book chapters, and online peer reviews; a total of fifteen sources were annotated. During the research process, several challenges emerged when searching for explicit explanations of creativity used within DMT. This included annotations from sources which described creativity used within DMT interventions, approaches and theoretical frameworks that did not explicitly define creativity. This bibliography uncovers several themes related to the concept …

Move About It: Movement-Based Sexual Abuse Prevention Workshop For High Schools, Katie Wild

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

The purpose of Move About It, a movement- based prevention workshop was to increase awareness, knowledge, and empowerment for high school students by engaging in sexual abuse prevention education. This workshop will address: spatial awareness and boundary education, develop decision-making skills, create community safety plans, and bring awareness to sexual abuse through social media. The workshop developed through individual interviews with professionals with a background in high school aged youth, program development and implementation, trauma counseling, dance/movement therapy, school health, wellness and discipline in schools. Move About It is designed for dance/movement therapists to implement within a health class at …

Response Time Scores On A Reflexive Attention Task Predict A Child's Inattention Score From A Parent Report, Erica Suh, Katherine Christensen, Sarah Kamhout, Kahala Thompson, Yoojin Kim, Cooper Hodges

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

● Children with attention deficits have problems with sustained and reflexive attention tasks

● Few studies measure reflexive attention as a component of day-to-day attention in children

● Parents also have valuable insight into children’s behavior

● We want to identify associations between computer-based reflexive attention task performance and parent-rated attention-related problems.

The Effects Of Extracurricular Activity And Physical Activity On Academic Success: A Literature Review, Braden Tanner

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Due to an ever-increasing importance of education, it is important to understand how to foster an environment conducive to academic success. Extracurricular activity is one of many factors that influences the academic environment. This review examines literature published since 2010 concerning extracurricular activity's effect on academic success. Seeing that sports make up such a large portion of the extracurricular spectrum, the review also examines studies analyzing the effects of physical activity on academic performance.

Git R Done: Analysis Of Motivation In Relation To Exercise And Determining Factors, Britton L. Rice

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Exercise provides many physical, emotional and mental health benefits (Facts about Physical Activity, 2014). Despite this, only 21% of American adults exercise regularly. One way of increasing this is to encourage better understanding of motivation and how to control it. Since intrinsic motivation towards exercise is not easily created or changed, most of the focus is placed on extrinsic motivation in its varying degrees. This summary isolates a few factors in exercise that play crucial roles in deciding motivation such as:

• Climate and Goal Orientation

• Influence of peers and teammates

• Influence of coaches

Expectations And Memory: Positive And Negative Expectations Of Memorizing The Armenian Alphabet, Micah Wood, Madeline Hoyt

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

Studies suggest that expectations may have an effect on various cognitive functions, including memory. To this point, no studies have exclusively investigated the effect of expectations on short-term memory. This study tested the effect of positive and negative expectations on short-term memory, utilizing the Armenian alphabet as a test of memory. N=45 undergraduate students (23 men, 22 women), ranging in age from 18-26 years were divided equally into three groups: Group 1 was a control group, Group 2 was manipulated to have positive expectations before testing, and Group 3 was manipulated to have negative expectations before testing. All groups were …

Infant Siblings Of Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder Have Higher Perseveration, Katherine Christensen, Allison Garner Kotter, Rachel Nuttall, Bread Iverson, Taylor Bayles

FHSS Mentored Research Conference

● Children with ASD have difficulty with social cues, repetitive behaviors, and restricted interests

● Many of these signs show up after a diagnosis and many children remain undiagnosed until school-age

● We want to demonstrate the utility of a screening tool to identify infants at risk for ASD

● This tool could enable earlier identification and treatment for those who have unknown risk for ASD

Sleep Deprivation And Voluntary Alcohol Consumption In Adult Rats, Charles M. Cowan Ii

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Alcohol is a psychoactive drug with a large userbase among adults across the globe. However, alcohol use also reduces the quality of sleep in the user. Historically, research has focused on the effects of alcohol on sleep architecture, but recent research has started to examine the effects of sleep deprivation on alcohol consumption. This research examines the effects of sleep deprivation on voluntary alcohol consumption in adult rats. Twelve Sprague Dawley rats were given ad libitum access to food, alcohol (7% solution), and water for the duration of this study. Subjects were then placed into non-moving forced exercise wheels to …

An Embodied Artistic Inquiry On Self-Compassion: Awakening The Warrior Goddess Within, Lindsey Rae Thompson

Creative Arts Therapies Theses

The purpose of this self-study was to engage in an in-depth embodied artistic inquiry of my experience of self-compassion. My research questions were: How can self-compassion support my work as a dance/movement therapist? How does my body inform and communicate my experience of self-compassion? How do I experience self-compassion? Data was collected through video recorded dance/movement and creative journaling, by responding to moments of suffering with self-compassion. Data was analyzed concurrently through dialogue transcript and was further analyzed at the end of data collection using creative synthesis. 87 pages.

Drunkorexia And The Motives Behind Substance Abuse And Eating Disorder Pathology Amongst College Culture, Nicole Caron, Ginette Gosselin Ferszt

Senior Honors Projects

Amongst college campuses throughout the United States, binge drinking has become a major concern. It seems to be integrated into campus culture, and considered “normal behavior”. However, binge drinking is not without its consequences. There are programs and educational materials which warn about the dangers of binge drinking. While binge drinking behaviors are common, there are other troublesome behaviors that are experienced amongst college students which are not discussed as often. In addition, there is an increase in the integration of binge drinking and eating disorder behaviors. This behavior is referred to as “drunkorexia”. Drunkorexia involves the exhibition of eating …

Task Complexity And Time Pressure Affect Air Traffic Controller’S Performance And Workload, Qianru Yang, Andrew R. Dattel

International Symposium on Aviation Psychology - 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of task complexity (TC) and time pressure (TP) on air traffic controller’s (ATC) performance and mental workload. Sixteen students enrolled in an aviation college completed four scenarios which were a subset of the ATCPrep software for the AT-SAT. Fifteen performance variables were measured (e.g., conflict resolution). Additionally, NASA-TLX was used to test participants’ mental workload. As expected, for most of the performance variables, high TC andhigh TP resulted in the lowest participant performance. For the three performance variables, TP had a differential effect on TC. Participants experienced the greatest mental …

Use Of Music To Reduce Anxiety In Short Wait Periods For Patients Receiving Care In An Urgent Care Clinic, Rebecca Anne Parker

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract

The concept of waiting has received limited attention in the world of research. In modern society, waiting has become a commonplace event, especially in healthcare. Although the waiting experience can produce anxiety, healthcare environments can be easily manipulated in order to increase human comfort and reduce situational anxiety. One such way of accomplishing this is to introduce music to an environment. This paper will discuss the findings related to short wait periods, anxiety, and music within the literature, and the findings within this research study. This study found listener-selected music to be statistically effective in reducing anxiety for patients …

Chronotype, Class Times, And Academic Achievement Of University Students, Tristan Enright, Roberto Refinetti

Psychological Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Numerous studies over the years have documented an effect of human chronotypes on physiological and psychological processes. Studies evaluating the impact of an individual’s chronotype on his/her academic achievement have indicated that morning chronotypes have an academic advantage over evening chronotypes. However, these studies did not account for the time of day in which the participants were being evaluated. The goal of the present study was to examine whether morning chronotypes do have an academic advantage over evening chronotypes when the time-of-day of classes and exams is taken into consideration. We obtained morningness-eveningness scores and course grades from 207 university …

Provider Based Interventions To Mitigate Risk For Opioid Pain Medication Abuse Among Adult Patients In A Primary Care Setting, Sheree Lamara Conley-Donaldson

Doctoral Projects

Mental and substance use disorders are predicted to exceed all physical disease processes causing major disability by 2020. Misuse and overdose of opioid pain medications is a significant public health concern in the United States. Approximately 1 in 4 patients receiving prescription opioids in primary care settings struggle with misuse. Half of all opioid prescriptions are written by primary care providers, including nurse practitioners. The purpose of this DNP project was to determine if nurse practitioner providers are implementing evidence-based practice guidelines including screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) to mitigate risk of prescription opioid pain medication misuse …

The Social Progression Of Post -Traumatic Stress Disorder: Post Vietnam And September 11th Attacks, Ellie Mcdonald

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Social Progression of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Post-Vietnam and September 11^th Attacks is an examination on the infrastructure of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’and of the Department of Defense’s lack of clarity and misinformation of the challenges and effects of mental illness within military ranks. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) made the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM) after Vietnam. Since then, PTSD has been reevaluate numerous times, to properly define it. This research is a comparative analysis of the misconceptions of PTSD as experienced by Vietnam veterans and the first responders of the September 11^th tragedy. My research charts …

Mental Health 101: Teaching Students And Campus Leaders How To Help Those In Crisis, Megan B. Kuhnly

Senior Honors Projects

One in four Americans ages 18 and older live with a diagnosable mental health disorder. Due to this high prevalence it is very likely that everyone will encounter someone dealing with a mental health crisis in his or her lifetime. Many college students will experience a crisis during their four years of study due to the high levels of stress and psychological triggers. However, we are often not taught how to help these individuals and the resources available are not well advertised. This lack of education and awareness leads to many students being forced to suffer alone and their mental …

Making Sex Work For The State : The Policing Of Sex Work In The United States., Madeline A Clabough

College of Arts & Sciences Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes the ways that sex work is regulated within the United States, and analyze the ways that regulation is shaped by contemporary feminist discourse. To do so, it analyzes the ways in which sex workers have been and pathologized since the 19th century, and address the ways that these conceptualizations have been incorporated into the legal regulation of sex workers. Finally, this thesis will look to contemporary practices in the state regulation of sex workers, and argue that the relationship between neoliberalism, the carceral state, and what has come to be termed “carceral feminism” operate in conjunction to …

An Exploration Of The Effects Of Pronoun Usage In Questionnaires On The Measurement Of Anxiety Sensitivity, Destiny B. Reynolds

Honors Theses

Previous research in the psychology of language has found that first- and second-person pronouns have different uses beyond simply referring to different subjects. First-person pronouns are thought to forge a stronger association between self-concept and emotion (Meissener, 2008), while second-person pronouns are inherently self-distancing (Park, Adyuk & Kross, 2015). The present study sought to apply this knowledge to self-report questionnaires to determine whether pronoun usage influenced self-report scores of anxiety sensitivity. Both the ASI-3 and a second-person revised version were given to participants during prescreening, baseline, and post-anxiety-intervention measures and assessed for differences. Prescreen analysis revealed that the revised ASI-3 …

How Parenting Style Relates To Adolescent Substance Abuse In An At-Risk Male Population, Bailee R. Brewer

Honors Theses

Parents have an important role in their children’s development. There is evidence that parenting behaviors such as parental involvement, monitoring of children, and inconsistent discipline play a role in adolescent substance use. The purpose of this study is to document perceptions of parenting behaviors among youth at a residential boot camp facility for at-risk adolescents, and to relate those perceptions to youths’ self-reported history of substance use. This study adds to previous research on parenting behavior by examining the parenting behaviors reported by troubled youth, rather than the more typically studied normative youth. Additionally, this study tests whether previously reported …

Humor In Medicine: A Literature Review Of Humor’S Potential Therapeutic Value In Health Care, Weston Michael Grant

Psychological Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Using humor and laughter within the health care field has the potential to be relevant to patients during treatment, to the patient-caregiver relationship, to the subjective well-being of health care providers, and to the environments’ (e.g., work settings) impact on group relationships (e.g., colleagues). A review of the literature examines how the psychological and physiological effects of laughter and humor within the human body impact health and well-being, how humor and laughter improve the patient-practitioner relationship, and if humor and laughter can potentially impact physician burnout. Several possible implications for these findings are discussed, such as professional medical comedians, improvements …

A Pilot Investigation Of Acute Inhibitory Control Training In Cocaine Users, Joseph L. Alcorn, Erika Pike, William W. Stoops, Joshua A. Lile, Craig R. Rush

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background—Disrupted response inhibition and presence of drug-cue attentional bias in cocaine-using individuals have predicted poor treatment outcomes. Inhibitory control training could help improve treatment outcomes by strengthening cognitive control. This pilot study assessed the effects of acute inhibitory control training to drug- and non-drug-related cues on response inhibition performance and cocaine-cue attentional bias in cocaine-using individuals.

Methods—Participants who met criteria for a cocaine-use disorder underwent five sessions of inhibitory control training to either non-drug-related cues (i.e., rectangles) or cocaine cues (n=10/condition) in a single day. Response inhibition and attentional bias were assessed prior to and following training using …

Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Appalachian Spouses Of Combat Veterans With Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Janice E. Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was conducted to identify gaps in existing knowledge regarding impacts of combat-related PTSD on the spouse and to gain an understanding of the lived experience of Appalachian Spouses of combat veterans with PTSD. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify research and findings on the impacts of combat-related PTSD on spouses of veterans and a qualitative study was conducted to gain an understanding of the lives of Appalachian spouses of combat veterans with PTSD.

The systematic review identified 16 qualitative studies conducted between 1988 and 2016 in five countries spanning five wars. Regardless of the country of …

Effective Psychodrama Supervision: A Grounded Theory Study On Senior Supervisors' Perspectives, Simone Levy Tabib

Expressive Therapies Dissertations

The overarching purpose of this two-phase study was to gain understanding about and insight into the practice of effective psychodrama supervision as a specialty field. The study explored senior supervisors’ perspectives on their roles as in-class group supervisors in psychodrama graduate school programs in Israel. Grounded theory (GT) methods of data collection and analysis were aimed at learning about participants’ professional approaches, and practice- based experiences. Study 1 involved face-to-face in-depth interviews conducted with open-ended core questions. The interviews explored how six expert participants approached the practice of PD supervision and the reasons behind their approaches. The findings shed light …

Understanding Transitions Of Trust Across Different Business Contexts: An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Study, Sungsik Yoon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Airbnb’s influence has been growing rapidly in the last few years, and hotel operators are beginning to recognize the competitive threat it poses. However, consumers may perceive Airbnb differently than hoteliers. Thus, the current study attempts to explore hotel customers’ perceptions of the sharing economy business (Airbnb). It is important to pay attention to the different business settings of the channels that currently exist in the lodging industry. Moreover, investigating the relationship between trust and perceived risk in this new channel (i.e., Airbnb) is crucial due to the inherent risk of transactions on Airbnb, especially when compared with traditional Business-to-customer. …

Comparative Analyses Of Zebrafish Anxiety-Like Behavior Using Conflict-Based Novelty Tests, Elana V. Kysil, Darya A. Meshalkina, Erin E. Frick, David J. Echevarria, Denis B. Rosemberg, Caio Maximino, Monica Gomes Lima, Murilo S. Abreu, Ana C. Giacomini, Leonardo J.G. Barcellos, Cai Song, Allan V. Kalueff

Faculty Publications

Modeling of stress and anxiety in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) is increasingly utilized in neuroscience research and central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery. Representing the most commonly used zebrafish anxiety models, the novel tank test (NTT) focuses on zebrafish diving in response to potentially threatening stimuli, whereas the light-dark test (LDT) is based on fish scototaxis (innate preference for dark vs. bright areas). Here, we systematically evaluate the utility of these two tests, combining meta-analyses of published literature with comparative in vivo behavioral and whole-body endocrine (cortisol) testing. Overall, the NTT and LDT behaviors demonstrate a generally good cross-test correlation …