Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Effect Of Asynchronous Virtual Interviews On Ethnic Minority Matriculation Into A Doctor Of Physical Therapy Program, Conner Clark, Nanea Lagasca, Gladys Miller, Jasmine Puspos

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Purpose/Methods: This study examines the impact of the use of asynchronous virtual interviews (AVIs) in the admissions process of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). This research aims to examine racial and ethnic subgroup differences in AVI scores, evaluate the influence of AVIs on applicant scores in the admissions process, and assess the AVI inter-rater reliability among faculty evaluators using data from the 2019-2022 admissions cycles.

Results: Significant differences were found in AVI scores among racial and ethnic groups, with Black applicants scoring highest and Asian applicants scoring lowest. Additionally, inclusion …

Examining Emotion Regulation Strategies As Predictors Of Posttraumatic And Depressive Symptomatology In Maltreated Youth, Kinsey Ellis

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Youth with a history of maltreatment victimization are at heightened risk for developing symptoms of posttraumatic stress and depression. Recent work has identified emotion dysregulation as a potential transdiagnostic mechanism linking maltreatment victimization to youth psychopathology, but few studies have examined the influence of specific emotion regulation strategies. Habitual utilization of expressive suppression and cognitive reappraisal have each demonstrated associations with trauma-related psychopathology in adults. The present study examined both strategies as predictors of posttraumatic and depressive symptomatology in youth with a history of maltreatment, as well as mediators in the relationship between the two conditions.

The sample included 133 …

Examining Oppressive Social Systems: Activism, Academics And Alpha Males, Kristin Dee Vierra

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Oppressive social systems are structures and institutions within society that systematically and unjustly restrict the rights, opportunities, and overall well-being of certain groups (Bonilla-Silva, 1997; Feagin, 2013). The current program of research aims to investigate how oppressive social systems impact individuals and explore strategies to address and counteract them. The first paper seeks to understand whether, why, and how people engage in critical action to support Black Lives Matter (BLM). The second paper examines undergraduates' perceptions of whether STEM research mentors should consider race when mentoring students from marginalized backgrounds. The final paper employs a meta-synthesis with the purpose of …

Identifying Trauma Related Predictors Of Dissociation In Maltreated Youth, Amanda L. Mraz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Maltreated youth who experience traumatic dissociation are at an increased risk for various psychopathological difficulties. Much is still unknown about the machinations behind experiences of dissociation post-trauma. This study aimed to identify variables that place maltreated youth at risk for experiencing traumatic dissociation (e.g., dissociative amnesia, absorption and imaginative involvement, passive influence, depersonalization and derealization, and total adolescent dissociative experiences symptoms (A-DES)). Investigatory variables included demographic (e.g., age, gender, and racial identity), cognitive (e.g., resiliency and posttraumatic cognitions), and psychological (e.g., posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTSD) and anxiety) factors. Classification and regression tree (CART) analysis was utilized to observe the …

Development Of Cultural Familiarity Influences Musical Tempo, Jared W. Leslie

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Listeners perceive foreign speech as faster than native speech, even when there is no measurable difference in the speech rate. The mechanisms underlying this “Foreign Language Effect” are currently unknown, but one explanation is that as listeners acquire increasingly language-specific experience, they are able to parse the speech stimulus at increasingly slower levels of language structure (i.e., sentences or phrases rather than just syllables). This ability presumably gives riseto the perception that native speech is slower. Because music also has a hierarchical temporal structure, a similar phenomenon may also exist for tempo perception of culturally familiar and unfamiliar music. To …

Beyond The Surface: A Novel In-Game Behavioral Observation Matrix To Assess Video Game Expertise, Sam A. Leif

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

In the evolving landscape of gaming, a need for reliable methods to differentiate expertise levels among players has emerged. This study defines experts by their exceptional skills, domain-specific knowledge, and successful application of these attributes in complex situations. Unlike conventional methods that rely on self-reported experience for expertise stratification, this research proposes a shift towards systematic behavioral observation for a more reliable assessment of expertise. The Model of Domain Learning (MDL) facilitates empirical differentiation between novice, competent, and expert categories, allowing for appropriate stratification. Drawing from digital proxemics theory and adapted from the behavioral assessment matrix used by McCreery and …

Examining The Factor Structures Of The Erq-Ca, Rcads, And Rsca To Identify Unique Predictors Of Ptsd Symptom Clusters In Maltreated Youth, Amanda N. Howard

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Youth who have experienced maltreatment have a higher risk of developing posttraumatic disorder (PTSD), which is associated with poorer mental and behavioral health outcomes including emotion dysregulation, anxiety, depression, and lower resiliency. At present, the literature largely focuses on youth who have experienced general trauma or PTSD symptoms, while maltreated youth are vastly understudied. The present investigation was the first study to date to examine the factor structures of the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (ERQ-CA), the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), and the Resiliency Scale for Children and Adolescents (RSCA) in a sample of maltreated …

Identifying Clinical Profiles In A Community Sample Of Youth With Selective Mutism, Melanie Rede

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Selective mutism (SM) refers to a consistent failure to speak in social situations that have an expectation for speaking, despite fluent speech in other situations (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Recent researchers describe SM as a heterogeneous disorder not always characterized by anxiety (Driessen et al., 2020). Specifically, some have argued that SM may be better explained as a neurodevelopmental rather than an anxiety disorder (Kearney & Rede, 2021). The aim of the present study was to find unique classes for anxiety, oppositional, and communication difficulties among youth with SM. Participants included 129 caregivers of youth with SM aged 6–14 years …

Clinical Utility Of The Substance Use Items Of The Sport Interference Checklist In Collegiate Athletes, Igor Kowal

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Collegiate sports are growing in popularity (National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2022) and pressure to perform (van Raalte & Posteher, 2019); leading to difficulties in collegiate athletes’ mental health (Rice et al., 2016), particularly in regard to increased substance use (Wilson et al., 2021). Current literature demonstrates that existing substance use assessments are most likely not answered truthfully by athletes (van den Berg et al., 2018), are not applicable to real-world contexts, can be intrusive, and are expensive to administer. In the current study, psychometric properties of items from a self-report measure of substance use interference with sport training and competition …

Initial Development And Psychometric Evaluation Of The Mental Health Optimization Checklist (Mhoc), Raymond E. López

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: The Mental Health Optimization Checklist (MHOC) is a proposed measure which utilizes the theory of optimization science to improve mental health outcomes. Psychopathology is typically viewed dichotomously (i.e., does or does not have a disorder) or through cut-off criterion (i.e., 4 out of 5 symptoms, total scores), whereas optimization views psychopathology on a continuum on which patients can optimize factors impacting their mental health. Optimization theory is important for reducing stigma around mental health treatment and the MHOC offers itself as an informative psycho-diagnostic tool.

Methods: An undergraduate student sample (n = 682) completed the MHOC and the Symptom …

The Psychopathology Circumplex+: A Novel Conceptualization Of Psychopathology And Associated Measure, Edward A. Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Fearless Dominance (FD) and Impulsive Antisociality (IA) are two personality traits often used in the study of psychopathic personality. FD is characterized by a lack of empathy, resilience to stress, and social potency, while IA is marked by impulsivity, selfishness, and manipulativeness. The current trio of studies sought to expand the use of FD and IA to assess psychopathology more generally. Study 1 consisted of a meta-analysis of all the relationships between FD/IA and various forms of psychopathology. Results affirmed that FD and IA each correlate with a variety of different psychological disorders, each to varying degrees of magnitude, but …

Examination Of Performance Validity And The Relationship To Cognition And Symptoms In Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Erick A. Rogers

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Approximately one-in-five individuals with psychotic disorders (i.e., schizophrenia spectrum disorders [SSD]) fail performance validity indicators (PVIs) during neurocognitive testing. Ensuring the validity of neurocognitive test results is necessary if the test scores are to be of use for diagnostic consideration, intervention selection and planning, predicting outcomes, and following changes in cognition over time in response to intervention, spontaneous recovery, or disease progression. PVIs are designed to require only a minimum level of engagement with the evaluation, which means nearly everyone is expected to “pass,” even those with moderate to severe brain damage. Traditional interpretations of PVI failure suggest a noncredible …

The Relationship Between Psychopathy And Sexism Across Self-Report, Vignette, And Novel Dialogue Tree Tasks, Arianne Fisher

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Psychopathy is a personality construct consisting of a number of traits often associated with what many consider to be the “dark side” of personality. Multiple models and associated measurement tools have been created in an attempt to conceptualize psychopathy, but the field has not reached a consensus in its definition of this construct at this time. Across models, psychopathy is associated with a number of negative attitudes and behaviors, including various forms of prejudice. The relationship between psychopathy and one form of prejudice has not been examined, constituting a serious gap in the literature. This form of prejudice is ambivalent …

Measurement Invariance Of Impact In Bilingual And Monolingual High School Athletes, Hana Cecilia Kuwabara

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Given the reported negative consequences of sport related concussion (SRC), establishing the validity of concussion management tools is essential if they are used to determine the severity of concussion, track recovery or decline, implement effective interventions, and assist in return-to-play decision making. Previous research has found cognitive and symptoms differences on ImPACT, the most widely used SRC assessment measure, between monolingual and bilingual student athletes. Before further investigation of these differences can occur, measurement invariance of ImPACT must be established to ensure that differences are not attributable to measurement error. The current study has two aims: 1) to replicate a …

Cultural Mechanism Of Mothers' Perceptions Of Youth Psychopathology, Yen-Ling Chen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cross-cultural research systematically identifies variations in cultural practices, meanings, and responses across different cultural groups. For example, psychiatric symptoms vary in their salience and degree to which they are reported across cultures. Cultural differences in causal attributions likely lead to differences in an individual’s help-seeking intention. However, there are limitations in previous cross-cultural studies about perceptions of psychopathology, including not measuring impairment level and parental distress, as well as the problematic use of categorical variables as predictors. To overcome limitations in previous work, the current project examined the cultural mechanism of mothers’ perceptions of externalizing and internalizing psychopathology in youth. …

The Influence Of Prediction Error Strength On Reconsolidation, Kevin D. Mohawk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

It has been well established that consolidated memories can be reactivated and enter a labile state where they are once again vulnerable to modification. Reactivated memories, therefore, need to be restabilized or reconsolidated. Prediction error (PE) is one of the most common ways of reactivating consolidated memories, yet no studies have examined how varying the strength of PE influences reconsolidation. The present study aimed to determine if the strength of PE is an important factor for triggering reconsolidation and if so, how PE strength influences the reconsolidation process, whether through strengthening or weakening the memory. To vary PE strength, participants …

Examining The Effects Of Perspective-Taking And Empathetic Concern On Attractiveness Biases In Millennial And Generation X Adults, Stephanie Verba-Quinones

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The current study examined the effects of perspective-taking and empathetic concern on attractiveness biases and stereotypes in Generation X and Millennial adults. Such biases and stereotypes are pervasive and can lead to preferential treatment and differential outcomes for individuals of varying attractiveness levels (see Langlois et al., 2000 for review). Previous research suggests that social media may amplify the importance placed on attractiveness, particularly for women (Fardouly et al., 2015; Perloff, 2014; Tiggemann et al., 2014; Toma & Hancock, 2018). Given the negative impacts of biases and stereotypes, this study sought to investigate pathways to reduce attractiveness biases and stereotypes …

An Examination Of The Association Of Religiosity, Purity Culture, And Religious Trauma With Symptoms Of Depression And Anxiety, Kaelyn R. Griffin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

While no consistent definition yet exists for religious trauma, religious abuse is typically defined as a misuse of authority by a spiritual leader to coerce, control, or exploit those under their leadership, which may in turn lead to the experience of religious trauma. Numerous studies suggest that experiencing abuse within a religious environment is a both global phenomenon and common experience. The impact of religious abuse has recently gained greater media attention, specifically related to the social and psychological impact of leaving high-cost religious groups (i.e., those with rigid rules or groups from which departure leads to isolation and rejection …

Gender Differences In Internalizing Problems And Everyday Behaviors Associated With Executive Function In Children And Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hiroko Mullner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Background: Many children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience internalizing problems, and there was evidence suggesting that poor executive function (EF) predicted their internalizing problems. However, this association was primarily found in studies with male children with ASD. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate gender differences in internalizing problems and everyday EF in ASD children (age 5-15) and examined the associations between internalizing problems and everyday EF.Method: This study examined neuropsychological assessment data of ASD children without intellectual disability. The study consisted of two groups: 1. ASD boys (n = 44), 2. ASD girls (n = 15). The study …

Multiple Approaches To Examining Gender Norms In Romantic Relationships, Carrie Underwood

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Romantic relationships are essential to the human experience, and gender stereotypes are so ingrained they can be automatic. In this dissertation, I address three empirical questions through both quantitative and qualitative research methods, all of which contribute to the growing body of literature on gender norms and romantic relationships. In Chapter 2, I present a mixed-methods study that examines how heterosexual men reason about benevolent sexism. Results revealed themes of equality in the workplace and men’s roles as providers. In Chapter 4 I implemented a two-study research design to understand how heterosexual women and men reason about troubled romantic relationships. …

Developmental Differences In School Climate Predictors Of Chronic School Absenteeism, Michael Fensken

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

School attendance problems (SAPs) represent a critical developmental challenge for youth. SAPs represent a spectrum from difficulties attending school despite complete school attendance to complete absence. Ongoing SAPs can lead to chronic absenteeism, which may be defined as missing 8.3–10.0% (15–18 days) of school in an academic year. However, debate exists over the utility of a demarcation for chronic absenteeism. A shortcoming of cutoffs to defining problematic chronic absenteeism is that demographic, academic, symptom, and family variables are not delineated clearly. Yet, the present intervention frameworks (e.g., multi-tiered systems of supports models; MTSS) rely on clear delineations of such variables …

Individual Differences In Police Officers’ Decision Styles In Order Maintenance Policing, Damarrah Elisheba Jameson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Day-to-day police work tends to be in order maintenance policing. These encounters necessitate officer discretion in decision responses to manage them. These decision responses reflect an officer’s decision style which precedes the encounter and drives subsequent decision making to manage them. However, little is known about officer-level decision style. For example, whether an officer has a rational, intuitive, dependent, avoidant, or spontaneous decision style (Scott& Bruce, 1995). Police training in any format often lacks attention to decision styles. As such, an officer’s decision style is most likely associated with demographics (e.g., age, gender) and occupational self-efficacy – a reflection of …

The Effect Of Sleep And Emotion On Pattern Separation, Alanna N. Osmanski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Prior work on the relationship between sleep and memory suggests that the sleep state is an optimal time for memory consolidation to occur. During slow wave sleep, newly encoded information in the hippocampus is repeatedly activated, driven by slow oscillations that originate in the neocortex. This process that occurs during slow wave sleep facilitates the long-term storage of memories. A widely accepted view of emotion and sleep is that emotional memories are preferentially consolidated during sleep so that they are easily accessible for retrieval, whereas neutral memories tend to be less accessible. However, recent meta-analyses of sleep, emotion, and memory …

Comparing Comics And Illustrated Texts In Multimedia Learning, Jackson S. Pelzner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this research was to examine how different forms of media, in particular science comics and illustrated texts, contribute to different patterns of learning. While the standard illustrated text seen in a textbook has been a useful tool for instruction, science comics appear to be an alternative that could be used in lieu of media that use the traditional illustrated text format. The comic format, known more for its visual appeal to readers, is consistent with the principles of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (Mayer, 2009), though comprehension may require different mechanisms (Cohn, 2013a). It was hypothesized …

Fear Of Recurrence As A Mediator Of Illness Perception And Perceived Stress In Acute Myocardial Infarction Survivors, Sarah E. Zvonar

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Purpose: The primary objective of this study is to evaluate fear of recurrence as a mediator of illness perception and perceived stress. This research will determine how illness perceptions and fear of recurrence affect perceived stress in the acute myocardial infarction (AMI) population. Other aims will observe how demographics predict patients who may experience increased fear of recurrence and stress in the AMI population, how the variables of fear of recurrence change over time, and if fear of recurrence is still a significant mediator after controlling for depression and anxiety.Rational/ Conceptual Basis/ Background: Acute myocardial infarctions (AMIs) are often accompanied …

Beyond The Numbers: A Deeper Dive Into The Dearth Of Girls And Women In Stem, Jennifer John Buck

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Despite decades of research attempting to better understand the dearth of girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), gender imbalances persist in many STEM fields. This is particularly the case in math-intensive STEM fields. The current program of research used mixed-methods research to better understand these inequities. The first paper identified gender and ethnic variation in how undergraduates reason about STEM inequities. The second paper found that how emerging adults narrate “turning points” in their relationship with math was associated with their current math outcomes and future plans to pursue math. The final paper demonstrated that how …

Disentangling Instrumental And Reactive Aggression In The Competitive Reaction Time Task And Their Associations With Factors Of Meanness In Psychopathy, Ashley Michelle Poston

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Aggression is often subtyped into reactive and instrumental aggression. Reactive aggression occurs in response to some form of provocation and is often accompanied by anger. Instrumental aggression is not provoked and is relatively unemotional. Existing aggression paradigms primarily measure reactive aggression, and the laboratory measurement of instrumental aggression has proved challenging. This study modified the competitive reaction time task to include an entire block of instrumental aggression trials, in addition to the standard block of reactive trials, in effort to create a single paradigm within which both reactive and instrumental aggression can be measured in the laboratory. Psychopathy is a …

How Medical Students Use Social Support To Cope With Burnout: A Grounded Theory Approah, Michelle Nicole I. Janeo

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Medical education to become a physician is a rigorous training process resulting in high rates of burnout in medical students. Research on burnout in human service providers results in negative impacts on professionalism, well-being, and the future healthcare workforce. Previous research investigating strategies to combat burnout has demonstrated that resilience is a dominant explanation for recovery from burnout. There is limited data exploring how social support is used by medical students as a resource to cope with the demands of training. Considering that social support is one primary factor that contributes to resilience, it is important to understand the process …

Dimensionality Of Natural Auditory Scene Perception: A Factor Analysis Study, Margaret A. Mcmullin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Theories of auditory and visual scene analysis suggest the perception of scenes relies on the identification and segregation of objects within it, resembling a detail-oriented processing style, but it is possible that a global-oriented process also occurs while evaluating auditory scenes. There is evidence for global properties that enable rapid recognition of visual scenes, even without recognizing the individual objects comprising the scene. It is our understanding that a similar line of research has not been explored in the auditory domain; therefore, we evaluated the contributions of high-level global and low-level acoustic information to auditory scene perception. A secondary aim …

Comparing Forgetting Rates Between Pattern Separation And Item Recognition, Rhiannon N. Soriano Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Recent theories of forgetting posit that hippocampally-based memory representations are more prone to be forgotten due to decay, while extra-hippocampal representations are more likely to be forgotten due to interference (Hardt, Nader, & Nadel, 2013; Sadeh & Pertzov, 2020). The current study examined this hypothesis by comparing the rate of forgetting between pattern separation, a hippocampally-based process, and item recognition, a process that is reliant on both hippocampal and extra-hippocampal structures. It was hypothesized that pattern separation would display more forgetting due to decay because it is a hippocampally-based process, while item recognition would display more forgetting due to interference …