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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Assessment Of Reliability And Stability Of Various Visual Search Parameters, Michael Don Mizer Dec 2017

Assessment Of Reliability And Stability Of Various Visual Search Parameters, Michael Don Mizer

MSU Graduate Theses

Research in social science has been on a continuous self-correcting path as scientists find new ways to look at old problems. Recent technology has given us the ability to perform compounded calculations in a fraction of previous times while recording complex measurements with greater degrees of precision. While this is helpful regarding corporeal measures, quantifying cognition is still a difficult task. Recently, many computer-aided eye tracking devices have been developed and used to validate visual search theories. However, few inquiries have been made assessing the reliability and stability of these methods. This study assessed the reliability and stability of visual …


A Comparison Of Traditional, Trial-Based, And Synthesized Contingency Trial-Based Functional Analyses, Kaitlin S. Curtis Dec 2017

A Comparison Of Traditional, Trial-Based, And Synthesized Contingency Trial-Based Functional Analyses, Kaitlin S. Curtis

MSU Graduate Theses

Researchers have developed functional analyses (FAs) to improve efficiency and correspondence that still use core components of the traditional format. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the correspondence between the trial-based FA and the traditional FA. I also evaluated the correspondence between the synthesized-contingency trial-based FA and the traditional FA. Within this study, I determined that by combining methods, I was able to reduce false negatives for escape found within the trial-based FAs and false-positives found within the synthesized contingency FAs.


Comparison Of Trial-Based, Synthesized Trial-Based, And Traditional Functional Analyses, Kara Leigh Forck Dec 2017

Comparison Of Trial-Based, Synthesized Trial-Based, And Traditional Functional Analyses, Kara Leigh Forck

MSU Graduate Theses

I evaluated a synthesized trial-based functional analysis with two students who engaged in problem behavior by combining the methods from the trial-based functional analysis and synthesized contingency functional analysis. Multiple test conditions were combined into one test condition and were evaluated in 2-min trials. The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of correspondence of the results between the trial-based, synthesized trial-based, and traditional function analyses. One participant showed exact correspondence between the three functional analyses, while the other participant showed partial correspondence.


The Effects Of Goal Setting Type And Feedback On Basketball Skill Improvement, Shelby Diane White Dec 2017

The Effects Of Goal Setting Type And Feedback On Basketball Skill Improvement, Shelby Diane White

MSU Graduate Theses

Goal setting is a process that is used by many people in a variety of settings. For example, goals can be set for weight loss, career milestones, or anything a person would like to increase or decrease. According to Locke and Latham (1984), the best way to set a goal is to make sure the goal is specific. If someone wants to lose weight, the individual should state exactly how much weight they would like to lose and set a specific deadline for achieving the weight loss. A second aspect to goal setting is to make sure the goal is …


A Qualitative Study Of Group Therapy Incorporating Rap Music With Inmates, Abigail V. Richards Dec 2017

A Qualitative Study Of Group Therapy Incorporating Rap Music With Inmates, Abigail V. Richards

MSU Graduate Theses

This study aims to explore the lived experiences of inmates who participate in group psychotherapy incorporating elements of rap music. Rap music includes elements such as emotional expression, songwriting, community building, freestyling, and beat, which can be beneficial for individuals experiencing typical symptoms of incarceration such as anxiety, self-discovery, and difficulties regulating emotion. Ten inmates of a Missouri county justice center (50% male) were recruited on a volunteer basis to participate in a five-week psychotherapy group. The study involves psychoeducation, group-drumming, self-expression, and improvisation. Qualitative data were collected through an interview process with participants, including inmates, facilitators and supervisors. Results …


Contemplative Practices And Post-Secondary Well-Being: Potential Methods For Reducing Test Anxiety, Shannon S. Hayden Aug 2017

Contemplative Practices And Post-Secondary Well-Being: Potential Methods For Reducing Test Anxiety, Shannon S. Hayden

MSU Graduate Theses

Students encounter numerous sources of stress in college from school work to examinations. A proposed method for reducing test related anxiety is contemplative practice (namely, mindfulness meditation and expressive writing). These interventions were used immediately prior to an exam to determine effectiveness on students’ mood and test grade. Although the study produced few statistically significant results, a promising trend in utilizing these interventions for increasing exam grades, increasing positive mood, and decreasing negative mood was uncovered. Each intervention appears to have dissimilar effects on different types of students (i.e., varying degrees of dispositional mindfulness and cognitive test anxiety; for example, …


The Effects Of Motivation And Goal Setting On Response Latency And Mental Effort, Jessica K. Willis Aug 2017

The Effects Of Motivation And Goal Setting On Response Latency And Mental Effort, Jessica K. Willis

MSU Graduate Theses

Researchers have found that performance is enhanced when participants set goals that are specific, difficult, and perceived as attainable. Also, motivation contributes to performance; specifically, intrinsic motivation, approach motivation, and avoidance motivation. Ninety participants were assigned randomly to one of two motivation groups; a goal setting or a control and assessed over a series of memory problems; solvable and unsolvable. Participant’s response latencies (RL) following an unsolvable problem was examined as a function of motivation type. Based upon the results from a 2 (Group; goal setting vs control) X 2 (test order) X 2 (memory problem difference scores) mixed ANOVA, …


Investigation Of The Predictive Validity Of Implicit And Explicit Measures Of Integrity, Andrew C. Schneider Aug 2017

Investigation Of The Predictive Validity Of Implicit And Explicit Measures Of Integrity, Andrew C. Schneider

MSU Graduate Theses

The present study examined the incremental predictive validity of two overt-based Implicit Association Tests (IATs) and three personality-based IATs for behavior related to integrity and character. The overt-based IATs assess attributes related to self and honesty. The personality-based IATs assess attributes related to the “dark triad” of personality – Machiavellianism, subclinical narcissism, and subclinical psychopathy. A temptation manipulation provided opportunities for subjects to lie, cheat, and steal on a number finding task, to receive a greater financial reward. In addition to the five IATs, subjects also completed five explicit (self-report) overt and personality-based integrity measures. Findings did not support the …


Body Image And Bodybuilding: The Impact Commitment To Bodybuilding Has On Body Image Disturbance Among Competitive Bodybuilders, Jordan Henslee Aug 2017

Body Image And Bodybuilding: The Impact Commitment To Bodybuilding Has On Body Image Disturbance Among Competitive Bodybuilders, Jordan Henslee

MSU Graduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect commitment to bodybuilding had on body image disturbance in men. It was hypothesized that competitive bodybuilders would exhibit higher levels of body dissatisfaction, body checking, body consciousness, and symptoms of muscle dysmorphia than regular weight lifters. It was also hypothesized that commitment to bodybuilding, as defined by the number of competitions, would predict the severity of body image disturbance as measured by body dissatisfaction, body checking, body consciousness, and symptoms of muscle dysmorphia. Participants included males who were a minimum age of 18 years old. Participants were recruited via Mechanical …


Cognitive Origin Of Reported Goals, Nikolas M. Pate Aug 2017

Cognitive Origin Of Reported Goals, Nikolas M. Pate

MSU Graduate Theses

Goal setting theory assumes that goals that drive self-regulation exist in ‘goal structures’ and that asking participants to report their goals draws from these pre-existing structures. This study tested this assumption of pre-existing goals against the notion that goals are generated by goal-setters at the time they are requested to report their goals. A model of working memory was used to differentiate between goals existing in memory or goals generated on the spot. Participants were 211 students from a large Midwestern public university, randomly assigned to one of two groups. The experimental group participants reported their career goals while also …


Exploring Men's Motivations And Restraints In Repeated Extramarital Sex, Casey Marie Stinley Aug 2017

Exploring Men's Motivations And Restraints In Repeated Extramarital Sex, Casey Marie Stinley

MSU Graduate Theses

The influence of extramarital sex (EMS) on marriage has been a topic of discussion in the research community for over 30 years. This thesis explored the influences that drive the EMS participants’ decisions, whether to abstain, continue while in the marriage, or to leave the marriage, and, those influences that affect whether they later participate in EMS or not. This study also used individual semi-structured interviews of ex-husbands who have participated in EMS in the past, as well as husbands who are participating in EMS currently. The four men interviewed were from southwest Missouri. The interviews were reviewed to identify …


Exploring The Caregiver-Child Relationship In Institutional Care Facilities In South Sudan, Jennifer Joy Telfer Aug 2017

Exploring The Caregiver-Child Relationship In Institutional Care Facilities In South Sudan, Jennifer Joy Telfer

MSU Graduate Theses

Institutional care for children separated from parents is expanding in Africa, but little research exists on caregiving at these institutions. This study explores the caregiver-child relationship in two residential institutions in South Sudan by investigating how caregivers experience their role and how children experience their lives in the institution. Semi- structured interviews assessed 14 caregivers’ backgrounds, parenting experience, attitudes, education, and motivations. The Orphans and Vulnerable Children Wellbeing Tool (OWT) assessed 98 adolescent residents, who also gave feedback about their answers. Caregivers employ parenting styles used by their parents and report treating non-relative children the same as biological children. Children …


A Self-Compassion Intervention To Increase Feedback Acceptance Among Individuals With Perfectionistic Tendencies, Alise Sue Ellen Kottman May 2017

A Self-Compassion Intervention To Increase Feedback Acceptance Among Individuals With Perfectionistic Tendencies, Alise Sue Ellen Kottman

MSU Graduate Theses

Performance feedback is an important part of employee development. Performance feedback is often administered incorrectly which can be damaging to the employee. Self-compassion training is proposed as a means to mitigate the negative effects associated with receiving damaging performance feedback. Self-compassion priming was used as a method to increase feedback acceptance among individuals with perfectionistic tendencies. Participants (n = 938) were given a measure of perfectionism and then asked to complete a proofreading task containing either a self-compassion prime or a neutral topic. Positive and negative feedback was randomly assigned. Participants then filled out an internal self-compassion measure as well …


A Replication/Extension Of The Presence Of Others On Judgments Of Desirability, John E. Scofield May 2017

A Replication/Extension Of The Presence Of Others On Judgments Of Desirability, John E. Scofield

MSU Graduate Theses

Mate-choice copying is a mating strategy where females rely on contextual information to assist in securing accurate assessments of potential mates. Mate-choice copying has been extensively studied in non-human species, and has begun to be examined in humans as well. The desirability enhancement effect occurs when women judge men surrounded by opposite-sex females as more attractive than those same men alone or with same-sex males. The desirability diminution effect occurs when men judge women surrounded by opposite-sex males as less desirable than those same women alone or with same-sex females. The current project replicated previous findings concerning the desirability enhancement …


The Effects Of Goal Systems On Performance In Youth Baseball, Joshua A. Leet May 2017

The Effects Of Goal Systems On Performance In Youth Baseball, Joshua A. Leet

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis explores the relationship of multiple goals set by youth baseball players with past and present performance. Core to this investigation was the complexity, content, and number of distal and proximal goals reported by players who wrote their goals for an upcoming season. Results showed that players with a greater number of process goals (compared to performance or outcomes goals) and individual goals (compared to team goals) received higher ratings of performance by their coaches. Analyses also revealed that age significantly influenced aspects of goal structure and content for goal reported by players. That is, older players reported having …


Expressing Pride: Effects On Perceptions Of Agency And Communality Based On Race And Gender, Rosalyn A. Miles May 2017

Expressing Pride: Effects On Perceptions Of Agency And Communality Based On Race And Gender, Rosalyn A. Miles

MSU Graduate Theses

This study investigated how the expression of pride shapes perceptions of agency and communality, and how those perceptions differ when the pride expresser is of a certain gender and race. Participants were primed with a scenario featuring a picture of a target varying in race and gender. Participants were then invited to complete a survey assessing their perceptions of agency, communality, leadership competence, and ascribed interpersonal hostility. It was hypothesized that the expression of pride over happiness would rank someone as being more or less agentic, communal, competent in leadership, or interpersonally hostile. It was also hypothesized that black targets …


Examining The Impact Of The Haven Training On Perceptions Of Rape, Katerina Marie Oberdieck May 2017

Examining The Impact Of The Haven Training On Perceptions Of Rape, Katerina Marie Oberdieck

MSU Graduate Theses

The purpose of this research was to study the effect of a university-mandated sexual assault prevention program-Haven: Understanding Sexual Assault-on college students' judgments of three different rape vignettes (Stranger Rape, Acquaintance Rape, Acquaintance Rape with Intoxication), and overall rape myth acceptance. A sample of 490 participants who either had or had not completed Haven training participated in the study, and each participant was also randomly assigned to read either a brief summary of the Haven training or a control paragraph before judging the vignettes. Gender was also treated as an independent variable due to robust evidence of gender differences in …


Returning To Abusive Relationships: Related And Predictive Factors, Rachel Leanne Swadley May 2017

Returning To Abusive Relationships: Related And Predictive Factors, Rachel Leanne Swadley

MSU Graduate Theses

Domestic violence and interpersonal abuse affects one-third of women and can have extreme negative consequences on the victim's psychological and physical health and well-being. Recently, the related area of a victim's choice to return to an abusive relationship has been studied more thoroughly, although the body of literature in this area is still relatively small and only provides limited evidence for factors predicting return to abuse. The current research examined the possible risk factors of victims of interpersonal violence in leaving and returning to abusive situations. 40 participants were recruited from a domestic violence shelter and completed a questionnaire packet …


Workplace Bullying: A Validation Study, Brooke Christine Bengel May 2017

Workplace Bullying: A Validation Study, Brooke Christine Bengel

MSU Graduate Theses

Bullying in the workplace is a difficult construct to define. Research has largely used questionnaires developed based upon the inclusion of self-reported incidents rather than a theoretical model of the construct. This study utilized a six dimension model (emotional abuse, professional discredit and denigration, control and manipulation of information, control-abuse of working conditions, isolation, and devaluation of the role in the workplace). Items from the most frequently used bullying and incivility scales were presented to participants and factor analyzed to determine if the model could be reproduced. Convergent validity was assessed by examining the relationship with known correlates, job satisfaction …


A Radical Idea: Applying Psychological Strategy To Combat Foreign Fighters Defending The Islamic State, David Michael Smaney May 2017

A Radical Idea: Applying Psychological Strategy To Combat Foreign Fighters Defending The Islamic State, David Michael Smaney

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis focuses on the necessity of psychological strategies to combat the Islamic State’s recruitment of foreign fighters. This thesis argues that psychological strategies are a primary weapon due to the psychological nature of the war against the Islamic State, which is a part of the overall war of ideas. This thesis does not consider psychological strategies for other aspects of U.S. counterterrorism strategy, nor does it reflect the difficulties involved with developing U.S. strategies in the U.S. federal government. Furthermore, this thesis only focuses on foreign fighter defending and supporting the Islamic State, which is the successor of Al …


Stereotype Threat In Higher Education: The Role Of Psychological Capital On Student Satisfaction And Commitment, Lei J. Shirase May 2017

Stereotype Threat In Higher Education: The Role Of Psychological Capital On Student Satisfaction And Commitment, Lei J. Shirase

MSU Graduate Theses

Stereotype threat refers to being at risk or confirming, as self-characteristic, a negative group stereotype about one's group. Past research has linked stereotype threat to a multitude of detrimental outcomes including decreased test performance, the drainage of cognitive resources, and increased stress levels. However, many of these findings were confined to laboratory settings and focused only on immediate effects. Research on stereotype threat framed as a macro-level product in a non-laboratory setting is limited at this time. In an attempt to bridge this gap, the present study examined the lingering effects of stereotype threat on minority satisfaction / commitment in …


Re-Examining The Influence Of Non-Cognitive, Person Centered Factors On Academic Success, Alexandra Pantze May 2017

Re-Examining The Influence Of Non-Cognitive, Person Centered Factors On Academic Success, Alexandra Pantze

MSU Graduate Theses

This project expands upon a previous study examining the effectiveness of non-cognitive variables in predicting cumulative grade point average for a sample of college students from Missouri State University. A total of 291 introductory psychology students and/or recipients of a multicultural leadership scholarship completed a questionnaire during the fall 2013 semester. The questionnaire assessed the following variables: (a) institutional integration, (b) university environment, (c) cultural congruity, (d) dispositional resilience/ hardiness, (e) academic self-efficacy, (f) big five personality factors, and (g) demographic variables- including family education and household income. The current data collection included cumulative GPA at the completion of summer …


The Mediating Effects Of Cortisol On The Relationship Between Conscientiousness And Judgments Of Learning, Katherine D. Miller Jan 2017

The Mediating Effects Of Cortisol On The Relationship Between Conscientiousness And Judgments Of Learning, Katherine D. Miller

MSU Graduate Theses

Cortisol assists in facilitating stress response. A peak in cortisol levels can be seen between 20 and 40 minutes after exposure to the stressful event. Judgments of learning (JOLs) are within the field of metacognition and are judgments individuals make about how well they feel they have acquired the target information. Many factors influence the accuracy of these judgments, including whether they are immediate or delayed. Conscientiousness is a characteristic of personality that is associated with responsibility and organization. Individuals high in conscientiousness are more likely to have positive health related outcomes. A relationship between conscientiousness and the appraisal of …