Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Pathway Curvature And Border Visibility As Predictors Of Preference And Danger In Forest Settings, Thomas R. Herzog, Kristin M. Kirk

Peer Reviewed Articles

The authors investigated pathway curvature and pathway border visibility as predictors of preference and perceived danger in forest settings. Participants rated 56 forest settings containing pathways for one of four variables—mystery, visual access, pathway length, and pathway width—or for one of four additional predictors. Pathway curvature was unrelated to preference, danger, or mystery. Border visibility and visual access were positively related to preference, negatively related to danger, and positively related to each other. Preference and danger were negatively related. Danger was more strongly related to the predictors than was preference. Mystery had a modest negative relation with preference and substantial …

Are Successful Applicants To The Priesthood Psychologically Healthy?, Thomas G. Plante, Arianna Aldridge, Christina Louie

Psychology

The current investigation evaluated psychological and personality profiles of successful applicants to a major Roman Catholic religious order. The MMPI-2 and 16PF were administered to 68 applicants between 1990 and 2004 who subsequently entered seminary. Results indicate that these applicants to the priesthood were generally well-adjusted as well as being socially responsible, interpersonally sensitive and sociable. Findings also suggest some tendency for defensiveness and repression. Furthermore, dealing with perceived negative impulses such as anger and hostility may also be a concern for many of these men.

Validation Of A Serotonin Depletion Checklist In Parkinson’S Disease, Kelly Diane Darby Holder

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The distinctive pathological marker of Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the progressive death of neurons that produce dopamine; however, there are also major alterations in the production of quantities of other neurotransmitters, such as norepinephrine and serotonin that contribute to the signs, symptoms, neuropsychological manifestations of the diseases. PD patients can be divided into classes based on the manifestation of motor symptoms, type A, classified as tremor dominant, and type B PD, classified as akinetic. Type B PD patients, often manifest symptoms in which serotonin deficiency plays an important role, such as frontal cognitive impairments, which often includes a history of …

Integrating The Diverse Definitions Of Happiness: A Time-Sequential Framework Of Subjective Well-Being, Chu Kim-Prieto, Ed Diener, Maya Tamir, Christie N. Scollon, Marrisa Diener

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The field of subjective well-being (SWB) is primarily concerned with people's evaluation of their lives; however, it includes a wide range of concepts, from momentary moods to global life satisfaction judgments. We propose a framework that integrates these diverse constructs. Our sequential temporal framework of subjective well-being describes experiences of well-being from the events and circumstances that cause evaluative reactions, through the emotional reactions to these events, to recall of these reactions, and finally to global judgments of well-being based on the previous stages. The hypothesized processes that translate the various steps in the sequence into one another are described, …

Influence Of General Self-Efficacy On The Effects Of A School-Based Universal Primary Prevention Program Of Depressive Symptoms In Adolescents : A Randomized And Controlled Follow-Up Study., Patrick Pössel, Christiane Baldus, Andrea B. Horn, Gunter Groen, Martin Hautzinger

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Background:  Depressive disorders in adolescents are a widespread and increasing problem. Prevention seems a promising and feasible approach.

Methods:  We designed a cognitive-behavioral school-based universal primary prevention program and followed 347 eighth-grade students participating in a randomized controlled trial for three months.

Results:  In line with our hypothesis, participants in the prevention program remained on a low level of depressive symptoms, having strong social networks. The control group showed increasing depressive symptoms and a reduced social network. Contrary to our expectations, students low in self-efficacy benefited more from the program than high self-efficient students. Social network did not mediate the …

Exploration Of Ideal Body Image Among African-American Women, Shannon Denise Nickens

Dissertations

Body image dissatisfaction is a pervasive problem, most notably among women, that is neither well understood nor well defined. Inconsistent and overly narrow definitions of body image make it difficult to draw conclusions regarding the degree and type of dissatisfaction across cultural and/or various ethnic groups. Thus far, research has largely focused on size, shape, and weight concerns, ignoring physical features that may be salient to women belonging to non-Caucasian ethnic groups. This study explored African-American (AA) preferences for weight, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and salient physical appearance attributes, as well as their identification with the ¿thin¿ ideal, racial identity salience, …

Gender Differences In Working Memory In Humans Tested On A Virtual Morris Water Maze., Ivy A. Click

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A computerized virtual version of the Morris water maze (vMWM) was used to assess human gender differences in spatial working memory. In Experiment 1, the release point and platform location was changed on every other trial for 20 trials. Men had significantly reduced acquisition latencies and more accurate heading errors on the first daily trial compared to women. In Experiment 2, the release point and platform location was changed every fourth trial for 20 trials. Men had significantly shorter acquisition latencies and path lengths than women. Experiment 3 was identical to Experiment 2, except that environmental cues were changed throughout …

Aggression: Relationships With Sex, Gender Role Identity, And Gender Role Stress., Robin L. Leonard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sex, gender-role identity, and gender-role stress were assessed in terms of their relationship to observed gender differences in self-reported aggression. Physical and verbal aggression were explored, as well as the affective component of anger and cognitive component of hostility. The role of emotional intelligence in these relationships was also evaluated, as a possible correlate to the gender-related variables. The results indicated that both gender-role stress and gender-role identification were significantly associated with all components of aggression; however, only physical aggression was related to sex. Emotional intelligence was linked to sex and gender-role identity but not with gender-role stress. The results …

Beginnings Of U.S. Pragmatism, Sociology, And Empire: Dewey, Mead, And The Philippine Problem, 1900-1930s, Peter Chua

Faculty Publications, Sociology

This paper examines how the social psychology of U.S. pragmatists John Dewey and George Herbert Mead shapes how early U.S. sociology position itself on questions of U.S. empire and geo-political dominance. It focuses also on how pragmatist thought influences how 1920s Chicago sociologists Robert Park and Emory Bogardus produced symbolic interactionist theories and studies on U.S. race and international relations.This paper makes several interventions in the history of U.S. sociological theory. It re-examines the history of U.S. sociology and the philosophy of pragmatism through the lens of empire, rather than simply a myopic looking-glass of the “race problem.” This re-examination …

Do Dilemmas On A Moral Judgment Task Elicit Feeling States Known To Affect Information Processing?, Brian Barger

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The role of emotion in the process of moral decision making has become of interest in recent years (Haidt, 2001). At the same time, emotion researchers are beginning to understand that different basic emotion states (i.e., joy, anger) lead to different information processing styles (Aspinwall, 1998; Nabi, 2003). Skoe, Eisenberg, and Cumberland (2002) found evidence that the feeling states of anger and sympathy are present in moral judgment tasks. Unfortunately, aside from anger, Skoe et al. (2002) primarily focused on emotion terms that have not been experimentally linked to changes in information processing. This study extended the findings of Skoe …

Predicting Age Related Changes In Mobility And Driving Habits, Melissa Mathews

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Older adults encounter many changes as they age, both cognitively and physically. These changes tend to impact one's mobility in terms of driving ability and exposure. It has been well documented that this population is increasing in number (Lyman, Ferguson, Braver, & Williams, 2002) and that they pose a higher crash risk than a younger population (Braver & Trempel, 2004; Dellinger, Kresnow, White, & Seghal, 2004; Tavris, Kuhn, & Layde, 2001). These cognitive and physical changes combined with increased crash risk lead a number of drivers to reduce the amount that they dri\ c or cease dri\ ing altogether, thereby …

The Neural Mechanisms Of Speech Comprehension: Fmri Studies Of Semantic Ambiguity, Jennifer M Rodd, Matthew H Davis, Ingrid Johnsrude

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

A number of regions of the temporal and frontal lobes are known to be important for spoken language comprehension, yet we do not have a clear understanding of their functional role(s). In particular, there is considerable disagreement about which brain regions are involved in the semantic aspects of comprehension. Two functional magnetic resonance studies use the phenomenon of semantic ambiguity to identify regions within the fronto-temporal language network that subserve the semantic aspects of spoken language comprehension. Volunteers heard sentences containing ambiguous words (e.g. 'the shell was fired towards the tank') and well-matched low-ambiguity sentences (e.g. 'her secrets were written …

The Relationship Of Attitude, Self-Efficacy, Physician, And Significant Other Influence To Type 2 Diabetes Outcomes, Heidi A. Larson

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) and its' relationship to Type 2 diabetes outcomes. One hundred and sixty-two adults ages 45 to 75 with Type 2 diabetes were recruited from two physicians' offices in the Midwest. Participants completed instruments that assessed (a) diabetes-specific attitude, (b) diabetes-specific self-efficacy, ( c) physician influence, ( d) significant other influence, and ( e) diabetes-specific quality of life. A measurement of metabolic control was also obtained. Multiple regressions were performed using (a) quality of life and (b) metabolic control as criterion variables. Attitude, self-efficacy, and physician influence …

Failure To Complete A Functional Restoration Program For Chronic Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Prospective One-Year Outcome Study, Robert J. Gatchel, Timothy J. Proctor, Tom G. Mayer, Brian Theodore

Psychology Faculty Publications - Archive

This large prospective study determined that noncompleters of interdisciplinary tertiary rehabilitation for CDOMDs had comparatively poor socioeconomic outcomes in the year after discharge from treatment, especially on work status and health utilization outcomes. These outcomes are of great relevance to societal, medical, and indemnity costs and future worker productivity. Several risk factors of possible importance in identifying potential noncompleters early in the treatment program were identified that may yield more effective interventions tailored to maintain compliance and decrease the percentage of drop-outs.

An Examination Of Individuals' Self-Selections To Organizations, Sarah Chan

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

It has long been noted that people have a tendency to look for and engage in situations that are congruent with their personalities, their self-concepts, their interests, their attitudes and their values (Allport, 1937; Bandura, 1973; Ickes, Snyder & Garcia, 1997). However, most studies in the Person-Organization fit area are limited to examining employees who have been hired, while the self-selection process of choosing to apply for certain organizations or the self-assessment of fit with an organization are less explored. The present study examines job seekers' decision-making processes on ratings of attractiveness for hypothetical companies. Using a decision-making process model …

Attachment Style And Relationship Predictors Of Adult Children's Responsive Caregiving To Dependent Parents, Brent T. Tucker

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine whether anxious attachment, avoidant attachment, relationship closeness, and trust in the relationship predict adult children caregivers' (ACC) level of responsiveness to their dependent parents. Eighty-four adult children who provide support for a dependent parent were included in this study. Furthermore, correlations of avoidant attachment style with responsive caregiving and anxiety attachment style with responsive caregiving were investigated. A multiple regression was conducted and it was found that anxious attachment, trust, and relationship closeness stastically predicted responsive caregiving of ACCs caring for dependent parents [R2 = .26, F (3, 80) = 9.47, p < .001]. This linear combination of variables accounted for 26% of the variance in responsive caregiving. A voidant attachment was not found to predict responsive caregiving. There were no significant bivariate correlations found between anxious attachment and responsive caregiving or between avoidant attachment and responsive caregiving.

Parental Influence On Children's Ethnic Identity Among Chinese Americans, Sham'ah Md. Yunus

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the influence of Chinese American parents on their children's ethnic identity. Two research questions were designed to examine these relationships: Does the personal construct of Chinese American parents influence their children's ethnic identity and does the length of stay in the United States of Chinese American parents influence children's ethnic identity? Parental influence was identified as parents' ethnic behaviors, parents' ethnic values, parents' personal construct, and their length of stay in the United States. The 93 families who participated in this study were purposely selected from three Chinese language schools from a Midwestern city of the United …

The Perception Of Walking Speed In A Virtual Environment, T. Banton, J. Stefanucci, Frank H. Durgin, A. Fass, D. Proffitt

Psychology Faculty Works

Studies of locomotion in virtual environments assume that correct geometric principles define the relationship between walking speed and environmental flow. However, we have observed that geometrically correct optic flow appears to be too slow during simulated locomotion on a treadmill. Experiment 1 documents the effect in a head-mounted display. Experiment 2 shows that the effect is eliminated when the gaze is directed downward or to the side, or when the walking speed is slow. Experiment 3 shows that the effect is unchanged by stride length. Experiment 4 verifies that the effect is not attributable to image jitter. The change in …

Self-Esteem And The Underdog : Why Stability Of Self-Esteem Matters In Social Situations, Kelly Dyjak

Master's Theses

Differences related to self-esteem and their possible influences on perceptions of underdogs were investigated. Global self-esteem and stability of self-esteem were evaluated using The Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Participants' self-esteem was threatened by using the false feedback technique. Finally, perceptions of a competition between an underdog and a top dog were evaluated. The results demonstrated that although participants with stable and unstable self-esteem favor the underdog, participants with unstable self-esteem favor the underdog even more than the participants with stable self-esteem. The findings reinforce the robustness of the underdog effect and highlight a consequence of having unstable self-esteem.

A Cognitive Intervention To Increase The Salience Of Intrinsic Thoughts Associated With Exercise, Katie S. Moran

Master's Theses

A four-week cognitive intervention was created to increase the salience of intrinsic thoughts associated with exercise in moderately extrinsic exercisers. Participants were assigned to either an intervention or control condition. Those in the intervention condition were asked to respond to questions concerning the pleasure, enjoyment and/or satisfaction experienced during or after their exercise regimen each week. Results showed a marginally significant two-way interaction (p = .059) between the control and intervention condition over time. Those in the intervention condition showed a greater increase in intrinsic motivation than those in the control condition. These results. while only marginally significant, were in …

A Comparison Study Between Writing On Handheld Computers And Pencil-Paper In The Elementary Classroom, Ling-Chin Ko

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to compare the difference in writing effort associated with two methods, pencil and paper and handheld computers in the third grade classroom. The methods were compared in terms of the quality of the stories written, and the length of the stories in number of words, and time on task during writing of the stories. Three hypotheses were defined to identify the effect of writing efforts associated with the two methods, two classes and the effect on the interaction between the methods and the class. All three hypotheses were analyzed with a two-way MANOVA test. …

Attitudes Mediate The Association Between Childhood Disciplinary History And Disciplinary Responses, Mary Bower-Russa

Peer Reviewed Articles

According to recent estimates, childhood abuse victims are at 12 times higher risk for child abuse perpetration than those without such abusive histories. This study focused on delineation of the mechanisms by which intergenerational patterns of abuse may occur and, in particular, the role that disciplinary attitudes may play in mediating the relation between disciplinary history and risk for abusive parenting. Participants (n = 459) completed a series of questionnaires to assess childhood history, disciplinary attitudes, and disciplinary practices. Structural equation modeling indicated that the association between disciplinary history and disciplinary responses was partially mediated by attitudes, with more than …

Evaluating The Operative Mechanisms Underlying The High-Probability Request Sequence, Carrie L. Coleman

Dissertations

Failure to comply with requests in educational settings interferes with the learning process. The high-probability request sequence has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment for noncompliance. However, the operative mechanisms underlying this treatment remain unknown. This study sought to further elucidate high-p behavior change mechanisms through the manipulation of reinforcement and response rate variables. The purpose was to determine whether increases in compliance to low-probability requests could be obtained with either the high-p sequence or with the delivery of preferred stimuli on a response-independent basis. Math problems served as high-p and low-p requests, and data were collected on compliance …

Career Experiences And Career Development Among Chinese American Professional Women: A Qualitative Study, Yi-Ling Linda Kuo-Rice

Dissertations

Only a few research studies have addressed the cultural transitions and career-related issues experienced by Chinese American women. These individuals represent a silent group whose career values, career choices, and vocational needs remain largely unexplored (Yang, 1991).

This qualitative study, using grounded theory methods, explored the career experiences, career development, and career decision-making of nine foreign-bornChinese American professional women from various career fields. The findings from the study are divided into two parts. The first part presents summaries of each study participant's career development, providing a context-rich description of each case. The second part of the findings offers the results …

Pyramidal Staff Training: Teaching Play And Manding To Children With Autism And Developmental Disabilities, Koji Takeshima

Dissertations

This study involved pyramidal staff training and the teaching of play and manding to children with autism and developmental disabilities in an early intervention program. The following training components were sequentially introduced to each technician: (a) a written procedure; (b) video modeling; (c) a slide show and checklist, combined with video modeling; and (d) feedback. The trainees improved their skills in teaching play as these training components were introduced, and the children's performance in play and manding subsequently improved. For the skills of teaching play, the core component of the training that resulted in the largest improvement varied across technicians. …

The Relationship Between Counselor-In-Training Personality Traits, Family-Of-Origin Characteristics And Working Alliance, Anthony W. Tatman

Dissertations

Research has revealed that the working alliance between counselors-in-training (CITs) and their clients predict therapeutic outcome (Horvath & Symonds, 1991; Parish & Eagle, 2003). The amount of research is limited, however, concerning CIT traits that facilitate the development of the working alliance (Ackerman & Hilsenroth, 2001; Ligiero & Gelso, 2002; Wampold, 2001). The purpose of the present study was to identify the degree to which CIT personality traits and family-of-origin (FOO) characteristics are associated with working alliance evaluations. This study utilized the 5 domains of personality, measured by the NEO-FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992), and alexithymia, measured by the TAS-20 …

Analysis Of Group Differences And Predictors Of Hooper Visual Organization Test Scores, Michael R. Devries

Dissertations

The Hooper Visual Organization Test (VOT) is described in the manual as a screening instrument that measures the ability to organize visual stimuli (Hooper, 1983). The VOT is identified as being particularly sensitive to neurological impairment. Studies to determine the criterion and construct validity of the VOT have examined its usefulness in distinguishing between individuals with neurological impairment from those with other disorders. Few studies have included samples from normal, psychiatrically impaired, and neurologically impaired populations in determining the VOT's usefulness in identifying neurologically impaired individuals. Furthermore, as neuropsychology has moved away from the understanding of neurological impairment as a …

Error Management Theory And The Hostile Attribution Bias, Felix J. Thoemmes

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Error Management Theory (Haselton & Buss, 2000) proposes that certain human biases evolved as an adaptation to cost differentials between certain types of errors that can be committed in social situations. This study examined whether the hostile attribution bias (Dodge, 1980), a tendency in aggressive children and adults to over-perceive aggressive intent in others, could be accounted for by Error Management Theory. In a vignette study, participants rated their perceived aggression of a potential perpetrator in a car accident. Different vignettes depicted the same situation under various conditions in terms of who accompanied the "participant". Conditions were changed in order …

The Effects Of An Analgesic (Biofreeze®) On The Motoneuron Pool Excitability Of The Soleus Muscle, Desiree R. Barth

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects on the Hoffman reflex and motor response with an analgesic (Biofreeze®). Design: The study was a 2X6 design. The independent variables in this study were treatment and time. The dependent variables were the H-reflex (volts) and the M response (volts). Treatment was randomly assigned to control for the effects of order. Setting: This study took place in the Exercise Physiology Laboratory located in the Health and Human Performance Building at Indiana State University. Subjects: 14 volunteers who were physically active and had no known neurological problems. Measurements: Skin and …

The Effects Of Ethnicity, Gender, And Urgency Of A Message On Prosocial Behavior, Orlando Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A study by Christensen et al. (1998) looked at prosocial behavior toward strangers via responses to wrong-number messages on a telephone answering machine and found a higher than anticipated prosocial response. However, additional research was required in order to determine whether or not manipulation of gender and ethnicity would have produced different results. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of gender (male or female) of the caller, ethnicity (white-non Hispanic or Mexican American) of the caller, and urgency ("low," "medium," "high," & "high with prod") of a message on telephone helping behavior. One hundred …