Psychology Commons^™

Navigating Qualitative Assessments Of Chance: Quantifying Individual Perceptions Of Distinct Expressions, William G. Volante

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

Often, humans must rely on their innate ability to describe the perceived chance of an event occurring using qualitative phrases, rather than quantitative values. These qualitative phrases often lead to a spectrum of meaning across individuals. Our aim in this study was two-fold; first, to distinguish a quantitative spectrum for these qualitative phrases, and second, to determine which of these phrases produced the largest variance between individuals. Personal differences were also looked at to determine if personality may play a role in these variations.

Applying General Recognition Theory To Perception Of Racially Stereotypical Faces, Sarah E. Williams

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

A poster on research regarding perception of facial features and the application of General Recognition Theory to assess discrimination ability. Full abstract has been attached.

Effects Of Self-Monitoring And Social Support On Exercise Adherence, Dominic Cauteruccio

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

The purpose of this study was to look at the effects of self-monitoring and social support on minutes of exercise per week. Specifically, self-monitoring examined whether self-monitoring and self-monitoring in combination with social support would increase minutes of exercise over a four week period. The study was four weeks long, with participants randomly assigned into three groups: a control group (group 1), a self-monitoring group (group 2), and a self-monitoring plus social support group (group 3). Exercise time was measured using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ), and social support was measured using the Inventory of Socially Supportive Behaviors (ISSB). …

Type D Personality And Injury Relationship In Collegiate Track Athletes, Annmarie Tuxbury

Honors Projects in Applied Psychology

The purpose of this study was to examine Type D personality as an internal factor for injury risk in collegiate track athletes. A survey was administered to 275 track athletes across each of the three NCAA divisions. The survey included general questions about injury history, which included demographic type questions. A Type D Personality Inventory assessment was administered which measured negative affectivity and social inhibition (Blum, 2009). Additionally, the survey included a version of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), measuring an athlete’s evaluation of situations that invokes a stress response (Cohen et al, 1983). Lastly, the survey included the Athletic …

Beauty In Snowflakes: Complexity And Visual Aesthetics, Olivia C. Adkins

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Experimental aesthetics research has been conducted since the nineteenth century. Interestingly, however, few studies have examined the perceived beauty of naturally shaped objects. In the current experiment, 204 participants were presented with a set of ten snowflake silhouettes that varied in complexity (perimeter relative to area); they were similarly presented with ten randomly-shaped, computer-generated, solid objects that also varied in complexity. For each stimulus set, the participants selected the single snowflake or object that was the most beautiful (Fechner’s method of choice). The results for the solid objects replicated the findings of earlier research: the most and least complex objects …

The Relationship And Consistency In Ratings Between The Conners 3 Executive Functioning Scale And The Behavior Rating Inventory Of Executive Functioning, Lauren R. Lamar

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Broadband behavior rating scales are commonly used in schools to gain data to help make critical decisions about a student’s educational programming and whether he or she is eligible to receive special education services. Several broadband behavior rating scales are beginning to include a scale that assesses executive functioning. This study investigated how scores from an executive functioning scale on a broadband behavior rating scale (Conners 3, Conners, 2008) compared to an established scale that only measures executive functioning (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function [BRIEF], Gioia, Isquith, Guy, & Kenworthy, 2000). Teachers completed both scales at the same point …

The Underlying Dynamics Of Student Engagement On Thesis Completion, Nikolaj Sivek

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Engagement is an increasingly important construct in organizational and educational settings. Research indicates that engagement is positively related to satisfaction, commitment, and performance in the workplace. This study investigated the relationship of Total Engagement to complete a thesis with Self-Determination Theory individual motivational constructs, the personality constructs of Psychological Capital and Core Self-Evaluations, and the experiential construct of Flow Propensity. The results indicated significant relationships between all constructs and engagement. Further, Psychological Capital and Flow Propensity explained 55% of the variance in Total Engagement to complete a thesis.

Christian Nonprofit Ceos:Ethical Idealism, Relativism, And Motivation, Sharlene Garces Baragona

Dissertations

Strong ethical character and the ability to inspire others form crucial areas for leadership effectiveness, particularly in nonprofits. This study explored the relationship between ethical ideologies (idealism and relativism) and inspirational motivation of Christian nonprofit CEOs affiliated with the Christian Child and Family Services Association. The Ethics Position Questionnaire of Forsyth (1980), the Bass and Avolio (2004) Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Leader Form (5X Short) – Inspirational Motivation, and a demographic questionnaire comprised the 30-item survey for this study. The participants’ responses were collected either online or on paper and were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. The response rate was …

Insecurity Threat And Its Implications For Leadership Preference, Allen Lee

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

I investigated insecurity threat and its implications for employee leadership preferences. Preferences for three types of leadership style were examined: charismatic, relationship-oriented, and task-oriented leadership. It was anticipated that individuals’ salient work values would predict leadership preference more strongly after insecurity threat than under control conditions. Two different types of threats were investigated in comparison to a neutral control condition.

Results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in leader ratings between threat conditions. My results suggest that threat does not significantly influence preference for charismatic or task-oriented leaders. Work values did not significantly predict a preference for a …

A Review Of Court Cases Involving Cognitive Ability Testing And Employment Practices: 1992-2015, Nicholas H. Morris

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This review is an extension of a study by Shoenfelt and Pedigo (2005). The purpose of this review is to help form an understanding of how the courts handle cases where an organization has used a cognitive ability test to select employees and consequently faced charges. Cognitive ability testing is the best known predictor of job performance for a wide range of jobs. However, cognitive ability testing also is known to lead organizations to select fewer members of protected groups, such as African Americans, Hispanics, and women. The cases that were reviewed were identified in the LexisNexis database. In order …

Developing A Measure Assessing Virtual Organizational Citizenship Behaviors, Samuel Louis Galbraith

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

In a time when technology is an integral part of life, virtual workplaces are becoming more of a staple in organizations and will likely continue to do so as technology use increases (Cascio, 2000). Due to the rise in virtual workplaces, employees are interacting face-to-face less, and organizations are requiring more from them. Employees must perform behaviors that are outside of their formal job description. These positive behaviors are considered to be organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs), which are employee behaviors that promote organizational effectiveness that are not part of an employee’s formal job description and are therefore not formally recognized …

Impact Of Assumption Violations On The Accuracy Of Direct Range Restriction Adjustments, Austin J. Hall

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

For decades researchers, analysts, and organizational professionals have utilized correction equations to adjust for the effects of various statistical artifacts. However, every correction method has certain assumptions that must be satisfied to work properly. These assumptions are likely rarely satisfied for range restriction corrections. As a result, these correction methods are used in a manner that can lead to incorrect results.

The current study employed a Monte Carlo design to examine the direct range restriction correction. Analyses were conducted to examine the accuracy of adjustments made with the direct range restriction correction when its assumption of perfect top-down selection was …

Mediating Factors In The Relationship Between Non-Suicidal Self-Injury And Suicide Attempt, Amanda Gail Williams

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is considered a strong predictor of suicidal behavior, although the exact relationship between NSSI and suicide is not clear. Several factors have been suggested in previous research, including attitudes toward one’s own body, thoughts and beliefs regarding death and suicide, and the ability to cause physical harm to oneself. In the current study, the researcher obtained data from 285 young adult participants who reported a history of NSSI. Two multiple mediation models were tested in which body protection, suicide-related concerns, and acquired capability for suicide were examined as mediators of the relationship between NSSI and suicide attempt …

Applying Trait Theory To Determine The Causality Of The Entrepreneur’S Success, Samuel Moyer

Selected Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to apply trait theory through psychoanalysis in an attempt to determine why three noted entrepreneurs: Andrew Carnegie, Walt Disney, and Oprah Winfrey, were highly successful in their respective ventures as well as discuss the extent to which indicative traits of entrepreneurial success were present in the subjects studied. Research shows that components of entrepreneurs’ traits and motivation have a direct relationship to the start-up and continued success of new venture firms (Baum, Locke, 2004) which means more accurate definitions of traits responsible for entrepreneurial success are beneficial to investors, entrepreneurs, and the entire economic …

Defining, Prioritizing, And Healing Emotional Abuse, Sarah A. Schillinger

Selected Honors Theses

This is a literature review which seeks to provide current research done on emotional abuse, emotional neglect, psychological maltreatment, verbal abuse, and any non-contact form of abuse. The purpose is to show issues with definitions, show effects of childhood emotional abuse, and show that the church can be an avenue of healing for victims of emotional abuse. Definitions of childhood emotional abuse (CEA) are presented, as well as problems inherent within the definitions. Effects shown to be congruent with victims of emotional abuse are shown. Lastly, a chapter on the purpose of the church and the ability of the church …

Emotion Regulation And Valance Bias, Drue Marr, Catherine Brown, Maital Neta

UCARE: Research Products

In this study we wanted to look at the affects of emotion regulation on individual differences in valance bias. The ability to regulate emotions brings into question how difficult/easy it is for individuals that have a more natural positive bias/disposition to them, or have a more natural negative bias/disposition to them. We would expect someone with a negative disposition to have a more difficult time regulating his or her emotions, as evidenced by the elevated EMG levels and EDA readings that we acquired. The purpose of this study was to better understand the way one perceives surprised expressions, as surprised …

Do Psychological Contract Perceptions Mediate The Relationship Between Procedural Fairness And Prosocial Behavioral Intentions Under Conditions Of Uncertainty Threat?, Kayla D. Finuf

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Organizational justice and citizenship behaviors are important components that contribute to an organization’s overall effectiveness. Additionally, when an employee enters into a new organization, they form psychological contracts with their employer that consists of elements such as fairness and consultation. This study aimed to integrate the literature on organizational justice, psychological contract, and organizational citizenship behaviors, as well as look at the possible effects uncertainty may play. Specifically, it was proposed that psychological contract would mediate the moderating effects of uncertainty and justice in predicting prosocial behavioral intentions. Results did not support the hypothesis. Interestingly, however, identification with the university …

The Role Of Workplace Supervisor Support In Cargivers' Marital Relationships, Kenona H. Southwell

Open Access Dissertations

Family caregivers make important contributions to care recipients and the economy. However, providing care for ill or disabled family members can be challenging, particularly when the role of caregiver is accompanied by additional roles such as employee, spouse, and parent ( Hammer & Neal, 2008). There is some evidence that the demands of caregiving may negatively influence the quality of caregivers’ marriages (Bookwala, 2009). Much of caregiving research, however, is focused on the influence of caregiving and multiple caregiving roles on caregivers’ health (see Pinquart & Sörensen, 2011), but less attention has been paid to other aspects of caregivers’ lives …

The Relationship Between Executive Attention And Spatial Working Memory In Adults, Erica Ness, Emily Franzen, James Thomas, Haily Sain, Lalah Mclaughlin, Lindsey Spohr, Greg Degirolamo, Anne R. Schutte

UCARE: Research Products

The study examined the effects of executive attention on spatial working memory in adults using a location recall task. Attention is suggested to play a crucial role in maintenance of a remembered location in spatial working memory. Awh and Jonides (2001) found that reaction times to a presented stimulus were faster when the stimulus was held in spatial working memory. A subsequent study found that when holding a location in spatial working memory, tasks which shift attention cause memory performance to be worse for the remembered location. An ERP study by Awh and Jonides (2001) found similar response amplitudes between …

Consumerism: A Challenge For Christian Leadership?, José A. Aleby, Hugo Ernesto Quiroga

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

This article is motivated by an academic work and a field research project developed by Hugo E. Quiroga (2012; personal communication, 2015) on oneomania as a challenge for christian leadership. Our intention is more to raise questions than to provide easy-sounding answers. The term oneomania may not be well known in theory, but its practical effects are recognized around the world. Oneomania, from the Greek onéo = to buy + mania = insanity, mental disorder (Taylor, 1950), is the scientific and technical term for the disease of consumerism, for the compulsive desire to shop, which is a progressive addiction to …

Acute Stress Exposure And Expression Of Instrumentally Conditioned Financial Preferences: An Fmri Study, William Travis Mccuddy

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Recent research suggests acute stress exposure is associated with increased habit-based over goal-oriented decision making (e.g., Schwabe & Wolf, 2011). The current study examined whether acute stress promotes the expression of simple financial preferences “overtrained” to the point of habit in the face of a changing environment where said preferences were later rendered non-optimal. Over three days participants (N = 28) learned to discriminate between visual stimuli probabilistically associated with monetary gains or losses and made decisions between stimuli with real financial outcomes. On the fourth day after exposure to either an acute stressor or control procedure participants performed the …

“My Logic Is Undeniable”: Replicating The Brain For Ideal Artificial Intelligence, Samuel C. Adams

Senior Honors Theses

Alan Turing asked if machines can think, but intelligence is more than logic and reason. I ask if a machine can feel pain or joy, have visions and dreams, or paint a masterpiece. The human brain sets the bar high, and despite our progress, artificial intelligence has a long way to go. Studying neurology from a software engineer’s perspective reveals numerous uncanny similarities between the functionality of the brain and that of a computer. If the brain is a biological computer, then it is the embodiment of artificial intelligence beyond anything we have yet achieved, and its architecture is advanced …

Eyes Wide Open: Only Eyes That Pay Attention Promote Prosocial Behavior, Zoi Manesi, Paul A. M. Van Lange, Thomas V. Pollet

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Research from evolutionary psychology suggests that the mere presence of eye images can promote prosocial behavior. However, the "eye images effect'' is a source of considerable debate, and findings across studies have yielded somewhat inconsistent support. We suggest that one critical factor may be whether the eyes really need to be watching to effectively enhance prosocial behavior. In three experiments, we investigated the impact of eye images on prosocial behavior, assessed in a laboratory setting. Participants were randomly assigned to view an image of watching eyes (eyes with direct gaze), an image of nonwatching eyes (i.e., eyes closed for Study …

The Effects Of Being The Target Of Envy On Satisfaction With Success, Stephen Ratliff, Lauren E. Brewer, Kyle E. Conlon

Undergraduate Research Conference

Envy has been defined as wanting something that someone else has, which is distinct from jealousy, because jealousy is emotion fueled by an evolutionary need to protect one’s mate (Parrot & Smith, 1993) .

Benign and malicious envy are distinct in how they motivate us. Benign envy motivates us to perform as well as the target of envy, whereas malicious envy motivates us to sabotage the performance of the target of envy (Lange & Crusius, 2015).

Benign envy is exhibited through feelings of motivation whereas malicious envy is exhibited through feelings of anger (van de Ven, Zeelenberg, & Pieters, 2011; …

Hostage At The Table By George Kohlrieser: A Critical Book Review, Bimal Dahal, Muhammad Ilyas, Erika Krajcovicova, Myriam Marcuello-Lopez, Abdulah Saleh, Shadi Sheikh Saraf

Journal of Interdisciplinary Conflict Science

Being a hostage impedes. One must strive to get out of the hostage mindset and situation to realize peace. This review analyzes George Kohlrieser's approaches from peacebuilding perspective.

George Kohlrieser is a professor of leadership and organizational behavior, psychologist, and veteran hostage negotiator. In his book Hostage at the Table, he contends that conflict resolution is not difficult if we understand how human self-esteem operates. He believes that deep within humans reside slumbering powers that most of us do not even activate. These latent powers can revolutionize our lives if aroused and put into action.

In the following pages, …

Relationship Competency: An Exploration Of Training And Relationship Assessment In An Apa Doctoral Program, Jacquelyn M. Rodriguez

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Relational competency is regarded as foundational to doctoral psychology training (Mangione & Nadkarni, 2010), yet defining this competency has proven to be an arduous and nebulous task. The connection between relationship competency and strong therapeutic alliance, combined with the lack of knowledge and research around effective assessment and training of the nontangible relational attitudes, knowledge, and skills begs for more research on the implementation of this competency. The aim of the current study was to examine the relationship between student therapists’ technique and relational characteristics and therapeutic alliance outcome during 10 therapy sessions. Participants were 24 first year doctoral students …

The Effect Of The Long Anchor Duration On Performance In The Temporal Bisection Procedure, Sho Araiba

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study investigated the determinants of the location of the bisection point (BP) in the temporal bisection procedure. Interest in the study of temporal perception emerged from the finding of the scalar property such as Weber’s law for time and the ratio rule in behavior under Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning. One method to investigate temporal perception in both non-human animals and humans is the temporal bisection procedure. The primary dependent variable of this procedure is the BP, which has been taken as the subjective midpoint between two durations. The ratio similarity rule (Gibbon, 1981) hypothesizes that the location of …

Targeting Efficiency: The Effects Of Video Modeling And Feedback On Instructors’ Acquisition And Generalization Of Behavior Analytic Skills, Maya S. Madzharova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is a highly effective, evidence-based treatment for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. Low treatment integrity could greatly compromise the delivery of effective ABA interventions, but instructors who hold no formal training make up the larger portion of employees within the special education field. Designing efficient and effective training for these employees is important because schools have limited resources for caregiver training. This study used a non-concurrent multiple baseline design across three novice ABA instructors to evaluate the effects of a training protocol consisting of video and in-vivo modeling and feedback, a training algorithm, and multiple exemplars …

Is The Good Life Characterized By Self-Control? Perceived Regulatory Success And Judgments Of Life Quality, Derrick Wirtz, Juliann Stalls, Christie N. Scollon, Karl L. Wuensch

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

To what extent do people view self-control as central to achieving a healthy, high-quality life? While scientific evidence strongly supports the notion that self-control is associated with successful adaptation and optimal functioning, we examine whether individuals connect this trait with positive outcomes. In Study 1, participants rated the likelihood that an individual with high self-control (or self-esteem) would experience good health and a high-quality life. Studies 2-3 experimentally portrayed a target person as high or low in self-control (and self-esteem) before participants rated the target on an array of positive outcomes. Across studies, self-control was perceived as less strongly connected …

Facilitating A Whole-Life Approach To Career Development: The Role Of Organizational Leadership, Michael L. Litano, Debra A. Major

Psychology Faculty Publications

This article focuses on the whole-life approach to career development. A review of the ways in which career paths have been conceptualized over time demonstrates that increasing consideration has been given to nonwork factors (i.e., personal life and family life) in defining careers. The whole-life perspective on career development acknowledges that employees are striving for opportunities for professional development as well as individualized work-life balance, which changes over the life course. Although the careers literature has emphasized interorganizational mobility as the primary mechanism for achieving these goals, whole-life career development can also be achieved within a single organization when organizational …