Psychology Commons^™

What Are We Studying? Student Jurors, Community Jurors, And Construct Validity, Stacie R. Keller, Richard L. Weiner

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Jury researchers have long been concerned about the generalizability of results from experiments that utilize undergraduate students as mock jurors. The current experiment examined the differences between 120 students (55 males and 65 females, mean age = 20 years) and 99 community members (49 males and 50 females, mean age = 42 years) in culpability evaluations for homicide and sexual assault cases. Explicit attitude measures served as indicators of bias for sexual assault, defendant, and homicide adjudication. Results revealed that student and community participants showed different biases on these general explicit attitude measures and these differences manifested in judgments of …

Testing The Effectiveness Of An Interactive Multimedia System To Train Clinicians In Behavioral Activation, Suzanne E. Decker

Dissertations

Although many treatments for mental health disorders have been found to be effective in research, community clinicians may not receive training in such empirically supported treatments, and therefore, individuals suffering from disorders may not have access to empirically supported treatment in the community. This study examined the use of an interactive multi-media computerized therapy program, Building a Meaningful Life through Behavioral Activation, as a training tool for mental health clinicians (N=21) using a pre-post study design. Participating clinicians were invited to complete this computer program over the course of several weeks, and to complete knowledge quizzes and written responses …

Using Environmental Sounds To Initiate Receptive Language Training For Children With Autism, Woan Tian Chow

Dissertations

A pre-test showed that three pre-school children with autism had difficulty learning to match spoken words to objects (receptive identification). Therefore, they were first taught to match environmental sounds to objects (e.g., to touch a tambourine, when they heard the sound of the tambourine) and then to match spoken words to other objects while continuing to match the mastered environmental sounds to the original objects.

For all three children, simply learning the environmental-sound/object matching did not facilitate learning spoken-word/object matching; however intermixing the training of spoken-word/object matching with the previously mastered environmentalsound/ object matching did result in the mastery of …

Evaluating The Effects Of Camera Perspective In Video Modelingfor Children With Autism: Point Of View Versus Scene Modeling, Courtney Cotter

Dissertations

Video modeling has been used effectively to teach a variety of skills to children with autism. This body of literature is characterized by a variety of procedural variations including the characteristics of the video model (e.g., self vs. other, adult vs. peer). Traditionally, most video models have been filmed using third person perspective (i.e., scene models), where the viewer is watching the actor perform in a scene. Recently, studies have successfully incorporated the use of first person perspective into video models (i.e., point of view models), where the view is directly from the actor's point of view. Currently, no studies …

Becoming Happier Takes Both A Will And A Proper Way: An Experimental Longitudinal Intervention To Boost Well-Being, Sonja Lyubomirsky, Rene Dickerhoof, Julia K. Boehm, Kennon M. Sheldon

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

An 8-month-long experimental study examined the immediate and longer term effects of regularly practicing two assigned positive activities (expressing optimism and gratitude) on well-being. More important, this intervention allowed us to explore the impact of two metafactors that are likely to influence the success of any positive activity: whether one self-selects into the study knowing that it is about increasing happiness and whether one invests effort into the activity over time. Our results indicate that initial self-selection makes a difference, but only in the two positive activity conditions, not the control, and that continued effort also makes a difference, but, …

Leadership Development In Financial Institutions In South Dakota: A Slow Growth State, Stan Wayne Vinson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation asks the question, “What are the challenges of developing a leadership program in community banks in South Dakota, a slow growth environment?” The research looks at the intersection of leadership development, transformational leadership, and context—against a backdrop of community banking, corporate social responsibility, and demographic trends in South Dakota. The objective of the study is to provide theoretical and practical understanding of leadership development activities in South Dakota community banks. Using quantitative methods, seven hypotheses were created and tested using insights gained from reviewed literature and informational interviews that framed the study. The hypotheses were built looking to …

Universal Biases In Self-Perception: Better And More Human Than Average, Steve Loughnan, Bernhard Leidner, Guy Doron, Nick Haslam, Yoshihisa Kashima, Jennifer Tong, Victoria Yeung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

There is a well-established tendency for people to see themselves as better than average (self-enhancement), although the universality of this phenomenon is contested. Much less well-known is the tendency for people to see themselves as more human than average (self-humanizing). We examined these biases in six diverse nations: Australia, Germany, Israel, Japan, Singapore, and the USA. Both biases were found in all nations. The self-humanizing effect was obtained independent of self-enhancement, and was stronger than self-enhancement in two nations (Germany and Japan). Self-humanizing was not specific to Western or English-speaking cultures and its magnitude was less cross-culturally variable than self-enhancement. …

A Psychometric Investigation Of The Young Adult Social Behavior Scale (Yasb), Michelle Rene Augustin

Dissertations

Aggressive behavior is a serious public health concern that has resulted in several problems in contemporary society. Despite a considerable body of literature on human aggression, both popular and scientific, a focus on overt physical aggression has obscured other forms of aggression. As a result, considerably less is known about other, more subtle forms of aggression, such as relational aggression. Moreover, research on relational aggression, particularly among older adolescents and adults, has been hindered by the lack of psychometrically sound measures. Research in this area would be enhanced by the availability of such a measure, facilitating comparison of data across …

Inp 4004 Industrial/Organizational Behavior, Michael D. Coovert

Service-Learning Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Lung Cancer-Specific Model For Support Group Interest, Laura Testerman

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Despite high levels of both emotional and physical distress and desire for utilization of support group services, lung cancer patients rarely participate in these supportive services. Lung cancer survivors’ interest in and use of supportive psychosocial services remains poorly understood, and Internet-based services may be of particular benefit to this population. The Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations, which emphasizes Predisposing (i.e., demographic as well as attitudes about support services), Enabling (i.e., accessibility of services), and Illness (i.e., need for services based on health) factors, was applied to the prediction of survivors’ behavioral intention to participate in face-to-face support groups (F2F) …

Relationships Among Person And Environment Variables And Turnover Intention In Adults With Multiple Sclerosis, Wanda Shull

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The organization and management literature presents a large base of research on the concept of turnover intention, i.e. the point at which a person decides to leave employment. What is known is that turnover intention is the precursor to employee turnover, yet very little research exists in the rehabilitation field to address this concept in terms of persons with chronic illness and disability. This study examines this variable in the population of adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). Employing multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to analyze three blocks of variables and their impact on turnover intention, the results show that groups …

Trial And Error, Delayed Prompting, And Reinforcement Of Prompted Responses In Teaching Receptive Identification Of Pictures, Kristen Lynn Gaisford

Dissertations

Three strategies to train receptive identification of pictures were compared: (a) trial and error, (b) delayed finger-point prompt followed by a reinforcer, and (c) delayed finger-point prompt followed by the spoken word, "good". These three strategies were compared using a multi-element design, assessing the performance of four children, ranging from two to four years of age, selected from a classroom that provides services to children with Early Childhood Developmental Delays (ECDD). Two children mastered the receptive identification of pictures at the same rate regardless of the strategy. For the remaining two participants, the rate of mastery was the same for …

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of The Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (Pbss) Across Racial Groups, Sasha Joy Lambert

Dissertations

Alcohol consumption among college students, and the negative alcohol-related consequences that accompany that consumption, have been consistent concerns for colleges and the general public for several decades. Protective behavioral strategies are emerging in the literature as a potentially effective means of reducing harm to students; however, psychometrically sound measures for protective behavioral strategies are only in a development stage at this point. One such measure, the Protective Behavioral Strategies Scale (PBSS), showed particular promise in this area, but previous research suffered from sample limitations, particularly very low sampling of students of color. In the current study, additional items were added …

Does Religiosity Enhance Ability To Self-Regulate?, Kaylyn Lee Watterson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Although previous research has found positive associations between self-regulation and religiosity, very few studies investigating the relationship exist. This study was an attempt to find experimental evidence supporting the prediction that high levels of religiosity enhance ability to self-regulate. Seventy-nine students at Butler University, 15 males and 64 females, were randomly assigned to a depleted or full self-regulatory resources group. Participants in the depleted resources group squeezed a handgrip for as long as possible before working on a difficult task that required self-control. Participants in the full resources group proceeded directly to the self-control task.

Locus Of Control And The Age Difference In Free Recall From Episodic Memory, Paul Amrhein, Judith K. Bond, Derek Hamilton

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

The authors investigated the relation of locus of control (LOC) to age differences in free-recall memory performance. Older and younger participants completed P. C. Duttweiler's (1984) Internal Control Index (ICI) and subsequently performed free-recall memory tasks. Compared with the younger participants, the older participants exhibited poorer recall with more intrusions and uncorrected repetition errors as well as reduced categorical clustering. For the older participants with less internal LOC, recall proportion and item-pair associative recall clustering were lower than for the older participants with more internal LOC. By contrast, the younger participants did not exhibit any LOC effects in their recall …

Campus Safety: Assessing And Managing Threats, Mario Scalora, Andre Simons, Shawn Vanslyke

Mario Scalora Publications

Since the shootings at Virginia Tech, academic institutions and police departments have dedicated substantial resources to alleviating concerns regarding campus safety. The incident in Blacksburg and the similar tragedy at Northern Illinois University have brought renewed attention to the prevention of violence at colleges and universities.

Campus professionals must assess the risk posed by known individuals, as well as by anonymous writers of threatening communications. The authors offer threat assessment and management strategies to address the increased demands faced by campus law enforcement, mental health, and administration officials who assess and manage threats, perhaps several simultaneously.

Evaluations Of Apologies: The Effects Of Apology Sincerity And Acceptance Motivation, Ida Hatcher

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present study examined the effects of apology sincerity and acceptance motivation on the facilitation of forgiveness of a transgression. Eighty-five undergraduates (26 males, 59 females) were randomly assigned to an Accepted Apology or a Rejected Apology condition. Participants wrote a detailed description of a situation in which they had experienced a transgression, the transgressor apologized, and they decided to accept or reject the apology. After completing their written descriptions, participants responded to a series of questions about the incident including their relationship with the transgressor, the time elapsed between the transgression and apology, the method of communication used to …

Parental Cognitive Factors And Treatment Choices For Externalizing Behavior Problems, Danielle R. Hemmings

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Understanding the relationship between parental cognitive variables and outcomes related to the treatment of externalizing disorders has received limited attention in the research literature. The present study was completed in order to determine whether the parental cognitive variables of self-efficacy or locus of control were related to the level of involvement parents had in addressing their child’s behavior problems. It was hypothesized that a) parents with external locus of control would be likely to be less involved in their child’s treatment than parents with a more internal locus of control and b) that parents with low parental self-efficacy would be …

The Effects Of Competiton On Adult Circumstantial Efficacy, Matthew Aaron Bender

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge and understanding of circumstantial efficacy and replicate and expand on the findings of Ganzach et al (2008). The author designed a computer dice game specifically for this study to examine how the size of a win or loss moderates the effects performance on curcumstantial and internal efficacy beliefs.

American And Chinese Personality Traits And Task Load In Simulated Flight Crews: Individual And Team Level Effects, Matthew Edward Loesch

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Understanding the impact of pilot interpersonal dynamics may be crucial for flight team success as well as the prevention of air crash disasters. Achieving optimum performance from flight teams requires limiting unnecessary pilot task load. This study examined American and Chinese simulated flight crews. Factors believed to affect cockpit interpersonal dynamics and subsequent crew task loads were pilot personality and nationality. Pilot personality, team personality elevation, team personality variability, and team nationality were analyzed for their potential impact on task load perceptions. Twenty-four American, 23 Chinese, and 23 mixed nationality two person teams were created and used for comparisons. Increasing …

Cognitive Effort For Multi Agent Systems, Luca Longo

Conference papers

Cognitive Effort is a multi-faceted phenomenon that has suffered from an imperfect understanding, an informal use in everyday life and numerous definitions. This paper attempts to clarify the concept, along with some of the main influencing factors, by presenting a possible heuristic formalism intended to be implemented as a computational concept, and therefore be embedded in an artificial agent capable of cognitive effort-based decision support. Its applicability in the domain of Artificial Intelligence and Multi-Agent Systems is discussed. The technical challenge of this contribution is to start an active discussion towards the formalisation of Cognitive Effort and its application in …

Uses Pattern Of Cosmetics And Perception Of Personality: A Study Of Students Doing Professional Courses In Lucknow City, Ruchi Srivastava, D.S. Chaubey

Business Review

The modern, urban Indian populations both male and female are becoming increasingly conscious about their style and looks, with great emphasis on lightening of skin tone. Skin care and color cosmetics have witnessed solid growth for the last few years Within a short span of the last five-six years, the use of cosmetics by Indian consumers has increased significantly with more and more women and men taking greater interest in personal grooming. Increasing disposable incomes, changing life styles, influence of satellite television and greater product choice and availability has also fueled the consumption pattern of cosmetics to build the perception …

Mate Selection, Margaret J. Cason, Norman P. Li

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife"—so wrote Jane Austen in Pride and Prejudice. From classic literature to contemporary screenplays, from the latest celebrity news to office gossip, it is nearly impossible to escape the pervasive topic of romantic relationships. Indeed, the pursuit of mates consumes a significant portion of our time and energy, and for good reason—mates give us companionship, pleasure, comfort, security, and even health benefits. As we discuss in this article, there are two major theoretical perspectives for understanding mate selection. …

The Association Between Parental Perceptions Of Children's Residential Mental Health Treatment And The Parent-Child Relationship, Susanne Elizabeth Preston

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Residential mental health treatment for children as an intervention for children is increasing, potentially affecting the relationship within families. The purpose of this study was to examine the parental perspectives of the associations between the parent-child relationship and children's residential mental health treatment. This study explored parental perspectives of specific aspects of the parent-child relationship: parental support, satisfaction with parenting, parental involvement, communication, and limit setting-and the association between these aspects and the child's residential mental health treatment. Paired samples t-tests were conducted; resulting in statistically significant changes on all scales measured, with varying effect sizes. Results indicated parents …

Cosmetic Surgery Pictures: Does Type Of Picture Affect Acceptance Of Cosmetic Surgery And/Or Body Image?, Lindsay Nicole Fuzzell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The researcher investigates the effect of viewing positive and negative cosmetic surgery images, with short descriptive scenarios, on acceptance of cosmetic surgery. Two hundred ninety-nine participants were assigned to view one of three conditions: positive before/after cosmetic surgery pictures and an accompanying scenario, negative pictures and scenario, or no pictures or scenario (control), followed by the Acceptance of Cosmetic Surgery Scale (ACSS, Henderson-King & Henderson-King, 2005), the Body Parts Satisfaction Scale (Berscheid, Walster, & Bohrstedt, 1973), and the Physical Self Description Questionnaire (Marsh, Richards, Johnson, Roche, & Tremayne, 1994). There was a significant relationship between ACSS Intrapersonal subscale and picture/scenario …

Functional Behavioral Assessment : School Based Practice And Perception, Clint Henning

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a process that attempts to uncover specific causes and reinforcement of inappropriate behavior in order to design and implement interventions that more accurately address these behaviors. According to the 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, functional assessments are now required in working with students struggling with inappropriate behavior. Despite these requirements there is still ambiguity about how these assessments are carried out in school settings (Gartin and Murdick, 2001). This study consisted of a survey of school psychologists in the state of Iowa to understand how the process looks currently, ten years …

Rationality And Humanity: A View From Feminist Economics, Julie A. Nelson

Economics Faculty Publication Series

DOES RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY (RCT) HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT to contribute to the humanities? Usually the arguments for answering “yes” to this question go something like the following: The application of RCT has proved to be a powerful tool in economics and the social sciences, leading to clear and rigorous insights unattainable from less precise methods. Therefore, by also harnessing this power, the disciplines in the humanities could advance toward becoming more elegant, rational, and forceful in their explorations of human behavior. As an economist, I’d like to address this argument on its home ground. Has the use of RCT advanced …

Child Sexual Trauma And Traumagenic Dynamics: The Mediating Role Of Family Environment On Adulthood Functioning Among Hispanic And Caucasian Females, Jose Mauricio Ramirez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Child Sexual Abuse has received great attention in the last three decades and a major societal issue today. Several studies have suggested that the prevalence of CSA in women is in the range of 6% to 62% depending on how the data was collected (e.g., interviews, surveys) and the nature of the population sampled (e.g., general population, clinical population). Because of CSA, victims are impacted by the experience and encounter a change in the way they perceive the world on both the way they act and react upon it. Some research on the characteristics of CSA and effects in adult …

The Use Of Personality Test Norms In Work Settings: Effects Of Sample Size And Relevance, Robert P. Tett, Jenna R. (Fitzke) Pieper, Patrick L. Wadlington, Scott A. Davies, Michael G. Anderson, Jeff Foster

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

The value of personality test norms for use in work settings depends on norm sample size (N) and relevance, yet research on these criteria is scant and corresponding standards are vague. Using basic statistical principles and Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) data from 5 sales and 4 trucking samples (N range = 394–6,200), we show that (a) N >100 has little practical impact on the reliability of norm-based standard scores (max=±10 percentile points in 99% of samples) and (b) personality profiles vary more from using different norm samples, between as well as within job families. Averaging across scales, T-scores based on …

Scarred Images: Using Appearance As A Motivator To Reduce Driving Under The Influence Of Alcohol, Mary-Theresa Mcnabb

Dissertations

In response to continued driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) amongst young adults and increased drinking and driving amongst females, the current study aimed to decrease such risky behavior using threats to appearance as a deterrent. One hundred and thirty-three undergraduates at the University of Southern Mississippi completed a threepart study after sequential assignment to one of three groups, a no-photo group, a crash scene photo group, or a personalized-photo group. Baseline measures were taken concerning participants' alcohol-related behaviors. One week later all groups were given statistical information commonly available in DUI prevention pamphlets together with strategies to avoid …