Psychology Commons^™

Investigating Child-Informed Considerations For Animated Picture Symbols Representing Emotion For Aac Use In Children With Asd, Hannah Kitsmiller

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Development of emotional competence is an important area of consideration when supporting individuals who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). Emotional competence includes skills related to identifying and communicating about one’s emotions. Individuals who use AAC may struggle to develop strong skills in emotional competence. One potential barrier to developing emotional competence may be access to symbols that facilitate understanding of the represented emotion. Emotions are abstract and challenging to represent in visual symbols. Additionally, evidence suggests individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may have visual perceptual differences when viewing faces. Current emotion symbols are often depicted using isolated facial …

Methods Comparison For Collecting Subjective Valence And Arousal Judgements, Esha Gandhi

Senior Theses

Human emotion and affect are critical for regulating behavior, guiding decision-making and facilitating social communications. In everyday language, emotion and affect are interchangeable. However, in psychology, they are conceptualized as two distinct constructs. Emotion refers to discrete, prototypical subjective experiences elicited by specific stimuli. Affect, in contrast, refers to more elementary feelings that can be described along two continuous dimensions: valence (positive-negative) and arousal (low-high). According to the circumplex model (Russell, 1980), emotion can be represented within a two-dimensional core affective space defined by valence and arousal. Although valence and arousal are conceptually interrelated, most studies measure them separately using …

On The Provenance Of Software Systems: Automating Software Traceability With Knowledge Graph And Large Language Model Synergy, Tyler Procko

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The present dissertation delineates a system that enables those engaged in software development to automatically generate and maintain project life cycle provenance. All projects are implemented and made manifest with the development of artifacts, e.g., papers, code files, etc. Tools exist to accelerate artifact creation, but little focus is paid to the processes that produce them. In terms of Ontology, or, from Ancient Greek, the study of being, the two most basic entities in reality are Continuant and Occurrent, or, roughly, “Artifact” and “Process”. This dissertation posits that for any created artifact, its process of creation, i.e., its life …

Role Of Eye-Tracking Technology And Software Algorithms In Enhancing Adhd Detection And Diagnosis: A Systematic Literature Review, Lauren E. Perkins

Honors College Theses

This systematic literature review explores the role of eye-tracking technology and software algorithms in enhancing the detection and diagnosis of ADHD. ADHD, a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting both children and adults, is traditionally diagnosed through behavioral assessments, which may lack objectivity. Recent studies suggest that eye-tracking, specifically focusing on saccades, fixations, and blink rates, offers the potential for more accurate and objective measures of ADHD. The review examines clinical trials, observational studies, and machine learning research to assess the correlation between ADHD and eye movement patterns. Results indicate that individuals with ADHD exhibit distinct eye movement patterns, which can be quantified …

Neurocriminology: A Beginner’S Guide, Jerrod Brown

Forensic Scholars Today

No abstract provided.

Synchronizing Work And Teaching Practices With The Spatial Dna Of Distributed Work And Learning, Manju Aishwarya Adikesavan

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Phygitality, the seamless and synergistic integration of physical and digital realms, is an indispensable and irrevocable part of contemporary office-based work. Phygitality facilitates spatially and temporally distributed or multi-local working where employees work from diverse locations such as their home, office, and third places at any time of day or night. It also makes nonterritorial working at temporary workspaces accessed on a session-by-session basis possible.

This dissertation examines how phygital, multi-local, and nonterritorial working reshape individual and group work behaviors, organizational spatial practices, work-centric settings, non-work-centric settings, neighborhoods, cities, and regions. The Spatial DNA of Distributed Work encapsulates a conceptual …

Investigating The Risk And Protective Factors Of Internet Addiction Among Adolescents Through The Lens Of Cognitive Behavioral Theory: A Cross-Sectional Study, Noura Shaltout

Theses and Dissertations

—Introduction: The Internet has become a central part of modern life, enhancing education, providing means of global communication, and facilitating access to information and entertainment. However, an attendant risk of excessive Internet use is becoming unconsciously addicted to virtual online activities, especially when large tech companies design their products in a way that makes them addictive to users. These companies have the tools and knowledge that allow them to manipulate and transform the behavior of their target audience. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the potential risk and protective factors for Internet addiction among adolescents. Methodology: This cross-sectional study employed …

Plasma Proteomic Characterization Of Motoric Cognitive Risk And Mild Cognitive Impairment, Gabriela T Gomez, Sanish Sathyan, Jingsha Chen, Myriam Fornage, Pascal Schlosser, Zhongsheng Peng, Jenifer Cordon, Priya Palta, Kevin J Sullivan, Adrienne Tin, B Gwen Windham, Rebecca F Gottesman, Nir Barzilai, Sofiya Milman, Joe Verghese, Josef Coresh, Keenan A Walker

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Motoric cognitive risk (MCR) is a pre-dementia syndrome characterized by mobility and cognitive dysfunction. This study conducted a proteome-wide study of MCR and compared the proteomic signatures of MCR to that of mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

METHODS: Participants were classified as MCR using a memory questionnaire and 4-meter walk. We measured 4877 plasma proteins collected during late-life and midlife. Multivariable logistic regression related each protein to late-life MCR/MCI. MCR-associated proteins were replicated internally at midlife and in an external cohort.

RESULTS: Proteome-wide analysis (n = 4076) identified 25 MCR-associated proteins. Eight of these proteins remained associated with late-life MCR …

Soul Surfers Forced Into A Fragmented Exteriority, Siti Balkish Roslan, Nor Atiah Ismail, Sumarni Ismail

Interiority

This study explores the profound impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on soul surfers, individuals for whom surfing transcends mere sport to embody a spiritual, psychological, and physical communion with the sea and ocean. The pandemic’s restrictions, which limited access to the sea, challenged the core of soul surfing practices, prompting surfers to seek alternative means to sustain their connection with the sea and ocean. Through qualitative research, employing phenomenological analysis, theories of affordance, symbolic interactionism, and interpretive interviews, the study examines the transition from a natural exterior to a built interior, adapting their living spaces to maintain their surfing identity, …

Seeing Through Solid Words: Using Gebser’S Concept Of Transparency To Understand A Gnostic Poem Expressing Integral Consciousness, Lisa Maroski

Journal of Conscious Evolution

It is difficult to express integral consciousness using ordinary language because of the inherent tendency of language to separate and distinguish. Jean Gebser, in The Ever-Present Origin, suggested concepts such as transparency and diaphaneity as ways to access integral consciousness, and the Gnostic text The Thunder, Perfect Mind (TPM) is written from the perspective of a being with integral consciousness. I use Jean Gebser’s concepts of transparency and diaphaneity to explicate TPM, an enigmatic, paradoxical poem in the Nag Hammadi Library. Because TPM is written from the perspective of an integral being, one who is All-of-It (i.e., paradoxical completeness rather …

Associations Between Deficit Accumulation Frailty And Baseline Markers Of Lifestyle In The Us Pointer Trial, Mark A Espeland, Yitbarek N Demesie, Kayloni Olson, Samuel N Lockhart, Sarah E Tomaszewski Farias, Maryjo L Cleveland, Christy C Tangney, Lucia Crivelli, Heather M Snyder, Michele K York, Laura D Baker, Rachel A Whitmer, Rena R Wing, Katelyn R Garcia, Kathryn E Callahan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

BACKGROUND: Multidomain lifestyle interventions may have the potential to slow biological aging as captured by deficit accumulation frailty indices. We describe the distribution and composition of the 49-component frailty index developed by the U.S. POINTER clinical trial team of investigators and assess its cross-sectional associations with sociodemographic factors and markers chosen to be representative of behaviors targeted by the trial's multidomain interventions.

METHODS: We draw baseline data from the 2 111 volunteers enrolled in U.S. POINTER who were ages 60-79 years and at increased risk for cognitive decline. Frailty components were grouped into 9 domains. Associations that frailty index scores …

Complex Skill Learning And Atc: Examining Stress Response And Distress Mitigation With Eeg And Ecg, Sophia J. Fischer, James C. Lue, Dana Mahmoud, Joshua Rice, Piper Winsett, Eric Anthony Day, Michael J. Wenger, Dingjing Shi, Julia Beckel, Jamie Barrett, Tammy Ho

International Symposium on Aviation Psychology - 2025

Air Traffic Control (ATC) trainees at the FAA Academy and developmentalcontrollers in the field often face dynamic and unexpected events in training,which may impact safe and effective human performance if certain vulnerabilitiesare not properly managed or mitigated. We integrate theory on self-regulatedworkplace training with a cognitive neuroscience perspective on attention touniquely examine the effects of surprise and stress on performance. Our near-termgoal is to demonstrate the viability of using physiological measures to predictperformance changes in a laboratory study of young adults learning a complexvideogame. We use a novel, event-marked and person-centric longitudinalapproach to the analysis of physiological variables to distinguish …

Review Of Fatigue Micro-Mitigations For Application In Air Traffic Control: Benefits, Challenges, And Feasibility, John Kang, Ruth E. Propper, Michael Sawyer

International Symposium on Aviation Psychology - 2025

Air traffic controllers (ATCs) are one of the primary drivers of safe and resilient operations in the National Airspace System. The FAA has implemented manylarge-scale fatigue mitigation strategies (e.g., scheduling policies, break time requirements, and time-on-position limits) to combat fatigue. Given the performance benefits related to managing fatigue, ATCs may also benefit from simple, practical fatigue interventions and that could improve job performance.This review targets ‘micro-mitigations,’ which we define as mitigations that maybe unobtrusive, can be quickly implemented, have a rapid impact, and are easy to engage. We explore the possible utility of five micro-mitigations to help minimize fatigue/improve alertness: …

Thinking Beyond Ourselves: Using Interdisciplinary Exploration And Speculative Scenarios To Understand The Human Experience, Shannon Kundey

Honors in Practice Online Archive

This essay presents an interdisciplinary seminar in honors that challenges students to move beyond the limitations of human experience and examine cognition and behavior across species, environments, and hypothetical extraterrestrial minds. A Choose Your Own Adventure structure encourages reflection on cognitive biases, thereby fostering a nuanced understanding of intelligence, perspective, and sociality. Author observes that students benefit from frameworks that disrupt human-centered biases and suggests that engaging students in speculative scenarios prompts confronting and questioning assumptions about intelligence, ethics, and social dynamics.

Eros And The Sublime: Tools For Reaching Toward An Altered Ecological Consciousness, Aineka Carlson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This thesis explores connections between the Kantian sublime and Anne Carson’s ideas regarding “eros.” Since Kant’s Critique of Judgement was published in 1790, the Kantian sublime has grown in popularity and been utilized by theorists and creative writers alike. While the Kantian sublime is often associated with nature in popular culture, there are certain egocentric and phallocentric elements of this mode of thinking that might inhibit a biocentric mindset. Through a character study of Oryx from Margaret Atwood’s novel Oryx and Crake, this thesis draws relations between the subjugation of women, nature, and the ways in which the popularized …

Mindfulness & Mental Health: Balanced Time Perspective As A Mediator, Eddie Trueblood

Masters Theses

Mindfulness is a practice of intentionally paying attention to the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. Being more mindful can decrease symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress, among other mental and physical health improvements. (Donald et al., 2016; Hofmann et al., 2010; Kabat-Zinn et al.,1992). This study examined if balanced time perspective (BTP) is one of the mechanisms of action of mindfulness in its relationship with depression, anxiety, and stress. BTP refers to a person’s ability to flexibly adapt their time perspective (attention to the past, present, or future, and positive or negative attitudes toward each) to suit the current …

In Praise Of Dust, Hasler Gomez-Perez

Theses and Dissertations

A desire path is a physical manifestation of where a system has failed, but also where it has been refused, where a new path has been made. The wake exists in the post, it is not a singular, untethered event, but a subtle double entendre that lives in the post-death, but also in the pre-life—not a liminal limbo, but a superposition of dying and waking.

This collection was assembled and composed over the course of two years as I navigated my practice, myself, and others. Present here are my thoughts, my experiences, and in many ways my beliefs. IN PRAISE …

Dataset For "The Role Of Metacognition And Confidence In Quantitative Reasoning In College Biology Courses", Joseph Dauer, Anum Khushal, Brian A. Couch, Robert L. Mayes, Kent Rittschof

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Quantitative modelling is a fundamental skill for biology students with performance determined by a host of cognitive and metacognitive resources and requiring instructors to integrate key quantitative dimensions into teaching biology. Using an assessment of quantitative modelling in biology, we explored biology students’ (n = 930 higher education students) modelling practices (i.e., abilities to create, test, revise), metacognition about the nature of models and confidence in their capabilities to model. Students performed best on items related to understanding variables used in models and performed more poorly on items related to interpreting, creating, and using models to understand biological phenomena. …

Your Words Matter, Sophie Thai

ENGS 15.11: Design and Education

This lesson focuses on helping students understand the profound impact that affirmations and gratitude can have on their mindset and well-being. Applicable for everyone, students are encouraged to take their learnings and practice them in real life, hoping to promote a shift in perspective. Students will be able to recognize the benefits of their words and the way they speak to themselves, and understand how they can make changes in their lifestyle.

In this lesson, students will have a chance to reflect and learn about the science behind affirmations and gratitude while being introduced to strategies used to implement them …

The Hidden Struggle: Peer Perceptions Of Imposter Phenomenon And The Impact Of Gender, Elizabeth C. Yanes

All Master's Theses

Imposter Phenomenon (IP) affects about 82% of people and can have detrimental effects on the mental health and achievement of sufferers (Bravata et al., 2020). Given the previous literature on IP and research on bias in interpersonal judgments based on gender, I explored how the expression of imposter feelings impacts interpersonal perceptions of competence and intelligence, and how gender moderates this relationship. Participants read one of four vignettes and indicated how competent and intelligent they viewed the individual in the vignette in which a high achieving man/woman college student does/does not express IP. Results of the 2 (Gender Pronouns: He/Him …

An Investigation Of The Physiological And Behavioral Correlates Of Mental Imagery, Matthew Daniel Carroll

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Many conventional theories hold mental imagery to be fundamental to self-regulation. Recently, a current of research into mental imagery has developed, with the terms anaurelia and aphantasia being coined for the inability to experience, respectively, auditory and visual thought content, yet little is known about the impact that such individual differences have on persons’ lives. The present experiment was performed in order to test the hypotheses that self-regulation and mental imagery positively correlate and that mental imagery mediates the correlation of resting heart-rate variability and self-regulation. Self-regulation was measured via a self-report questionnaire (the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire), as was mental …

Sex-Dependent Changes In Risk-Taking Predisposition Of Rats Following Space Radiation Exposure, Elliot Smits, Faith E. Reid, Ella N. Tamgue, Paola Alvarado Arriaga, Charles Nguyen, Richard A. Britten

Department Radiation Oncology & Biophysics Faculty Publications

The Artemis missions will establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon, serving as a crucial steppingstone for future Mars exploration. Astronauts on these ambitious missions will have to successfully complete complex tasks, which will frequently involve rapid and effective decision making under unfamiliar or high-pressure conditions. Exposure to low doses of space radiation (SR) can impair key executive functions critical to decision making. This study examined the effects of exposure to 10 cGy of Galactic Cosmic Ray simulated radiation (GCRsim) on decision-making performance in male and female rats with a naturally low predisposition for risk-taking (RTP) prior to exposure. …

A Two-Hit Model Of Executive Dysfunction: Simulated Galactic Cosmic Radiation Primes Latent Deficits Revealed By Sleep Fragmentation, Richard A. Britten, Ella N. Tamgue, Paola Arriaga Alvarado, Arriyam S. Fesshaye, Larry D. Sanford

Department Radiation Oncology & Biophysics Faculty Publications

Future Artemis-class missions to Mars will expose astronauts to prolonged space radiation (SR), sleep disruption, and operational demands requiring greater autonomy, placing decision making and executive function at heightened risk. Both SR and sleep fragmentation (SF) independently impair cognition, yet their combined effects remain poorly understood. Using the Associative Recognition Memory and Interference (ARMIT) task, we assessed cognitive performance in male rats exposed to 10 cGy of Galactic Cosmic Ray simulation (GCRsim), SF, or both. Under well-rested conditions, GCRsim-exposed rats exhibited overt deficits in the C.1.2 stage, performing at chance when reinforcement contingencies shifted, consistent with impaired cognitive flexibility. In …

The Effect Of Need For Closure, Gender Essentialism, And Contact On Transphobia, Jacob E. Vargas

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Using a motivated social cognition framework, this study explores whether there is an indirect effect of need for closure on transphobia via gender essentialism and whether this relationship is moderated by transgender contact. Data were collected from an undergraduate sample of 405 cisgender participants (n_men = 159, n_women = 246). A simple mediation and a moderated mediation were used to examine the hypothesized relationships, controlling for participant gender. Results reinforced the positive correlation between gender essentialism and transphobia and the negative correlation between transgender contact and transphobia. However, the mediation and moderation hypotheses were not supported. Need …

(In)Attention To Attractive Brand Alternatives, Danielle J. Brick, Veronica L. Thomas

Marketing Faculty Publications

Understanding how consumers maintain their brand relationships has important implications for marketers as committed consumers contribute significant value to firms. In the present research, we propose and test one such way consumers protect their brand relationships, namely through attentional avoidance of attractive alternative partners. Across multiple studies, we find support for our theory that committed consumers avoid attending to alternative brand partners by recalling less about and spending less time focused on attractive alternatives. We further find that this inattention occurs because consumers view the competing brand as a threat to the consumer’s current relationship. In addition, we investigate a …

Body Imagery: How Exercise Motivation Type Affects Self And Social Perceptions, Alexander Granat

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The current research revolves around individuals’ motivations for engaging in regular exercise and how this motivation may be associated with self-esteem, social confidence, social anxiety, and social media behavior. Recent literature on exercise and its relation to anxiety and social media usage has almost exclusively addressed a one-way direction: how social media, especially problematic social media use, and the anxiety derived thereof influence individuals to increase exercise frequency. The present research seeks to understand the potential relationship within the opposite direction, looking to discover confluence between one’s drive to exercise (i.e., for functional reasons or social desirability and aesthetics), derived …

The Impact Of Religiosity On Political Knowledge Among Youth Voters, Norah Sackett

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As political engagement trends among young voters have continued to shift in the United States' political atmosphere, understanding the cognitive factors that influence these decisions is becoming increasingly important. Political efficacy, or the feeling that individual political action can impact the political process, impacting their civic duties, has long been regarded as a key determinant of an individual's political engagement. This study investigates how young voters' understanding of prominent political arguments relates to their sense of political efficacy, with a specific lens on individual religiosity.

Through an examination of this relationship between religiosity and overall comprehension of political arguments, this …

Users' Trust Perceptions Of Ai Search Results, Leilani J. Cordoves

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Utilizing a repeated measure design, this experiment analyzes users’ perceptions of artificial intelligence embedded within search engines compared to traditional linked search engines in various contextual situations. The purpose of this study is to find the differences in confidence for differing search methods and the variables of trust that lead to these perceived differences. Using screenshots of AI overview search results and linked search results, we asked participants questions of confidence and human-computer trust to gauge their perceptions of the varying search methods. We find evidence of a significant interaction effect in confidence scores between the search method and the …

Spirituality In Place: Assessment Of Spirituality, Place Attachment, And Locus Of Control In College, Chloe Armand

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore how spirituality in place shapes college students’ cognition. While spiritual development is recognized as an important aspect of student affairs, its influence on cognitive factors such as locus of control and place attachment remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between spirituality, place attachment, and locus of control, as well as students’ perceptions of spiritual design elements on UCF’s campus. To assess these perceptions, a Quality of Place Questionnaire for Spirituality was developed. This instrument aims to measure humanity, sensuality, and sustainability in the built environment. This research uncovers the connections between …

Sealing The Deal: A Case Study Of A Private, Southeastern, Regional College’S Student Onboarding Practices, Alicia R. Gaston, Kristen Meyer, Tyler Ogden, Jennifer Perkinson, Casey Yocum Michaels

Doctor of Education Capstones

Each year, higher education institutions offer support to new, incoming students through an onboarding process that requires dedication and collaboration across multiple departments. Offering streamlined guidance and clear communication throughout the onboarding process is essential to ensure incoming students understand action steps without becoming overwhelmed with new terminology, processes, and environments. This explanatory case study is set to understand the current communication practices and technology use across onboarding departments at Brightside College – also referred to as Brightside or BC (pseudonym). The research team aimed to understand Brightside's onboarding staff's perspective of current processes and practices. With emphasis on the …