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Articles 1141 - 1170 of 1681

Full-Text Articles in Psychology

A Study Of The Role Of Kindness In Swiss Families, Irina Pang, Dr. Ivan F. Beutler Sep 2013

A Study Of The Role Of Kindness In Swiss Families, Irina Pang, Dr. Ivan F. Beutler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The research I conducted in Switzerland was part of a long-term research program that started at BYU in 1991. The purpose of that research was to learn more about the role of kindness in family systems. Kindness is defined as patterns of charitable and loving interactions. The main theoretical idea of this program is that kindness plays a much more significant role than has been realized in previous family science literature.


Cognitive Conflict Adaptation In Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Scott A. Baldwin, Michael J. Larson, Ann Clawson, Peter E. Clayson Sep 2013

Cognitive Conflict Adaptation In Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Scott A. Baldwin, Michael J. Larson, Ann Clawson, Peter E. Clayson

Faculty Publications

ndividuals with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) display poor emotional conflict adaptation, a cogni- tive control process requiring the adjustment of performance based on previous-trial conflict. It is unclear whether GAD-related conflict adaptation difficulties are present during tasks without emotionally-salient stimuli. We examined conflict adaptation using the N2 component of the event-related potential (ERP) and behavioral responses on a Flanker task from 35 individuals with GAD and 35 controls. Groups did not differ on conflict adaptation accuracy; individuals with GAD also displayed intact RT conflict adaptation. In contrast, individuals with GAD showed decreased amplitude N2 principal component for conflict adap- tation. …


Modification Of Experimental Objective And Protocol To An Assessment Of The Effects Of Electroacupuncture On Vta Gaba Neurons In The Context Of Acute Alcohol, Christine H. Walton, Dr. Scott C. Steffensen Aug 2013

Modification Of Experimental Objective And Protocol To An Assessment Of The Effects Of Electroacupuncture On Vta Gaba Neurons In The Context Of Acute Alcohol, Christine H. Walton, Dr. Scott C. Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Although my proposal for the ORCA grant involved the effects of nicotine on neurons in the VTA, preliminary data showed little to no promise and my mentor and I decided to go in a different direction.


Development Of A Measure For Child Psychotherapy Process And Outcome Research, Tyler Sasser, Dr. Jared Warren Aug 2013

Development Of A Measure For Child Psychotherapy Process And Outcome Research, Tyler Sasser, Dr. Jared Warren

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The latest research has shown that 1 in 5 children meet criteria for a mental disorder and 1 in 10 children experience significant impairment in the family, school, and community due to a mental disorder (Huang et al., 2005). Unfortunately, only about one quarter of these children needing mental health services receive care (Ringel & Sturm, 2001). Although only a small portion of impaired children receive care, substantial progress has been made in developing effective treatments for this population. However, there are many unresolved issues surrounding child and adolescent psychotherapy.


Tracking Off-Site Recreational Therapy Activities, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame Aug 2013

Tracking Off-Site Recreational Therapy Activities, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At the beginning of this research experience, my research group and I sought to find evidence that off-site recreational therapy was effective in increasing a patient’s perceived freedom and self-efficacy. This research idea came in response to the diminishing financial support at the Utah State Mental Hospital (USM) from state legislatures who request empirical evidence that off-campus trips truly contribute significantly to full patient recovery. However, when we began to research this topic, we soon found that there were very few cases that sought evidence-based practice (EBP) in the field of recreational therapy.


Body Weight And Self-Control In Pigeons, Daniel Watkins, Dr. Harold Miller Aug 2013

Body Weight And Self-Control In Pigeons, Daniel Watkins, Dr. Harold Miller

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Recent approaches have interpreted self-control in terms of temporal factors. Most recent models posit that self-control amounts to a choice between a smaller reward that is available sooner and a larger reward that is available later. The model is applicable to both humans and nonhumans. Additionally, the model characterizes the relation between reward value and delay to reward in terms of a hyperbolic discounting function (Green and Myerson, 2004). Figure 1 (adapted from Domjan, 2006) depicts this relation in terms of a small reward available sooner than a large reward. Both curves in the figures are of the form:


Cocaine’S Effects On Inhibitory Gaba Neurons In The Midbrain, Seth Taylor, Dr. Scott Steffensen Aug 2013

Cocaine’S Effects On Inhibitory Gaba Neurons In The Midbrain, Seth Taylor, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Cocaine abuse is a serious societal problem. The 2006 Monitoring the Future survey of students showed that 2.5% of high school seniors had used cocaine in the past month, 5.7% in the last year, and 8.5% at least once in their lifetime. According to the 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 5.5 million Americans has used cocaine in the last year, twice as many as the number of people suffering from schizophrenia. Researchers have been working diligently to discover the means by which cocaine acts on the brain to cause such dependence. Treatments for addiction have improved as …


The Behavioral Response Of The Boxelder Bug With Respect To Suspect Semiochemicals, Jared Steven Nielsen, Dr. Gary M. Booth Aug 2013

The Behavioral Response Of The Boxelder Bug With Respect To Suspect Semiochemicals, Jared Steven Nielsen, Dr. Gary M. Booth

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The boxelder bug, Boisea trivattatus, is a common structural and agricultural insect pest found throughout North America. Unfortunately, current pest management methods are not effective for controlling boxelder bug populations. If discovered and developed attractants would provide an effective and environmentally responsible solution to boxelder bug management.


A Study Of Japanese And American Couples: Attitudes And Expectations About Marriage, Naoki Miyakawa, Dr. Thomas B. Holman Aug 2013

A Study Of Japanese And American Couples: Attitudes And Expectations About Marriage, Naoki Miyakawa, Dr. Thomas B. Holman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my research was to (1) translate the RELATE (acronym for RELATionship Evaluation) into Japanese thus developing a comprehensive survey instrument for assessing marital patterns in Japan, (2) pilot test the instrument with a sample of Japanese couples and (3) analyze the data collected with appropriate statistical procedures for the purpose of revising the instrument and beginning to understand the similarities and differences between the courtship and marital attitudes and expectations of Japanese and American young adults. The results I obtained while in Japan this summer were compared to the results obtained through the American research (Larson & …


Stich On Charity And Truth, David A. Jensen, Dr. K. Codell Carter Aug 2013

Stich On Charity And Truth, David A. Jensen, Dr. K. Codell Carter

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Stephen Stich argues in the Fragmentation of Reason for a pragmatic account of cognition; that is, our processes of how we acquire knowledge should be evaluated, he maintains, not on how well they produce true beliefs, but on how well they produce beliefs relevant to some pragmatic value (survival, happiness, and so forth). To put forth his pragmatic account, Stich first must debunk at least two mainstays of epistemology: charity and truth.


The Unreflecting Narcissus, Benjamin Huff, Dr. Scott Sprenger Aug 2013

The Unreflecting Narcissus, Benjamin Huff, Dr. Scott Sprenger

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Andre Gide’s La Symphonie Pastorale (in English, The Pastoral Symphony) portrays a pastor who mistakes the love of a woman for the love of God and believes he is serving God while he serves mostly just himself. Even his avowed love for Gertrude, a blind orphan girl he takes in, turns out to be mostly self-serving. Because the pastor’s self-love appears as love for Gertrude, some readers have compared the pastor to Narcissus and Gertrude to Narcissus’ entrancing image in the pool. Further steeping a scene already drenched in irony, I argue that while the pastor loves Gertrude as …


Numerical Processing In Infants: Differentiating Between Small And Large Groups Of Number, Clark Van Den Berghe, Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Ross Flom Aug 2013

Numerical Processing In Infants: Differentiating Between Small And Large Groups Of Number, Clark Van Den Berghe, Dr. Chris Porter, Dr. Ross Flom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Without even realizing it, our brain is constantly taking in information from our external environment. While some things take conscious effort, others happen with little or no thought. Vision is an enormous input, and our brain processes what it sees in order for us to do many of our daily activities. One of the things that we process constantly is the number of objects in our field of view. This is the same for both infants and adults, since we both have to navigate the world we live in. The purpose of my research project was to examine more deeply …


Tracking Rt: Data-Driven Evidence As To The Efficacy Of Off-Site Recreation Therapy At The Utah State Hospital, Sean Woodland, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame Aug 2013

Tracking Rt: Data-Driven Evidence As To The Efficacy Of Off-Site Recreation Therapy At The Utah State Hospital, Sean Woodland, Maya Inoue, Dr. Gary Burlingame

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Recreation Therapy Program at the Utah State Hospital (USH) remains one of the least-noticed disciplines that the hospital has to offer. The program has the goal of improving the overall quality of life of the patient, focusing on the areas of community integration, skill development, and lifelong leisure. An important part of being able to accomplish these goals is via off-campus activities, ranging from camping and sporting events to visiting theaters and museums. However, in recent years the program has felt pressure from state legislatures and hospital administration to limit these off-campus interventions, mainly due to budget concerns, which …


Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macacamulatta), Andrea Sorenson, Dr. James D. Higley Aug 2013

Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macacamulatta), Andrea Sorenson, Dr. James D. Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Initially this project was looking at the effects that multiple short term separations of a mother rhesus macaque from their infant would have on their relationship. More specifically, looking at adoption pairs (an infant raised by a non biological mother) to see if the relationship between the mother and the infant changed differently than the relationship of a mother and their biological infant. The focus of this analysis was looking at the mother/infant pair’s cortisol levels, which are a measure of the body’s physiological response to stress. The hope was to determine whether mother infant pairs with similar cortisol levels, …


Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Whitney Maxwell, Dr. Dee Higley Aug 2013

Different Developmental Outcomes Following Lab Rearing By Biological Or Adoptive Mothers: Maternal Influence On Behavioral And Physiological Responses To Separation Stress In Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Whitney Maxwell, Dr. Dee Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Under stressful conditions the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis increases in both humans and animals leading to an increase in production of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Maternal separation in nonhuman primates during infancy elicits behaviors characteristic of anxiety, such as withdrawal and nervous behavior and a substantial increase in ACTH (Higley and Linnoila 1997; Barr, Newman et al. 2004). Individual differences in anxiety in turn influence ACTH output, similar to what is seen in human children (Gunnar and Quevedo 2007). Infants response to separation physiologically and behaviorally is substantial and represents a significant stressor in the life of a young …


Greek Philosophy And The Christian Church Fathers, Michael Hansen, Dr. David Paulsen Aug 2013

Greek Philosophy And The Christian Church Fathers, Michael Hansen, Dr. David Paulsen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In this project I intended to establish what doctrinal evolution can be seen in the Judeo-Christian tradition between the Second Temple period and the Post-Apostolic age. My hope was to document significant movements in theological attitudes that can be attributed, at least in part, to Greek philosophy.


The Role Of Relationships In The Conversion Process: An Lds Sample, James W. Phillips, Dr. Kristin Hansen Aug 2013

The Role Of Relationships In The Conversion Process: An Lds Sample, James W. Phillips, Dr. Kristin Hansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I consider this ORCA project to be a successful one on all accounts. The goals that were originally outlined at the onset of this project (forming an original research paper and presenting at a major academic conference) were met and future collaborations with Dr. Kristin Hansen suggest that we can publish our work in a scholarly journal. From the beginning, through the completion of the ORCA grant project, and continuing until the present, this mentored learning experience has been a fulfilling and productive endeavor.


Evaluating Demographic Influence On Parenting Style In Taiwan, Kevin Handley, Dr. Niwako Yamawaki Aug 2013

Evaluating Demographic Influence On Parenting Style In Taiwan, Kevin Handley, Dr. Niwako Yamawaki

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Of all the research studying the influence of stressors on parents, only a few studies have actually addressed demographic factors as stressors. Even then, there has yet to be a study that specifically seeks to delineate exactly which demographic factor predicts which type of parenting style. This project sought to delineate which demographic factors (e.g. area of residence, SES, age, and education) are predictive of maladaptive parenting styles, and which factors are predictive of adaptive parenting styles. The intent was that if certain demographics were found to be highly predictive of maladaptive parenting styles, then perhaps governments could be persuaded …


Body Image During Pregnancy: Abstract, T. Anna Halistrom Aug 2013

Body Image During Pregnancy: Abstract, T. Anna Halistrom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Pregnancy is a time of tremendous physical change for a woman. In light of recent research concerning how women’s opinions of their bodies affect behavior and emotional well-being, it is reasonable to ask how women feel about these physical changes during pregnancy and what factors are associated with more positive or negative body images.


Ambivalent Sexism And The Law: The Myth Of Gender Equality, Jennifer Edgley, Dr. Niwako Yamawaki Aug 2013

Ambivalent Sexism And The Law: The Myth Of Gender Equality, Jennifer Edgley, Dr. Niwako Yamawaki

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The women’s liberation movement of the sixties and seventies has ushered in several important social and political changes in the United States. Gender inequality, however, remains an enduring problem in various institutions (Lips, 2007). The theory of Ambivalent Sexism conceptualizes and may be the key to understanding the residual occurrences of gender inequality within social institutions. Theorists Glick and Fiske (1996) believe that prejudice, though traditionally considered to be antipathy towards a certain group (Allport, 1954), can contain both positive and negative features. They contend that sexism is not simply hostility towards women, but also subjectively positive behavior toward women. …


Twelve-Month-Olds’ Discrimination Of Monkey Faces: Evidence For Perceptual Narrowing?, Ross Magnum, Dr. Ross Flom Aug 2013

Twelve-Month-Olds’ Discrimination Of Monkey Faces: Evidence For Perceptual Narrowing?, Ross Magnum, Dr. Ross Flom

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Experience plays a critical role in the development of infants’ perceptual abilities. Studies have shown that during the early stages of development, about six months of age, infants are capable of discriminating between a large number of faces, including faces from different species or races (Pascalis, 2002). Some time after 6 months of age, infants begin to develop a facial “prototype” according to the various faces towards which they have the most familiarity. While they gain expertise on this particular face type, they lose their generalized ability to discriminate between broad ranges of different faces, a phenomenon known as “perceptual …


Patere Legem, Quam Ipse Talisti: Nietzsche And The End Of Christianity, Matthew Faulconer, Van Tongeren, Dr. Travis Anderson Aug 2013

Patere Legem, Quam Ipse Talisti: Nietzsche And The End Of Christianity, Matthew Faulconer, Van Tongeren, Dr. Travis Anderson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In On the Genealogy of Morals Nietzsche says that every lawgiver eventually receives the call “patere legem, quam ipse tulistr” which means, “submit to the law you yourself proposed.” Nietzsche believes this call is being made to Christianity and that because of this, Christianity’s moral code will condemn Christianity. He calls this the self-overcoming of Christianity which is “the great spectacle in a hundred acts reserved for the next two centuries in Europe.”


Why Be Moral: The Rational Basis For Morality, Michael Durham, Dr. C. Terry Warner Aug 2013

Why Be Moral: The Rational Basis For Morality, Michael Durham, Dr. C. Terry Warner

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Of the many questions in modern meta-ethical debates, the question, “Why be moral?” immediately stands out as one of the most provocative. It seems to embody the moral skepticism notoriously rampant in contemporary society, insolently questioning not just particular moral demands, but the power and validity of any moral demands whatsoever.


The Effect Of Self-Monitoring And Manipulated States Of Self-Awareness On Attitude Change In A Dissonance Paradigm, Rachel E. Crook, Dr. Robert D. Ridge Aug 2013

The Effect Of Self-Monitoring And Manipulated States Of Self-Awareness On Attitude Change In A Dissonance Paradigm, Rachel E. Crook, Dr. Robert D. Ridge

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Personality and situational forces can affect the self-awareness necessary for cognitive dissonance to occur. Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory assumes that people are motivated to maintain a consistency between their thoughts and their actions1. For example, if a person is not in favor of a tuition increase and chooses to write an essay against raising tuition, then, according to dissonance theory, she would experience consonance, because her attitude and behavior are consistent.


Mormonism And The Concept Of A Temporal Deity: The Beckwith- Parrish Dilemma, Jeremy B. Pettit, Dr. David L. Paulsen Aug 2013

Mormonism And The Concept Of A Temporal Deity: The Beckwith- Parrish Dilemma, Jeremy B. Pettit, Dr. David L. Paulsen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In their book The Mormon Concept of God1, evangelical scholars Francis Beckwith and Stephen Parrish (hereafter referred to as BP) present several critiques of what they understand to be the Latterday Saint (LDS) concept of God which they claim is philosophically implausible. The majority of their arguments against the incoherency of the LDS concept of God stem from two dilemmas. My paper focused on the second dilemma which can be formally outlined as:


The Test Re-Test Reliability And Criterion Validity For The Yoq Self-Report Version, Stephen Thomas Ewing, Dr. Gawain Wells Aug 2013

The Test Re-Test Reliability And Criterion Validity For The Yoq Self-Report Version, Stephen Thomas Ewing, Dr. Gawain Wells

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The Youth Outcome Questionnaire Self Report (YOQ S-R) is a new psychological measure for adolescents. It is designed to track how an adolescent feels that he or she may be changing in mental health treatment. In order to do that, we took a sample of adolescents from Provo High School who had never been in treatment. They completed a questionnaire at two different times about two weeks apart. In doing so, we are able to compare our “normal” data base with those who are receiving therapy. Therefore, we can establish norms for the psychometric characteristics of the instrument. The self-report …


Combining The Tripartite And Cognitive-Specificity Models Of Anxiety And Depression, Scott A. Baldwin, Dr. Diane L. Spangler Aug 2013

Combining The Tripartite And Cognitive-Specificity Models Of Anxiety And Depression, Scott A. Baldwin, Dr. Diane L. Spangler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Depression and anxiety are often comorbid and several theories have been proposed to account for their co-occurrence. The tripartite model accounts for the comorbidity between anxiety and depression in terms of the underlying symptoms that are associated with the two disorders. According to the tripartite model, low positive affect (PA) is unique to depression, while autonomic arousal (AA) is unique to anxiety. Negative affect (NA) is common to both disorders; therefore, the relationship between the disorders in due to a common set of symptoms—NA.


A Correlation Study Of Y-Oq And Os Performance In A Youth Outpatient Setting, Jacob Z. Hess, Shelby L. Ferrin, Dr. Michael J. Lambert Aug 2013

A Correlation Study Of Y-Oq And Os Performance In A Youth Outpatient Setting, Jacob Z. Hess, Shelby L. Ferrin, Dr. Michael J. Lambert

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Psychological outcome measures are designed to measure the effectiveness of psychotherapy. The continued conversion of our health care system to managed care increases the need for such outcome instruments as insurance companies require therapists to have evidence that counseling is really helping a client. Initially, outcome measures were developed for adults; more recently, variations on these measures have been designed for children (Burlingame, et al., 1996). In this study, we compared two questionnaires designed to measure psychotherapy with children. Both instruments included a form for parents and a form for their child, from ages 12 to 17. Our comparison went …


Effects Of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation In A Rat-Model Of Human Depression, Brian J. Higginbotham, Dr. Erin Bigler Aug 2013

Effects Of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation In A Rat-Model Of Human Depression, Brian J. Higginbotham, Dr. Erin Bigler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a relatively new technology that extends the ability to noninvasively stimulate cortical brain structures (Walsh and Rushworth, 1999). TMS involves placing an electromagnet on the scalp and turning it rapidly on and off through the discharge of capacitors, thereby producing a time-varying magnetic field that passes unimpeded through the skull and soft tissue. This altering magnetic field induces a changing electric field, which causes current flow in cortical tissue, resulting in neuronal depolarization.


Personal Rules As A Model Of Self-Control, Michael Zhang, Dr. Harold Miller Aug 2013

Personal Rules As A Model Of Self-Control, Michael Zhang, Dr. Harold Miller

Journal of Undergraduate Research

To begin, I believe that the process of grant proposal writing was very important to both formulating my research idea and design as well as requesting the necessary assistance for the realization of this project. The idea which was developed has its origins with prominent psychologist, George Ainslie—personal rules are conceptually known as verbal commitments which we generate ourselves in order to control our behavior, e.g., we may tell ourselves that we will never cheat on an examination and this rule is effective if we follow through on it; however, the delineation of their effectiveness was only ever explained theoretically—the …