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Honors Theses

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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Gender Differences In Emotional Responses To Hooking Up, Kelsey Malone Jan 2011

Gender Differences In Emotional Responses To Hooking Up, Kelsey Malone

Honors Theses

The present research looked to explore the relationship between the emotional responses of college students to different hooking up behaviors. Seven hundred and nine undergraduates participated in a web-based survey that included a demographic questionnaire, SDS, PANAS, AUDIT, and a measure of hooking up. This measure examined the frequency with which they participated in eight different types of hooking up varying by degree of familiarity to their hook partner and whether or not the hook up was coital or non-coital, as well as their emotional responses to the behavior and their perception of the emotional responses of their partner. Results …


The Quest Of A Lifetime : How The First Year Of University Of Richmond Life Affects Student's Spirituality And Religiosity, Melanie Martin May 2010

The Quest Of A Lifetime : How The First Year Of University Of Richmond Life Affects Student's Spirituality And Religiosity, Melanie Martin

Honors Theses

First year university students’ religious and spiritual beliefs and attitudes were investigated over the course of the year. The survey used was largely made up of a subset of questions from the CSBV survey created by HERI and adapted and administered via Survey Monkey software to 153 first year students in the Fall Semester and 74 first year students in the Spring Semester at the University of Richmond. Students pray less and self-reflect more, are more likely to agree that the universe arose by chance, less likely to believe that ‘only religion can truly explain existence’, less likely to find …


Especially In This Economy : The Effect Of Personal And Situational Factors On Charitable Intentions And Attitudes Toward The Homeless, Eric M. Vanepps Apr 2010

Especially In This Economy : The Effect Of Personal And Situational Factors On Charitable Intentions And Attitudes Toward The Homeless, Eric M. Vanepps

Honors Theses

In response to tough economic times and difficulty meeting the need of homeless populations, many charities could use an improved understanding of what predicts and contributes to charitable intentions. The current studies sought to empirically address this issue. Study 1 results revealed that positive attitudes toward the homeless and charitable intentions predicted actual donation behavior. Study 2 results suggested that morality dimensions focused on fairness and harm predicted positive attitudes and charitable intentions. Additionally, a combination of moral commitment and interdependent self-construal predicted higher donation intentions. Study 3 examined how political affiliations and media coverage regarding the current state of …


What Counts? : Legitimizing Female Role Models, Audrey N. Innella Apr 2010

What Counts? : Legitimizing Female Role Models, Audrey N. Innella

Honors Theses

The effect of exposure to female role models with gender specific attributes was examined in two studies. In Study 1 both women and men were presented with one of eight stimuli (role model gender: male or female; role model legitimacy attributes: organizational high, organizational low, social high, or social low). Results demonstrated women’s higher preference for female role models and vis‐à‐vis. Regression analyses demonstrated women’s preference for role models in general while men only preferred socially legitimate role models. In Study 2 both participants and role model exposure were limited to only women. Additionally a stereotype threat manipulation was added. …


Therapeutic Discourse And The American Public Philosophy: On American Liberalism's Troubled Relationship With Psychology, Clifford D. Vickrey Jan 2010

Therapeutic Discourse And The American Public Philosophy: On American Liberalism's Troubled Relationship With Psychology, Clifford D. Vickrey

Honors Theses

I explore the main currents of postwar American liberalism. One, sociological, emerged in response to the danger of mass movements. Articulated primarily by political sociologists and psychologists and ascendant from the mid-fifties till the mid-seventies, it heralded the "end of ideology." It emphasized stability, elitism, positive science and pluralism; it recast normatively sound politics as logrolling and hard bargaining. I argue that these normative features, attractive when considered in isolation, taken together led to a vicious ad hominem style in accounting for views outside the postwar consensus. It used pseudo-scientific literature in labeling populists, Progressives, Taft conservatives, Goldwaterites, the New …


No, I’M Really, Really Bad At Math: Competition For Self-Verification, Alexandra E. Wesnousky Jan 2010

No, I’M Really, Really Bad At Math: Competition For Self-Verification, Alexandra E. Wesnousky

Honors Theses

In their theory of self-verification, Swann and Read’s (1981) postulate that people like feedback that is consistent with their self-concept. Researchers have yet to examine what happens when two individuals are both seeking feedback from each other to verify their self-concept on the same domain. When individuals are competing against someone to verify a similarly held self-concept, they should try to seek more polarized feedback, especially when the domain is highly important. In two experiments, participants expected to receive computer feedback on their responses to identity-related questions, either based on their own responses or on how they compared to the …


Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Lesbians And Transgender Women In Relationships On A College Campus, Alishia Anne Wrubleski Jan 2010

Predictors Of Attitudes Toward Lesbians And Transgender Women In Relationships On A College Campus, Alishia Anne Wrubleski

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the attitudes which perpetuate intolerance toward LGBT individuals, and to recognize, in particular, the unique attitudes transpeople face as a minority in the nation and even in the LGBT community. This research contributes to the bodies of research concerning the interrelatedness of intrinsic religiosity, political conservatism, sexism, the rape myth, lack of effective legal protection, and the intolerance of gender non-conformists. I have identified distinctions between attitudes on the part of both women and men, as well as toward different gender non-conformists. I have also taken research as …


Students' Perceived Parenting Styles And Their Later Romantic Attachment Styles And Preferred Coping Tendencies, Shannon L. Bogart May 2009

Students' Perceived Parenting Styles And Their Later Romantic Attachment Styles And Preferred Coping Tendencies, Shannon L. Bogart

Honors Theses

In the first of two studies, the use of data compiled from questionnaires concerning perceived parenting style and romantic attachment style of Coastal Carolina University students were used to test the hypothesis that the authoritative parenting style would be related to the secure attachment style. The researcher used the terms attachment style and romantic attachment style interchangeably throughout the study. These variables were then statistically analyzed by a chi-square test of independence and showed statistical significance to support the hypothesis. The frequency of students who answered to have both authoritative parenting and secure attachments was significantly higher than the other …


Visual Discrimination Training For Rats : Developing A New Methodology To Explore Laterality Differences, Tiffany R. Brunelli Apr 2009

Visual Discrimination Training For Rats : Developing A New Methodology To Explore Laterality Differences, Tiffany R. Brunelli

Honors Theses

The goal of this study was to examine right hemisphere specialization for faces at the neuronal level. Research has shown that facial recognition relies on the right anterior temporal lobe and involves integrating multiple features (Bukach, Gauthier, & Tarr, 2006). Evidence from rat studies confirms that the anterior temporal lobe is involved in integrating multiple object features (Eacott, Machin, & Gaffan, 2001). However, these studies did not examine differences between the brain’s right and left hemispheres. It was hypothesized that the right anterior temporal lobe is more important for feature integration. The current study aimed to develop a methodology for …


Drug Use And Abuse By People With Autism, Todd A. Merritt Jan 2009

Drug Use And Abuse By People With Autism, Todd A. Merritt

Honors Theses

A developmental disability that is as prevalent as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is in society should have an extensive background of research, and this appears to be lacking, specifically concerning the issue of substance use and abuse. This article is a review of the current literature on drug use and abuse by people with Autism. Although some relevant studies have been conducted, no review of this literature has been done. Topics of interest include the prevalence of use and abuse of licit and illicit substances (e.g., ethanol, cigarettes, marijuana, and cocaine), common drug-related problems, and targeted prevention and treatment strategies.


Motivation To Lead : Investigating The Power Of The Mtl Equation, Elizabeth Robinson Jan 2009

Motivation To Lead : Investigating The Power Of The Mtl Equation, Elizabeth Robinson

Honors Theses

Recent research has investigated a measurable way to determine an individual's motivation to lead in social situations by looking at specific aspects of an individual that make up his/her leadership ability and experience. The MTL (Motivation to Lead) construct is referred to as an individual differences construct that measures a person's motivation to acquire a leadership position based on specific personality traits and values (Chan & Drasgow, 2002). Chan and Drasgow's findings suggest that specific antecedents have calculable correlations to the three types of motivation to lead: Affective/Identity MTL, Non-Calculative MTL, and Social-Normative MTL. For example, Chan and Drasgow reported …


Size Of Food Packaging And Cognitive Performance, Shannon Henry Jan 2009

Size Of Food Packaging And Cognitive Performance, Shannon Henry

Honors Theses

Many factors have been shown to affect individuals' cognitive performance, such as sleepiness, hunger, motivation, etc. One such factor that has recently gained much attention is self-regulation, or one's ability to control, regulate, or change his or her behaviors. In lay terms, self-regulation may be thought of more or less as self-control. Together, this researchon self-regulation suggests that it is a limited resource, which, when depleted in one area, reduces self-regulationability across other areas. Many past studies regarding self-regulation have incorporated food as a way to deplete self-regulation. In particular, the size of food packaging may be a way to …


Can She Ever Be "The Man"? : The Effect Of Gender On Implicit Perceptions Of Leadership Ability In An Applied Hiring Task, Rebecca S. Frazier Jan 2009

Can She Ever Be "The Man"? : The Effect Of Gender On Implicit Perceptions Of Leadership Ability In An Applied Hiring Task, Rebecca S. Frazier

Honors Theses

Despite numerous advances in the eld of women's rights and a general decline in explicit discrimination, there still exists a dramatic lack of women in leadership positions across America. This research seeks to expand upon past studies suggesting that there is a basic cognitive incongruency between traditional male and leadership roles which leads ordinarily "unbiased" individuals to perceive women as less suited r leadership positions than men. Thus, this experiment investigates the implicit biases against women leaders by asking if the subtle addition of gender information alters individuals' initial impressions of leadership capability in an applied hiring task involving resumes, …


The Language Facilitation Training System: Vocal Verbal Behavior, Maija Graudins Jan 2009

The Language Facilitation Training System: Vocal Verbal Behavior, Maija Graudins

Honors Theses

The Language Facilitation Training System (LFTS) is a subsystem of the Behavioral Research Supervisory System (BRSS). Both of these are contained within BATS, which is the Behavior Analysis Training System. These systems were developed by Dr. Richard Malott in one of the Behavior Analysis programs at Western Michigan University.


Implicit Theories Of Relationships : Prediction Of Dating Strategies And Relationship Initiation, Heather Stone May 2008

Implicit Theories Of Relationships : Prediction Of Dating Strategies And Relationship Initiation, Heather Stone

Honors Theses

The present study aimed to merge research on initial attraction and implicit theories of relationships by examining how beliefs about relationships influence dating strategies. Research has examined role of implicit theories in the functioning of existing relationships but there is much room for growth in the area of initial attraction and dating strategies. Results revealed that destiny theory (theory that relationships are either meant to be or not) predicted increased likelihood of internet dating, a lower frequency of dating, and dating to avoid loneliness and missing opportunities. Growth theory (theory that relationships improve by cultivation and development) predicted dating to …


Social Perceptions Of Underdog Job Applicants, Maggie Place May 2008

Social Perceptions Of Underdog Job Applicants, Maggie Place

Honors Theses

Research demonstrates that there are several characteristics that could render someone an underdog as a job applicant, including gender, race, able-bodied or disabled, immigrant status, and age. Study 1 used a between-subjects design to examine support for the underdog and the top dog in a low-consequence and high-consequence scenario. The underdog was given more support in low-consequence than high-consequence scenarios, but most participants indicated a neutral response instead of offering more support for either when asked to choose between the two applicants. Study 2 employed a forced-choice task on SuperLab in which participants chose which applicant they would hire in …


Maternal Experience And Alzheimer's Disease : Degenerative Differences In The Female Rat, Lindsay W. Victoria May 2008

Maternal Experience And Alzheimer's Disease : Degenerative Differences In The Female Rat, Lindsay W. Victoria

Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease found in many aging adults. The presence of amyloid precursor protein (APP) is an early indicator of the onset of Alzheimer’s, primarily in memory-related brain regions like the hippocampus. Hormones accompanying pregnancy, such as estrogen, may provide the female brain with protection against neurodegeneration and deposits of APP. The present study will compare concentrations of APP in the brains of parous and nulliparous animals and examine the interaction of APP with estrogen receptor beta (ERβ). Young and aged animals will also be compared to determine any early effects of APP or ERβ. It is …


The Influence Of Auditory Stimuli On Judgements Of Word Valence, Chris E. Chandler May 2008

The Influence Of Auditory Stimuli On Judgements Of Word Valence, Chris E. Chandler

Honors Theses

The present study examined the link between affect and auditory stimuli in three parts. The first sought to determine the affective norms for the auditory stimuli. The second assessed the influence of a musical note’s register on the evaluation of a positive or negative word, while the third assessed the influence of harmonic musical intervals. Participants were simultaneously presented with auditory stimuli and a word, and their task was to judge as quickly as possible whether the word was positive or negative by pressing a corresponding key. It was hypothesized that congruence between auditory valence and word valence would facilitate …


Integration Of The Stereotype Content Model And Implicit Theories : A Dynamic Understanding Of Stereotyping Against Obese Individuals, Jenna Sorge Jan 2008

Integration Of The Stereotype Content Model And Implicit Theories : A Dynamic Understanding Of Stereotyping Against Obese Individuals, Jenna Sorge

Honors Theses

The current paper integrated Fiske and colleague’s (2002) Stereotype Content Model (SCM) with the implicit theoretical approach to investigate the stereotyping process against obese individuals. Two studies evaluated the proposition that implicit theories of weight, the belief that weight is fixed (entity theorist) versus malleable (incremental theorist), and implicit person theories, the belief that human attributes are fixed or malleable, will predict how people categorize and discriminate against obese individuals. A pilot study found that entity and incremental theorists of weight have equal knowledge of societal stereotypes against obese individuals. Study 1 revealed those whose endorse an entity theory of …


Immunological Effects Of Written Disclosure In Athletes, Kristen Thatcher May 2007

Immunological Effects Of Written Disclosure In Athletes, Kristen Thatcher

Honors Theses

Many studies have demonstrated the health benefits of written disclosure of traumatic or stressful events. These benefits include improved psychological well-being, fewer health clinic visits, shorter hospital stays after surgery, and increased immune function. In athletes, high immune function is necessary to ward off illness during training and competition, but much research has shown that athletes tend to have lowered immune function. Therefore, writing about traumatic events may be a way for athletes to remain healthy during their seasons. To test this hypothesis, 21 varsity athletes and 15 individuals who exercised less than three hours per week participated in the …


Anhedonia And Depression: Anticipatory, Consummatory, And Recall Deficits, Kaitlin Hanley Jan 2007

Anhedonia And Depression: Anticipatory, Consummatory, And Recall Deficits, Kaitlin Hanley

Honors Theses

Current conceptions of anhedonia as a key symptom of depression do not consider the importance of anticipatory, consummatory, and recall deficits involved in anhedonia. Sixty-one depressed and non-depressed, college-student participants provided reports of anticipated pleasure to tasting chocolates, tasted chocolates and rated their experience of pleasure, and provided recalled reports of pleasure to the experience one day later. Results demonstrated a deficit in the ability to anticipate experiencing pleasure for depressed participants when compared to non-depressed controls, however, their reports of consummatory pleasure and recalled pleasure did not differ significantly from non-depressed control participants. This study suggests that actual experiential …


Self-Management: Saving One Western Student At A Time, Courtney L. Fox Jan 2007

Self-Management: Saving One Western Student At A Time, Courtney L. Fox

Honors Theses

No abstract available.


The Cinematic Effect Of Love Addiction On Metaphorical Preferences, Taylor Ann Daniel May 2006

The Cinematic Effect Of Love Addiction On Metaphorical Preferences, Taylor Ann Daniel

Honors Theses

The cinematic effects of Fatal Attraction, a negative depiction of love addiction, and Wuthering Heights, a positive depiction of love addiction, were used to test their effect on students' metaphorical love preferences. Eight of Robert Sternberg's love metaphors were selected and, based on participants' metaphorical choices, an unhealthy and healthy group were created. It was hypothesized that both the unhealthy and healthy group would be unaffected after watching Fatal Attraction, but that Wuthering Heights would affect a change in the healthy group towards more unhealthy, addictive metaphors, while not affecting a change in the unhealthy group. The …


Stress And Health Behavior Among College Students, Lindsey Dorflinger May 2006

Stress And Health Behavior Among College Students, Lindsey Dorflinger

Honors Theses

The effect of stress and gender on health behavior, as well as the association amongst health behaviors, was examined. Past research has shown that stress can lead to higher levels of abnormal eating behaviors and attitudes, lower levels of exercise participation, and increased risk of smoking; studies have shown some gender differences as well. Seventy-eight college students completed questionnaires about stress, disordered eating, physical activity, and smoking status. Results showed that higher levels of stress were associated with higher levels of disordered eating, and that females have more abnormal eating attitudes and behaviors than males. Higher levels of exercise are …


Predictors Of Sexual Attitudes In College Students, Andrew Davisson Jan 2006

Predictors Of Sexual Attitudes In College Students, Andrew Davisson

Honors Theses

History, especially within the last century, has been host to steadily evolving attitudes toward human sexuality. In conjunction with these evolving attitudes have come changes in beliefs about sexual gender roles, the acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle, and connections between self-esteem and sexual well-being. This study examined the relationships of four predictor variables (gender, attitudes toward women's issues, attitudes toward homosexuality, and self-esteem) with general sexual attitudes. An ANOVA showed that there was no significant difference between males and females in their sexual attitudes. Attitudes toward women and attitudes toward homosexuals were both significantly correlated with general sexual …


Co-Rumination And Depression In College Students, Maurita M. Burns Jan 2006

Co-Rumination And Depression In College Students, Maurita M. Burns

Honors Theses

Studies concerning depression consistently reveal higher levels in women than men. One explanation for this is that women and men cope with depressive emotions differently. While women tend to focus on their negative emotions and the causes and consequences of these feelings, men are more likely to engage in distracting, active behavior. The persistent self focus on negative emotions, rumination, has been found to prolong and exacerbate feelings of depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991). At the same time, women tend to have more intimate and close friendships characterized by self-disclosure than men. While such intimate relationships theoretically provide social support that can …


Aiding At-Risk Students, Jeremy Baldwin Apr 2004

Aiding At-Risk Students, Jeremy Baldwin

Honors Theses

Kalamazoo's Loy Norrix High School was the location of a study in conjunction with the institution's school-wide achievement process to aid at-risk students. Characterized by poor attendance, behavioral problems and/or failing two or more subjects, at-risk students are monitored more closely through school-wide efforts. According to the Michigan Department of Education, the effort to hep struggling students implicates the use of supplemental services before or after school to help students in the core subjects: math, science, social studies, and English. Norrix has successfully begun its own efforts to improve the overall academic success of the student body by employing the …


Potential Components Of Time Personality: A Literature Review, Jane Ackerson Feb 2004

Potential Components Of Time Personality: A Literature Review, Jane Ackerson

Honors Theses

What is time? The simple yet puzzling question has been posed on numerous occasions generating various responses. Time can be described as quantifiable, structured, even having monetary value. Time can be viewed in a subjective or objective manner and can be influenced by internal and external factors. Time can create pressure, anxiety, or boredom. Time is what we perceive it to be. This perception is a potentially vital component involved in the makeup of time personality. Theoretically, time personality is shaped by many factors affecting the relationship an individual has with time. The objectives of the research were to identify …


Visual Expectations: Using Machine Learning To Identify Patterns In Psychological Data, Skyler Place Jan 2004

Visual Expectations: Using Machine Learning To Identify Patterns In Psychological Data, Skyler Place

Honors Theses

The goal of this project was to utilize the tools of machine learning to evaluate the data obtained through experiments in psychology. Advanced pattern finding algorithms are an effective approach to analyzing large sets of data, from any domain of science. Consequently, we have a psychological question and hypothesis, and a separate machine learning technique to assess these claims. The realm of psychology that I focused on is visual cognition, and how an individual's knowledge affects how they see the world. This alteration of visual data is a part of perception -when the brain enhances the data coming in from …


Increasing Attendance At Voluntary Academic Tutoring Sessions On A Large University, Meghan Sadler Apr 2001

Increasing Attendance At Voluntary Academic Tutoring Sessions On A Large University, Meghan Sadler

Honors Theses

High attrition rates have become an impetus for colleges and universities to develop programs to help students during the first years of their education. Various services such as supplemental instruction, tutoring, testing, counseling, college success seminars, and remedial help are offered to help students be successful in their university studies. While these services may be offered, encouraging students to voluntarily attend these sessions is a problem. This study was conducted to analyze the effect of prompts on improving the attendance at voluntary content tutoring sessions at a large Midwestern University. The participants were college students enrolled in any course that …