Psychology Commons^™

Learning To Tell Coherent Personal Narratives: Linkages To Mother-Child Reminiscing Over Time, Philip C. Hoffman

Master's Theses

Longitudinal and concurrent predictors of children's narrative coherence are identified and used to model pathways to coherence. Narrative coherence in children's independent narratives was measured at 72-months using a multidimensional (context, chronology, and theme) coding system. Fifty-three potential predictors of children's narrative coherence were considered, including children's vocabulary scores, metamemory knowledge, and measures derived from observations of mothers' and children's talk during reminiscing conversations recorded when the children were 54 and 72 months old. Optimal Data Analysis was used to generate three classification tree models to identify variables associated with whether children were low or high on three dimensions of …

Examining The Moderating Role Of Specific Coping Strategies On The Relationship Between Body Image And Eating Disorders In College-Age Women, Alexandra Calvert Kirsch

Master's Theses

A sample of college age women assessed at three time points (Time 1: Baseline, assessed before college, Time 2: End of first semester, Time 3: End of first year of college) completed measures of disordered eating, coping, and body image. Results indicated that neither adaptive (problem-focused coping or social support seeking) nor maladaptive coping styles (active emotional coping or avoidant coping) as measured at Time 1 or Time 2 moderated the significant predictive relationship between body dissatisfaction at Time 1 and disordered eating attitudes at Time 3, when adjusting for disordered eating attitudes and BMI at Time 1. However, significant …

Alcohol Consumption And Unwanted Sexual Experiences Among College Females: The Mediating Role Of Protective Behavioral Strategies, Kayla Darlene Moorer

Master's Theses

The narrowing gender gap regarding consumption has resulted in more alcoholrelated consequences specific to females. Compared to males, females report more sexual consequences, such as doing something they later regret, as a result of alcohol consumption. For this reason, there is a vital need for researchers to identify active methods that females can engage in while consuming alcohol in order to reduce the risk of unwanted sexual experiences (UWS). Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) have been shown to decrease overall alcohol-related consequences, but further investigation is needed to determine which strategies are most influential in reducing the occurrence of specific alcohol-related …

Anticipated Life Role Salience And Career Decision-Making Difficulties, Emily A. Schedin

Master's Theses

With the dual-earner population increasingly becoming the norm, undergraduate students are forced to consider the ways in which their career choice may affect their future family life, as well as how their family life may affect their career. Research has shown that undergraduate students may alter their vocational aspirations or adjust their future family plans to avoid work-family role conflict thus implying that students are making career decisions based on their prioritization of anticipated future life roles. The present study sought to investigate how the salience of different life roles may factor into the level of career decision-making difficulty (CDMD) …

Seasonal And Diurnal Behavioral Patterns Of Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops Truncatus, That Exhibit High Site And Low Site Fidelity To Mississippi Sound, Shauna Marisa Mcbride

Master's Theses

This study examined whether bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) exhibit site fidelity to the Mississippi Sound and how the seasonal and diurnal behavioral patterns of dolphins that exhibit high site fidelity to the Mississippi Sound differ from those of dolphins with lower site fidelity. Opportunistic surveys conducted from July 2006 to April 2010 were analyzed. Statistical analyses consisted of nonparametric tests (Spearman's correlation, loglinear models, and Pearson's chi-square) to compare behavioral patterns of high site fidelity, mixed, and low site fidelity groups. Behavioral patterns significantly differed between site fidelity groups across seasons and diurnal periods. Feeding behavior was observed significantly more …

Effects Of Racism And Discrimination On Personality Development Among African American Male Repeat Offenders, Tiffany Nicole Lockett

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Effects of Racism and Discrimination on Personality Development among

African American Male Repeat Offenders

Tiffany Nicole Lockett

Throughout history in the United States, the African American community has consistently been the victim of social policies put in place to disenfranchise this population (Mauer & Chesney-Lind, 2002; Painter, 2007; Parham, White & Ajamu, 1999). With a longstanding presence of systemic racism and discrimination, the criminal justice system and the dominant culture continues to pathologize this minority group and advocate for increased penalties which further stigmatize African Americans, particularly males in this group (Reiman, 1996; Russell, 1998). Though most criminology research …

Do Gender, Delinquent Peer Affiliations, And Parenting Practices Moderate The Relation Between Callou-Unemotional Traits And Delinquency, Nicole Rivera-Hudson

Master's Theses

The present study examined how contextual factors differentially influence the relation between the components of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and delinquency for male and female adolescents. More specifically, it considered delinquent peer affiliations and ineffective parenting practices as moderators in this relation with the belief that those moderators would exert a different influence for males and females. The study was conducted with a sample of 238 adolescents (166 males, 72 females) ages 16 to 19 attending a voluntary military style residential program. Analyses demonstrated a general lack of support for the central hypotheses of the present study. There was a significant …

Religious Fundamentalism And Death Penalty Attitudes: Towards A New Operationalization Of The Constructs, William H. Whited

Master's Theses

The death penalty has remained a highly debated topic in the United States. Due to the link between public support for the death penalty and its utilization as a sanction, it is important to continue investigating the factors related to differences in death penalty support. Religion has a complicated relationship with death penalty attitudes in that certain religiosity factors are associated with support for the sanction while others are linked with opposition. Religious fundamentalism, for instance, is one variable that has been inconsistently associated with death penalty support in the literature. This discrepancy could be due to the poor measurement …

The Development And Use Of A Color Discrimination T-Maze Learning Task In The Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Elizabeth Ann Lamb

Master's Theses

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are becoming increasingly utilized in behavioral studies as a model of human learning and memory. The results of a previous study by Colwill, Raymond, Ferreira, and Escudero (2005) indicated that this species is capable of discriminating between colors and learning to respond to an assigned hue at either arm of a T-maze, indicating a learned association between the neutral stimulus and reward. While this original study showed that this task was appropriate for use in this species, we proposed that it had the potential to provide more data on specifics of the learning process with amended methods. …

Social Isolation And Cell Phone Use By College Students, Nichol Elise Myers

Master's Theses

In our technologically ever-advancing world, cell phones can either help us remain socially connected or can contribute to social isolation by substituting for face-to-face contact. This study examines the levels of social isolation in terms of the state of loneliness and trait of shyness and their correlations with academic achievement in 206 community college and university students to examine the connection between social isolation, GPA and cell phone use in college students. Two instruments used in the collection of data were the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale (RCBS) and the DeJong Gierveld Loneliness Scale. Correlational analysis was used …

Does Child Sponsorship Have A Positive Impact On The Quality Of Life And Social Behavior Of Sponsored Children? Evidence From Indonesia, Mario Carrillo

Master's Theses

Relaxing an internal constraint of an individual at early stages of life is an approach that complements traditional policy interventions aimed to alleviate poverty. The Compassion International child sponsorship program focuses their work on the emotional, social, and spiritual development of sponsored children. This study investigates the impacts of child sponsorship on the quality of life and social behavior of sponsored children using age-eligibility as an instrument for sponsorship, a time preference experiment and a trust game. The study looks specifically at self-esteem, optimism, social trust, educational outcomes, patience and reciprocity of 286 sponsored children and 234 non-sponsored children between …

The Effect Of Skeletal Muscle Mass On Basal Metabolic Rate In College-Age Males 2013, Chase Vaughn

Master's Theses

There are many misconceptions within the fitness community. One such misconception is that an increase in muscle mass will have a large increase in basal metabolic rate, yet this may not be the best way for successful weight loss. The purpose of this study was to determine the strength of the correlation between skeletal muscle mass and basal metabolic rate. The hypothesis tested was that basal metabolic rate is strongly correlated with skeletal muscle mass. The participants were college-aged males (n =17). Skeletal muscle mass (SMM) was estimated using the skin-fold circumference model (SFCM): SMM (kg) = Ht (0.00744 CAG2 …

Organized Camp And Character Development 2013, Veronica Ripp

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between organized camp and character development. In particular, it looked to determine to what extent organized camp affected campers' character, including how much change in character campers' experienced in a week at camp, what aspects of character were most influenced, and what factors about camp had the most impact on campers' character. The study was multimodal in design, using the Values in Action Inventory for Youth (VIA-Youth) as a pre and posttest for quantitative analysis and camper interviews, staff interviews, and researcher observations for qualitative analysis. Seven completed VIA-Youth pre …

Resistance Training Behaviors In College-Aged Women 2013, Melanie Kornblatt

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of women’s training behavior in the weight room. A secondary purpose was to determine what their beliefs and perceptions were in regards to lifting weights. Participants were college-aged females ranging in age from 17-29 years. Observations of weight lifting activities were conducted during peak hours of operation (Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3- 6pm) in the fitness facility. A total of 60 hours of observations were conducted over a period of four weeks. In addition to observations, two focus groups were conducted. Participants were divided into two specific groups: I …

An Investigation Of Preferred Versus Imposed Exercise, Personality Traits, And Motivation On An Exercise Dependent College Aged Sample 2013, Chelsea M. Norton

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to: (a) investigate personality traits and motivation among an exercise dependent sample by using and examining theoretically based assessment tools and (b) measure feeling states under different types of physical activity among those who were considered to be exercise dependent. Four hundred twenty-three college students (54.4% male, 45.6% female) who met the inclusion criteria completed the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R; Symons Downs, Hausenblas, & Nigg, 2004), Exercise Addiction Inventory (EAI; Terry, Szabó, & Griffiths, 2004), Exercise Identity Scale (EIS; Anderson & Cychosz, 1994), Behavioral Regulations in Exercise Questionnaire-2 (BREQ-2; Markland & Tobin, 2004), and …

The Role Of Appearance In Perceptions Of Personal Trainers 2013., Patrick R. Boerner

Master's Theses

The field of personal training in the United States is believed to have begun in the late 1970‟s and the early 1980‟s (Brooks, 2004). Today, personal training is a healthy profession that, according to the United States Department of Labor and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012), is expected to grow 24% (60,400 jobs) between 2010 and 2020. In comparison, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2012) predicts the average growth rate for all occupations within the U.S. to be only 14% during the same ten-year span. Rapid growth within the field of personal training has brought an increased scrutiny on …

The Role Of Hardiness, Family Hardiness, And Parenting Self-Efficacy On Parenting Stress In Adoptive Parents, Erica Danielle Raisanen

Master's Theses

Adoptive parents are at risk for experiencing a high level of parenting stress (McGlone, Santos, Kazama, Fong, & Mueller, 2002) throughout the duration of the adoption experience. Adoptee background factors have been found to contribute to increased levels of parenting stress and distress in adoptive parents (Brooks, Simmel, Wind, & Barth, 2005; McDonald, Lieberman, Partridge, & Homby, 1991; McGlone et al., 2002). Increased parenting stress has been associated with negative outcomes for both parent and child (Ang, 2008; Deater-Deckard, Smith, & Ivy 2005; Morgan, Robinsion, & Aldridge, 2002). Hardiness, family hardiness and parental self-efficacy are protective factors that have all …

Stress, Anxiety, And Somatic Symptoms: A Comparison Of Biomarkers In A Clinical Sample, David J. Finitsis

Master's Theses

Anxiety disorders are the most prevalent class of mental disorders, often characterized by a chronic course and comorbid psychopathology. The anxiety-stress literature utilizing cortisol as a biomarker of the hypothalamus pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis has been inconsistent. The establishment of salivary alpha-amylase (sAA) as a biomarker of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activation allows researchers an opportunity to examine the stress response more fully. This study sought to explore relationships between trait anxiety and salivary stress biomarkers in an outpatient sample attending a specialized anxiety treatment center. Multiple regression and moderator analyses were conducted to examine associations between psychosocial and physiological …

Measurement Invariance Of Assessment Center Ratings: Consistency Of Dimensional Constructs Across Exercises, Jin Lee

Master's Theses

The criterion-related validity of assessment centers (ACs) has been consistently supported. However, there has been an ongoing debate about AC construct validity in regard to low dimension variance and overriding exercise variance. Many studies that showed weak dimension effects in ACs have been based on the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) framework which posits cross-situational variance as error and all capability dimensions can be equally represented from different exercises. The goal of this study is to introduce a measurement invariance (MI) framework for evaluating the construct validity of AC dimensions. Specifically, MI analysis was used to test whether the construct meaning of AC …

The Role Of Self-Esteem, Perceived Social Support, And Coping Strategy In The Escalation Of Depressive Symptomatology During The First Year Of College, Catherine Lee

Master's Theses

The first year of college is a significant life transition that can be a particularly stressful experience, which may lead to the development or exacerbation of depressive symptoms. Due to the considerable negative outcomes that are associated with depressive symptoms across the lifespan, it is important to understand the mechanisms and pathways through which such symptoms arise. This prospective study examines how self-esteem, perceived social support, and coping strategies are associated with the development of depressive symptoms during the transition to college. The findings of this longitudinal study indicate that self-esteem may affect both perceived social support and disengagement coping …

Examination Of Presenter Characteristics On Satisfaction And Learning In A Treatment Readiness Program, Haley M. Siler

Master's Theses

Determining factors that encourage thinking and attending to information is an important aspect of working to help people learn more effectively. Characteristics of presenters have been found to be cues for information processing, related to the results of those being presented to. It was found that both client's liking and perceived expertise of the presenter were related to both program satisfaction and learning of educational materials. Determining factors that encourage thinking and attending to information is an important aspect of working to help people learn more effectively. Characteristics of presenters have been found to be cues for information processing, related …

Social-Environmental Predictors Of Health-Related Quality Of Life In Youth With Spina Bifida, Caitlin Beth Murray

Master's Theses

Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is a multidimensional construct including an individual's physical and mental health and psychosocial well-being (De Civita et al., 2005), and the measurement of HRQOL has been recognized as a key marker of health outcomes in pediatric populations (Eiser & Jenney, 2007). Due to medical and technological advances, an increasing number of individuals with chronic illnesses are living longer. As such, research that investigates improvements in HRQOL in youth with chronic illnesses has become essential. Indeed, the number of studies examining HRQOL in pediatric populations has increased markedly; spina bifida (SB) is one among several chronic …

Conspiratorial Thinking: How Worldview And Mortality Salience Affect Belief, Eric James Anderson

Master's Theses

Conspiratorial thinking is widespread throughout the world, though the major social sciences have thus far chosen not to study them for a variety of reasons. This study attempts to understand what, in fact, makes individuals believe in conspiracy theories. Using aspects of terror management theory, Kruglanski's theory of lay epistemology, participants' political worldviews, and conspiracy type, this paper will explore what triggers conspiracy-prone individuals to see the world the way they do. It is anticipated that individuals who have thoughts of their death primed in their consciousness will structure the world more rigidly, cling to their worldviews and respond to …

Secure And Insecure High Self-Esteem And Social Identity Affirmation In Response To Belongingness Threats, Reyna Jacqueline Pena

Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to examine the relation between implicit and explicit self-esteem on social identity affirmation among Latinos in response to belonging threats from other ingroup members. We predicted a three-way interaction between implicit self-esteem, explicit self-esteem, and belonging threat condition predicting social identity affirmation (collective self-esteem), compensatory conviction and ingroup bias. We predicted that individuals with insecure self-esteem (high explicit, low implicit) would affirm their social identity more, offer greater conviction and express more ingroup bias in response to recalled threats as compared to a control condition of non-threatened participants. A total of n=174 Latinos participated …

The Interactive Effects Of Coping Strategies, Gender, And Stress In The Prediction Of Internalizing Symptoms In African American Youth: An Application Of The Specificity Model, Cynthia Pierre

Master's Theses

The current study utilized a specificity framework in the examination of interactions among coping strategies, stressor domains, and participant gender in the prediction of depressive and anxiety symptoms. Participants were 273 African American adolescents (6th - 8th; mean age = 12.9; 58% female). Participants completed measures of universal and culturally-relevant coping strategies in response to a stressor. Stressors were coded by raters across dichotomous domains: interpersonality (interpersonal vs. non-interpersonal), duration (acute vs. chronic), controllability (controllable vs. non-controllable), and sexuality (sexual vs. non-sexual). T-tests were conducted to examine differences in reported coping across stress domains. Inconsistent with predictions, mean differences of …

The Effects Of Candidate Religiosity And Candidate Secularism On Voters' Support For The Political Candidate, Nathanael Gratias Sumaktoyo

Master's Theses

This study examines the effects of candidate religiosity, candidate secularism, and voter fundamentalism on voters' support for a political candidate. Seven effects were tested: 1) the religiosity effect, which suggests that a religious candidate will be supported more than a nonreligious candidate; 2) the secularism effect, which suggests that a secular candidate will be supported more than a nonsecular candidate; 3) the JFK effect, which suggests that a secular religious candidate will be supported more than a nonsecular religious candidate; 4) the deviant effect--an opposite of the JFK effect--, which suggests that a secular religious candidate constitutes a group deviant, …

The Relation Of Executive Functions To Active Coping Strategies And Internalizing Symptoms In A Community Sample Of African-American Youth, Arie Zakaryan

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the relations between stressor appraisals, active coping, executive functions, and internalizing symptoms in a community sample of low-income African-American youth. There is a dearth of studies assessing how executive functions influence the connection between coping and internalizing symptoms, notably in community and minority populations. When faced with distressing, uncontrollable settings straining the capacity to self-regulate, youth with executive functioning deficits may encounter greater challenges in coping with stressors. Yet, since typically adaptive active coping strategies do not benefit some youth and can result in negative outcomes, it is important to identify what …

Effects Of Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemic Brain Injury On Spatial Working Memory, Amanda L. Smith

Master's Theses

Children born prematurely or at very low birth weight (VLBW) have an increased risk for hypoxic ischemic brain injury (HI). HI refers to a lack of adequate blood and oxygen flow in the brain. HI can also occur in the term infant due to birth complications such as prolonged labor, placental dysfunction, or cord prolapse. In both populations (though exact patterns of neuropathology vary) brain damage is likely to occur in the form of decreased hippocampal and cortical volume, and enlargement of the ventricles (Kesler et al., 2004, Nagy et al., 2009). Resulting neuropathology can in turn lead to cognitive …

A Practical Scale For Multi-Faceted Organizational Health Climate Assessment, Zandra M. Zweber

Master's Theses

The current study sought to develop a practical scale to measure workplace health climate in a way that has not previously been conceptualized – as a three-faceted approach from the employee perspective serving as an indicator of a healthy organization. The goal was to create a short, useable yet comprehensive scale that could translate into practical use by organizations and occupational health professionals planning workplace interventions. To accomplish this, the proposed multi-faceted organizational health climate scale (MOHCA) assesses three-facets which match up with three organizational levels: 1) organization 2) supervisor and 3) workgroup. Ten items were developed and tested on …

Effects Of Practice With Imposed Communication Delay On The Coordination And Effectiveness Of Distributed Teams, Megan L. Dove-Steinkamp

Master's Theses

The current study tested whether introduction of audio transmission delays during skill acquisition would benefit the performance effectiveness of distributed teams in a novel transfer context. Two-person university student teams (N=40) performed a simulated firefighting task in 4 practice trials and a novel transfer condition. Intra-team communications were systematically perturbed with closed-loop transmission delays ranging from 2 to 6 seconds. On average, teams were able to improve performance over time despite transmission delay, with significant differences in performance observed between certain groups both over the course and at the end of the experiment: Short (2s blocked) practice delay was associated …