Psychology Commons^™

Social Anxiety And Drinking Behaviors In College Students: Mediated By Alcohol Outcome Expectancies Specific To Social Situations?, Toby Board

Masters Theses

Understanding the relationship between social anxiety and problematic drinking is a difficult task. Studies examining this relationship have commonly found a positive correlation between social anxiety and drinking behaviors, although the literature is marked by mixed results. If social anxiety does positively predict alcohol use, then what accounts for this relationship? Some researchers posit that alcohol outcome expectancies may be a mediator for this relationship. Alcohol outcome expectancies specific to the context of social evaluative situations may be a stronger mediator than general alcohol outcome expectancies. A study to test this mediation was conducted with xxx undergraduate students. Results showed …

Relational Aggression In College Students, Nicole Parker

Masters Theses

Researchers have long theorized that females may be as equally aggressive as males, but the form of aggression most frequently manifested by females may be nonphysical. This thinking lead to the examination of relational aggression, which is a type of aggression intended to harm others' peer relationships. Numerous studies over the last 20 years have examined relational aggression in children and the maladaptive behaviors associated with such aggression. However, far less is known about relational aggression in older students or young adults. Thus, this paper reviews the present literature on relational aggression in college students, focusing on three potential predictors …

Effects Of Low Dose Mixtures Of 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone And Cocaine On Locomotor Activity And Brain Monoamine Content In Sprague-Dawley Rats, Robert J. Kohler

Masters Theses

Synthetic cathinones, known as “bath salts” on the illicit drug market, pose a significant and growing public health concern. 3,4-Methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), one of several popular constituents of the illicit bath salts, produces similar pharmacological actions to cocaine, albeit with greater potency. The present study sought to characterize behavioral and neurochemical effects of repeated exposure to MDPV alone and in combination with cocaine. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to one of four treatments: 1 mg/kg MDPV, 5 mg/kg cocaine, 1 mg/kg MDPV + 5 mg/kg cocaine, or saline. Locomotor activity was assessed for one hour immediately before and one hour …

“The Cracked Pots Of Humanity”: Post-World War Ii American Literary Perspectives On Psychiatric Treatment/Containment Of Mental Disorders, Jennifer Chichester

Masters Theses

This thesis examines the ways in which characters in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House and The Bird’s Nest, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces grapple with the concept of “madness” on individual and societal levels. Each of these Post-World War II novels question whether “madness” is a social construct. Is the person mad, or is society? These three novels, written in an era when inpatient psychiatric care was losing its prominence as a method for treating those deemed insane, reflect the growing trend of deinstitutionalization in the 1950s …

The Effects Of Feedback Modality On Performance, Garrett D. Warrilow

Masters Theses

Giving employees information about their performance is a common method for employers seeking to improve or change performance. With the popularity of the internet and computers feedback today is often provided through emails, text messages, and video meetings. While feedback has continued to evolve within and across organizations little has been done to assess the impact its delivery through various modalities has. This study explored and evaluated the relationship between the modality which objective feedback is delivered, and the differential effects it produced on performance of a check entering task. This experiment was a laboratory study employing a between-group repeated …

The Effects Of Religious And Body-Related Affirmations On Disordered Eating Attitudes And Body Dissatisfaction, Cassandra A. Vogt

Masters Theses

The relationship between disordered eating, body dissatisfaction, and religion is complex. Previous research demonstrated that religious body affirmations are beneficial in reducing body dissatisfaction among undergraduate females. Because previous research used affirmations which were simultaneously religious in nature and related to the body, it is difficult to determine if the religiousness of the affirmation is the beneficial characteristic. The current study investigated which type of affirmation had the strongest effect on disordered eating attitudes and body dissatisfaction. More specifically, the five experimental conditions included: religious body affirmations, religious non-body affirmations, non-religious body affirmations, non-religious non-body affirmations, and neutral control statements. …

Perceptions Of Body Image Among College Men, Colton David Janes

Masters Theses

This study sought to better understand what influences male body image perceptions among college men attending a mid-sized Midwestern university. A qualitative research approach was utilized to better establish a better understanding on how college men construct their body image perceptions. Nine male undergraduate students in their third year or greater participated in one-on-one interviews. These participants self-identified as a member of a single-gender student organization including a social Greek letter fraternity, university athletic team, and/or other student organization(s) on-campus. Results of this study revealed that one of the most influential forces of body image perception among participants was the …

The Role Of Body Image, Dieting, Self-Esteem And Binge Eating In Health Behaviors, Neha M. Tamhane

Masters Theses

Society’s obsession with an idealized thin body type has led to many individuals to seek several different, often harmful, methods to reach their body goals. Current research shows links between body image and self-esteem as well as that between dieting and binge eating-with many researchers finding that extreme dieting can lead to binge eating. The aim of this research was to assess the relationships between body image, dieting, binge eating and self-esteem to understand the ways these factors interact with each other. For this purpose, 60 female participants aged 18-26 years were recruited from Eastern Illinois University and asked to …

Physical Activity As A Context Cue For Object Location Memory, Alexandra Hammond

Masters Theses

The current study aimed to investigate the use of physical activity as a context cue for object location memory. Two studies are reported in which physical activity is used as a context for object location memory. Experiment 1 utilized a 1-list design, wherein 52 undergraduate students were asked to encode and recall 28 objects from a grid, while either walking or standing. It was expected that participants engaging in matching physical activities at encoding and recall would have significantly higher rates of recall for object locations when compared to participants in the non-matching physical activity conditions. Results did not support …

The Relationship Between Beliefs About Suffering And Well-Being, Rebekah Bambenek

Masters Theses

Suffering is a common human experience, and is a common underlying feature in those seeking psychological services. Throughout history, philosophy and religion have addressed the subject of human suffering directly, albeit in varying ways. The clinical practice of psychology also seeks to help alleviate suffering in those who seek services, yet the academic study of suffering has been overlooked. Academic psychology has examined the phenomenon of beliefs, and has studied various beliefs and their effects for decades. The present study sought to bring suffering into the academic discussion by examining beliefs about suffering and the well-studied variables of subjective and …

Helicopter Parenting Of College Students, Lindsey R. Pautler

Masters Theses

Popular media often features stories about 'helicopter parenting' and asserts that this style is detrimental to youngsters (c.f., Fingerman, Cheng, Wesselmann, Zarit, Furstenberg, & Birditt, 2012; LeMoyne & Buchanan, 2011). However, few studies have examined the phenomenon empirically (Fingerman et al., 2012), particularly in a college population. The few existing studies of 'helicopter parenting' have evaluated different facets of this parenting style (e.g., intrusive parenting, inappropriate contact with school personnel), which makes comparing research results difficult. This paper discusses the literature on 'helicopter parenting' and discusses the initial steps in the development of a new comprehensive assessment of 'helicopter parenting' …

"My Tattoos Make Me, Me": Constructing Personal Identities Through Tattoos, Ryan Howard

Masters Theses

The following thesis consists of a research project that seeks to understand how individuals construct personal identities through tattoos. The thesis contains background information on why the author has a personal connection and interest with the subject. The thesis also includes a review of the literature that informs the readers about the origins of tattoos, historicization of tattoos, cultural appropriation and commodification, motivations for tattooing, tattoos and the body, and identity construction. There is also a methods section that explains how the author utilized the interviewing process to gather and conduct research in the field to answer the research question: …

An Analysis Of General Education Teachers' Use Of Diverse Praise, Shelby L. Beschta

Masters Theses

Teacher praise is a strategy that effectively reduces student disruptive and off-task behavior. Although teacher praise has been studied for more than five decades, most research has looked at general and behavior specific praise. There may be other aspects of praise, beyond specificity, that could inform consultation. Examining teachers' diverse use of praise may inform how to maximize this strategy and improve upon teacher training. The purpose of this study was to determine whether teachers' diverse use of praise could be measured. Once it was determined, the data were analyzed to determine how many diverse praise categories teachers used on …

The Effects Of Belief, Gender, And Setting On A Psi Task, Alan Jeffrey Hinman

Masters Theses

The current study was designed to explore how the variables of belief, gender, and experimenter effects regarding setting influence participants' results on a psi task. Small groups of research assistants and participants acted as senders and attempted to telepathically transmit one of four target locations to individual receivers. Sender and receiver groups were divided by gender, and answered a question on a seven-point scale regarding their belief in the existence of mental telepathy. One run of 16 trials was completed by 53 receivers over six data collection sessions, utilizing a new website designed for the task. It was hypothesized that …

Moderating Effects Of Social Support On The Association Between Teacher-Directed Violence And Stress, Christina Bounds

Masters Theses

Violence found in a school setting directed toward teachers, or teacher-directed violence, is considerably understudied, particularly in the United States, with only a handful of studies having been conducted (Espelage et al., 2013; Bounds & Jenkins, 2016). There is limited information about teacher-directed violence in regard to frequency, type, and who is impacted most. In order for policy to be created, researchers need to understand who is being affected and what type of violence teachers experience (Espelage et al., 2013). Additionally, there has been no research in the United States examining how teachers cope with teacher-directed violence. Little is known …

Facebook And Value Congruence, Andrew James Eyberg

Masters Theses

"The current discussion on the use of social networking sites (SNS) in personnel selection is mixed at best. The present research utilized participant's Facebook profiles to determine if raters can correctly - and accurately evaluate work value dimensions as a measure of person-organization fit. Similar research was successful in capturing personality dimensions via SNS (Buffardi & Campbell, 2009). Additionally, the value dimensions of the current measure used -- the Organizational Culture Profile (OCP) (O'Reilly et al., 1991) has been correlated with aspects of personality. Rater participants (N=105). Every five raters were randomly assigned five profiles to rate, for a total …

Associated Factors Of Posttraumatic Growth: A Meta-Analysis, Rong Xia

Masters Theses

During the past 20 years, posttraumatic growth has been recognized and emphasized to promote physical and psychological health after life-threatening events. There has also been an increasing number of individual studies on posttraumatic growth and its associated factors. However, it still remains unclear whether and how these relationships are facilitated. Therefore, the current meta-analysis aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding on the important associated factors of posttraumatic growth. Posttraumatic stress, event centrality, emotion regulation, and religious or spiritual coping and their actual relationships with posttraumatic growth were examined along with some potential moderators. Results from 56 studies (N = 20,132) …

Utilizing Incentives To Increase Teacher Praise, Kari L. Meyer

Masters Theses

An ABA single-subject research design was used in examining the effect on school staff's written praise and student behavior when staff were provided with an incentive (i.e., would an incentive raffle increase written praise and appropriate student behavior?). Participants included 93 staff members and 755 students at an elementary school in central Illinois. School staff members were instructed on the importance of using praise, and praise notes were measured on a weekly basis by praise type (behavior-specific or general), staff member type (core teacher, non-core teacher, or non-teacher), and student type (at-risk or non-at-risk). Results indicated that the faculty incentive …

I Could Have Been You: Core-Self Differentiation As It Relates To Empathy And Aggression, Nazmi Cem Turker

Masters Theses

Previous research showed that the more one feels similar to a specific other, the less aggressive and the more empathic one behaves toward the other. Some people might have a self-concept that makes them prone to feel similar to others in general. Those people, despite being aware of the differences between them and others, may feel that their differences do not make them inherently or essentially different from others -they may feel their core-self is similar to others despite outer differences, while some may not feel as much so. This tendency was conceptualized as a trait related to one's self-concept …

The Bystander Intervention In Bullying Survey: An Examination In An Elementary School Sample, Kirsten Taylor

Masters Theses

Researchers and school administrators have recognized the importance of peer bystanders in bullying situations, but there are very few studies that examine this phenomenon within Latané and Darley's (1970) bystander intervention model. The five sequential steps in this model include: notice the event, interpret the event as an emergency that requires assistance, accept responsibility for intervening, know how to intervene or provide help, and implement intervention. Nickerson, Aloe, Livingston, and Feeley (2014) created the Bystander Intervention in Bullying Survey based on Latané and Darley's model. Nickerson and colleagues and Jenkins and Nickerson (in press) have found evidence of reliability and …

Construct Validity Of The Teate Depression Inventory With A Black African American Sample, Samantha Rushworth

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the construct validity of a new measure of depression, the Teate Depression Inventory (TDI), with primary focus on the Black/African American participants. Research has demonstrated that Black/African Americans experience disparity in receiving mental health care for internalizing disorders, partially due to under-detection of symptoms. Detection of internalizing disorders is an important step in receiving appropriate treatment. This research is essential to benefit mental health practices, addressing the need for professionals to be culturally competent and aware of the appropriate assessment tools available. In order to best serve ethnic minorities, validity of measurements …

Predictors Of Bullying Role Behavior In Preschool, Kristen Kocher

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Perceived Body Image In Female Athletes By Sport Uniform Type, Mary Elizabeth Gillespie

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether collegiate sport teams in which female participants are required to wear uniforms that are more revealing, have a more negative self-perception of body image and greater drive for muscularity than those with non-revealing uniforms. Female athletes from 7 women's NCAA Division I collegiate athletic teams from a Midwestern university took part in this study. Subjects were grouped according to the type of uniform worn during competition in their sport. Subjects were divided into two categories: revealing uniforms (n = 33), which included volleyball, track and field, cross country, and swimming, while …

Teacher Characteristics And Influence With The Bystander Intervention Model, Morgan A. Eldridge

Masters Theses

Bullying, both traditional and cyber, have been associated with several negative outcomes for students, and teachers have been identified as potential targets for prevention and intervention of bullying occurrences. The importance of bystanders has been recognized; however, there are few studies that examine personal characteristics that relate to the five bystander behaviors within the Bystander Intervention Model (notice the event, interpret as an emergency, accept responsibility, know what to do, and act). This study examined personal characteristics (e.g., affective empathy and perceived level of bullying seriousness) and their relation to each of the five steps of the Bystander Intervention Model …

On Solid Ground I Stand: Narratives On Disclosure, Resilience, And Faith Amidst Recognition Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, Wade Rhodes Dundee

Masters Theses

Childhood sexual abuse seems to be a hidden secret in American society; one of the famous, "If we don't talk about it, it won't happen" narratives. However, we know this is not true. Both the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (2012) and Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2005) state one in four girls and one in six boys will fall victim to sexual abuse before they celebrate their 18th birthday. There is a high probability that because of the alarming lack of disclosure of male survivors, these statistics could be incorrect and could hinder creating or allowing for conversations …

Psi Performance, Belief In Psi, And Competition In A Game-Show Format, Heather L. Warner-Angel

Masters Theses

The current study was designed to explore variables influencing psi performance including gender, belief in psi, and competition between men and women. Features of the experiment involved a methodology using a visual image of the receivers, simple spatial location as targets, and monetary incentive to increase competition in a game-show type of environment. One of the goals of this study was to explore the role of competition between groups of senders and receivers as a facilitator of telepathic communication. Results of a one sample t-test comparing overall hit rate for the sample with expected probability were not significant, t(98)= …

Impact Of A Positive Behavior Support System On Staff Behavior At The Boys And Girls Club, Brian Molina

Masters Theses

The present study sought to increase correct staff utilization of a positive behavior support system at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Kalamazoo. The intervention consisted of implementing a new club-wide positive behavior support program. The main components of the positive behavior support program were (a) training for staff on how to use the positive behavior support system, (b) staff teaching of the positive behavior support system to members, (c) the implementation of a token economy system for reinforcing positive behavior, and (d) a data collection/feedback system to inform supervisors on the progress of members and staff.

This study …

The Effects Of Individual And Social Comparison Graphic Feedback On Incented Performance, Yngvi Freyr Einarsson

Masters Theses

This study examined whether graphic displays of individual performance and graphic displays of the individual performance of each group member would increase performance when individuals were paid monetary incentives. All participants were paid piece-rate pay and there were three conditions: (a) no feedback, (b) graphic display of individual performance, and (c) graphic display of the performance of each group member. Participants were 80 undergraduate students who performed a computerized data entry task. The main dependent variable was the number of correctly completed entries. A monotone ANCOVA was used to detect performance differences, using data from the first session as a …

Descriptive Analysis Of Activity Transition Data In An Intensive Autism Treatment Center, Ashley Marie Kotsiris

Masters Theses

Children with autism often display challenging behaviors (e.g., tantrums, aggression, etc.) when transitioning between activities. Most of the current literature focuses on antecedent interventions for increasing compliance during transitions (e.g., visual schedules, two minute transition warnings, etc.). There is a minimal number of studies examining how environmental variables may affect transitions. This study was a descriptive analysis that examined different environmental variables and their effects on transitions. Observations were conducted with four children diagnosed with autism. A transition-tracking sheet was used to gather specific descriptive data during transitions. Results suggest that two-minute warnings were not correlated with more successful transitions, …

The Effects Of Electronic Data Collection, Immediate Graphic Feedback, And Automated Scheduled Prompts On Data Collection Adherence, Cody Morris

Masters Theses

While data are essential to behavior analysis, collecting the type of data that behavior analysts often require can be a labor-intensive and time-consuming task. There have been many attempts to reduce the amount of time and effort required to collect behavioral data; most research in this area has been focused on computerized or electronic ways to do this (Dixon, 2003). While electronic data collection seems to be gaining popularity within applied behavior analysis, many obstacles still exist. The purpose of this project was to design a data collection system that is cost-efficient, adaptable, easy to use, and effective at increasing …