Psychology Commons^™

Six-To-One Gets The Job Done: Comments On The Reviews, W. Joseph Wyatt, Donna M. Midkiff

Psychology Faculty Research

We are pleased to note that six of the seven responses to our article were marked by approval, and/or thoughtful contemplation, regarding our central theses—that the research said to support biological causation of mental disorders is relatively weak, and that the claims of drug effectiveness are often overstated.

Field-Based Experience In Light Of Changing Demographics, Fred Jay Krieg, Joyce Meikamp, Stephen L. O’Keefe, Sandra S. Stroebel

School Psychology Faculty Research

Due to changing demographics of students admitted to the School Psychology Training Program at Marshall University Graduate College, it has become imperative to significantly expand field experiences beginning in the first semester to address the lack of educational background of most of the students entering the program. This organized sequence of field experiences continues throughout the program, parallel to classroom instruction, affording opportunities for students to put theory into practice and to interact with professionals in the field, while also allowing for exposure to the public school environment. The collaborative field experience sequence provides the students with early and continuous …

Structural Mri Discriminates Individuals With Mild Cognitive Impairment From Age-Matched Controls: A Combined Neuropsychological And Voxel Based Morphometry Study, Mehul A. Trivedi, Allison K. Wichmann, Britta M. Torgerson, Michael A. Ward, Taylor W. Schmitz, Michele L. Ries, Rebecca L. Koscik, Sanjay Asthana, Sterling C. Johnson

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

Background: Several previous studies have reported that amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a significant risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), is associated with greater atrophy in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) and posterior cingulate gyrus (PCG). Method: In the present study, we examined the cross-sectional accuracy (i.e., the sensitivity and specificity) of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) in discriminating individuals with MCI (n = 15) from healthy age-matched controls (n = 15). In addition, we also sought to determine whether baseline GM volume predicted aMCI patients that converted to AD from those that did not approximately 2 years after the baseline visit. …

The Locomotor Kinematics Of Asian And African Elephants: Changes With Speed And Size, John R. Hutchinson, Delf Schwerda, Daniel J. Famini, Robert H.I. Dale, Martin S. Fischer, Rodger Kram

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

For centuries, elephant locomotion has been a contentious and confusing challenge for locomotion scientists to understand, not only because of technical difficulties but also because elephant locomotion is in some ways atypical of more familiar quadrupedal gaits. We analyzed the locomotor kinematics of over 2400 strides from 14 African and 48 Asian elephant individuals (body mass 116-4632 kg) freely moving over ground at a 17-fold range of speeds, from slow walking at 0.40 m s^-1 to the fastest reliably recorded speed for elephants, 6.8 m s^-1. These data reveal that African and Asian elephants have some subtle …

Stress, Coping, Social Support, And Prostate Cancer Risk Among Older African American And Caucasian Men, Ann L. Coker, Maureen Sanderson, Gary L. Ellison, Mary Kay Fadden

CRVAW Faculty Journal Articles

Objectives: While psychosocial stress and high effort coping have been associated with reduced immune function, no epidemiologic study has addressed psychological stress and risk of prostate cancer. The purpose of this analysis was to investigate the association between stress, coping, social support, and risk of prostate cancer among older men (age 65–79 years). Design: Population-based case-control study in South Carolina.

Participants: Cases were 400 incident, histologically confirmed prostate cancer cases identified through the South Carolina Central Cancer Registry between 1999 and 2001 (70.6% response rate). Controls were 385 men identified through the 1999 Health Care Financing Administration Medicare beneficiary file …

Psychological Implications Of The Doctrine Of Christian Perfection With Special Reference To John Wesley's View, Irv Brendlinger, Eric E. Mueller

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

The doctrine of Christian Perfection is viewed by some as a wonderful and liberating doctrine, but by others it is seen as producing false expectations and guilt. John Wesley, the first major theologian to develop a theology of Christian Perfection, encountered misunderstandings and problems with this doctrine. He wrote and preached to correct the misunderstandings. Unfortunately, misunderstandings persist and sometimes have psychological effects on individuals. This article explores common understandings, beliefs, and experiences regarding Christian Perfection among evangelical Christians from the holiness tradition. The material was gathered by means of interviews that were recorded. The interviews were then studied by …

Reverse Decision Making And Goal Attainment A Proof Of Concept As A New Approach To The Decision Making Process Under Uncertainty, Shitalkumar S. Sabne

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Decision making occurs when one must choose among alternatives. However, in uncertain environments where problems are complex and decision makers lack complete knowledge of the situation as well as decision alternatives, it's not possible for them to select an optimal decision outcome by 'Traditional Decision Approaches'. At present Reverse Decision Making is the central, although new and unproved, approach of Old Dominion University's Engineering Management and Systems Engineering research on decision making process for uncertain and complex situations. Even though research in decision making spans over one hundred years, there are still important problems which remain to be addressed.

There …

Determinants Of Physical Activity In An Inclusive Setting, Stephen Kodish, Pamela Hodges Kulinna, Jeffrey J. Martin, Robert Pangrazi, Paul Darst

Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies

The purposes of this study included (a) to determine if the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) predicted intentions of individuals with and without disabilities to be physically active, (b) to determine if the TPB predicted behaviors of individuals with and without disabilities to be physically active, and (c) to determine if significant differences were present in physical activity opportunities between inclusive and non-inclusive elementary physical education classes taught by the same teacher. Students (N = 114, ages 10-13) completed questionnaires assessing the TPB constructs and had four days of PA evaluated through pedometer measurements. Analyses revealed that subjective norm …

Understanding The Experience Of Teenage Parents: An Empirical Examination Of Attitudes And Expectations Among Education Professionals, Janet Lynn Pietrowski

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Approximately 10% of all adolescents between 15-19 years old in the United States become pregnant, with about half of these pregnancies resulting in birth. Several variables have been correlated with long-term outcomes for teenage mothers, including poor academic achievement, lower occupational attainment, poor mental health, and socioeconomic hardship. Social support is one factor that moderates these outcomes. This study employed the use of written vignettes to examine differences in expectations for success (educational, economic, and psychological) that educational professionals have for teenage mothers and non-mother adolescents (N=145). Vignettes were varied according to levels of social support and parenting status, with …

Psychometric Controversy Involving Job Performance Ratings, Anne Scaduto

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Job performance ratings by supervisors and peers are very often the procedure for performance appraisal. The reliability of performance ratings is an important issue, because performance appraisal serves several purposes in the context of human resource management. Unfortunately, there are performance rating biases connected with raters, ratees, the interaction of raters and ratees, and situational and organizational characteristics. Interrater correlations are frequently interpreted as estimates of the reliability of performance ratings, and are also used to correct the correlations between ratings and other measures for attenuation. Some researchers (Murphy & DeShon, 2000a; 2000b) argue that interrater correlations are not reliability …

Cognitive Benefits Of Participation In Lifelong Learning Institutes, Patricia M. Simone, Melinda Scuilli

Psychology

This essay examines the role of cognitive stimulation in maintaining high cognitive functioning in later life. Cognition is dependent upon brain function and brain function can be improved through physical exercise and cognitive stimulation. Lifelong learning institutes offer older adults a myriad of opportunities to enhance their cognitive function. These institutes are not unique to the United States and need not offer courses in any particular format in order to facilitate cognitive benefits.

Tips For Working With Children And Youth With Disabilities, Mary Anne Prater

Faculty Publications

The following is adapted from a presentation at the 2006 BYU Women's Conference by Mary Anne Prater, PhD, chair of the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education. All children deserve to learn. Children with disabilities have needs as well as different learning styles that parents and teachers need to be aware of. When we understand what each student needs and how we can provide a positive learning environment, we can facilitate all children's learning and growth.

Testing The Causal Mediation Component Of Dodge’S Social Information Processing Model Of Social Competence And Depression., Patrick Pössel, Simone Seemann, Stefanie Ahrens, Martin Hautzinger

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

In Dodge’s model of “social information processing” depression is the result of a linear sequence of five stages of information processing (Dodge, 1993). These stages follow a person’s reaction to situational stimuli, such that each stage of information processing mediates the relationship between earlier and later stages. Because support for the social information processing model of depression has mainly come from retrospective examination of the literature (Dodge, 1993), we conducted a three wave prospective study including 92 adolescents without lifetime or current depression. Depressive symptoms and information processing were assessed by using well established measures employed in previous studies. The …

Therapists-In-Training Who Experience A Client Suicide: Implications For Supervision, Sarah Knox, Alan W. Burkard, Julie A. Jackson, April M. Schaack, Shirley A. Hess

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Client suicide is often an extraordinarily painful process for clinicians, especially those still in training. Given their training status, supervisees may look to their graduate programs and supervisors for guidance and support when such an event occurs. This study qualitatively examined the experiences of 13 prelicensure doctoral supervisees regarding their client's suicide. Findings suggest that these supervisees received minimal graduate training about suicide and that support from others, including supervisors, helped them cope with their client's death. Supervisors are advised to normalize and process supervisees' experiences of client suicide. Implications for training and practice are discussed.

Age-Related Functional Recruitment For Famous Name Recognition: An Event-Related Fmri Study, Kristy A. Nielson, Kelli Douville, Michael Seidenberg, John L. Woodard, Sarah K. Miller, Malgorzata Franczak, Piero Antuono, Stephen M. Rao

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Recent neuroimaging research shows that older adults exhibit recruitment, or increased activation on various cognitive tasks. The current study evaluated whether a similar pattern also occurs in semantic memory by evaluating age-related differences during recognition of Recent (since the 1990s) and Enduring (1950s to present) famous names. Fifteen healthy older and 15 healthy younger adults performed the name recognition task with a high and comparable degree of accuracy, although older adults had slower reaction time in response to Recent famous names. Event-related functional MRI showed extensive networks of activation in the two groups including posterior cingulate, right hippocampus, temporal lobe …

The Effect Of Auditory And Visual Distracters On The Useful Field Of View: Implications For The Driving Task, Joanne Wood, Alex Chaparro, Louise Hickson, Nick Thyer, Philippa Carter, Julie Hancock, Adrene Hoe, Ivy Le, Louisa Sahetapy, Floravel Ybarzabal

Publications

PURPOSE. The driving environment is becoming increasingly complex, including both visual and auditory distractions within the in-vehicle and external driving environments. This study was designed to investigate the effect of visual and auditory distractions on a performance measure that has been shown to be related to driving safety, the useful field of view.

METHODS. A laboratory study recorded the useful field of view in 28 young visually normal adults (mean 22.6 +- 2.2 years). The useful field of view was measured in the presence and absence of visual distracters (of the same angular subtense as the target) and with three …

The Effect Of Sonification Pulse Rate And System Reliability On Perceived Workload Urgency Trust And Monitoring Performance, Randal D. Spain

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of sonification pulse rate and system reliability on subjective workload, urgency, trust, and monitoring performance of a dual task simulation of patient monitoring. Fifty-eight students performed a compensatory tracking and resource management task while simultaneously engaging in a patient monitoring task. Sonification pulse rate contained three levels (40ppm, 60ppm, 80ppm) and was manipulated within groups by varying the inter-pulse interval of the auditory signal. System reliability contained two levels (40%, 60%) and was manipulated between groups by varying the number of true and false problems presented by the sonification …

The Contribution Of Self-Determination Theory To An Understanding Of Psychological Distress Among Young Adults: Mediation Of Practical Involvement And Autonomy Support By Autonomy, Controlled, And Impersonal Orientations, Bradley D. Rockafellow

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The concept of autonomy, as conceptualized by SDT researchers, in relationship to the development of psychopathology has received little empirical attention. According to Selfdetermination theory (SDT; Ryan, Deci, & Grolnick, 1995), if parents facilitate, rather than undermine, the critical parenting dimensions of autonomy support, involvement, and structure, then children will develop as psychologically healthy adults. In addition, SDT would also predict that based on these critical parenting dimensions, children will develop differential inner motivational orientations (i.e., autonomy, control, and impersonal) representing varying degrees of autonomy (i.e., self determined behavior), which in turn should predict psychological distress or health. To test …

The Development Of Legal Reasoning Skills In Law Students: An Empirical Study, Stefan H. Krieger

Journal of Legal Education

No abstract provided.

Girls' Perception Of Physical Environmental Factors And Transportation: Reliability And Association With Physical Activity And Active Transport To School, Kelly R. Evenson, Amanda Birnbaum, Ariane L. Bedimo-Rung, James Sallis, Carolyn C. Voorhees, Kimberly Ring, John P. Elder

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Background

Preliminary evidence suggests that the physical environment and transportation are associated with youth physical activity levels. Only a few studies have examined the association of physical environmental factors on walking and bicycling to school. Therefore, the purpose of this study was (1) to examine the test-retest reliability of a survey designed for youth to assess perceptions of physical environmental factors (e.g. safety, aesthetics, facilities near the home) and transportation, and (2) to describe the associations of these perceptions with both physical activity and active transport to school.

Methods

Test and retest surveys, administered a median of 12 days later, …

Paradoxical Facilitation Of Object Recognition Memory After Infusion Of Scopolamine Into Perirhinal Cortex: Implications For Cholinergic System Function., Boyer D Winters, Lisa M Saksida, Timothy J Bussey

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The cholinergic system has long been implicated in learning and memory, yet its specific function remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the role of cortical acetylcholine in a rodent model of declarative memory by infusing the cholinergic muscarinic receptor antagonist scopolamine into the rat perirhinal cortex during different stages (encoding, storage/consolidation, and retrieval) of the spontaneous object recognition task. Presample infusions of scopolamine significantly impaired object recognition compared with performance of the same group of rats on saline trials; this result is consistent with previous reports supporting a role for perirhinal acetylcholine in object information acquisition. Scopolamine infusions …

Behavior Problems In Children Of Battered Women, Stacey Monahan

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to address this question: Is there a relationship between the trauma symptoms of mothers and the behavior problems of their children in the context of domestic violence? Mothers' trauma symptoms significantly correlated with their children's behavior problems in these children between the ages of 3 to 10 years. Pearson correlations revealed that the mothers' defensive avoidance scale scores significantly correlated with their children's anxious/depressed and internalizing scale scores, mothers' depression and impaired self-reference scale scores significantly correlated with their children's withdrawn and internalizing scale scores, and mothers' dysfunctional sexual behavior and tension reduction behavior …

Mother-Young Recognition In An Ungulate Hider Species: A Unidirectional Proce, Marco V.G. Torriani, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

Parent‐offspring recognition is usually crucial for survival of young. In mammals, olfaction often only permits identification at short range, and vocalizations are important at longer distances. Following and hiding antipredator strategies found in newborn mammals may also affect parental recognition mechanisms. We investigated mother‐offspring recognition in fallow deer, an ungulate hider species. We analyzed the structure of adult female and fawn contact calls to determine whether they are individually distinctive and tested for mother‐offspring recognition. Only females (and not fawns) have individualized vocalizations, with the fundamental frequency as the most distinctive parameter. Playback experiments showed that fawns can distinguish the …

Design And Implementation Of The Domestic Violence Services In Rural Clinics Intervention, Ann L. Coker, Paige H. Smith, Vicki C. Flerx, Daniel J. Whitaker, Mary Kay Fadden, Melinda Williams

CRVAW Faculty Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Men's Quest For Wholeness: The Changing Counseling Needs Of Paheka Males, Philip Culbertson

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

In this essay I will claim that one of the most significant factors explaining the high levels of domestic and public violence in New Zealand is the definition of masculinity that Pakeha (descendants of white colonial settlers) men have inherited and the risks and demands for men who attempt to achieve it. In order to comprehend the extreme stress which the Pakeha definition of masculinity places on men, we need to begin by understanding how culture-specific every definition of masculinity (and femininity) is. Next we need to review how this Pakeha definition developed as a result of the history of …

Just Delivering The News Or Something More? How The Mass Media Influence Public Opinion And Public Perception, Tamara D. Marashlian

Modern Psychological Studies

The media, which include radio, television and newspapers, have become a crucial part of society as it provides the public with a variety of information on a daily basis. As a result, the media can potentially influence public opinion and public perception. This review examines the current research on how the media are influential and, in the process, the degree to which the media are responsible for creating public opinion. Also explained is the third-person effect, defined as the belief that a person considers himself to be less influenced by the media than others. Furthermore, the review focuses on the …

Hang With The Dude, Jeffery Byrd

UNIversitas: Journal of Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

The Greeks created idealized versions of themselves. But what good is making a perfect body if you are still schlepping around in the frumpy one you were born with?

In 2002, I designed an idealized version of myself that was wearable. The Dude is cool, hip, young and buff and not afraid to unleash his inner geek. He is totally at ease with who he is. In short, he was just what I wanted to be. And you may notice he is also short because I have honestly never had a problem with my height.

The Dude got around. He …

Effectiveness Of Treatment Interventions For Adults Suffering From Anger Disorders: A Literature Review, Amy Levitt, Mark J. Sciutto

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

Deliberate Self-Harm In Clinical And Non-Clinical Populations, Jeffrey T. Counterman

Modern Psychological Studies

Approximately 4% of the general population and 14% of college students have engaged or currently engage in deliberate self-harm. The purpose of the Literature Review is to assess similarities and differences of demographic information, gender, age, frequency, prevalence rates, methods, and reasons of self-harm in both clinical and non-clinical samples. Definitions and alternate names of self-harm were presented, common misconceptions regarding gender were discussed, and frequency and prevalence rates in clinical and non-clinical samples were compared.

Computer-Mediated Communication And Group Cohesion, Kirsten M. Barbosa

Modern Psychological Studies

Utilizing the recent gains in technology, many work teams now communicate through computer-mediated communication (e.g., instant-messaging). As the research in this area continues to grow, one variable that has not been considered is group cohesion in "virtual" environments. To address this issue, four-member groups (N=144) completed tasks by communicating through an instant-messaging system or by meeting face-to-face. The study allowed for assessment of cohesiveness as well as group performance on a judgment task. Contrary to hypotheses, differences in group cohesion were not identified between the communication conditions. However, groups communicating through instant messaging took longer to complete the tasks and …