Psychology Commons^™

Predicting State Standardized Achievement Test Scores Using Curriculum Based Measurement In Third Grade, Lindsey Mitts

Masters Theses

With No Child Left Behind placing strong penalties on schools not making adequate yearly progress, many schools are searching for ways to predict student performance on state standardized achievement tests. The current study provides evidence as to the predictive nature of oral reading fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension data taken from a basal reading series, as well as student reading levels from an informal reading inventory, on Illinois Standards Achievement Test (ISAT) performance. Multiple regression analyses showed these measures to account for slightly more than one-half of the overall predicted variance in ISAT Reading performance. Furthermore, t-tests showed that a significant …

An Investigation Of The Dynamic Indicators Of Basic Early Literacy Skills (Dibels) And The Illinois Snapshot Of Early Literacy (Isel), Cara Williams

Masters Theses

This longitudinal study was conducted to compare and investigate the predictive power of DIBELS and ISEL measures. Data were collected to determine if ISEL and DIBELS measures similarly identify students as being at-risk. The predictive value of DIBELS and ISEL scores were evaluated in relation to third grade Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) scores and Illinois Standards of Achievement Test (ISAT) scores. Participants included 63 students from one grade level at a Chicago suburban school. Test scores from kindergarten through third grade were obtained for these students. Results indicate that the risk identification of students was significantly different between ISEL …

The Relationship Between Number Of Sports Played And Risky Sexual Behavior In High School Girls, Jennifer Martin

Masters Theses

Little is known about how the extent of athletic participation relates to sexual conduct for adolescent girls. The present study investigated how the number of sports played by female athletes in high school predicted their reports of risky sexual behavior. Participants included 2,304 female high school students from 9th grade through 12th grade from a Midwestern state. The students attended 27 high schools in seven counties and were recruited from a health prevention program called I Sing the Body Electric. As part of this program, students completed a confidential questionnaire that evaluated a number of health related issues. Two questions …

Factors That Hinder And Facilitate Help-Seeking Behaviors In Individuals With Social Anxiety, Hyland L. Smith

Masters Theses

This project focused on the development of a semi-structured interview for use in the exploration of factors that hinder or facilitate help-seeking behaviors of individuals with social anxiety. By participating in a qualitative semi-structured interview 10 participants identified factors that facilitated seeking professional help and barriers that prevented seeking professional help. Participants were grouped into two groups based on five stages of behavioral change proposed by Prochaska et al. (1983; 1991; 1992; 1999). The two groups were compared on the number of self-reported facilitator and barrier statements they made as well as their self-reported number of severity statements made. Participants …

Age-Related Decrease Of The Chorda Tympani Nerve Terminal Field In The Nucleus Of The Solitary Tract Is Prevented By Dietary Sodium Restriction During Development, Suzanne I. Sollars, B. R. Walker, A. K. Thaw, D. L. Hill

Psychology Faculty Publications

Institution of a low-NaCl diet beginning at embryonic day 3 and continued throughout pre- and postnatal development has widespread effects on the neuroanatomical organization of the first gustatory relay in the nucleus of the solitary tract. To determine when these effects are expressed postnatally, the terminal field of the chorda tympani nerve was compared between sodium-restricted and sodium-replete rats at postnatal days 15–17, postnatal days 25–27, postnatal days 35–37, and adults. Total terminal fields were significantly larger in postnatal days 35–37 and adult sodium-restricted rats compared with aged-matched controls. The group-related differences appear related more to a remodeling of the …

Exploring Group Behavior, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

When I migrated from the world of constructions and took a position as a college professor and social psychologist, I found myself on the right side of the "good work if you can get it" divide. Granted, professoring is still work. There are politics of the office, bosses who make demands, and duties that must be fulfilled. Nor is it a glamorous occupation, as Hollywood's depictions of Indiana Jones-like professorial types would suggest. But depending on one's goals and perspectives, it is a personally fulfilling pursuit. It is an elite profession that requires special training and skill, and for much …

Coping Strategy Use And Resilience Among Children Reporting Victimization, Julie K. Gepner

Masters Theses

Prior studies have established the negative implications of peer victimization; additional literature has focused on how children cope with the negative effects of peer bullying. However, no current research has examined the specific coping strategies, which may result in resiliency to the negative effects of peer victimization. The present study examined victimization, coping strategies, and resilience in a sample of 143 third through sixth grade students. The results indicated that the coping strategy of seeking social support was associated with resiliency among victims of aggression. In contrast, coping using externalizing behavior was associated with significantly lower levels of resiliency. The …

Recent Advances In The Study Of Development, Social And Personal Experience, And Psychopathology, William M. Bukowski, Ryan E. Adams, Jonathan Bruce Santo

Psychology Faculty Publications

The field of developmental psychopathology has been challenged by various issues in understanding the link between social experiences and psychopathology. These challenges involve conceptual, methodological and statistical concerns that are often interrelated. This article examines four advances in resolving these concerns. First, co-rumination and deviancy training are discussed as specific interpersonal processes that are examples of important social experiences for predicting psychopathology. Second, dynamic properties of dyadic interaction are discussed as one of the recent advances in methodology for this area. Third, the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model is outlined as one of the recent statistical advances in the study of individuals …

Parental Involvement In Education: A Comparison Of English And Spanish Speaking Parents, Lisa Kelly-Vance, Collette Nero, Juan F. Casas, Carey S. Ryan, Bridget O. Ryalls, Sarah A. Kurien, Angela Ferguson

Psychology Faculty Publications

We examined the educational involvement of English speaking and Spanish speaking parents of students in a Dual Language Program. Parents responded to open-ended questions about how they were involved, what they would like to be involved in but were not, and what barriers prevented them from being more involved. Monitoring/assisting with homework was the most frequently mentioned involvement activity fir both groups, followed by reading with their children, school involvement and communication, and providing social and emotional support to their children. The top areas in which parents wanted to do more were school involvement and communication, social and emotional support, …

Dangerousness And Expertise Redux, Christopher Slobogin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Civil commitment, confinement under sexual predator laws, and many capital and noncapital sentences depend upon proof of a propensity toward violence. This Article discusses the current state of prediction science, in particular the advantages and disadvantages of clinical and actuarial prediction, and then analyzes how the rules of evidence should be interpreted in deciding whether opinions about propensity should be admissible. It concludes that dangerousness predictions that are not based on empirically derived probability estimates should be excluded from the courtroom unless the defense decides otherwise. This conclusion is not bottomed on the usual concern courts and commentators raise about …

Predicting Alcohol And Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes Among Hispanic And African American Substance Abusers, Dawna-Cricket-Martita Meehan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol and drug use and abuse are significant concerns in the United States, yet few studies have investigated how cultural factors, such as acculturative type and acculturative stress, impact substance abuse treatment outcomes. In this study, African American (n = 171) and Hispanic (n = 101) substance abusers' acculturative type and acculturative stress levels were compared to substance abuse treatment outcome. Although the results indicated that acculturative type did not predict substance abuse treatment outcome, a positive correlation between acculturative stress and alcohol and substance abuse problems emerged among the combined and Hispanic samples. In the combined and Hispanic groups, …

Orienting Of Visual-Spatial Attention With Augmented Reality: Effects Of Spatial And Non-Spatial Multi-Modal Cues, Christian Jerome

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Advances in simulation technology have brought about many improvements to the way we train tasks, as well as how we perform tasks in the operational field. Augmented reality (AR) is an example of how to enhance the user's experience in the real world with computer generated information and graphics. Visual search tasks are known to be capacity demanding and therefore may be improved by training in an AR environment. During the experimental task, participants searched for enemies (while cued from visual, auditory, tactile, combinations of two, or all three modality cues) and tried to shoot them while avoiding shooting the …

Examining Employee Use Of Family-Friendly Benefits With The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Heather Seiser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the factors that may be related to employees' decisions to use the family-friendly benefits (e.g., maternity/paternity leave, flexible work schedule) that are offered to them by their employers. Research has shown that both employees and organizations benefit when employees use family-friendly benefits. However, research has also shown that many employees do not take advantage of such benefits. Studies examining this issue are limited, and much of the research that has been conducted is anecdotal and atheoretical. The present study overcame this problem by empirically examining the use of family-friendly benefits within …

Gender Differences In How Men And Women Referred With In Vitro Fertilization (Ivf) Cope With Infertility Stress, Brennan Peterson, C. R. Newton, K. H. Rosen, G. E. Skaggs

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Men and women use a variety of coping strategies to manage stress associated with infertility. While previous research has helped us understand these coping processes, questions remain about gender differences in coping and the nature of the relationship between coping and specific types of infertility stress. Methods: This study examined the coping behaviors of 1,026 (520 women, 506 men) consecutively referred patients at a Universityaffiliated teaching hospital. Participants completed the Ways of Coping Questionnaire, Fertility Problem Inventory, and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Results: Women used proportionately greater amounts of confrontive coping, accepting responsibility, seeking social support, and escape/avoidance when compared …

Applying Appraisal Theories Of Emotion To The Concept Of Emotional Labor, Erin Michele Richard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Interest in the role of emotions in the workplace has increased in recent years (e.g., Arvey, Renz, & Watson, 1998; Ashkanasy, Hartel, & Daus, 2002; Fisher & Ashkanasy, 2000; Muchinsky, 2000). One particular area of workplace emotions research deals with emotional labor, or the regulation of emotions as part of the work role (Hochschild, 1983). Although emotional labor research has examined the ways that individuals can regulate their emotions, this research typically is not grounded in theories of the emotion generation process (Ashton-James and Ashkanasy, 2004) and does not examine the causal effects of emotion regulation strategies on outcomes. The …

Evaluating Preference For Reinforcers Under Varying Schedule Requirements In Children With Developmental Disabilities, Tiffany Michelle Kodak

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research has shown that preference for concurrently available reinforcers can be influenced by the reinforcement schedule (DeLeon, Neidert, Anders, & Rodriguez-Catter, 2001; Tustin, 1994). However, limited research has been conducted on specific variables that may influence preference under various schedule requirements. The present study evaluated the influence of task preference, schedule, and quality of reinforcement on choice between either an arbitrary reinforcer or a functional reinforcer. Five participants diagnosed with Autism participated in the study. In the first phase, we evaluated the effects of task preference and schedule of reinforcement on choice between a 30-s break and a high …

Evaluation Of Cost Effective Preference Assessments For Use In General Education Settings, Jennifer Luella Resetar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the effectiveness of various preference assessments when used in a general education setting. Three separate experiments were conducted to elucidate the usefulness of various forms of preference assessments with the elementary general education population. The first experiment compared the outcomes of a teacher survey, teacher ranking, child survey, and brief multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) preference assessment. A Spearman rho correlation found that the indirect assessments either did not or only weakly correlated with the preference assessments. The second experiment utilized a single subject alternating treatments design to compare the reinforcing effectiveness of items identified as the …

The Intersection Of Race, Gender, And Class In Social Transitions: Caribbean Immigrant Women Negotiating United States Higher Education, Tracy A. Mcfarlane

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The experiences of immigrant women of color within US higher education provide a unique opportunity to understand the complex influences of intersecting identities within changing social contexts. This study was designed to determine how the social categories of gender, class, race, and nationality operate in Caribbean immigrant women's experience of being college students. Focus groups and life story interviews were conducted with 27 English-speaking Caribbean-born women attending CUNY undergraduate colleges. The data yielded four main findings: First, Caribbean gender roles and traditions are not homogenous; hence, there is variation in the ways in which these affect women's experiences in the …

Predictors Of Paternal Involvement In Childcare In Dual-Earner Families With Young Children, Julie N. Jacobs, Michelle L. Kelley

Psychology Faculty Publications

Dual-earner parents (N = 119) of preschool children enrolled in licensed childcare centers completed anonymous questionnaires that examined work and family variables as related to paternal involvement in three areas: engagement (i.e., one-on-one interaction with the child), responsibility (i.e., taking care of the child’s needs), and accessibility (i.e., being available to the child without directly interacting). Paternal responsibility was predicted by beliefs about fathering and structural variables (e.g., hours fathers and mothers worked). The percentage of time fathers spent as their child’s primary caregiver was predicted by structural variables (e.g., mothers’ work hours) and belief variables (e.g., men’s beliefs about …

Peer Facilitated Eating Disorder Prevention: A Randomized Effectiveness Trial Of Cognitive Dissonance And Media Advocacy, Carolyn Becker, Lisa M. Smith, Anna C. Ciao

Psychology Faculty Research

This study investigated the effectiveness of two interventions in reducing eating disorder risk factors under naturalistic conditions in sororities. Based on previous research, the campus sororities chose to implement a semi-mandatory, two-session eating disorder prevention program to all new sorority members (N=90) during sorority orientation. To facilitate evaluation, sororities agreed to random assignment of new members to either a cognitive dissonance or media advocacy intervention. Undergraduate peer facilitators ran the groups. Although both interventions had an effect, cognitive dissonance generally was superior at eight-month followup. Results further support the utility of cognitive dissonance in reducing eating disorder risk factors, and …

Am I Blue? Depressed Mood And The Consequences Of Self Focus For The Interpretation And Recall Of Ambiguous Words, Paula T. Hertel, L. El-Messidi

Psychology Faculty Research

In two experiments, dysphoric and nondysphoric students first concentrated on either self-focused or other-focused phrases and then performed an ostensibly unrelated task involving the interpretation of homographs with both personal and impersonal meanings. In Experiment 1, they constructed sentences for the homographs; dysphoric students' sentences were more emotionally negative (although not more personal) in the self-focused condition than in the other-focused condition. In Experiment 2, they freely associated to the homographs, and the percentage of personal meanings reflected by the associations revealed an effect of self versus other focus that depended on mood group. Following free associations, they attempted to …

A Mixed-Methods And Multi-Level Investigation Of The Effects Of A Crew Chief Intervention On Job Attitudes, Occupational Stress, And Organizational Commitment, Michael Charles Leo

Dissertations and Theses

High-profile instances of workplace violence and increased pressure from competitors have threatened the viability of one of the nation's largest employers, the United States Postal Service (USPS). As a result, the USPS began a massive change effort in the early 1990's. One of the initiatives implemented to improve labor-management relations was a derivative of the self-managed work team known as the crew chief program. This study provides a mixed-methods and multi-level approach to understand the impact this unique program had on organizational attitudes.

The first aim of this study was to investigate whether the crew chief program reduced employees' stress …

A Campus-Wide Model For Supporting Untenured Faculty Including Women And Minorities: Strategies, Recommendations And Caveats, Ellen N. Junn, M. Atwell

Office of the Provost Scholarship

This paper presents a comprehensive campus-wide strategic model for more effectively supporting tenure-track faculty with a special concern for assisting women and minority faculty. A description of the process and the outcomes includes establishment of a clear, high-level administrative initiative; formation of a campus-wide committee of highly respected faculty and administrators; compilation and discussion of current research and writings on the issue of recruiting and retaining women and minority faculty; collection of campus and national comparison data; creation, administration, and analysis of a survey of untenured faculty; compilation and dissemination of the committee’s final report and specific recommendations; and prioritized …

Multicultural Education In The Mental Health Professions: A Meta-Analytic Review, Timothy B. Smith, Madonna G. Constantine, Todd W. Dunn, Jared M. Dinehart, Jared A. Montoya

Faculty Publications

The American Psychological Association and many other professional mental health organizations require graduate programs to provide education in multicultural issues. However, the effectiveness of multicultural education has been debated in the literature over the past several years. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of multicultural education using meta-analytic methodologies. Findings revealed that multicultural education interventions were typically associated with positive outcomes across a wide variety of participant and study characteristics. Multicultural education interventions that were explicitly based on theory and research yielded outcomes nearly twice as beneficial as those that were not. Priorities for future …

Cognitive, Emotional, And Quality Of Life Outcomes In Patients With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Joanne White, Ramona O. Hopkins, Eric G. Glissmeyer, Natalie Kitterman, C. Gregory Elliott

Faculty Publications

Background: The effects of pulmonary arterial hypertension on cardiovascular and physical function are well documented. Limited information exists regarding the effects of pulmonary arterial hypertension on cognitive function despite patient reports of problems with memory and attention. Our primary purpose was to determine if a prospectively identified cohort of pulmonary arterial hypertension patients had cognitive sequelae. Our secondary purpose was to determine the relationships between cognitive sequelae and neuropsychological test scores with depression, anxiety, and quality of life.

Methods: Forty-six adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension underwent assessment of cognitive function, depression, anxiety, and quality of life using standardized neuropsychological tests …

Silenced Voices: Experiences Of Grief Following Road Traffic Crashes In Western Australia, Lauren Breen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Despite the introduction of road safety measures and media campaigns, crashes are a leading cause of death in Western Australia. While economic costs of crashes are relatively easy to determine, their psychosocial burden remains appreciably under-studied, as are the social, cultural, historical, temporal, and political contexts within which grief experiences are housed. As such, I explored the experience of grief resulting from losing a loved one in a crash in Western Australia and described the influence of contextual factors on those grief experiences.

European American Therapist Self-Disclosure In Cross-Cultural Counseling, Alan W. Burkard, Sarah Knox, Michael Groen, Maria Perez, Shirley Hess

College of Education Faculty Research and Publications

Eleven European American psychotherapists' use of self-disclosure in cross-cultural counseling was studied using consensual qualitative research. As reasons for self-disclosing, therapists reported the intent to enhance the counseling relationship, acknowledge the role of racism/oppression in clients' lives, and acknowledge their own racist/oppressive attitudes. Results indicated that therapists typically shared their reactions to clients' experiences of racism or oppression and that these self-disclosures typically had positive effects in therapy, often improving the counseling relationship by helping clients feel understood and enabling clients to advance to other important issues.

Do Expectancies Mediate The Relationship Between Sensitivities And Fearfulness?: An Alternative To Reiss' Expectancy Theory, Scott David Mcdonald

Theses and Dissertations

This paper tests Reiss' (1991) expectancy theory of fearfulness. Reiss' moderation model of fears speculates that individual differences in fearfulness and phobic avoidance is a function of the interaction between trait vulnerabilities (i.e., sensitivities) and beliefs about potential outcomes during exposure to phobic stimuli (i.e., expectancies). Four hundred and forty-five undergraduates completed questionnaires related to Reiss' fundamental sensitivities (e.g., "anxiety sensitivity"), expectancies (e.g., "expectancy of physical injury or harm") and the intensity of common fears. Informed by findings concerning fear-related outcome expectancies, a system for measuring expectancies was developed for this study called the Focus of Apprehension Survey Schedule (FASS). …

An Examination Of Career Decision-Making In The Context Of Female Offenders, Allison L. Stone

Theses and Dissertations

Female offenders often have had increased financial difficulties post-release because of lower levels of educational achievement and less job experience. Career programming may prove useful to female offenders by providing guidance with career decisions and strengthening career decision-making skills. The aims of this study were to investigate career decision-making skills and self-efficacy in the context of vocational programming for a group of female offenders. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental design was used to examine scale scores for a group who participated in programming and a control group at the same correctional facility. A series oft tests revealed no significant differences between the …

Perceptions Of Academic And Social Self-Efficacy Among Adolescents Diagnosed With Cancer And Their Relations With Dispositional Optimism, Perceived Vulnerability, And Treatment Modality, Rebecca Hope Foster

Theses and Dissertations

For adolescents with cancer, a population notably neglected in the literature, maintaining and strengthening academic and social self-efficacy is especially salient in terms of promoting positive adaptation on key developmental indices. Based on prior research citing their potential roles among adolescents adapting to cancer, treatment modality, dispositional optimism, and perceived vulnerability were chosen as variables likely related to social and academic self-efficacy. Forty-two adolescents diagnosed with cancer and at least six months post-treatment completed questionnaire packets. Analyses indicated that although treatment modality did not relate to academic or social self-efficacy, prognosis should be considered as a covariate. Hierarchical regression analyses …