Psychology Commons^™

Existential Anxiety And Religious Commitment, Daniel J. Pelak

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between Paul Tillich's theory of existential anxiety and religious commitment. The study attempted to determine if there was type of existential anxiety that religion might perpetuate or alleviate. Two hundred and twenty-nine individuals who endorsed a Christian or Catholic belief system completed a series of surveys on an internet website; participants were recruited through various Christian message boards or a standardized email that was sent to various church leaders; the measures of the assessment were Tillich's theory of existential anxiety, death anxiety, moral anxiety, meaninglessness anxiety, religious commitment, and personality …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Prayer And Subjective Well-Being, Brandon L. Whittington

Masters Theses

The present study examined the relationship between types of prayer (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, reception, and obligation) and self-esteem, life satisfaction, and life meaning, while testing optimism, belief in prayer, and spiritual support as mediators. Linear regression analyses were conducted to examine relationships. Optimism was confirmed as a mediator between adoration and life satisfaction, thanksgiving and life satisfaction, and thanksgiving and self-esteem. Spiritual support was confirmed as a mediator between reception and life meaning. As hypothesized, optimism played a large role in predicting well-being, especially in adoration and thanksgiving, prayer focused on positive themes. Overall, prayer was shown to predict …

Factors Influencing Early Literacy Skill Acquisition Among At-Risk Kindergarten Children, Jill E. Feller

Masters Theses

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 placed federal mandates on education in which all children will be expected to read grade-level text by the 3rd grade in the academic year of 2013-2014. Risk factors that can be linked to interventions in order to reach the goals of NCLB were investigated. In this study, the risk factors of parental involvement (Reading Minute Index), parental literacy interaction style (Home Questionnaire), and Overactive and Underactive problem behaviors (ASCA composite scores) were analyzed in relation to the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills kindergarten spring benchmarks.

This study was conducted in …

Effects Of Letter Transposition In Subliminal Primes On Perceived Content Of Abstract Images, C.S. Bailey, Amanda K. Harsin, Suzie Heffernan

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

Subliminal presentation of a stimulus can influence responses to later stimuli. This effect is known as priming. The current study used Microsoft PowerPoint as a novel, low-cost paradigm to present experimental stimuli. Thirty-one undergraduate participants viewed a PowerPoint presentation that contained conditions with no, with unscrambled, and with center-scrambled sexually-themed messages. The effects of gender, counterbalancing, and type of message on perceived sexual content in experimenter-made inkblots was assessed. The current study failed to find any significant differences or interaction effects between any of the variables. A post-hoc analysis revealed a significant priming effect. Possible confounding variables and suggestions for …

Factor Structure And Clinical Implications Of Child Behavior Checklist/1.5-5 Ratings In A Sample Of Girls Adopted From China, Tony Xing Tan, Robert F. Dedrick, Kofi Marfo

Institute for Human Development, East Africa

Objective: This study assessed psychometric properties of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL/1.5-5) and explored clinical insights from its use in a sample of adopted Chinese girls.

Methods: Parental ratings were obtained on 707 adopted Chinese girls, ages 1.50-5.92 years (M = 3.24, SD = 1.26). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), employing robust weighted least squares estimation, was used to evaluate the instrument's seven-factor correlated structure. Profiles of scores were analyzed descriptively for clinical insights.

Results: The CFAs indicated that the fit of Achenbach and Rescorla's (2000 Manual for the ASEBA preschool forms & profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Centre …

The History And Development Of Dressage And Psychological Tools, Nick Onoda

Whittier Scholars Program

This paper has two main areas of focus. The first area details the history and development of dressage, from its original military function into its current form as an Olympic sport. The second area presents psychological tools and methods that can be used by all dressage riders to enhance performance and the relationship between horse and rider. The history of dressage and the psychological tools that help riders reach their optimal mental state may seem unrelated. However, there is a correlation. The history of dressage records how conflicting philosophies and psychological outlooks during different time periods affected the training of …

Cutting Through The Confusion (Review), Kristina M. Kays

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

Reviews the video, Self-Injury (with) Wendy Lader (2006). Self-injury behavior (SIB) includes, among other behaviors, "intentional carving or cutting of the skin and subdermal tissue, scratching, burning, ripping or pulling skin or hair, swallowing toxic substances, bruising, and breaking bones" (Cornell Research Program, 2006). Over the last two decades self-injury reports have risen noticeably because of increased SIB in adolescents, more clients seeking help, and increased reliability in diagnosis among professionals. The alarming numbers indicate a desperate need to understand how to diagnose and treat SIB clients effectively. In response to this escalating need, guest expert Wendy Lader is featured …

Factors Influencing Mid Career Redirection Decisions In Professionals, Mark J. Halliday

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship of factors affecting a professional’s decision to change the direction of their career in during mid career and develop a comprehensive model incorporating each of these factors. There are four hypotheses in this study: la) higher scores in the personality attributes of openness to experience and extraversión will be correlated with a larger change in career redirection than those professionals with lower scores; lb) a higher score in the career attitude of risk-taking style and a lower score in the career attitude of career worries will be correlated with a …

The Effect Of Celebrity-Status On Juror Decision-Making, Mark Skowronski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Reported frequently in the popular press is a public perception that juries hold celebrities to a different legal standard. This study tested this hypothesis by presenting paiticipants with a trial transcript of a personal injury lawsuit in which the defendant was either a famous male actor or a comparable non-celebrity. Also tested was the hypothesis that the presence of a celebrity would render “jurors” more susceptible to heuristic- processing of trial information. Some participants were informed that the location of the accident was the estate of a famous male actor while for others the estate had non- celebrity ownership. It …

Self-Enhancement : A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (Tms) Study, Cleo R. Shelby

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Self-enhancement consists of an overly positive self-perception that takes on two, somewhat independent, forms: social comparison and self-insight. Social comparison self-enhancement consists of a person having an overly positive view of themselves compared to how they view others. Self-insight self-enhancement consists of an overly positive view of the self compared to how the person is viewed by others. Social comparison self-enhancement appears to be adaptive while self-insight self-enhancement appears to be maladaptive. Due to the adaptive and maladaptive implications, selfenhancement is of considerable importance to the mental health of people all around the world. A better understanding of the neurological …

Does Increasing Biology Teacher Knowledge Of Evolution And The Nature Of Science Lead To Greater Advocacy For The Teaching Of Evolution In Schools?, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This study investigated whether or not an increase in secondary science teacher knowledge about evolution and the nature of science gained from completing a graduate-level evolution course was associated with greater preference for the teaching of evolution in schools. Forty-four precertified secondary biology teachers participated in a 14-week intervention designed to address documented misconceptions identified by a precourse instrument. The course produced statistically significant gains in teacher knowledge of evolution and the nature of science and a significant decrease in misconceptions about evolution and natural selection. Nevertheless, teachers' postcourse preference positions remained unchanged; the majority of science teachers still preferred …

Bullying, Depression, And Suicidality In Adolescents, Anat Brunstein-Klomek, Frank Marrocco, Marjorie Kleinman, Irvin Sam Schonfeld, Madelyn S. Gould

Publications and Research

Objective: To assess the association between bullying behavior and depression, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts among adolescents. Method: A self-report survey was completed by 9th- through 12th-grade students (n = 2342) in six New York State high schools from 2002 through 2004. Regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between being victimized and bullying others with depression, ideation, and attempts. Results: Approximately 9% of the sample reported being victimized frequently, and 13% reported bullying others frequently. Frequent exposure to victimization or bullying others was related to high risks of depression, ideation, and suicide attempts compared with adolescents not involved …

Does Increasing Biology Teacher Knowledge Of Evolution And The Nature Of Science Lead To Greater Advocacy For The Teaching Of Evolution In Schools?, Ross Nehm, Irvin Sam Schonfeld

Publications and Research

This study investigated whether or not an increase in secondary science teacher knowledge about evolution and the nature of science gained from completing a graduate-level evolution course was associated with greater preference for the teaching of evolution in schools. Forty-four precertified secondary biology teachers participated in a 14-week intervention designed to address documented misconceptions identified by a precourse instrument. The course produced statistically significant gains in teacher knowledge of evolution and the nature of science and a significant decrease in misconceptions about evolution and natural selection. Nevertheless, teachers' postcourse preference positions remained unchanged; the majority of science teachers still preferred …

The Effect Of Mood And Individual Differences On Implicit Learning, Kathryn M. Sentman '07

Honors Projects

This study investigated the relationship between mood, cognitive style, and implicit learning. Ninety-four participants were induced with a positive, neutral, or negative mood. We predicted that a positive mood would enhance implicit learning, while a negative mood would depress it. Additionally, we expected that participants with a more intuitive cognitive style would perform better on implicit learning. Implicit learning was measured using the Artificial Grammar (AG) and Serial Reaction Time (SRT) tasks. Our results suggest surprising differences between the tasks; positive mood and intuitive cognitive style seem to help the SRT, while negative mood and analytical cognitive style seem to …

Role Of The Medial Septal Area In Regulating Prefrontal Theta Rhythm In Rats, Leo Kelly '07

Honors Projects

Theta rhythms are electroencephalogram (EEG) waveforms between 4-12 Hz and are correlated with arousal, orientation, exploration, attention, learning and memory, motivational drives and emotions and movements. The last sixty years have been witness to a greatly increasing understanding of the underlying anatomical pathways and mechanisms necessary for theta rhythms. Today, it is well established that cells of the medial septal area (MSA) fire in a rhythmic bursting pattern to pace the theta rhythm in the hippocampus (HPC) and that lesioning the MSA abolishes theta rhythm in the HPC. However, comparatively little is known about the anatomy driving the theta rhythm …

Influence Of Contrast Effects On Attractiveness Of Individual Faces And Facial Prototypes, Kelly Irvin '07

Honors Projects

This study investigated the influence of attractiveness contrast effects on individual and prototypical faces. In two experimental conditions, males (N= 38, M age = 19.21 years) and females (N= 78, M age = 19.13 years) were adapted to high or low attractive opposite-sex faces. Following adaptation, participants responded to a mate selection questionnaire and rated individual faces on attractiveness. Participants also rated prototypes on attractiveness and familiarity, either during the same session (males and females) or after a 1 week delay (females). Results indicated a weak contrast effect for male participants' attractiveness ratings for individual faces but not for prototypes. …

Practical Problems And Decision Making: The Effect Of Strategy And Experience, Sarah Flores '07

Honors Projects

What is the most effective way to make a decision? To examine the impact of strategy at varying levels of experience, 270 undergraduates solved problems in college life. Participants at three Levels of Experience (First Years, Sophomores, and Residential Life Staff) were assigned to one of four Strategy Conditions (Analysis, Holistic Intuition, Time Limit and Control). Results showed a marginal main effect of Level of Experience, a main effect of Strategy Condition, and an interaction of the two. Time Limit was detrimental for all conditions, except for Staff. First Years performed better with Intuition than Analysis, and Staff scored nonsignificantly …

Bipolar Disorder, Disclosure, And Their Effects On Employment Opportunities, Melissa B. Finch '07

Honors Projects

People with psychological disorders often experience stigma and discrimination, which can impact their ability to gain and maintain employment (Goldberg, Killeen, & O'Day, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of disclosure of a severe mental disorder (bipolar disorder) on employers' reactions. In addition, the study assessed the impact of diversity education on employers hiring recommendations for persons with severe mental disabilities. Participants listened to an interview of a student job applicant in one of three conditions (no disclosure, implicit disclosure, or explicit disclosure.) They rated the applicant on personal characteristics and likeability, as well as …

Reducing Hiv Stigma: A Common Group Identity Perspective, Heather Deutsch '07

Honors Projects

The HIV/AIDS epidemic affects many individuals worldwide. Coupled with this epidemic is stigma levied against infected individuals. HIV stigma involves feelings of repulsion, discomfort, blaming, and sanctions. I attempted to combat HIV stigma by targeting emotional, motivational, and behavioral underpinnings in an intervention video. In this video, I manipulated: 1) whether the intervention speaker shared a group membership (IWU affiliation) with the audience and 2) the speaker's HIV status. I hypothesized that, when the speaker was affiliated with IWU and was HIV-positive, stigma would be reduced. Seventy-one lWU students watched the intervention video, and then I assessed participants' HIV-related implicit …

Satiation, Habituation, And Elasticity: An Economic Analysis, Amanda Zang '07

Honors Projects

Response rates typically change systematically within operant conditioning sessions. Proposed explanations for this phenomenon include habituation and satiation. The present study investigated these explanations. Six Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to a series of variable interval (VI) schedules. Each schedule consisted of a baseline, same pre-feed, and different pre-feed condition. During the same pre-feed, the rats received the same food as was earned during the session, whereas in the different pre-feed, the rats received a food that differed from that earned during the session. A larger decrease in responding during a same food pre-feed condition would support habituation as the explanation. …

Reactions To Ostracism And Their Predictors, Kelly J. Sanderson '07

Honors Projects

This study was conducted to examine how individual differences in personality predict variance in reactions to ostracism, and to explore the effects of re-inclusion on ostracism reactions. Participants completed five personality measures before the ostracism was delivered in a chat-room paradigm. The chat-room consisted of phases during which participants were included, excluded, and re-included in the discussion, and enjoyment and participation were measured after each chat-room phase. Enjoyment and participation decreased during exclusion and increased during re-inclusion. Throughout all phases of the chat-room, enjoyment and participation were positively correlated with social competence and negatively correlated with loneliness and social isolation. …

Effects Of Guanfacine On Mnemonic Processing Following Lesion To Rat Medial Septum: A Novel Treatment Approach To Alzheimer's Memory Type Deficits, Mark D. Opal '07

Honors Projects

Cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease are known to result from decreases in acetylcholine within the cholinergic system of the medial septal area, which projects to the hippocampus. The significance of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine within this context has not been extensively reviewed. The present study measured the effects that Guanfacine, an alpha-2 noradrenergic agonist, has on memory deficits produced by cholinergic cell lesion in the rat medial septum. Memory processing during pre-lesion, post-lesion, and post-drug administration groups was quantified using a socially transmitted food preference task. Following administration of the cholinergic neurotoxin 192 IgG-saporin, subjects exhibited a significant decrease in …

Social Ostracism And The Effect On Electroencephalogram Waves, Genevieve Nehrt '07

Honors Projects

Twenty one female Illinois Wesleyan students participated in an experiment examining changes in brain activity following social ostracism in a chat-room environment. More specifically theta EEG activity was recorded from three frontal areas (the Fz, F3, and F4 sites) and theta power and frequency were compared during three phases: inclusion, exclusion, and re-inclusion. The social ostracism paradigm was successful in creating a feeling of exclusion in participants. Participants had a lower level of interest, participation, and enjoyment during the exclusion phase than the inclusion and re-inclusion phases. Participants also typed fewer lines during the exclusion phase than in the other …

The Substance Of Quality Treatment With Coexisting Problems (Book Review), Kristina M. Kays

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

Reviews the book, "Clinical handbook of co-existing mental health and drug and alcohol problems" by Amanda Baker and Richard Velleman (see record 2007-01081-000). The text editors, Baker and Velleman, propose to present "practical descriptions of assessments and interventions for coexisting problems, with a view to enhancing motivation, confidence and competence to do so". Not only do the chapters succinctly address expert views on assessment, but they also thoughtfully explain intervention approaches with coexisting issues, specific populations, and further training and supervision needs in the treatment of coexisting disorders. The editors use European spelling and an approach that is a "symptom-focused …

Getting To The Heart Of It (Book Review), Kristina M. Kays

Faculty Publications - Psychology Department

Reviews the book, "Assessment of Client Core Issues" by Richard W. Halstead (see record 2006-21518-000). According to Kays, this book offers a conceptualization of clinical cases synthesizing elements from narrative, schema, and cognitive therapy traditions. The author's stated goal is "to present a model that might help counselors think past a symptom-based formulation for diagnosis and incorporate a structured process for analyzing the vast amount of information clients reveal about their struggles in life". Depending heavily on schema therapy concepts originally developed by J. E. Young, Halstead develops an assessment approach that addresses both the unremarkable and problematic client situations. …

The Role Of Meaning In Past-Tense Inflection: Evidence From Polysemy And Denominal Derivation, Shoba Bandi-Rao, Gregory L. Murphy

Publications and Research

Although English verbs can be either regular (walk-walked) or irregular (sing-sang), “denominal verbs” that are derived from nouns, such as the use of the verb ring derived from the noun a ring, take the regular form even if they are homophonous with an existing irregular verb: The soldiers ringed the city rather than *The soldiers rang the city. Is this regularization due to a semantic difference from the usual verb, or is it due to the application of the default rule, namely VERB + -ed suffix? To gain a new source of insight into …

Physical Activity And Physical Activity Adherence In The Elderly Based On Smoking Status., Theodore Cooper, M. Resor, C. Stoever, P. Dubbert

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

“Nicotine Deprivation Effect” In Rats With Intermittent 23-Hour Access To Intravenous Nicotine Self-Administration, Laura O'Dell

Departmental Papers (Psych)

No abstract provided.

Identity Maintenance Through Emotional Release And Rejuvenation: A Link Between Hardcore Dancing And The Straightedge Collective Identity, Michael Lance

Wayne State University Theses

For many, the hardcore punk rock show experience can act as a way to ritualize participation (and reinforce meanings) in the identities one associates with the experience. Blumer's expressive crowd offers insight into how such ritualized, yet seemingly chaotic behavior provides to many a cathartic release in a socially-stimulated, approved, and maintained atmosphere. In the process, such a release has consequences for the Straightedge identity tied to the experience, since Straightedge and hardcore punk coexist in the social construction of a larger sub-culture.

In this study, participation as such in the Straightedge (a lifestyle-based, diffuse social movement in which one …

Cocaine During Adolescence Enhances Dopamine In Response To A Natural Reinforcer, Briony J. Catlow, Cheryl L. Kirstein

Psychology Faculty Publications

The use of cocaine during adolescent development could alter the normal growth of brain regions affected by cocaine, specifically the reward system, and impact the adult mesolimbic system. However, there is scant literature aimed at determining whether animals are more vulnerable to the adverse effects of drugs during adolescence. The present study investigated whether cocaine pretreatment in either adolescence or adulthood altered the dopaminergic response to a naturally reinforcing substance in adulthood. To evaluate the responsivity of the mesolimbic system after repeated cocaine, sucrose was offered during the dialysis procedure and dialysates were collected. Regardless of age all saline pretreated …