Psychology Commons^™

Autism And Misdiagnosis: Is Early Detection Always Accurate?, Melissa Hosier

Theses and Dissertations

Autism is a brain-based disorder that involves disrupted social interactions and communication development along with stereotyped patterns of behaviors and interests. Early detection and intervention is crucial for children diagnosed with autism. While current trends in research and detection are leaning toward earlier diagnosis of the disorder, limited research exists to support that earlier diagnoses are accurate. The present study utilized archival research and interviews to examine the accuracy of early diagnosis in children identified as autistic using DSM-IV criteria, standard screening and diagnostic tools and genetic testing. Results indicated that genetic testing was the most reliable tool for accurately …

Maternal Photoperiodic History Affects Offspring Development In Syrian Hamsters, Annaliese K. Beery, Matthew J. Paul, Irving Zucker

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

During the first 7 weeks of postnatal life, short day lengths inhibit the onset of puberty in many photoperiodic rodents, but not in Syrian hamsters. In this species, timing of puberty and fecundity are independent of the early postnatal photoperiod. Gestational day length affects postnatal reproductive development in several rodents; its role in Syrian hamsters has not been assessed. We tested the hypothesis that cumulative effects of pre- and postnatal short day lengths would restrain gonadal development in male Syrian hamsters. Males with prenatal short day exposure were generated by dams transferred to short day lengths 6 weeks, 3 weeks, …

Getting Un-Stuck, Randy Borum

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Stigma Consciousness And Variables Of Well-Being Among Foreign-Born Faculty Members, Sharnail D. Bazemore

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between stigma consciousness and positive feelings toward the university, feelings of well-being, loneliness, and teaching effectiveness among foreign-born faculty members employed by American institutions of higher education. Participants included 162 foreign born faculty members who represented 12 urban East coast universities. Participants completed a series of online questionnaires that assessed levels of stigma consciousness, feelings toward the university, self-esteem, well-being, loneliness, and self-perceived teaching effectiveness. We hypothesized that stigma consciousness would contribute unique variance to positive feelings toward the university, feelings of well-being, loneliness, and teaching effectiveness. Four hierarchical regression …

Measuring Self-Disclosure Over The Internet, David Pope

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

A two-axial measure of disclosure intimacy by Morton (1976, 1978) was expanded to create a new measure usable for linear analyses. Morton's item of "Description" was divided into three "Context" items: Self-Concept, Interpersonal, and Taboo. The other axis of "Evaluation" was divided into four "Expression" items: Detail, Protected, Intensity, and Negativity/Vulnerability. As test data for the measure, demographic information from l50 users' weblogs was compared to free-response disclosures measured with the Morton measure and the linear Context/Expression measure. A multiple regression analysis of profile information versus disclosure intimacy did not reach significance. Results were inconclusive because the measures used in …

Achievement Motivation In African American College Students, April Michelle Muldrow

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship between academic performance and stereotype threat (ST), achievement motivation, and racial socialization for African American (AA) students at an historically black university. Participants were 108 students randomly assigned to high or low ST condition. Students completed a performance measure, Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ), and Teenager Experience of Racial Socialization Scale (TERS) (Sedlacek, 2004; Stevenson et al., 2002). Results indicated that performance was not dependent upon threat, p = .63. Appreciation of AA culture was negatively associated with performance, p = .05. Drive toward academic self-development was positively related to performance, p = .05. Limitations and implications …

Empathic And Nonempathic Interaction In Chronic Pain Couples, Annmarie Cano, Justin A. Barterian, Jaclyn B. Heller

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Empathy and empathic response are receiving greater attention in pain research as investigators acknowledge that other forms of interaction may impact the pain process. The purpose of this study was to examine validation and invalidation as forms of empathic and nonempathic responses in chronic pain couples. Participants were 92 couples in which at least one spouse reported chronic musculoskeletal pain. Each couple participated in two videotaped interactions about the ways in which the pain has impacted their lives together. Trained raters then coded interactions for each partner’s use of validation and invalidation. Couples also completed surveys on spouse responses to …

Integrative Treatment Of Adult Adhd (Review), Martin Patwell

Interdisciplinary Studies and Academic Support Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Correlational Study Of The Relationship Between Sense Of Humor And Positive Psychological Capacities, Larry W. Hughes

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

The constructs of sense of humor (Lefcourt, 2002) and positive psychological capacities (PsyCap; Luthans, 2002a) have been heralded as important phenomenon within the growing field of positive psychology, especially within the organizational sciences. Additionally, a sense of humor has been found to be related to positive affective experiences. Leaders can develop followers' confidence, hope, optimism and resiliency for what Avolio and Luthans (2006) called sustainable, veritable performance. The hypotheses presented and tested here will advance the theoretical and empirical discussion of leadership in organizations by linking several emerging constructs of interest, both in academe and practice. This study marks an …

Examining Neurophysiological Evidence Of Age-Related Interactions Of Sensory And Cognitive Processes During Speech Processing, Cady Kristen Block

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study sought to examine the contribution of sensory and cognitive factors on speech processing as evidenced by ERP measures and to find support for the Sensory Cognitive Interaction Theory (SCIT) and the Effortfulness Hypothesis in that older adults. who experience sensory deficits with normal aging. must put forth increased effort during early sensory stages of speech processing that may compromise subsequent semantic performance and recall of information. In the present investigation. younger and older adults performed a sentence verification task at low and high presentation levels (PL). Accuracy and response time to sentence verifications were assessed along with …

Personality And Social Psychology Connections Is In Development Stage, Donelson R. Forsyth

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

When will technology, in all its varied forms both complicated and simple, begin to give back some of the minutes, hours, and days that it has stolen from us? Slogging through emails, developing online teaching materials for courses, readying a manuscript for online submission, searching for information on the web, formatting a survey so that it prints nicely, and navigating through digital libraries and journal article repositories wastes more time than a Dean’s introductory remarks at a meeting of the full faculty, the paperwork required by a detailed-oriented IRB, or an eighth-year students’ dissertation defense.

Seeking to counter the trend …

Personality Characteristics Of Counseling Students At A Midwest Evangelical Seminary As Correlates Of Success, Satisfaction, And Self-Perceived Effectiveness, Keith Edward Marlett

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

his study examined the question of how well personality traits as assessed by the MMPI-2 (clinical and L, F, K validity scales) and the NEO PI-R (domain scales) predict useful post-graduation markers of success in Master's level counselor education students. The subjects were 74 graduates of a seminary counselor education program in the Midwest. Participants completed the MMPI-2 (first 370 questions) and the NEO PI-R prior to admission and a post-graduation self-report questionnaire. Significant correlation between several personality traits and post-graduation markers of success emerged, but after Bonferroni adjustment, did not retain statistical significance and are therefore noted as trends …

The Effects Of Acute Stress On Human Prefrontal Working Memory Systems, Anthony J. Porcelli, Daniel Cruz, Karen Wenberg, Michael D. Patterson, Bharat B. Biswal, Bart Rypma

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

We examined the relationship between acute stress and prefrontal-cortex (PFC) based working memory (WM) systems using behavioral (Experiment 1) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; Experiment 2) paradigms. Subjects performed a delayed-response item-recognition task, with alternating blocks of high and low WM demand trials. During scanning, participants performed this task under three stress conditions: cold stress (induced by cold-water hand-immersion), a room temperature water control (induced by tepid-water hand-immersion), and no-water control (no hand-immersion). Performance was affected by WM demand, but not stress. Cold stress elicited greater salivary cortisol readings in behavioral subjects, and greater PFC signal change in fMRI …

Explicating Global Wellbeing In College Students Using Health Risk Behaviors And Adjustment To College, Jeanine S. Mcdermott

Theses and Dissertations

Priority health risk behaviors including binge drinking, unsafe driving, and unprotected sex are often times established in adolescence, extend into college life, are interrelated, and negatively impact wellbeing. A paucity of research exists associating behaviors with perceptions of wellness. Without baseline knowledge of how college students' life-style choices, behaviors, and adjustment influences their sense of wellness, professionals do not have standards to evaluate the effectiveness of wellness-oriented interventions.

The purpose of this study was to explicate global wellbeing in 18-24 year old college students. Explaining global wellbeing was based on the influence of specific health risk behaviors and adjustment to …

Evaluation Eines Deutschsprachigen Instrumentes Zur Erfassung Positiver Und Negativer Automatischer Gedanken Bei Kindern Und Jugendlichen (Evaluation Of A German-Language Tool For Measuring Positive And Negative Automatic Thoughts In Children And Adolescents)., Silke Huffziger, Thomas D. Meyer, Simone Seemann, Andrea B. Horn, Gunter Groen, Patrick Pössel

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Theoretischer Hintergrund: Negative automatische Gedanken stellen nach Beck eine wichtige Ursache für depressive Störungen dar. Fragestellung: Überprüfung der psychometrischen Gütekriterien des deutschen „Fragebogens für negative und positive automatische Gedanken” (FAG) bei Kindern und Jugendlichen. Methode: Der Fragebogen wurde an einer unselektierten Stichprobe aus der Allgemeinbevölkerung (n = 952) zwischen 11 und 16 Jahren untersucht. Die Stichprobe wurde in die beiden Gruppen ≤ 13 Jahre und > 13 Jahre aufgeteilt. Ergebnisse: In der Gruppe ≤ 13 Jahre wurden die Skalen „negative Selbstaussagen” und „positive Selbstaussagen”, in der Gruppe > 13 Jahre die Skalen „negative Selbstaussagen”, „Selbstvertrauen” und „Wohlbefinden” faktorenanalytisch extrahiert. Die internen …

The Effects Of Display Complexity And Cueing On Monitoring Maternal Fetal Heart Rate Signals, Brittany L. Anderson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of display complexity and cueing predictability on vigilance performance and measures of subjective stress and workload while monitoring maternal fetal heart rate (MFHR) signals. Seventy-two undergraduate students from Old Dominion University performed a simulated MFHR task and were randomly assigned to monitor one, two, or four displays for critical signals. Half of the participants received cues that were 83% reliable, and the other half received cues that were 55% reliable. Stress and workload were assessed before and after the vigil. It was hypothesized that detection ability would be lower, and the decrement would become …

Effects Of Practice And Feedback On Interview Performance, Kate Williams

All Theses

Performing well in an interview is of crucial importance to a job seeker. While much advice and training exists regarding interview performance, little is known about what parts of training successfully improve interview skills. This study proposes the following research question: does interview performance improve with practice alone or is some type of feedback required? Participants were split into four treatment groups that either 1) did not practice an interview, 2) practiced an interview, 3) practiced an interview and generated their own self-feedback or 4) practiced an interview and received feedback from a counselor. The study isolates the effects of …

The Claustrum In Autism And Typically Developing Male Children: A Quantitative Mri Study, Warren B. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The claustrum (Cl) is a subcortical gray-matter structure housed between the external capsule medially and the extreme capsule laterally. Due to its extensive reciprocal connections throughout the brain, it has been implicated in consciousness and other higher order functions including linking behavior and emotion. Such linkage may be important in understanding the neurobiology of autism since other cortical and subcortical regions including the spatially and ontologically related basal ganglia, as well as limbic structures, have been implicated in the disorder. Participants were males with autism (n=16) and typically developing (TD; n=14) matched for head circumference and age. The Cl and …

Can The Confluence Model Predict Female Sexual Aggression?, Nichole M. Clay-Valorio

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory investigation was to test the pathways of the Confluence Model of Sexual Aggression (Malamuth, Heavey & Linz, 1996) for prediction of self-reported female sexual aggression utilizing various computerized measures with college aged female participants (n = 104). The confluence model states that sexual aggression is the interactive result of two simultaneous pathways: hostile masculinity (and/or hostile femininity) and impersonal sex. It was hypothesized that a combination of either of the hostility pathways (feminine vs. masculine) and the impersonal sex pathway would predict sexual aggression. Modified versions of the Sexual Experiences Scale (SES), Coercive Sexuality Scale …

Factorial And Construct Validity Of The Revised Short Form Integrative Psychotherapy Alliance Scales For Family, Couple, And Individual Therapy, William M. Pinsof, Richard E. Zinbarg, Lynne M. Knobloch-Fedders

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

The Integrative Psychotherapy Alliance model brought an interpersonal and systemic perspective to bear on theory, research, and practice on the psychotherapeutic alliance. Questions have been raised about the independence of the theoretical factors in the model and their operationalization in the Individual, Couple, and Family Therapy Alliance Scales. This paper presents results of a confirmatory factor analysis of the scales that delineated at least three distinct interpersonal factors as well as shorter versions of the three scales to facilitate their use in research and practice. The paper also presents the results of a study testing each factor's association with client …

Deconstructing The Reflection In The Mirror:, Dr. Jill D. Duba, Aaron Kindsvatter, C J. Priddy

Counseling & Student Affairs Faculty Publications

Women facing middle age and beyond are pressured by a cultural ideal of slimness. Literature pertaining to the factors affecting the societal perceptions of body image will be reviewed. Authors also will address relevant counseling interventions aimed at this population, specifically group therapy based in Narrative theory.

Relative Sensitivity Of Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy And Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging To Cognitive Function Among Nondemented Individuals Infected With Hiv, Robert Paul, Thomas Ernst, Adam Brickman, Constantin Yiannoutsos, David Tate, Ronald Cohen, Bradford Navia

Psychology Faculty Works

In the present study, we examined the relationships among cognitive function, magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) brain metabolite indices measured in the basal ganglia, and quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the caudate nucleus and the putamen in the earliest stages of HIV-related cognitive involvement. Participants included 22 HIV-positive individuals and 20 HIV-negative individuals. HIV-positive individuals performed significantly more poorly than the HIV-negative individuals on several cognitive measures. In addition, the choline/creatine ratio was significantly higher and the N-acetyl aspartate/choline ratio was significantly lower among HIV patients. The caudate and putamen sizes were smaller among HIV-positive patients compared with controls; however, …

Forgiveness And Consideration Of Future Consequences In Aggressive Driving, Michael Moore, Eric R. Dahlen

Faculty Publications

Most research on aggressive driving has focused on identifying aspects of driver personality which will exacerbate it (e.g., sensation seeking, impulsiveness, driving anger, etc.). The present study was designed to examine two theoretically relevant but previously unexplored personality factors predicted to reduce the risk of aggressive driving: trait forgiveness and consideration of future consequences. The utility of these variables in predicting aggressive driving and driving anger expression was evaluated among 316 college student volunteers. Hierarchical multiple regressions permitted an analysis of the incremental validity of these constructs beyond respondent gender, age, miles driven per week, and driving anger. Both forgiveness …

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

Defining Roles In The Online Classroom To Assure Learning, Chris Ponder Ii

Modern Psychological Studies

The emergence of the internet has provided the opportunity for universities to begin offering online courses. As more students seek flexibility in education delivery, the greater the need becomes for online learning, which may result in developing courses that do not promote assurance of learning. This paper will explore how assurance of learning can take place in the online courseroom by evaluating student, instructor, and instructional design readiness for online learning, as well as defining the role of how each can promote assurance of learning utilizing reflective questions.

Examining The Relationship Between Proactive Personality And Career Success, Jeremy Owens

Modern Psychological Studies

With increasing levels of employee autonomy and responsibility in today's workforce, proactive behavior and the performance of discretionary, extra-role work behaviors are becoming vital to effective organizational functioning. This study examined how proactive personality relates to career success through extra-role behaviors including innovation, contextual performance, and organizational citizenship behavior by surveying 302 employees from a large manufacturing organization. Hierarchical regression and multiple mediation analyses showed that the relationship between proactive personality and career success is at least partially influenced by indirect effects via extra-role behaviors, even after controlling for demographic and personality variables (age, sex, and FFM traits).

The Science Of Excellence, Randy Borum

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Pre-Pubertal Social Experiences On The Responsiveness Of Juvenile Rats To Predator Odors, Stephen M. Siviy

Psychology Faculty Publications

The extent to which social variables may modulate the fear associated with a predator cue was assessed in juvenile rats. Cat odor reduced play to a comparable extent in both socially housed and isolate-housed rats, although socially housed rats exhibited more risk assessment during extinction. Rats that had played previously in the context used for assessing fear hid slightly less when exposed to cat odor than those rats that had not played previously in the testing context. However, no other differences were found between these two groups suggesting that prior social experience with the testing context has minimal effects on …

The Political Personality Of 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee John Mccain, Aubrey Immelman

Psychology Faculty Publications

This paper presents the results of an indirect assessment of the personality of Arizona senator John McCain, Republican nominee in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data regarding Sen. McCain was extracted from biographical sources and published reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the second edition of the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with Axis II of DSM–IV.

The personality profile yielded by the MIDC was analyzed in accordance with interpretive guidelines provided in the MIDC manual. McCain’s …