Psychology Commons^™

I Can Explain! Understanding Perceptions Of Eyewitnesses As A Function Of Type Of Explanation And Inconsistent Confidence Statements, Melissa Paiva

Psychology Theses

In the current study, 126 undergraduate students read a case summary describing an armed robbery of a convenience store, involving one eyewitness, and then viewed one of five brief videotapes of an eyewitness identification procedure. Confidence ratings were manipulated as 80% v. 100%: Type of explanation offered for changes in confidence consisted of social, memory-based or none. Results indicated increased perceptions of eyewitnesses were associated with confidence consistency, rather than type of explanation. Perhaps providing any explanation for changes in confidence drew attention to the inconsistency and magnified its effect on perceptions. Further, when the eyewitness provided one estimate of …

The Prognostic Power Of Normative Influences Among Ncaa Student-Athletes, Justin F. Hummer, Joseph W. Labrie, Andrew Lac

Heads Up!

This study evaluated the predictive power of perceived descriptive and injunctive norms on intercollegiate student-athlete alcohol consumption and attitudes toward drinking-related behaviors. The sample consisted of 594 NCAA student-athletes from two geographically opposite sites. Norms variables utilized a school and gender-specific athletic peer reference group. Results indicate that respondents reported greater perceived injunctive norms than actual attitudes, and greater perceived descriptive norms than actual alcohol use. Further, after accounting for demographics and alcohol motivations, perceived injunctive norms were the strongest predictors of athletes' attitudes with the final model explaining 54% of the variance. Similarly, perceived descriptive norms were among the …

Cognitive Triad Inventory (Cti) : Psychometric Properties And Factor Structure Of The German Translation., Patrick Pössel

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

A central component of Beck, A. T., Rush, J., & Shaw, B. F. [(1979). Cognitive therapy of depression. New York: Guilford Press] cognitive theory of depression is the cognitive triad (negative view of self, world, and future) measurable with the Cognitive Triad Inventory (CTI). This study examined the psychometric properties and factor structure of the German CTI in a sample of 796 German volunteers. The study provides evidence for the reliability and validity of the German CTI and of independent positive and negative elements of the cognitive triad. Furthermore, results emphasize methodological above conceptual problems in Beck et al.'s (1979) …

A Comparison Of Four Models Of Delay Discounting In Humans, Todd L. Mckerchar, Leonard Green, Joel Myerson, T. Stephen Pickford, Jade C. Hill, Steven C. Stout

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The present study compared four prominent models of delay discounting: a one-parameter exponential decay, a one-parameter hyperbola (Mazur, 1987), a two-parameter hyperboloid in which the denominator is raised to a power (Green and Myerson, 2004), and a two-parameter hyperbola in which delay is raised to a power (Rachlin, 2006). Sixty-four college undergraduates made choices between hypothetical monetary rewards, one immediate and one delayed, and the fit of the four models to their data was assessed. All four equations accounted for a large proportion of the variance at both the group and the individual levels, but the exponents of both two-parameter …

Salespeople's Renqing Orientation, Self-Esteem, And Selling Behaviors: An Empirical Study In Taiwan, Ming-Hong Tsai, Shu-Cheng Steve Chi, Hsia-Hua Hu

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to investigate how salespeople's renqing orientation and self-esteem jointly affect their selling behavior. Data were obtained from a survey of salespeople from 17 pharmaceutical and consumer-goods companies in Taiwan (n = 216).Salespeople's renqing orientation (i.e., their propensity to adhere to the accepted norm of reciprocity) compensates the negative effect of self-esteem on their selling behaviors, such as adaptive selling and hard work. Our study results underscore the critical role of the character trait of renqing orientation in a culture emphasizing a norm of reciprocity. Therefore, it would be useful to consider a strategy of …

The Role Of Ideal Affect In The Experience And Memory Of Emotions, Christie N. Scollon, Amanda H. Howard, Amanda E. Caldwell, Sachiyo Ito

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

According to Affect Valuation Theory (Tsai et al. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1031-1039), culture influences how people want to feel (ideal affect). Integrating Affect Valuation Theory with the Time-sequential Framework of Subjective Well-being (KIM-Prieto et al. Journal of Happiness Studies, 6, 261-300), we proposed that cultural norms influence the memory, but not the experience, of emotion. The present study examined the role of ideal affect in relation to experience sampling and retrospective reports of emotion. Ideal affect correlated with retrospective reports but not experience sampling reports. Extraversion and neuroticism were more strongly related to experience sampling reports …

The Relationship Between Early Maladaptive Schemas, Chronic And Acute Depression, And Help Seeking Behaviors, Jason Walker

Theses and Dissertations

Depression is a disorder that affects many people's lives; approximately 24% of Americans are diagnosed with some form of depression in their lifetime. In order to effectively treat depression we must first understand the disorder and how the symptoms affect people. This study aims to investigate unipolar depression in two ways through the use of a questionnaire. One is to understand the etiology of depression, specifically the role of Early Maladaptive Schemas in the etiology of chronic and acute depression. Hierarchical regressions on 88 participants indicated that EMS and anxiety significantly predict acute and chronic depression. The other aim of …

Water Intake And Adherence To Clear Fluid Goals In Children Receiving Treatment For Encopresis, Elizabeth Shannon Kuhl

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A six-session group intervention for treatment of retentive encopresis designed by Stark and colleagues yields high adherence for fiber (Stark et al., 1990a; Stark et al., 1997), but not fluid (Kuhl et al., 2009), recommendations. Children may also rely heavily on drinking juice to meet their clear fluid targets (Kuhl et al., 2009). This study examined the effectiveness of an enhanced intervention (EI) in improving children’s fluid goal adherence and modifying their daily fluid intake to include more water and less juice.

Data for 19 children who completed treatment previously served as the Non-Enhanced Intervention (NEI), and 18 children completed …

Acceptability Of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy, Jacqueline Mezza Titus

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The behaviors associated with Oppositional Defiant Disorder and other disruptive behavior disorders constitute the most common reason for referral of young children to mental health services (Schuhmann, Durning, Eyberg, & Boggs, 1996). Parent-Child Interaction Therapy is an empirically supported treatment for such disorders. However, families are frequently unable to maximize their use of such treatments. Barriers to treatment participation prevent families from entering or staying in treatment. While most of the treatment effectiveness research has been conducted with Caucasian families, African American families and Caucasian families experience these barriers to different degrees, resulting in varying treatment adherence and unclear treatment …

The Psychosocial Effects Of Rape On Heterosexual And Homosexual Men, Alison Heather Litvack

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated the psychosocial effects of rape on heterosexual and homosexual men. It was hypothesized that 1) non-closeted homosexual men would have less symptomology and more resilience than closeted homosexual men and heterosexual men; 2) the more protective factors a man had, the less symptomology he would display and the more likely he would exhibit posttraumatic growth; 3) there would be an interaction between sexual orientation of the perpetrator and sexual orientation of the victim on symptomology. One-way ANOVAs revealed that homosexual men and bisexual men reported significantly less PTSD symptomology than heterosexual men. Further, homosexual men endorsed …

Does Mindfulness Reduce Negativity Bias? A Potential Mechanism For Reduced Emotional Distress, Laura Kiken

Theses and Dissertations

The present research examined if mindfulness reduced negativity bias on measures of attitude formation and cognitive style, as a potential explanation for the beneficial effects of mindfulness on emotional disturbance. Two studies were conducted. Study One was correlational and found that trait mindfulness inversely correlated with measures of negative cognitive style, and that the latter partially mediated an inverse association between mindfulness and predisposition to depression and anxiety. Further, correlations between mindfulness and both positive attitude formation and optimism hinted at a potential positivity bias. Study Two extended these findings using a randomized experimental design comparing a mindfulness induction to …

Neural Correlates Of Self-Reflection In Fmri: Brain Activation Differences Between Males And Females, Tyler Eugene Owens

Theses and Dissertations

Many studies in affective neuroimaging have addressed the question of how the "self" is represented in brain activation. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is implicated in many of these studies and an essential component self-representation in the brain. In this study we looked at differences between men and women in the mPFC in terms of how they assessed comparisons of the body image. Participants viewed images of thin and overweight bodies and were asked to consider how they would feel if someone were to compare them to the image. Brain activations were measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Results …

Do Physical Self-Efficacy And Physical Self-Concept Mediate The Relationship Between Past Sports Participation, Past Gym Grades And Physical Activity Across The Life-Span?, Christopher Frederick Ketcham

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Retrospective studies have shown that the formation of habits, both health and activity related, during childhood is vital to carrying those habits into adulthood (Azevedo, Araujo & Hallal, 2007; Barnekow-Bergkvist et al. 1996; Nelson, Gordon-Larsen, Adair, & Popkin, 2005; Telama et al. 1997; Telama, Yang, Viikari, Valimaki, Wanne & Raitakari, 2005). These studies demonstrate that passive participation in an activity is not sufficient; rather organized participation, such as being part of a team, is necessary for continuation of a physical activity later in life. In addition, researchers have found that sound physical and strong academic educations are also important in …

Students' Perceived Parenting Styles And Their Later Romantic Attachment Styles And Preferred Coping Tendencies, Shannon L. Bogart

Honors Theses

In the first of two studies, the use of data compiled from questionnaires concerning perceived parenting style and romantic attachment style of Coastal Carolina University students were used to test the hypothesis that the authoritative parenting style would be related to the secure attachment style. The researcher used the terms attachment style and romantic attachment style interchangeably throughout the study. These variables were then statistically analyzed by a chi-square test of independence and showed statistical significance to support the hypothesis. The frequency of students who answered to have both authoritative parenting and secure attachments was significantly higher than the other …

Risk Factors And Protective Factors For Depression In Early Maturing Females, Lauren Lirio

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of early onset of menstruation and biological father absence on depression in females. Participants (n=46) were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and a series of psychometric assessments. It was hypothesized that females who reached puberty earlier than their peers as well as females growing up in a one-parent household, with the biological father absent, would experience more depressive symptoms than females who reached puberty later than their peers or were being raised in two-parent households. Statistical analyses revealed early maturing females reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than on-time …

Qualitative Study Of Trauma Outcomes Among Acehnese Tsunami Survivors, Amrit Kaur

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study uses qualitative methods to understand trauma from an indigenous perspective and to assess the validity of the DSM-IV (APA, 2000) diagnosis PTSD and depression in a remote Asian population. Twelve individuals were interviewed about their post-tsunami difficulties in the Indonesian province of Aceh. Contrary to our expectations, participants reported significant numbers of almost all DSM-IV-TR symptoms of PTSD and depression. Although the expressions of illness symptoms were colored by the local language and customs, participants reported few symptoms that could be seen as unique to this culture. These finding suggest that Western developed DSM-IV-TR symptomatology may be largely …

Sexual Harassment: Male Dominance Or Positions Of Power In The Workplace?, Bobbi Jo Hardimon

Theses and Dissertations

Sexual harassment in the workplace is a growing issue. It is difficult to determine which case is sexual harassment and which is not. Many cases that make it to the court room involve female victims. This study examines if women are in fact seen as the victim more often or if men are taken less seriously. Participants include 98 employees of various organizations of Southern New Jersey. Each participant was given four case studies. The genders and relationship of workers vary in each case. Each case involves one male and one female that have either a co-worker relationship of equal …

How Does Mothers' Depression Influence Adolescents' Aggression? The Role Of Parenting, Family Functioning, And Informant Discrepancy, Kelly Pugh

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has found that maternal depression is predictive of adolescents’ aggression. The present study examined three mechanisms believed to account for this relation: parenting practices, family functioning, and informant discrepancy. The data for this study are from the Multisite Violence Prevention Project which collected data from a high-risk sample of sixth grade students, parents, and core teachers. A within-subjects analysis of variance examined the association between maternal depression and informant discrepancy. Structural equation modeling compared the relation between maternal depression and adolescents’ aggression as a function of parenting practices and family functioning. Results indicated that maternal depression was related …

Joint Attention In Young Children With Autism, Sabrina Jara

Honors Scholar Theses

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are classified as pervasive developmental disorders characterized by social, communicative, and behavioral impairments. According to formal and informal reports, children with ASD present with receptive and expressive language delay. Joint attention (JA: the behavior that occurs when two individuals focus on the same object or event) has been identified as a possible marker of delayed language development in children with ASD. In this study, the JA behaviors in children with ASD were contrasted with initially language-matched typically developing (TYP) children across three visits.

Measures of language, the frequency, duration, and source of initiation of JA episodes, …

History Of Maltreatment And Psychiatric Impairment In Children In Outpatient Psychiatric Treatment, Kerry Gagnon

Honors Scholar Theses

There is increasing evidence that childhood victimization and attachment disruptions impact a child’s development. In this study, children and adolescents from an outpatient psychiatric clinic were assessed, measuring history of trauma, history of out-of-home placement, initial diagnoses, and CBCL internalizing and externalizing problem scores. Multiple regression analyses showed that both violent abuse trauma (physical/sexual abuse) and victim trauma (physical abuse/sexual abuse/witnessing domestic violence/witnessing community violence) are prevalent among patients with externalizing severity problems; concluding that diagnosis alone may not account for a history of victimization, but externalizing problem severity does. Overall, the study is consistent with past literature that it …

Diagnosing The Prodromal State Of Alzheimer's Disease, Jennifer Bartkowiak

Honors Scholar Theses

Mild Cognitive Impairment- Amnestic Subtype (MCIa) is a putative prodromal stage of Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) characterized by focal deficits in episodic verbal memory. Less is known about relative deficits in visuospatial learning, although there is ample evidence indicating involvement of the hippocampus in visuospatial learning, as well as hippocampal degeneration in early AD. The aim of this study was to better characterize the components of working memory dysfunction in people with MCIa to increase the ability to reliably diagnose this disease. Fifty-six elderly adults diagnosed with MCIa and 94 healthy elderly completed a hidden maze learning task. Results indicated similar …

Behavioral Implications Of Knockout For The Dyslexia-Risk Gene Dcdc2 In Mice, Dongnhu Truong

Honors Scholar Theses

Several genetic linkage and epidemiological studies have provided strong evidence that DCDC2 is a candidate gene for developmental dyslexia, a disorder that impairs a person’s reading ability despite adequate intelligence, education, and socio-economic status. Studies investigating embryonic intra-ventricular RNA interference (RNAi) of Dcdc2, a rat homolog of the DCDC2 gene in humans, indicate disruptions in neuronal migration in the rat cortex during development. Interestingly, these anatomical anomalies are consistent with post mortem histological analysis of human dyslexic patients. Other rodent models of cortical developmental disruption have shown impairment in rapid auditory processing and learning maze tasks in affected subjects.

The …

Salivary Cortisol, Psychological Stress And Depressive Symptoms Among Patients Undergoing Colon Cancer Screenings, Allyson Reid

Honors Scholar Theses

As the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, colon cancer has a high cure rate if detected early by a colonoscopy (U.S.

Cancer Statistics Working Group, 2007). However, more than 41 million at-risk Americans are not properly receiving colonoscopy screenings according to the recommendations of the Center for Disease Control. This study provides insight into the physiological and psychological benefits of the colonoscopy procedure over and above cancer detection and prevention. Thirty-six patients receiving colonoscopic screening at the University of Connecticut Health Center participated in this study. A questionnaire battery that assessed perceived stress, depressive symptoms, …

Cooperation & Competition Between Navigation Systems In The Rat Brain: The Role Of The Hippocampus And Striatum During A Dissociative Maze Task, Benjamin Gruenbaum

Honors Scholar Theses

While many tend to think of memory systems in the brain as a single process, in reality several experiments have supported multiple dissociations of different forms of learning, such as spatial learning and response learning. In both humans and rats, the hippocampus has long been shown to be specialized in the storage of spatial and contextual memory whereas the striatum is associated with motor responses and habitual behaviors.

Previous studies have examined how damage to hippocampus or striatum has affected the acquisition of either a spatial or response navigation task. However even in a very familiar environment organisms must continuously …

Labeling In The Classroom: Teacher Expectations And Their Effects On Students' Academic Potential, Jacqueline Ercole

Honors Scholar Theses

The transition to high school can be challenging for some adolescents, resulting in drops of academic functioning (Barber & Olsen, 2004; Smith, 2006). While changes in academic demands and the disparity between adolescent needs and the environmental characteristics of high school have both been cited as possible contributors to this decrease in academic and personal functioning (Barber & Olsen, 2004), it is possible that teachers may play an even larger role in undermining these students’ functioning, specifically through labeling. Although labeling, and how it can lead to self-fulfilling prophesies, is a concept that has been thoroughly researched and applied to …

Sexual Assault, Perceived Stigma, And Christian Fundamentalism: Understanding Support Seeking Among Victims., Sean Chandler Rife

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For women, sexual assault is a widespread problem with numerous psychological consequences, yet many victims do not seek support. The present study investigates this lack of support seeking in the context of stigma. It is hypothesized that sexual assault victims who perceive themselves as stigmatized (due to their status as a sexual assault victim) will be less likely to seek support than those who do not perceive themselves as stigmatized. It is also hypothesized that Christian fundamentalism will play a role in the stigmatization of sexual assault victims, with higher degrees of fundamentalism being associated with greater likelihood of self-perceptions …

Eyewitness Recall Of Noncriminal Events: An Examination Of Demographic Characteristics With A Selected Population., Jessica R. Vaneaton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine differences of recalled events from a selected university student population. Eyewitness testimony is frequently used to convict defendants each year. Many of these convictions are based solely on eyewitness accounts. While much has been written on the reliability of eyewitness testimony, little is known about demographic characteristic differences that may exist. A videotaped event was shown to a sample of college students who were then asked to complete a questionnaire based on what they watched. There were significant differences found in the respondents‟ accuracy in recalling events of the video according to …

Secondary Analysis Of Diabetes And Psychological Distress In American Indian Women From The California Health Interview Survey (Chis)., Audry Marie Greenwell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since European settlers arrived to the United States (U.S.), American Indians (AI) have been separate and unequal members of society. After a long history of discrimination, ethnocide, genocide, and distrust, the AI have become a population with severe disparities, having the highest rates of diabetes, depression, suicide, tuberculosis, and alcoholism than any other minority or majority population in the U.S. The author's purpose for conducting this study was to explore a possible relationship between depression or psychological distress and diabetes in AI women.

AI women are the most under studied group in the country; therefore, a secondary analysis of the …

Religiousness, Coping, And Locus Of Control As Predictors Of Anxiety., Rebecca Brooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In order to evaluate the cognitive appraisal and meaning-making components of the Transactional Model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) and Meaning-making Model (Park & Folkman, 1997) of coping, several specific forms of appraisal and coping strategies were analyzed in the present study. It has been proposed that religiousness and time influence the meaning-making process (Park, 2005); therefore, an interaction of intrinsic religiousness and time were key variables in the study as well. A survey designed to address relationships among locus of control, type of situation, intrinsic religious orientation, specific coping styles, and maladaptive psychological symptoms was administered to 240 students of …

Measuring Patient Satisfaction After Providing A Choice Of Nourishment Options Between Meals In A Long-Term Care Setting., Samantha Hutson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether providing residents of the James H. Quillen Veterans Affairs Medical Center Community Living Center with a choice of nourishment options between meals would improve their satisfaction with the nourishment administration process. As opposed to being given the same nourishment item each day, residents were offered choices from a nourishment cart based upon their diet order. Sixteen residents completed the pre-survey, participated in the revised nourishment cart system for a 3-week period, and completed the postsurvey. Level of satisfaction was determined by analyzing the responses given by the residents on the pre- …