Psychology Commons^™

Individual Performance In Solving The Zin Obelisk Problem Solving Task: An Examination Of The Influence Of Cognitive And Personal Factors, Dalia Michelle Arellano Labrada

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to bring together the findings to date regarding individual problem solving and to extend previous research in order to add to our understanding of problem solving by examining the factors that lead to effective individual problem solving on an analytical, timed task.

An Ounce Of Prevention: The Effects Of A Kindergarten Visual Motor Integration Intervention, Lori Anne Barnes-Laney

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term, developmental, visual-motor integration intervention conducted at the beginning of the school year to improve visual motor integration skills, basic school functioning skills, and school adjustment for kindergarten children with low or below average, visual motor integration skills.

Effects Of Chronic Paroxetine And Fluoxetine Treatment On Markers Of Suicidal Behavior In Adolescent Rats, Leslie Renee Horn

Theses Digitization Project

Major depression is a common problem in adolescents. Unfortunately, one of the most effective antidepressants in adults, the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) paroxetine, is not clinically effective in pediatric populations. There are many variables that increase the risk of suicide including genetic, social, psychological, and biological factors, making the evaluation of the effect of SSRIs on suicidal behavior difficult to assess in human adolescents. The goal of the present investigation was to compare the effects of paroxetine and fluoxetine in adolescent rats on markers associated with depression and suicidal behavior in humans.

Effects Of Functional Background In Human Resources On Employee Outcomes, Monica Diane Freed

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to explore a Human Resources (HR) leader's functional background and how it may influence performance outcome such as job satisfaction, attrition, and satisfaction with HR processes.

The Effects Of Competiton On Adult Circumstantial Efficacy, Matthew Aaron Bender

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to expand the knowledge and understanding of circumstantial efficacy and replicate and expand on the findings of Ganzach et al (2008). The author designed a computer dice game specifically for this study to examine how the size of a win or loss moderates the effects performance on curcumstantial and internal efficacy beliefs.

Assessment Of Early Maladaptive Schemas Via A Modified Stroop Task, Yelena Kholodenko

Theses Digitization Project

Processing biases play a major role in the understanding of anxiety disorders. The Schema theory hypothesizes that belief systems, early maladaptive schemas (EMS), cause selective processing of confirmatory information to the exclusion of disconfirmatory information. The current study was the first report attempting to provide empirical support for the measurement of EMS with a subtle cognitive processing assessment such as the Stoop task. A Schema Stroop task was constructed for the purposes of the current study.

Degrees Of Complexity And Flexibility In The Belief System And The Strength Of Identity Attachment To Belief Claims, Craig Allen Bray

Theses Digitization Project

Complexity and flexibility make unique but related contributions to the connection between belief system structure and self structure. This study was concerned with how individuals structure their beliefs. Three scales were combined to provide a measure of belief system complexity and flexibility and then correlated with the card sort results.

The Effect Of Ethnic-Identity Salience And Negative Performance Feedback On African Americans' Explicit And Implicit Self-Evaluations, Delisa Nicole Young

Theses Digitization Project

The processes that underlie African Americans explicit versus implicit self-evaluations are examined by using the Associative Propositional Evaluative model (APE).

Increasing Subjective Well-Being Through Writing About Future Challenges While Constructing Creative Solutions For The Anticipated Challenge, Samaneh Pourjalali

Theses Digitization Project

This thesis assesses the benefits of expressive writing about anticipated challenges, and problems rather than past tribulations. It is in essense affect labeling about worries, concerns, and fears regarding foreseen challenges rather than those previously experienced. Therefore, it affords one a proactive rather than a reactive method for dealing with the trials of life.

Measurable Gender Differences In Moral Standards, Jenee Sikma, Kate Warhol

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

In 1982, Carol Gilligan tested Kohlberg’s theory of moral reasoning claiming that his research favored men. Lawrence Kohlberg limited his research to studying 75 boys from adolescents through young adulthood (Kohlberg, 1981). His theory of moral reasoning stemmed from that research. The purpose of this project was to test Carol Gilligan’s claims that women have different moral tendencies than men. The hypothesis for this study was that there would be measurable differences between the way men and women judge different scenarios. The survey used for this study was the Defining Issues Test 2 which included demographic information created by James …

How Shallow Are We?, Amber Fetsch, Jake Jalinsky

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

This experiment was performed to determine whether people make decisions about others based on their appearance and/of how interesting they are. To perform this study the researchers first recruited participants from the Lindenwood Participant Pool. For the experiment the researchers showed the participants a slide show with pictures of the models, read a question followed by reading the model’s response to the question. The model’s response was based on her personality, whether it is interesting or uninteresting. After the slide show was shown to the participants they were handed a survey consisting of two rating scales, one for attractiveness and …

An Analysis Of Classroom Environment: Researcher Dress Vs. Test Performance, Ryan Holley

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

In an attempt to increase student strengths while minimizing various weaknesses, respective levels of academia are constantly shaping teaching practices and standards. These efforts have ranged from those which pertain to physical classroom environment to those that have focused around individual teaching practices/styles. This research was conducted in an attempt to discern the implications of researcher dress on participant abilities to perform well on an achievement oriented questionnaire in the classroom. This study was based around the hypothesis that the success of individual participants completing an examination could be influenced as a result of the appearance of the researcher. This …

Updated Trends In Child Maltreatment, 2008., David Finkelhor, Lisa M. Jones, Anne M. Shattuck

Crimes Against Children Research Center

Recently released national child maltreatment data for 2008 show a generally encouraging situation during the first year of the serious recession that began in late 2007. Overall substantiated child maltreatment declined 3% from the previous year, including a 6% decline in sexual abuse. Child maltreatment fatalities stayed stable.

Correlates Of Weight Concern And Control In A Hispanic College Student Sample., J. Blow, T. Taylor, Theodore Cooper, C. Redfearn

Selected Works Temporary Series

No abstract provided.

When Counting Sheep Becomes Counting Worries: Insomnia, Rumination, And Depression, Huiting Lui, Partrick Rich, Emily Maurer, Shivani Santoki

Modern Psychological Studies

Previous studies have examined how both external and internal factors are related to sleep disorders. Internal factors such as depression have been linked to insomnia and other sleep disorders. The current study examines the relationship between rumination, insomnia, and depression. The study also examines how sleep rumination, the act of persistently worrying about how much sleep one is getting, might affect the relationship between insomnia and depression. In the results, depression was strongly correlated with rumination (r = .635, p < .001). Though there was no correlation between sleep rumination and depression, there was a significant correlation between depression and sleep discrepancy, the difference between the amount of sleep and the amount of sleep desired (r = .51, p < .001). This finding suggests that more research should be conducted on sleep discrepancy to see how it may relate to other disorders and psychological concepts.

The Impact Of Entrepreneurial Personality Traits On Perception Of New Venture Opportunity, Jun Yan

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

This empirical study examined links between entrepreneurial personality traits and perception of new venture opportunity in a sample of 207 respondents. Four entrepreneurial personality traits were included to predict respondents’ perception of new venture opportunity. They are (1) achievement motivation, (2) locus of control, (3) risk propensity, and (4) proactivity.The results of multiple regression analysis show that three of the four entrepreneurial personality traits—locus of control, risk propensity, and proactivity—related significantly to perception of new venture opportunity in expected directions. Among the three personality traits, proactivity was found to have the strongest influence over entrepreneurial perception. No significant relationship was …

Leadership Attitudes And Beliefs Of Incoming First Year College Students, Donald V. Fischer, Maribeth Overland, Laura Adams

Exercise and Health Science Faculty Publications

Due to limited resources available for leadership development programming at colleges and universities, there is a need to better understand the leadership attitudes and beliefs of incoming first-year students in order to most efficiently develop effective leadership. The purpose of this study was to examine the leadership attitudes and beliefs of incoming first-year college students within the context of ecological leadership in order to determine if gender or ethnic differences in the leadership attitudes and beliefs exist. Implications for leadership development programs are discussed.

Parent-Child Relationships In Early Learning., Carolyn P. Edwards, Susan M. Sheridan Dr., Lisa Knoche

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Parental behavior during a child’s first five years of life is critical for the development of important social and cognitive outcomes in children that set the stage for life-long adaptation and functioning. This chapter will review some of the key findings about the importance of parent-child relationships in early learning. Three dimensions of parent behavior will be described as “parental engagement”: (a) warmth and sensitivity, (b) support for a child’s emerging autonomy, and (c) active participation in learning. Cross cultural variations in which the styles of these behaviors are expressed are also considered, contrasting physical, social, and cognitive styles of …

The Remediation Of School Psychologist Trainees, Michael J. Powell

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

School Psychology training programs have an important responsibility of making sure their graduates are competent professionals. The current study gathered data from National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) approved training programs in order to explore how they have handled competency problems in their program. A survey was sent to all NASP approved training programs via e-mail. Surveys were also completed by 32 program representatives at the 2010 Annual NASP Conference. The results of the survey were analyzed using Chi Square and a frequency analysis. The Chi Square analysis did not yield any significant differences at p<0.05 between educational specialist or equivalent degree programs and doctorate degree programs. The frequency analysis, however, did disclose pertinent data in regards to the remediation of school psychology trainees.

Exercise Intervention, Thomas Earl Loney

Graduate Research Papers

Depression is a major cause of hardship in the U.S., both in terms of individual mental health and cost of treatment. Exercise and physical activity presents a low-cost alternative to achieve the same positive alleviation of depressive symptoms as medications and psychotherapy. There is a large body of research linking exercise to an increase in positive emotions, as well as a range of other benefits.

This paper will discuss some reasons counselors may consider exercise intervention for clients suffering from clinical depression, describe the use of this intervention, as well as leading theories explaining the mechanics behind the emotionally lifting …

The Role Of Slope In Human Reorientation, Daniele Nardi, Nora S. Newcombe, Thomas F. Shipley

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Studies of spatial representation generally focus on flat environments and visual stimuli. However, the world is not flat, and slopes are part of many natural environments. In a series of four experiments, we examined whether humans can use a slope as a source of allocentric, directional information for reorientation. A target was hidden in a corner of a square, featureless enclosure tilted at a 5° angle. Finding it required using the vestibular, kinesthetic and vis-ual cues associated with the slope gradient. Participants succeeded in the task; however, a large sex difference emerged. Men showed a greater ability in using slope …

Summary Report On Parents' And Children's Perspectives On Parenting Styles And Discipline In Ireland, Ann Marie Halpenny, Elizabeth Nixon, Dorothy Watson

Reports

This report summarises key findings from two studies on parenting styles and discipline in Ireland. The first of these studies provides a focus on parents’ perspectives while the second study draws on children’s perspectives on parenting practices. Parents Perspectives on Parenting Styles and Discipline A large body of research literature in the UK, USA and Australia has focused on the links between parenting styles, parental discipline responses, child behaviourand children’s psychological well-being (Smith et al, 2005; Gershoff, 2002; Parke, 2002; Eisenberg et al, 2001). Yet, there is little available information in Ireland about the prevalence of differentparental discipline responses or …

Because You Can't Teach It All And They Won't Read It All: Student Response Systems Do Improve Learning, Steven G. Luke, Sarah Grison, Aya Shigeto, Patrick D.K. Watson

Psychology Faculty

In Introductory Psychology, 30 graduate TAs/faculty teach 2700 students annually. This year we developed an assessment program to improve student learning and graduate teaching training (Shigeto et al., 2010). Part of the program studied the pedagogical value of using student response systems to answer in-class multiple choice questions. Prior research lacks scientific rigor and provides equivocal evidence that SRSs improve learning (Caldwell, 2007).

Octopuses (Enteroctopus Dofleini) Recognize Individual Humans, Roland C. Anderson, Jennifer A. Mather, Mathieu Q. Monette, Stephanie R.M. Zimsen

Sentience Collection

This study exposed 8 Enteroctopus dofleini separately to 2 unfamiliar individual humans over a 2-week period under differing circumstances. One person consistently fed the octopuses and the other touched them with a bristly stick. Each human recorded octopus body patterns, behaviors, and respiration rates directly after each treatment. At the end of 2 weeks, a body pattern (a dark Eyebar) and 2 behaviors (reaching arms toward or away from the tester and funnel direction) were significantly different in response to the 2 humans. The respiration rate of the 4 larger octopuses changed significantly in response to the 2 treatments; …

Squid Dances: An Ethogram Of Postures And Actions Of Sepioteuthis Sepioidea Squid With A Muscular Hydrostatic System, Jennifer A. Mather, Ulrike Griebel, Ruth A. Byrne

Sentience Collection

A taxonomy of the movement possibilities for any species, within the constraints of its neural and skeletal systems, should be one of the foundations of the study of its behaviour. Caribbean reef squid, Sepioteuthis sepioidea, appear to have many degrees of freedom in their movement as they live in a three-dimensional habitat and have no fixed skeleton but rather a muscular hydrostatic one. Within this apparent lack of constraints, there are regularities and patterns of common occurrences that allow this article to describe an ethogram of the movements, postures and positions of squid. Squid have a combination of bent, …

Vigilance And Antipredator Responses Of Caribbean Reef Squid, Jennifer A. Mather

Sentience Collection

Antipredator responses, especially those of open-ocean squid, have been seldom studied in the natural environment. Sepioteuthis sepioidea, observed by snorkellers near the shore in early morning/late afternoon, produced an average of eight moves of over 1m per hour, apparently mostly antipredator behaviours. Close approaches by herbivorous parrotfish elicited no response in 74% of encounters; otherwise, squid produced agonistic zebra stripes or startle-mantle-dots skin patterns. Predatory bar jack fish caused flight but not zebra displays, and squid usually paled and fled quickly (66%) from snapper. The speed of approach was the best predictor for flight and display responses to snapper, …

Male Territoriality In A Social Sciurid, Cynomys Gunnisoni: What Do Patterns Of Paternity Tell Us?, J. L. Verdolin, C. N. Slobodchikoff

Veterinary Science and Medicine Collection

In many social sciurids, male territoriality confers significant mating advantages. We evaluated resident male paternity in Gunnison’s prairie dogs (Cynomys gunnisoni), a colonial ground-dwelling sciurid, where males and females cooperatively defend territories. Contrary to findings reported for other social sciurids, our results show that territorial resident males do not gain significant reproductive advantages. Resident males sired the majority of offspring from their respective territories only 10.5% of the time. A single non-resident male sired equal or greater number of offspring than any single resident male 71.2% of the time. While adult males were more likely to sire a greater number …

Behavior Of A Solitary Sociable Female Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Off The Coast Of Kent, Southeast England, Sonja Eisfeld, Mark P. Simmonds, Laura R. Stansfield

Ethology Collection

This article provides a report of the behavior of a solitary sociable dolphin studied on the southeast coast of England in 2007. This is the first study of its kind in which behavior of such a nonhuman animal was systematically studied. By the time of this study, this young female was highly interactive with people in the water. People accompanied the dolphin for 18.4% of the 100 hr of observation, and their presence changed her behavior. The study recorded 39 different behaviors; feeding and resting behaviors declined in frequency in the presence of people. In addition, the dolphin exhibited behavior …

Quality Prevails Over Identity In The Sexually Selected Vocalisations Of An Ageing Mammal, Elodie F. Briefer, Elisabetta Vannoni, Alan G. Mcelligott

Ethology Collection

Background: Male sexually selected vocalisations generally contain both individuality and quality cues that are crucial in intra- as well as inter-sexual communication. As individuality is a fixed feature whereas male phenotypic quality changes with age, individuality and quality cues may be subjected to different selection pressures over time. Individuality (for example, morphology of the vocal apparatus) and quality (for example, body size and dominance status) can both affect the vocal production mechanism, inducing the same components of vocalisations to convey both kinds of information. In this case, do quality-related changes to the acoustic structure of calls induce a modification of …

Discourse And Wolves: Science, Society, And Ethics, William S. Lynn

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

Wolves have a special resonance in many human cultures. To appreciate fully the wide variety of views on wolves, we must attend to the scientific, social, and ethical discourses that frame our understanding of wolves themselves, as well as their relationships with people and the natural world. These discourses are a configuration of ideas, language, actions, and institutions that enable or constrain our individual and collective agency with respect to wolves.

Scientific discourse is frequently privileged when it comes to wolves, on the assumption that the primary knowledge requirements are matters of ecology, cognitive ethology, and allied disciplines. Social discourse …