Psychology Commons^™

The Effect Of Visual Wulst Lesions And Trigeminal Nerve Sectioning On The Discrimination Of Magnetic Inclination In The Homing Pigeon (Columba Livia), Merissa Acerbi

Honors Projects

The ability of homing pigeons to return to their loft from unknown places has fascinated scientists for centuries. It is well established that homing pigeons, like migratory birds, posses an innate magnetic inclination compass to determine direction by measuring the angle between the magnetic field vector and the Earth's surface. Recent work has indicated that the avian magnetic compass is light mediated and appears to mediate magnetic information to the brain. This occurs via a visual pathway with processing in the visual Wulst area of the forebrain. There is, however, also evidence from other avian species that magnetic direction may …

Exploring Biopsychosocial (Bps) Facets Of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Copd) In Patients In An Acute Inpatient Physical Rehabilitation Facility (Irf), Ronnetta Williams

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

From a BPS perspective, COPD and other chronic diseases may have a significant negative impact on those living with them and may be associated with higher rates of depression and anxiety and lower levels of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Certain factors, such as spirituality, may influence the negative impact of chronic disease on the relationship between mood and functional independence and HRQOL. Also, gender may influence the relationship between mood, spirituality, and HRQOL for men and women living with chronic diseases. The current study included 136 patients undergoing physical rehabilitation at an IRF. Anxiety, depression, spirituality, HRQOL, and functional …

Examining Kentucky Teachers' Encounters With Grieving Students: A Mixed Methods Study, Ashley M. Candelaria

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The research on bereaved children’s outcomes is mixed, with the course of grief in young people prone to variation. Each child’s reaction following a loss is unique and should be considered in relation to psychological, academic, familial, social, environmental, and a number of additional factors. However, what is known is the important role that a supportive environment, stable adult figures, and early intervention may have for grieving youth. Teachers could be considered the first line of defense in identifying youth who are struggling with a loss, as they are significant adults with whom students have consistent contact on a daily …

Memory, Cognition, And The Effect Of A Music Intervention On Healthy Older Adults, Shannon L. Bowles

Theses and Dissertations--Gerontology

Music is a powerful modality that can bring about changes in individuals of all ages. This research employed both an experimental and quasi-experimental design to identify the effects of music as it influenced psychological well-being, memory, and cognition among older adults. Specifically, it addressed three aims: (a) To determine to what extent learning to play a music instrument later in life influenced psychological well-being and cognitive function of non-institutionalized healthy seniors, (b) To determine the effects of the amount of music involvement on psychological well-being and cognitive function (c) To determine the benefit of music for those with limited/no music …

Sex Differences In Multiple Dimensions Of Jealousy, Kayla Corzine

Modern Psychological Studies

The present study distributed surveys to 98 college students (31 freshmen, 28 sophomores, 25 juniors, and 14 seniors) to explore both evolutionary psychology and social cognitive theories on jealousy. To examine the relationship between sexes in multiple dimensions of jealousy, Pfeffer and Wong's Multidimensional Jealousy Survey was given to measure cognitive, behavioral, and emotional jealousy (1989). There were no significant differences between sexes and any of the jealousy subscales. The traditional forced-choice scenario was given to see if there was a sex difference between emotional and sexual jealousy. As predicted, female participants reported that emotional jealousy was more distressing, while …

Choice Amount And Choice-Making In Children: A Comparison Of Children With And Without Symptoms Of Adhd, Liesa Klein

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Research has demonstrated that increased options can have a negative impact on choice experience, post-choice affect, and purchasing behavior in adults. While the use of choice and choice interventions is sometimes used in educational settings, this negative impact, the choice overload hypothesis, has yet to be examined in children. Further, if the presence of choice overload were to be identified in this population it may have further implications on children with ADHD who exhibit deficits in executive functioning. The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to examine choice duration in children with and without symptoms of ADHD; (2) to …

The Use Of Video Self-Modeling To Treat Public Speaking Anxiety, Alicia Kruger

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The current thesis is The Use of Video Self-Modeling to Treat Public Speaking Anxiety by Alicia Kruger and is for partial fulfillment of a Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Psychology at Minnesota State University, Mankato in Mankato, Minnesota. The study was completed in May, 2013 and attempts to evaluate the effect of video self-modeling (VSM) on public speaking anxiety. VSM is a form of social learning where the individual serves as his own model for vicarious learning. The Personal Report of Confidence as a Speaker was administered to 101 psychology undergraduates to screen for public speaking anxiety. Eleven participants …

Role Of Health Behaviors In Sexual Quality Of Life Among Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Survivors, Keagan Lee Mcpherson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) recipients are a population increasingly characterized by survivorship. A psychosocial outcome integral to overall quality of life and optimal survivorship outcomes is sexual quality of life (SQOL). In this arena, HSCT patients' prognostics are markedly grim. Though examinations of variables that affect overall survivorship in HSCT patients are relatively novel, SQOL outcomes have still received a disproportionately minimal amount of focus both in research and practice. Because health behaviors and their correlates are implicated in SQOL outcomes in the general population as well as survivorship and overall QOL outcomes in HSCT patients, inquiring about the …

Using Personality Traits To Select Customer-Oriented Security Guards, Tracy Marie Shega

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The customer orientation of current security guards was assessed using both the newly developed Customer Orientation Scale and IPIP items. Specifically, the Big Five factors of agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional stability were measured. Scores on these two customer orientation scales were compared to measures of job satisfaction and perceived job-ability fit.

The Role Of Religion In Managing Existential Threat: Effects On Outgroup Attitudes, Lauren Elizabeth Coursey

Psychology Theses - Archive

The increased worldview defense following mortality salience is a robust finding in terror management theory research. In some cases, this defense can take the form of ingroup favoritism, outgroup bias, and prejudice. I predicted that religious affiliation would attenuate the effects of mortality salience on expressions of prejudice. Specifically, I predicted an interaction between religious affiliation and mortality salience to emerge, such that whereas the religiously non-affiliated will exhibit an increase in prejudice scores following mortality salience, the religiously affiliated will not. I further hypothesized that among religiously affiliated participants, the interaction between MS and affiliation will predict outgroup attitudes …

What Are The Long-Term Consequences Of Peer Victimization? Changes In Biological Functioning And Its Effects On Psychological And Physical Health, Priya Anapurna Iyer

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

Prior research has documented long-term psychological problems (e.g. emotional distress, anxiety, and depression; Kochenderfer-Ladd & Wardrop, 2001) experienced as a result of being bullied as an adolescent. Although being a recipient of peer victimization has been related to psychological health, limited research has looked at the association between peer victimization and physical health problems. Even fewer studies have investigated the relationship between being bullied and health outcomes over time. This dissertation examined whether peer victimization in early adolescence lead to changes in neuroendocrine functioning (as assessed by cortisol) and physical health outcomes several years later. Adolescents and their parents (N …

An Examination Of The Validity Of The Central Sensitization Inventory With Chronic Disabling Occupational Musculoskeletal Disorders, Yunhee Choi

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

Central Sensitivity Syndrome (CSS) includes a group of related conditions that share a common pathophysiological mechanism called central sensitization (e.g., fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, tension headache/migraine, etc.). Individuals with these conditions display increased pain sensitivity in response to painful stimuli, pain in response to normally non-painful stimuli, and expansion of the receptive field. Depression and anxiety frequently occur among individuals with CSS, as well as disturbed sleep, somatic symptoms and emotional distress. The Central Sensitization Inventory (CSI) is a newly developed self-report measure to assess the full array of 25 somatic and emotional symptoms associated with CSS. The present study …

The Impact Of Peer Victimization On Adolescent Inflammatory Markers, Allyson Antoinette Arana

Psychology Theses - Archive

For years, research has linked peer victimization to various outcomes, ranging from those in the psychological realm (e.g., depression, anxiety) to physical health symptoms (e.g., frequent doctor visits, abdominal pain). While there are many possible mechanisms responsible for this relationship, this study focused on immune system dysregulation, specifically concerning the inflammatory markers interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein (CRP). Prior research has found that environmental stress is related to increased production of these markers (e.g., Danese et al., 2007; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2003). Furthermore, elevated levels of IL-6 and CRP have been associated with health problems such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, …

Impact Of Recurrence On Prostate Cancer Survivors, Gabriela Orsak

Psychology Theses - Archive

The present study examined the impact of recurrence on health-related and prostate-specific quality of life, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, physiological arousal to stress, and psychological distress by comparing disease-free survivors (N = 46) to survivors who experienced recurrence (N = 18), and healthy controls (N = 18). Participants completed paper and pencil questionnaires and submitted blood samples. Groups did not report differences in health-related quality of life, sexual and urinary function, problems with urinary function, perceived stress, psychological distress, epinephrine levels and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. Survivors who experienced recurrence reported less bowel function than disease-free survivors. However, survivors who …

Acute Elevation In Estradiol Influences The Salience Of Cocaine Cues, Samara Morris Bobzean

Psychology Theses - Archive

Previous research demonstrates that women and female rodents are more responsive to environmental stimuli associated with drug reward than males. A growing body of literature supports a role for estradiol as one of the mechanisms underlying sex differences in the behavioral response to drugs of abuse. However, little is known about the influence of acute elevations in levels of estradiol on cocaine conditioned behaviors. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the influence of an acute increase in systemic estradiol levels on the expression of cocaine-induced conditioned place preference (CPP). Experimentally naïve, adult female Long Evans rats …

Knowledge Of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration Laws As A Predictor Of Adolescent Sexual Behavior, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Margaret C. Stevenson, Tisha Ra Wiley

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Because juveniles can now be registered as sex offenders, we conducted a pilot study to investigate awareness of these policies and sexual behavior histories in a convenience sample of 53 young adults (ages 18 to 23, 79% women). These preliminary data revealed that 42% percent of participants were unaware that youth under the age of 18 can be registered as sex offenders, and when informed that they can be, participants were unaware of the breadth of adolescent sexual behavior that warrants registration. Furthermore, those unaware of juvenile registration policies, compared to those who were aware, were marginally more likely to …

Does The Life-Cycle Theory Really Matter? Saving And Spending Habits Of College Students, Kaitlin Karlson

Psychology Honors Papers

This study looked at the financial behavior of college students and recent alumni as it relates to economic theory and the life-cycle hypothesis. With student loans increasing dramatically and credit card debt becoming more of a reality, it is critical to understand what drives financial stability or instability after graduation. The pool of 230 participants was composed of 174 women and 56 men, representative of eight years of graduating classes, 2009-2016, from Connecticut College. Students comprised 29.1% of the participants and alumni made up the remaining 70.9%. Participants completed a survey including three quantitative measures on credit card use, financial …

Using Power-Law Properties Of Social Groups For Cloud Defense And Community Detection, Justin L. Rice

Doctoral Dissertations

The power-law distribution can be used to describe various aspects of social group behavior. For mussels, sociobiological research has shown that the Lévy walk best describes their self-organizing movement strategy. A mussel's step length is drawn from a power-law distribution, and its direction is drawn from a uniform distribution. In the area of social networks, theories such as preferential attachment seek to explain why the degree distribution tends to be scale-free. The aim of this dissertation is to glean insight from these works to help solve problems in two domains: cloud computing systems and community detection.

Privacy and security are …

Interpretation Of The Wisc-Iv Working Memory Index As A Measure Of Attention, Talya J. Colliflower

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The WISC-IV Working Memory Index is often interpreted as a valid measure of attention and concentration. Students who score low on the WMI are frequently viewed as having attention difficulties. If the WMI is accurately interpreted as a measure of attention, then students who score low on this composite should present with attention deficits in the classroom. Data of students who were referred for an evaluation to determine special education eligibility were compared to determine the accuracy of the interpretation of the WMI and its relationship with the Inattention and other scales on the Conners 3rd Edition – Teacher Form. …

Qualitative Inquiry And The Challenge Of Scientific Status, Kenneth J. Gergen

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Technology And The Tributaries Of Relational Being, Kenneth J. Gergen

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Affective Forecasting And Well Being, Barry Schwartz, R. Sommers

Psychology Faculty Works

Every decision requires a prediction, both about what will happen and about how the decider will feel about what happens. Thus, decisions require what is known as affective forecasting. This chapter reviews evidence that people systematically mispredict the way experiences will feel. First, predictions about the future are often based on memories of the past, but memories of the past are often inaccurate. Second, people predict that the affective quality of experiences will last, thereby neglecting the widespread phenomenon of adaptation. Third, in anticipating an experience, people focus on aspects of their lives that will be changed by the experience …

Sugar And Space? Not The Case: Effects Of Low Blood Glucose On Slant Estimation Are Mediated By Beliefs, D. M. Shaffer, E. Mcmanama, C. Swank, Frank H. Durgin

Psychology Faculty Works

There is a current debate concerning whether people's physiological or behavioral potential alters their perception of slanted surfaces. One way to directly test this is to physiologically change people's potential by lowering their blood sugar and comparing their estimates of slant to those with normal blood sugar. In the first investigation of this (Schnall, Zadra, & Proffitt, 2010), it was shown that people with low blood sugar gave higher estimates of slanted surfaces than people with normal blood sugar. The question that arises is whether these higher estimates are due to lower blood sugar, per se, or experimental demand created …

The Influence Of Perspective And Communicative Goals On How Speakers Choose To Refer, Daniel J. Grodner, R. M. Adler

Psychology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Dreamscapes: Topography, Mind, And The Power Of Simulacra In Ancient And Traditional Societies, Paul Devereux

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

Dream content can be influenced by external sounds, smells, touch, objects glimpsed with half-open eyes during REM sleep, and somatic signals. This paper suggests that this individual, neurologically-driven process parallels that experienced collectively by pre-industrial tribal and traditional peoples in which the land itself entered into the mental lives of whole societies, forming mythic geographies—dreamscapes. This dreamtime perception was particularly evident in the use of simulacra, in which the shapes of certain topographical features allowed them to be presented in anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, or iconic guise to both the individual and the culturally-reinforced gaze of society members. This paper further indicates …

Shamanic Cosmology As An Evolutionary Neurocognitive Epistemology, Michael Winkelman

International Journal of Transpersonal Studies

The biological foundation for a shamanic epistemology is indicated by the cross-cultural distribution of a shamanic cosmology derived from knowledge obtained during altered consciousness. These special forms of consciousness involve integrative brain conditions that access ancient ways of knowing, expressive systems which have evolutionary roots in the communicative and social processes involved in animal displays or rituals. These were augmented over the course of hominid evolution into expressive and mimetic activities that provided a basis for significant epistemological expansions of consciousness exemplified in shamanic out-of-body (OBE) experiences. These manifestations of consciousness involved new modes of self and processes of knowing, …

A Pilot Study Assessing Outcomes For The High 8 Socially Uninhibited Subtype After Treatment With Focused Brief Grouptherapy, Kacey D. Greening

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

A pilot study was completed to determine the effectiveness of Focused Brief Group Therapy (FBGT; Whittingham, 2008) in a college counseling center. The study focused on individuals with elevated scores on scale 8, also known as the socially uninhibited subtype, of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems. This scale has been described by researchers as potentially problematic in treatment (Burlingame, 2005) and also appeared in high numbers as referrals at a mid-western college counseling center. Pre-existing data from the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP-32; Horowitz et al., 2000) and the Counseling Center Assessment of Psychological Symptoms (CCAPS; Center for Collegiate Mental …

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

Switching Genders: Identifying The Evaluator In Stereotype Threat For Men And Women In A Math Context, Mirjana A. Antonic, Mary C. Murphy, Katherine T.U. Emerson, Lara D. Mercurio

Modern Psychological Studies

The current study seeks to identify the source of evaluation that causes stereotype threat for men and women in a math context. In a 2 (participant gender: male vs. female) X 3 (gender label: Match, Mismatch, Control) factorial design, male and female participants that identified highly with math were asked to take a math test. Throughout the test, participants' ostensible gender was displayed on the computer screen. The displayed gender was either the correct gender, the opposite gender, or "Alabama." Although our results were unable to determine if stereotype threat is a self- or an outside evaluator-threat, we did observe …

Superstitious Behavior And Ritualistic Practices Among Former Athletes, Alexander Roorda, Bart L. Weathington

Modern Psychological Studies

Superstitious and ritualistic behaviors in sport have been well documented (Brevers, Dan, Noel, & Nils, 2011a, 2011b; Buhrmann & Zaugg, 1983 Foster, Weigand, & Baines, 2006). Studies have identified several benefits athletes gain from these practices such as: reduction of "sport anxiety" (Jackson, Ashford, & Norsworthy, 2006), and reaching "peak performance" (Krane & Williams, 2010). Other research has studied the effects that personality antecedents, such as locus of control (LOC) and Athletic Identity (AI), might have on these practices (Griffith & Johnson, 2002). To date however, there has been little to no research done on whether former athletes would continue …