Psychology Commons^™

Reducing Automatic Stereotype Activation: European- And African American Photos In Situational Attribution Training, Seamus Patrick Walsh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has shown that training rooted in attribution theory, Situational Attribution Training (SAT), is effective in reducing automatic stereotyping. reduces automatic stereotyping by asking participants to "consider the situation" when making attributional judgments of negative behaviors stereotypical of African Americans. The focus of the present research is to examine the repeated stereotype-consistent pairings of African American photos with the negative behaviors stereotypical of African Americans, seen during SAT, which may limit the maximum effectiveness of the training. As a methodological modification to the previous version of SAT, white participants were trained extensively to choose situational over dispositional explanations for …

Empowering Communities From The Ground Up: Perspectives On A Lay Mental Health Project In Post-Earthquake Haiti, Gilberte Bastien

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Parents' Marital Discord Moderating The Genetic And Environmental Influences On Externalizing Problems, Amber Marie Jarnecke

Open Access Theses

Jarnecke, Amber M. M.S., Purdue University, December 2013. Parents' Marital Discord Moderating the Genetic and Environmental Influences on Externalizing Problems. Major Professor: Susan C. South.

Parental marital discord is related to children's externalizing problems at various ages. However, little is known about the mechanisms that explain these associations. The current study assesses the impact of parental marital discord on the etiology of

offspring externalizing problems at different ages. Specifically, biometric moderation models were used to test the hypothesis that parental marital discord moderates genetic and environmental influences on offspring externalizing problems at age 11 and age

17. Results suggest that …

Attitudes Towards The Use Of Violence And Partner Directed Aggression, Joel G. Sprunger

Open Access Theses

The present prospective study examined implicit and explicit attitudes toward the use of violence and their capacity to predict past and future partner-directed aggression in a nonclinical sample. Implicit violence attitudes were measured using a modified version of the Implicit Association Test. A battery of commonly-utilized explicit self-report measures indexed explicit attitudes toward intimate partner violence (IPV). Measurement of violence attitudes occurred prior to engaging in the Articulated Thoughts in Simulated Situations behavioral aggression paradigm. Participants (N = 81) were randomly assigned to conditions of imagined provocative (n = 48) or non-provocative (n = 33) relationship scenarios and given the …

The Origins Of Reading: Using The Ipad To Study 2- To 4-Year-Old's Learning Of Sound/Print/Object Relations, Ashley Catherine Vance

Open Access Theses

This thesis looks at the origins of reading (before the age of 5) through the lens of early language development. We used an iPad to test if children can make the connection between printed words and the spoken word or their visual referent. Using a forced choice procedure, inspired by the traditional Preferential Looking Paradigm, we tested 30 children, ages 2-4 years. Results suggest that children as young as 2 years of age can indeed make spoken word-to-print connections. Specifically, by emphasizing or exaggerating text differences, we were able to get children (2-4 years of age) to correctly tap the …

Testing The Boundary Conditions Of Justice Climate Effects: The Moderating Role Of Moral Identity And Corporate Social Responsibility, Meghan Ann Thornton

Open Access Theses

While the lion's share of organizational justice research focuses on individual perceptions, researchers have recognized the value of group perceptions in understanding justice phenomena. Justice climate (i.e., shared perceptions of fairness among workgroup members) has often been studied using facet-specific and source-specific justice climates (e.g. procedural justice climate, supervisor justice climate) demonstrating the predictive power of group level perceptions of fairness. However, little research has explored the boundary conditions of justice climate effects. In this study, I propose that overall justice climate has a significant impact on group prosocial and deviant behaviors. I also propose that group perceptions of corporate …

Assessing Tourist Experience Satisfaction With A Heritage Destination, Yuan Yao

Open Access Theses

The research is concerned with understanding the relationships among heritage motivation, travel experience, and overall satisfaction. It attempts to uncover how tourist motivation, destination attribute performance, and tourist emotional involvement interact and, at the same time, contribute toward a satisfying heritage tourism experience. The empirical research was conducted at the city of Nanjing, China, as a case of a heritage destination. People who were visiting Nanjing were randomly and voluntarily selected to participate in the self-administrated survey. A total of 282 valid questionnaires were collected with a response rate of about 55%. Factor analysis and mediation analysis were conducted by …

Perception And Attitude About Breast And Cervical Cancer Screening Among Muslim Women In A Midwest University Campus, Tahira Yeasmeen

Open Access Theses

Early detection of breast and cervical cancer through mammograms and Pap smears can improve survival rates. Muslim women in the United States are faced with traditional beliefs and diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds that may affect their knowledge and perceptions about these cancer screening practices. The objective of this study is to determine the overall health status and participation rates, knowledge, and perceptions about, and barriers to, breast and cervical cancer screening among a controlled population of Muslim women. Data were collected from Muslim women residing at or near Purdue University and the Greater Lafayette area via an online questionnaire …

Psychopathy As A Disorder Of Communion: Investigating An Overlooked Deficit, Emily Dubose Sherman

Open Access Theses

Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is robustly linked to interpersonal difficulties, delinquency, aggression, and general antisocial conduct. Previous research has explored a number of potential deficits underlying these behaviors including reduced fear, impaired emotional responding, and poor response modulation. Drawing from extant personality work that has demonstrated the importance of interpersonal antagonism as a core feature of psychopathy, the present project examines deficits in social closeness as potential core features of the disorder. This possibility was examined in 195 undergraduate students (49% male) via a multi-method approach. In addition to several psychopathy instruments, participants completed self-report measures of social …

The Attachment-Satisfaction Relationship On Facebook: Emotional Intelligence And Conflict, Jarred Michael Caldwell

Open Access Dissertations

Caldwell, J. M., Ph.D. Purdue University, February 2013. The Attachment-Satisfaction Relationship on Facebook: Emotional Intelligence and Conflict. Major Professor: M. Carole Pistole, Ph.D.

Because of the unique interpersonal nature of social networking sites, as well as the vast number of people using them, this study examines how attachment differences and other factors, including social networking site romantic conflict behavior and emotional intelligence, link to romantic relationship satisfaction. College students who were in romantic relationships and users of social networking sites (N = 274), completed the following measures: (a) the Experiences in Close Relationship Scale-Short Form (ECR-S; Wei, Russell, Mallinckrodt, & …

The Role Of Rumination, Negative Affect, And Fitness On Cardiac Rehabilitation Program Outcomes Following A Discrete Cardiac Event, Nathaniel Jay Deyoung

Open Access Dissertations

Individuals with cardiovascular disease are at an increased risk for anxiety, depression, stress, and other negative cognitive processes. Following a cardiovascular event such as a myocardial infarction or open heart surgery, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) can have large physical and psychological benefits. This study investigates the role of depression, anxiety, and rumination on CR outcomes including program completion and fitness improvements. Fifty-one patients with cardiovascular disease who were enrolled in CR were tracked over the course of their treatment. Objective fitness testing was completed prior to and after CR program completion. Self-reported psychological, health, and fitness data were gathered at weeks …

Relationships Among Pain Threshold, Self-Regulation, Executive Functioning, And Autonomic Activity: A General Inhibitory System Perspective, Ian Andres Boggero

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Chronic pain patients have poorer pain inhibition, self-regulatory ability, executive functioning and autonomic inhibition than those without pain, supporting the view that suppressing pain is mentally taxing. In the current study, an alternate explanation was proposed; namely, that pain inhibition, self-regulation, executive functions, and heart rate variability (HRV) are all controlled by the same general inhibitory system. To test this hypothesis, participants came into the laboratory for three sessions. At the first session, individual differences in pain thresholds, self-regulatory strength, executive functioning, and HRV were measured. At the second and third sessions, self-regulatory persistence and within-session changes in pain thresholds …

Olfactory Preference For Ethanol Following Social Interaction With An Intoxicated Peer In Adolescent Rats Exposed To Ethanol In-Utero, Samanta M. March, Ricardo M. Pautassi, Michael Nizhnikov, Juan Fernandez-Vidal, Norman E. Spear, Juan C. Molina

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Background: Prenatal exposure to ethanol and later socially mediated exposure predicts ethanol intake in human adolescents. Animal rat models indicate that brief interactions with an ethanol-intoxicated peer result in heightened preference for ethanol odor and ethanol intake. Methods: This study assessed preference for ethanol odor in adolescent male rats (observers) following social interaction with an ethanol intoxicated peer (demonstrators) as a function of prenatal ethanol exposure (gestational days 17-20, 1.0 g/kg, intragastric). Social behavior and locomotion during social interaction was also measured. Results: Social investigation was greater in observers that interacted with an intoxicated demonstrator in comparison to those that …

Predictive Validity Of The Savry Within A Diverse Population Of Juvenile Offenders, Scarlet Paria Woods

Psychology Theses

The current study examined the predictive validity of the SAVRY in African American and White recently adjudicated juvenile offenders in Louisiana. The sample consists of 267 community-based, male juvenile offenders, whom were tracked for an average follow-up period of 18 months. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analyses on the overall sample and African Americans, specifically, showed the numeric score predicted recidivism. Chi-square analyses found the SRR did not have a significant relationship with reoffending for general recidivism petitions. However, it was significant for all other forms of recidivism in the overall sample and African Americans. Hierarchical Cox regressions identified significant differences …

Predicting Sexual Satisfaction From Self-Objectification And Alcohol Consumption, Nicole M. Nelson

Psychology Theses

This study was conducted to examine if gender, self-objectification and alcohol consumption were predictors of sexual satisfaction. It was expected that females would self-objectify more than males and self-objectification would negatively relate to satisfaction. It was expected that drinking alcohol would also negatively relate to satisfaction. Undergraduate participants (n=235) who reported a heterosexual sexual encounter within the past three months completed an online survey. Multiple linear regression analyses were conducted separately for males and females. It was found that gender was not a predictor of satisfaction; self-objectification did however negatively relate to sexual satisfaction for males and females, and alcohol …

The Camera’S Eye: Effects Of Video-Recording Perspectives And Double Blind Procedures On Perceptions Of Eyewitnesses And Lineup Administrators, Geno Salomone

Psychology Theses

Mistaken identification is the leading cause of convicting the innocent. To help reduce erroneous convictions associated with eyewitness error, video recording of the lineup procedure and identification has been recommended. There is little research however, on how video recording influences perceptions of the witness and detective. The present study was a 2 (Administration of Lineup: Single-Blind v. Double-Blind) X 4 (Perspective: Detective focus v. Eyewitness focus vs. Focus on Both v. Audio Only) between subjects design examining the differential impact of camera angle and knowledge of suspect by the detective on perceptions of the eyewitness and detective. Eyewitnesses were perceived …

Examining Whether Warning And Integration Instructions Alleviate Retrieval-Induced Forgetting, Alan Harrison

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

The Impact Of Font Size And Style On Perceived And Actual Learning, Nicholas Martin

Summer Community of Scholars Posters (RCEU and HCR Combined Programs)

No abstract provided.

Injunctive Peer Misperceptions And The Mediation Of Self-Approval On Risk For Driving After Drinking Among College Students, Shannon R. Kenney, Joseph W. Labrie, Andrew Lac

Heads Up!

Of the alcohol-related risks faced by college students, it is arguable that none presents a greater public health hazard than driving after drinking (DAD). The present study examined the extent to which students’ injunctive misperceptions toward DAD predicted the likelihood to engage in DAD and how this relation was mediated by self-approval of DAD. Participants were 2,848 college students (59.1% female, 64.6% Caucasian) from two U.S. West Coast universities who completed confidential web-based surveys assessing DAD beliefs and behaviors. Results revealed that respondents tended to overestimate their peers’ approval toward DAD. Moreover, the subgroups likely to engage in DAD—men, 21+ …

First-Year College Women's Motivations For Hooking Up: A Mixed-Methods Examination Of Normative Peer Perceptions And Personal Hookup Participation, Shannon R. Kenney, Vandana Thadani, Tehniat Ghaidarov, Joseph W. Labrie

Psychological Science Faculty Works

This study used content analysis techniques to explore 221 first-year college women's perceptions of female peers’ reasons (i.e., normative perceptions) for hooking up. Data on personal participation in hooking up were also collected. The well-established Drinking Motives Questionnaire (Cooper, 1994) was used as a framework for coding positive (enhancement or social) and negative (coping or conformity) normative hookup motivations. Participants most commonly indicated that enhancement reasons motivated peers’ hookup behaviors (69.7%). Coping (23.5%), external (21.7%), social (19.5%), and conformity (16.3%) motives were cited less frequently. Furthermore, women who had hooked up since matriculating into college (61.5%, n = 136) were …

Does Breastfeeding Offer Protection Against Maternal Depressive Symptomatology? A Prospective Study From Pregnancy To 2 Years After Birth, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Martie G. Haselton, Christine Dunkel Schetter, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Depression is the leading cause of disability in women (Nobel 2005) and is the most prevalent of all childbearing-related illnesses, affecting approximately 13% of women worldwide within the first 12 [...] Mothers who breastfeed typically exhibit lower levels of depressive symptomatology than mothers who do not. However, very few studies have investigated the directionality of this relationship. Of the prospective studies published, all but one focus exclusively on whether maternal depression reduces rates of subsequent breastfeeding. This study again examines this relationship, but also the reverse--that breastfeeding might predict lower levels of later depression. Using multilevel modeling, we investigated the …

Conflicting Group Meanings Of Territorial Rights In Central Mindanao: Muslim–Christian Social Representations Of Land Entitlement, Cristina Jayme Montiel, Marshaley J. Baquiano, Charlie M. Inzon

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Using a social representations lens, we examined subjective meanings of land entitlements in Central Mindanao among Muslims and Christians. In Study 1, we collected survey data from 231 students from the University of Southern Mindanao in Central Mindanao, asking them: ‘If you were to tell the story of land ownership in Cotabato, what three topics would you want to include in your story?’ Results of our hierarchical evocation analysis show that Christians are concerned with direct conflicts or actual intergroup confrontations while Muslims emphasise land issues. Study 2 implemented Focauldian Discursive Analysis to evaluate two separate focused group discussions by …

Social Cognitive Theory Vs. Social Comparison Theory: Examining The Relationship Between Social Influence And Weight Loss, Emily Grigg

Masters Theses

This qualitative study investigated the impact of social influence on weight loss, more specifically, the internal and external elements that effect response and success of those who are trying to lose weight. The research focused on three questions: (1) How great of an influence does self-efficacy have in weight loss success? (2) How great of an influence does social comparison have in weight loss success? (3) Which factor has the largest impact on weight loss: self-efficacy, peer efficacy, or positive social support, or negative social support? Data was collected by the researcher conducting semi-structured interviews. These interview were conducted with …

From College Student To Change Agent: A Triadic Model Of Self-Efficacy, Attribution, And Appraisal, Joshua M. Garrin

Journal of Sustainable Social Impact

Beyond their newfound emancipation and opportunities for self-discovery, college students in the young adult stage of development are expected to achieve balance between their autonomous new world and the impending pressures of postgraduation life. The college student must not only reconcile issues related to identity formation, goal pursuits, and career exploration, but is expected to begin the process of identifying and developing the skills required to address salient social themes. How students establish competency beliefs, negotiate controllability over future outcomes, and appraise challenges have deep implications in their capacity to discover their social change “voice.” The following discussion proposes a …

Sports Message Boarding: Association With Sports Team Identification And Social Well-Being, Brian D. Carlson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Research indicates that participating in or volunteering for sports related activities may increase overall well-being. Additionally, identifying with, or being a fan of a particular sports team may contribute to positive psychological outcomes. However, no study to date has examined whether participation in sports team message boarding is associated with positive psychological outcomes. As a result, the current study sought to determine if positive relationships exist among message board usage, team identification, and positive psychology variables. Three hundred and four members of an online sports message board completed self-report surveys examining message board usage, team identification, and positive psychological traits. …

Change In Envy As A Function Of Target Likeability, Chelsea M. Cooper

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Envy is a painful emotion that can negatively impact one’s self-worth. It is also a shameful, socially undesirable emotion, implying both inferiority and hostility. Some scholars suggest that these features of envy lead to a need to cope with the emotion. Thus, over time, envy tends to be transformed into more socially acceptable responses such as resentment or dislike. The present study tested this claim. First, envy was manipulated by asking participants to read an article containing an interview with either a high- or low-envy target. The second article manipulated the likeability of the target by varying whether or not …

Assessing The Readability Of Capital Pattern Jury Instructions, Rachel Small, Judith Platania, Brian L. Cutler

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Data obtained from the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (2003) indicate that 29% of adults have a Basic level of prose literacy. Prose literacy refers to the knowledge and skills needed to comprehend and use information from continuous texts, such as editorials, news stories, and instructional materials. In the current study we examined each state’s capital sentencing instructions for their readability using a highly reliable word-analysis tool. We found that reading levels of sentencing instructions significantly surpassed the reading comprehension abilities of American adults. All but three states’ instructions were above the twelfth grade reading level. In addition, legal principles …

Emergent Features And Perceptual Objects: A Reexamination Of Fundamental Principles In Display Design, Jerred Charles Holt

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Our purpose was to discuss alternative principles of design (emergent features and perceptual objects) for analogical visual displays, to evaluate the utility of four different displays for a system state identification task, and to compare outcomes to predictions derived from the design principles. Background: An interpretation of previous empirical findings for three displays (bar graph, polar graphic, alpha-numeric) is provided from an emergent features perspective. A fourth display (configural coordinate) was designed to leverage powerful perception-action skills using principles of cognitive systems engineering / ecological interface design (i.e., direct perception). Methods: An experiment was conducted to evaluate these four …

Probabilistic Cue Combination: Less Is More, Daniel Yurovsky, Ty W. Boyer, Linda B. Smith, Chen Yu

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Learning about the structure of the world requires learning probabilistic relationships: rules in which cues do not predict outcomes with certainty. However, in some cases, the ability to track probabilistic relationships is a handicap, leading adults to perform non-normatively in prediction tasks. For example, in the dilution effect, predictions made from the combination of two cues of different strengths are less accurate than those made from the stronger cue alone. Here we show that dilution is an adult problem; 11-month-old infants combine strong and weak predictors normatively. These results extend and add support for the less is more hypothesis: limited …

Heuristics: Bias Vs. Smart Instrument. An Exploration Of The Hot Hand, Jehangir Cooper

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Classical perspectives on judgment and rationality view heuristics as erroneous, leading to suboptimal judgments. Conversely, ecological perspectives view heuristics as smart mechanisms that result in good judgments in the face of uncertainty. Our research focused on the hot hand heuristic and examined it using non-linear analysis methods. This research attempted to answer two questions. The first question concerned the applicability of frequency analysis methods for detecting constraints (such as the hot hand) or structure in a time series of binary data, which we attempted to investigate through Monte Carlo simulations. We found that this method was sensitive enough to detect …