Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Emotional Arousal On Item And Associative Memory, Leslie Ann Butler

LSU Master's Theses

Although the conclusions of research examining the impact of emotional arousal on associative memory are mixed (e.g., Mather & Nesmith, 2008; Zimmerman & Kelley, 2010), it has recently been suggested that associative memory should be enhanced by arousal when encoding is intentional rather than incidental (Mather & Sutherland, 2011). Research has also suggested that arousing items are more subject to interference effects in memory than non-arousing items. These predictions were explored across two experiments. In both experiments, participants intentionally encoded a series of picture pairs that consisted of two neutral pictures, two negatively arousing pictures, or one neutral picture and …

Examining The Differential Effects Of The Mystery Motivator Intervention Using Chosen Versus Unknown Reinforcers, Natalie Marie Robichaux

LSU Master's Theses

Disruptive classroom behaviors are among the most prevalent of childhood problems and are associated with reduced instruction time, poor academic achievement, and persistent behavior problems throughout childhood. Class-wide interventions, such as the Mystery Motivator, are an easy and time efficient way to increase the level of classroom management and remediate disruptive behavior patterns. Although the effectiveness of class-wide interventions is well documented, the literature is still inconsistent as to which type of reinforcement is more effective when using behavioral interventions. Some research suggests individuals prefer a choice in reinforcement, while other research suggests choice is just as preferred as reinforcement …

Effects Of A Brief Mindfulness Intervention On Negative Affect And Urge To Drink Among College Student Drinkers, Christine Vinci

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Problematic college student drinking can predict the subsequent development of severe alcohol use patterns. Several theories have proposed that negative affect (NA) plays a large role in the maintenance of substance use behaviors – a phenomenon supported in laboratory-based and clinical studies. It has been demonstrated that mindfulness meditation can improve the regulation of NA, suggesting that mindfulness may be very beneficial in treating problematic substance use behavior. The present study utilized a brief mindfulness intervention, followed by a NA mood induction in a sample of college student problematic drinkers (N = 207). A three by two by three factorial …

Cultural Differences And Switching Of In-Group Sharing Behavior Between An American (Facebook) And A Chinese (Renren) Social Networking Site, Lin Qiu, Han Lin, Angela K. Y. Leung

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Prior research has documented cultural dimensions that broadly characterize between-culture variations in Western and East Asian societies and that bicultural individuals can flexibly change their behaviors in response to different cultural contexts. In this article, we studied cultural differences and behavioral switching in the context of the fast emerging, naturally occurring online social networking, using both self-report measures and content analyses of online activities on two highly popular platforms, Facebook and Renren (the “Facebook of China”). Results showed that while Renren and Facebook are two technically similar platforms, the Renren culture is perceived as more collectivistic than the Facebook culture. …

Comparison Of Semantic And Episodic Memory Bold Fmri Activation In Predicting Cognitive Decline In Older Adults, Nathan Hantke, Kristy A. Nielson, John L. Woodard, Leslie M. Guidotti Breting, Alissa Butts, Michael Seidenberg, J. Carson Smith, Sally Durgerian, Melissa A. Lancaster, Monica Matthews, Michael Sugarman, Stephen M. Rao

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Previous studies suggest that task-activated functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can predict future cognitive decline among healthy older adults. The present fMRI study examined the relative sensitivity of semantic memory (SM) versus episodic memory (EM) activation tasks for predicting cognitive decline. Seventy-eight cognitively intact elders underwent neuropsychological testing at entry and after an 18-month interval, with participants classified as cognitively “Stable” or “Declining” based on ≥1.0 SD decline in performance. Baseline fMRI scanning involved SM (famous name discrimination) and EM (name recognition) tasks. SM and EM fMRI activation, along with Apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 status, served as predictors of cognitive …

Semantic Memory Functional Mri And Cognitive Function After Exercise Intervention In Mild Cognitive Impairment, J Carson Smith, Kristy A. Nielson, Piero Antuono, Jeri-Annette Lyons, Ryan J. Hanson, Alissa Butts, Nathan Hantke, Matthew D. Verber

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is associated with early memory loss, Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology, inefficient or ineffective neural processing, and increased risk for AD. Unfortunately, treatments aimed at improving clinical symptoms or markers of brain function generally have been of limited value. Physical exercise is often recommended for people diagnosed with MCI, primarily because of its widely reported cognitive benefits in healthy older adults. However, it is unknown if exercise actually benefits brain function during memory retrieval in MCI. Here, we examined the effects of exercise training on semantic memory activation during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Seventeen MCI participants …

The Effects Of Housing Manipulations On Wheel Running, Feeding And Body Weight In Female Rats, Angela Mastroianni

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Providing rats with running wheel access results in a short-term reduction in feeding and body weight relative to controls; known as the wheel-induced feeding suppression (WIFS). WIFS may parallel aspects of anorexia nervosa, an eating disorder that mostly affects females. Yet, most studies of WIFS and related models use male rats. The present study included female and male rats, where half were given wheel access to measure effects on feeding and body weight. Replication 1 females and Replication 2 males were in unisex housing. Replication 3 males and females were housed in same room. Rats were individually (IH) or pair …

Ogwehoweneha: A Hodinohsonih Research Methodology, Darren Thomas

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Critical pathways for the liberation of Indigenous populations will come from “re-membering” our Indigenous ways of knowing, “decolonizing” the Indigenous mind and “re-building” our Nations. Indigenizing the academy allows our original ways of knowing to create space, for Indigenous scholarship to reclaim Indigenous knowledge and reality. By visiting with Hodinǫhśǫ:nih knowledge holders, this MA thesis translates the nature of Hodinǫhśǫ:nih reality, ways of knowing, values, and methods of acquiring knowledge into an Indigenous research methodology. By the ongoing introduction of Indigenous knowledge into a theoretical positioning within the academy, creates opportunity for continued Indigenous knowledge-generation through Indigenous methodologies. Indigenous research …

The Relationship Among Career Thoughts, Optimism, And Spirituality In Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer, Levette Subraina Dames

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship of dysfunctional career thoughts, optimism, and spirituality on Bahamian women (n=212) diagnosed with breast cancer. Also, it examined how optimism mediates the relationship between spirituality and dysfunctional career thoughts. The diagnosis of breast cancer impacts women physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, financially, and in their career development. Career developmental plans and decisions are continuously being made. However, plans may become altered and decisions more difficult to make when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer as she considers returning to work. The high survival rate of breast cancer patients indicates women may continue to work after …

Predicting Tablet Computer Use: An Extended Technology Acceptance Model, Adam J. Ducey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While information technology has rapidly changed work in the United States in the past 50 years, some businesses and industries have been slow to adopt new technologies. Healthcare is one industry that has lagged behind in information technology investment for a variety of reasons. Recent federal initiatives to encourage IT adoption in the healthcare industry provide an ideal context to study factors that influence technology acceptance. Data from 261 practicing pediatricians were collected to evaluate an extended Technology Acceptance Model. Results indicated that individual (i.e., perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use), organizational (i.e., subjective norm), and device (i.e., compatibility, reliability) …

Illegitimate Tasks And Employee Well-Being: A Daily Diary Study, Erin Eatough

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on an occupational stressor that has been recently introduced to the literature, illegitimate tasks, or tasks that seem unreasonable or unnecessary at work. Previous work has demonstrated the relationship between illegitimate tasks and a narrow set of discrete emotions as well as negative employee performance behaviors. The current research contributes to the literature by expanding the nomological network associated with illegitimate tasks and uses a rigorous daily diary methodology in a full-time working sample. It was expected that illegitimate tasks reduce state levels of self-esteem as well as other employee well-being indicators including anger, depressive mood, fatigue, …

Embodying Social Practice: Dynamically Co-Constituting Social Agency, Brian W. Dunst

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Theories of cognition and theories of social practices and institutions have often each separately acknowledged the relevance of the other; but seldom have there been consistent and sustained attempts to synthesize these two areas within one explanatory framework. This is precisely what my dissertation aims to remedy. I propose that certain recent developments and themes in philosophy of mind and cognitive science, when understood in the right way, can explain the emergence and dynamics of social practices and institutions. Likewise, the view I construct explains how social practices and institutions shape the character of cognition of their constituent agents. Moreover, …

Self-Concept Clarity And Self-Esteem In Adolescence: Associations With Psychological, Behavioral, And Academic Adjustment, Danielle Findley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-concept clarity reflects the consistency or structure of self-concepts, and is distinct yet related to self-esteem or valence of feelings towards the self. However, research on self-concept clarity is novel and mostly conducted in adults only; studies on self-concept clarity in adolescence are limited. In the present study, self-concept clarity was examined as a related yet distinct construct from self-esteem in middle school. Factor structure and criterion validity of self-concept clarity and self-esteem was established by using factor analysis and examining associations with self- and teacher-reported psychological, behavioral, and academic indices of adjustment. Moreover, mean level gender, grade, and ethnic …

The Effects Of Temporal Preparation On Reaction Time, Glen Robert Forester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When responding to external stimuli, preparation reduces Reaction Time (RT). One form of preparation known as temporal preparation results from advance knowledge about when a stimulus will appear. We used Event Related Potentials to investigate how increasing temporal preparation decreases RT during a speeded, choice RT task by manipulating temporal preparation within subjects. In order to determine which cognitive processes are speeded, the latencies of the Lateralized Readiness Potential (LRP) and P300 were examined across two levels of temporal preparation. In line with previous research the stimulus locked LRP, but not the response locked LRP, was speeded when temporal preparation …

The Effects Of Caloric Preload And Dietary Restraint On Smoking And Eating Behavior, Michelle Kovacs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Rates of smoking are elevated in eating-disordered populations, especially among females (Pomerleau & Snedecor, 2008; Klesges & Klesges, 1988). Restrained eaters ignore physiological cues of satiation and hunger, and instead attempt to employ cognitive control over decisions to eat. Additionally, they are prone to eat in a disinhibited manner after a salient emotional or food cue interrupts their restraint. This eating style is also associated with increased rates of smoking compared with the general population. Although there is a great deal of literature on the relationship between smoking and eating, the role of eating in momentary decisions regarding smoking …

Detecting Aberrant Responding On Unidimensional Pairwise Preference Tests: An Application Of Based On The Zinnes Griggs Ideal Point Irt Model, Philseok Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the efficacy of the lz person fit statistic for detecting aberrant responding with unidimensional pairwise preference (UPP) measures, constructed and scored based on the Zinnes-Griggs (ZG, 1974) IRT model, which has been used for a variety of recent noncognitive testing applications. Because UPP measures are used to collect both "self-" and "other-" reports, I explored the capability of lz to detect two of the most common and potentially detrimental response sets, namely fake good and random responding. The effectiveness of lz was studied using empirical and theoretical critical values for classification, along with test length, test information, …

A Child Distracted: Understanding The Relationship Between Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder And Subjective Well-Being, Joshua M. Nadeau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a commonly diagnosed mental health condition among children and adolescents, with studies suggesting that OCD has the potential for significant disruption of academic and social performance. Subjective well-being (SWB) represents a non-traditional conceptualization of mental health within the dual factor model, wherein SWB and measures of psychopathology (e.g., problematic levels of internalizing and externalizing behaviors) provide a more comprehensive picture of mental wellness. The current study examined the nature of the relationship between clinical characteristics of pediatric OCD and SWB within school-age youth (N=65) seeking treatment from an outpatient pediatric neuropsychiatric clinic. Additionally, the potential …

Pharmacological Versus Social Alcohol Expectancies: Making An Important Distinction Between The Anticipated Rewarding Effects Of Alcohol, Megan Victoria Mcmurray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite over 30 years of research investigating alcohol expectancies, they have never been examined in terms of the anticipated pharmacological versus social rewards resulting from alcohol consumption, and both appear to play a central role in drinking motivation and behavior. The purpose of this study was to develop a two-dimensional instrument designed to assess both the pharmacological alcohol expectancies of pleasurable, internal states that result from alcohol consumption, as well as the social expectancies that drinking alcohol will result in higher social status and increased effectiveness in social situations. This measure, called the Pharmacological and Social Alcohol Expectancy Scale (PSAES), …

Psychological Distance: The Relation Between Construals, Mindsets, And Professional Skepticism, Jason Rasso

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine the influence of construals (interpretations) and mindsets on professional skepticism in auditors. Auditors have been criticized lately for not displaying enough professional skepticism, particularly in their audits of complex estimates (PCAOB 2008). Regulators speculate about and academic research shows a correlation between low professional skepticism and both audit failures and audit malpractice claims (Beasley et al. 2001; Anderson and Wolfe 2002). I hypothesize that prolonging the deliberative mindset in the audit judgment and decision-making process can increase professional skepticism in auditors.

Experienced auditors take part in a 1 x 3 between-participants experiment in which they …

The Development And Validation Of The Physical Appearance Comparison Scale-Revised (Pacs-R), Lauren M. Schaefer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Physical Appearance Comparison Scale (PACS; Thompson, Heinberg, & Tantleff, 1991) is a widely used 5-item measure that assesses an overall tendency to compare one's own appearance to the appearance of others in social situations. Research using the PACS and other measures of appearance comparison has shown this construct to be related to higher levels of body dissatisfaction and eating pathology. However, the measure is limited in that it only assesses comparison tendencies within a narrow range of social contexts and body sites. In the current investigation, the PACS was revised to examine a broader range of social contexts (e.g., …

Blending Work And School: Positives And Negatives Of The Interface, Neha Singla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study draws from the extensive research on work and family, and examined a model of the antecedents and outcomes of work-school conflict and work-school facilitation. As an extension of previous research on the work-school interface, the purpose of this study is two-fold. First, this study aimed to examine the impact of conflict and facilitation on personal health. Second, the study set out to investigate the role of emotional support from friends and family, and self-efficacy as moderators. Data were obtained from 329 full-time students who were also employed part-time. The model was tested using structural equation modeling techniques. One …

Source Memory And Generation Effects In Parkinson's Disease, Lynn Elizabeth Oelke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of this study was to investigate source memory performance in individuals diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD). The secondary goal was to explore how memory was impacted when subjects were asked to generate responses during encoding. Fifty idiopathic PD patients and fifty healthy control subjects completed a task measuring item memory and source memory which also included a generation manipulation. Relative to controls, PD patients exhibited deficits in source memory but not item memory. Both groups demonstrated enhanced memory performance in the generative condition of the item memory task. The PD group displayed a marginally significant trend toward …

Interdisciplinary Collaboration For Youth Mental Health: A National Study, Audra St. John Walsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Collaboration between school- and community-based mental health professionals has the potential to result in early identification of and intervention for youth with mental health problems; however, the limited research in this area suggests that collaboration does not often occur between these professionals (Walsh, 2011). The purpose of this investigation was to collect survey data from a national sample of school psychologists in order to examine the collaborative practices of school psychologists and community-based mental health professionals on behalf of youth with mental health problems. Survey data from 327 members of 11 professional state organizations of school psychology were collected and …

The Effect Of Visual Search And Audio-Visual Entrainment On Episodic Memory, Holly Anne Westfall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that larger context effects are observed when participants are required to search a scene in order to find the to-be-remembered stimuli. Similarly, animal research on brain oscillations has shown theta wave activation when animals are searching their environment. These theta wave oscillations are positively correlated with learning. However, theta activation can also occur in response to sensory stimulation, for example, auditory stimulation with binaural beats or visual stimulation with a checkerboard pattern reversal. The results of several studies suggest that while a visual search task seems to reliably improve free recall performance, the effects of passive sensory …

Reaction Formation And Homophobia: An Erp Examination, Krista Grace Yakub

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Homophobia in men may be, in part, due to reaction formation rooted in unacceptable same-sex attraction. Previous studies have not confirmed a covert same-sex attraction in homophobic men, which is necessary for a reaction formation theory of homophobia. This study sought to reveal possible covert same-sex attraction in homophobic men. In this study, heterosexual and homosexual male erotic images were presented in a passive S1/S2 stimulus prediction design to 48 self-identified heterosexual participants, grouped by homophobia. Three event-related potential responses related to valenced emotional processing were examined: the medial frontal negativity (MFN), the late positive potential (LPP), and the positive …

Motivational Interviewing To Promote Physical Activity In Breast Cancer Survivors, Yasmin Asvat Patel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Despite documented health benefits, most breast cancer survivors (BCS) do not meet physical activity (PA) guidelines. Hence, evaluating diverse intervention approaches to promote PA in BCS is imperative. Motivational Interviewing (MI) offers a non-prescriptive, client-centered approach to PA promotion that has not been adequately evaluated in BCS. In this randomized-controlled trial, 66 Stage 0-IIIa BCS within three years post-treatment, insufficiently active and contemplating increasing PA were randomly assigned to a MI intervention or an active control condition. The MI intervention implemented motivational and behavior change strategies consistent with MI principles. The active control condition provided education and prescriptive recommendations …

An Investigation Of Ocb Demands And Workplace Behaviors, Jeremy Allen Bauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The current study investigated the relationship between demands for organizational citizenship behaviors and future displays of organizational citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors. Such demands are conceptualized as workplace conditions that make it difficult for employees to complete their job (i.e., organizational constraints), performance failures of coworkers such as incomplete or incorrectly done tasks (i.e., coworker failure) and direct or indirect request from the supervisors to commit more organizational citizenship behaviors (i.e., supervisor pressure). Additionally, the effect of negative affectivity, hostile attribution bias, attributions of blame, and target specific scales of workplace behaviors were investigated. The design of the current …

A Model Of Positive Sequential Dependencies In Judgments Of Frequency, Jeffrey Scott Annis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Positive sequential dependencies occur when the response on the current trial n is positively correlated with the response on trial n-1. This was recently observed in a Judgment of Frequency (JOF) task (Malmberg and Annis, 2011). A model of positive sequential dependencies was developed in the REM framework (Shiffrin & Steyvers, 1997) by assuming that features that represent the current test item in a retrieval cue carry over from the previous retrieval cue. To assess the model, we sought a set of data that allows us to distinguish between frequency similarity and item similarity. Therefore, we chose to use a …

Middle And High School Predictors Of Off-Track Status In Early Warning Systems, Amber Brundage

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is important to identify students at-risk for school non-completion as early as possible. Research has demonstrated that data sources such as teacher nomination and individual demographic characteristics are less accurate identification methods of students who are at-risk for not graduating on-time. Instead, the use of early warning systems (EWS) based upon research validated indicators that reliably identify students who are Off-track, or at-risk for not graduating on-time, has been a promising approach. Questions remain though about the relationship of Off-track Status at an earlier time point to Off-track Status at a later time point as well as the relationship …

The Effect Of Hostile And Benevolent Sexism On Women's Cardiovascular Reactivity To And Recovery From A Laboratory Stressor, Kaleena Dennielle Burgess

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hostile sexism is the antipathetic expression of sexism, in which men are antagonistic towards women who threaten their superiority. Benevolent sexism is the patriarchal expression of sexism, where men express protective, yet restrictive, attitudes towards women. Both forms of sexism originate from the view that women are inferior, frail, and only suited for nurturing or domestic responsibilities. Benevolent sexism may be more harmful to women because coping is thwarted by observers' underestimation of its effects (Bosson, Pinel, & Vandello, 2009). The present study aimed to examine women's responses to and recovery from hostile and benevolent sexism utilizing measures of cardiovascular …