Psychology Commons^™

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Cognitive-Behavioral Program For The Prevention Of Depression In Adolescents Compared To Nonspecific And No-Intervention Control Conditions., Patrick Pössel, Nina C. Martin, Judy Garber, Martin Hautzinger

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Adolescent depression is a common and recurrent disorder associated with significant impairment and other forms of psychopathology. Finding an effective intervention that prevents depression in adolescents is an important public health priority. Participants were 518 high school students (mean age = 15.09; SD = 0.76) from the mid-south of the United States. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: a cognitive-behavioral program (CB; n = 166), nonspecific control (NSp; n = 175), or a no-intervention control condition (NIC; n = 177). Both the CB and NSp conditions consisted of 90-minute sessions administered once a week over a 10-week …

How Counselors Are Trained To Work With Bisexual Clients In Cacrep-Accredited Programs, Laurie Anne Bonjo

Theses and Dissertations in Early Childhood Education

In spite of recent progress toward addressing the need for cultural competence with lesbian and gay-identified clients, bisexual-identified clients continue to be marginalized in the principles, theories, and methods of studying sexuality as well as in the training provided by counselor educators. A descriptive content analysis was conducted to determine what is currently taught about bisexuality and bisexual-identified clients in CACREP-accredited counseling programs. Instructors teaching multicultural counseling in CACREP-accredited programs were asked to provide syllabi, as well as information on textbooks and supplemental materials. Combining constructionism with queer theory and elements of post-positivism, I explore the magnitude to which bisexuality …

Experiences Of Resident Assistants With Potentially Suicidal Students: Identification, Referral, And Expectations, Katherine M. Bender

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Resident Assistants (RAs), living on campus and tasked with advising students while keeping them safe, are in a position to identify and refer students who may be at risk for suicide or other mental health issues. This study examined RA ability to identify students at risk for suicide, RA comfort in working with students at risk for suicide, RA actions taken when working with students who may be at risk for suicide, and RA expectations for shared information about students the RAs have referred for counseling because they may be at risk for suicide. The study found that RAs report …

Six Thinking Hats In The Library, Sandra Barclay, Linda Golian-Lui, Ariel Turner

Faculty Articles

No abstract is currently available.

Learning To Change In Autism, Tiffani Newton, Dr. Mikle South

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The autism spectrum disorders (ASD) include a collection of severe neurodevelopmental symptoms related to social interaction and communication. In addition to these core symptoms, co-occurring anxiety is seen in up to 70% of diagnosed individuals (Reaven, 2010). Anxiety-inducing situations for ASD individuals include changes to the environment or daily routines. Difficulties responding to such changes may lead to debilitating and negative consequences for ASD children and their families. Understanding the mechanisms that lead to such difficulties may improve the specificity of treatment for these symptoms.

Multiple Sclerosis And Brain Waves: Degree Of Impact, Tyler Nickle, Dr. Ramona Hopkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. Studies show that 40-70% of individuals with MS have cognitive impairments in memory, executive functioning, attention, and processing speed (Rogers and Panegyres, 2007). Quantitative Electroencephalographic peak alpha frequency (PAF) is used to measure physiological markers of cognitive performance between healthy and clinical individuals. High peak alpha frequency is a measurement of spectral density within 8-12 Hz and has been associated with cognitive preparedness and may be an indicator of cognitive functioning (Angelakis and Lubar, 2004). This project attempts to describe the relationship between Quantitative Electroencephalographic (qEEG) peak alpha, …

Predicting Alcoholism Through Individual Temperament, Bobbi Padro, Dr. James Higley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to determine a correlation between the temperament of rhesus macaques and the amount of alcohol they consume. This project looked specifically at 16 juvenile rhesus macaques. Each juvenile had been tested to determine its temperament through the Biobehavioral Assessment (BBA) at the University of California Davis collected by Dr. John Captianio. The BBA data is collected while subjects are infants. Half of the monkeys tested were determined to have high anxiety and the other half low anxiety. Determining whether a correlation exists between temperament and alcohol consumption can help intervention programs and preventative programs …

A Qualitative Inquiry Into The Treatment Experience Of Adolescent Females In A Relationally Based Therapeutic Boarding School, Douglas S. Marchant

Theses and Dissertations

Individualism, the assumption that persons are self-contained and primarily act for the sake of the self, is prevalent in American culture and has arguably perpetuated numerous psychological and societal ills. Relationality, the assumption that persons are always and inextricably constituted by relationships, has been posited as a philosophical and practical alternative to individualist culture. Several scholars, both inside and outside of psychology, have developed relational concepts and practices, including some who have elucidated a relational approach to psychotherapy (e.g., Slife and Wiggins, 2009). This study examines the implications and effects of this therapeutic approach, particularly exploring relationality's therapeutic success in …

Behavioral Analysis Of Anxiety In Autism, Megan Christensen, Dr. Mikle South

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Autism is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and communication. Anxiety is also an extremely common feature with approximately 81% of children diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder also qualified for at least one other anxiety disorder (Amaral et al., 2003). Amaral et al. (2003) have shown that monkeys with bilateral amygdala damage lack of fear in typically threatening social situations. Blanchard et al. (2001) have shown that humans react to hypothetical fearful scenarios in much the same way that rats do in actual threatening situations, i.e. “freezing” or run away depending on the level of danger.

Does Marriage Therapy Improve Health?, David Marsh, Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of marital quality on certain cardiovascular health risks, including diabetes, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels. Relationships, including that of marriage, have long since been known to correlate with these physiological markers (Wickrama, 1997). Our study, however, is different, as it is the first study to include a marriage therapy intervention. This type of study carries with it more weight than just a correlation study, but obviously brings with it more difficulty. We are in the final stages of gathering data. We have studied more than 210 participants and anticipate being …

Concepts Of Divine Action For A Theistic Approach To Psychology, Brent S. Melling

Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen increased interest in using theism (the perspective that assumes that God is currently actively in the world) as a conceptual framework for scientific inquiry. This interest has built particular momentum in psychology where several scholars have expressed that traditional naturalistic approaches limit understanding and investigation of psychology's subject matter and thus are insufficient to fully account for human phenomena. Others have previously made the case for the consideration of theism as a legitimate alternative basis for psychological theory, research, and practice. This dissertation begins with that consideration and examines what would be required to move a …

Genetic And Neurophysiology Correlates In Autism, Nathan Jamison, Dr. Mikle South

Journal of Undergraduate Research

My ORCA research project was presented as a poster at the annual International Meeting For Autism Research (IMFAR) in San Diego on May, 2011, under the name, “Candidate Gene Associations with Performance Monitoring of Others in Autism.” I am currently working with my mentor, Mikle South, to determine the feasibility of publishing this work in a scientific journal. The remainder of this report is taken largely from the poster presented at IMFAR.

Effects Of Vta Gaba Lesions On Intracranial Self-Stimulation, David Hedges, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my ORCA research was to better understand the neural circuitry behind addiction. It is well known that the mesocorticolimbic pathway in the brain is involved with addictions. This pathway consists of dopaminergic neurons originating in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) projecting to the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) through the median forebrain bundle (MFB) and the internal capsule (IC). The firing of these dopamine neurons is in part regulated by γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in the VTA. It was on this specific GABA population that my research was focused. It was my hypothesis that animals treated with Dermorphin saporin …

Dentate Gyrus Volume And Memory Strength In Older Adults, J. Andrew Hartshorn, Dr. Brock Kirwan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I began work in the BYU Memory and Cognition Lab in the fall of 2009. Under the direction of Dr. Kirwan I was fortunate enough to be involved in a variety of projects using different testing methodologies. My first project examined the ability of people to distinguish between similar memories (pattern separation). A subsequent study utilized EEG tests to determine subjects’ abilities to rate the confidence of their memories of presented words.

Effects Of Acute And Chronic Ethanol On Gaba Inhibition Of Vta Gaba Neurons, Brett Larsen, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Alcohol addiction is becoming increasingly prevalent in our world today, but the mechanisms underlying alcohol addiction are unknown. We do know; however, that the gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area (VTA) of the brain are specifically involved in addiction. These GABA neurons have a constant inhibition from other cells in the brain, and it is this inhibition that I am specifically studying. The term used to represent the inhibition from other cells is spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents (sIPSCs). By looking at the sIPSCs on a VTA GABA neuron in response to alcohol administration, I was able discover …

The Effects Of Apathy And Psychomotor Slowing On Performance Monitoring In Depression, Ann Clawson, Dr. Michael Larson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a complex mood disorder characterized by negative affect, psychomotor slowing, heightened levels of apathy, and a variety of cognitive deficits (Austin, Mitchell, & Goodwin, 2001). These characteristic symptoms putatively reflect underlying neurological irregularities, such as aberrant connectivity and decreased blood flow to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and prefrontal cortex—areas involved in cognitive control. Specifically, these areas regulate performance monitoring, part of the cognitive control process used to detect errors and adjust performance (Taylor, Stern, & Gehring, 2007; Videbech, 2000). Psychomotor retardation and increased levels of apathy may alter motivation to monitor and correct errors, …

Educating The Professional Engineer Of 2020: The Changing Licensure Requirements, Susan L. Murray, Terri M. Lynch-Caris

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Engineering education programs would be well served to align their curricula and program outcomes to the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) Exam and Professional Engineer (PE) Exam specifications. These exams are required steps in the process of becoming a licensed engineer in most states. NCEES (the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing professional licensure for engineers and surveyors. It develops, administers, and scores these examinations used for engineering licensure. Starting in 2011, NCEES held survey-creation meetings with diverse teams to develop a draft survey containing the subjects in each discipline and …

Electronic Flashcards As A Tool To Improve Exam Readiness, Susan L. Murray, Julie Phelps

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Many college classes have basic information that must be learned before students can master the more complex application and analysis of advanced ideas in the class. Students often struggle with identifying and learning these facts, terms, and principles. This paper reports on a project that evaluated the use of electronic flashcards in two undergraduate engineering classes. The study materials (online flashcards) were developed in conjunction with the university's Educational Technology Office.

Effects Of Ethanol On Gaba Neuron Activity In The Ventral Tegmental Area Of Mice: Role Of Gaba(A) Receptor, Robert Cohoon, Dr. Scott Steffensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The rationale for this study was predicated on the belief that advancement in the understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying the recreational use and abuse potential of drugs will pave the way for more effective treatment strategies that would save lives and resources throughout the world.

Biological Markers Of Cognition And Error-Detection, Nicholas Edwards, Dawson Hedges

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of my project was to find factors that might be predictive of cognitive deficits in a college age group of people. After discussing the topic with my mentor, Dawson Hedges, we chose a few broad categories, including family health history, demographics, education, and psychological history. Once we had decided upon these topics, I began looking through the literature to see what questions people had already asked.

Are All Types Of Expertise Created Equal? Car Experts Use Different Spatial Frequency Scales For Subordinate Categorization Of Cars And Faces, Assaf Harel, Shlomo Bentin

Psychology Faculty Publications

A much-debated question in object recognition is whether expertise for faces and expertise for non-face objects utilize common perceptual information. We investigated this issue by assessing the diagnostic information required for different types of expertise. Specifically, we asked whether face categorization and expert car categorization at the subordinate level relies on the same spatial frequency (SF) scales. Fifteen car experts and fifteen novices performed a category verification task with spatially filtered images of faces, cars, and airplanes. Images were categorized based on their basic (e.g. ‘‘car’’) and subordinate level (e.g. ‘‘Japanese car’’) identity. The effect of expertise was not evident …

Bullying In New Jersey: What Has Been Done And What Is Going On, Sarah Larsen

Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated the new HIB (Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying) legislation as part of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act for New Jersey public schools in regard to students' perceptions of severity of cyber, relational, physical and non-bulllying scenarios. The study also observed students' ability to identify non-bullying scenarios from bullying scenarios since the revisions were made in 2011. Gender and size of high school the students graduated from were also accounted for. Results of the study were obtained via a two-part survey completed by college students (n = 80). The first section asked for background information such as …

The Effects Of Religious Fundamentalism And Threat On Prejudice, Theta P. Gribbins

Dissertations

The study investigated the relation of religious fundamentalism (RF) and prejudice in the presence of two threat conditions: epistemic uncertainty, introduced via threat to beliefs, and existential threat, presented through mortality salience induction. A model of RF as a belief system adopted to manage uncertainty and threat was also presented. Participants were 396 undergraduates, 192 of whom met inclusion requirements. RF was significantly related to prejudice toward women, toward homosexual individuals, and toward other religions, the latter relationship being strongest. No significant effects for threat condition were found. Results indicate that the uncertainty and/or threat introduced by the target groups …

Empowerment-Based Positive Youth Development: A New Understanding Of Healthy Development For African American Youth, Raphael Travis Jr., Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

A shift occurred in research about adolescents in the general population. Research is moving away from deficits toward a resilience paradigm and understanding trajectories of positive youth development. This shift has been less consistent in research and practice with African American youth. A gap also exists in understanding whether individual youth development dimensions generate potential in other dimensions. This study presents an empowerment-based positive youth development model. It builds upon existing research to present a new vision of healthy development for African American youth that is strengths-based, developmental, culture-bound, and action-oriented. It emphasizes the relationship between person and environment, the …

Lesions Of The Intergeniculate Leaflet Lead To A Reorganization In Circadian Regulation And A Reversal In Masking Responses To Photic Stimuli In The Nile Grass Rat, Andrew J. Gall, Laura Smale, Lily Yan, Antonio A. Nunez

Faculty Publications

Light influences the daily patterning of behavior by entraining circadian rhythms and through its acute effects on activity levels (masking). Mechanisms of entrainment are quite similar across species, but masking can be very different. Specifically, in diurnal species, light generally increases locomotor activity (positive masking), and in nocturnal ones, it generally suppresses it (negative masking). The intergeniculate leaflet (IGL), a subdivision of the lateral geniculate complex, receives direct retinal input and is reciprocally connected with the primary circadian clock, the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Here, we evaluated the influence of the IGL on masking and the circadian system in a diurnal …

Client Experiencing In Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment For Eating Disorders, James William Vandyke

Theses and Dissertations

Depth of client experiencing has been associated with positive therapeutic outcomes across theoretical orientations. Experiencing describes a particular mode of cognitive-affective processing in which clients use internal felt experience as the basis for self-examination and the resolution of personally significant issues. Given evidence that eating disorders are associated with particular disruptions of cognitive-affective processing, it is likely that experiencing plays a role in the successful treatment of eating pathology. However, no study to date has examined the relationship between experiencing and outcome in eating disorder treatment. The purposes of the current study were to examine depth of client experiencing during …

Fatigue And Sleep Disturbance Related To Perceived Stress In Chinese Hiv-Positive Individuals: A Mixed Methods Study, Wei-Ti Chen, Cheng-Shi Shiu, Joyce Yang, Shih-Yu Lee, Tony Szu-Hsien Lee, Jane M. Simoni, Mei-Juan Bao, Hong-Zhou Lu

Psychology

Background

Few studies of HIV+ individuals in China have examined the associations between HIV-related stress with sleep disturbance and fatigue, which are common complaints among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). We carried out this study to examine the relationships among perceived stress, sleep disturbance, and fatigue in PLWHA in China.

Methods

A mixed methods study design was used during data collection in Shanghai, China, from December 2009 to March 2010. Qualitative in-depth interviews were conducted with 19 HIV+ females. Additionally, cross-sectional audio computer-assisted self-interviews (ACASI) were conducted to collect quantitative data from a convenience sample of 107 HIV+ patients (84% …

Reflection Of Self: Ageism And The Body, Jasmin Tahmaseb-Mcconatha

Psychology Faculty Publications

Cultural body ideals are often elusive and unattainable, especially with age. Aging bodies can can become a symbol of despair leading to anxiety and unhappiness. We negotiate our identities through our bodies.

An Exploratory Investigation Of The Alcoholics Anonymous Sponsor: Qualities, Characteristics, And Their Perceived Importance, Ed Stevens

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Sponsorship is considered a critical element of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) recovery paradigm. Adult individuals (Mean age = 41.0 years) participated in a study to investigate the qualities and characteristics that make for an effective sponsor. These individuals (N = 231) had either experience as a sponsee or had been sponsors (n = 109). The study included three major analytical tasks: a qualitative open ended question on characteristics, a choice and ranking exercise of 20 attributes, and a conjoint analysis of hypothetical sponsors differing on five attributes across three levels. Results suggest current engagement in AA is the most critical …

Brain Structures Associated With Temperament And Social Behavior In Rhesus Monkeys: An Mri Study, Andrew C. Chaffin

Theses and Dissertations

Temperament is thought to be the foundation for normative personality and subsequent behaviors later in life. To assess the relationship of early temperament with variation in structural brain development, this study examined rhesus macaque mother-infant behavior, and then three years later, used MRI to assess neurostructural differences. Individual differences in mother-infant interactions and emotionality were then linked to brain differences. Extensive behavioral data obtained over the first year of life under both resting and stressful conditions was used to assess the quality of mother-infant interactions and emotionality. The MRI focused on brain volume in areas thought to be related to …