Psychology Commons^™

Psychological Traits Affecting Both Cultural Adaptation And Foreign Language Acquisition, Timothy Dean Keeley

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

This empirical study goes a long way in determining the psychometric variables that predict individual differences in terms of the degree of success in both cultural adaptation and foreign language acquisition (FLA). Ever since Schumann (1978) introduced his Acculturation Model, the most well-known attempt to link cultural adaptation with FLA, a number of empirical studies have sought to determine these psychometric variables with mixed results due to the wide variation in the research methodologies applied in terms of learning targets, achievement measures, types of treatment, etc. (D.rnyei, 2005). This study overcomes the weaknesses of many previous studies. The experiment involved …

Characteristics Of The Country Of Origin And Immigrant Children’S Psychological And Sociocultural School Adjustment, Maja K. Schachner, Friedrich Schiller, Fons J. R. Van De Vijver, Peter Noack

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

In many Western countries, immigrant children lag behind their native peers in educational attainment, yet there appear to be systematic differences between immigrant groups. We set out to examine (1) if these differential outcomes can be linked to group specific acculturation patterns, following similar processes to those observed at individual level; and (2) to what extent characteristics of the country of origin could help to explain differences in the acculturation process and school adjustment of immigrant children in Germany. In particular, we investigated country-level relationships between children’s acculturation conditions (e.g., perceived parental acculturation expectations and cultural practices in the family), …

Not Just Welfare Over Justice: Ethics In Forensic Consultation, Philip J. Candilis, Tess M. S. Neal

University of Nebraska Public Policy Center: Publications

The ethics of forensic professionalism is often couched in terms of competing individual and societal values. Indeed, the welfare of individuals is often secondary to the requirements of society, especially given the public nature of courts of law, forensic hospitals, jails, and prisons. We explore the weaknesses of this dichotomous approach to forensic ethics, offering an analysis of Psychology’s historical narrative especially relevant to the national security and correctional settings. We contend that a richer, more robust ethical analysis is available if practitioners consider the multiple perspectives in the forensic encounter, and acknowledge the multiple influences of personal, professional, and …

The Juvenile Adjudicative Competence Interview (Jaci): Current Usage In Juvenile Competence To Stand Trial Evaluations, Jenna Tomei, Nancy R. Panza

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

No abstract provided.

Discipline And The Pipeline To The 'Pen': A Proposal For Change, Sharlette A. Kellum-Gilbert

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

No abstract provided.

Mississippi Juveniles Adjudicated As Adults And Held In Adult Jails: The Perspective Of The County Sheriff, Susan M. Hilal, Deborah A. Eckberg, Thomas Osowski

Contemporary Issues in Juvenile Justice

No abstract provided.

Women Struggle To Reach The Top: Gender Disparities In The Workplace, Shannon E. Doherty

Departmental Honors Projects

Abstract

The study examined the degree to which gender role expectations, anticipated role conflict and same-gendered role models are related to women’s career centrality. It was predicted that women who adhere more to male norms than female norms will indicate more career centrality than women who adhere more to female norms; women who anticipate less work-family conflict will indicate more career centrality; women will identify female role models more often than male role models; and women who identify female role models will report those individuals to have a higher degree of impact on their career centrality. There were 97 students …

Peers, Parent-Child Conflict, And Familial History In The Prediction Of Substance Use In College, Angela M. Holth

Departmental Honors Projects

Using a cross-sectional study design, we examined whether peer relationships, parent-child conflict and family history of substance problems predicted substance use (frequency and quantify of alcohol, nicotine and marijuana use, age at first and alcohol and marijuana use, and maximum number of drinks consumed in a 24 hour period) in a sample of college students (N=194). Our findings suggested the following: 1) deviant peers and deviant substance using peers were significantly related to increases in all substance use measures, and a decrease in age at first alcohol, use but not age at first marijuana use. 2) there were no gender …

Together Building Imagination, Tbi Re-Defined: The Effects Of Theater On People With A Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Marcelline Gangl

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

This study investigates the use of theater as a rehabilitation tool for people who have suffered a mild Traumatic Brian Injury (TBI). In this study, two middle aged women agreed to participate in theater workshops once-a-week for a 5 week period. The workshops focused on different areas of communication: eye contact, movement, spontaneity, creativity, diction, and volume of voice. Based on research done on how a TBI affects an individual, it was found that individuals who are living with a TBI say that they have a loss of socialization skills, a loss of social support and a feeling of being …

Using The World As A Stage To Benefit Refugees, Rose L. Gangl

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

The present study looked at whether theatre could be used as a successful intervention for refugees living in the United States. Using Boal’s (1985) Theatre of the Oppressed model, Karen refugees from Laos and Thailand, now living in Minnesota completed a four day workshop. Before and after the theatre workshop the participants were tested on overall well-being (self-esteem and mood), creativity, and English language abilities. Significant improvements were found for overall well-being. In addition, the workshops were shown to have the greatest impact on those who had a lower English language ability to start. Overall, theatre appears to be a …

The Jury Process: Racial Bias, Extraversion, Leadership, & Sex, Amanda Nusbaum

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

This study explored the interactions between individuals’ attitudes and group dynamics during the jury deliberation process. More specifically, whether implicit racial bias are correlated with pre-deliberation decision of innocence and which factors contribute to an individual’s tendency to take on a leadership role in a mock jury setting. 10 mock juries, consisting of groups of 4 White undergraduate students, participated in this experiment. Each participant completed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) and a self-report survey to examine racial bias, a self-report personality survey to examine extraversion, and then participated in a mock jury deliberation. Results showed that implicit racial bias …

Are We More Racist Than We Think? Recognition Of Racism And Racial Microaggressions, Lydia Ricard

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Racism is discriminatory behavior rooted in history and fostered by institutional power. Current theory and research posits that different types of racism have developed over time, such as overt, implicit, symbolic, and aversive racism. The concept of racial microagressions has developed from these theories. Microaggressions are defined by Sue (2010) as subtle and commonplace environmental, verbal, and behavioral indignities that convey negative, hostile, or derogative slights toward people of color. This study examines the ability to recognize racism, as well as relationships between the ability to recognize racism and factors of White privilege awareness, attitudes toward diversity, and ability to …

The Interaction Effects Of Aspects Of The Self On Mental Health In College Students, Elizabeth E. Peichel

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction effect of the personality traits of shyness and social support and identity style on the mental health issues of rumination, anxiety, and identity distress. I distributed surveys to a convenience sample of 188 college-age students at two single-sex, rural, Catholic schools. Although there were no three-way interaction effects of the variables as they relate to rumination, anxiety, and identity distress as hypothesized, there was a two-way interaction effect of shyness and social support of friends as they relate to rumination. Low shy individuals with high social support demonstrate lower rumination …

Birds Of A Feather: The Effect Of Negatively And Positively Valenced Similarities On Compliance, Hayley Van Gelder

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Previous research has shown that individuals have a tendency to prefer things and people related to themselves. I conducted a lab experiment to replicate previous findings in that individuals who believed they shared a similarity with someone would be more likely to comply with a request from that person, as well as show more feelings of liking towards that person. Additionally, the study sought to investigate if sharing a positively-valenced or negatively-valenced similarity with the requestor would affect the likelihood of individuals to comply with the request and the amount of liking felt towards the requestor. Although the manipulations of …

Effects Of Memantine And One-On-One Caregiver Contact On Antipsychotic Medication Prescribed To Elderly Veterans With Dementia, Abimbola Farinde

Presidential Alumni Research Dissemination Award

The reduction of antipsychotic medications for elderly patients diagnosed with dementia is an important goal for treatment because of the negative side effects and increased mortality risk associated with these drugs. Prior research has suggested the benefit of adding one-on-one caregiver intervention and memantine to a cholinesterase inhibitor protocol to reduce the amount of antipsychotic medication. This research examined the differences between these treatment protocols (cholinesterase inhibitor only and combination therapy) on antipsychotic drug dosage prescribed to 98 elderly male veteran outpatients with dementia. The theoretical foundations for this study are based on the neurochemical model, related to the cholingeric …

Mental Health Help Seeking Among Filipinos: A Review Of The Literature, Antover P. Tuliao

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

This study aims to provide a review of potential barriers to seeking mental health services among Filipinos. Research on help-seeking behavior s among Filipinos living in the Philippines and other countries (e.g., US, Canada, and Australia) suggest that mental health services in the Philippines are inaccessible and monetarily prohibitive, and beliefs about the aetiology and nature of mental illness are inconsistent with the medical model. Other cultural variables such as shame, stigma, and collectivist beliefs also discourage Filipinos from seeking help from mental health professionals. Furthermore, these variables could account for the preference for folk healers and lay networks in …

Pain Medication Management Processes Used By Oncology Outpatients And Family Caregivers Part Ii: Home And Lifestyle Contexts, Karen Schumacher, Vicki L. Plano Clark, Claudia M. West, Marylin J. Dodd, Michael W. Rabow, Christine Miaskowski

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Context—Despite the increasing complexity of medication regimens for persistent cancer pain, little is known about how oncology outpatients and their family caregivers manage pain medications at home. Objectives—To describe the day-to-day management of pain medications from the perspectives of oncology outpatients and their family caregivers who participated in a randomized clinical trial (RCT) of a psycho-educational intervention called the Pro-Self © Plus Pain Control Program. In this article, we focus on pain medication management in the context of highly individualized home environments and lifestyles. Methods—This qualitative study was conducted as part of a RCT in which an …

An Examination Of The Effectiveness Of The Louisiana Gear Up Program In Promoting Self-Efficacy, Improving Academic Achievement And Increasing Teachers' Aspirations For Their Students, Candi Hill

Doctoral Dissertations

Students are likely to avoid academic pursuits if they lack academic self-efficacy (Bandura, 2000). Furthermore, past poor academic performance contributes to the development of low academic self-efficacy. Students who participate in extracurricular activities, like LA GEAR UP, demonstrate better academic achievement and less risk-taking behaviors than non-participating students (Barber, Stone, & Hunt, 2003). Research supports the notion that LA GEAR UP is an effective way to improve students' academic performance and to reduce the number of disciplinary referrals students receive (Beer, 2009). Additionally, within the academic literature research has demonstrated that teachers' attributions about students are based upon their perceptions …

The Vestibular Contribution To The Head Direction Signal And Navigation, Ryan M. Yoder, J.S. Taube

Psychology

Spatial learning and navigation depend on neural representations of location and direction within the environment. These representations, encoded by place cells and head direction (HD) cells, respectively, are dominantly controlled by visual cues, but require input from the vestibular system. Vestibular signals play an important role in forming spatial representations in both visual and non-visual environments, but the details of this vestibular contribution are not fully understood. Here, we review the role of the vestibular system in generating various spatial signals in rodents, focusing primarily on HD cells. We also examine the vestibular system's role in navigation and the possible …

Training Law Enforcement In Mental Health: A Broad-Based Model, Rachael Elaine Hatfield

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Police officers respond to many calls involving people suffering from a mental illness; yet many law enforcement training programs and workshops do not include mental health training. A literature review was conducted to explore the problems resulting from the lack of mental health training available for law enforcement officers and identify specialized training programs currently being implemented to address those problems. The review identified several program models being implemented throughout the United States including: Joint Police/Mental Health Team Model, Mobile Crisis Unit Model, Crisis Intervention Team Model, and the Broad-Based Training Model. These models include empirically supported components used to …

Negative Acculturation Conditions, Wellbeing, And The Mediating Role Of Separation In The Workplace, Leon T. B. Jackson, Dudley G. De Koker

Papers from the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology Conferences

This article reports on the results of research which assessed adverse acculturation conditions in the workplace. Acculturation conditions such as racism, discrimination, segregation and separation were evaluated as predictors to ascertain how they affect acculturation outcomes such as intentions to quit and ill-health, both physical and psychological, of workers in the workplace. A convenience sample (N = 327) was taken from various sectors, for example retail, banking, mining, police service, and the municipality. The study aimed to test the mediating role of separation in the relation between adverse acculturation conditions and wellbeing as measured by ill-health and intentions to quit. …

Intergenerational Transmission Of Emotion Dysregulation Through Parental Invalidation Of Emotions: Implications For Adolescent Internalizing And Externalizing Behaviors, Kelly E. Buckholdt, Gilbert R. Parra, Lisa Jobe-Shields

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

We examined parent emotion dysregulation as part of a model of family emotion-related processes and adolescent psychopathology. Participants were 80 parent– adolescent dyads (mean age = 13.6; 79 % African-American and 17 % Caucasian) with diverse family composition and socioeconomic status. Parent and adolescent dyads self-reported on their emotion regulation difficulties and adolescents reported on their perceptions of parent invalidation (i.e., punishment and neglect) of emotions and their own internalizing and externalizing behaviors. Results showed that parents who reported higher levels of emotion dysregulation tended to invalidate their adolescent’s emotional expressions more often, which in turn related to higher levels …

The Influence Of Nature Relatedness On Decision Making Regarding Mate Selection In College Educated Young Adults, Nicole Kras

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Coming Out, Coming Together, Coming Around: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Families' Experiences Adjusting To A Young Family Member's Disclosure Of Non-Heterosexuality, Denise M. Fournier Rodriguez

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual (LGB) are disclosing their sexual identity--or coming out--at progressively younger ages, making it more important than ever for the general population to understand, tolerate, and accept diversity in sexual identity. This study was designed to fill the gap in the existing literature about how the coming out process affects LGB young people's families of origin. Three LGB young people participated in the study, along with a member of each of their families. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with each of the participants, as well as a conjoint interview with each of …

Living With Uncertainty: The Impact On Breast Cancer Survivors And Their Intimate Partners, Kimberley Dockery

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

This study explored the lived experiences of breast cancer survivors and their intimate partners. The research was informed by a social constructionist framework and phenomenological method of inquiry. While the body of literature on the physical, psychological, and social health of breast cancer survivors is growing, only a few studies have focused solely on the lived experience of survivorship and the uncertainty of recurrence. This study sought to explore the construction of meaning in the couples' context and experiences of surviving breast cancer. The present study examined how breast cancer survivors make meaning of their survivorship in context of living …

Security Of Attachment To Spouses In Late Life: Concurrent And Prospective Links With Cognitive And Emotional Wellbeing, Robert J. Waldinger, Shiri Cohen, Marc S. Schulz, Judith A. Crowell

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Social ties are powerful predictors of late-life health and well-being. Although many adults maintain intimate partnerships into late life, little is known about mental models of attachment to spouses and how they influence aging. A total of 81 elderly heterosexual couples (162 individuals) were interviewed to examine the structure of attachment security to their partners; respondents also completed measures of cognition and well-being concurrently and 2.5 years later. Factor analysis revealed a single factor for security of attachment. Higher security was linked concurrently with greater marital satisfaction, fewer depressive symptoms, better mood, and less frequent marital conflicts. Greater security predicted …

The Great Recession: Implications For Adolescent Values And Behavior, Heejung Park, Jean M. Twenge, Patricia M. Greenfield

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Based on Greenfield’s (2009) theory of social change and human development, we predicted that adolescents’ values, behaviors, and self-assessments would become more collectivistic and less individualistic during the Great Recession (2008-2010) compared to the pre-recession period (2004-2006) and in the context of long-term trends (1976-1978). Data came from Monitoring the Future, a nationally representative yearly survey of 12^th graders. Concern for others and environmentalism increased from the pre-recession period to recession, reversing long-term declines. Long-term trends toward increasing materialism partially reversed: wanting a job making lots of money continued to increase, the increase in the importance of money leveled …

Child Socialization Goals In Western Versus East Asian Nations From 1989 To 2010: Evidence For Social Change In Parenting, Heejung Park, Jordan A. Coello, Anna S. Lau

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Objective. This study examines East Asian versus Western parents’ valuation of child socialization goals and aims to shed light on the contributions of social change and sociodemographic factors to child socialization. Design. Using global surveys of values in three waves from 1989 to 2010, we examined East Asian and Western parents’ endorsement of 10 socialization goals. Results. Contrary to the widespread individualist-collectivist dichotomy, East Asian parents were more likely than Western parents to prize canonical individualist socialization goals (e.g., independence), and Western parents were relatively higher than East Asian parents in their endorsement of obedience, unselfishness, and …

The Role Of The Hypothalamic Paraventricular Nucleus And The Organum Vasculosum Lateral Terminalis In The Control Of Sodium Appetite In Male Rats, Laura A. Grafe, Anne E. Takacs, Daniel K. Yee, Loretta M. Flanagan-Cato

Psychology Faculty Research and Scholarship

Angiotensin II (AngII) and aldosterone cooperate centrally to produce a robust sodium appetite. The intracellular signaling and circuitry that underlie this interaction remain unspecified. Male rats pretreated with both deoxycorticosterone (DOC; a synthetic precursor of aldosterone) and central AngII exhibited a marked sodium intake, as classically described. Disruption of inositol trisphosphate signaling, but not extracellular-regulated receptor kinase 1 and 2 signaling, prevented the cooperativity of DOC and AngII on sodium intake. The pattern of expression of the immediate early gene product cFos was used to identify key brain regions that may underlie this behavior. In the paraventricular nuclei (PVN) of …

The Empathetic Human: The Story Of How Story Increases Cognitive And Social Ability, Olivia C. Flores 14

Honor Scholar Theses

This thesis all started from my reflections on being an English Literature major. I mention this not because it is rare or unique, but rather because realizing my interest in literature and considering the cognitive effect it has on humans initiated my current academic endeavor: writing a very, very long paper. Even though the skills English majors exercise seem like the mundane activities of introverted bookworms, these experiences with language are spectacular phenomenons that prove to be, in fact, universal. Many argue that literature has an adaptive function that not only demonstrates why we gravitate toward story and how we …