Psychology Commons^™

Predictors Of Positive And Negative Affect Following Casual Sex, Jacqueline Woerner

Wayne State University Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify predictors of positive and negative affect following a recent casual sex experience in a sample of 585 men and women using a cross-sectional design. Structural Equation Modeling analyses identified sexual satisfaction, sexual assertiveness, belief in traditional gender roles, impulsivity, alcohol use, sex-related alcohol expectancies, and peer approval of casual sex as significant predictors of positive and negative affect. Support for hypotheses regarding gender differences were found: men reported greater positive affect and sexual satisfaction, and some predictors were significant for one gender but not the other. Practical implications for emotional and sexual …

Great Expectations: How Are Couples Influenced By Threatening Information Prior To A Pain Task?, Angelia Marie Corley

Wayne State University Theses

The present study examines the effects of a threat manipulation on romantic partners, in which one partner is about to undergo a painful task. Couples were randomly assigned to high and low threat manipulation groups, designed to alter one's anxiety or fear about the task. The study broadened the theoretical model, the Fear Avoidance Model, to the incorporate the social context and derived hypotheses regarding the role of one's romantic partner in the present paradigm. Results demonstrated preliminary evidence that a romantic partner may reduce one's anxiety about a painful task. Additionally, satisfaction with a conversation with a intimate partner …

Work-Health Conflict: Scale Development For Workers Managing A Chronic Illness, Sarah Renee Stoddart

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

WORK-HEALTH CONFLICT: SCALE DEVELOPMENT FOR WORKERS MANAGING A CHRONIC ILLNESS

by

SARAH STODDART

Advisor: Dr. Alyssa K. McGonagle

Major: Psychology (Industrial and Organizational)

Degree: Master of Arts

The current study developed a Work Health Conflict (WHC) scale to measure conflict experienced by workers who are managing a chronic health condition and continuing to work. It is estimated that 72 million working age adults are also managing a chronic illness. In order to develop the scale 4 studies were conducted using two samples of workers that are currently working with an illness. The first study employed an open-ended survey in …

The Effect Of Gaba A Antagonism On Locomotor Activity And Dopamine Release In The Mouse Caudate Putamen Following Acute Toluene Inhalation: An In-Vivo Microdialysis Study, Sean Callan

Wayne State University Theses

Toluene is ubiquitous solvent commonly inhaled recreationally. Despite its frequency of misuse, there is little understanding of how toluene acts within the brain. To examine this, this master's thesis examined the impact of acutely inhaled toluene on dopamine (DA) release in the mouse CPu in vivo using microdialysis techniques. Toluene inhalation produced dose-dependent increases in DA levels as well as changes in locomotor activity. These effects were potentiated by pre-treatment with the GABAA antagonist bicuculline via reverse microdialysis delivery. These results suggest that the DA dynamics of toluene abuse are related to toluene's previously explored effects on the GABA system. …

Inattention And Hyperactivity Among Preschool Age Children Born Prematurely, Andrew Heitzer

Wayne State University Theses

A large body of literature shows that compared to children born at term, preterm- children are at increased risk for difficulties with inattention and hyperactivity. Less consistency exists, however, in the limited body of research exploring the contribution of early biological risk to behavioral disinhibition within the population of children born prematurely. Therefore, our goal was to examine perinatal variables that may influence activity level and hyperactivity among preterm preschoolers. Ninety-eight preterm (23.4 - 33.9 weeks gestation) preschoolers (3-4 years) participated in the study. Direct measures of inattention and hyperactivity as well as parental ratings were used to evaluate behavior. …

Animal-Assisted Therapy For Incarcerated Youth: A Randomized-Controlled Trial, Nicholas P. Seivert

Wayne State University Theses

This study is a randomized-controlled trial of a specific animal-assisted therapy (AAT) called Teacher's Pet (TP) with incarcerated youth. The intervention was expected to result in increased empathy and reduced internalizing and externalizing behavior problems as compared to the control. Dog attachment was theorized to be the mechanism for the increased empathy and reduced behavior problems. In addition, due to the attachment-based nature of the intervention, it was hypothesized that those with a history maltreatment/foster care would benefit the most. Participants were138 youth at two Midwestern juvenile detention facilities. The TP intervention trained dogs for one hour, twice weekly for …

Predictive Utility And Stability Of The Home Environment In An African American Sample From Diverse Socioeconomic Backgrounds, Mahya Rahimian Mashhadi

Wayne State University Theses

The quality of the home environment has a significant influence on various child outcomes. The current study investigated the predictive utility and stability of the home environment in a sample of 114 African American children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Analyses were conducted using archival data from the Early Development project, a study of the normative development of African American children. This project is consistent with a call by the Society for Research in Child Development (Cabrera, 2013) for research on the positive development of children from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. The purpose of the present study was to compare …

Front Matter

Modern Psychological Studies

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Sensation Seeking, Psychopathy, And Deception, Ashley D. Dickey

Modern Psychological Studies

Psychopathy has many implications for society at large. These individuals are likely to commit violent crimes, manifest other antisocial behavior, and make up a large portion of the prison population. This study aims to establish a relationship between sensation seeking, psychopathy, and deception. A sample of 100 undergraduate students enrolled in psychology courses in a southern university completed three questionnaires assessing their level of sensation seeking (SSS-V), deception (MACH-IV), and psychopathy (TriPM). Each of the three distinct phenotypic constructs measured by the TriPM were also correlated with total SSS-V and MACH-IV scores. Pearson and Spearman correlations revealed significant relationships between …

Assessing The Impact Of Parental Depressive Symptoms On Offspring Temperament And Development In Infancy, Nancy Huynh, Jackie Finik, Jenny Ly, Yoko Nomura

Publications and Research

The study prospectively followed 135 women during their pregnancy and their offspring till 6 months of age, to examine the roles of maternal and paternal depression during pregnancy on offspring neurobehavioral development as measured by their early temperament. Maternal and paternal depression statuses were ascertained during the third trimester, and infant temperament was evaluated at 6 months, via mothers self-report. Multivariable general linear model was used to assess 1) the main effects of maternal and paternal depression on infant temperament and 2) the interaction effect between maternal and paternal depression on infant temperament. Results show that maternal depression, but not …

Decision Making In The Picu: An Examination Of Factors Influencing Participation Decisions In Phase Iii Randomized Clinical Trials, Laura E. Slosky, Marilyn Stern, Natasha L. Burke, Laura A. Siminoff

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background. In stressful situations, decision making processes related to informed consent may be compromised. Given the profound levels of distress that surrogates of children in pediatric intensive care units (PICU) experience, it is important to understand what factors may be influencing the decision making process beyond the informed consent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of clinician influence and other factors on decision making regarding participation in a randomized clinical trial (RCT). Method. Participants were 76 children under sedation in a PICU and their surrogate decision makers. Measures included the Post Decision Clinician Survey, …

Status Of And Future Recommendations For Country-Of-Origin Research, Katie Post

Honors Projects

This research investigates whether country-of-origin (COO) cues have an effect on consumer purchase intentions, based on a review of prior literature published in the EBSCO and Summon databases. The findings of these articles show that COO cues do not, on their own, have an effect on consumer purchase intentions; but do have some effect on consumer attitudes/feelings toward the product. Future research has much to offer in terms of identifying whether COO cues have an effect on consumers’ purchase intentions for specific products, or specific types of products.

A Case Study Of Attachment And Resilience Variance In A Midwestern Family, Kelly Inda

Undergraduate Honors Theses

It is no secret to social scientists; humans are relational and forming attachments is critical as humans mature and develop. Attachments are usually formed in the first seven months and are only formed to a few persons. Attachment is defined as the trust formed with another person and can provide a secure base with that other person. A secure base is defined as an attachment figure from where one can safely explore and return to for comfort and connection. This idea is central and critical to attachment theory. Through healthy attachments, healthy and sustainable families build better bonds that are …

Keep Calm And Cope On: How Families Cope With Childhood Cancer, Christine Czapek

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of the current study was to examine how childhood cancer affects the family system after a period of time (at least one year) has passed. A questionnaire was developed by the author and given to families that were recruited through a snowball sampling procedure. The final sample consisted of 17 families in various stages of coping after a child in the family was diagnosed with cancer. Findings showed that overall, the women in the study tended to cope in more positive ways than men, that siblings often reported to their parents that they felt excluded and can experience …

Risk Factors And Psychological Outcomes For Lgb Individuals Residing In Rural Areas, Amanda M. Rickard

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Most research involving lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals residing in rural areas is either qualitative or restricted in geographic area. Consequently, the purpose of the current study was to determine if differences exist between rural and non-rural LGB individuals in risk factors and psychological outcomes. Seven hundred forty-seven LGB individuals completed self-report surveys examining risk factors and psychological outcomes. Results indicated that LGB individuals residing in rural areas reported higher levels of negative psychological outcomes as well as higher levels of some risk factors than their non-rural counterparts. Specifically, perceived social support, experiences of victimization/discrimination, and comfort disclosing sexual …

Factors That Affect Daily Tiredness And Stress And How To Improve General Sleep Quality, Matthew M. Ramaly

A with Honors Projects

Today’s college students suffer from sleep deprivation, which is affected by many factors such as academics and work. Research has shown that sleep deprivation has contributed to poorer academic ability and job performance. I have performed a case study on myself in a 17-day span to discover what factors affect my daytime tiredness and stress as a college student and hypothesized that academics and hours worked had a strong relation to my daytime tiredness and my level of stress. Results showed that rather the quality of my sleep impacted my level of tiredness and stress. More research indicated that there …

How Can Mobile Technology Help To Reduce The Incidences Of Cyberbullying?, Veronica Angel

2014 Symposium

Cyberbullying is prevalent among youth and adolescents. The anonymous characteristic is appealing as it releases inhibitions to act in an aggressive manner. The objective of this report is to assess mobile technology as a tool to provide resource and support to address cyberbullying. We assessed the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), a national database that tracks six health risk behaviors that contribute to death and disability in youth; we looked at the proportion of youth who reported “ever been electronically bullied.” We also reviewed literature on the social and cultural causes and consequences of electronic bullying. Finally, we assessed …

The Impact Of Cps And Special Education On Adjustment For Male Inmates, Sara Blessington

2014 Symposium

Rates of inmates with special education assistance are high; similar rates are shown for individuals coming from a Child Protective Services (CPS)-involved background. Additionally, research suggests that individuals with a history of special education assistance and placement in foster care as a child are more likely to struggle as adults. Adjustment is a 57 necessary and expected process when encountering change; however, no research has been identified that examines how these historical experiences might impact reaction and adaptation to incarceration. This study examined how a history of involvement with Special Education and CPS in childhood affects male inmate upon jail …

How Old We Are & How Old We Feel, Trevor Fry, Collin Keating, Diana Mcswain, Patrice Frazier, Christin Quinn, Andrea Zimmerman

2014 Symposium

Many researchers assess differences in age as a distinct independent variable for a wide range of empirical analyses. However, subjective age (how old people feel) is a construct that has been relatively neglected in the literature. The purpose of the current study was to assess the relationship between chronological age and subjective age, as well as subjective age differences between genders. As part of a larger study, 95 participants completed the Subjective Age Questionnaire (Montepare, Rierdan, Koff, & Stubbs, 1989) including 5 items on a 7-point Likert scale. Reported subjective age was subtracted by chronological age (age discrepancy) for comparison …

Military Service Members’ And Veterans’ Preferred Approach To Mental Health Services, Lisa Goldberg Looney

Theses and Dissertations

Mental health services are greatly underutilized by military service members and veterans. Among the reasons for this underutilization is that the services offered may not be a good fit for the specific problems facing service members/veterans and/or their families. The current study presented service members with descriptions of several approaches to treatment and asked them to indicate the likelihood of using each. Service members indicated the highest likelihood for using self-directed services, followed by individual treatment with a professional. They reported being least likely to use group approaches. These results may inform decisions about the implementation and dissemination of information …

The Effects Of Word Frequency And Language Proficiency On Repetition Priming And Picture Naming, Renee Michelle Penalver

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Frequency is known to modulate outcomes on tasks like picture naming. According to the frequency lag hypoThesis there is a common mechanism for the effects of word frequency, language dominance and bilingual and monolingual differences in picture naming (Gollan, Montoya, Cera, & Sandoval, 2008; Gollan, Slattery, Goldenberg, Van Assche, Duyck, & Rayner, 2011). English monolinguals and English-Spanish bilinguals were tested on a picture naming task with pictures that had high and low frequency names. Response times, priming scores, and error rates were assessed. Response times indicated that monolinguals, and bilinguals were slower to respond to for low frequency picture names …

Development And Enhancement To A Pilot Selection Battery For A University Aviation Program, Ryan Thomas Hanna

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There exists an imbalance between the number of pilots trained to practice in the field of aviation and the amount of those individuals who are qualified to fly airplanes. By putting a systematic selection system in place, it helps to ensure that the best possible candidates fill open positions in the field. Specifically developing a selection system to train and acclimate future pilots while they are in a university setting will not only help select top-tier candidates into the aviation program, but also prepare them for what to expect when they enter the job market. This research study built upon …

Human System Engineering Applications From Distracted Driving Simulations, Holly A.H. Handley, Cansu Kandemir, S. Long (Ed.), E.-H. Ng (Ed.), C. Downing (Ed.)

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Most of the studies to explore the impact of distracted driving have been descriptive in nature; i.e. the research is conducted in naturalistic settings to evaluate the performance of the driver with and without distracters. However simulation models can also be used that predict the workload for driving tasks. Using concepts from process modeling, baseline models of driving tasks can be created for different driving sequences that include the associated fine motor, visual and cognitive human resources. These models can then be used to evaluate incidents of workload overload caused by different distracters, from both the internal and external vehicle …

A Mother's Paradox: Choosing A Birthing Method In The 21st Century, Jenae Franklin

Pitzer Senior Theses

Investigating childbirth, one of the biggest moments of a woman’s life, this thesis examines the reasons behind women’s preferred birthing methods. This research explores the fundamental decisions women make during the birthing process: the amount of prenatal care mothers will receive, the type of health care provider they will use, picking the place of delivery, views on technological and medical interventions, and outlooks on natural childbirth. In addition to an extensive literature review, in-depth interviews with mothers, midwives, and obstetricians are used to examine the various controversies of childbirth. This thesis begins with a review of the transition from midwives …

The Effect Of Weight And Size On Mental Rotation, Luke Furtak

HIM 1990-2015

Shepard and Metzler (1971) argued that mental rotation is analogous to the real world in that people imagine the rotation of an object as if it were being physically rotated. This study tested this assertion by exposing participants to physical shapes that increased in size and weight. Participants interacted with blocks designed after Shepard and Metzler mental rotation size that differed in size and weight then performed subsequent mental rotation. We found no difference in reaction time but found that increased size reduced accuracy. We discuss the implications of this study as they pertain to embodied cognition.

Exploring The Relationships Among Personality Traits And Nontechnical Skills In College Students, John Doyle

HIM 1990-2015

Previous research established that traditional indicators of academic achievement, such as GPA, serve as insufficient predictors of success outside the academic environment. Employers find many graduates ill-prepared for the expectations of the corporate world because they lack skills such as creativity and critical thinking. The present study explores the relationship among personality, creativity, and critical thinking. Identifying personality traits that correlate with the presence of creativity and critical thinking may help employers identify job candidates who possess these much desired skills. In this study, 97 participants completed the NEO PI-R as a measure of personality, the Cornel Critical Thinking Test, …

Neuroimaging In Human Category Learning: A Comparison Between Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (Fnir) And Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Fmri), Carina Viegas

HIM 1990-2015

The objective of this thesis is to examine the validity of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIR) to examine brain regions involved in rule based (RB) and information integration (II) category learning. We predicted similar patterns of activation found by past studies that used fMRI scans. Our goal was to test if fNIR would be able to detect changes in blood oxygenation levels of participants who learned to categorize (learners) vs. those that did not (non learners). The stimulus set comprised of lines that differed in length and orientation. Participants had to learn to categorize by trial and error based on the …

Deindividuation Of Drivers: Is Everyone Else A Bad Driver?, Keith Macarthur

HIM 1990-2015

Deindividuation is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a given environment reduces the "individuality" or identifiability of a person. These environments may cause a psychological reduction in self-consciousness, potentially leading to violations of sociocultural norms (Festinger, Pepitone, & Newcomb, 1952; Singer, Brush, & Lublin, 1965). The present research sought to empirically test deindividuation theory among automobile drivers utilizing the anonymizing factor of observation. Participants (N = 31) used a driving simulator and were either in the observed condition or an unobserved condition. Analysis of driving data did not reveal significant results, however self-report data had some interesting trends. Though limited …

#Storyofmylife: Personality Characteristics Associated With Attention Seeking Behavior Online And Social Media Use In Emerging Adulthood, Chloe Berryman

HIM 1990-2015

The intent of this study was to explore to what extent loneliness, need for belonging, and parent-child relationships relate to time spent communicating via social media. The study also focused on predicting social media integration and vaguebooking, an attention seeking behavior on social media. Results from a sample of 471 college students indicated that need for belonging was related to more time spent communicating with friends online. Parent-child relationship, social anxiety, and loneliness were not significantly correlated with social media use. Need for belonging predicted social media integration and loneliness predicted vaguebooking. Histrionic symptoms significantly predicted both social media integration …

Assessment Of Instructional Presentation For Emergency Evacuation Assistive Technology, Michael Boyce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is often the case that emergency first responders are well equipped and trained to deal with a situation that involves evacuation of someone with a physical disability. However, emergency responders are not always the first line of defense, or they may be otherwise occupied with assisting others. This research examined the effects of instructions for emergency stair travel devices on untrained or novice users. It was hypothesized that through redesign of the evacuation instructions, untrained individuals would be able to successfully prepare an evacuation chair and secure someone with a disability more effectively and efficiently. A prepost study design …