Psychology Commons^™

Development And Validation Of The Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury-Risk-Estimation Quiz (Acl-Iq), Erich J. Petushek

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Over 2 million Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries occur annually worldwide resulting in considerable economic and health burdens (e.g., suffering, surgery, loss of function, risk for re-injury, and osteoarthritis). Current screening methods are effective but they generally rely on expensive and time-consuming biomechanical movement analysis, and thus are impractical solutions. In this dissertation, I report on a series of studies that begins to investigate one potentially efficient alternative to biomechanical screening, namely skilled observational risk assessment (e.g., having experts estimate risk based on observations of athletes movements). Specifically, in Study 1 I discovered that ACL injury risk can be accurately …

Component Numeracy Skills And Decision Making, Saima Ghazal

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Numeracy—i.e., one’s practical understanding of mathematics in context—is one of the strongest predictors of people’s general decision making skill, independent of other cognitive abilities (e.g., intelligence, working memory, attentional control). Despite notable scientific progress on the nature of numeracy and decision making, the cognitive and decision sciences have yet to investigate individual differences in numeracy components (e.g., algebra versus probability). In this dissertation, I report on my efforts to develop new measurement technology and quantitative models of cognitive and decision skills. Analyses include the first known investigations of the relations between the major adult component numeracy skills and general decision …

Benevolent Sexism, Perceived Fairness, Decision-Making, And Marital Satisfaction: Covert Power Influences, Monique Brown

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study examined the association between endorsement of benevolent sexism and marital satisfaction in heterosexual marriages, which are perceived as being egalitarian. The goal was to explore how covert power dynamics like those involved in benevolent sexism affect marital satisfaction, and how perceived fairness and decision-making outcomes interact with this relationship. Men and women who have cohabitated with their spouses at least five years were asked to complete measures assessing their endorsement of benevolent sexism and their perceived global marital satisfaction. Participants were also asked to fill out measures examining the mediating effect of perceived fairness and decision-making outcomes. Previous …

Serving Clients With Intellectual Disabilities: Clinical Psychology Training In Apa-Accredited Doctoral Programs, Emily J. Graesser

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience mental health problems at a higher rate than the general population, yet encounter significant barriers in accessing quality mental health services and have poorer mental health outcomes. Disparities in both psychology research and practice contribute to these barriers, and few mental health practitioners are willing and competent to treat people with ID. Lack of training availability has been suspected as an underlying factor, yet no previous investigation of training has been conducted in the United States. This study utilized a 20-question self-administered internet survey to explore the quantity, quality, and types of training APA-accredited …

Wisc-Iv And Intellectual Disability: A Pilot Study On Hidden Floor Effects, Allyssa M. Lanza

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study is a pilot re-creation of research in the United Kingdom (UK) by Whitaker and Gordon (2012) that assesses for possible floor effects in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (WISC-IV). Their study suggested that the Index and Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) scores of low IQ adolescents taking the WISC-IV (UK version) were significantly inflated because low raw scores were converted to scaled scores of 1. Whitaker and Gordon assessed for score inflation and resulting floor effects by creating an alternative scoring system based on the relationship between the lowest raw scores that convert to each WISC-IV …

Feasibility And Perceived Efficacy Of The Neurosequential Model Of Therapeutics, Catherine F. Caplis

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Child abuse and neglect can have serious negative physiological and psychological effects on the developing brain. Children who suffer from early and ongoing abuse and neglect often develop further problems as they mature, even if they are subsequently in safe environments. Many trauma-based therapies have been created in order to help these children develop increased emotional and social regulation, and decrease their behavioral problems. The Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics (NMT) is a newer approach to working with traumatized children that has garnered great enthusiasm despite very limited outcome data. In this dissertation, I explore the promise of NMT and describe …

Therapists’ Experiences Of Incidental Encounters With Their Clients, Beth Ketaineck

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Incidental encounters with clients occur frequently and have been found to elicit feelings of surprise, uncertainty, and discomfort for the therapist (Sharkin & Birky, 1992). This qualitative study examined therapists' experiences of such incidental encounters to better understand factors that may contribute to those feelings. I conducted semi-structured interviews, in line with Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), with six licensed clinical psychologists who have experienced an incidental encounter within the last five years. Participants were asked to imagine the encounter, discuss factors that contributed to their feelings about the encounter (during and after), consider long-term consequences, and describe their level of …

Intrasexual Competition And Other Theories Of Eating Restriction, Norman P. Li, April R. Smith, Jose C. Yong, Tiffany A. Brown

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Various forms of disordered eating and unhealthy eating practices, including excessive dieting, vomiting, binging and purging, and diet-motivated drug use, negatively affect and are potentially fatal to millions of individuals. We describe the etiology of disordered eating as well as various hypotheses on this phenomenon, both from traditional, non-evolutionary perspectives and from evolutionary perspectives. In particular, we explore in detail the intrasexual competition hypothesis, which draws on a broad evolutionary theory: intrasexual selection. From this perspective, women are thought to have evolved to compete intrasexually on thinness, which would have indicated youth and nubility in the ancestral past (Abed, 1998). …

Programming Generalization : The Use Of Sufficient Exemplars Within A Discrete Trial Training Early Intervention Program For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Carolyn Barahona

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Discrete Trial Training (DTT), a skill acquisition paradigm using Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) principles, is an empirically validated early intervention method for children with ASD. However, one disadvantage of this treatment is its highly structured method that hinders generalization. Since generalization is essential for independence and overall functioning in children with ASD, programming for generalized behavior change is an important treatment component. Training sufficient exemplars is one generalization programming technique that has led to the transfer of skills across several stimulus contexts. Very few scientific investigations have evaluated the use of sufficient exemplars within a DTT format. Experiment 1 evaluated …

Cognitive Bias And Learning From Experience: Reflective Processes For Reducing Bias, Dina Acklin

LSU Master's Theses

While heuristic processing is often useful for quickly ascertaining information in everyday situations, it can lead to inaccuracies when task demands become complex and more systematic processing is required. These inaccuracies are often the result of confirmation bias, in which information that is consistent with our beliefs is noted at the expense of disconfirming evidence. The current decision making literature suggests that highlighting disconfirming evidence – termed negative feedback - might work to engage deliberate, systematic cognitive processes that lead to more accurate information acquisition. Using a probabilistic learning task where feedback is not consistently accurate (Matchmaker), the first experiment …

Change In Developmental Quotient In Toddlers Assessed For Autism Spectrum Disorder, Lindsey Willis Williams

LSU Master's Theses

ASD is marked by significant delays in social and language development, while development in other areas, such as cognitive functioning, can be highly variable from person to person. Though preschool-aged children with ASD often exhibit a profile of developmental delays similar to children with other developmental disorders at a discrete moment in time, few studies have investigated possible differences in rate of skill acquisition in developmental domains in children with different disorders. Sensitive periods of development are marked by less stability in performance of developmental skills. Results of prior studies suggest that if appropriate early interventions are applied during sensitive …

Influencing The Allocation Of Attentional Resources In Tracking: Evidence For A Combined Parallel And Serial Mechanism, Justin Merrill Ericson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The ability to track multiple moving objects (e.g. cars on a roadway, players and/or balls in a sporting event, pedestrians in a crowded space) has been thought to be a parallel process, such that all the objects are tracked simultaneously (Howe et al., 2010). Others have asserted that some serial mechanism is involved in the tracking process, suggesting that there are shifts of attention from object to object in order to successfully track (Oksama & Hyönä, 2008). Subsequent research has demonstrated that changes in trajectory can attract attention (Howard & Holcombe, 2010) and that these localized changes in trajectory negatively …

Challenging Behaviors In Children With Comorbid Autism Spectrum Disorder And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Katherine Margaret Macmillan

LSU Master's Theses

Challenging behaviors, such as aggression, destruction, self-injurious behaviors, or stereotypic movements, affect the majority of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. One factor that is known to influence the frequency at which challenging behaviors occur is the presence of a comorbid disorder. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is thought to be one such disorder. This study aimed to compare the prevalence rates of challenging behaviors, according to the Autism Spectrum Disorder-Behavior Problems, Child Version (ASD-BPC), in children ages 6-16 with parent reported symptoms of ASD, ADHD, comorbid ASD/ADHD, and no diagnosis. Differences existing overall were examined as well as differences on the ASD-BPC’s …

Adult Adhd In Dsm-Iv-Tr And Dsm-5: Impact Of Increased Age-Of-Onset On Prevalence, Morgan Ashwill Grinnell

LSU Master's Theses

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent disorder estimated to affect 3%-7% of children and about 4% of the adult population. In adults, ADHD is associated with lower academic achievement, more interpersonal conflicts and a bevy of other negative outcomes. Research on the assessment and treatment of ADHD in adults has considerably lagged behind research conducted with children. Existing research has been influential in the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) decision to update the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) definition of ADHD to include more developmentally expansive criteria. Modifications to the fifth edition of the manual (DSM-5) included an …

Social Support As A Protective Factor For Bullied Children And Adolescents, Seandra Jean Cosgrove

LSU Master's Theses

The impact of bullying on children’s self-esteem, confidence, and social acceptance has become increasingly recognized. Considerable research has evaluated the deleterious effects of bullying and protective and risk factors as a result of victimization. Past research has shown social support to be a protective factor for children and adolescents who have been subjected to negative experiences, such as experiencing traumatic events (Vigna, Hernandez, Paasch, Gordon, & Kelley, 2009). However, research has not evaluated whether social support buffers the impact of bullying on children and adolescents. The current study investigated perceived social support and its role as a protective factor against …

The Impact Of Menstrual Cycle Phase On Smoking Cessation-Related Variables, Mackenzie Rae Peltier

LSU Master's Theses

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Despite increased research and improved treatment modalities, rates of lapse and relapse remain high. Women in particular experience poorer smoking cessation outcomes (including more relapse), presumably due to unique considerations such as the hormonal milieu. Despite some conflicting results, researchers have speculated that timing cessation attempts to coincide with the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, where levels of neuroprotective progesterone are at their peak, may decrease nicotine withdrawal and increase cessation success. Timing treatment onset with the luteal phase may positively impact smoking variables …

Recalled Bullying: Development Of A Measure To Identify Childhood Victims And Perpetrators By Adults, Melissa Munson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to develop a psychometrically sound measure of recalled childhood bullying by adults who were either victims or perpetrators of this behavior. In order to accomplish this, a measure of childhood bullying, the Peer Interactions in Primary School (PIPS) Questionnaire, was modified into a retrospective measure in order to quantify recollections of childhood bullying by adults. Specifically, the modified PIPS (PIPS-R) was created to identify adults who identified themselves as bullies, victims, or bully-victims during their childhood or who do not recall having been a bully or a victim. Eight hundred and twelve undergraduate college …

Inattentional Blindness And Auditory Attention: Effects Of Cognitive Load On Visual Awareness, Dillon James Cornett

LSU Master's Theses

The current study investigated the effects of cognitive load, in the presence or absence of distractors, during a dynamic inattentional blindness (IB) task on IB rate. IB is a phenomenon where one fails to notice an unexpected object (UEO) or event (UEE) that is in full view while attention is occupied. In the present study, the presence of distractors was manipulated (present/absent) to investigate the effects of selective attention in inattentional blindness when inhibition of distractors is required or not required. Undergraduates at Louisiana State University completed a visual task while listening to music embedded with sine wave tones (low …

The Impact Of A Primary Care Psychology Training Program On Medical Utilization In A Community Sample, Autumn Lanoye

Theses and Dissertations

Mental illness and psychological distress is associated with higher rates of medical service usage and treatment of these issues results in more appropriate medical utilization rates. Little research has been conducted in an integrated care clinic, wherein health psychologists or behavioral health specialists work together with physicians to provide patient care. The current study examines the effects of brief behavioral and mental health interventions on patient medical utilization in this setting with care delivered by medical residents and doctoral psychology trainees. Access to the health system’s electronic billing records allowed for objective measures of annual healthcare utilization in terms of …

Long-Term Outcomes Of Prolonged Exposure And Naltrexone For Patients With Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Alcohol Dependence, Shelley Avny

Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of research is examining effective treatment(s) for individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD). However, treatments for this comorbid population have been inadequately studied in the longer term. This study represents a long-term follow-up assessment of a randomized controlled trial that compared combined therapy (prolonged exposure + naltrexone) with monotherapies (prolonged exposure or naltrexone) for patients with PTSD and AD (see Foa, Yusko, McLean et al., 2013). Attempts were made to contact 120 participants 5-10 years after the original trial to assess the maintenance of treatment gains. Nineteen individuals were located and agreed …

The Influence Of Dementia Caregiver Mental Health On Quality Of Care In Argentina, Alejandra Morlett Paredes

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the connections between cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia and caregiver burden, burden and mental health, mental health and quality of care. One hundred two dementia caregivers from San Lucas, Argentina completed questionnaires assessing these constructs. Caregiver burden, depression, anxiety, and satisfaction with life explained 18.8% of the variance in quality of care – respect and 14.7% of the variance in quality of care – provide. An SEM with generally adequate fit indices uncovered that cognitive functioning in individuals with dementia was inversely associated with caregiver burden, caregiver burden was inversely associated with mental health, and mental …

Perceptions Of And Implicit Attitudes Toward Women: The Influence Of Parental Status, Race, And Label Choice, Annalucia Bays

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that childfree and childless women are perceived more negatively than mothers. This study investigated attitudes based on parental status, race, and descriptive label. Undergraduate students (N = 386) were randomized to consider targets described as childless, childfree, or mothers/parents. Participants completed a personality characteristic rating scale, the competence and warmth scales of the Stereotype Content Model, an evaluation thermometer, a measure of pronatalism, and a Single Category Implicit Association Test. Childless and childfree women of all races were perceived more negatively than mothers, and women in all parental status groups were ambivalently stereotyped. Implicit attitudes favored …

Factors That Predict Incident Reporting Behavior In Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists, Nicole K. Damico

Theses and Dissertations

Improving patient safety through reduction of medical errors is a national priority. One of the strategies widely utilized to address this issue is the use of incident reporting systems. The purpose of this study was to describe factors that predict the likelihood that Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) will use incident reporting systems, guided by the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991). A non-experimental, correlational research design was utilized to achieve the study aims. Following IRB approval, a cross-sectional survey was administered electronically to a random sample of practicing CRNAs. Correlational analyses and a standard logistic regression were utilized to …

The Year Of Magical Thinking: Fraud, Loss, And Grief, Jayne W. Barnard

Faculty Publications

In The Year of Magical Thinking, her wrenching memoir of the year following the death of her husband John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion describes the episodes of magical thinking that forestalled her acceptance of Dunne's sudden absence from her life. In the hours after his death, she charged his cell phone. Weeks later, she gave his clothes to charity but kept his shoes because, she thought, "He would need shoes if he were to return."

Modern grief theory tells us that episodes like these are common during the months following a loved one's death, particularly when the death, like …

Emotional Intelligence, Coping Styles, And Psychopathology, Letizia Boin

Masters Theses

Despite its relatively recent origins, Emotional Intelligence (EI), which is the ability to perceive, understand, and manage one's emotions, has been shown to contribute to a variety of outcomes, including academic achievement and relationship satisfaction. Considerable support has been gathered to implicate EI in the development of mental illness such as depression and social anxiety. It has been theorized that a potential pathway in which EI affects mental health is by contributing to the development of coping styles. Stress and coping literature reports enough empirical evidence to suggest that broadly speaking, problem-focused coping is 'adaptive' while avoidant coping is 'maladaptive.' …

Exploratory Factor Analysis Of Body Dysmorphic Disorder Symptom Clusters, Rachel A. Maxwell

Masters Theses

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a distressing condition that involves a preoccupation with a perceived defect(s) in appearance. Despite the importance of early identification, it is often misdiagnosed. The literature suggests that issues with diagnosis may be because BDD is typically defined by the single symptom of dysmorphic concern (i.e., over concern with an imagined or slight defect in physical appearance). Dysmorphic concern is insufficient to fully characterize the disturbance. This study used exploratory factor analysis to identify symptom clusters from four well-known BDD measures completed by 457 undergraduate students. The extracted content suggested the following symptoms: (a) Dysmorphic Concern, …

Fear Of Negative And Positive Evaluation Across Social Evaluative Situations, Jarvis Howe

Masters Theses

Fear of negative and fear of positive evaluation are both important in understanding social evaluative anxiety. Fear of negative evaluation has been linked with social anxiety, public speaking anxiety, and test anxiety; whereas fear of positive evaluation has only been linked with social anxiety. This paper reviews the literature on fear of negative and positive evaluation in relation to each of the social evaluative situations and then presents the findings of a study that will attempt to differentiate the three types of social evaluative situations. Fear of negative evaluation was correlated with each of the three social evaluative situations; whereas …

The Effects Of Existential Salience On State Anxiety, Joseph Morger

Masters Theses

Existential anxiety is theorized to result from one's knowledge of human existence. Four givens of life have been identified that result in existential anxiety: death, freedom, isolation, and meaninglessness (Yalom, 1980). Terror management theory purposes the knowledge of one's own death to be a great source of distress. The theory posits that to cope with these distressing thoughts, one is motivated to adhere to a cultural worldview. Adhering to a cultural worldview allows one to view the world as a structured place, in addition to raising one's self-esteem. Terror management research has shown that making mortality salient results in harsher …

Incremental Validity Of The Learning Behavior Scale In Special Education Evaluation, Margaret Lakebrink

Masters Theses

The Learning Behavior Scale (LBS) was developed as a teacher rating scale to assess students' learning behaviors hypothesized to affect academic achievement. Research utilizing the LBS has primarily stemmed from the standardization sample. The present study attempted to examine the incremental validity of adding the LBS to standardized intelligence test scores in order to predict standardized academic achievement in students participating in initial evaluations for determining disability and eligibility for special education services. Due to difficulty obtaining a sufficient sample, reevaluation cases were also obtained in the sample of first to eighth grade students (N=40) in the study. Results provided …

Does Parent Management Of Past Childhood Sibling Aggression Predict Young Adult Emotion Regulation? A Retrospective Study, Joseph P. Berry

Masters Theses

Childhood sibling aggression and its influence on an individual's ability to regulate emotions later in life have not been extensively studied at this point in time. Prior research indicates that repeatedly being the victim of childhood aggression can lead to concurrent social, psychological, and emotional difficulties (Crick, Bigbee, & Howes, 1996). This study used a retrospective approach to explore whether 139 college students' experiences of overt and relational childhood sibling aggression are related to current difficulties with emotion regulation in young adulthood. Overt sibling aggression or relational sibling aggression in childhood predicted difficulties in current emotion regulation. Beliefs about the …