Psychology Commons^™

A Cross-Species Study Of Gesture And Its Role In Symbolic Development: Implications For The Gestural Theory Of Language Evolution, K. Gillespie-Lynch, P. M. Greenfield, Y. Feng, S. Savage-Rumbaugh, H. Lyn

Faculty Publications

Using a naturalistic video database, we examined whether gestures scaffold the symbolic development of a language-enculturated chimpanzee, a language-enculturated bonobo, and a human child during the second year of life. These three species constitute a complete clade: species possessing a common immediate ancestor. A basic finding was the functional and formal similarity of many gestures between chimpanzee, bonobo, and human child. The child's symbols were spoken words; the apes' symbols were lexigrams - non-iconic visual signifiers. A developmental pattern in which gestural representation of a referent preceded symbolic representation of the same referent appeared in all three species (but was …

Factors Influencing The Major Satisfaction And Leadership Aspirations Of Men And Women In Traditional And Nontraditional Fields, Jennifer Yeoward

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis reports the results of an online survey study that examined the associations of role model influences, support/guidance, and socioeconomic status (SES) with college students' major satisfaction and leadership aspirations. Of the 558 students who responded to the survey invitation, data from 494 students who had provided responses on the main variables were included in the major analyses. Contrary to hypotheses, SES and the nontraditionality of students' majors were not significantly related to leadership aspirations or major satisfaction. The results did support the hypotheses that support/guidance and inspiration/modeling would be associated with students' leadership aspirations and major satisfaction, but …

The Invention Of Lying (At Work): The Development And Validation Of A Situational Judgment, Jeffrey S. Conway

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The focus of the current dissertation was on the construction and validation of a situational judgment test (SJT) assessing lying/dishonesty in the workplace. The scale was designed to have two dimensions corresponding to two needs based on Socioanalytic Theory: (1) the need to get along and (2) the need to get ahead. Three studies were undertaken in order to create items, pilot test items, and assess both the construct and criterion-related validity of the scale. The result of Study 1 was a pilot-tested scale with six SJT items corresponding to each of the two SJT dimension (12 items total). The …

How Sexism Makes The Man: Examining The Relationship Between Masculinity, Ambivalent Sexism, And Gender Stereotyping, Mariah L. Wilkerson

Lawrence University Honors Projects

Masculinity is a precarious social status, meaning it can be lost through social and gender transgressions (Bosson & Vandello, 2011). Men often act in stereotypically masculine ways to reassert their masculinity and restore their social status after it has been threatened. The current study also examines masculinity in a new way, as a collective gender identity (e.g., Tajfel, 1982). I hypothesized that threatened men and men who identify as more masculine will display masculinity through more polarized attitudes towards traditional and nontraditional groups of men and women, endorsing traditional gender stereotypes, and intensified ambivalently sexist attitudes. Two empirical studies tested …

An Equine-Facilitated Prison-Based Program: Human-Horse Relations And Effects On Inmate Emotions And Behaviors, Keren Bachi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Policy makers and correctional authorities are seeking ways to enhance effectiveness of incarceration and reduce recidivism. Equine-facilitated prison-based vocational programs aim to rehabilitate inmates. Informed by the theories of attachment and desistance, this study evaluates the emotional and behavioral effects of such an intervention utilizing a quasi-experimental methodological triangulation design.

Recidivism and disciplinary misconduct are examined by clinical data-mining of institutional records. Propensity Score Matching, binary and multinomial logistic regressions are applied in a discrete-time event history analysis. Semi-structured interviews revealing the subjective experiences of participants are analyzed via the Listening Guide methodology. Quantitative questionnaires, exploring attachment and closeness to …

Minorities' Perceptions Of Minority-White Biracials: The Role Of Identification For Cognitive, Affective, And Behavioral Responses, Sabrica Barnett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research on intergroup relations has a rich history in social psychology, with scholars devoting a considerable effort investigating factors that influence stereotyping, prejudice and discriminatory behavior. The results of these studies suggest that individuals' cognitions, affect, and behaviors are affected by their own group memberships as well as the groups to which others belong. People generally view the groups that they belong to (their ingroup) positively, and view the groups that others belong to (outgroups) stereotypically (Tajfel & Turner, 1986). However, much of the research on social identification and subsequent perceptions has focused on socially distinct groups rather than groups …

Between Sites: Critical Convergences At The Personal, Interpersonal, And Institutional Levels In A Service Learning Course, Kendra Rashaun Brewster

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Set within the context of the increasing emphasis on civic engagement and transformative education, this work addresses service learning as a form of civic engagement that holds both the risks of acriticality and critical potential. This study examines the capacity for the critical consciousness and relationality that define the primary commitments of critical service learning (see Kinefuchi, 2010). Thus, this study is grounded in the ways that the circuits of privilege and dispossession were breached in a service learning course where college students travelled to mentor adolescent girls who were in a secure residential facility. The narratives of former service …

A Parent At War And The "Invisible Wounds" They Carry Home: Ptsd In Military Veterans And A Review Of Psychosocial Family System Challenges, Melina Sofia Calle

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom have created a new generation of military veterans and military families, many of which must manage and cope with psychosocial challenges such as posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and alcohol abuse induced by the psychological trauma(s) faced during war. Risk factors, buffering factors, and war zone stressors influencing the development of PTSD following military-related trauma will be reviewed. As many of these affected veterans return to living with spouses and children, these psychosocial issues show to bring forth tension, stress, and friction to the family system. This thesis explores the literature of family system …

Post-Treatment Drug Use, Recidivism, Analogous Behaviors, And Perceptions Of Fairness: Examining Whether Parolees With Low Self-Control Will Benefit From The Collaborative Behavioral Management Intervention, Sriram Chintakrindi

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation tested Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) low self-control theory and its relationship with post-treatment outcomes by conducting a secondary-data analysis of a randomized controlled trial on parolees (n=569) called the Step'n Out study (2005). The Step'n Out study (2005) compared the results of a control group (standard parole) with an experimental treatment for parolees called the Collaborative Behavioral Management (CBM) intervention which was designed to improve substance-use treatment outcomes, reduce drug use, and reduce recidivism for parolees participating in the study.

Low self-control theory states that individuals with character traits that are impulsive, risk-seeking, self-centered, and display volatile temper …

The Knowing Body: Participatory Artistic-Embodied Methodologies For Re-Imagining Adolescence, Madeline Fox

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Braiding critical youth studies, social science methodologies, participatory action research, performance studies, and art, this dissertation investigates how we can produce knowledge collectively toward reimagining adolescence. Polling for Justice was a multi-generational participatory action research project that took place between 2008 and 2011. Polling for Justice was interested in understanding young people's lived experiences at the intersections of education, criminal justice, and public health in New York City. The study centered on a city-wide survey and a series of data-driven focus groups. The Polling for Justice research collective used participatory artistic-embodied methodologies to make sense of, and later perform, the …

Cisgenderism In Gender Attributions: The Ways In Which Social, Cognitive, And Individual Factors Predict Misgendering, Erica Jayne Friedman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The current program of research investigated the ways in which social representations of gender, cognitive processes, and individual factors can be integrated to predict "misgendering," an example of cisgenderism in which people are categorized as a gender with which they do not identify. I proposed an (In)consistency Processing Model of Gender Attribution in which perceivers make a gender attribution by interpreting the stereotype-(in)consistencies of a target's gender characteristics through either a biology- or identity-based schema. Five studies were conducted to test different aspects of this model, the first of which was a secondary data analysis on a sample of students …

Yes We Can: A Dyadic Investigation Of Cognitive Interdependence, Relationship Communication, And Optimal Behavioral Health Outcomes Among Hiv Serodiscordant Same-Sex Male Couples, Kristine Elizabeth Gamarel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research suggests that couples who adopt a "we" orientation in relation to illness demonstrate greater resiliency and an increased capacity to cope with stressors. HIV serodiscordant couples (one partner is HIV-positive, the other is HIV-negative) have been identified as a critical mode of HIV transmission. The present study integrates dyadic coping models and interdependence theory to examine whether cognitive interdependence (i.e., the extent to which couples include aspects of their partner into their self-concept) and communication strategies are associated with sexual behavior, antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, depressive symptoms, sexual satisfaction, and relationship satisfaction. The study also tested whether the associations …

The Lived Experience Of Young Adult Burn Survivors' Use Of Social Media, Marie S. Giordano

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to illuminate the meaning of social media use by young adult burn survivors. Five females and four males, aged 20-25, who sustained burns > 25%, were interviewed. Van Manen's (1999) phenomenological methodology provided the framework for this study. The meaning of the context of the lived experience is described in the five essential themes of identity, connectivity, social support, making meaning, and privacy. These young adult burn survivors, having experienced the traumatic effects of a burn during adolescence, use social media as a way of expressing their identity, while being cautious about privacy. Part …

Internalizing Disorders In Early Childhood: Professional Development Framework For Teachers, Danielle Guttman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Recent research indicates that internalizing disorders such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) manifest in young children. Since early childhood teachers spend a substantial portion of their day with young children, it is important to examine their beliefs and behaviors surrounding these disorders. The role of the school psychologist has come to include providing support for educators such as presenting up-to-date research through professional development (PD). The current investigation implemented an intervention designed to compare different forms of PD seminars ("Information" and "Strategies") designed to increase teachers' awareness of internalizing disorders in early childhood. Ninety-nine participants comprised the …

Place Connections: A Study Of The Dynamics And Planning Process Of Remigration In Trinidadians And Tobagonians, Lystra Huggins

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this dissertation is to study migration and remigration of Trinidadians and Tobagonians as it relates to the meaning, experiences, and attachment these individuals have with the different places they have lived. The research questions focus specifically on remigrants who have the choice to return to Trinidad and Tobago or not after long-term residence abroad and why they make the decision to return. Interviews and surveys were used to understand the roles of place identity, place attachment, and place dependence in choosing whether or not to remigrate to Trinidad and Tobago. Participants were asked about their understanding of …

Teaching Gaze Shifting In The Context Of Requesting And Joint Attention To Toddlers With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Ivana Krstovska-Guerrero

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Impairment in eye gaze, including gaze shifting (GS) and making eye contact in early social communication is severely impaired in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study examined the effectiveness of prompting and reinforcement to teach GS in the context of responding to a request and initiating joint attention to four toddlers with ASD. Intervention lasted 3-9 weeks with all toddlers demonstrating GS to mastery across both contexts. Toddlers also showed generalization to a repertoire of social-communication behavior, including increases in smiling. Some improvements in symptoms of autism and overall functioning were observed. Results suggest a promising brief intervention …

An Investigation Of Factors That Create And Mitigate Confirmation Bias In Judgments Of Handwriting Evidence, Jeffrey Paul Kukucka

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Over a century of basic cognitive and social psychological research shows that humans naturally seek out, perceive, and interpret evidence in ways that serve to validate their prevailing beliefs (i.e., confirmation bias; Nickerson, 1998). In criminal justice settings, a priori beliefs regarding the guilt or innocence of a suspect can likewise guide the collection, interpretation, and appraisal of evidence in a self-verifying manner (i.e., forensic confirmation bias; Kassin, Dror, & Kukucka, 2013). Recently, confirmation bias has been implicated as a source of forensic science errors in wrongful conviction cases (e.g., National Academy of Sciences, 2009; Risinger, Saks, Rosenthal, & Thompson, …

The Influence Of Naive And Media-Informed Beliefs On Juror Evaluations Of Forensic Science Evidence, Victoria Zoe Lawson

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The National Academy of Sciences (2009) concluded that with the exception of nuclear DNA, none of the forensic sciences has been scientifically validated. It is not clear, however, that people are aware of these deficiencies. Indeed, people tend to think quite highly of forensic science, and find it to be convincing trial evidence. It is not clear to what extent their erroneous beliefs about validity influence the weight given to such evidence, or how best to challenge these beliefs. In the present research, I examined people's beliefs about forensic science and how their beliefs influenced their evaluations of forensic evidence. …

The Journey Back: Revisiting Childhood Trauma, Ruth Lipman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the adult's endeavor to revisit childhood trauma in four sets of literary texts that are not typically studied together. These works, all published after 1968, address the central problem of revisiting childhood trauma in order to open a potential for mourning and sometimes for healing. I explore connections between individual/family trauma and collective/historical trauma. I argue that the use of objects and/or photographs is integral to the process of touching and representing the buried, embodied wounds of childhood, propelling the journeys and conveying the experience to the reader. Each pairing of literary works concerns a different kind …

How Childhood Obesity Predicts Academic Achievement: A Longitudinal Study, Rachel Lynn Manes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Improvements in academic achievement have been linked to childhood obesity indices such as greater physical activity (PA) and lower Body Mass Index (BMI). Yet, little is known about the mechanisms through which childhood obesity indices predict academic achievement. The present study tested whether the influence of PA and BMI on academic achievement is mediated by several cognitive and emotional processes that have been shown in past studies to have independent effects: executive functioning, concentration, and internalizing symptoms. This study also tested the antecedent role of SES on indices of childhood obesity and academic achievement. Data from the 1991-2007 National Institute …

A Girl Power Study: Looking And Listening To The Role Of Emotions And Relationality In Developing Critical Consciousness, Jennifer Wallin-Ruschman

Dissertations and Theses

The concept of critical consciousness centers on the capacity for involvement in social change efforts. Its development has been the aim of many recent social movements (e.g., the consciousness raising groups of the women's movement). In this work, critical consciousness is defined as the highest level of socio-political-cultural (SPC) consciousness development. SPC consciousness is characterized by the linking of the personal and the political so that structures and discourses of oppression are not only understood but also lead to critical action and transforming relations of domination. Additionally, critical consciousness includes the ability to tolerate ambivalence and conflict as well as …

Hot And Bothered: The Role Of Arousal And Rejection Sensitivity In Dual Process Sexual Decision Making For Gay And Bisexual Men, H Jonathon Rendina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Dual process theories of decision making acknowledge the functioning of two distinct yet simultaneous processes termed System 1 and System 2. While System 1 relies more heavily on automatic and affective processing, System 2 relies more heavily on effortful and cognitive processing. Over the past several decades, many lines of research have shown the importance of System 1 in decision making and several prominent social psychological theories of interpersonal behavior, such as rejection sensitivity, rely on this dual distinction between affective and cognitive processing. Despite the prominence of dual process theories in many areas of psychology, the role of System …

Effects Of Phonological Neighborhood Density On Lexical Access In Adults And Children With And Without Specific Language Impairment, Diana Almodovar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The present study was designed to examine how adults, children with typical language development (TLD), and children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) process words from sparse and dense phonological neighborhoods, using the Cross Modal Picture-Word Interference Paradigm. The participants were asked to label a picture presented on a computer screen, while ignoring auditory distractors (interfering words or IWs) presented over headphones. The target items were manipulated according to neighborhood density (high and low density words), and the auditory distractors were either identical to the target, a neutral distractor (good), phonologically related (by rhyme), or unrelated to the target item. The …

Multimodal Emotion Perception In Borderline Personality Disorder, Virginia Fineran

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a chronic disorder characterized by pervasive difficulties in the emotion regulation system. While it is clear that individuals with BPD frequently exhibit intense emotional reactions, lack abilities to effectively manage such emotions, and often engage in serious maladaptive behaviors as a consequence of intense emotions, many aspects of the process by which this sequence occurs are not well understood. One crucial aspect of emotion regulation is the processing and perception of cues from the environment. To date, processing of emotional cues in individuals with BPD has been understudied. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is …

Lgbtq Experiences With The Courts: The Role Of Gender Nonconformity And Assertiveness, Alexis Forbes

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Using lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) and non-LGBTQ participants, a pair of studies explored the influence of LGBTQ identity and gender nonconformity (GNC) in experiences of discrimination in court settings. A one-way ANOVA tested whether LGBTQ participants were more likely to score low on the treatment in court scale. Additionally, two separate multiple regression analyses tested whether high scores on the Gender Nonconformity Scale (GNCS; Forbes & Nadal, under review), were associated with low scores on a measure of treatment in court. It was discovered that LGBTQ identity did not have a statistically significant effect on factor in …

Risk Factors For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Haitian Students, Gretel Silvestre, Pascale Anacréon, Michèle Théodore, Emmanuel Silvestre, Eugenia Garcia-Dubus

Publications and Research

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in undergraduate students after the Haiti earthquake on January 12, 2010, as well as to identify the risk factors involved in the development of PTSD symptoms in this sample. Evaluations concerning depression, anxiety, risk and protective factors, and PTSD symptoms were conducted in 246 Haitian undergraduate students enrolled in a Dominican private university. Results indicate a prevalence of 36% for PTSD 2 years after the earthquake, with a high prevalence also of depression (31.7%) and anxiety (21.1%). Some of the risk factors identified are being …

The Effects Of Organizational Justice And Exercise On The Relationship Between Job Stressors And Employee Health, Ana Cristina B. Costa

Dissertations and Theses

Recent decades have seen an explosion of research centered on understanding the influential impact that job stressors have on employees' subjective well-being, and now more recently, on objective assessments of physical health. Utilizing baseline data from a larger study funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), I conducted a field study on blue-collar employees from two organizations in the construction industry, with the goal of exploring the impact of job stressors on job satisfaction (subjective well-being) and body mass index (objective health), as well as the influence of organizational justice as a moderator and exercise as …

Illness Perceptions Of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Elizabeth Baker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a chronic illness that affects approximately five million premenopausal women in the United States and is associated with significant cosmetic, reproductive, metabolic, and psychological consequences. Despite its prevalence, few studies have explored the lived experiences and illness perceptions of women living with PCOS. Identifying illness perceptions of women living with (WLW) PCOS is important, because mounting research suggests that a person's perceptions of their chronic illness and its management determine that person's coping behaviors (e.g., adherence, self-management) and, consequently, illness outcomes.

In this dissertation, the Common Sense Model (CSM) is used as a framework to …

Relationships Between Life Satisfaction, Symptoms Of Inattention And Hyperactivity/Impulsivity, And Depressive Symptoms In High School Students, Lisa Paige Bateman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given increased evidence related to the importance of fostering life satisfaction in the overall population (Diener & Diener, 1996), as well as recent suggestions regarding the importance of increasing positive academic and social outcomes for children with ADHD (DuPaul, 2007), it is important to gain a clearer understanding of how life satisfaction may be related to symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity. Research on the relationship between life satisfaction and symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity is currently limited to two studies (Gudjonsson et al., 2009; Ogg et al., 2014). The current study investigated the relationship between symptoms of inattention and …

Reducing Stigma Toward The Transgender Community: An Evaluation Of A Humanizing And Perspective-Taking Intervention, Tanya L. Tompkins, Kay Livesay, Chloe N. Shields, Caitlyn C. Talbot, Kimberly M. Hillman

Faculty Presentations

Transgender (TG) individuals are an understudied group at high risk of experiencing discrimination and associated adverse mental health outcomes (IOM, 2011). Although many studies demonstrate that contact reduces negative attitudes toward out-groups, few studies have examined the link between contact and attitudes toward the TG community (Hill & Willoughby, 2005; Walchet al., 2012). This study represents one of the first attempts to understand how to effectively reduce stigma toward the TG community. Results indicate that education alone is not enough to change attitudes; in fact, there is some evidence that associating transgenderism with psychopathology may heighten stigma. Consistent with prior …