Psychology Commons^™

Take The Monkey And Run, Kimberley A. Phillips, M. K. Hambright, K. Hewes, B. M. Schilder, C. N. Ross, S. D. Tardif

Psychology Faculty Research

The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a small, New World primate that is used extensively in biomedical and behavioral research. This short-lived primate, with its small body size, ease of handling, and docile temperament, has emerged as a valuable model for aging and neurodegenerative research.

A growing body of research has indicated exercise, aerobic exercise especially, imparts beneficial effects to normal aging. Understanding the mechanisms underlying these positive effects of exercise, and the degree to which exercise has neurotherapeutic effects, is an important research focus. Thus, developing techniques to engage marmosets in aerobic exercise would have great advantages.

Category-Selective Attention Interacts With Partial Awareness Processes In A Continuous Manner: An Fmri Study, Shen Tu, Jerwen Jou, Qian Cui, Guang Zhao, Kangcheng Wang, Glenn Hitchman, Jiang Qiu, Qinglin Zhang

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Recently, our team found that category-selective attention could modulate tool processing at the partial awareness level and unconscious face processing in the middle occipital gyrus (MOG). However, the modulation effects in MOG were in opposite directions across the masked tool and masked face conditions in that study: MOG activation decreased in the masked faces condition but increased in the masked tools condition under the consistent compared with the inconsistent cue-selective-attentional modulation. In the present study, in order to confirm that the opposite effects were due to the changed contours of the tools, using the same tool pictures and fMRI technique, …

Diagnoses, Intervention Strategies, And Rates Of Functional Improvement In Integrated Behavioral Health Care Patients, Ana J. Bridges, Samantha J. Gregus, Juventino Hernandez Rodriguez, Arthur R. Andrews Iii, Bianca T. Villalobos, Freddie A. Pastrana, Timothy A. Cavell

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Objective—Compared with more traditional mental health care, integrated behavioral health care (IBHC) offers greater access to services and earlier identification and intervention of behavioral and mental health difficulties. The current study examined demographic, diagnostic, and intervention factors that predict positive changes for IBHC patients.

Method—Participants were 1,150 consecutive patients (mean age = 30.10 years, 66.6% female, 60.1% Hispanic, 47.9% uninsured) seen for IBHC services at 2 primary care clinics over a 34-month period. Patients presented with depressive (23.2%), anxiety (18.6%), adjustment (11.3%), and childhood externalizing (7.6%) disorders, with 25.7% of patients receiving no diagnosis.

Results—The most commonly …

Transgenerational Transmission And The Relationship Between Parents With Symptoms Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder And Their Children With Symptoms Of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Donald Dean Campany

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined parental symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and its effects on children referred for treatment with symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Data was collected from children who had been diagnosed ADHD. This research attempted to determine whether negative family functioning can be predicted between caregivers with symptoms of PTSD and their children with symptoms of ADHD, and whether PTSD caregiver’s behavior is an indication of ADHD like symptoms in their children. Results revealed that there was a not a significant difference in behavior of children with symptoms of ADHD when compared to parents with symptoms …

The Relationship Of Prayer And Forgiveness To God Attachment, Romantic Attachment, And Relationship Satisfaction In Christian Married Adults: A Mediation Study, Joshua Michael Myers

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research demonstrates that one's attachment to God accounts for unique variance in Relationship Satisfaction after accounting for the effects of Romantic Attachment. To date, only one study has sought to find a similar finding within a predominately married population. However, no study has attempted to partially explain this effect. This study seeks to answer the following research question: does Prayer and Forgiveness partially mediate the relationship between God Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction in a married population? It is hypothesized that Prayer and Forgiveness will partially mediate the relationship between God Attachment and Relationship Satisfaction in a married population. The study …

The Unspoken Truth: A Practical Guide For Pastors, Helping Abusers Break The Cycle Of Sexual Abuse, Teresa Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

For years, men, women and children have suffered silently as a result of sexual abuse. The abuser suffers and the cycle continues. Destroying the silence of sexual abuse is the beginning of breaking the cycle. Research has shown that the abuse goes far beyond the actual act and causes physical, emotional, and psychological damage. This project will investigate and encourage open discussion, address the abuse, and give valuable insight to the causes and consequences of sexual abuse. This project will offer prescriptive and preventative measures to all parties involved, in an effort to heal and stop sexual abuse. Through research …

Longitudinal Association Between Self-Esteem In Adolescence And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Older Adults: A Cohort Study, John Anthony Blue Star

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Posttraumatic-Stress Disorder (PTSD) is less common in older adults than in younger adults, and little is known about specific risk factors for PTSD in older adults. We investigated the association between self-esteem in late adolescence and PTSD in older adults. Method: Using a cohort design, 1,436 individuals who had been assessed approximately 40 years earlier in their junior and senior year of high school with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) were evaluated for PTSD using the PTSD Checklist (PCL-17). Results: Fully controlled logistic regression models indicated that lower self-esteem in late adolescence predicted PTSD in the overall sample of …

Interactions Between Social Support, Acculturationand Health Among Mexican Immigrants, Christopher D. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

The impact of acculturation and poor social support as potential risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic disease amongst Mexican immigrants to the United States (U.S.) is a developing area of research. One theory is that acculturation to U.S. society is negatively associated with health due to the stress of immigration as well as the less healthy diet and lifestyle in the U.S. It is also theorized that positive social support is associated with better health during immigration due to the buffering effect relationships have on stress. Despite these theories, mixed findings have been found regarding the associations between acculturation and …

Electrophysiological Endophenotypes In Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Family Study, Ann Clawson

Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorder associated with altered neural connectivity and deficits in self-monitoring, response inhibition, and planning. One promising avenue of research to improve understanding of the symptoms and heritable nature of ASD may be the identification of neural endophenotypes of ASD. The error-related negativity (ERN) and post-error positivity (Pe), scalp-recorded event-related potentials (ERPs), reflect performance monitoring processes and may qualify as candidate endophenotypes of ASD. We collected ERP and behavioral data (error rates, response times) from 18 ASD probands and their families (mother, father, sibling) and 38 control youth and their parents to …

The Role Of Spirituality In Treatment And Recovery From Eating Disorders, Carrie Caoili

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the use of spiritual counseling with patients with eating disorders (ED), with the goal of better understanding the relationship between spirituality and patient recovery. The researcher wanted to gain insight into how patients' spiritual practices and experiences may influence treatment processes and outcomes in eating disorder recovery. The researcher collected interview data at the Center for Change, a patient treatment center for women with eating disorders. Open-ended survey questions from forty seven respondents from a diverse range of clients with different religious and ethnic backgrounds, living in different national regions were qualitatively analyzed. The researcher also followed …

A Career Course Follow-Up: Does A Student Development Elective Make A Difference?, Jamie Marie Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Since its inception, work and career-related issues have been central to the aims and scope of counseling psychology as a discipline. One common career counseling intervention in the University setting is to offer elective, credit-bearing courses in career development and exploration to provide help and direction to college students as they decide on majors and prepare for careers. Much research has been conducted which suggests that the use of career courses in the university setting has strong, positive impact on students' career decision-making ability and other output variables. What is less established is the impact of these career courses on …

What A ____ Thing To Do! Formally Characterizing Actions By Their Expected Effects, Dustin Wood, William Tov, Cory Costello

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

A number of personality frameworks assume traits describe central tendencies of action-for instance, calling someone assertive indicates they have a tendency to perform assertive actions. But what makes it appropriate to characterize an action by terms like assertive, kind, or honest? We propose that actions are characterized by such terms in large part by having expected effects on the environment which match particular conceptual templates. In the present studies, we attempt to better identify the expected effect dimensions perceivers seem to utilize to make action characterizations related to the Big Five and HEXACO personality dimensions. To do so, a set …

Lets Talk About Commitment, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

In an invited commentary, SMU Behavioural Sciences Institute Director Professor David Chan discussed three types of commitment, namely instrumental, normative and emotional, and related them to citizenship and local-foreigner relations. On the commitment to one’s country, Prof Chan noted that citizens with high levels of normative or emotional commitment are more likely to support policies that benefit the nation, even if they mean some personal cost, while the reverse is true for citizens dominated by the “need to” instrumental commitment.

Evaluating A Collaborative Ipad Game's Impact On Social Relationships For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Louanne E. Boyd, Kathryn E. Ringland, Oliver L. Haimson, Helen Fernandez, Maria Bistarkey, Gillian R. Hayes

Engineering Faculty Articles and Research

This article describes how collaborative assistive technologies, housed on off-the-shelf, low-cost platforms such as the iPad, can be used to facilitate social relationships in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Through an empirical study of the use of a collaborative iPad game, Zody, we explore how assistive technologies can be used to support social relationships, even without intervention from adults. We discuss how specific design choices can encourage three levels of social relationship: membership, partnership, and friendship. This work contributes to research on both assistive technologies and collaborative gaming through a framework that describes how specific in-game elements can foster …

Aerobic Fitness, Executive Control, And Emotion Regulation In Preadolescent Children, Mark A. Lott

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated direct and indirect associations between aerobic fitness, executive control, and emotion regulation among a sample of children aged 8-12 years. To evaluate these associations, the study employed a cross-sectional design and full-information maximum likelihood (FIML) structural equation modeling. Although the hypothesized factor analytic model failed to converge, an alternative exploratory model allowed for the evaluation of associations between primary study variables. Results supported a moderate direct association between childhood aerobic fitness and executive control, a strong direct negative association between executive control and emotion regulation, and a moderate indirect association between aerobic fitness and emotion regulation …

The Adaptive Value Associated With Expressing And Perceiving Angry-Male And Happy-Female Faces, Peter Kay Chai Tay

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Facial expressions are valuable for conveying and understanding the inner thoughts and feelings of the expressor. However, the adaptive value associated with a specific expression on a male face is different from a female face. The present review uses a functional-evolutionary analysis to elucidate the evolutionary advantage in the expression and perception of angry-male and happy-female faces over angry-female and happy-male faces. For the expressors, it is more advantageous for men to show angry facial expression as it signals dominance, averts aggression and deters mate poaching; it is more advantageous for women to display happy facial expression as it signals …

The Role Of Personality In Predicting Drug And Alcohol Use Among Sexual Minorities, Nicholas A. Livingston, Kathyrn M. Oost, Nicholas C. Heck, Bryan N. Cochran

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Research consistently demonstrates that sexual minority status is associated with increased risk of problematic substance use. Existing literature in this area has focused on group-specific minority stress factors (e.g., victimization and internalized heterosexism). However, no known research has tested the incremental validity of personality traits as predictors of substance use beyond identified group-specific risk factors. A sample of 704 sexual minority adults was recruited nationally from lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community organizations and social networking Web sites and asked to complete an online survey containing measures of personality, sexual minority stress, and substance use. Hierarchical regression models …

Defining Early Positive Response To Psychotherapy: An Empirical Comparison Between Clinically Significant Change Criteria And Growth Mixture Modeling, Julian Rubel, Wolfgang Lutz, Stephen Mark Kopta, Katharina Köck, Takuya Minami, Dirk Zimmermann, Stephen M. Saunders

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Several different approaches have been applied to identify early positive change in response to psychotherapy so as to predict later treatment outcome and length as well as use this information for outcome monitoring and treatment planning. In this study, simple methods based on clinically significant change criteria and computationally demanding growth mixture modeling (GMM) are compared with regard to their overlap and uniqueness as well as their characteristics in terms of initial impairment, therapy outcome, and treatment length. The GMM approach identified a highly specific subgroup of early improving patients. These patients were characterized by higher average intake impairments and …

Distracted By Cues For Suppressed Memories, Paula T. Hertel, Jeffrey A. Hayes

Psychology Faculty Research

We examined the potential cost of practicing suppression of negative thoughts for subsequent performance in an unrelated task. Cues for previously suppressed and baseline responses in a think/no-think procedure were displayed as irrelevant flankers for neutral words to be judged for emotional valence. These critical flankers were homographs with one negative meaning denoted by their paired responses during learning. Suppression cues as flankers delayed responding to the targets, compared to baseline cues and new negative homographs, but only following direct-suppression instructions and not when benign substitutes had been provided to aid suppression. On the final recall test, suppression-induced forgetting (SIF) …

Social Work Students' Perceptions Of Sex Offenders, Mayra Bernal, Henry Christopher Meza

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Social workers who choose to work in the field of child welfare will almost unavoidably be exposed to sexual trauma. This requires that social workers are prepared to understand and work with those who have been sexually abused, as well as the perpetrators of sex crimes. The purpose of this study was to explore social work students’ perceptions of sex offenders since it is anticipated that they will work with the sex offender population at some point in their careers. Exploring this topic could help future social workers gain valuable knowledge related to recognizing barriers that may exist when working …

Till Death Do Us Part? A Study Of American Wedding Rituals And Marital Outcomes, Tiffany Diane Wagner

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Couple rituals range from everyday activities to once-in-a lifetime events. Weddings are arguably the most elaborate, complex, and rare couple ritual. Few studies have examined the association between wedding rituals and marital outcomes, yet millions of Americans marry and celebrate weddings each year. The purpose of the current study was to examine the associations between wedding ritual enactment, wedding ritual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction and commitment. The wedding rituals examined in the current study were the bridal shower, bachelor/bachelorette party, wedding reception, and honeymoon. It was hypothesized that enactment of a bridal shower, wedding reception, and honeymoon would be positively …

Addressing The Dual Primary Attachment Figure Model: An Exploration Of Father Attachment, Vanessa N. Greenwood

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study attempted to investigate father attachment using the dual primary attachment figure model by examining caregiving and exploration behaviors of mothers and fathers as they relate to attachment security utilizing an archival data set of 177 young adult females. A subsequent factor analysis of the involvement scales revealed four distinct items creating the caregiving variables (one for mother and one for father) and six items creating the exploration variables. Results showed that mothers engaged in caregiving and exploration behaviors more than fathers, but their exploration predicted mother attachment more than caregiving. Fathers engaged in more caregiving than exploration, but …

The Relationship Between Self-Determination And Client Outcomes Among The Homeless, Samuel M. Hanna

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This paper has attempted to determine if there is a significant relationship between self-determination and client outcomes among the homeless. The study has been based upon the conceptual framework set forth in Self-Determination Theory. The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between self-determination and client outcomes among the homeless. Using a data collection instrument, based on empirically validated instrumentation, clients from several homeless service providers in the City of San Bernardino were assessed for the level of self-determination and autonomy support they experience within these agencies. Outcome measures included such things as whether the client was going …

The Relationship Between Attachment And Depression: The Mediational Role Of Shame, Self-Esteem, And Social Support, Evelyn Estela Ayala

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

According to the American College Health Association 31.3% of college students reported feeling depressed. Early parental attachment forms an internal working model that is used as reference for later relationships and experiences. Past research suggests that parental attachment is associated with depression. Low self-esteem was found to mediate the relationship between parental bonding (low care and overprotection) and depression. The cognitive schemas of defectiveness and shame were found to meditate the relationship between poor parental bonding and depression. Among cancer patients the relationship between anxious attachment and symptoms of depression was mediated by perceived social support.

Research is necessary to …

Executive Functioning And Risk For Alzheimer's Disease In The Cognitively Intact: Family History Predicts Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Performance, Kathleen Hazlett, Christina Marie Figueroa, Kristy A. Nielson

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research typically focuses on memory. However, executive functioning (EF) deficits are also common among AD patients; these deficits are associated with decreased functioning in activities of daily living, an important criterion in diagnosing AD. A classic test of EF ability, the Wisconsin Card Sort Test (WCST), has demonstrated sensitivity to differentiating individuals with AD from healthy controls, discriminating AD groups based on disease severity, and distinguishing AD from other types of dementia. Such sensitivity to AD raises the possibility that the WCST is also sensitive to very early, preclinical differences between those who have heightened risk for …

Tongues Untied Truth Revealed: Body Image, Social Media, Identity Development, And Meaning-Making In Overweight And Obese Black Gay Msm, Amari Ja-Lynn Enam

Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored the meanings attributed to internalized messages about body image within the context of identity development from the perspectives of overweight/obese men of African descent (OMAD) among a group of 6 men who have sex with men (MSM). I was interested in those messages that have been incorporated, adopted, or integrated into OMAD-MSM’s sense of self. Informants shared body image-related experiences from interactions with family, friends, dating/sex partners, and the media/social media.

Academic literature has explained identity development processes among African Americans through various lenses but research has not adequately explored the convergence of multiply oppressed social …

Psychological And Social Variables Impacting Young Adults Caring For Severely Mentally Ill Mothers, Courtney Gale Deloney

Dissertations

This dissertation study examined the psychological and social functioning of young adults who care for their severely mentally ill mothers; in doing so this study examined the independent variables coping style, perceived stress, quality of life, and resilience. The dependent variables considered were race, socioeconomic status, support group participation, and living in the same household as one’s mother. Young adulthood was examined as a distinct period of human development. The policy of deinstitutionalization led many families to become caregivers for their severely mentally ill relatives. While some knowledge on this exists, little is known about the experiences of young adult …

The Effects Of Schedule Density Of Reinforcement For Alternative Behavior On Resurgence, Kathryn M. Kestner

Dissertations

Resurgence is the reemergence of a previously extinguished response when an alternative response no longer produces reinforcement. Although returning to previously successful methods for obtaining reinforcement is likely advantageous, resurgence also occurs in the form of treatment relapse. An individual may return to problematic behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury, drug use) when an alternative behavior (e.g., communication response, coping skill, social behavior, etc.) is no longer successful at producing a reinforcer. Behavior analysts rely on treatments based on differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, and resurgence has been demonstrated following changes to reinforcement schedules due to errors in treatment integrity or intentional …

Functional Analytic Psychotherapy Compared To Watchful Waiting For Enhancing Social Connectedness: A Randomized Clinical Trial With A Diagnosed Sample, Daniel W. M. Maitland

Dissertations

The efficacy of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) has not yet been show in randomized controlled trials in any population. The current study utilized a stratified randomization technique conducted by a computer system to assign twenty-three college students recruited for difficulties in interpersonal functioning who scored one standard deviation below the norm on the Fear of Intimacy Scale and met diagnostic criteria via independent assessment for Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Avoidant Personality Disorder, or Dependent Personality Disorder to either a FAP condition or a Watchful Waiting Condition to assess the conditions ability to increase social relating …

Expected Profiles And Temporal Stability Of The Look, Sierra Marie Baird

Theses and Dissertations

The LOOK is an iOS based iPad app designed to measure viewing time as an estimate of sexual interest. Participants used a 7-point Likert scale to rate 154 images based on sexual attractiveness. The images belonged to 14 differentiated gender and age categories from infants to elderly adults. Before rating each image participants were asked to complete an additional task of locating and touching a small dot found in one of the four corners of the screen. This was included to make sure that participants we attending to each image, and to add another level of information to the results.The …