Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Group Conformity Based On Sex, Natalie Frier, Colin Fisher, Cindy Firman, Zachary Bigaouette

Celebrating Scholarship & Creativity Day (2011-2017)

Our experiment was a rendition of the Solomon Asch experiment. The difference between our experiment and Asch’s is that we asked a slew of general knowledge questions as compared to Asch’s question about which line was longer on a projected image. We asked 10 questions to our 45 subjects who were included in groups of six with five confederates in either an all male, female or mixed group. In order to test conformity we had our confederates answer questions with an incorrect answer to see how our subjects would respond. After all 10 questions had been administered, we debriefed our …

Post-Feminism For Children: Feminism ‘Repackaged’ In The Bratz Films, Sarah Anna Becker, Danielle Thomas, Michael R. Cope

Faculty Publications

After their release in 2001, Bratz dolls carved into Barbie’s previously monopolistic share of teen doll sales. Amidst their growing popularity, cultural critics expressed a host of concerns about Bratz dolls, especially over how they sexualize youth, but the line grew to include a host of products like costumes, makeup kits, games, books, clothing, and movies. It also inspired new, similar doll lines from other toy companies. In this article, we situate the Bratz’s popularity in a specific cultural moment tied to the history of modern feminism. We use a content analysis of the Bratz movie series to explore the …

The Influence Of Gender And Language Complexity On The Credibility Of Expert Witness Testimony, Darcy Egan

Undergraduate Theses

With the increased use in expert witness testimony in civil trials, the decisions that jury members have made based on those testimonies have become very controversial. Previous research indicates that when a testimony is particularly complex, mock jurors will rely on cues outside the content of the testimony in order to determine the credibility of the witness. Research shows that there are different cues that are associated with higher credibility the expert. Common cues include the gender, occupation, and level of language complexity of the expert witness. This study used these three different cues as the independent variables, with two …

Successful Female Students In Undergraduate Computer Science And Computer Engineering: Motivation, Self-Regulation, And Qualitative Characteristics, Melissa Patterson Hazley

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Computer Science (CS) and Computer Engineering (CE) fields typically have not been successful at recruiting or retaining women students. Research indicates several reasons for this shortage but mainly from three perspectives: social issues, exposure/prior knowledge and curriculum issues in K-12 settings. This mixed-methods research addresses a gap in the literature by investigating the motivation and self-regulation behaviors of successful female students who are studying computer science and computer engineering. The findings in phase one of this study indicated that learning and performance approach goals predicted adaptive strategic self-regulation behaviors including strategy use, knowledge building and engagement. Learning avoidance goals predicted …

Teen Perception Of Texting And Driving In Rural West Virginia, Daniel Scott Kahn, Frank Fofie, Grant S. Buchanan, Md, Zain Qazi, Md, Timothy Wilson-Byrne Md, Tracy Legrow, Psyd, Franklin D. Shuler, Md, Phd

Marshall Journal of Medicine

In the last decade, texting and driving has evolved into a serious problem among the adolescent population. The goal of this study was to determine if education can effectively raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving and positively influence the behavior of rural West Virginia teens. A 25 question survey designed to asses teen driving behavior was administered to 143 rural West Virginia high school students before and after and educational session. The educational session was designed to explain how texting and driving impairs driving ability and show graphic images of accidents and injuries that resulted from this …

"Women On Women Aggression" Predictors Of A Belief In Double Standards, April D. Crabtree

Scholars Week

"Woman on Woman Aggression": Predictors of Beliefs in Double Sex Standards

The presence of double standards is a topic that has been widely researched for the past several decades. Sexual double standards are based on the belief that sexual behaviors by women are viewed differently than when similar behaviors are exhibited by men. Early research stated that double standards were no longer much of an issue as seen in archival research by Crawford and Popp (2003). As they pulled research from previous decades, they concluded that double standards were not much of an issue in the 1970’s but resurfaced a …

The Contribution Of A Polygenic Risk Score To Individual Differences In Aggressive Behavior: The Moderating And Mediating Roles Of Stressful Events, Christa C. Christ

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Although aggression can be beneficial in certain situations (e.g. playing sports, self-defense), excessive and inappropriate aggression can lead to adverse physical and psychological health outcomes in both perpetrators and victims. Genetic susceptibility to negative environments can increase the likelihood of aggressive behavior in the context of situational risk factors. Low efficiency of serotonin neurotransmission and exposure to stress appear to play a prominent role in the etiology of aggressive behavior. A set of three studies assessed the contribution of polygenic risk (TPH2 rs4570625, SLC6A4 5-HTTLPR+rs25531, HTR1B rs13212041, MAOA uVNTR) to aggressive behavior, including alcohol-related aggression, in university students at varying …

Bullying In Elementary Schools, Matthew Earnhardt, Meline M. Kevorkian, Albert Rodriguez, Tom D. Kennedy, Robin D'Antona, Jia Borror

Publications

The goal of this study was to report key descriptive data from 1,588 third through fifth graders who completed a survey regarding their perceptions of bullying in schools. Key findings were that 40 % of third through fifth graders reported being bullied, while girls reported being victims of bullying more often than boys. When bullying was reported to a school administrator or a parent/guardian, only about 19 % of those bullied reported that bullying stopped completely; 16 % reported that bullying had stopped for a while, and 11 % indicated that bullying never stopped and in some cases got worse. …

Distinct Stages Of Moment-To-Moment Processing In The Cinguloopercular And Frontoparietal Networks, C. Gratton, Maital Neta, H. Sun, E. J. Ploran, B. L. Schlaggar, M. E. Wheeler, S. E. Petersen, S. M. Nelson

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Control of goal-directed tasks is putatively carried out via the cinguloopercular (CO) and frontoparietal (FP) systems. However, it remains unclear whether these systems showdissociable moment-to-moment processing during distinct stages of a trial. Here, we characterize dynamics in the CO and FP networks in a meta-analysis of 5 decision-making tasks using fMRI, with a specialized “slow reveal” paradigm which allows us to measure the temporal characteristics of trial responses.We find that activations in left FP, right FP, and CO systems form separate clusters, pointing to distinct roles in decision-making. Left FP shows early “accumulator-like” responses, suggesting a role in pre-decision processing. …

Bilingual Language Distance Predicts Dementia Rating, Morgan Owens

Scholars Week

This study explored the differences in the languages spoken by bilingual people may lead to differences in cognitive reserve and the progression of AD. Individuals who speak distant languages (e.g., a Romance and a Germanic language) will have a different linguistic experience than individuals who speak two near languages (e.g., two Romance languages). Knowledge of distant languages may provide speakers with a large set of cognitive tools (e.g., linguistic constructs, concepts, schemas) that could increase cognitive reserve. We hypothesized that greater language distance would predict lower dementia scores in a clinical AD population.A subset of the data from the National …

Dressed To Impress (Or Is She?): Judgments Of Attraction Based On Attire, Emily C. Rohrer

Scholars Week

This study examined first impressions, perceptions, and social attributions individuals make based on another’s attire. The difference in viewers’ perceptions in regard to two photos of women (i.e., one that was casually dressed or one that was dressed scantily) was measured. The study examined the differences in judgments of the woman’s personality, and included assessments of six different traits: interpersonal skills, intellect, physical attractiveness, social status, interpersonal power, and family orientation. Results indicated that individuals perceive the casually dressed female to have better interpersonal skills as well as higher intelligence and better social status than the provocatively dressed female. Moreover, …

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: Militaristic Video Games On Nationalistic Attitudes And Violence, David I. Crittendon

Scholars Week

From arcade rooms to individual gaming consoles, video gaming has gained in popularity over the past decade. As graphics have improved, the games have taken on life like characteristics, and have exposed the new age gamer into a world of virtual reality. Multiple studies have shown that priming (the exposure to a stimulus to activate attitudes/behaviors) using the media has been shown to increase feelings of National Identity, and priming in video games has been shown to increase violence in the individual. In addition to these priming studies, immersion into an avatar viewpoint tends to desensitizes individuals to real-life experiences …

Put Your Shirt On: An Examination Of Provocative Versus Casual Clothing On First Impressions, Katelyn Geilear

Scholars Week

It is astounding how much information someone can gather about a person from a quick glance. We form first impressions of others based on a number of things, such as their appearance, demeanor, and other characteristics we can gather from a glance or two, and form impressions of a person’s personality, character, intentions, and motivations based on these factors. This can happen in mere tenths of a second. My research looked at how people form first impressions based on a person’s attire and gender.

Examining Multi-Session Brief Intervention For Substance Use In Primary Care: Research Methods Of A Randomized Controlled Trial., Jaclyn E Chambers, Adam C Brooks, Rachel Medvin, David S Metzger, Jennifer Lauby, Carolyn M Carpenedo, Kevin E Favor, Kimberly C Kirby

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

BACKGROUND: Brief interventions such as Screening, a single session of Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) have shown mixed effectiveness in primary care. However, there are indications that multi-session brief interventions may demonstrate more consistently positive outcomes, and perhaps a more intensive approach would be of benefit in addressing substance use in primary care. This study compared the effectiveness of SBIRT with a single BI session (BI/RT) to a multi-session brief-treatment intervention (BI/RT+) in primary care. We also developed easy-to-use, evidence-based materials to assist clinicians in delivering these interventions.

METHODS/DESIGN: This study was conducted in three Federally Qualified Healthcare …

Exploring The Lived Experience Of People With Dementia Through Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Helen F. Johnson

The Qualitative Report

Dementia is arguably one of the biggest challenges facing society today, impacting millions of people worldwide. Nonetheless, there is only a relatively small body of research exploring what it is like to live with dementia from the perspectives of people who have this condition. This is partly because of the (implicit or explicit) belief that people with dementia lack insight into their condition and cannot talk about their experiences clearly. In this article, I argue that such beliefs are typically both erroneous and unhelpful, and that there is great value in seeking to illuminate the lived experiences of people with …

Ellie Karle Won First Prize In Poster Competition

Honorable Mention

Much research has focused on the variables associated with student academic outcomes indicated by class grades. This study explored the influence of student goal orientation on academic achievement based on a trichotomous model: mastery goals (motivated by a desire to master a task or subject), performance-approach goals (motivated by a desire to perform well compared to others), and performance-avoidant goals (motivated by a fear of failure). As the literature demonstrates, a myriad of personal factors may influence the connection between goal orientation and academic achievement—variables such as intrinsic motivation, commitment to goals, perceived competence, and affect. The hypothesis of this …

A Mturk Facial Inference Study, Janine Swiney, Anthony Stahelski, Mary Radeke

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

This survey is one in a series of studies utilizing Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to investigate the facial inference process. Participants in this study were asked to infer the emotions and personality traits shown in three facial expressions (angry, sad, happy) of young white females and males in six photographs. Each picture was presented for 10 seconds followed by four questions about the individual in the picture. The first question asked participants to identify the emotion shown, from a list of six emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise). The next three questions consist of condensed sets of the Big …

A Mturk Facial Inference Study, Janine Swiney, Anthony Stahelski, Mary Radeke

Symposium Of University Research and Creative Expression (SOURCE)

This survey is one in a series of studies utilizing Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) to investigate the facial inference process. Participants in this study were asked to infer the emotions and personality traits shown in three facial expressions (angry, sad, happy) of young white females and males in six photographs. Each picture was presented for 10 seconds followed by four questions about the individual in the picture. The first question asked participants to identify the emotion shown, from a list of six emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise). The next three questions consist of condensed sets of the Big …

Changes In Eeg Brain Activity During Physical And Social Pain Assessment In Chronic Pain Patients Undergoing Spinal Cord Stimulation (Scs) Therapy, Nitesh Kumar, Randi Wilson, Joseph Williams, Faculty Advisor, David Cedeno, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Dendritic Cell Phagocytosis In C57bl/6 Il-10-/- And C57bl/6 Wild Type Mice And Implications For Guillain-Barré Syndrome Pathology, Jenna Baker, Brian Walter, Faculty Advisor, Linda Mansfield, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

The Influence Of Social Exclusion On Self-Regulatory Control: Neuronal And Behavioral Activity Effects During Subsequent Cognitive Tasks, Anna Moczynski, Jason Themanson, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Anxious Attachment As A Predictor Of Risky Sexual Behavior, Larissa Valentino, Marie Nebel-Schwalm, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Emotional And Social Responses To Intact And Degraded Nature: What Does It Mean To Lose The Dark?, Analeigh Dao, Linda Kunce, Faculty Advsior

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Oral presentation abstract.

Effects Of Exercise And Good Limb Training On Functional Outcome Following Stroke In C57bl/6 Mice, Amanda Macuiba, Abigail Kerr, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Oral presentation abstract.

Self Control In Dogs, Stephanie Aubuchon, Ellen Furlong, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Anatomical Effects Of Exercise Following Ischemic Insult In Young And Aged C57bl/6 Mice, Mark Curtis, Abigail Kerr, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Differences In Spatial Cognition In Captive Tiger And Bears, Jessica Kraut, Ellen Furlong, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Stress & Well-Being: The Role Of Social Support Exchanged With Adult Children, Niccole Nelson, Mignon Montpetit, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Neural And Behavioral Effects Of Social Exclusion On Self-Regulation, Natalie Weimer, Jason Themanson, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

Poster presentation abstract.

Opinion Of Homosexuality In Relation To Preferred News Outlet, Kathleen K. Wortham

Scholarly and Creative Works Conference (2015 - 2021)

America is rapidly becoming more accepting of homosexuality. This is not only seen by more public acceptance of gay people in media, but also according to a PEW Research study conducted this year, the majority of Americans now support gay marriage (PEW Research Center, 2015). It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what factors have contributed to this change in perception despite numerous studies. Past research has found that traditional media outlets including television and magazines, among other outlets, does not significantly influence opinions of homosexuality (Becker & Scheufele, 2011). The purpose of the present study is to determine if there …