Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Construal Level On Stigmatizing Attitudes Toward An Individual With Mental Illness, Jeremy Glenn Gay

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

People with mental illness often face stigmatization by society. However, little research has examined cognitive factors that may activate or dissipate stigmatizing attitudes toward those with mental illness. Construal level, or the extent that people focus on abstract generalizations versus concrete details of events, may be one such cognitive factor. Two contradictory hypotheses emerged concerning how construal may affect stigmatizing attitudes. One hypothesis suggests that abstract construals will decrease stigmatization because abstract construals tend to increase the activation of similar goals, thus leading to a similarity focus. In contrast, another hypothesis suggests that abstract construals will increase stigmatization because abstract …

The Effects Of Injunctive And Descriptive Normative Influence On Stigmatizing Attitudes Toward Individuals With Mental Illness, Erin E. Lawson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

People often stigmatize individuals with mental illness (Corrigan, 2003; Weiss, 1994). The stigmatization of mental illness may be facilitated by socialization tools, such as the media, which send messages to the public that individuals with mental illness are fundamentally different and therefore should be excluded from the social majority (Klin & Lemish, 2008; Signorielli, 1989; Stout, Villegas, & Jennings, 2004). Understanding mental illness stigma as a social process may broaden theoretical understanding of how mental illness stigma develops and how it may be reduced. Theories regarding injunctive and descriptive norms may provide such insight. It is known that injunctive norms …

Promoting Literacy Development In The Early Childhood Classroom: An Evaluation Of Phonemic Awareness And Phonics Instruction, Elise Catherine Mciver

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Research has consistently demonstrated that literacy skills are associated with a host of benefits that are both substantial and long lasting. Given the implications of reading skill development, efforts to understand the most effective methods of teaching students how to read are consequential. Fortunately, substantial research has been conducted on this topic and has subsequently highlighted two essential building blocks of a balanced literacy framework: phonemic awareness and phonics. The current literature on the reading acquisition process shows that if students are to benefit from phonics instruction, they must have a certain level of phonemic awareness proficiency. The question remains, …

Psychological And Environmental Predictors Of Test Anxiety: A Structural Equation Model, Meredith Taylor Harris

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Test anxiety is a construct that includes cognitive, physiological, and behavioral symptoms occurring in response to anxiety prior to, during, or following examinations. The current literature on test anxiety has evaluated a number of possible predictors, including demographic variables, academic indicators, and self-perceptions. The movement toward school accountability and higher academic expectations of students has increased the severity of consequences occurring as a result of poor academic achievement. Thus, test anxiety is a critical concern that may impact student academic success. The current study evaluated a structural equation model to determine the strength of associations between trait anxiety, academic achievement, …

Caregiver Choice In Autism Intervention: Selections And Influential Factors, Hilary Lynn Adams

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Although research on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) continues to increase, there is not yet a “cure” for the disorder. There is a lack of consensus regarding most effective treatments, much less an accepted treatment plan or course. Families may feel alone and lost in the treatment decision process. In order to best assist caregivers, psychologists must understand the selections caregivers make, their sources of information, and what influences them in their decision-making process. With this knowledge, clinicians may best effect change in caregiver choice by encouraging informed decision-making and use of empirically-based interventions. Thus, the purpose of the current study …

Utopia: An Integrated Stepped-Care Program For Stress Reduction, Antoinette Cornute Booth

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This research culminates in a design for an integrative psychological program aimed at reducing the stress of indicated patients at an Upstate New York obstetric and gynecologist (ob/gyn) practice.The program is named Utopia.This dissertation focuses solely on program development, not program implementation.The Utopia program is based on evidence-based practices and empirically supported research regarding Mindfulness, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Interpersonal Theory (IPT), the Psycho-Oncology Consultant Model (POCM) of care, and stepped-care treatment models.The target population is patients who experience various aspects of stress due to medical and/or psychological symptomology.Patients are referred based on their scores on a program-modified stress …

Pebbles Under The Tongue: A Qualitative Investigation Of Parents Who Stutter, Craig Matthew Kramer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

To date, few studies have explored the lived experiences of parents who stutter. Thus, this qualitative study utilized a 15-question, in-depth semi-structured interview to explore how stuttering impacts various parenting roles, functions, activities, and states. Furthermore, this study elucidates how parents who stutter describe and attach meaning to parenting, as well as how they view parental stuttering in terms of disability status. Participants were 10 parents (6 men and 4 women) who self-identified as having a stuttering disorder. All participants were over 18 years of age and had a child between the ages of 5-18. Data was analyzed using an …

Factors Influencing Father Involvement With Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Kayleigh E. Hay

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Children in America are being diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) at rates that are much greater than in previous decades. There is an abundance of research that is being conducted to try and discover the cause of this neurodevelopmental disorder and the interventions that are useful in treating it. It is classified as a spectrum disorder because there is such a large range of severity levels. Similarly, there is a large range of involvement levels by fathers of children with autism. Much research has been done on maternal experiences, leaving a lack of knowledge regarding fathers and how and …

The Happy Boomer: Baby Boomer Life Satisfaction Through Affect And Feeling Of Belonging, Brooke Christina-Marie Massey

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The age cohort of 65 years and older is a growing population. It is part of the group referred to as Baby Boomers, the generation born between the years 1946-1964. It will be the largest population to reach late adulthood to date. In the United States alone, the Baby Boomer cohort is expected to reach 70 million by 2030. In response to this growing elderly population much research has been conducted on Baby Boomer quality of life issues. Such research uncovered the phenomenon known as the well-being paradox. The well-being paradox refers to the findings that older adults' life satisfaction …

The Impact Of Experimentally Manipulated Post-Event Processing On The Relationship Between Social Anxiety And Cannabis Craving And Use, Anthony Harlan Ecker

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cannabis-related problems are major public health concerns. Social anxiety appears to be a unique risk factor that contributes to the development of cannabis-related problems, including cannabis use disorders. Given this risk, identification of cognitive vulnerabilities that may contribute to the onset and maintenance of co-occurring social anxiety and cannabis-related problems remains an important research goal. Socially anxious individuals experience anxiety and negative affect in response to cognitively reviewing past social situations (i.e., post-event processing [PEP]) and are likely to use cannabis to cope with negative affective states, which may occur during PEP. Thus, PEP may be one cognitive vulnerability factor …

Cognitive And Behavioral Mechanisms Underlying Alcohol-Induced Risky Driving, Jennifer R. Laude

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol intoxication represents one situation an individual might increase their amount of risk taking when driving. This dissertation is comprised of three studies that investigate the mechanisms by which alcohol increases driver risk-taking. Study 1 examined the effect of alcohol on driver risk-taking using a proxemics approach. The study also tested whether alcohol-induced increases in risky driving co-occurred with pronounced impairment in the driver’s skill. The study also examined whether the most disinhibited drivers were also the riskiest. Indeed, alcohol increased driver risk-taking and impaired driving skill. The study also revealed risky driving can be dissociable from impairing effects on …

Intersectional Examination Of Individuation And Emotional Intelligence: Longitudinal Associations With Positive Psychology And Multicultural Psychology, Laura E. Miller

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Emerging adulthood is a unique transitional period that has only recently been introduced into the literature (Arnett & Taber, 1994). Gaps exist in explicating underlying concepts of positive development in this developmental period. Individuation and emotional intelligence have been identified as crucial developmental tasks for emerging adults (Lapsley & Edgerton, 2002; Fernandez, Salamonson, & Griffiths, 2012). Positive psychology and multicultural psychology theories provide insights into how these components may be promoted over time. The purpose of the study was to identify promotional factors to healthy development outcomes in sample of ethnically diverse emerging adults. Participants in the study included 293 …

The Effects Of Alcohol-Related Stimuli Priming On The Expression Of Relational Aggression, Connor W. Ondriezek

Honors College Theses

The semantic network model of memory states that concepts closely related (e.g., pencil-paper) are stored together in memory (Posner & Snyder, 1975). When one concept is activated, other related concepts becoming more accessible, which increases the likelihood that related concepts will influence behavior. Past research has established a link between aggressive behaviors after exposure to alcohol-related words (Bartholow, Grosvenor, Pedersen, Truong, & Vasquez, 2014). Previous research has also shown that alcohol outcome expectancies contribute to problematic drinking behavior (Fromme, Stroot, & Kaplan, 1993). In the present study, alcohol outcome expectancies of each participant were assessed by the CEOA questionnaire. Then, …

The Effects Of Rape Myths And Expert Testimony On Juror Decision Making In A Sexual Assault Case, Kelsey A. Pierson

Honors College Theses

When a sexual assault case is tried in court there is often a lack of physical evidence, leading jurors to rely on the general information they know about a topic when determining a verdict. When jurors rely on their general knowledge, preexisting stereotypes and prejudice can influence their decision. One type of stereotype is rape myths- false beliefs about rape victims, the situation surrounding a rape, and rapists. One understudied rape myth is the myth that victims who report their rape immediately are more credible than those who wait to report. Rape myths can be used to shift blame away …

The Relationships Between Psychopathy, Empathy, And Everyday Moral Decision Making In An Undergraduate Sample, Justin D. Kemple

Honors College Theses

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by interpersonal manipulation, callous affect, erratic lifestyle, and criminal tendencies. Past research has shown that individuals high in psychopathy feel less empathy than those lower in psychopathy, and that individuals higher in psychopathy sometimes show impaired morality on moral decision making tasks. This study examined the relationships between psychopathy, empathy, and everyday moral decision making; it was hypothesized that individuals higher in total psychopathy, interpersonal manipulation, and callous affect would score lower on empathic concern and feelings of wrongness and guilt when completing a moral dilemma task. To test this hypothesis, 190 undergraduate participants …

Large Reductions Are Possible In Older Driver Crashes At Intersections, Siby Samuel, Yusuke Yamani, Danald L. Fisher

Psychology Faculty Publications

Among all crash types, the largest percentage of older driver fatalities occur at intersections. Many explanations have been offered for older drivers' increased risks of crashing at intersections; however, only recently was it determined that older drivers were much less likely to glance for latent threats after entering an intersection than middle-aged drivers. In response, training programmes were designed to increase the frequency of such glances. The programmes have proven effective, doubling the frequency of these glances for up to a period of two years post-training. The programmes take only an hour to administer and are not directly targeted at …

Alcohol Expectancies Mediate The Relationship Between Age Of First Intoxication And Drinking Outcomes In College Binge Drinkers, Amy L. Stamates, Cathy Lau-Barraco, Ashley Linden-Carmichael

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: While prior research has shown that age of first intoxication (AI) is associated with negative alcohol outcomes, limited research has examined factors accounting for this relationship. Alcohol expectancies, or beliefs about the effects of alcohol, may explain such associations as both positive and negative expectancies have been shown to be key predictors of drinking outcomes.

Objective: The present study examined expectancies as mediators between early AI and alcohol-related outcomes.

Method: Data collection occurred in 2012 and 2013. Participants were college students (N = 562, 65.8% women) who completed an online survey including measures of alcohol use history, alcohol expectancies, …

Standardized Patient Encounters Periodic Versus Postencounter Evaluation Of Nontechnical Clinical Performance, T. Robert Turner, Mark W. Scerbo, Gayle A. Gliva-Mcconvey, Amelia M. Wallace

Psychology Faculty Publications

Introduction: Standardized patients are a beneficial component of modern healthcare education and training, but few studies have explored cognitive factors potentially impacting clinical skills assessment during standardized patient encounters. This study examined the impact of a periodic (vs. traditional postencounter) evaluation approach and the appearance of critical verbal and nonverbal behaviors throughout a standardized patient encounter on scoring accuracy in a video-based scenario.

Methods: Forty-nine standardized patients scored either periodically or at only 1 point in time (postencounter) a healthcare provider's verbal and nonverbal clinical performance during a videotaped standardized patient encounter. The healthcare provider portrayed in this study was …

Correcting Misconceptions About Gamification Of Assessment: More Than Sjts And Badges, Michael B. Armstrong, Jared Z. Ferrell, Andrew B. Collmus, Richard N. Landers

Psychology Faculty Publications

Describing the current state of gamification, Chamorro-Premuzic, Winsborough, Sherman, and Hogan () provide a troubling contradiction: They offer examples of a broad spectrum of gamification interventions, but they then summarize the entirety of gamification as “the digital equivalent of situational judgment tests.” This mischaracterization grossly oversimplifies a rapidly growing area of research and practice both within and outside of industrial–organizational (I-O) psychology. We agree that situational judgment tests (SJTs) can be considered a type of gamified assessment, and gamification provides a toolkit to make SJTs even more gameful. However, the term gamification refers to a much broader and potentially more …

Categorizing Fetal Heart Rate Variability With And Without Visual Aids, Amanda J. Ashdown, Mark W. Scerbo, Lee A. Belfore Ii, Stephen S. Davis, Alfred Z. Abuhamad

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective This study examined the ability of clinicians to correctly categorize images of fetal heart rate (FHR) variability with and without the use of exemplars.

Study Design A sample of 33 labor and delivery clinicians inspected static FHR images and categorized them into one of four categories defined by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) based on the amount of variability within absent, minimal, moderate, or marked ranges. Participants took part in three conditions: two in which they used exemplars representing FHR variability near the center or near the boundaries of each range, and a third …

Early Adverse Experiences And Health: The Transition To College, Kelly B. Filipkowski, Kristin E. Heron, Joshua M. Smyth

Psychology Faculty Publications

Objective: This study cross-sectionally and prospectively examined the impact of adversity experienced prior to college on the health and well-being of students adjusting to their first college semester. Methods: Two-hundred sixteen (216) first-year students completed measures of adverse life experiences, perceived stress, physical symptoms, and health-related behaviors during the first 2 weeks of college entry and again at the end of the first semester. Results: Reported adversity prior to college predicted greater perceived stress and physical symptoms at college entry and an increase in physical symptoms over the semester; perceived stress mediated the prospective changes. Early adversity …

Neural Responses To Maternal Praise And Criticism: Relationship To Depression And Anxiety Symptoms In High-Risk Adolescent Girls, Robin L. Aupperle, Amanda S. Morris, Jennifer S. Silk, Michael M. Criss, Matt R. Judah, Sally G. Eagleton, Namik Kirlic, Jennifer Byrd-Craven, Raquel Phillips, Ruben P. Alvarez

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: The parent-child relationship may be an important factor in the development of adolescent depressive and anxious symptoms. In adults, depressive symptoms relate to increased amygdala and attenuated prefrontal activation to maternal criticism. The current pilot study examined how depressive and anxiety symptoms in a high-risk adolescent population relate to neural responses to maternal feedback. Given previous research relating oxytocin to maternal behavior, we conducted exploratory analyses using oxytocin receptor (OXTR) genotype.

Methods: Eighteen females (ages 12-16) listened to maternal praise, neutral, and critical statements during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants completed the Mood and Feelings Questionnaire and the Screen …

Object Affordances Potentiate Responses But Do Not Guide Attentional Prioritization, Yusuke Yamani, Atsunori Ariga, Yuki Yamada

Psychology Faculty Publications

Handled objects automatically activate afforded responses. The current experiment examined whether objects that afford a response are also prioritized for attentional processing in visual search. Targets were pictures of coffee cups with handles oriented either to the right or the left. Subjects searched for a target, a right-handled vs. left -handled coffee cup, among a varying number of distractor cups oriented in the opposite direction. Responses were faster when the direction of target handle and the key press were spatially matched than mismatched (stimulus -response compatibility (SRC) effect), but object affordance did not moderate slopes of the search functions, indicating …

Age-Related Differences In Vehicle Control And Eye Movement Patterns At Intersections: Older And Middle-Aged Drivers, Yusuke Yamani, William J. Horrey, Yulan Liang, Donald L. Fisher

Psychology Faculty Publications

Older drivers are at increased risk of intersection crashes. Previous work found that older drivers execute less frequent glances for detecting potential threats at intersections than middle-aged drivers. Yet, earlier work has also shown that an active training program doubled the frequency of these glances among older drivers, suggesting that these effects are not necessarily due to age-related functional declines. In light of findings, the current study sought to explore the ability of older drivers to coordinate their head and eye movements while simultaneously steering the vehicle as well as their glance behavior at intersections. In a driving simulator, older …

Early Visual Perception Potentiated By Object Affordances: Evidence From A Temporal Order Judgment Task, Atsunori Ariga, Yuki Yamada, Yusuke Yamani

Psychology Faculty Publications

Perceived objects automatically potentiate afforded action. Object affordances also facilitate perception of such objects, and this occurrence is known as the affordance effect. This study examined whether object affordances facilitate the initial visual processing stage, or perceptual entry processes, using the temporal order judgment task. The onset of the graspable (righthandled) coffee cup was perceived earlier than that of the less graspable (left-handled) cup for right-handed participants. The affordance effect was eliminated when the coffee cups were inverted, which presumably conveyed less affordance information. These results suggest that objects preattentively potentiate the perceptual entry processes in response to their affordances.

Initiation And Retention In Couples Outpatient Treatment For Parents With Drug And Alcohol Use Disorders, Abbly L. Braitman, Michelle L. Kelley

Psychology Faculty Publications

The focus of the current study was to identity mental health, relationship factors, substance use related problems, and individual factors as predictors of couples-based substance abuse treatment initiation and attendance. Heterosexual couples with children that met study criteria were invited to attend 12 sessions of outpatient behavioral couples therapy. Men were more likely to initiate treatment if they had a higher income, had greater relationship satisfaction, were initiating treatment for alcohol use disorder only, were younger when they first suspected a problem, and had higher depression but lower hostility or phobic anxiety. Men attended more treatment sessions if they reported …

Acceptability Of Aggression Among Children Who Reside With Substance-Abusing Parents: The Influence Of Behavioral Dysregulation, Exposure To Neighborhood Violence, And Interparental Violence, Michelle L. Kelley, Abby L. Braitman, Robert J. Milletich, Brittany F. Hollis, Rachel E. Parsons, Tyler D. White, Cassie Patterson, Brianna Haislip, J. Matthew Henson

Psychology Faculty Publications

The present study examined how interparental violence, neighborhood violence, behavioral regulation during parental conflict, and age predicted beliefs about the acceptability of aggression and the acceptance of retaliation against an aggressive peer among youths. Participants were 110 families (mothers, fathers, and children) in which one or both parents met criteria for substance use disorder. Results of a bootstrapped multivariate regression model revealed higher exposure to neighborhood violence predicted greater acceptability of general aggression, whereas higher father-to-mother violence perpetration predicted lower acceptability of general aggression. Higher exposure to neighborhood violence, behavioral dysregulation during parental conflict, and older child age predicted greater …

Caffeinated And Non-Caffeinated Alcohol Use And Indirect Aggression: The Impact Of Self-Regulation, Brynn E. Sheehan, Ashley N. Linden-Carmichael, Cathy Lau-Barraco

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research shows that heavier alcohol use is associated with physical aggression. Scant research has examined the way in which alcohol relates to other forms of aggression, such as indirect aggression (e.g., malicious humor, social exclusion). Given the possible negative consequences of indirect aggression and the limited evidence suggesting alcohol use can elicit indirectly aggressive responses, research is needed to further investigate the association between drinking behavior and indirect aggression. Additionally, specific alcoholic beverages, such as caffeinated alcoholic beverages (CABs; e.g., Red Bull and vodka), may potentiate aggression above the influence of typical use, and thus warrant examination with regard to …

Finding Success In Failure: Using Latent Profile Analysis To Examine Heterogeneity In Psychosocial Functioning Among Heavy Drinkers Following Treatment, Adam D. Wilson, Adrian J. Bravo, Matthew R. Pearson, Katie Witkiewitz

Psychology Faculty Publications

Aims- To estimate differences in post-treatment psychosocial functioning among treatment failures' (i.e. heavy drinkers, defined as 4+/5+ drinks for women/men) from two large multi-site clinical trials and to compare these levels of functioning to those of the purported treatment successes' (i.e. non-heavy drinkers).

Design- Separate latent profile analyses of data from two of the largest alcohol clinical trials conducted in the United States, COMBINE (Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions) and Project MATCH (Matching Alcoholism Treatments to Client Heterogeneity), comparing psychosocial outcomes across derived classes of heterogeneous treatment responders.

Setting- Eleven US academic sites in COMBINE, 27US treatment sites local to …

Identifying Patterns Of Situational Antecedents To Heavy Drinking Among College Students, Cathy Lau-Barraco, Ashley N. Linden-Carmichael, Abby L. Braitman, Amy L. Stamates

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background- Emerging adults have the highest prevalence of heavy drinking as compared to all other age groups. Given the negative consequences associated with such drinking, additional research efforts focused on at-risk consumption are warranted. The current study sought to identify patterns of situational antecedents to drinking and to examine their associations with drinking motivations, alcohol involvement, and mental health functioning in a sample of heavy drinking college students.

Method- Participants were 549 (65.8% women) college student drinkers.

Results- Latent profile analysis identified three classes based on likelihood of heavy drinking across eight situational precipitants. The High Situational Endorsement' group reported …