Psychology Commons^™

Ptsd From Childhood Trauma As A Precursor To Attachment Issues, Christy Owen

Fidei et Veritatis: The Liberty University Journal of Graduate Research

The past 20 years have been turbulent regarding Reactive Attachment Disorder (RAD), with conflicting research about its causes, effects, treatment, and prognosis. The current diagnostic criteria in the DSM-5 fails to adequately address this disorder. A number of deviant and maladaptive behaviors common amongst children with RAD are not even mentioned in the diagnostic criteria. As such, the diagnostic definition is almost unidentifiable or incompatible with real-life conduct manifestations of the disorder. Rather, this author contends that RAD is foundationally a unique and extreme form of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from Early Childhood Trauma. The child endured unspeakable neglect and/or …

From Norway With Love: A Study Of Oxytocin, Social Bonding, And Life-History Trade-Offs, Nicholas Grebe

Psychology ETDs

Oxytocin (OT) is a mammalian neuropeptide hormone that has been extensively studied in the field of obstetrics and mother-infant bonding. More recently, animal and human studies have suggested that OT might also have important functions within sexual pair-bonds. While some have advanced the perspective that OT is a ‘bonding’, ‘cuddle’, or ‘trust’ hormone, a number of opposing findings cast doubt on such interpretations. Several research groups have attempted to address this so-called ‘paradox’. I propose a different type of framework that attempts to address this paradox, but perhaps more importantly, also aims to provide additional explanatory power regarding the functions …

Cognitive Bias And Adolescent Risk-Taking, Mayuko Nakamura

Theses and Dissertations

Although the framing effect (i.e., the tendency of people to react differently to a particular choice depending on whether the choice is presented as a loss or as a gain) is a well-established cognitive bias among the adult population, there have been a limited number of studies with adolescent samples. In the current study, adolescents (14-18) and adults (18-26) will be asked to make choices in several decision problems including the classic Asian Disease Problem (Tversky & Kahneman, 1981) and modified “adolescent-relevant” versions that are applicable to the real-world experiences of adolescents. Individual difference measures, such as Individuals’ thinking-style (i.e., …

The Effects Of Group Cohesion And Experiential Learning Activities On Participation Styles In A College Classroom, Elizabeth Shmikler

Theses and Dissertations

Adventure education is a long standing form of education that has been used both internationally and throughout America more than many initially realize. Adventure education has proven to have a diverse range of benefits to its participants, and has become an essential, widely acknowledged, and promoted approach to learning. Not only has past research connected a participation styles to adventure education and formal education, but several studies have noted the multitude of benefits that adventure education can have on student retention and college performance. This line of research continues to expand in applying experiential education in formal, college education settings. …

Unconscious Processing Of Facial Emotional Valence Relation: Behavioral Evidence Of Integration Between Subliminally Perceived Stimuli, Chengzhen Liu, Zhiyi Sun, Jerwen Jou, Qian Cui, Guang Zhao, Jiang Qiu, Shen Tu

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Although a few studies have investigated the integration between some types of unconscious stimuli, no research has yet explored the integration between unconscious emotional stimuli. This study was designed to provide behavioral evidence for the integration between unconsciously perceived emotional faces (same or different valence relation) using a modified priming paradigm. In two experiments, participants were asked to decide whether two faces in the target, which followed two subliminally presented faces of same or different emotional expressions, were of the same or different emotional valence. The interstimulus interval (ISI) between the prime and the target was manipulated (0, 53, 163 …

How Could Consciousness Emerge From Adaptive Functioning?, Max Velmans

Animal Sentience

The sudden appearance of consciousness that Reber posits in creatures with flexible cell walls and motility rather than non-flexible cells walls and no motility involves an evolutionary discontinuity. This kind of “miracle” is required by all “discontinuity” theories of consciousness. To avoid miraculous emergence, one may need to consider continuity theories, which accept that different forms of consciousness and material functioning co-evolve but assume the existence of consciousness to be primal in the way that matter and energy are assumed to be primal in physics.

Optimizing Cross-Battery Assessment Procedures For Reading-Based Specific Learning Disorder Diagnosis: A Monte Carlo Study, Zachary Joseph Roman

Theses and Dissertations

Specific Learning Disorder is a disorder in which deficits in academic skills are caused by specific cognitive deficits. Cross-Battery Assessment (Flanagan, Alfonso, & Ortiz, 2013), is a popular method of diagnosing specific learning disorders. A recent study using data simulation methods claimed that cross-battery assessment was insufficiently accurate for clinical use (Stuebing, Fletcher, Branum-Martin, & Francis, 2012). However, the study used the general population base rate for specific learning disorders, resulting in misleadingly low accuracy estimates. The current study attempted to accurately simulate the cross-battery assessment method with a referred population prevalence to provide a fair analysis of cross-battery assessment’s …

You Poor Thing: A Retrospective Autoethnography Of Visible Chronic Illness As A Symbolic Vanishing Act, Alexandra Ch Nowakowski

The Qualitative Report

In this autoethnography, I outline a framework for understanding illness as deviance, contextualizing general sociological theory on sick role dynamics to the specific case of chronic conditions that manifest with visible physical differences. I demonstrate two distinct ways in which chronic conditions can foster labeling and stigma. First, I explore how social norms can result in sanctions for showing physical evidence of chronic conditions. I describe sanctions I have experienced for violating conventional ideas about youth and female beauty, and associated behavioral expectations. Second, I explore how double jeopardy can result from failing to meet usual social expectations for sickness. …

“Cellular Basis Of Consciousness”: Not Just Radical But Wrong, Brian Key

Animal Sentience

Reber (2016) attempts to resuscitate an obscure and outdated hypothesis referred to as the “cellular basis of consciousness” that was originally formulated by the author nearly twenty years ago. This hypothesis proposes that any organism with flexible cell walls, a sensitivity to its surrounds, and the capacity for locomotion will possess the biological foundations of mind and consciousness. Reber seeks to reduce consciousness to a fundamental property inherent to individual cells rather than to centralised nervous systems. This commentary shows how this hypothesis is based on supposition, false premises and a misunderstanding of evolutionary theory. The cellular basis of consciousness …

The Person And The Self As Social Accomplishment, Leslie Irvine

Animal Sentience

Rowlands (2016) presents a compelling argument for extending personhood to nonhuman animals. Sociological conceptions of the person also do not require that animals meet the elusive standard of self-awareness. Sociological ideas on selfhood support the claims about pre-reflective awareness and extend the requisite experiences to animals.

The Evolutionary History Of Consciousness, Eirik Søvik, Clint Perry

Animal Sentience

Klein & Barron argue that insects are capable of subjective experience, i.e., sentience. Whereas we mostly agree with the conclusion of their arguments, we think there is an even more important message to be learned from their work. The line of reasoning opened by Klein & Barron proves instructive for how neuroscientists can and should explore the biological phenomenon of consciousness.

Facilitating Emotional Regulation: The Interactive Effect Of Resource Availability And Reward Processing, Michael E. Roberts

Psychology and Neuroscience Faculty Publications

Despite a wealth of knowledge on the importance of resource availability and reward processing for emotional regulation, surprisingly little is known about the extent to which these two mechanisms interact. Indeed, while research largely supports a positive association between reward processing and recovering from a negative emotional experience, the research does not make a clear prediction regarding the effect of resource availability on this relationship. In two experiments, we explored the extent to which resource availability impacts the efficacy of reward processing to reduce the aversive emotional experience of anxiety. We manipulated participants' mental resource availability, induced anxiety, and varied …

Beginnings: Physics, Sentience And Luca, Carolyn A. Ristau

Animal Sentience

According to Reber’s model, Cellular Basis of Consciousness (CBC), sentience had its origins in a unicellular organism and is an inherent property of living, mobile organic forms. He argues by analogy to basic physical forces which he considers to be inherent properties of matter; I suggest that they are instead the stuff of scientific investigation in physics. I find no convincing argument that sentience had to begin in endogenously mobile cells, a criterial attribute of the originator cell(s)for sentience according to CBC. Non-endogenously mobile cells, (i.e., plants or precursors) in a moving environment would suffice. Despite my concerns and the …

Might Insects Experience Pain?, Robert W. Elwood

Animal Sentience

The aim of this commentary is to expand the discussion about subjective experience to other arthropods, notably crustaceans. Various species of crustaceans show responses consistent with their feeling pain. Hermit crabs also show prolonged investigation of new shells. They clearly attend to and integrate information from a wide variety of sources that enable them to evaluate the quality of the new shell relative to their current shell. These observations too are consistent with their having subjective experience.

The Effect Of The Dsm Changes On Autism, Paris Newsome

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the changes that have been made to the Diagnostic Statistical Manuals over the years have had a major effect on Autism and its prevalence rate. This thesis used publicly available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Autism Speaks Organization. Since publicly available data was used for this research no demographic or identifiable information about the population was obtained for this study. There are five editions of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders and two revised editions. This study specifically looked at the last three editions of …

Prospective And Dyadic Associations Between Expectant Parents’ Prenatal Hormone Changes And Postpartum Parenting Outcomes, Robin S. Edelstein, William J. Chopik, Darby E. Saxbe, Britney M. Wardecker, Amy C. Moors, Onawa P. Labelle

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

During the transition to parenthood, both men and women experience hormone changes that are thought to promote parental care. Yet very few studies have explicitly tested the hypothesis that prenatal hormone changes are associated with postpartum parenting behavior. In a longitudinal study of 27 first-time expectant couples, we assessed whether prenatal hormone changes predicted self and partner-reported parenting outcomes at three months postpartum. Expectant fathers showed prenatal declines in testosterone and estradiol, and larger declines in these hormones predicted larger contributions to household and infant care tasks postpartum. Women whose partners showed larger testosterone declines also reported receiving more support …

Joint Action And Action-Effect Association In A Movement Control Task, Jiuyang Bai

Theses and Dissertations

Interpersonal action coordination relies on an information channel between co-actors. Previous studies have shown that offline or online visual, auditory, and haptic information can facilitate joint action. However, most previous studies only investigated the information that is naturally meaningful in the task context. Few explanations have been given about the underlying mechanism of this facilitation effect. The current study was designed to investigate what makes the information useful in improving joint action performance. I argued that externally added information (action effects) can also facilitate joint action. According to the Theory of Event Coding (TEC), once the association between an action …

The Guest In My Sitting Room, Jasmin Tahmaseb-Mcconatha

Psychology Faculty Publications

Is your cable bill making you anxious? How much television viewing is healthy and relaxing? How much is too much? Television viewing in later life.

A Model For Understanding Positive Intergroup Relations Using The In-Group-Favoring Norm, R. Matthew Montoya, Brad Pinter

Psychology Faculty Publications

We present a model of intergroup relations focused on the role of the in-group-favoring norm as capable of facilitating positive intergroup relations. We begin by defining the in-group-favoring norm and describing how it affects self-evaluations and evaluations of out-group members. We then outline how positive intergroup relations may result via the implementation of specific techniques fundamental to the in-group-favoring norm, including emphasizing the value of interactions with the out-group, establishing cooperative intergroup norms, and establishing superordinate goals. In so doing, we discuss how classic moderators of intergroup relations, including leadership, guilt, and in-group norms are facilitators of positive intergroup relations …

Empathic Joy In Positive Intergroup Relations, Todd L, Pittinsky, R. Matthew Montoya

Psychology Faculty Publications

Research on empathy focuses almost exclusively on its negative variety, empathic sorrow, either by defining empathy as a state involving negative emotions or by confining its empirical study to the negative. In contrast, we investigate empathy's positive variety, empathic joy. We do so in the context of intergroup relations. A total of 1,216 predominantly White teachers participated in a yearlong investigation of whether their attitudes toward, and empathy for, their predominantly ethnic minority students affected their teaching style and the students’ learning. Consistent with expectations, we found that teachers’ experience of empathic joy predicted better student outcomes and that it …

Fundamental Researcher Attributes: Reflections On Ways To Facilitate Participation In Community Psychology Doctoral Dissertation Research, Renato M. Liboro, Robb Travers

Psychology Faculty Research

As novice researchers, Community Psychology doctoral students encounter fresh challenges when they attempt to facilitate participation by members of the community in their dissertation projects. This article presents the merit in adopting fundamental researcher attributes, which have been described in published academic literature as personal characteristics that facilitate participation by members of the community in research studies. The value of these researcher attributes is exemplified in the discussion of one of the author’s experiences in the early stages of his dissertation research process. This article also presents new researcher attributes for facilitating participation by community members that the author recognised …

Phenomenal Consciousness In Insects? A Possible Way Forward, Brian Key

Animal Sentience

Klein & Barron (2016) propose that subjective experience in humans arises in the midbrain and then argue that insects have the capacity for subjective experience because their nervous system can perform neural processing similar to that of the midbrain. This approach ultimately fails because it is built on the false premise that the midbrain is the source of the awareness of sensory stimuli. I instead propose that the capacity for subjective experience must be based on fundamental neural computations that generate the “what it feels like” experience. Two such computations associated with metarepresentations and high level representations entering working memory …

Sleep Disruption Among Cancer Patients Following Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Ashley M. Nelson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Sleep disruption is one of the most commonly reported quality of life concerns among cancer patients who have undergone hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Despite the high percentage of patients reporting sleep concerns, relatively little research has characterized sleep problems or explored relationships with psychological factors. In addition, no studies have used actigraph technology to characterize sleep issues among transplant recipients.

Method: Autologous HSCT recipients who were 6 to 18 months post-transplant were invited to participate. Patients completed self-report measures of cancer-related distress, fear of cancer recurrence, dysfunctional cognitions about sleep, and maladaptive sleep behaviors upon enrollment, wore an …

The Bilingual Brain, Victoria A. James

Journal of Counseling and Psychology

This literature review explores the neurocognitive effects of the bilingual brain. Many areas of bilingualism are examined such as age of acquisition, which is when the second language is attained, and memory. The three types of bilingual memory are implicit memory, which is procedural memory, explicit memory, which is declarative memory, and episodic memory, which is autobiographical memory. In relation to the bilingual brain, cognition, control, and /lateralization are also reviewed. Finally, second language (L2) learning strategies are considered. The objective of this study is to obtain an understanding on how two or more languages are acquired and processed in …

An Evaluation Of A Shelter Dog Training Class: Outcomes For Volunteer Trainers And For Dogs, Paula M. Ramirez

Animal Training and Obedience Collection

No abstract provided.

The Implementation Of Alternative Pain Control Methods By Dental Hygienists, Alejandra Valadez Rodriguez

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

As a dental hygienist, it is important to understand new concepts and techniques that can contribute to a more comfortable setting for patients who experience dental anxiety. Alternative pain control methods can assist in alleviating patient anxiety, therefore, providing a more efficient and relaxed clinical atmosphere for both patient and clinician. Some of the methods discussed are: guided imagery, deep breathing, muscle relaxation, hypnosis, acupressure, essential oil diffusion, audio distraction, and visual stimuli. After reviewing the literature the researcher found that dental anxiety affects patient compliance, their overall health, and willingness to attend regular dental visits. The purpose of this …

Probing The Nature Of Deficits In The ‘Approximate Number System’ In Children With Persistent Developmental Dyscalculia, S Bugden, Daniel Ansari

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

In the present study we examined whether children with Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) exhibit a deficit in the so-called 'Approximate Number System' (ANS). To do so, we examined a group of elementary school children who demonstrated persistent low math achievement over 4 years and compared them to typically developing (TD), aged-matched controls. The integrity of the ANS was measured using the Panamath (www.panamath.org) non-symbolic numerical discrimination test. Children with DD demonstrated imprecise ANS acuity indexed by larger Weber fraction (w) compared to TD controls. Given recent findings showing that non-symbolic numerical discrimination is affected by visual parameters, we went further and …

A Quantitative Comparison Of The Hemispheric, Areal, And Laminar Origins Of Sensory And Motor Cortical Projections To The Superior Colliculus Of The Cat., Blake E Butler, Nicole Chabot, Stephen G Lomber

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

The superior colliculus (SC) is a midbrain structure central to orienting behaviors. The organization of descending projections from sensory cortices to the SC has garnered much attention; however, rarely have projections from multiple modalities been quantified and contrasted, allowing for meaningful conclusions within a single species. Here, we examine corticotectal projections from visual, auditory, somatosensory, motor, and limbic cortices via retrograde pathway tracers injected throughout the superficial and deep layers of the cat SC. As anticipated, the majority of cortical inputs to the SC originate in the visual cortex. In fact, each field implicated in visual orienting behavior makes a …

Profiles Of Neuropsychological Functioning In Children And Adolescents With Spina Bifida: Associations With Biopsychosocial Predictors And Functional Outcomes, Grayson N. Holmbeck, Rachel M. Wasserman

Psychology: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The current study examined neuropsychological performance among children with spina bifida (SB) to determine biological and functional correlates of distinct “profiles” of cognitive functioning. Methods: A total of 95 children with SB myelomeningocele (ages, 8–15 years) completed a neuropsychological assessment battery. Hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses were used to identify and confirm a cluster solution. Hypothesized predictors of cluster membership included lesion level, number of shunt surgeries, history of seizures, age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, and family stress. Outcomes included independence, academic success, expectations for the future, and quality of life. Results: Ward’s cluster method indicated a three-cluster solution, and was …

The Temporal Dynamics Of Scene Processing: A Multifaceted Eeg Investigation, Assaf Harel, Iris Groen, Dwight J. Kravitz, Leon Y. Deouell, Chris I. Baker

Psychology Faculty Publications

Our remarkable ability to process complex visual scenes is supported by a network of scene-selective cortical regions. Despite growing knowledge about the scene representation in these regions, much less is known about the temporal dynamics with which these representations emerge. We conducted two experiments aimed at identifying and characterizing the earliest markers of scene-specific processing. In the first experiment, human participants viewed images of scenes, faces, and everyday objects while event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. We found that the first ERP component to evince a significantly stronger response to scenes than the other categories was the P2, peaking ∼220 ms …