Psychology Commons^™

The Effects Of Hiv Onset, Gender And Casual Sex Attitude On Perceptions And Reactions Towards Plhiv, Colin Hong Jie Tan, George D. Bishop

Modern Psychological Studies

The present study examined undergraduates’ attributions (control, responsibility and blame), emotional responses (anger and sympathy) and helping intentions (personal help and support for institutional assistance) towards PLHIV in Singapore. A 2 x 2 between-subjects design using vignettes systematically manipulated HIV onset controllability (high: casual sex / low: unfaithful spouse) and PLHIV gender (male/female). Two hundred fiftythree undergraduates from the National University of Singapore participated in the study. Significant main effects of HIV onset controllability were found for participants’ attributions, emotional responses and support for institutional assistance. A marginally significant main effect of HIV onset controllability was found for participants’ personal …

The Appraisal Similarity Effect: How Social Appraisals Influence Liking, Jomel W. X. Ng, Eddie M. W. Tong, Sher Ling Kwek

Modern Psychological Studies

The effects of cognitive appraisals on interpersonal relationships have hardly been studied. Three experiments examined how empathic social appraisal could influence liking. We tested for the appraisal similarity effect in which perceived similarity in appraisals boosts liking. In Experiment 1, perception of appraisal similarity led participants to express liking by disclosing personal contact information. This effect was replicated using a selfreport measure of liking in Experiments 2 and 3. Also, by independently manipulating attitude similarity, the appraisal similarity effect was deactivated under perceived attitude dissimilarity. Likewise, the robust attitude similarity effect was invalidated under perceived appraisal dissimilarity. In Experiment 3, …

Altered Developmental Trajectories For Impulsivity And Sensation Seeking Among Adolescent Substance Users, Nora E. Charles, Stacy R. Ryan, Bethany C. Bray, Charles W. Mathias, Ashley Acheson, Donald M. Doherty

Faculty Publications

A number of studies have associated impulsivity and sensation seeking with level of substance use and risk for developing a substance use disorder. These relationships may be particularly apparent during adolescence, when developmental changes in impulsivity and sensation seeking occur at the same time as increased opportunities for substance use. To examine this, the current study measured impulsivity and sensation seeking from pre-adolescence to mid-adolescence in a sample of youth, the majority of whom were identified as being at risk for developing a substance use disorder based on their family history of substance use disorders. Youth were separated into those …

Task- And Treatment Length–Dependent Effects Of Vortioxetine On Scopolamine-Induced Cognitive Dysfunction And Hippocampal Extracellular Acetylcholine In Rats, Alan Pehrson, Todd M. Hillhouse, Nasser Haddjeri, Renaud Rovera, Joseph H. Porter, Arne Mørk, Gennady Smagin, Dekun Song, David Budac, Manuel Cajina, Connie Sanchez

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common psychiatric disorder that often features impairments in cognitive function, and these cognitive symptoms can be important determinants of functional ability. Vortioxetine is a multimodal antidepressant that may improve some aspects of cognitive function in patients with MDD, including attention, processing speed, executive function, and memory. However, the cause of these effects is unclear, and there are several competing theories on the underlying mechanism, notably including regionally-selective downstream enhancement of glutamate neurotransmission and increased acetylcholine (ACh) neurotransmission. The current work sought to evaluate the ACh hypothesis by examining vortioxetine's ability to reverse scopolamine-induced impairments …

Principles And Practices Fostering Inclusive Excellence: Lessons From The Howard Hughes Medical Institute’S Capstone Institutions, Patricia Marten Dibartolo, Leslie Gregg-Jolly, Deborah Gross, Cathryn A. Manduca, Ellen Iverson, David B. Cooke, Iii, Gregory K. Davis, Cameron Davidson, Paul E. Hertz, Lisa Hibbard, Shubha K. Ireland, Catherine Mader, Aditi Pai, Shirley Raps, Kathleen Siwicki, Jim E. Swartz

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Best-practices pedagogy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) aims for inclusive excellence that fosters student persistence. This paper describes prin- ciples of inclusivity across 11 primarily undergraduate institutions designated as Capstone Awardees in Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) 2012 competition. The Capstones represent a range of institutional missions, student profiles, and geographical locations. Each successfully directed activities toward persistence of STEM students, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups, through a set of common elements: men- toring programs to build community; research experiences to strengthen scientific skill/ identity; attention to quantitative skills; and outreach/bridge programs to broaden the stu- dent …

She Asked For It: Statistics And Predictors Of Rape Myth Acceptance, Patrice Crall, Wind Goodfriend

Modern Psychological Studies

Where rape exists, there are people who believe in cultural myths about rape causes and victims. Acceptance of these rape myths increases and decreases based on many predictors; the present study investigated how rape myth acceptance varied in different populations on the campus of a small, private, liberal arts university. Although overall rape myth acceptance on campus was relatively low, analyses revealed that female participant sex, knowing a victim, and being able to identify contextual sexual assaults were predictive of lower rape myth acceptance. Additional hypotheses and research questions were tested but showed non-significant results. The findings of this study …

The Effects Of Face-To-Face And Online Social Stress On Emotion Identification, Anna N. Rabasco, Erin S. Sheets

Modern Psychological Studies

The present study examined whether the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) could be replicated in online, text-based communication, and whether both online and in-person social stress impacted emotion identification. Participants were college students (n = 58) who experienced stress elicitation either face-to-face (TSST) or online (e-Trier). They then identified angry, fearful, happy, and ambiguous angry-fearful facial expressions. The effectiveness of the TSST was replicated, while the e-Trier was only successful in eliciting stress at the mid-point of the task. In the less stressful conditions (e-Trier and control) men identified ambiguous expressions as significantly more angry than women, while this gender …

Does Ethnicity Affect How Older Adults Deal With Stressors At Home?, Sarah S. Monazah, Jennifer A. Bellingtiger, Agnes A. Gall, Shevaun D. Neupert

Modern Psychological Studies

Numerous studies have examined stress in older adults but little research has examined the specific relationship between ethnicity and home stressors. We used a micro-longitudinal eight day daily diary study to examine reactivity to home stressors in older adults. 42 participants reported on 337 days from the Greater Raleigh Area all between the ages of 60 to 96 representing European-Americans and African-Americans. Participants reported their daily home stressor resolution (resolved or unresolved) and daily physical symptoms (e.g., joint pain, fatigue, headache). We found that European-Americans had a significantly higher number of physical symptoms on days with an unresolved home stressor …

Helping Behavior In Heavy Metal Concerts, Jared Wildberger, Ingrid G. Farreras

Modern Psychological Studies

This study tested whether the gender of research confederates at heavy metal concert mosh pits would affect the helping behavior they receive. One male research confederate and one female research confederate each entered a mosh pit at various heavy metal concerts 30 times and then fell down. If and how they were helped by other concert goers was then coded as receiving direct help, indirect help, or no help. A chi-square found statistically significant differences in the way the two research confederates were helped, with the female research confederate receiving more indirect help than the male research confederate, and the …

The Manifestation Of Stress And Rumination In Musicians, Michael M. Roy, Joseph R. Radzevick, Laura Getz

Management Faculty Publications

Here we offer a brief review of research on individual differences that are common to musicians, focusing on our own work on rumination and stress. Rumination and stress have been linked with depression and negative health outcomes. We discuss two of our published studies and two new, unpublished replications that find elevated levels of rumination and stress in musicians. Further, we review literature that finds this combination of rumination and stress might be especially toxic. Even though people frequently use music to help combat stress, musicians may not be taking advantage of their frequent exposure to music, further exacerbating the …

The Influence Of Perpetrator Exposure Time And Weapon Presence/Timing On Eyewitness Confidence And Accuracy, Curt A. Carlson, David F. Young, Dawn R. Weatherford, Maria A. Carlson, Jane E. Bednarz E. Bednarz, Alyssa R. Jones

Psychology Faculty Publications (Archived)

Crimes can occur in a matter of seconds, with little time available for an eyewitness to encode a perpetrator’s face. The presence of a weapon can further exacerbate this situation. Few studies have featured mock crimes of short duration, especially with a weapon manipulation. We conducted an experiment to investigate the impact of weapon presence and short perpetrator exposure times (3 versus 10 s) on eyewitness confidence and accuracy. We found that recall concerning the perpetrator was worse when a weapon was present, replicating the weapon focus effect. However, there was no effect on eyewitness identification accuracy. Calibration analyses revealed …

Modifying Mindfulness: A Christian Translation Of Mindfulness, Ryan P. O'Farrell

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Recently, psychologists have been captivated by the utility of mindfulness in treating a number of psychological problems. Despite the prevalence of mindfulness based treatments, Christian psychologists have done surprisingly little work towards integrating mindfulness, an originally Buddhist concept, with a Christian worldview. Using Johnson's (2007) translation metaphor, I proposed a Christian translation of mindfulness. In order to produce a faithful translation, I first described mindfulness as it appears in the psychological literature. Next, I translated the different elements of Kabat-Zinn’s (1994) definition of mindfulness as well as a number of proposed mindfulness change mechanisms into a Christian worldview, showing how …

Assessing Adult Attachment Using The Dynamic Maturational Model: Exploring A Novel Measure, Albert Pace

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) is perhaps the most widely used and best-known assessment tool for assessing adult attachment. Several methods for scoring and coding the AAI exist; the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation (DMM) offers one theoretical perspective that accounts for the dynamic nature of attachment in high-risk populations, and incorporates contemporary information processing theory (Crittenden, 2015a). Despite the AAI’s empirical and clinical power, its utilization in both clinical and research practice is time consuming and costly. Conversely, most self-report questionnaires are readily accessible, cost effective, and time efficient. Nevertheless, there has been concern regarding the psychometric …

Twice The Negativity Bias And Half The Positivity Offset: Evaluative Responses To Emotional Information In Depression, J. K. Gollan, D. Hoxha, K. Hunnicutt-Ferguson, Catherine Norris, L. Rosebrock, L. Sankin, J. Cacioppo

Psychology Faculty Works

Background and objectives: Humans have the dual capacity to assign a slightly pleasant valence to neutral stimuli (the positivity offset) to encourage approach behaviors, as well as to assign a higher negative valence to unpleasant images relative to the positive valence to equally arousing and extreme pleasant images (the negativity bias) to facilitate defensive strategies. We conducted an experimental psychopathology study to examine the extent to which the negativity bias and the positivity offset differ in participants with and without major depression. Method: Forty-one depressed and thirty-six healthy participants were evaluated using a structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I …

The Negativity Bias Predicts Response Rate To Behavioral Activation For Depression, J. K. Gollan, D. Hoxha, K. Hunnicutt-Ferguson, Catherine Norris, L. Rosebrock, L. Sankin, J. Cacioppo

Psychology Faculty Works

Background and Objectives: This treatment study investigated the extent to which asymmetric dimensions of affective responding, specifically the positivity offset and the negativity bias, at pretreatment altered the rate of response to Behavioral Activation treatment for depression. Method: Forty-one depressed participants were enrolled into 16 weekly sessions of BA. An additional 36 lifetime healthy participants were evaluated prospectively for 16 weeks to compare affective responding between healthy and remitted patients at post-treatment. All participants were assessed at Weeks 0, 8 and 16 using repeated measures, involving a structured clinical interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders, questionnaires, and a computerized task …

Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together And Others Don't. By Simon Sinek, William K. Koomson

Journal of Applied Christian Leadership

LEADERS EAT LAST: WHY SOME TEAMS PULL TOGETHER AND OTHERS DON’T. Simon Sinek. New York, NY: Portfolio/Penguin (2014). Hardcover, 244 pages.

The author discusses multiple points of views, from political leaders, business leaders, and military leaders to society in general, employees, and managers. According to Sinek, many organizations are failing because their work has become a numbers game, rather than shifting their focus toward developing and understanding the needs of people who work in the organization. “If the leaders of organizations give their people something to believe in, if they offer their people a challenge that outsizes their resources but …

Reconnecting The Mind And Body: Using Bodywork To Help Improve Mental Health, Floribeth Rivera

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The connection between mind and body has been a topic of study since the beginning of medicine. In Eastern medicine, there has been an integration of the two; however in Western medicine, the paring of the mind and body is becoming a new mainstream form of treatment. This literature review considers four different types of bodywork, which include massage therapy, CranioSacral therapy, acupuncture and Reiki, that can be used to help in the treatment of mental illnesses. Research shows that using these types of bodywork in combination with psychotherapy can be beneficial to patients who experience depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, …

Lung Cancer Stigma: Associated Variables And Coping Strategies, Kevin R. Criswell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Lung cancer stigma is a burgeoning area of literature, yet two important questions remain unanswered: a) What are the associations between lung cancer stigma and psychosocial outcomes across lung cancer survivors with different smoking histories and b) how would lung cancer survivors describe their experience of coping strategies they utilize to cope with lung cancer stigma. This dissertation presents two studies that seek to answer the above-mentioned questions: a) a quantitative study that describes the rates of Personal Responsibility, Regret, and Medical Stigma and the associations between the above-mentioned constructs and psychosocial outcomes; and b) a qualitative study of coping …

Neuropsychological Effects Of Pomegranate Supplementation Following Ischemic Stroke, John A. Bellone

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Polyphenols are compounds found in fruits and vegetables that have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Mounting evidence suggests that dietary polyphenol intake can reduce the detrimental effects of various disease processes, and pomegranates have frequently been examined because of their particularly high polyphenol content. Since stroke induces both oxidative stress and inflammation and is currently the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S., we sought to determine whether dietary supplementation with polyphenols could enhance cognitive recovery in individuals who had suffered an ischemic stroke. We administered polyphenols via 2 POMx pills containing polyphenols derived from pomegranates equivalent to the content …

The Adolescent Smoking Prevention Project: A Web-Based Smoking Prevention For Adolescents, Whitney N. Brown

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In 2014 2.5% of middle school students and 9.2% of high school students reported smoking cigarettes in the past 30 days (CDC, 2014). However, there is currently a lack of evidence-based programs targeting prevention of adolescent smoking. The current study evaluated the effectiveness of a novel web-based adolescent smoking prevention program, the Adolescent Smoking Prevention Project (ASPP), based on the sensitization-homeostasis theory of nicotine dependence and developed by the study investigators. A sample of 54 adolescents (aged 12-15) were recruited from public schools in Southern California. Of these adolescents 26 were randomly assigned to the ASPP program and 28 were …

Hypertension In Older African Americans: Testing Psychosocial Mediators, Taylor L. Draper

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Past research has shown that low socioeconomic status (SES) and experiencing racial discrimination are both related to hypertension in African Americans. Further, low SES and racial discrimination have been found to affect hypertension indirectly through stress, low levels of psychosocial resources, and lifestyle risk factors in African American adults. Past studies have used the Reserve Capacity Model (RCM; Gallo & Matthews, 2003; 2005) to understand these relationships. The RCM asserts that stress can be mitigated by psychosocial resources (mastery, optimism, self-esteem) which lead to healthy lifestyle behaviors predictive of cardiac health. However, there are few studies that use the RCM …

Interleukin-6, Depression, And Religious Coping In Older Seventh-Day Adventists, Palak Dipak Kothari

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Prior research suggests that depression and chronic inflammation have a bidirectional relationship. This study examined how depressive symptoms and the inflammatory marker, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interact over time in 287 older adults (54% female, 63% White, Mage = 66, SDage = 10.9) from the Biopsychosocial Religion and Health Study and whether religious coping moderated this relationship. Depressive symptoms and IL-6 were assessed in 2006-7 and 2010-11. Results of the hierarchical multiple regressions indicate that initial depressive symptoms predicted IL-6 three to five years later, and that this relationship was moderated by positive religious coping. Moreover, negative religious coping predicted depressive symptoms …

Relationship Between Crime, Psychological Diagnosis And Cognitive Functioning, Kayla M. Kinworthy

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Within various forensic state hospitals, neuropsychological testing is used to improve patient management through treatment and release planning because cognitive impairment and a diagnosis of Schizophrenia have direct implications on chance of release from a state hospital and risk of future violence. To understand the seeming inter-workings of the variables of cognitive functioning, mental health diagnosis, and violence, this study sought to test how various demographic, developmental, mental health, and cognitive factors impact a patient's crime committed and the presence of violence during the commission of the crime, as well as testing the direct relationships between these variables. Results from …

Heart-Focused Anxiety And Cardiac Treatment Adherence, Angelyna M. Lowe

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Cardiac disease is the leading cause of death and functional impairment in North America. Treatment adherence in general is a major obstacle for the cardiac population. Anxiety is a potential barrier to treatment adherence, yet results of previous studies are equivocal, possibly due to anxiety being measured too generally. Heart-focused anxiety was measured in the current study to determine if it is a better predictor of treatment adherence than general anxiety, after controlling for other known predictors of adherence. Sixty-five participants between 29 and 96 years of age (M = 69.24, SD = 14.18; 56.9% female) were recruited from the …

Effects Of Stress, Sex Differences, And Cognitive Reserve On Cognitive Decline In Healthy Elderly Subjects, Courtney Ray

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Extensive research has been conducted linking stress to increased allostatic load and degradation of various organs over time. In the brain, the hippocampus appears to be particularly vulnerable. This deterioration is manifest clinically by impaired performance on tasks of declarative memory. The Social Readjustment Ratings Scale (SRRS) is an inventory of high intensity psychosocial stressors. This instrument has previously been used to help calculate risk of disease. Using measurements of stressful life events, it may be possible to similarly predict risk of cognitive impairment. To test this, the current study explored the cumulative effect of discreet psychosocial stressors that have …

Appearance-Related Commentary And Body Image In Women, Christina P. Moldovan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research has shown that sociocultural factors such as interpersonal appearance-related commentary influence body dissatisfaction and disordered eating. Few studies have investigated the effects of appearance-related commentary among undergraduate women of different ethnic groups. The aims of the current study were to examine: (1) ethnic differences in body dissatisfaction, eating disorder psychopathology, sociocultural attitudes towards appearance, appearance-related commentary, and acculturation to Western culture in African-, European-, and Hispanic Americans; and (2) negative appearance-related commentary and acculturation to Western culture as moderators of the relationship between body dissatisfaction and eating disorder psychopathology. Participants included 345 undergraduate women (Mage = 19.17, SD = …

Predictors Of Adolescent E-Cigarette Use, Denise Dao Tran

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

E-cigarette use among adolescents in the U.S. has recently tripled. Studies suggest that e-cigarettes may be as addictive as conventional cigarettes, and that adolescents may be at particular risk for nicotine addiction, as well as for the neurological, developmental, and behavioral problems caused by nicotine use. The objective of the present study was to identify potential risk factors for adolescent e-cigarette use, particularly those related to conventional cigarette smoking. Respondents (N = 177; Mean age = 13.23 years; SDage = 0.90; 60.00% female) were recruited from one public middle school and one public high school in Southern California, and completed …

Survive Or Thrive: Focusing On The Forest (Global) Or The Trees (Local) Impacts Meaning Making, Seda Terzyan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Focusing on the forest versus the trees illustrates a fundamental difference in how people see the world and make meaning, termed global and local attention. How we shift between them may impact whether we experience happiness or anxiety. We explored how different emotions serve as triggers for shifting between global and local attention using film clips and measuring responses to computerized attention tasks. We found that negative film clips localized attention, while positive films globalized attention, concluding that emotions can impact whether we attend to the forest or the trees. However, different induction strategies and various studies have led to …

Effects Of A Tier 3 Self-Management Intervention With Parent Involvement On Academic Engagement And Disruptive Behavior, Ashley Nicole Lower

Theses and Dissertations

This manuscript includes two studies. The research design for study 1 was a single-subject reversal design, while study 2 was a case study with 5 experimental conditions. These studies investigated the effects of a Tier 3 peer-matching self-management intervention on two elementary school students who had previously been less responsive to Tier 1 and Tier 2 interventions. The Tier 3 self-management intervention, which was implemented in the classroom, included daily electronic communication between teachers and the two students' parents. Results indicated that this intervention effectively reduced disruptive behaviors and increased total engagement when implemented with integrity; without integrity, results were …

Understanding Ties Among Diversity-Focused Greek Organizations, Sense Of Community, Multicultural Openness, And Leadership, Jose Dj Iniguez

Dissertations

The current study examined whether NLU fraternity students and non-fraternity students differ in how they experience multicultural openness and sense of community, and how these factors may contribute to their sense of leadership. Students (N = 55, 40 females and 15 males) at a university, both those part of a multicultural fraternity and those in the general population, were recruited to participate in the quantitative study (Study 1). The fraternity students were part of a mixed method design, additionally recruited for a qualitative portion of the study (Study 2). In Study 1 both groups were assessed on their multicultural openness, …