Psychology Commons^™

Capstone: Women, Addiction, And Gender-Sensitive Treatment: A Review Of The Literature, Rae L. Rabideau

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Historically, substance abuse treatment and research was centered on a male model. Only more recently has research demonstrated that women and men’s rates of substance use have become more similar (McPherson, Casswell, & Pledger, 2004). Gender-responsive and trauma-informed treatment programs for women were not introduced until the 1990s and 2000s. The purposes of this review are (1) to emphasize the prevalence of co-occurring mental illness among women with substance use disorders (SUDs), (2) to demonstrate the need for substance abuse treatment that addresses the unique and specific needs of women, and (3) to highlight the need for further research on …

Cooperation And Facets Of Psychological Collectivism As Antecedents Of Team Mental Model Similarity, Neal Benoit Outland

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigated the role of facets of trait psychological collectivism (Preference, Reliance, Concern, and Goal-Priority) and the personality trait cooperativeness in the development of Team Mental Models. Team Mental Models (TMMs) are shared representations of a work team’s context that aid a team in directing behaviors and coordinating actions. I utilized Marks, Mathieu, and Zaccaro’s (2001) taxonomy of team processes to explicate and test a model detailing the role of composition in TMM development. Data were collected from 35 teams of 5 individuals who completed a computer simulation in which the team interdependently replicated pictures using blocks. Multiple regression …

Entrepreneurship As Empowerment: How Women Are Redefining Work, Charlynn Odahl

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The number of women who are entrepreneurs in the United States has steadily risen since the 1970s and today women found almost half of all new companies. For women, creating their own companies through entrepreneurship may be a way to reject existing work settings, where existing setting and gender dynamics may limit their advancement, creativity, or flexibility. Indeed, entrepreneurship may serve as a form of empowerment to enable women to pursue greater control over their lives. Yet research on the lived experience of this population is limited, with few studies examining the lived experience of this important group. Also, existing …

Living And Loving: A Qualitative Exploration Of The Dating And Sexual Relationships Of Hiv-Positive Young Black Gay, Bisexual, And Other Men Who Have Sex With Men, Darnell N. Motley

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Infection with HIV is a global pandemic that continues to have particular impacts on Black men who have sex with men. Accordingly, researchers have examined risk behaviors in order to inform interventions that seek to decrease transmission. However, there has been relatively little research that has examined the dating and sexual experiences of Black GBMSM living with HIV absent a particular focus on sexual risk and potential transmission. The present study seeks to better understand the dating and sexual experiences of a sample of young Black GBMSM living with HIV. Twenty young Black GBMSM living with HIV were interviewed using …

Center Of Attention: A Qualitative Study Of The Responses Of Lgbq Students To A Graduate-Level Lgbtq Diversity Training Course, Shoshana N. Aal

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

The focus of this study is to examine the difficult situations LGBQ students experience as they complete a training course on LGBTQ issues at a predominantly non-LGBQ doctoral-level psychology program. Questions have arisen over the use of a diversity training course in preparing graduate students for their future as psychologists. Since diversity training courses are currently mandatory for APA accredited graduate psychology programs and are the primary means of training students for treating a diverse array of clients, it is important to ensure that these courses are effective for all graduate students. The purpose of this pilot study is to …

Dementia In Prison: An Argument For Training Correctional Officers, Rachele Vogel

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Dementia is a significant public health problem that is occurring behind bars. However, the number of inmates suffering from this disease is unknown (Feczko, 2014). Current research has exposed a serious gap in correctional health care for older adults, and correctional institutions are being encouraged to make changes to better address the needs of this population (Fellner, 2012; OIG, 2016; Williams, Stern, Mellow, Safer, & Greifinger, 2012b). The purpose of this paper is to bring awareness to the aging problem behind bars and respond to the identified need for additional training for custodial staff (correctional, parole, and probation officers). Training …

To Bee Or Not To Bee?, Shimon Edelman, Roy Moyal, Tomer Fekete

Animal Sentience

Klein & Barron’s (2016) (K & B’s) case for insect consciousness is a welcome development in an area that, in all of the science and philosophy of mind, is probably the most anthropocentric. In this commentary, we seek to strengthen K & B’s side of the argument by appealing not just to putative neural mechanisms but also to computational theory that supports it (section 1). We also offer some remarks on three distinctions that are relevant to K & B’s thesis and are central to phenomenal awareness: between the capacity for awareness and its contents (section 2); between …

No Proof For Subjective Experience In Insects, Holk Cruse, Malte Schilling

Animal Sentience

Klein & Barron (2016) provide an inspiring review collecting arguments that show quite related functions in humans and insects. Here we extend the comparison to robots, and formulate two critical objections. One concerns an epistemological question related to the phenomenon of subjective experience. The other questions whether insects need integrated spatiotemporal modeling for navigation.

Consciousness As Integrated Perception, Motivation, Cognition, And Action, Murray Shanahan

Animal Sentience

This commentary has two aims: first to clarify the behavioural grounds for the ascription of consciousness to non-human animals (including insects), and second to show how Klein & Barron’s views can be reconciled with the core claims of global workspace theory.

A Portrait Of Five Undergraduate Students Who Serve As Caregivers While Taking University Courses, Emily Owens, Carley Ulibarri, Blake D. Karlin

Ursidae: The Undergraduate Research Journal at the University of Northern Colorado

The purpose of this study was to identify characteristics specific to adults who are caregivers while taking classes from an institution of higher education. We recruited 5 university attending adults through a subject pool and through announcements in various classes through the university setting. Measures on depression, burden, daily activities, and general background were used to assess the experiences of the participants. Self-reports indicated high levels of selfefficacy with regard to the care process, minimal depression, low to moderate levels of burden, and high resiliency among those surveyed. These results indicate while registered as a full time student (12 credits …

Understanding Attitude Towards Help Seeking In Predicting Preference For Psychotherapeutic Orientation, Gregory J. Petronzi

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This research examined the extent to which people’s dispositional qualities predict their psychotherapy preferences. Additionally, this study examined the extent to which people’s attitude toward seeking professional psychological help would predict their psychotherapy preferences above and beyond their dispositional characteristics.

An online survey was administered to participants (N = 312) for remuneration. Personality traits were measured using the HEXACO-60, attachment styles were measured using the Relationships Questionnaire (RQ) and Experiences in Close Relationships Scale- Short Form (ECR-S), attitude toward help seeking was measured with the Attitude Toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale – Short Form (ATSPPHS-SF), and psychotherapy preferences were …

Evaluation Of A Modified Incidental Teaching Procedure To Increase Child Compliance, Corey M. Cohrs

Theses & Dissertations

Teaching noncompliant children to engage in compliant behavior has long been a goal for many parents, teachers, and therapists (Patterson, Shaw, & Ebner, 1969). This goal has driven the development of behavioral technology, including entire manualized treatment programs, specifically intended for the treatment of noncompliance (Forehand & McMahon, 1981; Hembree-Kigin & McNeil, 1995). These programs have typically included time-out based interventions that are associated with resistance to instruction (Roberts, 1982;Roberts, 1984). Given children’s frequent resistance to traditional approaches (e.g., timeout; Ducharme & Popynick, 1993), alternative interventions for the treatment of noncompliance are warranted.

A modified version of incidental teaching (Hart …

Automating Scoring Of Delay Discounting For The 21- And 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaires, Brent A. Kaplan, Michael Amlung, Derek D. Reed, David P. Jarmolowicz, Todd L. Mckerchar, Shea M. Lemley

Research, Publications & Creative Work

Delay discounting describes the process wherein rewards lose value as a function of their delayed receipt; how quickly rewards lose value is termed the rate of delay discounting. Rates of delay discounting are robust predictors of much behavior of societal importance. One efficient approach to obtaining a human subject’s rate of delay discounting is via the 21- and 27-item Monetary Choice Questionnaires, brief dichotomous choice tasks that assess preference between small immediate and larger delayed monetary outcomes. Unfortunately, the scoring procedures for the Monetary Choice Questionnaires are rather complex, which may serve as a barrier to their use. This report …

Understanding How Intentionally Unplugging From Cell Phones Shapes Interpersonal Relationships And The Undergraduate College Experience, Jadelin P. Felipe

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of what motivated college students—the Unplugged Students—to intentionally use their cell phones less and how they understood the impact that unplugging had on their interpersonal relationships and college experience. Nine undergraduate college students from four private schools were interviewed in one-on-one semi- structured interviews. These students, considered non-users, provided a particularly useful perspective as these students made a conscious choice to counteract social norms and experienced both being plugged in and unplugged. Cell phones and the act of unplugging proved to make up a complex and more nuanced topic than …

The Moral Dimension Of Pre-Reflective Self-Awareness, Susana Monsó

Animal Sentience

Rowlands offers a de-intellectualised account of personhood that is meant to secure the unity of a mental life. I argue that his characterisation also singles out a morally relevant feature of individuals. Along the same lines that the orthodox understanding of personhood reflects a fundamental precondition for moral agency, Rowlands’s notion provides a fundamental precondition for moral patienthood.

What Makes Us Conscious Is Not What Makes Us Human, Ezequiel Morsella, Erica B. Walker

Animal Sentience

Consistent with the promising proposal of Klein & Barron (K & B), we discuss how what makes us conscious appears to be distinct from and more widespread in the animal kingdom than what distinguishes us from other species. Many of the abilities that do distinguish humans from other species (e.g., syntax and co-articulation in speech production) can be mediated unconsciously. The kind of functional architecture proposed by K & B may engender an “action selection bottleneck” in both humans and nonhuman species. As noted by K & B, this bottleneck is intimately related to conscious processing.

Introspection And Anecdotes Won’T Prove What Animals Are Thinking And Feeling, Michael Colombo, Melissa Johnston

Animal Sentience

We review Part Three, “Whines and Pet Peeves,” of Safina’s book Beyond Words: What Animals Think and Feel. Part Three is concerned mainly with the evidence for Theory of Mind in nonhuman animals. Like Safina, we believe that animals have a Theory of Mind, and like Safina, we question the utility of such concepts. There are many studies that Safina could have used to support his argument, and although some are mentioned, he prefers to make his point mainly by relying on anecdotes and introspection. The end result, we believe, is to devalue the scientific process.

Orca Behavior And Subsequent Aggression Associated With Oceanarium Confinement, Robert Anderson, Robyn Waayers, Andrew Knight

Theory of Mind Collection

Based on neuroanatomical indices such as brain size and encephalization quotient, orcas are among the most intelligent animals on Earth. They display a range of complex behaviors indicative of social intelligence, but these are difficult to study in the open ocean where protective laws may apply, or in captivity, where access is constrained for commercial and safety reasons. From 1979 to 1980, however, we were able to interact with juvenile orcas in an unstructured way at San Diego’s SeaWorld facility. We observed in the animals what appeared to be pranks, tests of trust, limited use of tactical deception, emotional self-control, …

Insect Consciousness: Fine-Tuning The Hypothesis, Jon Mallatt, Todd E. Feinberg

Animal Sentience

Although we are mostly supportive, we point out the strengths and weaknesses of Klein & Barron’s (2016) hypothesis that insects have the most basic form of consciousness. The strengths are in their application of Bjorn Merker’s vertebrate-derived ideas to arthropods, using their deep knowledge of insect brains. The weaknesses involve the controversial aspects of some of Merker’s ideas. We describe how the latter can be modified to strengthen the authors’ case for insect consciousness.

Symptoms, Contributing Factors, And Screening For Perinatal Mood And Anxiety Disorders In U.S. Latinas: A Literature Review, Jennifer N. S. Massie

Master's Projects and Capstones

This literature review was conducted to gather the published information on the topic of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders in the Latina population in the United States. Academic databases were searched for articles published between 2005 and 2016. 60 articles were considered, and a final sample of 36 articles and websites was included in this review.

Evidence suggests that Latina women in the perinatal period (pregnant and up to one year postpartum) in the United States of America tend to have a higher risk and incidence of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders than White women, and a higher risk and …

Asian American Men And Fatherhood: Relationship Between Acculturation, Gender-Role Conflict, Parenting Self-Efficacy, And Father Involvement, Zuzanna Molenda-Kostanski

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study used a cross-sectional design in which 101 Asian American fathers completed an online survey that included questionnaires assessing for acculturation, enculturation, gender role conflict, parenting self-efficacy, father involvement, and demographic information. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of four predictor variables—including acculturation, enculturation, gender role conflict, and parenting self-efficacy—on father involvement, which served as the criterion variable. It was hypothesized that acculturation, enculturation, gender role conflict, and parenting self-efficacy predict the level of father involvement. The results of a multiple regression analysis revealed that there was a significant relationship between acculturation and father involvement, …

Poverty And Internalizing Symptoms: The Indirect Effect Of Middle Childhood Poverty On Internalizing Symptoms Via An Emotional Response Inhibition Pathway, Christian G. Capistrano, Hannah Bianco, Pilyoung Kim

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Childhood poverty is a pervasive problem that can alter mental health outcomes. Children from impoverished circumstances are more likely than their middle-income counterparts to develop internalizing problems such as depression and anxiety. To date, however, the emotional-cognitive control processes that link childhood poverty and internalizing symptoms remain largely unexplored. Using the Emotion Go/NoGo paradigm, we examined the association between poverty and emotional response inhibition in middle childhood. We further examined the role of emotional response inhibition in the link between middle childhood poverty and internalizing symptoms. Lower income was associated with emotional response inhibition difficulties (indexed by greater false alarm …

Exploring Masculinity For A Healthy Campus Culture, Jason M. Gant

Master's Projects and Capstones

1 in 5 female students is and will be sexually assaulted in college. This is a public health issue as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sexual violence (SV) is a significant problem in the United States. SV refers to sexual activity when consent is not obtained or not given freely. Anyone can experience SV, but most victims are female. The person responsible for the violence is typically male and usually someone the victim is familiar with. The person can be, but is not limited to, a friend, coworker, neighbor, family member and even classmate. Boys …

Feel Or Perspective?, Mark Rowlands

Animal Sentience

The title of Klein & Barron’s well-argued and thought-provoking target article is, “Insects have the capacity for subjective experience.” However, they also frame their claim using the term “consciousness,” which they seem to take as equivalent to “subjective experience.” This assumed equivalence, I shall argue, is problematic in a way that might vitiate their central argument.

Organizational Justice And Social Media In The Employee Selection Process, Hayden Hickey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study combines aspects of social media’s role in employee selection and how it relates to potential employee attitudes toward a company. By measuring participants’ attitudes when told that their Facebook profiles would be taken into consideration in determining their job ability, applicant feelings of procedural justice (i.e., fairness of a process; PJ) were assessed and compared to a control group. To measure interactional justice (i.e., fairness regarding interpersonal treatment; IJ), participants were divided into two conditions: participants in the high justice condition were given an explanation of the rationale behind using social media as an evaluation tool and shown …

Students' Perceptions Of Schooling: The Path To Alternate Education, Liane C. Pereira, Jennifer Lavoie

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Policies governing education in North America have given schools the responsibility of meeting the needs of a diverse student population, including those with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD). To balance their need for individualized programs with their right to inclusion in schools, students with EBD may be placed in alternate programs within a mainstream school setting. However, little is known about student experiences leading to this placement or their experiences in these programs. The purpose of this study was to explore youth’s perceptions of the factors that influenced their being placed in an alternate program for students with EBD. Six …

Genetic Risk For Increased Oxidative Stress In The Aging Brain:Implications For White Matter Integrity And Cognition, Lauren Salminen

Dissertations

Oxidative stress is a key mechanism of the aging process that can cause damage to brain white matter and cognitive functions. Allele variations of two polymorphisms (SOD2, CAT -262) have been associated with abnormalities in antioxidant enzyme activity, suggesting a risk for enhanced oxidative damage to brain white matter and cognition among older individuals with these genetic mutations. The present study utilized diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neuropsychological assessment to compare differences in microstructural white matter integrity and cognitive performance among 96 older adults (age 50-85) with and without genetic risk factors of SOD2 (rs4880) and CAT -262 (rs1001179). Results …

The Normative Problem Of Shame, Timothy James Oakberg

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

What role should shame play in our lives? This is the normative problem of shame, and it is the focus of this dissertation. Through an examination of empirical research on shame and shame-proneness, I argue that shame should have only a very limited role in our lives. More specifically, we ought not cultivate shame, because a substantial amount of empirical literature points to the conclusion that shame-proneness is counterproductive at both an individual and a societal level. Expanding on this general answer to the normative problem of shame, I discuss in detail three proposals regarding shame from the realms of …

An Investigation Of The Relationships Between Gay Identity, Perceived Social Support, Gender-Role Conflict, And Parenting Intention In Childless Gay Men, Brian Amorello

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Parenting intention plays a fundamental role in one’s decision to become a parent. Higher levels of parenting intention indicate a higher likelihood of becoming a parent. For gay men, this process can be increasingly complex. There are a substantial number of factors that could play a role in a gay man’s decision to parent. Gay identity might play a role in the parenting intentions of gay men, as it has been found that loosely related constructs such as internalized heterosexism or outness do impact this decision. Perceived social support has been found to have both positive and deleterious effects on …

Computer Monitoring In The Workplace: Performance Effects And Perceptions, Kimberly S. Rubenstein

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Computer performance monitoring (CPM) has become prevalent in modern day as several work functions are now completed on the computer. Under the framework of social facilitation effect (Zajonc, 1965), it is possible that CPM may affect performance because of the feeling of being evaluated. In addition to its effects on performance, employees’ perceptions of CPM are important to consider when employers are deciding whether or not to implement its use in the workplace. Employees may feel apprehensive about being electronically observed, however CPM can be used to employees’ benefit through its ability to provide accurate and detailed information about their …