Psychology Commons^™

Examining The Role Of Mentorship On Urban Youth: The Effect Of Locus Of Control On Academic Achievement, Stacy Alaina Stewart

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Positive academic effects of mentoring interventions have bee established, but little is known about how and why mentoring interventions are effective. Understanding the mechanisms or constructs that enable mentoring effects would allow researchers to better generalize these types of interventions across populations. This present study explored the construct, locus of control, and examined its effects on academic achievement in the context of mentorship. In the present study, 87 urban, low-income middle school youth participated in a randomized controlled trial intervention, entitled The Cities Mentor Project. Cities Mentor Project provides coping trainings, and access to mentors and community organizations, to further …

Corporate Social Responsibility (Csr) And Its Impact On Actions: Exploring Social Change Through College Students, Rachael Leigh Suffrin

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

The present study has three goals. First, it validates a new Sensitivity to Employer Social Responsibility Scale, used to help understand how undergraduate students perceive their values related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) impact their prospective employment decisions. Second, this study examines whether students value working for a socially responsible employer and third, how (a) social justice experiences in college and/or (b) social justice attitudes and beliefs may predict how students perceive the impact their CSR values have on their prospective employment decisions. Results indicate that students who participated in the study overall positively endorsed a degree of sensitivity to …

The Effects Of Perceived Danger, Fear Of Heterosexism, And Internalized Homonegativity On Public Displays Of Affection Among Gender And Sexual Minorities, John Patrick Brady

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Among the gender and sexual minority (GSM/GSMs plural) population, public displays of affection (PDA) “out” the participants to observers. Any minor display of affection - such as holding hands or comforting a partner - can lead to verbal harassment or physical assault. In addition to this perceived danger, GSM couples must take into account the possibility of less dangerous and direct forms of heterosexism, such as the denial of business services or poor response from authorities to discrimination. This fear of nonviolent prejudice and discrimination is referred to as a fear of heterosexism. Due to a negative view of their …

Universal Teacher-Child Interaction Training: A Pilot Study Examining Coaching With Random Assignment, Alexandra Lauren Barnett

College of Science and Health Theses and Dissertations

Classrooms are in dire need of teacher support services and effective child behavior management, particularly in low-income urban areas (Campbell & Ewing, 1990; Fantuzzo & Mohr, 1999; Hamre & Pianta, 2004; Visser, Bitsko, Danielson, Perou, & Blumberg, 2010). Teacher-Child Interaction Training - Universal (TCIT-U) is a preventive, classroom-wide teacher training protocol that shows promise for strengthening teacher and child behavior (Budd, Garbacz, & Carter, 2016; Fernandez, Gold, Hirsch, & Miller, 2015b; Garbacz, Zychinski, Feuer, Carter, & Budd, 2014; Lyon, Budd, & Gershenson, 2009a). To date, this is the first pilot study with random assignment to investigate TCIT-U; further, it is …

Secondary Students’ Writing Achievement Goals: Assessing The Mediating Effects Of Mastery And Performance Goals On Writing Self-Efficacy, Affect, And Writing Achievement, Meryem Yilmaz Soylu, Mary G. Zeleny, Ruomeng Zhao, Roger H. Bruning, Michael S. Dempsey, Douglas F. Kauffman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The two studies reported here explored the factor structure of the newly constructed Writing Achievement Goal Scale (WAGS), and examined relationships among secondary students’ writing achievement goals, writing self-efficacy, affect for writing, and writing achievement. In the first study, 697 middle school students completed the WAGS. A confirmatory factor analysis revealed a good fit for this data with a three-factor model that corresponds with mastery, performance approach, and performance avoidance goals. The results of Study 1 were an indication for the researchers to move forward with Study 2, which included 563 high school students. The secondary students completed theWAGS, as …

Workers In Poverty: An Insight Into Informal Workers Around The World, Mahima Saxena

Psychology Faculty Publications

Gloss, Carr, Reichman, Abdul-Nasiru, and Oestereich (2017) present compelling arguments on a moral/humanistic need for I-O psychologists to consider workers that are living and working in deep poverty. Their case nicely shifts focus to large percentages of global workers who heretofore have only been represented minimally in the scholarly discourse in our field. I would like to accomplish two goals in this commentary. First, I would like to present a brief historical perspective on why industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology’s focus has been on POSH workers. Second, I will provide conceptual extensions to Gloss et al.’s (2017) focal article by …

Adverse Psychological Effects Of Patients In Medical Isolation Due To Healthcare-Associated Infections, Kristin Brill

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Background: Patients placed in medical isolation due to healthcare-associated infections experience adverse psychological effects that can impact their quality of life.

Objectives: The purpose of this integrative literature review was to identify the adverse effects of patients in medical isolation as well as explore coping strategies that can be used to decrease these adverse effects.

Method: An integrative literature review was conducted using the databases of CINAHL, PsychInfo, PubMed, and PsychArticles. Search terms included adverse effects, negative effects, effects, adverse outcomes, negative outcomes, isolation precautions, contact isolation, droplet isolation, airborne isolation, isolation, coping and psychology.

Results: Five common adverse psychological …

Food Addiction And The Effective Treatment Of Adult Food Addicts: An Integrative Review Of Literature, Sara Bourque

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Abstract

Background: In a survey conducted between the years of 2011 and 2014 it was suggested that 36% of adults in the U.S. were obese with over 40.2% being middle aged adults. Obesity is associated with a number of comorbid conditions including diabetes, heart attacks, and strokes. Due to this it is one of the major factors driving up our annual medical care costs. It is also one of the leading causes of death not only in the U.S. but worldwide. With one third of the adult population in the U.S. being obese food addiction may very well be a …

The Meaning Of Will To Live In Patients, Jeanne Burdette

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

The Meaning of Will to Live in Patients: An Integrative literature review

Jeanne Burdette

DePaul University

Abstract

Background: The will to live (WTL) is the desire, determination and effort to survive as defined by Mosby’s Medical Dictionary, 8^th edition (2009). According to Tataryn & Chochinov (2002), we know that the WTL can impact the trajectory of a terminal illness and “has been shown to vary considerably in relatively brief periods of time during the final course of a terminal illness” (p 370). Yet little is known about the concept. Health care professionals (HCPs) can benefit from increased knowledge …

Coping Strategies Associated With High Quality Of Life In People Diagnosed With Multiple Sclerosis: An Intagrative Literature Review, Alyssa Fitzhugh

Grace Peterson Nursing Research Colloquium

Background: People suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) face many challenges including physical disability, financial strain, and cognitive changes. While the coping mechanisms used to address these stressors can greatly impact one’s quality of life, limited studies are conducted to understand positive coping strategies used by this population.

Objectives: The purpose of this integrative literature review was to examine the types of coping strategies that have a positive impact on quality of life in individuals diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Methods: An integrative literature review was conducted. The keywords “coping, coping strategies, quality of life, multiple sclerosis, and MS” were used to …

Bedtime Fading With Response Cost For Treatment Of Sleep Disturbances In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Sela Ann Sanberg

Theses & Dissertations

As many as 82% of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) experience numerous chronic sleep-related problems and at a much higher frequency and severity than their typically developing peers. Behavioral treatments are considered best practice and first-line treatment to address sleep problems. These treatments tend to address one specific sleep-related behavior at a time. Bedtime Fading with Response Cost (BFRC) is a promising intervention that targets a multitude of sleep problems concurrently and has yet to be replicated by more than one investigative team in the home setting with children on the autism spectrum. This study evaluated the effectiveness of …

Evaluation Of Real-Time Feedback To Train Caregivers To Conduct Early Intensive Behavioral Interventions, Amanda L. Gibson

Theses & Dissertations

Mounting empirical support for early intensive behavioral intervention (EIBI) has increased demand for these types of treatments for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Many caregivers are now learning EIBI techniques and becoming active agents in their child’s ASD treatment. Behavioral skills training (BST) has been frequently used to teach individuals to perform a variety of skills correctly, including discrete-trial instruction (DTI; Lafasakis & Sturmey, 2007). In this study, caregivers were trained to conduct a DTI procedure. A single-component BST method (i.e., real-time feedback) was examined. A concurrent, multiple baseline across caregivers design was used to demonstrate experimental control. …

Stress-Related Growth In Two Challenging Conditions, Iva Solcova, Peter Tavel

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

In the last few years, attention has been given not only to negative impacts of stressful conditions but also to possible positive outcomes. The present study was devoted to personal growth in two challenging conditions in two samples of participants coming from different nations and different cultural backgrounds. The study extends existing knowledge by more intimate insight into the different facets of social and cognitive/affective personal growth. The experience of personal growth was individualized as far as the number of changes, their intensity, and facets/items in which the changes occurred.

Least affected was the spirituality area. The reason is probably …

Executive Dysfunction Or State Regulation: A Dimensional Comparison Of Two Neuropsychological Theories Of Attention Disorder Symptoms Using Rdoc Paradigms, Justin Hull Ory

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Two leading theories regarding the neurocognitive basis of attentional disorders are the executive dysfunction theory and the state regulation theory. The executive dysfunction theory takes a top-down approach, explaining the symptoms of ADHD as a byproduct of general deficits in executive functioning—particularly disinhibition. The state regulation theory takes a bottom-up approach, explaining the symptoms of ADHD as a failure to be sufficiently aroused by, and subsequently engage with, less stimulating or rewarding tasks. These two theories predict different patterns of performance on tasks of executive functioning and attention, and research has demonstrated mixed support for both theories. The present study …

The Effect Of Atomoxetine On Directed And Random Exploration In Humans, Christopher M. Warren, R. C. Wilson, N. J. Van Der Wee, E. J. Giltay, M. S. Van Noorden, J. A. Bosch, J. D. Cohen, S. Nieuwenhuis

Psychology Faculty Publications

The adaptive regulation of the trade-off between pursuing a known reward (exploitation) and sampling lesser-known options in search of something better (exploration) is critical for optimal performance. Theory and recent empirical work suggest that humans use at least two strategies for solving this dilemma: a directed strategy in which choices are explicitly biased toward information seeking, and a random strategy in which decision noise leads to exploration by chance. Here we examined the hypothesis that random exploration is governed by the neuromodulatory locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system. We administered atomoxetine, a norepinephrine transporter blocker that increases extracellular levels of norepinephrine throughout the …

Book Review: The Fearless Mind By Dr. Craig Manning, Kylan Rutherford

Marriott Student Review

A review of Dr. Craig Manning's The Fearless Mind. Manning provides understanding of and strategies for high mental performance. With a sports psychology background, he provides concrete examples that can be applied in any setting, be it on the field, in school, or at the office.

A Preliminary Comparison Of Pilots' Weather Minimums And Actual Decision-Making, Nathan W. Walters, Mattie Milner, Daniel A. Marte, Evan A. Adkins, Marie Aidonidis, Matt B. Pierce, Abigail K. Pasmore, Angela Roccasecca, Stephen Rice, Scott R. Winter

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Adverse weather conditions remain a leading contributing factor in general aviation accidents. In compromising situations, such as severe weather, pilots continue to make decisions, which endanger themselves, passengers, and the aircraft. Although technology and training have lowered the risks associated with poor decision making by aviators, they are often still faced with scenarios requiring split second judgments. A countermeasure to these risks is the use of personal weather minimums by pilots. The purpose of this study was to examine pilot’s decision-making and performance, while flying an instrument approach, under extreme conditions of low visibility and ceiling as based on their …

Addressing Common Mental Health Issues Prevalent Among Honors College Students, Steven Pham

Honors Theses

The prevalence and severity of mental health disorders on college campuses has been increasing nationwide. This review aims to address some of the prevalent mental health issues that continuously plague college students today. Recent trends in college student mental health are analyzed as well as literature regarding common disorders including depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder. A comparison of honors and non-honors students is provided to contribute to an otherwise lacking area of research surrounding honors student populations. Effective practices and policies for colleges and universities to incorporate into their counseling services are also considered, with viable goals centering on the …

Flight Instructor Professionalism, Kenneth P. Byrnes Ph.D.

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

The inherent risk associated with aviation demands a high level of professionalism among aviation employees to ensure safety. Professionalism consists of factors such as technical competence, personal competence, neatness and attractiveness of dress, and personal conduct. Many of these factors are able to be taught, measured, or judged. However, conduct is an intangible quality that is not easily taught or quantified. As such, the professional behavior of aviation personnel is difficult for the FAA to mandate and regulate. An individual’s conduct is a learned behavior that originates through culture, role models, and experience. In aviation, conduct is instilled during the …

Restorative Justice: A Look At Victim Offender Mediation Programs, Katie L. Moran

21st Century Social Justice

This report conceptualizes the effectiveness and benefits of utilizing the restorative justice model of Victim Offender Mediation (VOM) within the criminal and juvenile justice systems to serve the rights of victims, offenders, and society more justly. Victim Offender Mediation is discussed as a possible alternative justice model which reframes the victim-offender relationship to foster and respect the dignity and worth of each participant. This restorative justice model combats victims’ feelings of helplessness by giving them back their voice, while having the potential to specifically offer relief to those secondarily victimized by the legal system in cases of simple rape. Offenders …

Improving Pure-Tone Audiometry Using Probabilistic Machine Learning Classification, Xinyu Song

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Hearing loss is a critical public health concern, affecting hundreds millions of people worldwide and dramatically impacting quality of life for affected individuals. While treatment techniques have evolved in recent years, methods for assessing hearing ability have remained relatively unchanged for decades. The standard clinical procedure is the modified Hughson-Westlake procedure, an adaptive pure-tone detection task that is typically performed manually by audiologists, costing millions of collective hours annually among healthcare professionals. In addition to the high burden of labor, the technique provides limited detail about an individual’s hearing ability, estimating only detection thresholds at a handful of pre-defined pure-tone …

Preventative Community Policing In Immigrant Communities, Carole Chopi

Capstone Collection

The purpose of this exploratory qualitative case study was to discover what kind of mutually comfortable activities community residents and police officers of the White Oak District in Montgomery County Maryland would like to participate in to strengthen social bonding, social bridging, and social linkage so that they can prevent future difficulties in practicing community problem-solving policing. In this case study located in a major Mid Atlantic community on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, community policing was discovered to be actively engaged in. One police commander, three community leaders, 28 immigrant community members, and 11 immigrant community members …

Neurogenetics Of The Externalizing Spectrum, Caitlin E. Carey

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Externalizing spectrum disorders, which include attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, alcohol and substance use disorders, and antisocial personality disorder, are characterized by behavioral disinhibition and are thought to be manifestations of a common heritable liability factor throughout the lifespan. However, relatively little is known about their underlying etiology. Here, I probe genetic and neural risk mechanisms for externalizing psychopathology in three complementary studies. First, I report an indirect association between genetic risk for childhood attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and problem drinking in young adulthood, mediated by heightened reward-related neural activity within the ventral striatum, among 404 college students. I …

The Developmental Interplay Of Personality And Relationship Quality In Young Adulthood, Kelci Harris

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

I used the framework of the personality-relationship transaction to examine the co-development of personality and relationship quality during college in three different relationship contexts: an aggregate of friends, romantic partner dyads, and friend dyads. I treat the personality-relationship transaction as a dyadic process, rather than an ego-centric one, by including friends’ and romantic partners’ reports of personality and relationship quality. I created a multivariate latent growth curve model version of the Actor Partner Interdependence Model to test how personality and relationship quality co-developed. Initial correlations between personality and relationship quality reflect what is seen in previous work; self-reported extraversion, agreeableness, …

Evaluating A Targeted, Universal Middle School Program For Childhood Overweight And Obesity: Stayingfit, Myra Altman

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATIONEvaluating a Targeted, Universal Middle School Program for Childhood Overweight and Obesity: StayingFitbyMyra AltmanDoctor of Philosophy in PsychologyWashington University in St. Louis, 2016Professor Denise E. Wilfley, ChairpersonChildhood obesity is a pressing public health concern associated with significant medical and psychosocial comorbidities. Intervention is crucial, and schools are often suggested as an important venue through which to intervene, although the results of such interventions are inconsistent and mixed. The present study sought to expand on the literature by evaluating the effect of a targeted and universal school-based obesity intervention, StayingFit, in three middle schools in a low-socioeconomic status, …

Is There A Higher-Order Mechanism That Explains Performance Across Prediction Tasks?, Michelle Lisa Eisenberg

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

People constantly make predictions about what will happen in the near future. People anticipate how other people around them will act, what other people will say, and what actions will help them achieve the greatest rewards. Because all of these behaviors are typically called prediction, it is easy to make the assumption that performance across all of these types of tasks is driven by the same underlying mechanism. However, there has been little investigation into whether the mechanisms underlying prediction are the same across multiple task modalities. Therefore, in the current study, 226 participants completed four types of tasks that …

Changes In Personality Traits And Personality Pathology In Older Adults: Self And Informant Perspectives, Hannah R. King

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

A relatively small amount of research has examined personality and personality disorder change from more than one perspective, particularly in older adults. The main aim of this study is to examine personality and personality disorder change in older adults from multiple perspectives including an interview assessment, self-report, and informant-report. Data from the St. Louis Personality and Aging Network (SPAN), a representative sample of St. Louis residents with 1,630 participants and their informants, was used to study change. We use structural equation modeling to test mean-level changes and individual differences in change over the course of the study. For personality disorders, …

Review Of Training Principles For Flight Training In Aircraft Or Simulator, Stefan Kleinke

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

In human-performance-driven fields such as the social and behavioral sciences and education, there is a particular risk for a disconnect between current research and applied practice. Often, new findings require policy changes and workforce re-education before being applied in a meaningful way. Therefore, a continuous need for practitioner professional development and continuation training exists to ensure informed practices. This presentation is motivated by these needs and aims to help flight training professionals to make informed decisions when designing and conducting flight training events. Based on a conceptual framework of cognitive and behavioral theories in learning, a variety of common training …

What Factors Affect General Aviation Pilot Adoption Of Electronic Flight Bags?, Troy E. Techau

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Why do some pilots choose to use electronic flight bags (EFBs) in their flight operations, yet others continue to rely on traditional avionics and paper charts? Does the use of EFBs differ by age, gender, or flight experience?

EFBs, now a common tool in aviation, can display navigational charts, weather, and traffic information, and automate calculation of critical fuel and aircraft performance data. Research that uses EFBs as interactive nodes to exchange data with the System-Wide Information Management (SWIM) network is underway. Understanding what factors may explain differences in pilot adoption and use of EFB technology could shape regulations governing …

The Evidence-Based Approach To Learning, Jon Lars Syversen

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

The aviation industry has focused on assessment of non-technical skills and human factors for decades. The ICAO Doc 9995, the IATA EBT implementation guide, authorities and operators are moving towards an evidence-based approach to training and assessment. This presentation will address practical and methodological challenges the FTO’s and instructors are facing when also aiming for evidence-based learning.

A core issue is that performance in the simulator should be addressed by integrating assessment of technical and non-technical skills. Secondly, this assessment regime should be compatible to instructor’s working conditions; usually running the simulator while having observation as a main task. Thirdly, …