Psychology Commons^™

Student Engagement And Learning Gains: Self-Reports, Direct Measures, And Instrument Specificity, Christopher Kerr

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The assumption that engagement leads to student learning is fundamental in higher education. Engagement is often used by educational institutions as an indicator of student learning. However, research has found moderate to weak relationships between engagement and learning. This study explored the influence that methods used to measure learning and engagement may have on the relationships observed between the two. More specifically, this study considered differences between self-reported measures of learning and direct-measure change scores in their relationship to engagement. Additionally, this study tested the influence that specificity of engagement measures has on observed engagement-learning relationships. Quantitative reasoning was selected …

Beyond Motivation: Differences In Score Meaning Between Assessment Conditions, Nikole Gregg

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Written communication is a skill necessary for not only the success of undergraduate students, but for post-graduates in the workplace. Furthermore, according to employers the writing skills of post-graduates tend to be below expectations. Therefore, the assessment of such skills within higher education is in high demand. Written communication assessments tend to be administered in one of two conditions: 1) course embedded and 2) a low-stakes, non-embedded condition. The current study investigated possible construct-irrelevant variance in writing assessment scores by using data from a mid-sized public university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Specifically, 157 student products were …

The Effects Of Alcohol Priming And Alcohol-Related Cues On Subsequent Alcohol Preferences, Kathleen R. Owens

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the effects of alcohol priming and alcohol-related cues on subsequent alcohol preferences. Researchers assigned randomly 35 university students to 1 of 3 conditions: alcohol delivered in a red disposable plastic cup (AC; alcohol cue; n = 12), alcohol delivered in a cafeteria cup (AN; neutral cue; n = 11), or alcohol placebo (P; n = 12) delivered in a red disposable plastic cup. Participants consumed their assigned beverages, and then completed the Multiple Choice Procedure (MCP), a procedure that allows participants to make discrete choices between a standard alcoholic beverage and …

Applied Behavior Analysis Function Based Procedures Contribute To Parent Child Interaction Therapy Child Outcomes, Melissa Grant

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Developmental disabilities affect nearly one in six children in the United States; up to 30 % of these individuals have problem behaviors causing stressors in both the child and their caregiver’s lives. These problem behaviors have various topographical and functional forms, such as property destruction, aggression, tantrums, self-injurious behavior, and many others. If these behaviors are not nipped in the bud during younger years they have the capability to bring about academic failure, alienation from typical peers and other adults, and in the longer term, substance abuse issues, and a decrease in functioning skills within their communities. Evidence-based practices are …

A Growth Mindset Intervention In Female Collegiate Athletes, Cierra Latrice Williams

Masters Theses, 2010-2019

Growth mindset interventions have been evaluated within academic settings for years and have demonstrated links between one’s mindset and achievement goals. However, despite this research, limited research has evaluated the effectiveness of a growth mindset intervention within an athletic setting. This research aimed to remedy this shortcoming by conducting a growth mindset intervention within a sample of 27 female collegiate athletes. Participants viewed two videos about the malleability of the brain, listened to the researcher discuss personal sport experiences, and wrote a letter to a future athlete. Measures of growth mindset, fixed mindset, competitiveness, win orientation, and goal orientation were …

The School Psychologist’S Role In The Problem Solving Process: How Assessment Can Inform Intervention, Rachel Larkin

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

This study serves as an investigation into the role of school psychologists within the problem solving process, intervention selection, and the role assessment in guiding intervention selection. School psychologists have many different roles that they can carry out and the roles of assessment and intervention tend to be the two largest. Assessments are designed for clinical decision-making and interventions are designed to target the specific needs of a student. As problem solvers and decision makers, it would make sense to use the tools that school psychologists have, including assessment and intervention, in combination in order to help students succeed. The …

The Kids Are (Going To Be) Alright: Authorship Of A Post-Divorce Narrative, Caroline Hamby

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

This integrative literature review explores the suitability of narrative therapy for children ages 7-12 coping with divorce and family transition. Charting the history of research on post-divorce children, the review discusses common negative and positive post-divorce outcomes for children in academic, financial, and socio-emotional domains. It links the fundamental objectives of narrative therapy to the corresponding needs of post-divorce children and families, namely emotional security, internal control, and personal agency. It posits that narrative therapy is a modality uniquely situated to address these concerns and amplify the often-ignored voices of children otherwise lost in marital chaos. The developmental considerations of …

Hell On Earth: An Exploration Into What Drives Evil, Samuel Taylor Hogan

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Evil abounds. Even the most cursory glance at the news yields harsh headlines about bombings, school shootings, acid attacks, murder, rape, sex slavery, torture, and the occasional mass genocide. The 20th century alone featured roughly 135 million military and civilian deaths due to war and democide (White & Pinker, 2013). Recently, a cultural narrative has emerged proselytizing that evil is an aberrant, caustic mutation of the otherwise unsullied human soul. Philosophers and sociologists, among others, contend that “civilization needs to believe that it does not have an inhumane or barbaric side, leading members of the mainstream to constantly project unacceptable …

Neuro-Cognitive Factors In Adolescent Psychotherapy, Jean F. Ndzana

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Cognitive and developmental differences between teenagers and adults must be overcome to ensure a level playing field in the process of counseling. Exploring the developmental factors involved, and discussing associated treatment interventions can help the counselor close this gap by improving client adherence to treatment and outcomes. This paper consists of a review of the current literature in neuropsychology, neuroscience, cognitive linguistics and counseling, as it relates to brain and cognitive developments in adolescence. These findings are referenced to show the many developmental changes that occur in adolescence, and how those changes can be a hindrance to successful participation in …

Rapport During The Assessment Process: A Survey Of School Psychologists, Ebony Mason

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

In order to gain more information on the current assessment practices of school psychologists in the state of Virginia, a survey was constructed that examined how rapport is established, how the assessment process is explained to students, and how assessment results are explained to students. Responses from 113 school psychologists indicated that rapport is an important part of the assessment process. There were commonalities in responses related to how rapport is established and the assessment process is explained to students. Surveyed school psychologists indicated that following up with students and informing them of assessment results is not a common practice.

Mental Health Literacy: Investigating Adolescents’ Knowledge Of Depression And Professional Sources Of Help, Jessica A. Meeks

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders affecting adolescents, and there is evidence suggesting that there are adolescents suffering from depression who are not receiving treatment (Mojtabai, Offson, & Han, 2016). The increasing presence of mental health professionals and mental health services in public schools is one solution to the treatment gap. However, less is known about adolescents’ understanding of depression and treatment options. The current study utilized an online survey to examine the mental health literacy of 38 ninth grade students. Results indicated that adolescents have a moderate ability to recognize and label depression from brief …

Diverse Students’ Perceptions Of The Proactive Circle Process In A Restorative Practice Intervention, Shana M. Little

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Restorative practices have been introduced as a school wide intervention to reduce the cultural disparity in school discipline. The purpose of this intervention is to promote healthy student-teacher relationships. The research on restorative practices as an intervention for minority students has shown to be effective, through school discipline data and teacher report. The current study used individual interviews with high school students to explore their perception of restorative practices, specifically proactive circles, and its effectiveness. Results showed cultural differences in student’s understanding or perception of proactive circles. Additionally, participants believed proactive circles helped or improved their communication skills and social …

Evaluating The Benefits Of Art Therapy Interventions With Grieving Children, Meagan Dye

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Art therapy has numerous benefits when working with a variety of populations and many studies support the efficacy of art and art therapy interventions. This research paper aims to specifically assess the impact of a formal, semi-structured, individual art therapy intervention with grieving children. The researcher reviewed the records of thirteen clients who worked with three art therapists at a small palliative care agency in Central Virginia. Clients were between the ages of 5-18 years old and were assessed to gauge their positive and negative affect before the art therapy intervention and after the sixth session. Each therapist worked with …

The Application Of The Specific Learning Disability Exclusionary Clause As Practiced By Virginia School Psychologists, Kaitlynn Carter

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

When special education eligibility is being determined under Specific Learning Disability, the exclusionary clause needs to be carefully considered. The current study was concerned with the exclusions of cultural factors, environmental or economic disadvantage, and limited English proficiency. The study used a semi-structured interview to explore when and how the exclusionary clause is considered by school psychologists in Virginia and what type of impact it has on eligibility decisions. Ten school psychologists were contacted via the email database of the Virginia Department of Education and completed a phone interview. Grounded theory was used to investigate the themes and ideas regarding …

Gratitude In Relationships: A Study On Gratitude, Attachment, And Relationship Satisfaction, Brittany D. Dioszeghy

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

This study utilized Pearson correlations to assess for relationships between dispositional gratitude, attachment type, and relationship satisfaction. The survey was completed by 599 participants (77.57% female; 21.64% male; 0.63% other; 0.16% decline to state). Three separate instruments were used to assess for dispositional gratitude, attachment type (anxious/avoidant), and relationship satisfaction, respectively. First, it was hypothesized that anxious attachment would be negatively correlated with dispositional gratitude. Second, it was hypothesized that avoidant attachment types would be negatively correlated with dispositional gratitude. Third, it was hypothesized that anxious attachment would be negatively correlated with relationship satisfaction. Fourth, it was hypothesized that avoidant …

The Power Of One: How Promoting Positive Student-Teacher Relationships In The Classroom Can Impact Teacher Wellness And Burnout, Alexis Morse

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

Previous research has offered understanding of resiliency factors in the classroom setting to create and enhance student-teacher relationships (STR). Additionally, numerous studies have examined public school teachers’ burnout across the three areas of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and diminished personal accomplishment. Few studies, however, have combined these two research areas to better understand the relationship between them. This study uses intervention methods to provide 2^nd-grade to 5^th-grade teachers in one elementary school in Central Virginia applicable and efficient ways to build student-teacher relationships in the classroom and reduce their job-related stress. Pre- and post-intervention data was collected …

Developing College Transition Supports Using Student Perceptions: Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Arsenio Moss

Educational Specialist, 2009-2019

In recent years, there has been an increase in students with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) enrolled four-year institutions in the United States. Current but inconclusive estimates state that between 2% and 8% of college students report clinically significant levels of ADHD (DuPaul Weyandt, O'Dell, & Varejao, 2009). The nature of the disorder and demands of higher education put these students at risk for several academic and mental health issues while in college. The purpose of the current research was to obtain information from current college students with ADHD about their college transition and adjustment experiences and use their perspectives in …

Contributory Factors Of Well-Being In New Mothers: An Exploratory Study, Molly Bowman

Dissertations, 2014-2019

The focus of maternal postpartum care has shifted in the past fifty years. Initially, medical doctors analyzed the physical well-being of the infant, and little attention was paid to the mother's recovery outside of physical wellness. Although knowledge of postpartum ailments, both psychological and physical are now pervasive, there are few measures that directly assess the factors that contribute to a mother's well-being and/or speak to her approach to parenting from the initial stages. Specific links from childhood, psychosocial factors, current relationship with spouses, and pain experienced as a result of childbirth are just a few examples of the elements …

An Exploration Of The Collegiate Coach-Athlete Relationship And Its Impact On Female Athlete Attitudes And Behaviors Toward Disordered Eating And Body Image, Bridget E. Smith

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Collegiate female athletes face the challenges of conflicting feminine body ideals in society and in their sport all while striving for athletic success. Coaches are believed to play a significant role in an athlete’s development, and thus have potential to (knowing or unknowingly) reinforce, or even introduce, eating pathology as a means to achieve athletic performance and/or a body ideal. Previous research has found a link between insecure attachment and subsequent eating pathology in athletes and non-athletes alike. The coach can be viewed as an important attachment figure in an athlete’s life and development and thus serve a mediating role …

From Critical To Calm: The Development And Implementation Of A Brief Unified Mindfulness Workshop For College Students, Mandi Eggenberger Quay, Mandi Quay

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Dramatic rises in levels of anxiety, stress, and depression in college students have been observed over the past decade and is so pervasive that it has been deemed the College Student Mental Health Crisis (CSMHC). A number of experts have argued that much of this crisis can be attributed to students’ overall lack of basic knowledge of emotions and adaptive emotional processing. To address this problem, this study sought out to develop a brief mindfulness workshop as an intervention for college students to help increase student well-being, decrease anxious and depressive symptomology, and allow for material to be easily internalized. …

Mental Toughness, Well-Being, And Coach-Created Motivational Climate Within Collegiate Athletics, Chad Doerr

Dissertations, 2014-2019

This study examined the relationship between college student-athletes’ well-being, self-ratings of mental toughness in sport, and perceptions of the coach-created motivational climate. One hundred and two NCAA Division I female student-athletes completed measures of well-being, mental toughness, and coach-created motivational climate over the course of a university academic year. The author hypothesized that mental toughness and perceptions of the coach-created motivational climate would predict well-being. Overall, the results of the study found a predictive relationship between well-being and mental toughness, and well-being, mental toughness, and an ego-involving coach-created motivational climate.

These results provide initial evidence that cognitive, affective, personality, and …

The Influence Of Covariate Measurement Error On Treatment Effect Estimates And Numeric Balance Diagnostics Following Several Common Methods Of Propensity Score Matching: A Simulation Study, Heather D. Harris

Dissertations, 2014-2019

In applied intervention studies, researchers frequently aim to make inferences about the impact of a treatment program on participants. However, applied researchers are often faced with threats to the internal validity of their studies, or the extent to which changes in participants’ outcomes can be attributed to the intervention. When researchers are unable to randomly assign study participants to treatment conditions, changes in the intervention outcome might be confounded with systematic differences in participants’ baseline characteristics. Propensity score matching is one technique that allows researchers to account for threats to the internal validity of a study. Specifically, using propensity score …

In Search Of Equality: Developing An Equal Interval Likert Response Scale, Elisabeth M. Spratto

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Attitude scales are an important component of educational and psychological research. One consideration when seeking to make valid inferences from attitudinal data is the issue of the degree to which response options can be assumed to have equal intervals. Many response options on attitudinal measures may produce ordinal-level data rather than interval. This poses a problem for the statistical tests that may be used, as many analyses assume interval-level data. It also poses an interpretational issue if the conceptual distance between response options is not the same – for example, if a researcher believes that someone who answered Agree differs …

Neurotracker Cognitive Function And Its Relationship To Gpa In College Students, Justin Tran, Caroline Gallagher Poehls

Honors Thesis

Abstract

Introduction: The NeuroTracker system is a training tool used to enhance one’s cognitive abilities. It has been previously tested to improve athletic performance and core cognitive abilities in a variety of populations, but it has yet to be used as a cognitive test to examine its ability to distinguish academic ability in college students. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between a student’s grade point average (GPA), major, minutes exercised, and visual tracking speed utilizing the NeuroTracker System.

Methods: Forty-five students volunteered for the study (20 male and 25 female, 20.2±1.09years, ht=170.44±9.48cm, wt=70.98±15.66kg) and were …

Brief Strategy Training Enhances Targeted Memory And Beliefs And Promotes Near Transfer, Carla M. Strickland-Hughes, Robin Lea West

College of the Pacific Faculty Presentations

A traditional and common approach to cognitive interventions for adults is memory strategy training, but limited work of this type has examined whether self-regulatory factors (e.g., self-evaluative beliefs) might benefit from these programs or moderate other training-related gains. Further, while interventions focused on intensive practice or core capacity training have demonstrated near transfer (performance improvement following training on untrained tasks related to the target task), evidence of near transfer from strategy training programs is quite rare. The present research, Everyday Memory Clinic–Revised (EMC-R), addressed self-regulation and transfer issues in memory strategy training. EMC-R examined whether (1) a short-term strategy training …

Exploration Of Ayahuasca’S Mechanisms In The Treatment Of Stimulant Use Disorder, Aaron M. Eisen, Nicholas A. Smith, W. S. Griesar

Student Research Symposium

Stimulant use disorder presents an enormous epidemic in our society; further research on new treatment methods remains necessary. Ayahuasca (an entheogenic medicinal plant extract distinguished by the serotonergic psychedelic N,N-dimethyltryptamine in combination with a monoamine oxidase inhibitor) may potentially be such a treatment for stimulant use disorder. Four theories hypothesize the biochemical, physiological, psychological, and transcendent mechanisms describing ayahuasca’s potential as a therapeutic treatment. To investigate ayahuasca’s potential as a mechanism of treatment, we propose a placebo-controlled experimental design comprising of 50 participants who are moderate daily consumers of methamphetamine. We expect that ayahuasca treatment will result in reduced substance …

Comparing Ratios Of Depression Between Female To Male Mci Patients And The General Population, Abbie Levinson

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a condition that affects 20% of adults aged 60 and older. Patients with MCI find themselves in a place between healthy cognitive function and dementia. MCI is characterized by the forgetting of events and conversations, difficulty completing complex tasks, and trouble with remembering familiar environments. Previous studies on MCI suggest that patients are at a 40% greater risk of developing dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease, as their condition progresses (Petersen, 1999). Accompanying that, MCI patients are often diagnosed with a mood disorder, commonly depression (Orgeta, Qazi, Spector, & Orrell, 2015). Prior studies have presented that in …

On Hold: Relationships In The Age Of Mobile Phone Distraction, Isabel M. Bourget

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Interpersonal communication has been transformed by the more than 70 percent of adults who own smartphones (Greenwood, Perrin & Duggan, 2016) and other forms of portable technology. It is now more convenient than ever to stay in touch, find lost friends, and access constantly updated information online, but research has linked mobile phone use to decreased relationship and interaction quality. For example, McDaniel and Coyne (2016) found that self-reported technology use among married couples predicted more partner conflict and less relationship satisfaction, particularly for women. Brown, Manago and Trimble (2016) found similar results in that the more friend dyads were …

Literature Review And Proposal: Yoga As Group Exercise Involving Oxytocin Release For Positive Mood Improvement, Rachel Fenton

Honors Projects

A literature review discusses yoga and health involving oxytocin creates the premise for a proposal combining the knowledge of yoga and its health benefits along with oxytocin's potential involvement during group exercise, yoga specifically. The proposed study's results of oxytocin measures and questionnaires have the potential to develop an understanding of the possible impacts of yoga on mood, particularly relationships between group exercise and yoga, which may help develop forms of group exercise or implement group yoga to assist or replace treatment for stress-caused or stress-related disorders.

Parental Mindfulness And Stress As An Influence On Clinically Referred Children’S Emotional Competence, Ahmad Baiyasi

Honors College Theses

Children acquire the skills of emotional competence in a variety of contexts, and demonstrate through their behavior the skills evident of emotional competence. Such skills include a sense of well-being, adaptive resilience in the face of stressful circumstances, and the ability to manage their own emotions (Saarni, 2000). Mindfulness, a relatively new construct in the study of human development, is nonjudgmentally paying attention to relevant aspects of our experiences, including our own emotions and thoughts (Ludwig & Kabat-Zinn, 2008). Stress is emotional or mental strain resulting from adverse or very demanding life circumstances, such as our living environment (Lunney, 2006). …