Psychology Commons^™

Psychosocial Correlates Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms And Well-Being Among Hispanic World Trade Center Rescue And Recovery Workers, Dianne Ciro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Thousands of first responders are estimated to have endured extremely distressing experiences during their recovery efforts at the 9/11 World Trade Center (WTC) site. While the effects of 9/11 continue to be studied, few studies have examined how rescue and recovery workers have been coping since 9/11 and how their coping is associated with their psychological well-being. Moreover, we do not know how distinct coping patterns may be associated with post-traumatic growth, experiences of positive emotion, or quality of life among WTC responders.

This study compared coping differences among Hispanic, Non-Hispanic White, and Non-Hispanic Black first responders. In addition, it …

The Relationship Among Reflective Functioning, History Of Childhood Trauma, And Symptoms Of Depersonalization And Derealization In Patients With Panic Disorder, Sarah J. Kay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This exploratory study examined the relationship among reflective functioning (RF), history of childhood trauma, and symptoms of depersonalization and derealization in an attempt to provide a more nuanced clinical picture of panic disorder.

All analyses were conducted using baseline data collected as part of the “Dynamic therapy vs. CBT for Panic Disorder” study at Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of Pennsylvania. The study participants were 201 patients with a primary DSM-IV diagnosis of panic disorder with or without agoraphobia who completed the parent study.

While there was a significant relationship found between trauma and panic severity at one …

“I Am Going To College…Now What?!”: Becoming A College Student, Renata Strashnaya

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

College enrollment rates are increasing across the nation at both 2-year and 4-year institutions (NCES, 2015). Nearly two-thirds of undergraduate students are under the age of 25 and enrollment numbers are increasing for every racial and ethnic group (NCES, 2012). The first year of college is often a critical time for growth and development for students who are transitioning from high school to college. As such, there is a call to restructure the first year of college by finding new ways to support student success (Tinto, 1993, 2002). This call is, however, in response to limited knowledge of the transition …

A Comparison Of The Effects Of Various Feedback Presentations On Typing Accuracy And Speed, Julieanne Guadalupe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In organizational behavior management, performance feedback is often described as information that is presented to a performer that enables a change in his or her future performance. Performance feedback is frequently used in combination with other procedures in applied settings. Despite its popularity, it is unclear whether performance feedback is more effective alone or in combination with procedures identified as behavioral consequences or antecedents. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine which combination of performance feedback was most effective to improve typing accuracy and speed. Participants were assigned to one of four groups: (1) no feedback group, (2) …

Biological Signatures Of Emotion Regulation In Children, Sarah Myruski

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Emotion regulation (ER) is a key predictor of positive adjustment throughout the lifespan. Despite decades of research on discrete ER strategy use, ER may be more appropriately measured in terms of the breadth of emotional range, or the degree to which one can flexibly modulate emotional responses. Yet little is known about ER flexibility in childhood. Also, given the crucial role of caregiver support in children’s emotional lives, ER may be most accurately measured in developmentally appropriate and ecologically valid social contexts. Further, few developmental studies have capitalized on the growing evidence base surrounding biological signatures of ER. This study …

The Development Of Affect And Defense In Childhood And Adolescence, Kari Gray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to further determine the nature of the relationship between how defense mechanisms affect and are affected by the ways in which feelings are modulated and regulated in children and adolescents. This study has been built upon an IRB-approved research project conducted under primary investigator Steven Tuber, Ph.D. at the Psychological Center and the City College of New York (From Child Assessment to Child Treatment; A Preliminary Investigation). The study data are pre-existing, collected from 5 – 16 year old children and adolescents presenting for treatment and/or assessment at the Psychological Center, a …

Towards A Code Of Ethics For Community Psychology And Community Practice In The Arab World: Defining Ethical Values, Fatema Abouelela Abdelzaher

Theses and Dissertations

In response to the need for ethical guidance in Arab community psychology and other forms of community practice, this thesis used mixed methods to explore the ethical values that are of relevance to community psychologists and other community practitioners in the Arab World. A total of 18 community practitioners in the Arab region were interviewed to share their views on the importance of Arab societal values, the values of community psychology, and the principles identified in globally dominant codes of ethics for psychologists in community practice in the Arab world. Using thematic analysis, 53 themes were identified in the collected …

An Investigation Into The Test-Retest Reliability Of The Scale Of Accurate Personality Prediction With A Six Week Interval, Jared Marshall Barrow

Theses and Dissertations

The Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP) is a measure to determine the accuracy of an individual’s ability to predict his/her own personality traits. Previous studies have demonstrated the validity of SAPP as a measure, and this study serves as one in a series of study on the reliability of the SAPP. To establish the test-retest reliability of the SAPP, the SAPP scores of 22 participants were calculated from two testing trials separated by a six week interval. A Pearson correlation indicated a significant correlation of moderate strength between the SAPP scores from the two testing trials (r=.572, p<0.01). The implication of these results within the context of the previous test-retest reliability studies and limitations to the current study are discussed.

Recent Advances In The Understanding Of Relationship Communication During Military Deployment, Steven L. Sayers, Galena K. Rhoades

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

In recent decades, there has been a dramatic increase in the ability of service members and their intimate partners to communicate while the service member is deployed to a combat zone. Communication among partners is a crucial aspect of intimate relationships that has been demonstrated to be highly associated with couples’ satisfaction. In addition, it is often cited by unhappy partners as a primary relationship problem. This special section of the Journal of Family Psychology presents five articles investigating deployment communication among service members and their intimate partners. The studies address the content and goals of deployment communication, the relations …

Optimizing The Validity Of Situational Judgment Tests: The Importance Of Scoring Methods, Qingxiong Weng, Hui Yang, Filip Lievens, Michael A. Mcdaniel

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In recent years, situational judgment tests (SJTs) have made strong inroads in assessment practices. Despite the importance of scoring for the validity of SJTs, little attention has been paid to different SJT scoring methods. This study investigated the influence of scoring methods on the criterion-related validity of SJTs. We examined five different consensus scoring methods (i.e., raw, standardized, dichotomous, mode, and proportion scoring) and several integrated scoring methods for scoring the same SJT. Results showed that one of the most popular scoring approaches (raw consensus scoring) is associated with an extreme response tendency and yields the lowest scale validity of …

Donne, Emigrazione E Prostituzione In Europa: Non Si Tratta Di “Sex Work”, Anna Zobnina, Chiara Carpita

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

The Evolutionary Mismatch Hypothesis: Implications For Psychological Science, Norman P. Li, Mark Van Vugt, Stephen M. Colarelli

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Human psychological mechanisms are adaptations that evolved to process environmental inputs, turning them into behavioral outputs that, on average, increase survival or reproductive prospects. Modern contexts, however, differ vastly from the environments that existed as human psychological mechanisms evolved. Many inputs now differ in quantity and intensity or no longer have the same fitness associations, thereby leading many mechanisms to produce maladaptive output. We present the precepts of this evolutionary mismatch process, highlight areas of mismatch, and consider implications for psychological science and policy.

#Metoo Must Include Prostitution, Melissa Farley

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Judgments Of Interpersonal Warmth Predict Class-Based Differences In Political Candidate Support, Jacinth J. X. Tan, Michael W. Kraus

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The present research examines how warmth communications shape classbased patterns of political candidate support. Drawing on theory and evidence that lower-class individuals are more attuned to others, we predicted that, relative to upper-class individuals, they will modulate their trust and support in response to communications of warmth generated by and about political figures. In Experiment 1, lower-class compared to upper-class participants reported less trust and support for a political candidate who communicated his warmth in a campaign video, while no class differences emerged when he communicated competence or hostility to an opponent instead. In Experiment 2, lower-class compared to upper-class …

Human Factors And Simulation In Emergency Medicine, Emily M. Hayden, Ambrose H. Wong, Jeremy Ackerman, Margaret K. Sande, Charles Lei, Leo Kobayashi, Michael Cassara, Dylan D. Cooper, Kimberly Perry, William E. Lewandowski, Mark W. Scerbo

Psychology Faculty Publications

This consensus group from the 2017 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference "Catalyzing System Change through Health Care Simulation: Systems, Competency, and Outcomes" held in Orlando, Florida, on May 16, 2017, focused on the use of human factors (HF) and simulation in the field of emergency medicine (EM). The HF discipline is often underutilized within EM but has significant potential in improving the interface between technologies and individuals in the field. The discussion explored the domain of HF, its benefits in medicine, how simulation can be a catalyst for HF work in EM, and how EM can collaborate with HF professionals …

Still Life: Growing Up With Death - A Visual Memoir, Lindsey Roth-Rosen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This capstone is a multidimensional visual narrative project that incorporates heuristic methodology to illustrate complicated grief that emerged from early childhood loss. The memoir’s intention is to exemplify grief as a complex and mutable composite response to the death of my mother. One objective of this capstone is to understand melancholy, commonly associated with mental illness or symptomatic of depression, as an aesthetic emotion as well as a conduit for philosophical reflection. I use non-verbal approaches to the genre of a memoir by incorporating my photography to epitomize art as a powerful means to comprehend the totality of loss: as …

Libraries And The Missing Narrative: Practitioner Explorations In The Use Of Design Psychology And Environmental Autobiography For Library Buildings And Designs, Amy Beth

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Environmental Autobiography as a research method of Environmental Psychology and Design Psychology informs this study of the meaning and experiences of libraries described by six library-building design practitioners. Participants were guided through an adaptation of Toby Israel’s (2010) Design Psychology Toolbox (hereafter known as the DPT or the “Toolbox”) exercises. The research is intended to expand the practice of designing libraries as places and spaces where social and emotional affordance is supported. Emphasizing the significance of libraries as place and space where people often have rich and even transformative experiences serves to augment use-efficiency and evidence-based space planning. Primary goals …

Social Influences On Songbird Behavior: From Song Learning To Motion Coordination, Iva Ljubičić

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Social animals learn during development how to integrate successfully into their group. How do social interactions combine to maintain group cohesion? We first review how social environments can influence the development of vocal learners, such as songbirds and humans (Chapter 1). To bypass the complexity of natural social interactions and gain experimental control, we developed Virtual Social Environments, surrounding the bird with videos of manipulated playbacks. This way we were able to design sensory and social scenarios and test how social zebra finches adjust their behavior (Chapters 2 & 3). A serious challenge is that the color output of a …

Practice-Based Conundrums And Existentialist Quandaries Of A Professional Code Of Ethics, Izaak L. Williams

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Ethical codes have long been considered indispensable tools in defining the proper conduct of counseling professionals. Revisions reflect the ideals of the industry to accommodate the evolving needs of clients and trends in treatment models, but the essence of the code is to convert principles befitting of the profession into concrete actions or considerations that abet professional decision-making. Acculturation into the profession involves ethics training intended to improve professionals’ ability to apply the code to situations that might arise in their practices, resulting in the most ethically appropriate action. However, such assumptions may be problematic. The idea of ethical competency …

Adult-Child Sexual Contact: Examining Mental Health Trainees’ Perception Of The Impact On Adult Psychological-Emotional Status, Robbie J. Steward Ph.D., Shavonne J. Moore Ph.D., Lisa P. Petersen M.A., L.P.C., Sharea Ayers M.A., Kristin A. Hinze M.A., L.P.C.

Journal of Human Services: Training, Research, and Practice

Thirty-eight graduate students enrolled in mental health-related programs completed the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) indicating anticipated impact of adult-child sexual contact on the psychological status of a young adult woman from positive family environment and one from a negative family environment. BSI subscale scores were significantly higher than the BSI general population’s mean scores in both cases. Multiple regression analyses found that: in the healthy family scenario, practitioners’ background variables (parent education, family of origin climate, prior childhood sexual contact with an adult, and education) did not contribute significantly to the variance in their prediction of expectation of client’s overall …

Analysis Of The Primary And Global Factors Of The 16pf To Predict The Scale Of Accurate Personality Prediction (Sapp), Lauren Marie Dilullo

Theses and Dissertations

In attempt to measure one’s self-knowledge, Miller (2000) developed the Scale of Accurate Personality Prediction (SAPP), which is a measure derived from obtained and self-predicted scores across the 21 scales of the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF). The aim of this investigation was to assess which of the 16PF primary and global factors are the best predictors of SAPP scores. Identification of these predictor variables would then allow for the derivation of one’s SAPP score directly from the those determined factors. Archival data consisting of 645 participants were analyzed through a series of regression analyses across four random samples of …

Examining The Different Learning Strategies Between Extroverts And Introverts Among Flight Students At Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, John R. Brooks

Student Works

Extroverts and introverts have unique approaches to new materials that make learning more efficient. In aviation where quick learning and responses are required, students may struggle because preferred comprehension strategies are not utilized. The research question is whether introverts/extroverts learn better when given the option to approach materials using strategies that match their personality type. 16 participants are placed into one of two different groups (either extrovert/introvert). The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire – Revised (EPQ-R) determines personality trait. Participants are then subdivided into one of four random groups. All participants are given instructions on how to complete two different flight maneuvers …

Acute Physiologic Stress And Subsequent Anxiety Among Family Members Of Icu Patients, Sarah J. Beesley, Ramona O. Hopkins, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, Emily L. Wilson, Jorie Butler, Kathryn G. Kuttler, James Orme, Samuel M. Brown, Eliotte L. Hirshberg

Faculty Publications

Objectives: The ICU is a complex and stressful environment and is associated with significant psychologic morbidity for patients and their families. We sought to determine whether salivary cortisol, a physiologic measure of acute stress, was associated with subsequent psychologic distress among family members of ICU patients.

Design: This is a prospective, observational study of family members of adult ICU patients.

Setting: Adult medical and surgical ICU in a tertiary care center.

Subjects: Family members of ICU patients. Interventions: Participants provided five salivary cortisol samples over 24 hours at the time of the patient ICU admission. The primary measure of cortisol …

Emotion Regulation Deficits In Persons With Body-Focused Repetitive Behavior Disorders, Jennifer R. Alexander, David C. Houghton, Christopher C. Bauer, Heather C. Lench, Douglas W. Woods

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Conceptualizations of emotion dysregulation (ED) and body-focused repetitive behavior disorders (BFRBDs) imply that ED may be a central component of BFRBDs as well as a factor that distinguishes BFRBDs from non-impairing, subclinical body-focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs). The current study empirically tested these observations.

Methods

One hundred thirty-eight undergraduates (of 1900 who completed a screening survey) completed self-report measures assessing four emotion regulation (ER) deficits hypothesized to underlie ED (alexithymia, maladaptive emotional reactivity, experiential avoidance, and response inhibition when distressed); 34 of these participants had BFRBDs, 64 had subclinical BFRBs, and 42 were unaffected by BFRBs.

Results

Results indicated that …

Latent Toxoplasma Gondii Infection Moderates The Association Between The C677t Mthfr Polymorphism And Cognitive Function In U.S. Adults, Andrew Nathan Berrett

Theses and Dissertations

Sufficient blood concentrations of folate and the products from its metabolism are necessary for several cellular functions. The C677T MTHFR polymorphism, present in over half of the U.S. population, reduces the efficiency of folate metabolism and has been linked to the onset of multiple psychiatric disorders and cognitive decline. The intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii can infect the human brain and is associated with increased prevalence of psychiatric disorders and cognitive decline. In vitro studies have found that Toxoplasma gondii may salvage unmetabolized folate from host cells. Since the C677T MTHFR polymorphism and infection by Toxoplasma gondii both affect folate metabolism …

To Fall In Love With Math, Do This, Susan D'Agostino

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

In the viral New York Times essay, “To Fall in Love with Anyone, Do This,” Mandy Len Catron details an experience she and an acquaintance had as they shared responses to psychologist Arthur Aron’s thirty-six questions intended to make participants fall in love. She notes that, “we all have a narrative of ourselves that we offer up to strangers and acquaintances, but Dr. Aron’s questions make it impossible to rely on that narrative.” In this paper, we claim that we also have narratives of our relationship to mathematics that we offer up to ourselves and others. Following, we offer a …

Self-Continuity Moderates The Association Between Peer Victimization And Depressed Affect, Jonathan Santo, Alexa Martin-Storey, Holly E. Recchia, William M. Bukowski

Psychology Faculty Publications

Two longitudinal studies conducted with early adolescents (ages 10–13) examined the hypothesis that self-continuity, or the degree to which individuals feel that they remain the same person over time regardless of how their specific characteristics may change, would moderate the association between victimization and depressed affect. Both Study 1 (N = 141) and Study 2 (N = 100) provided evidence of the moderating role of self-continuity as a buffer on the effect of peer victimization. Study 2 confirmed that self-continuity had a moderating effect after controlling for academic performance, number of friends, self-esteem, self-concept clarity, hopelessness, and self-blame. …

Student Motivation Profiles As A Diagnostic Tool To Help Teachers Provide Targeted Support, Cailin Tricia Currie

Dissertations and Theses

Research has demonstrated that academic engagement is an important resource for students, promoting their learning and achievement. Less well documented is the possibility that students' classroom engagement may also be a valuable resource for their teachers, capable of influencing how teachers treat their students over time. The current study sought to examine the relationship between student motivation and teacher behavior to better understand how teachers perceive and respond to their students' classroom motivation and whether these motivational states contain diagnostic information about the types of supports students may need in order to be engaged, enthusiastic learners. The observable manifestations of …

Perception Of Facial Expressions In Social Anxiety And Gaze Anxiety, Aaron Necaise

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

This study explores the relationship between gaze anxiety and the perception of facial expressions. The literature suggests that individuals experiencing Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) might have a fear of making direct eye contact, and that these individuals also demonstrate a hypervigilance towards the eye region. Some have suggested that this increased anxiety concerning eye contact might be related to the tendency of socially anxious individuals to mislabel emotion in the faces of onlookers. An improved understanding of the cognitive biases associated with SAD could lead to more efficient intervention and assessment methods. In the present study, I used the Depression …

When Moms Say Bad Words: Family And Peer Influence On The Frequency Of Swearing, Emily Simpson, Joshua Duarte, Brianna Bishop

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Swearing is taboo in modern culture. Even though this habit is deemed negative, many people continue to swear frequently every day. The purpose of this study is to determine who exerts the most influence on one's swearing habits: one's family or one's peers? Seven hundred and sixty-three university students were asked via survey who (mother, father, siblings, friends, or peers) swore most frequently during their upbringing. These questions were compared through linear regression to measure participants' level of swearing. We anticipated that peers would have a more significant impact on one's swearing frequency. However, we found that an individual's mother …