Psychology Commons^™

Comparative Examination Of The Empatica E4 To Record Heart Rate Variability Metrics, Andres Rosero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The increased accessibility of cyber technology has resulted in advancements in international communications and information sharing never seen in human history. With this new age of digital software comes the proliferation of illegal online activity and cyber terrorism. Repercussions of cyber-attacks have ranged from identity theft to leaks of classified state secrets. To combat this threat, the Department of Defense (DoD) established the Cyber Mission Force (CMF) to head operations in the interests of protecting against cyber-attacks. One of the CMF’s initial projects involves the creation of a Performance Assessment Suite (PAS), a training program designed to improve the training …

Results From A Psychology Oer Pilot Program: Faculty And Student Perceptions, Cost Savings, And Academic Outcomes, Juliana Magro, Sara V. Tabaei

Touro University Libraries Publications and Research

This case study describes the library’s experience of collaborating with an undergraduate Psychology Department at Touro College to integrate open textbooks into their program. We discuss the pedagogical changes as well as explore the impact of Open Educational Resources (OER) on students’ savings, their academic outcomes and perceptions of OER. Furthermore, we highlight the successes and shortcomings in having the library as a central OER partner. To measure the results, we surveyed students and conducted a faculty survey and a focus group, in addition to analyzing the students’ final grades. This pilot program delivered strong results. The students’ perception was …

The Effect Of A Positive And Negative Mindset On Affect, Happiness, And Heart Rate Variability, Kori L. Friedges

CSB and SJU Distinguished Thesis

The present study investigates the influence of a positive or negative mindset on affect, happiness, and heart rate variability (HRV) among undergraduate students at a small, liberal arts college in Minnesota. Forty participants were randomly assigned into the positive or negative mindset conditions by completing two short writing exercises. Participants reported their affect and happiness before and after the mindset manipulation. Additionally, participants’ HRV was recorded before, during, and after the mindset manipulation. The results of the present study showed that adopting a positive mindset increases positive affect whereas adopting a negative mindset increases negative affect and decreases happiness. The …

Stress Perception And Measurement In Missionary Populations, Laurie A. Tone, Fernando Garzon, John C. Thomas, Brigitte Ritchey, Mike Malek-Ahmadi

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Christian missionaries experience numerous stressors across multiple domains. To understand their unique experiences, a targeted assessment is required. There is no known psychometrically tested measure that captures the nuances of stress for this population. To that end, as part of a larger study, the quantitative CHOPS Stress Inventory, a new tool for measuring missionary stress was developed and showed good initial psychometric qualities when compared to an established stress measure. Furthermore, the Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) of survey findings on 267 cross-cultural evangelical missionaries noted that both age and sex demonstrated significant effects on perceived stress scores. Implications for missionary …

Associations Between Personality Traits And Music Preference, Isabella Boccia

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

The purpose of this study was to examine potential associations between an individual’s personality traits in reference to the Big Five, and their music preference and enjoyment. Method: This study consisted of 175 participants who each completed an online survey intended to measure both their personality traits and music they enjoyed. Participants would read various statements referencing each of the Big Five personality traits: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. They would then respond to how much they agreed or disagreed with the statements presented. Additionally, participants would listen to short 15-s audio clips of various songs with the music …

Prefrontal Cortical Activation In Naturalistic Walking, Aimee L. Klaschus

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Tasks and environments that demand greater attention resources result in greater activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). To explore this effect in a naturalistic setting, we used functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to record the PFC activation of six undergraduate participants while they walked in a busy environment (attention-demanding) and quiet environment (non-attention-demanding). Walking speed was recorded as a behavioral correlate. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference in walking speed or cortical activity between busy and quiet conditions, though the trend was in favor of the hypotheses. This is likely because crowd density within each condition was not …

The Relation Between Psychopathology And Unconventional Relationships, Alyssa T. Roberts

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The term “kink” refers to a community of people and a practice of sexual activities that engage in power exchanges with their partner(s), pain, and/or restraint in a myriad of different contexts, that may or may not occur in an overt sexual context (Meyer & Chen, 2019). “Kink” can be used interchangeably with the acronym BDSM, which stands for bondage, dominance/discipline, sadism/submission, masochism. The overall purpose of this study was to learn more about those who are part of the kink community. This research is important because the current literature on those who engage in kink is relatively small and …

Microhemorrhages In Professional Motocross Athletes: A Case Series, Brianna Millsaps, Philip R. Worts, David C. Berg, Scott O. Burkhart

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Introduction: Motocross is a sport in which riders race 250–450 cc four-stroke dirt bikes and are potential-ly subjected to a high frequency of head injuries starting at a very young age. The objective of this case series is to present the findings following gradient echo T2-weighted MRI (SWI) upon clinical evaluation after a concussion in 4 young professional motocross racers.

Clinical Findings: Microhemorrhages were found in 2 of 4 riders. Areas of microhemorrhages were not aligned with a previously positive CT finding from a prior concussion in 1 rider.

Conclusions: Microhemorrhages were found in 2 young motocross riders following a …

Let’S Get Personal: The Influence Of Personality Type Assessments On Team Communication And Structure, Kylee Baldwin, Selena Moua, Taylor Perryman, Alyssa Hayden

Concordia Journal of Communication Research

The balance of understanding and discussing personality types is a potential advantage to the effectiveness of a team’s work ethic and communication. Working in a team with members of different personality types that know how to work well with other personality types will achieve team effectiveness more efficiently than a team with a lack of understanding on their own and others’ personality types. It is predicted that the Truity's Type Finder Personality Test on personality types will have a strong, positive impact on overall team performance and team effectiveness. In addition, it can also be predicted that the team that …

Culture Moderates The Relationship Between Family Obligation Values And The Outcomes Of Korean And European American College Students, Haein Oh, Toni Falbo, Kejin Lee

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Family obligation values have been described as an important element of collectivistic cultures that are related to the development of positive emotional well-being and motivation in high school and college students. The present study tested the hypothesis that culture moderates the relationship between family obligation values and the outcomes of Korean (n = 249) and European American (n = 251) college students. The results provided support for this hypothesis. Specifically, for Koreans, family obligation values were significantly and positively correlated with descriptions of parents as being more supportive of the self-determination of their children, which was found to mediate the …

Male Figural Rating Scales: A Critical Review Of The Literature, Daniel Talbot, John Cass, Evelyn Smith

Sciences Papers and Journal Articles

Figural rating scales are tools used to measure male body dissatisfaction. The present review aimed to examine the design and psychometric properties of male figural rating scales and make recommendations based on findings. Relevant databases were systematically searched for studies that had developed and validated male figural rating scales. Twenty studies were included in this review. Figural rating scales differed in terms of the number of images represented and type of stimuli used (hand-drawn silhouettes, hand-drawn figures, computer-rendered figures, and photograph figures). Reliability and validity evidence varied greatly in strength across all scales. Four of the 20 scales included a …

Trust Discounting In The Multi-Arm Trust Game, Michael Collins

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Social interactions are complex and constantly changing decision making environments. Prior research (Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995) has found that people use their trust in others as a criterion for decision making during social interactions. Trust is not only relevant for human-human interaction, but has also been found to be important for human-machine interaction as well, which is becoming a growing feature in many work domains (De Visser et al., 2016). Prior research on trust has attempted to identify the behavioral characteristics an individual (trustor) uses to assess the trustworthiness of another (trustee) to determine the trustor's level of trust. …

Immigration Policies On Adolescent Trauma Among Mixed-Status Latinx Families: A Systematic Review, Isis Garcia-Rodriguez, Oswaldo Moreno

Psychology Publications

The current policy surrounding immigration in the United States (U.S.) has sparked negative attitudes surrounding individuals that are undocumented, as well as mixed-status families.¹ Latinx adolescents residing in the U.S. are already at risk for psychological (i.e., depression, stress, anxiety) and physical health problems (i.e., chronic and acute health problems),^2-4 and the current political climate only exacerbates these health outcomes.^5-7 These experiences are striking given that 58.9 million Latinx individuals reside in the U.S.⁸ Given the impact that these recent local and federal policies have on the largest minority group in the U.S., these policies may …

Trauma And Identity: A Reciprocal Relationship?, Steven L. Berman, Marilyn J. Montgomery, Kaylin Ratner

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Trauma can alter the course of identity development and destabilize existing identity commitments. Trauma, whether past or current, can also impact the resources a person brings to identity work. However, identity can also be a lens through which trauma is perceived and interpreted, helping to determine whether a traumatic experience results in posttraumatic stress disorder or posttraumatic growth. Despite the apparent implications each construct has for the other, the scholarship at the intersection of trauma and identity remains sparse. This Special Issue explores how and when trauma and identity influence one another by considering their association across various adolescent populations, …

Precarious Womanhood: Maternal Instinct’S Role In Gender-Related Anxiety, Chelsey Kanipe

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The phenomenon of “precarious manhood” suggests that when a man perceives a threat to his masculinity, he will respond with anxiety and will subsequently increase his displays of traditional masculinity. The main purpose of this study is to address a parallel phenomenon in women (i.e., “precarious womanhood”), the existence of which previous authors have dismissed. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either high scores, low scores, or no scores following a supposed maternal instinct questionnaire. Then, their subsequent mood and gender identity endorsement were measured via self-report. It was hypothesized that, compared to participants who received either high or no …

Interview With Karin Waller, Karin A. Waller, Patricia A. Schechter

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Karin Waller was interviewed by history professor Patricia Schechter on May 27, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Also participating in the interview are graduate students Cleophas Chambliss and Liza Schade.

In this interview, Waller describes the personal, social, and intellectual intersections that brought her to graduate study, her mentors in the graduate program, and her thesis project.

Interview With Mary Zinkin, Mary Zinkin, Stephanie Vallance

Conflict Resolution Oral Histories

Mary Zinkin was interviewed by Stephanie Vallance on May 6, 2020. Also participating in the interview were Liza Schade and Lady J.

In this interview, Zinkin describes her own self-designed interdisciplinary graduate degrees in Conflict Resolution at Portland State and her influence in the creation of those degree programs at PSU. She discusses her academic work in the field of conflict mediation, and her view of the need for a professional, skills-based degree that blended theory and practice. She describes the logistics of getting the program off the ground, noting the development of curriculum, number of students, and the conversation …

Conceptualizing Therapy As A Spiritual Discipline, Kristen M. White

Faculty Publications - Graduate School of Counseling

Psychological literature is in the beginning stages of reflecting the Church’s shift toward spiritual formation, incorporating theory and research regarding how spiritual disciplines might be relevant to the practice of therapy. This work may be expanded by viewing therapy itself as a spiritual discipline, particularly for the client. This article makes this connection by clearly defining spiritual disciplines and highlighting how therapy is or can be made congruent with them. It further discusses how therapy may be a very useful spiritual discipline within the Church today. Lastly, this article discusses the implications for viewing therapy as a spiritual discipline for …

Dysfunctional Beliefs As Moderators Of The Association Between Personality Dysfunction And Negative Emotion, Syeda Zahura

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the potential role of dysfunctional beliefs as moderators of the association between personality dysfunction and negative emotion. Specifically, we focused on three negative emotions, depression, social anxiety, and anger. There was a total of 454 participants, 210 males, and 243 females, all 18 years of age or older, recruited on Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and SJU Psychology Department’s subject pool. We found that personality dysfunction and dysfunctional thinking are associated with negative emotional outcomes. Higher levels of personality dysfunction and higher levels of dysfunctional thinking were associated with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and anger. In a …

An Evaluation Of The Advance Directives-Live Action Simulation Training (Ad-Last) Program, Alexandra Rosa Spinelli

Theses and Dissertations

Advance Care Planning (ACP) is a process that captures a patient’s wishes in the case of future circumstances in which they are unable to express them. Studies show that less than one third of the general population has completed some type of formal Advance Directive (AD). There are barriers to completing ADs, and these barriers operate on multiple levels, including, patient, provider and institutional. To improve providers’ capacity to help patients complete ACP, and overcome these barriers, a provider-focused intervention was conducted. The current study is an analysis of archival data collected from the Advance Directives-Live Action Simulation Training (AD-LAST) …

Confirmatory Factor Analysis And Estimator Comparison Of Two Short Forms Of An Irrational And Rational Beliefs Scale Author(S): Joanne Raptis, Joanne Raptis

Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined two abbreviated versions of the Attitudes and Beliefs Scale-2 (ABS-2) to compare their factor structure and ability to achieve model fit to the data. The original scale, a measure of irrational and rational beliefs as defined by REBT theory, was designed with 72 items reflecting irrational and rational beliefs and each involving one of four cognitive processes and one of three content areas. The ABS-2 had been criticized for its length and the inconsistency of findings regarding its factor structure. Two groups of researchers independently created short forms of the ABS-2 using 24 of the original …

Lesbian, Gay, And Bisexual Discrimination: An Examination Of The Role Of Blame Cognitions In Ptsd And Depression Symptoms, Timothy Stahl

Theses and Dissertations

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) emerging adults experience higher rates of trauma and discrimination, and subsequent PTSD and depression, than heterosexual emerging adults (Feinstein et al., 2012; Hatzenbuehler et al., 2008; Roberts et al., 2010). Our understanding of the relations between trauma/discrimination and psychiatric sequelae in LGB emerging adults is limited by: (1) uncertainty in the possible differential impact of LGB-specific trauma versus non-LGB-specific trauma, (2) uncertainty of the unique impacts of trauma and discrimination, and (3) lack of studies integrating cognitive theories of trauma (Brewin & Holmes, 2003) into Hatzenbuehler’s (2009) psychological mediation framework. This cross-sectional study included 82 …

Shades Of Aggression: What Role Does Race Play In Educational Decision-Making?, Ashley Oliver

Theses and Dissertations

Though there is an awareness of African American students being disproportionally overrepresented in special education, research is limited in the examination of the role of race on how school psychologists and special education decision-makers perceive and make educational decisions. The present study examined the perception of 547 practicing school psychologists and special education decision-makers who were randomly assigned to a video vignette (African American or White male child) displaying the same aggressive behavior in a classroom and were asked to report on the intensity of the aggressive behavior, view of the behavior as a problem, perception of academic functioning, utility …

Does Inhibitory Control And Emotion Regulation Alter The Degree To Which Aggressogenic Thought Is Expressed?, Jessica Lindsey Held

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of emotion dysregulation and inhibitory control on aggressogenic thought-behavior associations were investigated among 362 fifth- and sixth-grade boys (n = 195) and girls (n = 167) on Long Island, New York. Other-reported anger dysregulation and inhibitory control significantly qualified the relationship between all three cognitions (hostile attributions of intent, revenge goals in both ambiguous and unambiguous situations, and self-efficacy) and aggression. However, our predicted pattern for these 3-way interaction was supported only when the cognition involved self-efficacy—self-efficacy for aggression was most strongly associated with aggressive behavior under high levels of anger dysregulation and low levels of inhibitory control. …

Perceived Racial Discrimination And Its Association To Unhealthy Consumption And Obesity, Julie Kittleman

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that both recent and lifetime racial discrimination along with discrimination subscales (social exclusion, work discrimination, stigmatization, and threat or physical harassment) is linked to unhealthy food consumption and health habits. Discrimination has been identified as a possible risk factor for unhealthy food consumption. Research has not yet clearly concluded if unhealthy consumption is a function of recent or chronic exposure to discrimination, the specific type of discrimination or if the effects of discrimination are independent of other life stressors such as neighborhood poverty and stress. Participants (n = 142) were …

Psychologists’ Conceptualizations Of Clients And Their Relation To Psychotherapy Outcomes: A Profile Analysis, Han Lim Kim

Theses and Dissertations

The aims of this research is to 1) quantitatively assess therapist perceptions of prototypically difficult and successful clients and assess whether characterizations of such clients vary as a function of therapist level of experience and sex, 2) examine whether clients who characterize themselves as more similar to the prototype show different rates of change in psychotherapy, and 3) evaluate whether clients’ self-reported personality and attitudes change in psychotherapy become more or less similar to the prototype profiles. There were no differences in prototypical difficult and successful client profiles as a function of therapist sex or level of experience. Clients’ improvements …

Identifying Mcmi-Iv Personality Disorder Subgroups Using Exploratory Factor Analysis And Latent Class Analysis, Amanda Fisher

Theses and Dissertations

Patients diagnosed with personality disorders (PDs) have higher morbidity and mortality rates than those without PDs. The DSM-5 PD diagnoses and the cluster system lack a theoretical and empirical basis, which hinders the development of knowledge about PDs and interventions for PDs. This present study attempts to add to this literature by forming PD groups using a combination of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and latent class analysis (LCA) based on PD scores from the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-IV (MCMI-IV), a method recommended by Gorman and Primavera (1983). Participants were 251 English speaking males and females ages 18 to 75 seeking …

Parenting And Physical Aggression Across Infancy, Brooke Edelman

Theses and Dissertations

While physical aggression is known to be common in toddlerhood, new research suggests that aggression is evident even in infancy. Further, early aggression is stable and predicts maladaptive outcomes later in life. Research supports close associations between harsh, overreactive discipline and physical aggression in early childhood. Harsh discipline encourages and maintains coercive processes in which reciprocal, transactional interchanges escalate aversive behaviors in both parent and child. In accordance with a developmental system perspective, we hypothesized that the congruency between parenting and aggression would increase with age as a result of these transactional interactions on the dyad. A normative US sample …

Parent Stress And Externalizing Behaviors Are Related: The Reason They Are Related Depends On Child Age, Maura Francis

Theses and Dissertations

Children with externalizing disorders are typically found to be more challenging to interact with and are met with less patience, empathy, and distress tolerance in managing their symptoms compared to children with internalizing disorders. Not only are the symptoms of these disorders challenging for children but also for parents, which can cause a considerable amount of stress. These symptoms are typically addressed by different interventions that primarily require parent involvement to manage disruptive behaviors and non-compliance. There is also common comorbidity that often overlaps between externalizing and internalizing symptoms, which can make differential diagnosis and treatment planning more difficult than …

Importance Of Knowledge Of Behavior In Predicting Parent Perception Of Problem Behaviors, Ronnit Nazarian

Theses and Dissertations

The influence of familial factors (e.g., child-related, parental, and environmental characteristics) on child problem behaviors has regularly been studied. An under-researched area is how these variables work to predict how well parents understand their child’s problem behavior function. 338 parents, recruited through MTurk and Facebook, of children between 3 to 5 years old displaying early onset problem behavior participated in this research. Of the 338 children, 206 (61%) indicated significantly problematic behaviors. This research examines parent knowledge of behavior and their understanding of the function of their child’s problem behavior. Moreover, whether a parent’s understanding of the function of their …