Virtual Worlds: Social Interactions Among Online Gamers Through Voice Chat, Omar Bradley Ictech Ii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Online gaming scholarship has rarely focused on the micro sociological aspects of virtual worlds as much of the research on online games is undertaken by psychologists and scholars in other fields. When a sociological lens is employed in analyzing social interactions that occur in virtual worlds, new understandings of social phenomena in virtual worlds can come to light. My research draws upon multiple sociological theories to make sense of data collect via in-depth interviews and participant observations in an attempt to understand how voice chat influences relationship formation and maintenance, gender relations among online gamers, and how online gamers use …

Mental Imagery In The Regulation Of Differential Fear Conditioning: A Multimodal Investigation Involving Self-Report, Psychophysiology, And Brain Imaging, Tyler Daniel Robinson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Mental imagery is a common component in a range of emotion regulation techniques. However, the effectiveness and neural mechanisms of regulation via mental imagery are underexplored due to a lack of studies targeting mental imagery specifically. This discrepancy results in uncertainty regarding the mechanism of regulation in existing paradigms. Biased competition for attentional resources presents a plausible model by which a mental imagery-based distracter can downregulate response to an emotional stimulus. If visualizing an imagined distracter effectively regulates emotional response, the inclusion of mental imagery components in other techniques represents a potential confound. To address this discrepancy, this dissertation investigates …

Understanding School Dropout: An Analysis Of The Underlying Causes And Their Significance In Building Meaningful Interventions, Kelli K. Stewart

Counseling Psychology | Master's Theses

This paper is a review of research regarding high school dropout rates and trends in the United States. Findings on the underlying reasons students are dropping out and analyzing this data can help implement widely accessible multi-level support systems in the schools and design sensible policies to aid students with emotional, and learning disabilities. While building these policies, it is essential to be mindful of our student populations' ethnicity and socioeconomic factors and their educational implications. This paper will address the leading causes for withdrawing before obtaining a diploma (early traumas, homeless, foster and juvenile justice youth, emotional and learning …

The Use Of Animal-Assisted Interventions To Treat Child Victims Of Sexual Abuse, Stephanie Johnston

Counseling Psychology | Master's Theses

This study examines the therapeutic benefits of incorporating dogs into the mental health treatment of child victims of sexual abuse in both formal and informal settings. In 1962, Dr. Boris Levinson began incorporating his dog into therapy sessions with his child clients. He noticed that incorporation of dogs into psychotherapeutic treatment encouraged communication in withdrawn children and published his results in 1969, initiating a widespread interest in animal-assisted therapy (AAT). Other variations of AAT soon followed in the form of animal-assisted activities (AAA). The human-animal bond can be a powerful tool that effectively improves mental health and can play a …

Incorporating Social Media Into The Classroom: A Case Study On How Tiktok Can Be Immersed Into Classroom Pedagogy, Sara Solomon

Education | Master's Theses

My research project focuses on the use of TikTok embedded within classroom pedagogy and how it can be used as a tool to support academic and social emotional wellbeing. There is a lack of research investigating how social media can be incorporated into the classroom to make up for potential academic losses, including the inevitable social/emotional needs of adolescents that need to be addressed due to the ramifications of COVID-19. In my research, I question ways in which students see this tool as supporting their wellbeing, in what ways parents see this tool as supporting their child's wellbeing, and why …

Becoming Aware Of The Leader Within: Measuring The Impact Of Mindfulness Practices On Leadership Development, Ayumi Tachikawa

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The unprecedented events brought on by the global spread of COVID-19, along with the racial justice protest movement, have contributed to heightened mental, emotional, and physical distress among leaders. While research shows chronic stress and anxiety contribute to decreased focus, creativity, and overall well-being, mindfulness, the practice of being actively aware of the internal and external environment, can counter and mitigate those harmful effects that hinder effective leadership.

This research utilized a mixed-methods approach to examine the impact of mindfulness practices on three leadership competencies that an extensive literature review deems essential for successful leadership in times of uncertainty: self-awareness, …

An Aesthetic Of Authenticity: The Use Of Turquoise In American (Counter)Culture, Madison Staples

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Turquoise is a distinctive part of the material culture of the Indigenous tribes of the American Southwest, including the Navajo, Hopi, Zuni, and Pueblo peoples. The stone, particularly its color, is situated within complex systems of culture and meaning for each tribe, but the physical nature of material culture makes such pieces accessible for outsiders to borrow, buy, or steal. The aesthetic of the southwestern Indigenous tribe, traced in this paper through the use of turquoise, has been drawn upon by non-Native Westerners pursuing authenticity in their American lives. My findings suggest that true authenticity is marked by authentic engagement, …

Integrating Numerical Cognition Research And Mathematics Education To Strengthen The Teaching And Learning Of Early Number, Zachary Hawes, Rebecca Merkley, Christine L. Stager, Daniel Ansari

Brain and Mind Institute Researchers' Publications

BACKGROUND: Research into numerical cognition has contributed to a large body of knowledge on how children learn and perform mathematics. This knowledge has the potential to inform mathematics education. Unfortunately, numerical cognition research and mathematics education remain disconnected from one another, lacking the proper infrastructure to allow for productive and meaningful exchange between disciplines. The present study was designed to address this gap. AIM: This study reports on the design, implementation, and effects of a 16-week (25-hour) mathematics Professional Development (PD) model for Kindergarten to Grade 3 educators and their students. A central goal of the PD was to better …

Art And Empathy: Self Discovery In A Dark Forest, Younser Lee

Graduate School of Art Theses

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 40 million people report feelings of depression, anxiety, and stress as the world moves at an increasingly rapid pace and faces unprecedented challenges. However, many ignore these negative thoughts and fail to acknowledge them as a serious issue. My art, which shares my own experiences, creates safe, cathartic places for viewers to think about their own emotional experiences. Crucial to this process is my use of daily objects and the creation of individualized, participatory, and multisensory experiences.

My art relates to daily life and the negative emotions that we experience daily. I …

The Medial Temporal Memory System In Down Syndrome: Translating Animal Models Of Hippocampal Compromise, Caron A.C. Clark, Fabian Fernandez, Stella Sakhon, Goffredina Spano, Jamie O. Edgin

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Recent studies have highlighted the dentate gyrus as a region of increased vulnerability in mouse models of Down syndrome (DS). It is unclear to what extent these findings are reflected in the memory profile of people with the condition. We developed a series of novel tasks to probe distinct medial temporal functions in children and young adults with DS, including object, spatial, and temporal order memory. Relative to mental age-matched controls (n=45), individuals with DS (n=28) were unimpaired on subtests involving short-term object or configural recall that was divorced from spatial or temporal contexts. By contrast, …

Exploring How Interpersonal Childhood Trauma Impacts Emotional Development, Kathleen Hobbs

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Our earliest interactions in life lay the foundation of how we relate to ourselves and others throughout adulthood. When a child experiences abuse and neglect that is relational in nature, referred to as interpersonal childhood trauma, research shows that they are at a much higher risk to display emotional difficulties that have been found to contribute to extensive health consequences throughout the lifespan. Less has been documented however regarding exactly how this kind of trauma influences emotional development. The purpose of this paper is to explore the current research that exists on the relationship between interpersonal childhood trauma and emotional …

Metasynthesis Regarding The Sociocultural Adaptation Of International University, Astrid Vanessa Sarmiento Quiñones, Claudio Enrique Bustos, María Victoria Pérez, Diana Lucía Peralta, Natalia Zañartu, Jorge Iván Vergara Del Solar

The Qualitative Report

This study centers on the sociocultural adaptation experience of international students in academic life and daily life. Responses to the guiding question of what differences and similarities are discernible in the sociocultural adaptation processes that international university students experience in the university versus outside university in the receiving society. It presents a metasynthesis of 12 empirical studies that apply qualitative methodologies to the study of international university students’ sociocultural adaptation, which were published in scientific journals indexed in Ebscohost, WOS and Scopus from January 2012 to March 2019. The metasynthesis results indicate that sociocultural adaption involves: (1) situations of shock …

A Perfect Storm: Nonfiction On The Progression And Regression Of Anxiety, Amanda Guindon

Honors Program Theses and Projects

From the moment I decided to write a creative nonfiction collection of essays for my thesis, I knew that anxiety would be my focus. Mental health awareness is on the uprise as it’s estimated by the National Institute of Mental Health that 31.1% of all United States adults will experience any anxiety disorder in their lives. While I knew anxiety would be an important topic to discuss in order to bring awareness to causes and effects of anxiety, I had no concept of the challenges I would face in portraying my mental health to an audience who may know nothing …

Examining A Trauma-Based Etiology For Psychosis, David Comer

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

Psychosis has been traditionally viewed through a biological lens, resulting in a narrative of the disorder that does not allow room for therapy. By applying a trauma-informed lens, psychosis can now be thought of as a trauma-based developmental disorder. This impacts how we explain the symptoms of these disorders, and how we view them overall. It also has implications for future treatment, advocacy, and research. This paper examines the bio-psycho-social symptoms of psychosis and offers trauma-informed explanations of the symptoms. Implications for Counselors are examined, as are potential limitations of this current line of research.

The Political Pandemic: Investigating The Relationship Between Political Ideology And Covid-19 Compliance, Allison Moore

Undergraduate Theses

One key to curtailing the health costs of COVID-19 is adherence to social distancing measures. Despite their importance, distancing measures seem to have proved divisive. The present research sought to identify ideological differences in behavioral compliance to distancing measures and to account for the psychological underpinnings of behavioral differences. A first study (April, 2020; N=571) using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk revealed conservatives to be significantly less likely to obey social distancing recommendations than liberals. Differences among conservatives and liberals in adherence to self-reported social distancing practices were significantly mediated by perceived COVID-19 health risk and perceived media accuracy in covering the …

Predicting Reinforcers To Increase Physical Activity In Young Children With Obesity Using The Six-Minute Walk Test, Jordan D. Lill

Theses & Dissertations

Childhood obesity continues to be a significant public health problem in the United States in which approximately 8% to 12% of American children are obese (Cunningham, Kramer, & Narayan, 2014; Mirza et al., 2018; Ogden et al., 2014). Further, 42% of American children are engaging in less than the recommended 60 minutes of daily physical activity (Troiano et al., 2008). Several treatments have been evaluated that have included goal-setting, self-monitoring, performance feedback, and access to arbitrary tangible rewards (e.g., Hyusti, Normand, & Larson, 2011; Van Camp & Hayes, 2012), but these treatments have often failed Luttikhuis et al., 2009; Nooijan …

An Evaluation Of Trial-Based Functional Analyses Of Inappropriate Mealtime Behavior, Ashley Andersen

Theses & Dissertations

Functional analyses allow clinicians to develop treatment targeting the variables maintaining a child’s inappropriate mealtime behavior (Bachmeyer et al., 2019). Extended functional analyses can be inefficient, potentially delaying the onset of treatment. Researchers have suggested a trial-based functional analysis can increase assessment efficiency (Saini, Fisher, et al., 2019). This study compared trial-based functional analyses to extended functional analyses to determine the variables maintaining inappropriate mealtime behavior. We compared the efficiency and acceptability and evaluated treatments informed by the analyses. Exact correspondence between analyses was low (29%); however, most treatments indicated by the trial-based functional analyses (71%) resulted in improvements in …

Indices Of Happiness And Unhappiness During Treatment Of Pediatric Feeding Disorders, Laura Elizabeth Phipps

Theses & Dissertations

To date, there is no research on the measurement or evaluation of indices of happiness and unhappiness for children receiving behavior-analytic treatment for feeding disorders. The purpose of the current study was to measure child indices of happiness and unhappiness before and during extinction-based treatment and to evaluate the effects of noncontingent reinforcement with extinction-based treatment on indices of happiness and unhappiness. Overall, indices of happiness were idiosyncratic, and indices of unhappiness were initially higher during extinction without noncontingent reinforcement compared to with noncontingent reinforcement. Percentage of acceptance increased for all participants during both treatments, and caregiver treatment acceptability was …

Breaking The Cognitive Spell: Cognitive Fusion Mediates The Relation Of Cognitive Anxiety Sensitivity And Rumination In Undergraduate College Students, Jacey L. Anderberg

Honors Thesis

Rumination (i.e., intrusive and repetitive self-directed thinking) predicts the onset, severity, and maintenance of depression (Galecki & Talarowska, 2017). Ruminative behavior is positively associated with cognitive anxiety sensitivity (i.e., fear of losing internal control; CAS), which may be attributed to cognitive vulnerabilities of depression. However, researchers have not clarified the link between these variables, and mechanisms responsible for change in CAS following treatment are unclear (Tull & Gratz, 2008). Accordingly, clarification of intermediate factors that may be targeted in psychosocial interventions appears warranted. Cognitive fusion (i.e., engaging with thoughts as true reflections of reality rather than products of thinking; CF) …

Phase Duration And Resurgence, Sean Smith

Theses & Dissertations

Resurgence, the recurrence of responding due to a worsening of reinforcement conditions for current behavior, is a prevalent form of treatment relapse. Resurgence as Choice in Context predicts that increasing the duration of exposure to reinforcement for target responding during Phase 1 will increase resurgence magnitude, whereas increasing the duration of exposure to reinforcement for alternative responding and extinction for target responding during Phase 2 will decrease resurgence magnitude. We conducted an experiment evaluating these predictions with human participants recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk platform. We varied Phase 1 and Phase 2 durations across four experimental groups. Resurgence as Choice …

Self Hood And Self Realization In Contemporary Korean Dramas, Kevin Chang, Yanjie Wang

Honors Thesis

Korean dramas are an important worldwide cultural phenomenon; however, there has been a lack of direct critical analysis on contemporary Korean dramas. Significantly, popular media is a potent tool to understand a country’s societal values. Given Korea’s intellectual contact with the West, it is possible to interpret K-dramas through the lens of self-realization. It’s Okay to Not be Okay teaches us that trauma must be faced to overcome it though the stories of Moon Gang-tae, Sang-tae, and Ko Moon-young. In Extracurricular, Jisoo and Gyuri represent how the current youth environment of South Korea stifles self-expression and self-realization. Itaewon Class, …

Religious Beliefs As They Relate To Beliefs About Free Will, Including Determinism, Libertarianism, And Compatibilism, Leigh Lewis

Honors Thesis

Research on religion as it relates to free will suggests that one’s religiosity and religious commitment may have an impact on their beliefs about free will and determinism. Previous research indicates a positive correlation between religiosity and belief in free will. When it comes to determinism, reported results are more complicated but lightly suggest that there is a negative correlation between religiosity and determinism--although different definitions of determinism impact the correlation (Carey & Paulhus, 2013). The present study, involving 170 college students, investigated how religiosity and levels of religious commitment may impact beliefs about free will and determinism. In addition, …

A Functional Analysis Of Physical Activity In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Nicole Ramirez

Thesis Projects

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) recognizes the staggering rates of obesity affecting children and adolescents in the United States. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a higher risk of obesity than neurotypical children (Kahathuduwa et al., 2019). The CDC (2017) acknowledges the lack of physical activity as a major factor leading to obesity. This investigation aims to determine the effectiveness of a reinforcer in increasing the levels of physical activity in children diagnosed with ASD. A subsequent aim is to address a measurement limitation identified in Knerr (2020) by using both an observation recording system as …

Does The Tripartite Influence Model Of Body Image And Eating Pathology Function Similarly Across Racial/Ethnic Groups Of White, Black, Latina, And Asian Women?, Natasha L. Burke, Lauren M. Schaefer, Yvette G. Karvay, Anna M. Bardone-Cone, David A. Frederick, Katherine Schaumberg, Kelly L. Klump, Drew A. Anderson, J. Kevin Thompson

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

The tripartite influence model suggests that appearance pressures from family, peers, and the media contribute to thin-ideal internalization, which leads to increased body dissatisfaction and subsequent eating disorder pathology. The tripartite influence model was initially developed and tested among primarily White samples, and emerging research suggests racial/ethnic differences in mean levels of particular model constructs. Consequently, the model's appropriateness for understanding eating disorder risk in racial/ethnic minorities warrants investigation to determine its usefulness in explicating eating disorder risk in diverse populations. Participants in the current study were White (n = 1167), Black (n = 212), Latina (n …

Learning Readiness As A Predictor Of Academic Resilience In Online Learning During School From Home, Maulana Rezi Ramadhana, Assas Putra, Twin Agus Pramonojati, Rizca Haqqu, Pradipta Dirgantara, Oki Achmad Ismail, Dimas Satrio Wijaksono

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Learning readiness is considered as a supporting factor in academic resilience. Since the situation of school closure and learning from home due to the COVID-19 pandemics, there have been changes in learning methods that require students to readily use online learning. Unfortunately, students' readiness in online learning has not been widely discussed in terms of its effect on the student’s academic resilience. The purpose of this study was to provide information on whether there was a significant relationship between online learning readiness and students' academic resilience during the school-from-home period. Participants in this study consisted of 1.681 students from five …

Examining Rumination, Devaluation Of Positivity, And Depressive Symptoms Via Community‐Based Network Analysis, Duncan Jordan

Faculty & Staff Research and Creative Activity

Objective: Components of rumination, including brooding and reflection, as well as devaluating prospective positivity, may help maintain depressive symptoms. We examined these components together for the first time using network analysis. Methods: We examined the robustness of rumination communities of closely related items in one network and then examined the interrelationships between rumination communities, devaluation of positivity, and depression, in a second network. Results: Three rumination communities emerged, replicating findings of Bernstein et al. (2019). Within a dense network, nodes representing brooding, reflective pondering, and difficulty trusting positive feelings were most influential. In addition, the node representing the depressive symptom …

The Predictive Relationship Between Personality, Gpa, And Membership In Nontraditional Student Populations, Andrea C. Palmisano

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

Community colleges are academic institutions with a large number of nontraditional students whose needs must be understood before their academic needs can be fully addressed. Previous research studies have established a positive correlation between academic performance and the personality traits of Conscientiousness and Openness to Experiences, and to a lesser extent the traits of Extraversion and Agreeableness. In contrast, a negative correlation has been demonstrated between the trait of Neuroticism and academic performance. These studies were conducted primarily in four-year institutions, making the generalization of results to community college students inappropriate. The present study explored the predictive relationship between personality …

Gender Differences In Community College Psychology Students’ Cooperative Learning Experiences: A Qualitative Analysis, Christopher Arra

Inquiry: The Journal of the Virginia Community Colleges

The goal of the study was to assess the effects of gender on college students’ perceptions of the cooperative learning process. Ninety-five college students completed 5 open-ended questions that asked students about their preferences for cooperative learning activities. Fifty-one female and 44 male students participated in the study. A qualitative research design was used. Qualitative analyses compared–across gender–the 5 open-ended questions. The principal investigator qualitatively analyzed for themes, frequency of response, percentage of response, and emergent categories across gender. Some tentative qualitative findings were that male and female students prefer the same type of group work, …

Types Of Bias-Based Bullying And School Climate Perceptions, Attendance, And Grades, Erin Bonham, Meghan Cosier, Desiree Crevecoeur-Macphail

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Bias-based bullying relating to disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity has extremely detrimental effects on the victim’s school climate perceptions, attendance records, and academic achievement. This study used a cross-sectional research design to compare the self-reported school climate perceptions, attendance habits, and grades of student victims of disability-based bias-related bullying and sexual orientation- and gender identity-based bias-related bullying using secondary data from the California Healthy Kids Survey. Participants (N = 713,107) filled out the California Healthy Kids Survey self-report surveys in the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. Regression analyses and a two-sample t-test were used to analyze and compare the …

Examining The Influence Of Mental Health On Expressions Of Verbal Aggression And Assertiveness, Juliet Aura

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Recent reports in the media suggest an increase in the number of aggression cases in schools and the community. One of the forms of aggression experienced over the lifespan is verbal aggression. Verbal aggression has been considered a negative trait because of the harmful effects it has on the recipient. On the contrary, assertive behavior is a socially desirable trait and is considered a positive communication trait. The purpose of the study was to establish the effectiveness of psychological services and self-care in reducing verbally aggressive behavior. The study also aimed to determine how psychological services can improve assertiveness. …