Psychology Commons^™

Emergence Of Stimulus Equivalence And Topography-Based Responding Following Lecture Instruction, Justin Dale Krzmarzick

All Master's Theses

The present study examined the emergence of stimulus equivalence using both selection-based and topography-based tests following a lecture or control condition. This study also evaluated generalization to novel stimuli in both selection-based and topography-based response formats, and evaluated the social validity of the instructional procedure. Twenty undergraduate students who were at least 18 years of age were assigned to a lecture or control condition. Participants in the lecture condition were exposed to a lecture on the topic of generalization. Participants in the control condition watched the video Martin Seligman: The New Era of Positive Psychology that did not relate to …

Effect Of Personality Type On Exercise Modality Choice, Michael Koskiniemi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The unhealthy lifestyles of many individuals throughout the world put them at risk for health problems, including infectious disease; endocrine, circulatory, cardiovascular, respiratory, and digestive disorders; and obesity. The modifiable health risks from unhealthy lifestyles account for a sizable percentage of health care costs. Regular exercise is recommended for health. However, currently little research exists regarding how individuals select which exercise regimens (personal training, group exercise, multimedia exercise, and self-directed) to follow. Selection of regimens that are based on one's personality may lead to regular, long-term exercise behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine whether personality was related …

The Implementation And Adoptability Of Behavioral Skills Training In A Career Center, Vinthia Wiryananda Wirantana

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

It is unclear if staff at career centers use, or are willing to use, empirically-supported procedures like behavioral skills training (BST) when teaching interview skills to college students. The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which the typical career center training consisted of BST, to evaluate staff-implemented BST, and to measure student performance as a result of both training. Using non-concurrent multiple baseline design, three staff were taught to use BST to teach three students to answer interview questions. First, staff used their typical training procedure, and then, they used BST to teach student interview skills; …

Independent And Interactive Associations Of Negative Affect, Restraint, And Impulsivity In Relation To Binge Eating Among Women, Tyler B. Mason, Kathryn E. Smith, Jason M. Lavender, Robin J. Lewis

Psychology Faculty Publications

There is growing recognition that impulsivity may serve as an underlying risk factor for binge eating. In addition, the association of impulsivity with binge eating may be moderated by other affective and cognitive risk factors. This study examined independent and interactive associations of negative affect, dietary restraint, and facets of impulsivity with binge eating. A diverse sample of 566 undergraduate women completed online questionnaires of study variables. Results revealed a three-way interaction of negative affect, dietary restraint, and attentional impulsivity in relation to binge eating. Women who were high on each of these three variables reported the greatest levels of …

Psychometric Properties Of A Modified Moral Injury Questionnaire In A Military Population, Abby L. Braitman, Allison R. Battles, Michelle L. Kelley, Hannah C. Hamrick, Robert J. Cramer, Sarah Ehlke, Adrian J. Bravo

Psychology Faculty Publications

Moral injury (MI) results from perpetration of or exposure to distressing events, known as morally injurious events (MIEs), that challenge moral beliefs and values. Due to the type of involvement in recent military conflicts, many veterans report MIEs that may cause dissonance and, in turn, MI. Although 2 existing measures assess MIEs, neither currently assesses the defining characteristics of MI (i.e., guilt, shame, difficulty forgiving self and others, and withdrawal). The present study reports the initial psychometric test of a modified version (Robbins, Kelley, Hamrick, Bravo, & White, 2017) of the Moral Injury Questionnaire—Military version (MIQ-M; Currier, Holland, Drescher, & …

Preconceptional Health Behavior Change In Women With Overweight And Obesity: Prototype For Smart Strong Healthy Women Intervention, Frank T. Materia, Joshua M. Smyth, Kristin E. Heron, Marianne Hillemeier, Mark E. Feinberg, Patricia Fonzi, Danielle Symons

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: The prevalence of maternal perinatal obesity is rising, and in turn, increases health risks and morbidity for both mother and child. Past evidence suggests the preconceptional Strong Healthy Women (SHW) intervention can reduce multiple biobehavioral risk factors for adverse perinatal health. The SHW intervention, however, was time- and resource-intensive to deliver. Mobile health (mHealth) technologies provide an opportunity to expand intervention reach while reducing implementation cost and burden. Previous research suggests that preconceptional women are broadly supportive of using smartphones for behavior change, yet few studies have elicited their specific preferences for a targeted mHealth intervention. The objective of …

Measuring Sexual Minority Stressors In Lesbians Women's Daily Lives: Initial Scale Development, Kristin Heron, Abby L. Braitman, Robin J. Lewis, Alexander T. Shappie, Phoebe T. Hitson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Lesbian women face unique sexual minority stressors (SMS) because of their stigmatized and marginalized status in society. Existing studies of SMS are primarily cross-sectional and use global measures of SMS. The goal of the present study was to develop a brief daily measure of SMS for use in daily diary or ecological momentary assessment studies. Existing retrospective measures of SMS were reviewed, resulting in an initial pool of 29 items. Thirty-eight lesbian women (Mage = 24.3 years, range: 19–30 years) completed a daily web-based survey including the SMS items for 12 days. Two response scales were tested; participants were randomized …

Intra- And Inter-Personal Predictors Of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder And Sexual Risk-Taking Behaviors, Seigie L. Kennedy

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

Sexual risk-taking, while common in college culture, can increase the risk of sexual victimization. Nearly 20% of college women have been sexually assaulted (Krebs et al., 2009). Moreover, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been associated with sexual risk-taking (Johnson & Johnson, 2013). Self-esteem and social support are known to be related to PTSD and sexual risk-taking (Gullette & Lyons, 2006; Johnson & Johnson, 2013). This study aims to examine sexual victimization history, self-esteem, and social support as relative predictors of PTSD and sexual risk-taking using a sample of 229 female undergraduates. Results suggest that enhancing self-esteem, as opposed to bolstering …

The Stigmatization Of Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder As Influenced By Gender, Evelina Alex

Senior Independent Study Theses

Children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder are inherently more vulnerable to stigma in ways that children without this diagnosis are. The current study was an experimental study in which attitudes towards children with and without Autism were measured through a vignette along with an attribution questionnaire. The purpose of the questionnaire, modified from Ling, Mak, & Cheng (2010) was to analyze peoples’ perceptions about the actions of children with and without Autism. The questionnaire examined sympathy, helping behavioral intention, punitive behavioral intention, perceived controllability, and anger. Disability status was defined as the first independent variable, with gender being …

An Analysis Of The Ego-Depletion Effects Of Emotion Versus Attention Draining Tasks: Even Emotionally Arousing Depletion Tasks Do Not Show An Ego-Depletion Effect, Savannah Binion

Senior Independent Study Theses

The theory of ego-depletion has come under intense scrutiny within the past few years. Beginning around 2010, researchers conducted meta-analyses and large replication studies that have investigated this topic, and found a wide range of evidence for and against the existence of an ego-depletion effect. Although the goal has been to determine whether this effect exists or not, the research has proved that the answer may be more complicated than that. The purpose of the current research was to examine the different theories about self-control, and to test two specific depleting tasks against a control group. The depleting tasks were …

Beyond The Breakfast Club: The Influence Of Breakfast Type On Cognition, Jillian D. Saccogna

Senior Independent Study Theses

The glycemic index (“GI”) of a food refers to the magnitude with which the food elevates an individual’s blood glucose levels, and this value can be used to calculate the glycemic load (“GL”) of a specific portion of food. Some evidence suggests that blood glucose levels may play a key role in self-control. Emerging research suggests that consuming low GI or GL breakfasts may enhance memory performance and result in greater levels of positive affect compared to high GI or GL breakfasts. Participants in the present study were randomly assigned to consume either a low GI/GL breakfast or a high …

Food For Thought: The Effects Of Past And Present Food Insecurity On Subjective Well-Being And Child Behavior, Jena C. Styka

Senior Independent Study Theses

Food insecurity arises when one does not have physical, social, or economic access to safe, sufficient, and nutritious food. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (2016), food insecurity affects 15.6 million U.S. households. Its effects go beyond the physical consequences that might arise from not having adequate nutrition, influencing subjective well-being and behavior in both adults and children. This 2 x 2 quasi-experiment investigated how current and prior food insecurity influenced depression, anxiety, stress, life satisfaction, and happiness in parents, as well as how it influenced child behavior. Results indicated that prior experiences of food insecurity resulted in …

Attachment Style And Romantic Satisfaction As Predictors Of Relationship Visibility On Facebook, Amanda I. Wells

Senior Independent Study Theses

The current study investigates the influence of adult attachment style on romantic posting behaviors on Facebook. Attachment theory has been widely used to examine behaviors and attitudes within romantic relationships, but little research has been done to extend these findings to the context of social media. A survey of 212 participants was conducted using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. The results of a linear regression analysis showed that attachment avoidance and attachment anxiety predicted lower levels of romantic satisfaction, a finding reflective of previous attachment research (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). Two separate regression analyses were conducted to examine possible predictors of participants’ …

Adolescent Expressive Reluctance Exacerbates Risk For Substance Use Following Daily Hassles, Chad M. Hensberger, David W. Sosnowski M.S., Wendy Kliewer Ph.D, Kristina Mcguire M.S.

Undergraduate Research Posters

Previous research has established a link between adolescent’s perceived daily hassles and subsequent adjustment, but less is known about factors that exacerbate this relationship. The purpose of the present study was to identify if adolescent’s reluctance to express emotions moderated the association between their perceived daily hassles and subsequent substance use (i.e., alcohol, marijuana, tobacco). Cross-sectional data were obtained from a larger study that examined the effects of exposure to community violence among low-income, urban adolescents (N = 260, M_age = 14.14, SD = 1.62 years; 92% African American; 54% female). Linear regression analyses controlling for adolescent age, …

Effects Of Nostalgia On Responses To Negative Feedback, Michaela K. Avino, Thomas Cotter, Simron Richard, Athena Cairo, Jeffrey Green

Undergraduate Research Posters

Nostalgia is a bittersweet emotion evoked by memories of cherished personal experiences. Though nostalgia is a self-focused emotion, it has many interpersonal effects as well. Feeling nostalgia increases feelings of social connectedness and self esteem, and may protect against negative effects of existential threat (Wildschut et al., 2006). However, less is known about the extent to which nostalgia relates to anger and aggression. We hypothesized that nostalgia would buffer against the effect of negative feedback on feelings of anger and motivation to aggress. Undergraduate students wrote about a nostalgic or objective memory, and then received negative feedback about another personal …

How Personal Names Shape The Way Society Sees People As Individuals In The United States., Rand Gabriel M. Buenaventura

Undergraduate Research Posters

In a world where people are disadvantaged by first impressions and implicit bias, names factor a lot into a person’s successes in life. Whether it be first names, last names, the number of middle initials, the gender and racial implications of a person’s name, and societal standards surrounding names and naming systems, there are multiple ways names shape a person’s identity. Thus, it is important to ask how personal names shape the way people are seen as individuals in the United States and contribute to their identity. Names are a trait that people are born with, usually determined before anything …

Seeing Witchcraft, Bernhard Udelhoven

Journal of Global Catholicism

When Christians in Zambia struggle with witchcraft, they also struggle with African cultural and religious concepts that deal with life’s ambiguities and that require discernment. It is not by working against the cultural and religious heritage, but by working with it, as far as possible, that the pastor can identify the broken relationships towards which many witchcraft discourses point. However, before we place the concepts of witchcraft into the realm of superstition (as are the trends of mission Christianity) or the demonic (as are the trends of charismatic Christianity), the Church has the duty to look at the concepts, stay …

Relationships Between Religious Denomination, Quality Of Life, Motivation And Meaning In Abeokuta, Nigeria, Mary Gloria Njoku, Babajide Gideon Adeyinka

Journal of Global Catholicism

Inter-disciplinary research that combines methods in psychology of the impact of religious change in Africa and theological approaches has been very scant in Nigeria. This study examines the relationship among religious denominations, quality of life, motivation and meaning in life in Abeokuta metropolis in Ogun State, Nigeria using psychological and religious tools. The study hypothesizes that members of the Roman Catholic denomination would differ from members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God and the Living Faith Church in motivational factors and meaning making.

Let's Say A Word About The Girls, Wendi S. Williams

Occasional Paper Series

In this brief essay the author articulates the intersection of race and gender in the representation of Black girls’ educational experiences. The role of Black respectability politics to shape and disable the discourse around Black girls’ educational experiences is discussed. The work draws on varied texts and disciplines to explicate the challenges to naming some of the factors that influence their experiences in schools and society.

Watts Teaches About Social Responsibility And Leadership, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

“When I was an undergraduate, I kept ip- opping back and forth between being a business major and being a psychology major. Then I took a class on giving people psychological assessments to help them identify what their strengths are and what careers they might be a good fit for. It was in that class that I first heard of industrial/organizational psychology.” This is how Dr. Logan Watts explains how he chose to become a psychologist.

A native of Georgetown, Texas, he obtained his doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from the University of Oklahoma, and today he is an assistant professor …

Self-Esteem In Spanish-Speaking Latinos In Northwest Ohio, Mckenna Freeman

Honors Projects

Self-esteem is a widely-studied construct across many disciplines of social science. However, previous research regarding self-esteem and language barriers has focused primarily on children and adolescent populations, while much less research has examined this relationship among adults. The current study measures linguistic acculturation and self-esteem in both Latino and control adult samples. Hypothesis 1 states that participants in the Latino sample would report significantly lower self-esteem than the control sample. Hypothesis 2 states that linguistic acculturation levels in Spanish speaking Latinos would be positively correlated with self-esteem. Finally, a research question was addressed measuring the differences in self-esteem between foreign …

Validation Of Minimally-Invasive Sample Collection Methods For Measurement Of Telomere Length, Stephanie A. Stout, Jue Lin, Natalie Hernandez, Elysia Poggi Davis, Elizabeth Blackburn, Judith E. Carroll, Laura M. Glynn

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Objective: The discovery of telomere length (TL) as a biomarker of cellular aging and correlate of age-related disease has generated a new field of research in the biology of healthy aging. Although the most common method of sample collection for TL is venous blood draw, less-invasive DNA collection methods are becoming more widely used. However, how TL relates across tissues derived from these sample collection methods is poorly understood. The current study is the first to characterize the associations in TL across three sample collection methods: venous whole blood, finger prick dried blood spot and saliva.

Methods: TL …

Big Data In Social And Psychological Science: Theoretical And Methodological Issues, Lin Qiu, Sarah Hian May Chan, David Chan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Big data presents unprecedented opportunities to understand human behavior on a large scale. It has been increasingly used in social and psychological research to reveal individual differences and group dynamics. There are a few theoretical and methodological challenges in big data research that require attention. In this paper, we highlight four issues, namely data-driven versus theory-driven approaches, measurement validity, multi-level longitudinal analysis, and data integration. They represent common problems that social scientists often face in using big data. We present examples of these problems and propose possible solutions.

Numerical Cognition In Action: Hand Trajectories Reveal Effects Of Early Musical Training On Numerical Processing In Spanish-English Bilingual Musicians, Daniel Arturo Pizaña

Theses and Dissertations

The mouse-tracking study examined whether early musical experience leads to changes of inhibitory control in numerical processing for bilingual speakers, as has not investigated in previous studies. Twenty-eight Spanish-English bilingual students completed two Stroop-like numerical and physical size judgment tasks via a mouse-tracking paradigm. Results showed that response times were slower during both incongruent and neutral trials for bilinguals who had received early musical training (before age 13) when compared to bilinguals who had received late musical training (after age 13) across tasks. Furthermore, hand trajectories revealed that a spatial attraction toward the incorrect response was more pronounced in bilinguals …

How Socioeconomic Disadvantages Get Under The Skin And Into The Brain To Influence Health Development Across The Lifespan, Pilyoung Kim, Gary W. Evans, Edith Chen, Gregory Miller, Teresa Seeman

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Socioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has adverse impacts on physical (Adler and Rehkopf 2008; Blair and Raver 2012; Braverman and Egerter 2008; Cohen et al. 2010; Poulton et al. 2002) and psychological (Adler and Rehkopf 2008; Bradley and Corwyn 2002; Grant et al. 2003) health development. SED is similar to low socioeconomic status (SES) which is based on occupation, income, and education or a composite of more than one of these indicators (McLoyd 1998). However, we conceptualize SED more broadly than socioeconomic status to also include subjective perception of social position and contextual indicators of disadvantage, such as neighborhood deprivation. One of …

Diversity Of Diagnoses And Student Learning Experiences In An On-Campus School Psychology Assessment Center: Future Directions And Focus, Nina M. Ellis-Hervey Ph.D., N.C.S.P., L.S.S.P., P.L.P., Ashley Doss B.S., Maio-Cert, Deshae Davis-Gatti M.A., Juliet Aura Bs/P

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

School Psychology Assessment Centers (SPAC) developed at the University-level are crucial in developing competent school psychologists. While many models on how to develop mental health centers are in existence, a new model exists for creating a SPAC on a University campus that is specifically designed to serve the diverse surrounding community and postsecondary students (see Ellis-Hervey et al., 2016). The community’s needs were reviewed, including missing service links in the region, and identification of potential clients who would benefit most from services provided. Senior students who work with clients in the SPAC gain assessment skills and build supervision skills through …

Family Income, Cumulative Risk Exposure, And White Matter Structure In Middle Childhood, Alexander J. Dufford, Pilyoung Kim

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Family income is associated with gray matter morphometry in children, but little is known about the relationship between family income and white matter structure. In this paper, using Tract-Based Spatial Statistics, a whole brain, voxel-wise approach, we examined the relationship between family income (assessed by income-to-needs ratio) and white matter organization in middle childhood (N = 27, M = 8.66 years). Results from a non-parametric, voxel-wise, multiple regression (threshold-free cluster enhancement, p < 0.05 FWE corrected) indicated that lower family income was associated with lower white matter organization [assessed by fractional anisotropy (FA)] for several clusters in white matter tracts involved in cognitive and emotional functions including fronto-limbic circuitry (uncinate fasciculus and cingulum bundle), association fibers (inferior longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus), and corticospinal tracts. Further, we examined the possibility that cumulative risk (CR) exposure might function as one of the potential pathways by which family income influences neural outcomes. Using multiple regressions, we found lower FA in portions of these tracts, including those found in the left cingulum bundle and left superior longitudinal fasciculus, was significantly related to greater exposure to CR (β = -0.47, p < 0.05 and β = -0.45, p < 0.05).

Enrichment Of Putatively Damaging Rare Variants In The Dyx2 Locus And The Reading-Related Genes Ccdc136 And Flnc, Andrew K. Adams, Shelley D. Smith, Dongnhu T. Truong, Erik G. Willcutt, Richard K. Olson, John C. Defries, Bruce F. Pennington, Jeffrey R. Gruen

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Eleven loci with prior evidence for association with reading and language phenotypes were sequenced in 96 unrelated subjects with significant impairment in reading performance drawn from the Colorado Learning Disability Research Center collection. Out of 148 total individual missense variants identified, the chromosome 7 genes CCDC136 and FLNC contained 19. In addition, a region corresponding to the well-known DYX2 locus for RD contained 74 missense variants. Both allele sets were filtered for a minor allele frequency ≤0.01 and high Polyphen-2 scores. To determine if observations of these alleles are occurring more frequently in our cases than expected by chance in …

Personal Narrative, Part I Of The Research Project [Psychology], Dušana Podlucká

Open Educational Resources

This assignment is the first in a series of assignments of the semester-long research project. The main goal of this assignment is to introduce students into the project and its theme (Becoming a LaGuardia college student). In the next step students conduct a simple analysis of their personal narratives, i.e. data they generated using a simple analytical tool based on concept of college readiness developed by David Conley (2008). In this first step of the project students were prompted through a series of questions to explore and reflect on their motivation for going to college, their future goals and aspirations, …

Scherbaum Studies The World Of Work, Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

“My interest in psychology has evolved over time. My parents owned a small business when we were young, and we saw firsthand some of the challenges and issues of managing organizations, managing the people in the organizations, hiring, ring; and it always got me curious.” That is how Dr. Charles Scherbaum, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, explains how he became interested in psychology as a career.

After growing up in Seattle, where he obtained his bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Washington, he completed his master’s and doctorate, also in psychology, at Ohio University and became an assistant professor …