Psychology Commons^™

Lived Experience: The Training Of Therapists, Actors & Human Beings, Richard Williams

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

There is much in common between theater and therapy. Both happen live. Both are explorations of human experience. Both require participants to be emotionally and mentally present. Both are hard to do well (and easy to do poorly). Training to be a clinical psychologist requires hours of coursework, administrative work, supervision, and on the job clinical experience. Training to be a professional theater maker or actor requires hours of rehearsal. The elements of acting are deconstructed during training so that rehearsal consists of voice-work, physical theater, scene study, etcetera. Training to be an actor entails much more practice of the …

Effects Of An Aqua-Titanium Necklace On Running Speed When Examined At The Individual And Group Levels, Nathan A. Weber, Mychal A. Machado, Duane D. Wood

Modern Psychological Studies

Results from previous evaluations of athletic wearables infused with Aqua Titanium have been mixed with respect to ergogenic effectiveness. This might be due to exclusive reliance on group designs in previous studies. The purpose of our study was to evaluate and compare the individual and group differences in responsiveness to an Aqua-Titanium necklace. Using a single-subject (reversal) design, we measured the running speed of 10 healthy adults across baseline (no necklace), test (Aqua-Titanium necklace) and placebo conditions using a 61-m indoor track. The entire sample was then considered for group analyses. Results showed that our single-subject and group analyses produced …

The Insanity Spectrum, Nicholas Gallagher

Capstones

Schizophrenia, which includes a combination of persistent and overwhelming hallucinations and delusions, emerges in men between the ages of 18 and 25. After I experienced a string of strange auditory hallucinations as a 19-year-old, I begged to fast-forward past the threshold of early adulthood to learn my fate: whether I was among the one-time voice-hearers, the people with a long-term mental illness or the conspiracy-peddling catastrophizers. I came to understand that those distinctions are blurrier than we’d like to admit. We are all connected through a shared pathology, falling in some liminal space between sanity and madness.

http://theinsanityspectrum.tilda.ws/

Behavioral Health Crisis Intervention For Emergency Department Patients Pending Psychiatric Hospitalization, Colten Wayne Larsen

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Emergency departments (EDs) are often the first access point to services for suicidal patients (Miller et al., 2017) and assessment of risk. Suicide has become the second-most common cause of death for Americans, yet those at the most risk often have limited access to appropriate care. In addition, suicidal patients spend more time in the ED than those with other presenting problems. Compounding the problem is these patients who have the longest length of stay are medically stabilized but don’t receive treatment interventions related to their presenting problem. Together, these findings indicate a need for accessible intervention in the ED. …

"Moral Of The Story": How Children’S Books Regulated Race Relations Starting Before The Civil War To Today, Faleya Scales

History: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The relationship between the racial content displayed in children's books and the development of relationships between blacks and whites has consistently been one that has been overlooked. The purpose of this article is to address the correlation between the two topics while also explaining how racial propaganda in children's books has affected the psychology of those in the relationship. Children's books are key components of everyone's childhood and understanding how they have impacted how we think and behave in relationships with the other race is the key topic highlighted in this article. Not only do you get a perspective into …

A Review Of Mixed Methods Community-Based Participatory Research Applications In Mental Health, David E. Jones, Robin Lindquist-Grantz, Melissa Dejonckheere

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

The aim of the paper was to methodologically review the intersection of mixed methods research (MMR) and community-based participatory research (CBPR) in the field of mental health research. We classify this intersecting approach as MMCBPR. The methodological review of empirical literature was conducted between October 2017 and March 2020 of full-text articles in Scopus, Pubmed, ProQuest Central, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost search engine databases in the English language. Twenty-nine studies meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the final analysis. We found some evidence of MMCBPR but it was limited by factors such as a lack of explicit rationales …

Exploring Optimism And Purpose In Life As Mediators Of The Association Between Childhood Socioeconomic Status And Common Cold Susceptibility, Stephanie Munduruca, Vivian Luong, Brooke N. Jenkins

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, Americans suffer from 1 billion colds a year. Correspondingly, previous research has shown that lower socioeconomic status (SES) during childhood is associated with lower adult health, including decreased resistance to the common cold. This correlation between childhood SES and common cold susceptibility may be mediated by an individual's optimism and purpose in life. Of interest, several studies have found evidence that higher childhood SES is associated with a higher purpose of life and higher optimism. Furthermore, previous evidence has confirmed that higher optimism and higher purpose of life are linked to better …

Psychologists' Use Of Touch In Individual Psychotherapy With Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Clients, Caroline M. Kobek Pezzarossi Ph.D, Irene W. Leigh Ph.D, Daniel S. Koo Ph.D

JADARA

The use of touch in psychotherapy is a topic often undiscussed in graduate training programs. Stenzel and Rupert’s 2004 study showed that nearly 90% of clinicians never or rarely offered touch to clients during a session. This study examined the use of touch in a psychotherapeutic setting with culturally Deaf clients, since touch is a culturally accepted, even expected, practice. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant difference among culturally Deaf therapists compared with the Stenzel and Rupert’s (2004) findings, but there is a statistically significant difference in those who identify as hearing and work with culturally Deaf clients. …

International Travel: A Quantitative And Qualitative Analysis About How Study Abroad Opportunities Enhance One’S Global Perspective And Self-Awareness, Kristen Zink

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

As the world is becoming more interconnected, the importance of having a well-rounded, global education is necessary. To meet those needs, many students are electing to study abroad during their time in college. Although research has been done to examine the direct benefits of studying abroad, there has been little research done to differentiate the impacts of short-term and long-term study abroad. This research looked at how students reflected on both their short-term and long-term study abroad experiences and it examined the benefits of both lengths of travel. A quantitative analysis was done to analyze the benefits of short-term study …

A Qualitative Study Of Differences Among Hearing Parents In Positive Experiences Raising A Deaf Child: An Emergent Model Informed By Positive Psychology​, Amy Szarkowski, Patrick J. Brice

JADARA

The current qualitative study explored the positive, internal, and growth-enhancing experiences hearing parents derived from raising a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. Based on characteristics of parents’ process and outcomes of the parenting experiences, three distinct parent patterns were identified. Reflective Positive Parents reflected deeply about their experiences, quickly and easily identified positive experiences, and were open to making adjustments to meet their child’s needs. Engaged Parents contemplated their experiences, yet decisions about how to best support their children in many remained unresolved; this group identified both positive and negative aspects of parenting and attempted to align …

Teaching Materialism Through Storytelling: A Collection Of Short Stories And Learning Materials, Zoie Zvonar, Katherine Arnold

Honors Projects

This collaborative projects seeks to combine the disciplines of psychology and writing into a collection of short stories and learning materials dedicated to teaching young students the psychological concept of materialism. In order to accomplish this goal, Zoie Zvonar and Katherine Arnold have designed and created a set of materials that seek to inform, educate, and instill in those young students what materialism is, how to recognize it in our own lives, its consequences, and potential strategies to lower high materialistic tendencies. Zoie Zvonar created the companion guide, learning activities for both students and instructors, and an additional resources list …

Effects Of Alcohol Intoxication On Hostile Attribution Bias And Relational Aggression In Women, Alita M. Mobley

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol intoxication is consistently linked to physical and sexual aggression in men, but not women. The lack of evidence supporting the relationship between alcohol and aggression for women could be due to a failure to measure relational aggression (i.e., harmful social manipulation), the form of aggression more commonly employed by women. Further, alcohol intoxication may interfere with the interpretation of social cues, resulting in greater perceived provocation in ambiguous social interactions and increased aggression. The current study examined the relationship between alcohol intoxication and relational aggression in women and the extent to which interpretation of social cues (i.e., hostile attribution …

Coachmotivation: Developing Transformational Leadership By Increasing Effective Communication Skills In The Workplace, Megan L. Schuller

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

Communication is an intrinsic part of the human experience and has been widely studied empirically and practically within organizations. It is the bedrock for many workplace behaviors and outcomes such as employee trust, engagement, job satisfaction, and transformational leadership. Nonetheless, effective communication continues to be a challenge for organizations across a variety of sectors. The current study examined whether a communications training, CoachMotivation (CM), increased perceived effective communication. CM is derived from clinical psychology skills for behavior change, namely, the Motivational Interviewing concepts of open-ended questions, affirmations, reflections, and summary statements. This study also considered the Big Five personality traits …

Sensitive Periods For Psychosocial Risk In Childhood And Adolescence And Cardiometabolic Outcomes In Young Adulthood, Jenalee R. Doom, Kenia M. Rivera, Estela Blanco, Raquel Burrows, Paulina Correa-Burrows, Patricia L. East, Betsy Lozoff, Sheila Gahagan

Psychology: Faculty Scholarship

Greater psychosocial risk in childhood and adolescence predicts poorer cardiometabolic outcomes in adulthood. We assessed whether the timing of psychosocial risk from infancy through adolescence predicts cardiometabolic outcomes in young adulthood. Young adults and their mothers participated in a longitudinal study beginning in infancy in Santiago, Chile (N = 1040). At infancy, 5 years, 10 years, and adolescence, mothers reported on depressive symptoms, stressful experiences, support for child development in the home, father absence, parental education, and socioeconomic status (SES) to create a psychosocial risk composite at each time point. Young adults (52.1% female; 21–27 years) provided fasting serum samples …

The Life-Saving Drug That No One Knows About: Naloxone Education And The Health Belief Model, Sarah Tilford

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Naloxone hydrochloride, popularly known by the brand name Narcan, is an emergency treatment used to reverse an overdose on opioid drugs. The CDC reports upwards of 26,000 individuals saved by naloxone between 1996 and 2014 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). Despite this success rate, those outside of the medical field largely remain unaware of what naloxone is or how they can use it in an emergency, leading to needless loss of life. Many studies focusing on naloxone access and education have been unable to offer findings meant to increase the use and ownership of the drug by lay …

Judaism And Pacifism, Grace Rolfes

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

The research explores and uncovers the truths concerning Judaism and its impacts toward peacemaking. It correspondingly exposes the Jewish relationship towards the choice of nonviolence and the commitment to the common good.

The Relationship Of Classroom Variables And Academic Achievement Across The Preschool Year, Olivia Leblanc

Content presented at the Roesch Social Sciences Symposium

Preschool education is designed to foster school readiness among three to five-year-old children before entering kindergarten. Past research suggests that elements of the classroom, such as quality of teacher-child interactions, can influence the development of academic and social skills during the preschool year. Utilizing data from a longitudinal correlational study, the current study investigates the relationship between classroom variables and academic achievement throughout the preschool year. The findings suggest that there is a significant relationship between classroom variables and student outcomes, which calls for further research investigating the importance of high-quality preschool programs for young children.

Research Questions:

1. What is …

Relationships Between Religiosity, Spirituality, Gender, Psychological Distress, And Treatment Preference, Reid Wollett

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The underutilization of mental health services by college students is an enduring problem, highlighted by increasing popularity of mental health awareness efforts. One strategy used to understand this problem is examining college students’ attitudes toward seeking psychological help. The present study sought to examine college students’ attitudes toward seeking both psychological and religious forms of help, and the roles of religiosity/spirituality, psychological distress, and gender in predicting treatment preference. Understanding what kind of treatment students prefer and the important predictors of this preference may help us to address more effectively the problem of mental health service underutilization. In a large …

Consequences Of The Ambiguous Insult: A Review Of Literature On Gender, Race, And Lgbtq-Based Microaggressions, Emily Halvorson

Modern Psychological Studies

For over thirty years, microaggressions have been studied for their weight on members of groups like ethnic and racial minorities, women and members of the LGBTQ community. Microaggressions are the routine, derogatory interactions like slights gestures, snubs or minor insults. Microaggressions yield physical and psychological distress to victims and communicate to marginalized groups the biases and prejudices against them harbored by majority group members. This taxonomy divides the experiences of microaggressions into the categories of gender, racial and LGBTQ-based sectors, as well as the subcategories that are relevant to the experiences of the members when faced with microaggressions.

The Relationship Between Religiosity And Attitudes Toward Women At A Conservative Christian College, Sara Kemp

Modern Psychological Studies

Research suggests that religiosity influences attitudes toward women more strongly than does any other demographic. In many studies, it has also been indicated that men hold more conservative gender attitudes than do women. Many religious denominations have been represented in such research, but no previous studies have included Seventh-day Adventist participants. The present study aimed to examine the relationship between religiosity and attitudes toward women amongst students at a Seventh-day Adventist college in the Midwest. A total of 74 students, 88% of which were Seventh-day Adventist, participated by completing the Centrality of Religiosity Scale and the Attitudes Toward Women Scale. …

Plato, The Brain, And The Soul: Further Research Into Neural Correlates For Plato’S Tripartite Soul, Stayce R. Camparo

Modern Psychological Studies

This paper explores neuropsychological evidence for Plato’s philosophical theory of the tripartite soul as explained in Plato’s Republic. Plato contends that an express relationship of the three elements that make-up the soul (reason, appetitive, and spirit) interact to promote just behavior, and that just behavior is optimal for individual and societal well-being. Specifically, just behavior is considered to arise from reason’s oversight of the other two elements. Apparent in this theory is the proximity Plato’s analysis has with the current psychological understanding of cognitions that activate behaviors. Strack and Deutsch’s (2004) 2-system model of reflective and impulsive processing, with the …

Relations Between Self-Efficacy And Procrastination Types In College Students, Stephanie Da Silva Phd, Amanda Smith, Michael Facciolo

Modern Psychological Studies

The relation of self-efficacy to procrastination was assessed using the General Self-Efficacy Scale (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995), Active Procrastination Scale (Chu & Choi, 2005), and items from the General Procrastination Scale (Lay, 1986). Each of 106 college students was assigned a self-efficacy score and multiple procrastination scores. General procrastination was negatively correlated with self-efficacy (p = .001), whereas active procrastination was positively correlated with self-efficacy (p = .02). In domains where students feel more competent, they are more likely to engage in active forms of procrastination rather than maladaptive procrastination. Relations between self-efficacy and different types of procrastination, along with …

Exploring Associations Between Student Academic Achievement, Worry, Personality, And Parental Warmth And Control, Katherine G. Kaufling, Courtney Keim

Modern Psychological Studies

Parenting styles are related to high academic achievement (AA) and worrying, and yet excessive worrying may be related to lower AA. This study evaluates the potential nuanced relationships between AA, worry, parental warmth and control, and conscientiousness. 273 college students self-reported their GPAs and ACT scores, level of worry, conscientiousness, and their caregivers’ warmth and control. Parental warmth and control predicated AA, conscientiousness, and worry (r2 = .02 - .10), especially for male caregivers. Conscientiousness (R2 = .08) and worry (R2 = .03) moderated the relationship between parenting for male caregivers and academic achievement. Implications discussed include informing parents of …

Writing About One's Best Possible Self To Influence Task Persistence, Stephanie G. Holmes, Heather M. Mccarren

Modern Psychological Studies

Previous research has identified a correlation between optimism and increased persistence. Existing research also suggests that optimism can be manipulated to induce a mindset of positive outcome expectancies. Writing about and imagining one’s best possible self (BPS) has resulted in an increase in an individual’s positive outcome expectancies, but the effect of BPS on related constructs has yet to be examined. Thirty university students participated in a study to investigate whether participants primed with optimism using BPS would persist longer on an impossible anagram task. A t-test revealed that participants primed with BPS spent significantly longer on the anagrams than …

Digital Resources For Pain Management: Psychologists' Perspectives And Suggestions, Kate Mckinlay, Anna Chur-Hansen

Modern Psychological Studies

Chronic pain has high prevalence, complexity, psychosocial and economic impact. There is a growing interest in the development and use of digital resources accessed through electronic devices for pain management. Qualitative interviews with eight registered psychologists explored their perspectives of and suggestions regarding digital resources for pain management. Six overarching themes were identified, indicating that digital resources are perceived as useful. Difficulties were identified pertaining to digital social support and client-decision making, plus perceived barriers and facilitators for digital resource use. Participants offered suggestions about what an ideal digital resource would incorporate. These findings may inform the modification of existing …

Youth, Interrupted: Encouraging A Holistic Approach To Juvenile Incarceration Policy, Ashley Tisdale

Modern Psychological Studies

Scientific research into the experience of juveniles in detention has recently had an impact on court rulings. In the cases of Roper v Simmons (2005), Graham v Florida (2010) and Miller v. Alabama (2012) judges used research in juvenile cognitive development to inform their rulings. Though current research covers different aspects of juvenile experience in the criminal justice system, few studies approach the subject holistically or examine the inherent symbiotic relationship between juvenile detention policy and juvenile incarceration. This literature review seeks to present information on and encourage further examination of this relationship. For the purposes of the review, the …

Parental Perceptions Of Children With And Without Learning Disabilities, Leah I. Janikowski, Jill M. Norvilitis

Modern Psychological Studies

The present study examined differences in how parents of children with and without learning disabilities perceive their children academically. Of 235 participants, all recruited through Amazon’s MTurk platform, 124 (52%) had a child with a learning disability. Compared to parents of children without learning disabilities, parents who had children with learning disabilities reported that their children were less motivated and that their children cared less about getting good grades. Parents of children with a disability reported lower parental satisfaction compared to parents of children without learning disabilities. Among parents of children with learning disabilities, greater perception of stigma was negatively …

The Effects Of Covid-19 Social Isolation On Binge-Drinking Behaviors In College Students, Grace Walton, Abigail Goldberg, Liam Mullen

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Alcohol sales have increased drastically during the COVID-19 quarantine (Rehm et al 2020) and people have begun drinking 2-3 more drinks on average, than they did prior to COVID-19 (Lechner et al 2020). We predicted that social isolation due to COVID-19 would negatively correlate with a person's number of binge-drinking episodes. 40 participants completed a survey and answered questions about the number of social contacts they maintain and their drinking habits. Participants took both the AUDIT-C and CAGE-4 questionnaires, which provide an accurate quantifiable value of a person's likelihood to engage in binge-drinking. There was no significant correlation present between …

Overworked Essential Healthcare And Patient Satisfaction, Angel Rowlett, Mariah Snoddy

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

Since Covid-19 has made its devastating impact on the world, patient care and adequate treatment has negatively affected the medical community and has caused a major shift in the way patients perceive healthcare providers. Adding long and stressful hours to an already jarring relationship can lead to an even more bleak or obstructive outcome.

The Effect Of Covid-19 Related Stress On Self Perceived Level Of Health Behaviors, Holly Carper, Jacob Auerbach, Meghan Griffin

Fall Showcase for Research and Creative Inquiry

In our presentation, we looked to answer if Covid-19 related stress impacted health behaviors. In past research, any disruption in ones everyday routine can cause stress, thus changing their behavior. We looked to see how significantly the pandemic's stress has impacted people's health behaviors. We hypothesize that the pandemic will have had a negative impact on health behaviors in individuals.