Psychology Commons^™

Creating A Well-Situated Human-Autonomy Team: The Effects Of Team Structure, Elizabeth Marie Frost

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Intelligent agent technologies are increasing the potential capacity for systems to behave more autonomously and are enabling more advanced human-autonomy teaming. For instance, future applications of human-autonomy teaming for the command and control of unmanned vehicles are now under consideration. This would involve a shift from a supervisory control approach to a teaming structure. These two approaches, instantiated as the task division and relationship between a human operator and a teammate, were empirically examined. The team’s composition, either human-human or human-autonomy, was also considered. A control station that supports single operator management of multiple simulated unmanned vehicles performing a base …

Mindfulness-Based Meditation And Its Effects On College Students, Jordan Sieja

Senior Honors Theses and Projects

Mindfulness-based meditation is a practice that has been proven to have many physiological and psychological health benefits such as positive lifestyle habits, increased mindfulness, decrease in substance use, decrease in stress, better mood states, and enhanced coping strategies. University students undergo many different types of stressors at one time such as financial instability, identity development, academic pressures, parental expectations, and racial/cultural differences (Kadison & Geronimo, 2004). Intense stress when it is not coped with effectively can lead to many different health problems physically and mentally. The current study evaluates the effects of mindfulness meditation with undergraduate students and it was …

The Influence Of Social Support On Recidivism Of Formerly Incarcerated Individuals, Alison Dockery

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Individuals who are released from incarceration face many challenges with reintegration into the community, and it is important that they find stable environments to foster positive social integration. Family involved treatment programs have been shown to be successful in many areas for reentry. However, these programs lack information regarding the relationship between the individual's criminal history, risk of recidivism, and social support. This quantitative study was designed to evaluate the impact of social support on recidivism among participants. Secondary data were used from a 3-year period from a reentry program located in a large northeastern city and the Division of …

A Comparison Of Older Adult Suicide And Adolescent Suicide Through Film Representations, Catherine Longmore-Micham

Honors Projects

Approximately, 47,173 people in the United States died by suicide in 2017, making it the 10th leading cause of death. Although middle-aged adults have the highest rate of suicide, 20.2 per 100,000, older adults (i.e., individuals 60 years and older) closely follow with a rate of 20.1. Adolescent age groups have much lower rates for suicide: a rate of 14.46 per 100,100 in 2017 (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2017). The risk factors that affect adolescents and older adults are similar in some ways, but they differ in one major aspect: impulsivity. The issues that can be said to ‘cause’ …

Longitudinal Associations Between Functional Disability, Depression, And Suicide In Middle-Aged And Older Adults, Julie Ann Lutz

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Suicide is a significant public health problem among older adults in the United States and around the world. There has been little research to date on longitudinal change in functional disability and depressive symptoms, both of which have been posited to be associated with suicide risk among middle-aged and older adults, and their association with death by suicide. The aims of this study were to 1) characterize longitudinal change in functional disability and depressive symptoms separately; 2) characterize the directional associations between functional disability and depressive symptoms in bivariate models; and 3) determine how different patterns of change among these …

Further Exploration Of The Relationship Between Worry And Contrast Avoidance, Anna E. Snyder

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The Contrast Avoidance Model of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) proposes that individuals with GAD are sensitive to negative emotional contrasts (i.e., sharp shifts from neutral or positive emotional states to negative emotional states). These individuals prefer to remain in a negative emotional state to avoid these negative contrasts. They stay in this state by worrying. The present study aimed to directly test the Contrast Avoidance Model of GAD by using an experimental manipulation and also to further develop the literature on the relationship between contrast avoidance, worry, and GAD. Results of this study showed mixed support for the model overall; …

Beyond School Engagement: School Adaptation And Its Role In Bolstering Resilience Among Youth Who Have Been Involved With Child Welfare Services, Skyler S. Leonard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Youth involved with the child welfare system are at significant risk of poor school functioning and mental health. Little research has explored how the connection to school impacts known relationships between adversity and youth outcomes. The following project sought to shed light on the role of schools in conferring risk or resilience for youth in contact with the child welfare system, with regard to their mental health. The overall aims of this project were to (1) improve our conceptualization of school adaptation, with particular attention to individual variation along multiple dimensions of school adaptation, (2) examine the relationship of …

Negative Appraisal Correlation To Ptsd Symptoms Among Law Enforcement Officers, Ginger Lee Jenkins

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Law enforcement officers are exposed to traumatic events through their daily work responsibilities. Traumatic events have increased within recent decades and can have long-term and critical outcomes on officers such as health concerns, long-term psychological issues, social impairment, and work performance. Thus, this quantitative study was conducted to explore negative appraisals of cumulative traumatic events and their relation to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms in law enforcement officers. Based on the theoretical framework for the study, Ehlers and Clark's cognitive model, negative appraisals involve how an individual interprets a situation, negative appraisals of traumatic events lead to maladaptive behavior and …

Six Of One, Une Demi-Douzaine De L’Autre: Detecting Cross-Language Code-Switching In A Continuous Narrative, Melissa Kadish

Senior Independent Study Theses

This Independent Study examined how cross-language code-switching is processed and perceived. The following experiment compared how long English-French bilinguals, English monolinguals, and English-speaking French-language-learners took to detect instances of French/English code-switching in a semantically-rich narrative. Bilinguals displayed shorter change-detection response latencies than language learners and monolinguals, but the latter two groups did not significantly differ. These results provide insight into how the observed cognitive differences between bilinguals and monolinguals may develop, and offer support for the multi-language lexical processing theory of language interference. This study also addresses potential sociocultural origins of the observed language-level differences in code-switching perception by examining …

Cowboys And Tiaras: The Role Of Child Gender Nonconformity On Evaluations Of Same-Sex And Different-Sex Families, Andrew David White

Senior Independent Study Theses

No abstract provided.

Determinants Of Latinx Patients’ Perceptions Of Trust In Their Physicians At The Primary Health Care Level, Emani J. Kelley

Senior Independent Study Theses

This study examines the predictors of Latinx patient’s trust in their primary healthcare providers. Specifically, this study tests patient and physician characteristics that contribute to feelings of trust in the healthcare setting. Latinx adults from primary care clinics in Southern California and a legal aid office in Canton, Ohio, completed surveys on their perceptions of cultural sensitivity, compassion, and communication received from their physicians in addition to overall feelings of trust toward their physicians. Surveys also asked participants about their language preference, generational status, and demographics. Data was analyzed using a linear multiple regression model with trust as the dependent …

Living With Autism: The Experience Of Developmentally Healthy Adolescents And Youths Who Have A Sibling Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Jessica Michel

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Researchers have proposed that typically developing siblings of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or target siblings, are at increased risk of experiencing psychological distress particularly when compared to other clinical and community sibling groups. To date, evidence drawn from quantitative studies, utilising the target siblings’ mothers as the primary informants has been mixed. These studies have primarily focused on risk factors, while the role of protective factors in the experiences of target siblings remains unexplored in quantitative investigations. However, qualitative studies utilising target siblings as informants have emerged providing insights regarding the processes of coping and adaptation that …

[Introduction To] The Romance Of Heroism And Heroic Leadership, George R. Goethals, Scott T. Allison

Bookshelf

Heroes permeate our culture. From superheroes on screen to the everyday heroics of our public services, the word 'hero' is a familiar descriptor in every form of media. But what makes a hero? And what makes heroes 'heroic'?

Leadership experts George R. Goethals and Scott T. Allison explore how the romantic conceptions of heroes and heroic leaders are constructed, both in real life and in our heads. Looking at the dichotomy of heroism and villainy, they offer insights into Donald Trump's ascension to the U.S. presidency, particularly detailing the correspondence between the needs of the U.S. public and the promises …

Examining Sleep And Family Functioning In Pediatric Craniopharyngioma Using Ecological Momentary Assessment, Nour Al Ghriwati

Theses and Dissertations

Craniopharyngiomas are among the most common brain tumors in children and are associated with greater rates of sleep problems compared to other pediatric cancers. However, research examining sleep among youth with craniopharyngioma has been limited by a reliance on retrospective reports or sleep studies. Families also play a crucial role in children’s adjustment following a pediatric cancer diagnosis, yet remarkably little is known about transactional associations between family functioning and sleep in pediatric cancer. This study examined cross-sectional and daily associations among family functioning, affect, and sleep difficulties for youth with pediatric craniopharyngioma using retrospective reports and ecological momentary assessment …

B.F. Skinner's Theory Of Performance Excellence: A Radical Behavioral Perspective, Thomas Fritze

Graduate School of Professional Psychology: Doctoral Papers and Masters Projects

Burrhus Frederic (B.F.) Skinner was a revolutionary in the field of psychology, particularly noted for his development of a philosophy of science and an approach to psychological study labeled radical behaviorism (Rachlin, 1995). To Skinner, psychology was synonymous with an organism's interactions between its environment and its own behavior - and behavior was defined accordingly. This way of studying psychology differed greatly from preceding behavioral iterations in psychology and kept up with advances in ·established fields of science. Due to the deficiencies of the behavioral tradition coming before Skinner, misunderstandings by many psychologists and scientists of the Skinnerian approach were …

The Psychology Of Performance In Elite Youth Soccer Players, Matthew Best

Senior Honors Projects, 2010-2019

This study is a holistic assessment of psychological mindsets, which are one’s attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions, in elite youth male soccer players between the ages of 13 and 18 and the exploration of the relationships between these mindsets and performance outcomes. The mindsets that were assessed were expectancy, growth mindset, value, goals, belongingness, grit, and self-regulation, and the performance outcomes were minutes played, goals scored, and goals allowed. The mindsets were selected through a review of research in education and sport. I conducted Exploratory Factor Analyses (EFA) and Cronbach’s alpha coefficient analyses to assess the validity and reliability of the …

Psychological And Demographic Differences Of Bdsm Practitioners, Sabrina Jefferson

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The purpose of this study was to gain more information about demographic and psychological differences between the bondage/discipline, dominance/submission, sadism/masochism (BDSM) population and the general population. BDSM has become more prominent in the knowledge of the general population with the notoriety of E.L. James’ book series 50 Shades of Grey, but even with the new prominence of BDSM in American households, there is a lack of knowledge about BDSM practitioners among psychotherapists. In this study, data was gathered from a sample of BDSM practitioners and a general population sample on a variety of demographic and psychological variables. Independent samples …

Cost Of Caring: The Effects Of Euthanasia On Animal Shelter Workers, Kim L. Nguyen-Finn

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study focuses on animal shelter workers, a population that has often been overlooked in research and clinical practice, and the emotional strains of the task of euthanasia. The effects of employment in a kill or no-kill shelter, participation in euthanasia, and number of years employed on mental health issues of substance abuse, anxiety, depression, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout were examined. A three-way MANOVA was run to test the hypothesis that there is a cell effect among the type of shelter employed in, participation in euthanasia, and years of experience on mental health, which was not supported by …

Assessing The Grey Short-Tailed Opossum (Monodelphis Domestica) As A Potential Animal Model Of Autism Spectrum Disorder: Creation Of An Ethogram And Description Of Developmental Changes In Social Behavior, Angela M. Mar

Theses and Dissertations

Research using animal models is done when human subjects cannot participate due to ethical concerns. The majority of translational research is done using rat models. However, other animals are good candidates for translational research, such as Monodelphis domestica. Presently, little is known about Monodelphis domesticas’ behavior and how the animal can be used in research settings. The aim of the study is to fill the gap in the research by conducting behavioral observations of M. domestica pups using a longitudinal approach starting with post-weaned age and ending at the age of sexual maturity and creating an behavioral ethogram. …

Associative And Non-Associative Learning In The Monodelphis Domestica, Ana C. Ramirez

Theses and Dissertations

Learning encompasses multiple important processes that vary within organisms and that are affected by different factors. Two of the most important types of learning are associative and non-associative learning. Even though past research has studied animal learning in multiple species, there is limited research on learning in the Monodelphis domestica. It is imperative to further the knowledge on this species since multiple fields use it as an animal model for research. The current study examined both non-associative and associative learning in the Monodelphis. Non-associative learning was explored by using a habituation-dishabituation paradigm, while associative learning was examined using the …

Hispanic Culture And Machismo: How Hispanics Interpret Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming Identities, Karen R. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines dynamics linked to normative gender expectations and gender identities within Hispanic culture. Little is known in this regard concerning how Hispanics perceive and interpret transgender and gender non-conforming identities. The analysis provides qualitative assessment using 35 in-depth face-to-face interviews and examines the following research questions: 1) how do life experiences such as marriage, parenthood, and work force participation among Hispanics shape their formation of gender expectations? 2) Among Hispanics, how do class, race/ethnicity, and education shape the construction of gender ideologies.

The present study, in turn adds to the literature by examining gender norm constructs among Mexican-origin …

Racial Bias In Offender Identification, Nasya Hammond-Watson, Verneda P. Hamm Baugh

Modern Psychological Studies

This study was examined whether there is a bias to attribute criminal activities more to one race than another. Participants read scenarios of different crimes (bank robbery, fraud, and murder) and rated the likelihood that the perpetrator of each crime was Black, White, or Hispanic. As anticipated, the perpetrators were overwhelmingly identified as male. Results also found a strong interaction between race of perpetrator and type of crime. Blacks were more likely identified as the perpetrator of the violent crimes of murder and bank robbery and Whites were more likely identified as the perpetrator of the non-violent crime, fraud. These …

An Investigation Of Implicit Theories Of Well-Being, Optimism, And Coping Mechanism Selection, Megan L. Tracy, Matthew D. Branneman

Modern Psychological Studies

Folkman and Lazarus (1991) argue that incremental theorists have more faith in their ability to alter situations and would be more likely to select active coping strategies (Hong et al., 1999). An optimistic worldview may also have important implications for the way people choose to cope (Aspinwall & Taylor, 1992). Using the MTurk online platform, the present study investigated the relationship between implicit personality theories (IPT), optimism, and coping mechanism selection. As hypothesized, incremental beliefs were associated with more optimism. However, they were also associated with a greater likelihood of using self-blame, which is typically conceptualized as a passive coping …

Developmental Perceptual Impairments: Cases When Tone-Deafness And Prosopagnosia Co-Occur, Sébastien Paquette, Hui C. Li, Sherryse L. Corrow, Stephanie S. Buss, Jason J.S. Barton, Gottfried Schlaug

Psychology Faculty Publications

Studies have shown subtle gray and white matter abnormalities in subjects with several developmental disorders including prosopagnosia, tone-deafness, and dyslexia. Correlational evidence suggests that tone-deafness and dyslexia tend to co-occur, suggesting a link between these two developmental disorders. However, it is not known whether tone-deafness can also be associated with other developmental disorders such as impaired face recognition or prosopagnosia. We addressed this question by assessing face perception abilities in a group of tone-deaf individuals and matched non-tone-deaf subjects. The Cambridge (CFMT) and the Warrington (WRMT) face memory tests were used to assess face processing in the combined group of …

Introduction To Psychology (Dalton), Travis Mckie-Voerste, Catie Clinard

Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Introduction to Psychology was created under a Round Ten ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

Cross-Cultural Psychology (Gsw), Judy Grissett, Marianna Baykina

Psychology, Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Grants Collections

This Grants Collection for Cross-Cultural Psychology was created under a Round Ten ALG Textbook Transformation Grant.

Affordable Learning Georgia Grants Collections are intended to provide faculty with the frameworks to quickly implement or revise the same materials as a Textbook Transformation Grants team, along with the aims and lessons learned from project teams during the implementation process.

Documents are in .pdf format, with a separate .docx (Word) version available for download. Each collection contains the following materials:

• Linked Syllabus
• Initial Proposal
• Final Report

We Provided Psychological First Aid After The Las Vegas Shooting – Here’S What We Learned., Michelle Paul, Heather Dahl, John A. Nixon, Noelle Lefforge

Psychology Faculty Research

What is “psychological first aid”? How do mental health experts like you work side by side with traditional first responders? The goal of psychological first aid is to sooth, assist and help people function and cope in a healthy way in the wake of a traumatic event. It’s employed in the hours and days following the event, when people’s immediate needs, including medical care, as well as basic needs like food, shelter and water, must be met, along with their psychological and physical safety needs.

Review Of A Politically Incorrect Feminist By Phyllis Chesler, Robert Brannon

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Phyllis Chesler’s new memoir, A Politically Incorrect Feminist (St. Martin's Press, 2018), spans almost fifty years of second-wave feminism. She names 100s of women, both famous and virtually unknown today who took part in the awakening and growing women’s movement, marching, sitting-in, writing and organizing since the 1960’s. It is the personal life story of one of the earliest feminist authors and political activists of the second-wave, the author of Women and Madness and 17 other books. Chelser discusses major issues of the time and provides an insider’s view of many of the feminism’s most significant public events. This big …

The Use Of Test Anxiety Assessment And Anxiety Reduction Training To Predict And Improve Performance Of Collegiate Pilot Trainees, Teresa Ann Sloan, Michael Lundin, Dale Wilson, Randy Robinnette

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

Written, oral, and practical flight tests, along with challenging flying tasks, place pilot trainees in stressful situations. The initial goals of this research were to determine assessment tools for identifying pilot trainees who might perform poorly in stressful flight testing environments, and measure the efficacy of a test anxiety (TA) workshop on anxiety levels and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) knowledge assessments of pilot trainees. The researchers determined that: Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) scores marginally predict facilitating anxiety levels, and FAA knowledge tests, taken in authentic testing environments, correlate significantly with debilitating anxiety, facilitating anxiety, and FAA exam scores. The researchers …

Personality, Psychological Profiling, And Philosophy Of Science: The Insider Threat And Betrayers Of Trust, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes philosophical challenges to the utility of profiling personality, especially with security and intelligence implications.