Psychology Commons^™

Understanding The Relationship Between Working Memory And Long-Term Memory, Kelly Cotton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

How lasting memories are created is a question that has driven much research into human cognition. An area of renewed research interest concerns the relationship between working memory and long-term memory. Recent research has investigated how the processing that occurs while information is held in working memory influences successful long-term memory creation. Both working memory consolidation and maintenance have been identified as critical in long-term retention, but the mechanisms underlying the working memory/long-term memory relationship remain unclear. The present dissertation examined different working memory mechanisms and their impact on long-term memory in a broader context by addressing two questions: 1) …

The Politics Of Expertise And The Articulation Of Authority In Democracy: Cognitive Style And Intelligibility In The Education Of Problem-Solving And Professional Decision-Making In The Domain Of Law, Michael W. Raphael

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Computational complexity refers to the representational aspect of problem-solving. This representational aspect is commonly understood to describe the regularities that organize the definition of the problem-situation, the qualities that designate its difficulty, either in terms of the process of arriving at a definition of the problem or in the process of arriving at a solution. It is for this reason, that it is commonly said that “representational design precedes computational efficacy.” The point of this maxim is to serve as a reminder that an efficient use of resources begins with the design of near decomposability, the specification of the properties …

The Lived Experience Of Using Opiates Among Young Adults, Catherine Mbewe

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research study is to explore the lived experience of using opiates, as described by young adults aged 18 to 25 years. Over the last 2 decades, opioid use disorders (OUDs) and opiate overdose deaths have increased dramatically in the United States. What used to be a problem primarily contained to minority groups in poor inner-city areas is now increasingly common in all races, genders, ages, and classes. There has also been an alarming increase in opiate use—including fentanyl, both legal and illegal—among young adults. While much of the literature has been focused on the opiate use …

Permanent Shelter In The Empire City: Youth Experiencing Family Homelessness And Navigating The Homeless Industrial Complex With A Narrative Inquiry Approach, Henry O. Love

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Many studies have examined unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness; however, a relative silence persists about the lives of youth and young adults (YYA) while in family homeless shelters. This study aims to fill the gap in the literature about the lives of youth residing in family shelters and to learn about successful transitions from adolescence to young adulthood while experiencing family homelessness. This transition interacts with various social collectives (family, peers, community), political institutions (municipal, state, and federal), and an overwhelming economic system (global racial capitalism). These complex perspectives are considered with a narrative activity-meaning system research design to understand the …

An Inaugural, Qualitative Examination Of The Relationships Between People With Gender Nonconforming Expression And Social Anxiety, Chrystiana Jones

Dissertations

The focus in this research was on the experience of social anxiety associated with people with gender nonconformity. The study involved consideration of the issues people with gender nonconformity face as well as the mental impact that often occurs as a result of the rejection of other people in their lives, including their family and friends, as well as how and in what ways gender nonconforming people are affected by negativity in their environment. Data related to the problems that develop with such people, in particular the impact of stigmatization, discrimination, and social anxiety on people with gender nonconformity were …

Perceptions Of The Veterans Administration And Mental Health Treatment Seeking Intentions Among Veterans, Hilary Hines

Dissertations

Among the veteran population there is a trend of underutilizing mental health services despite the higher number of veterans with mental health diagnoses. Though previous research has examined barriers to mental health care such as stigma and a warrior mentality, there may be additional barriers that emanate from the system to which veterans are entitled and encouraged to use, the Veterans Administration (VA). This study examined the mediational relationships among perceptions of the VA, attitudes about seeking mental health treatment at the VA, and intentions to seek mental health treatment at the VA among veterans. Data from 96 veterans were …

Adverse Childhood Experiences(Aces) And Nonverbal Reasoning Skills, Monika Malinowska

Dissertations

Severe stress and interpersonal traumatic experience in childhood have a cascade effect on an individual's physical and mental health. There is evidence that people with complex adverse childhood experiences have diminished cognitive abilities. However, there are few studies on the effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) on non-verbal reasoning skills. This study aimed to assess the relationships between ACEs, non-verbal reasoning skills, and academic achievement.

Parenting And Students' Gpa In The Latino Population: An Exploratory Study, Carolina Arboleda

Dissertations

The present study experimentally investigated Latino high school students’ grade point averages (GPA) and the parenting styles used by their parents based on Baumrind’s (1968, 1971, 1989, 1991) theory of parenting behaviors. Participants (N=52) were asked to take a survey of 62 questions total addressing three parenting dimensions as measured by the Escala Parental Breve to categorize their parents’ behaviors into parenting styles. Participants also responded to demographic questions such as English proficiency, household income, parents’ education level, and other relevant factors impacting parenting and GPA. Results from the study were limited as there was a limited number of participants; …

Disc Analysis Of Cal Poly Cm Students And Industry Professionals, Kai Gunaratna

Construction Management

This research analyzes why type D personality, as defined by the DISC personality assessment of 123test, was by far the most common personality type in the Cal Poly Commercial Construction class of winter 2022. This is interesting, as type D is the rarest personality type, making up ~ 9% of the global population (D Style - Type D Personality, n.d.). This was investigated by collecting DISC data from other Cal Poly Construction Management students to see if winter 2022 was an outlier, or if D type prominence is indeed a Cal Poly trend. The results of this research confirm that …

Witnessing Academic Dishonesty And Student’S Satisfaction With Learning, Motivation For Studying And Evaluation Of Faculty, Dawoon Lee

Student Theses

Academic dishonesty has been a long-term problem in secondary and higher education. Previous studies reported that an average of two-thirds of students reported that they have engaged in academic dishonesty in high school or college. This study explored witnessing academic dishonesty and its influence on students' experiences in the learning environment. The hypothesis is that witnessing academic dishonesty will negatively impact the student’s satisfaction with learning, motivation for studying, and evaluation of faculty. In conducting the study, participants (N = 250) completed an online survey assessing their satisfaction with learning, motivation for studying, and evaluation of faculty. Participants also reported …

Fearing The Trojan Horse: Motives Attributed To The Outgroup And Rejection Of Outgroup Help, Hanna Zagefka, Erwine Dela Paz, Ma. Elizabeth Macapagal, Saima Ghazal, Emine Bilgen, Diana Cheso

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Decisions to give and receive help are often influenced by group memberships, social identities, and intergroup relations. Two studies were conducted to test how perceived political relations between countries are related to willingness to accept offers of intergroup help. Respondents in two low-income countries, the Philippines (N = 289) and Pakistan (N = 275), indicated their willingness to accept (or not) Covid-19 vaccine donations from two higher-status countries (China and the United States) during the Covid pandemic. Results showed that the perceived motivation of the outgroup nation for providing help was associated with rejection or acceptance of help, mediated by …

​​The Effects Of Viewpoint, Motion, And Affordance Priming On Perceptual Learning Of Feelies​, Catherine Dowell

Dissertations

According to Gibson and Gibson (1955) perceptual learning is a process of developing the skill to differentiate previously undifferentiated but available information. The initial investigations focused on object identification, lacking a behaviorally relevant functional task. In the current study participants learned to differentiate between novel objects (feelies). To test the role of visual exploration objects were viewed from either a side or a top view and were displayed as either static pictures or rotating about a vertical axis. In Experiment 1 a simple object discrimination task was used. Perfect accuracy was achieved sooner in static conditions compared to motion conditions …

Utilizing Mixed Graphical Network Models To Explore Parent Psychological Symptoms And Their Centrality To Parent Mental Health In Households With High Child Screen Usage, Piper F. Stacey, Nicholas C. Jacobson, Damien Lekkas

Computer Science Senior Theses

Especially among adolescents, screens are being used more than ever. In conjunction with this trend, mental illness is increasingly prevalent among both adults and children, and parental psychological problems are shown to be associated with children's TV watching, video watching, and gaming (Pulkki-Råback et al., 2022). This study aims to approach parent mental illness symptom by symptom to explore which specific symptoms are most central to parent psychological problems in households where children show high screen time behaviors. We draw from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD Study®), a nationwide sample of 11,875 children aged 10-13 collected by …

It’S A Privilege, Not An Entitlement: Attributions Of Advantage And Perceived Deservingness Distinguish Feelings Of Privilege And Entitlement, Amos Tai

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

Having an advantage over others can be seen as a privilege or an entitlement. Drawing on attribution theory, we hypothesized that recipients of relative advantage may perceive it as a privilege or an entitlement based on external or internal attributions of their advantage, respectively. Furthermore, we hypothesized that relative to the external attribution of privilege, the internal attribution of entitlement should subsequently predict stronger beliefs of deservingness, as well as stronger feelings of pride in response to received advantage, but stronger feelings of anger when advantage is denied. Study 1 tested the basic attributional processes tied to privilege and entitlement …

A Target Sequential Effect On The Forced-Choice Prime Visibility Test In Unconscious Priming Studies: A Caveat For Researchers, Shen Tu, Jun Li, Simin Wan, Dingding Wang, Jerwen Jou, Yingjuan Liu, Yidan Ma

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

In unconscious priming studies, most researchers adopt a combination of subjective and objective measures to assess the visibility of the prime. Although some carry out the visibility test at the end of the experiment separately from the unconscious priming task, others suggest that the forced-choice visibility test should be conducted immediately after the response to the target within each trial. In the present study, the influence of prime and target on the forced-choice prime discrimination was assessed within each trial. The results showed that the target affected the response in the forced-choice prime visibility test. Participants tended to make the …

Child Sexual Assault Prevention And Intervention, Kira Peterson, Amaya Ibuna, Emily Valenzuela

Psychology and Child Development

In our paper, we discuss child sexual assault, its risk factors, short and long-term outcomes, as well as prevention and intervention programs that have been shown to be valuable. To limit research, our focus will be on children living in the United States who have been physically sexually assaulted. To spread awareness of child sexual abuse, we also developed a pamphlet (See Appendix) that will be distributed to CASAs, which stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates. The development of the pamphlet is described in the combined Method and Results section. We conclude our project and paper with a Discussion section …

The Effects Of Gender And Country Of Origin On Acculturation, Psychological Factors, Lifestyle Factors, And Diabetes-Related Physiological Outcomes Among Mexican Americans: The Starr County Diabetes Prevention Initiative, Sharon A Brown, Heather A Becker, Alexandra A García, Mary M Velasquez, Hirofumi Tanaka, Mary A Winter, William B Perkison, Eric L Brown, David Aguilar, Craig L Hanis

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

OBJECTIVES: Examine acculturation and psychological, lifestyle, and physiological factors based on gender and country of origin (U.S. vs. Mexico).

METHODS: Baseline data from the Starr County diabetes prevention study (

RESULTS: Participants were: predominantly female (73%); 51 years of age, on average; born in Mexico (71%); and Spanish-speaking. Individuals spent 11 of their waking hours (range = 0-18 h) in sedentary activities. Compared to females, more males spoke English and reported fewer hours in sedentary activities. Compared to participants born in Mexico, those born in the U.S. were more likely to: speak English; report depressive symptoms; and exhibit elevated BMI …

The Personality Profile Of Republican Presidential Contender Chris Christie, Aubrey Immelman, Joseph V. Trenzeluk

Psychology Faculty Publications

This is a report of the results of an indirect assessment, in 2015, of the personality of former New Jersey governor (2010–2018) Chris Christie, from the conceptual perspective of personologist Theodore Millon. Christie ran unsuccessfully for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and in June 2023 declared his candidacy in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Psychodiagnostically relevant data pertaining to Christie were collected from biographical sources and media reports and synthesized into a personality profile using the Millon Inventory of Diagnostic Criteria (MIDC), which yields 34 normal and maladaptive personality classifications congruent with DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, and DSM-5.

The …

An Offer You Cannot Refuse: Understanding The Elusive Construct Of "Voluntary" Plea Decisions, Melanie B. Fessinger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Defendants often plead guilty in exchange for reduced punishments. Some argue that these reduced punishments are necessary for the functioning of the criminal justice system, whereas others argue that they are inherently coercive because they place a burden on the exercise of constitutional rights. This potential coercion is of concern because the constitution requires valid guilty pleas to be made by defendants voluntarily. However, “voluntary” is an elusive construct of which courts, scholars, and laypeople have differing definitions. Although limited research has focused specifically on perceptions of voluntary pleas, decades of research have shown that individuals generally perceive decisions more …

Stress Reactivity After Pediatric Traumatic Brain Injury: Relation With Behavioral Adjustment, Taiane De Azevedo Cardoso, Ritele H Silva, Jessica L Fernandes, Camila O Arent, Graziela Amboni, Laura A Borba, Alex Paulo Z Padilha, Maria Eduarda M Botelho, Amanda L Maciel, Tatiana Barichello, Rodrigo Morales, Silvio José B Soares, Margarete D Bagatini, Claudia Dallagnol, Marta Elisa Brighenti, Zuleide Maria Ignácio, João Quevedo, Luciane B Ceretta, Gislaine Z Réus

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Although many studies have pointed out a possible relationship between COVID-19 and the presence of psychiatric disorders, the majority of the studies have significant limitations. This study investigates the influence of COVID-19 infection on mental health.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study included an age- and sex-matched sample of adult individuals positive (cases) or negative (controls) for COVID-19. We evaluated the presence of psychiatric conditions and C-reactive protein (CRP).

RESULTS: Findings showed greater severity of depressive symptoms, higher levels of stress, and greater CRP in cases. The severity of depressive and insomnia symptoms, as well as the CRP were more remarkable …

Effects Of Different Spectrum Of Leds On Retinal Degeneration Through Regulating Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Wenyi Chen, Rong Lin, Kunhong Xiao, Kun Yuan, Zhongjiang Chen, Yan Huang

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of full-spectrum light-emitting diodes (LEDs) on albino guinea pigs' retina and investigate the roles of short-wavelength opsin (S-opsin) and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in light-induced retinal degeneration (LIRD).

METHODS: Three-week-old albino guinea pigs (n = 30) were distributed into five groups under 12/12 light/dark cycles with indoor natural light (NC; 300-500 lux, n = 6), full-spectrum LEDs (FL; 300 lux, n = 6; 3000 lux, n = 6), and commercial cold-white LEDs (CL; 300 lux, n = 6; 3000 lux, n = 6) and raised for 28 days. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and transmission electron …

Effects Of Short-Term Nicotine Deprivation On Delay Discounting Among Young, Experienced, Exclusive Ends Users: An Initial Study, Irene Pericot-Valverde, Jin H Yoon, Kaileigh A Byrne, Moonseong Heo, Jiajing Niu, Alain H Litwin, Diann E Gaalema

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Delay discounting describes how rapidly delayed rewards lose value as a function of delay and serves as one measure of impulsive decision-making. Nicotine deprivation among combustible cigarette smokers can increase delay discounting. We aimed to explore changes in discounting following nicotine deprivation among electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) users. Thirty young adults (aged 18-24 years) that exclusively used ENDS participated in two laboratory sessions: one with vaping as usual and another after 16 hr of nicotine deprivation (biochemically assessed). At each session, participants completed a craving measure and three hypothetical delay discounting tasks presenting choices between small, immediate rewards and …

The Underrepresentation Of Latinx Students In The Professional Dissemination Of Psychology Research, Scott D. Frankowski, Megann Hawley, Shakira Hernandez, Nazanin M. Heydarian

Psychological Science Faculty Publications

Latinx students are well represented among undergraduate psychology majors. However, there is an underrepresentation of Latinxs in psychology graduate programs, among faculty, and licensed practitioners. This underrepresentation is evidence of a leaky pipeline of attrition among Latinx psychology students from bachelor to postbachelor career tracks. The present research investigates one point of this leaky pipeline—research activity and professional dissemination of research. We used public data sets and surname matching to compare Latinx student representation at a regional psychology conference to Latinx enrollment and psychology degree completions at colleges and universities represented at the conference. We found consistent evidence of Latinx …

The Relationship Between Sexting Behaviors And Image-Based Sexual Abuse (Ibsa): Does Sexting Predict Ibsa?, Seunghye Yang

Student Theses

With development of technology, Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA), a new type of sexual abuse, has emerged. It is defined as nonconsensually creating nude or sexual images of others; nonconsensually distributing nude or sexual images of others; and threatening to distribute nude or sexual images of others (Henry & Flynn, 2019; Powell et al., 2019). As this is a relatively new phenomenon, risk factors for IBSA are not yet well understood. It has been suggested that sexting may be a risk factor for IBSA as the two behaviors share some common characteristics. For example, both sexting and IBSA involve sending or …

Aibp Regulates Trpv1 Activation In Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy By Controlling Lipid Raft Dynamics And Proximity To Tlr4 In Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons, Juliana M Navia-Pelaez, Julia Borges Paes Lemes, Leonardo Gonzalez, Lauriane Delay, Luciano Dos Santos Aggum Capettini, Jenny W Lu, Gilson Gonçalves Dos Santos, Ann M Gregus, Patrick M Dougherty, Tony L Yaksh, Yury I Miller

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Nociceptive afferent signaling evoked by inflammation and nerve injury is mediated by the opening of ligand-gated and voltage-gated receptors or channels localized to cholesterol-rich lipid raft membrane domains. Dorsal root ganglion (DRG) nociceptors express high levels of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which also localize to lipid rafts. Genetic deletion or pharmacologic blocking of TLR4 diminishes pain associated with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN). In DRGs of mice with paclitaxel-induced CIPN, we analyzed DRG neuronal lipid rafts, expression of TLR4, activation of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1), and TLR4-TRPV1 interaction. Using proximity ligation assay, flow cytometry, and …

Association Strength Between Concepts As The Origin Of The "Foreign Language Effect", Emilia Ezrina

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Bilinguals sometimes make decisions in verbal tasks differently in their first (L1) and second (L2) language. This phenomenon is known as the foreign language effect (FLE), and it suggests strong connections between language and cognition. On the one hand, it is possible that L2 “blunts” emotional language. However, the FLE can be observed in non-emotional tasks. Therefore, it is possible that L2 requires more deliberate processing due to increased cognitive load, leading to more rational decisions. The support for each explanation is mixed.

In this thesis we propose looking for a single explanation for all instances of the FLE. After …

Sibling Experiences With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Analysis, Katherine Golden

Dissertations

This study explored the lived experiences of adult siblings of a child with autism utilizing the framework of ambiguous loss theory (Boss, 1999). An exploratory analysis of the sibling experience began with the research question: What are the lived experiences of adult siblings of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder? Further analysis used the theoretical framework of ambiguous loss theory with the secondary question: How have adult siblings been affected by ambiguous loss in their experiences with a sibling with autism spectrum disorder? Heidegger’s (1962) hermeneutic phenomenological approach was utilized to guide the semi structured in-depth interviews and to analyze …

Pathways To Offending: Domestic Sex Trafficking, Julie Williams

Dissertations

Multidisciplinary professionals across criminal justice, public policy, education, and health and

human services have all attempted to understand the complex phenomenon of sex trafficking to assist victims, correct offenders, and prevent future abuse. However, current research has struggled to agree on terms, definitions of terms, best measures of prevalence, and recommendations to address sex trafficking in the United States. This review of current literature aims to offer a synthesized framework to conceptualize domestic sex trafficking perpetrator behaviors (what they do), their uses of force, fraud, and coercion (how they do it), and their motivations and justifications/rationalizations for those behaviors (why …

Racial Identity Within The Indo-Caribbean Community: A Proposed Model, Alyssa Ramdihal

Dissertations

Part of the South Asian diaspora, the Indo-Caribbean community is a particularly marginalized minority community as a result of colonialism. Indo-Caribbeans are only considered the majority ethnic group in the country of Guyana, where there is a high rate of suicide mostly among Indo-Caribbean men who view it as a behavioral expression of emotional distress. From the research available, the Indo-Caribbean experience of mental health access in the Caribbean is limited due to improper collection and reporting of demographic information. Indo-Caribbeans who were raised from a young age or born outside of the Caribbean community region, often experience discrimination and …

A Rudimentary Framework Of The Emergence Of Naturally-Occurring Mentorships, Aaron S. Baker Cervantes

Dissertations

Cross-age relationships between youth and adults that develop organically outside the construct of youth programs are examples of natural mentoring relationships. In the United States, research has demonstrated the positive impact of these mentorships. Scholars have begun applying concepts learned from natural mentoring to formal mentoring schema; however, much work is yet to be done in examining how these relationships emerge and the factors that impact their development. Designed in partnership with a private secondary school in rural México, this study aimed to unpack these questions using a grounded theory approach. Current students, alumni, and teachers participated in the study …