Psychology Commons^™

Controlling The Narrative: The Effects Of Media Coverage On Fear Of Crime And Socio-Political Ideology, Andrew Koppelman

Theses

Several decades of study have established an understanding that media have a unique power to influence the perspectives and worldviews of audiences. This phenomenon has been explored through the lenses of Social Learning and Cultivation theory, wherein media appeal to base human tendencies of self-preservation and teaches audiences how to maximize rewards for their actions by acting as a sort of instructor or friendly warning from members of the community. While prior studies have suggested the presence of this effect, little research has been devoted to understanding the ways that this may influence behaviors in viewers. My research seeks to …

An Evaluation Of The Teach-Back Method For Training Functional Analysis Methodology, Bethany Christie

Theses

Behavior analysts conduct functional analyses to identify the environmental contingencies maintaining challenging behavior, which allows them to develop a function-based treatment plan. Behavioral staff must be fully trained on functional analysis methodology before conducting the analysis. A common way to train staff to conduct a functional analysis is through behavioral skills training (BST), but BST is time consuming and includes numerous materials. Teach-back, a widely used training method in healthcare settings, requires less time and no materials. Currently, there is little research on the effectiveness of the teach-back method for teaching behavioral techniques, and there is no research on the …

The Relationships Between Personality, Perceived Social Support, And Structure Of Friend Groups, Carolyn Lowe, Ella Marks, Maddie Wiseman, Emma Sarin

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

Friendship formation has been studied by many psychologists, focusing predominately on connectedness within the friendship and less focused on variation of characteristics within the group that influence group dynamic (Laakasu et. al., 2016). Personality traits are a large contributing factor when determining relationship satisfaction, specifically Neuroticism and Extraversion. Having high Neuroticism has shown to be a consistent predictor of low relationship quality (Finn, Mite, & Neyer, 2013). On the contrary, Extraversion’s positive affect (i.e. characterized as being cheerful, energetic, and social) is associated with better relationship outcomes (Lyubomirsky, King, & Deiner, 2005). Undergraduate students (N = 50) completed a survey …

Empowering Environmental Education In Portuguese Primary Schools: Energy Focused Curriculum Recommendations And Behavioral Change Framework Guided By Principles Of Developmental Psychology, Ellie Hanson

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This paper explores the integration of principles of developmental psychology within the context of environmental education in Portugal to promote pro-environmental behavior, and specifically energy literacy energy conservation behaviors in primary school students. A review of current literature on the state of environmental education approaches in Portugal exhibits a significant lack of structure and direction for educators to teach students relevant topics in sustainability. Using a meta-theory of behavioral change, the present work connects the elements of the COM-B model of behavioral change to relevant aspects of middle childhood cognitive development using principles of two major theories of developmental psychology. …

The Influences, Experiences, And Sentiments That Create Indonesian Identity, Jack Wood

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research delves into the multifaceted and complex concept of Indonesian identity. Indonesia is a large archipelago nation with a populace who employ a varied and diverse collection of associations with their Indonesian identity. The notion of cultural pride, its expression across different backgrounds within the Indonesian populace, and the experiences that help create this sense of Identity are the main inquiries of this research. Through focusing on these questions, this paper seeks to understand what it means for individuals to take pride in their Indonesian identity and how this sentiment varies among Indonesians of diverse backgrounds, encompassing distinctions such …

Transformative Mindfulness: Exploring The Role Of Mindfulness In Mitigating Cognitive Biases And Political Polarization, Olivia Paulsen

Montserrat Annual Writing Prize

This paper explores how cognitive biases, including confirmation, intergroup, and interpretation bias, contribute to political polarization and how this influence can be effectively mitigated by meditation and mindfulness practices.

Neurodivergent Students’ Perspectives Of A Summer College Transition Program, Erin Reilly, Jaime Vitrano, Susan Alimonti, Audra Cerruto, Jenny Lamonica, Leigh Weilandics, Caro Rose-Tomo

Psychology: Faculty Publications

This paper examines neurodivergent students’ perspectives following participation in a summer college transition program. Program goals included promoting academia, self-advocacy, independent living, and the college social atmosphere for neurodivergent college-bound and college students. In year one of this transition program, six students completed the program, followed by eight students in year two. This paper will describe the college transition program, student feedback, and beneficial modifications applied to the second year of the program. Overall, survey responses indicated that students from both program years reported positive outcomes in the areas of engaging in extracurricular activities, establishing peer relationships, and self-advocacy. The …

Brainlife.Io: A Decentralized And Open-Source Cloud Platform To Support Neuroscience Research, Soichi Hayashi, Bradley A. Caron, Anibal Solon Heinsfeld, Sophia Vinci-Booher, Brent Mcpherson, Daniel N. Bullock, Giulia Berto, Guiomar Niso, Sandra Hanekamp, Daniel Levitas, Kimberly Ray, Anne Mackenzie, Paolo Avesani, Lindsey Kitchell, Josiah K. Leong, Filipi Nascimento-Silva, Serge Koudoro, Hanna Willis, Jasleen K. Jolly, Derek Pisner, Taylor R. Zuidema, Jan W. Kurzawski, Kyriaki Mikellidou, Aurore Bussalb, Maximilien Chaumon, Nathalie George, Christopher Rorden, Conner Victory, Dheeraj Bhatia, Dogu Baran Aydogan, Fang-Chen F. Yeh, Franco Delogu, Javier Guaje, Jelle Veraart, Jeremy Fischer, Joshua Faskowitz, Ricardo Fabrega, David Hunt, Shawn Mckee, Shawn T. Brown, Stephanie Heyman, Vittorio Iacovella, Amanda F. Mejia, Daniele Marinazzo, R. Cameron Craddock, Emanuale Olivetti, Jamie L. Hanson, Eleftherios Garyfallidis, Dan Stanzione, James Carson, Robert Henschel, David Y. Hancock, Craig A. Stewart, David Schnyer, Damian O. Eke, Russell A. Poldrack, Steffen Bollmann, Ashley Stewart, Holly Bridge, Ilaria Sani, Winrich A. Freiwald, Aina Puce, Nicholas L. Port, Franco Pestilli

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Neuroscience is advancing standardization and tool development to support rigor and transparency. Consequently, data pipeline complexity has increased, hindering FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) access. brainlife.io was developed to democratize neuroimaging research. The platform provides data standardization, management, visualization and processing and automatically tracks the provenance history of thousands of data objects. Here, brainlife.io is described and evaluated for validity, reliability, reproducibility, replicability and scientific utility using four data modalities and 3,200 participants.

The Effects Of Combined Evaluative And Memo, Matrix, And Graphic Objective Feedback On Performance When Receiving Fixed Pay, Amber L. Derthick

Dissertations

The purpose of this current study was to examine the relative effectiveness of written feedback in the form of a memo that displays the performer’s current performance (memo feedback), written feedback in the form of a matrix that displays the performer’s current performance along with past performance (matrix feedback), and graphic feedback that displays the performer’s current performance along with past performance on a line graph (graphic feedback) when individuals receive fixed pay. The memo, matrix, and graphic feedback displayed “objective” feedback. Participants were 70 undergraduate students who were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions. Participants attended a …

The Effects Of Covid-19 Stressors And Supervisor Support On Emotional Exhaustion And Work Engagement, Meiqiao Gu

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, working conditions have worsened, subjecting employees to numerous stressors. Analyzing the impact of COVID-19 stressors on employees‘ well-being and work motivation is crucial. The job demands-resources model (JD-R; Demerouti et al., 2001a) provides a framework for evaluating how COVID-19 stressors affect employees‘ well-being and motivation in the workplace. Given the complexity of job characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with challenges in obtaining adequate support from supervisors who are also facing considerable work pressure, this study examines the continued relevance of the JD-R model in this evolving work environment. Specifically, four hypotheses were …

The Experiences Of Multilingual Learning-Focused School Counselors: A Phenomenological Investigation, Chelsea Jo Hilliard

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Equity in education has become increasingly prioritized, due to the growing mainstream recognition of the inequitable practices that historically have and presently continue to exist in K-12 education. With the K-12 student population diversity continuously increasing in areas such as abilities, race/ethnicities, socioeconomic status, languages, immigration status, and more, ensuring equitable access to education is vital. One such unique student group needing equitable access to education are multilingual learners or MLL. Located within schools, school counselors are uniquely positioned to equitably serve MLL students. Overall, while the research on school counselors serving MLL students (at the pre-service and practice level) …

First-Generation College Students And Sense Of Belonging At School: The Moderating Effect Of Remote Learning, Christina Su Ju

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the effect of first-generation college student status on students’ sense of belonging, and whether remote learning moderates this effect. Specifically, this study examines whether first-generation college students’ sense of belonging at university differs from their continuing-generation college student counterpart, and whether taking remote courses impacts that relationship. It was hypothesized that first-generation college students would report lower sense of belonging than continuing-generation college students, and that remote learning would moderate the relationship such that the negative effect of first-generation student status on sense of belonging is strengthened when the student takes more remote courses. Survey data from …

Wellness As A Predictor Of Turnover Intention In The Active Duty Military, Thomas Clifford Seguin

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Due to the unique nature of military service compared to civilian professions, military attrition is difficult to predict using methods derived from career development theories, so turnover remains an ongoing concern for the active duty military. For this reason, military attrition, through turnover intention, should be investigated through a novel lens with the intention of capturing an essence of military service which previous methods may have overlooked, namely the holistic construct of perceived wellness. Previous studies have shown how wellness-related factors affect turnover intention, but none has studied the relationship between perceived wellness and turnover intention. The main hypothesis of …

Supervision Needs Of Novice Behavioral Health Providers In Integrated Primary Care Settings: A Delphi Study, Nicholas D. Schmoyer

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The integration of behavioral health providers (BHPs, i.e., clinical mental health counselors, clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, marriage and family therapists) into primary care settings has developed as a healthcare practice associated with enhanced patient clinical outcomes, enhanced patient satisfaction, reduced healthcare expenditures, and enhanced provider wellness and satisfaction, known together as the Quadruple Aim. For BHPs practicing in integrated primary care (IPC) settings, researchers have highlighted a variety of challenges they experience when integrating in these settings, with a consistent challenge being a lack of satisfactory training and supervision. Clinical supervision has been hailed as the “signature pedagogy” for …

Autism At Work Across The Career Span: A Scoping Review, Kate Noel Warnock

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This scoping review takes a career-span approach to the experiences of autistic people at work. Using Super’s (1994) life-span, life-space theory as a framework, I divided the literature into five career phases: Growth, Exploration, Establishment, Maintenance, and Disengagement. In each phase, I reviewed the challenges and facilitators that autistic people face, highlighting themes that have strong support in the literature, and areas that need further examination in future research. Additionally, I argue that Super’s career framework is not the most parsimonious way to describe the career trajectories of autistic individuals and propose modifications to the framework to better represent their …

Climbing The Academic Ladder While Black: Exploring The Experiences Of Institutional Belongingness For Black Counselor Education And Supervision Doctoral Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Jasmine Alicia Hawa Griffith

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Although ample research investigates students’ belongingness experiences in counselor education (CE) programs, existing literature only marginally explores the realities of Black master students, and there is a notable lack of empirical attention to Black doctoral students’ belongingness experiences in counselor education and supervision (CES) programs. Investigating Black CES doctoral students' belongingness experiences at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) is critical to understanding how the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) accredited CES programs can address the troubling statistic that Black doctoral students are least likely to become full-time CE faculty. Consequently, this study utilizes critical phenomenology from …

Winners And Losers: Emotional Shifts Across Elections Are Conveyed By A Politician’S Smile, Carl Senior, Patrick A. Stewart, Erik Bucy, Nick Lee

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

The human smile can convey both rewarding and affiliative social intent and thus has significant utility in politics, where the ability to bond with and reassure voters is vital to electoral success. We examine experimental evidence from the 2019 UK general election to investigate the influence of a politician’s reward or affiliative smile on voter emotions. It was hypothesised that the winner’s affiliative smile would engender positive affect across all partisan groups compared to the winner’s reward smile display. Participants from a nationally representative sample were shown campaign footage containing both types of smiles from the leaders of the main …

Functionality Appreciation And Male Body Image: An Exploration Of Expand Your Horizon, Self-Objectification, And Male Role Norms In College Men, Jayden Erie

Research Honors

Expand Your Horizon (Alleva et al., 2015) is a writing intervention that asks participants to reflect on the functional capabilities of their bodies, and it has been shown to be effective at improving body image and reducing self-objectification in groups of women. However, this intervention has never been applied to men. The current study sought to investigate the efficacy of the Expand Your Horizon (EYH) intervention at improving body image in a sample of college men and to examine correlations between functionality appreciation, body appreciation, self-objectification, and endorsement of traditional male role norms. Male-identifying students were recruited from Illinois Wesleyan …

Evaluation Of Dietary Probiotic Supplements On Methamphetamine-Induced Impulsive Action In Rats Maintained On A Differential Reinforcement Of Low Rate Schedule, Kaitlyn Steck

Masters Theses

Substance Use Disorder (SUD) is a chronic, debilitating condition often comorbid with anxiety and depression. Both SUD and affective disorders are characterized by cognitive dysfunction, including impaired decision-making and impulsivity. A mounting body of research implicates gut microbiome alterations as a contributing factor to the pathophysiology of affective disorders. No published studies have assessed behavioral effects of dietary interventions targeting psychostimulant-induced gut microbiome changes. The present study utilized a differential reinforcement of low rate responding schedule (DRL 18 s) as a behavioral index of drug-induced impulsive action to determine if a dietary probiotic supplement alters the behavioral effects of (+)-methamphetamine …

Teaching Classification Of Environmental Events In Narrative Abc Data Using Video-Based Behavioral Skills Training, Grace E. Sylvester

Masters Theses

Behavior analysts often conduct ABC assessments as part of a functional behavior assessment to develop a hypothesis about the function of behavior and to help guide further treatment decisions. Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence (ABC) assessment is a descriptive assessment technique used to gather information about environmental events surrounding a specific behavioral event (i.e., antecedents and consequences). ABC assessment involves several analytical skills, including classifying antecedents and consequences. There is little to no research available on how to effectively train individuals how to classify environmental events within narrative ABC assessment. It is important that behavior analysts correctly classify events in ABC assessments to increase …

Race Matters More Than Racial Identity Disclosure When Evaluating Applicant Diversity Statements, Fiona Nguyen, Ellen M. Carroll, Ciara Atkinson, Tammy D. Walker

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The present research investigated whether a target applicant's race and disclosure of their race in a personal diversity statement influenced White evaluators' perceptions of the applicant's egalitarian motivations and their likelihood of contributing to organizational diversity and inclusion outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 206), participants evaluated a diversity statement that was ostensibly written by a White or Black applicant who either referenced or did not reference his race within the statement. Participants judged Black applicants as more internally motivated to be egalitarian and White applicants as more externally motivated, regardless of whether they disclosed their race in the statement. …

A Comparison Of Instructional Methods For Teaching Apa Skills, Zachary Hooten

Theses

Writing is highly important for college students, and they will need to conform to the formatting of the writing styles used in their classes. One style required of many students is the American Psychological Association (APA). Students often make errors when formatting references using APA Style. Although various instructional strategies have been used to teach these skills, some methods take a long time to achieve minimal increases or are cumbersome to implement in some learning environments. Behavioral skills training (BST) is an empirically supported method for teaching skills that involves providing the learner with written and verbal instructions, modeling, practice …

Personality Linked To Tv Genres, Kinsey P. Skinner

Honors Theses

The goal of this study was to consider the relationship between people’s personalities and their television preferences. One model for this study was the work of Samuel Gosling from UT- Austin. Gosling has explored connections to personality from the mundane, such as music. To do this research in relation to television, students at Texas A&M University-Commerce completed the Big Five personality inventory as well as rating their interest in different genres of television, reporting on their favorite shows, and providing basic demographic variables. From this, correlations were found between certain personality traits and what television shows they are associated with. …

The College Sexual Violence Epidemic: Examining Prevention And Response Procedures, Casey Buonocore

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

A 2019 survey conducted by the Association of American Universities reported the prevalence rate of college sexual violence at approximately 13%. Additional college sexual violence research has found that there is often a significant discrepancy between rates of sexual violence and usage rates of post-assault resources (Stoner & Cramer, 2019). Given previous statistics on college sexual violence and emerging statistics on intimate partner violence, the COVID-19 pandemic likely exacerbated this existing discrepancy. Prior college sexual violence research has found that students are much more likely to access sexual violence resources if they have already received comprehensive information about those resources …

Imaging In The Fitness Industry: A Connection To Body Dysmorphic Disorder In Women, Joseliz Andujar Pimentel

Posters - 2024

Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) is a psychiatric illness characterized by distress and excessive preoccupation with perceived defects in physical appearance that are not at all, or only slightly, observable to others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). BDD can be found in many individuals; among these individuals are women in the fitness industry. This is due to the idea that there is an “ideal” body image portrayed by fitness industries that provoke women to compare themselves. This study examined a variety of fitness websites consisting of fitness apparel websites and fitness websites, where the models used in each website were examined for …

The Relation Of Self-Compassion And Belongingness Among Adults From India Living In San Antonio, Tx, Usa, John Baptist

Posters - 2024

Self-compassion, a perspective of self-kindness, mindfulness, and common humanity, is a healthy way of relating to self and is correlated with psychological wellbeing (Neff, 2003). Baumeister and Leary (1995) defined belongingness as a fundamental human need for frequent, affectively pleasant interactions with a few other people in the context of stable, enduring, and affective concern for each other. Self-compassion was inversely related to perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness among college students (Umphrey et al., 2021). A longitudinal study among Asian-American students found that thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness contributed to higher interpersonal shame and depression. An increase in selfcompassion was …

The Impact Of Groupthink On The Common Good, Lizbeth Carbajal

Posters - 2024

Irving Janis’s concept of groupthink is “the idea that a collective desire for consensus overrides the realistic appraisals of alternatives and leads to poor group decision making.” This concept is found in most social science textbooks. (Pol, Bridgman & Cummings, 2022).

Does The Number Of Individuals Present In The Water Affect Dolphin Activity Levels, Erika Aguirre, Xavier Castillo, Quinn Gallagher

Posters - 2024

Bottlenose dolphin behavior and complex social structures have interested humans over the years. Dolphin deviation in these behaviors has been measured many ways such as activity levels, space used, and time of day. A study was focused on dolphin interactions with humans, patterns of lagoon space utilization, and temporal factors. Data have been collected at the Roatán Institute for Marine Sciences (RIMS), which houses a diverse sample of 16-18 dolphins. No correlation was observed between increased human presence and levels of dolphin activity. Dolphins did display higher preferences for specific lagoon areas. This variability in lagoon space utilization suggests an …

Assessing Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Behavioral Responses To Discriminative Stimulus During Dolphin Interaction Programs (Dips), Megan Davis, Hannelore Tampipi

Posters - 2024

Dolphin-human interaction programs (DIP) References have become a popular experience offering humans an opportunity to interact or swim with cetaceans, most often bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus).

● Previous studies on dolphin-human interactions have been centered on therapeutic results for humans (Brensing et al., 2005), guests’ future conservation efforts, and educational efficacy (Miller et al., 2013) rather than welfare or outcomes for dolphins (Smith, 1981).

● Under human care, trainers request behaviors from dolphins typically via a hand signal as a discriminative stimulus (SD).

● Resulting behavioral responses to these SDs during interaction programs may suggest willingness to participate (WTP), and …

Comparing Activity Levels Of Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) During Snorkels To A Swimming Researcher, Sabrina Drouin, Erika Aguirre, Charles Lares

Posters - 2024

Bottlenose dolphins under professional care are provided with a range of enrichments that have a variety of features and levels of complexity at various frequencies (Lauderdale et al., 2022). In a previous study conducted by Brensing et al. (2015), they found that dolphins seemed to be attracted to adult swimmers, but only if they had ample space to swim. The purpose of this study is to examine dolphin activity level under two different conditions with humans in the water. We hypothesize that dolphin activity level will be higher during snorkel sessions than a single swimming researcher because there are more …