Applied Behavior Analysis Commons^™

The Association Between Hostile Attribution Bias, Social Intelligence, And Relational Aggression In Detained Boys, Gregory M. Fassnacht

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Research on factors that contribute to the forms and functions of aggression (reactive, proactive, relational, and overt) is important for informing intervention efforts with aggressive youth. Previous research shows that aggressive youth often have cognitive and social deficits associated with their aggressive behavior. For example, aggressive youth may exhibit deficits in social variables such as social intelligence (i.e., the understanding of behaviors of people and ability to predict outcomes of situations). Hypothetically, this lack of social intelligence may be related to how youth interpret social situations, and could conceivably lead to hostile attributional bias, or the tendency to interpret ambiguous …

Anxiety Sensitivity And Its Association With Parenting Behaviors, Rebecca Graham

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to examine the association between parent and child anxiety sensitivity in the context of parenting behaviors, specifically by testing parenting behaviors as moderators or mediators of the association between parent and child anxiety sensitivity. Past research implies that parent anxiety sensitivity may be more related to child anxiety sensitivity (moderation) in girls and in the context of certain parenting. Alternatively, parenting behaviors may better account for the association (mediate) between parent and child anxiety sensitivity. To test the hypotheses 191 families (n = 255 youth aged 6-17 and their parents) completed measures of …

Suicide-Related Imagining And Acquired Capability: Investigating The Role Of Imagery In Self-Harm Behaviors, Tara C. Holaday

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of suicide-related mental imagery in suicidal behavior. It was hypothesized that engagement (frequency, emotional impact, vividness, realism) with suicidal imagery would be related to suicidality, with greater engagement with imagery associated with more suicidal behaviors. Acquired capability for suicide was expected to be a mediator of this relationship. These hypotheses were tested by surveying 237 undergraduate university students (59% female; mean age = 20). Students completed a packet of self-report measures: The Modified Suicidal Cognitions Interview, The Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale, and the Self-Harm Behavior Questionnaire. Results suggested that …

Feeling Sad? Maybe You Are Just Uncertain! A Predictive Test For Depression, Dana Elizabeth Larson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined the relationship between depression and uncertainty within the stress-diathesis model. Depression is a mental health disorder that is wide spread within our society. However, few causes of this disease have been able to be identified. Studies in uncertainty have shown that it is a major stressor in day-to-day life. Previous research has shown that individuals with high levels of uncertainty show higher levels of depression. The stress-diathesis model, a model originally developed to explain differences in development of schizophrenia, provides a theoretically meaningful way to combine these two concepts. The model states that a person who …

Program Evaluation Of Behavior Management Training For Preschool Teachers: Child Outcomes, Erika Nicole Christianson

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Due to the immense challenges faced by young children who exhibit emotion regulation problems, prevention programs have been designed to train teachers on strategies useful for improving classroom behavior. The current study examines the effects of a prevention program implemented in a blended Head Start/daycare setting and evaluates the outcomes of the training on children’s cognitive/preliteracy skills, selfregulation, and social competence in the fall and spring following teacher training. The intervention group (Western Kentucky University Child Care Center) and control group (Bryant Way Child Care Center) were part of a blended Head Start/child care preschool program. Children’s self-regulation, social competence, …

Daily Mood-Drinking Slopes As Predictiors: A New Take On Drinking Motives And Related Outcomes, Cynthia D. Mohr, Deborah L. Brannan, Staci Jean Wendt, Laurie Marie Jacobs, Robert Randon Wright, Mo Wang

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Motivational models of alcohol consumption have articulated the manner in which positive and negative experiences motivate drinking in unique social contexts (e.g., Cooper, Frone, Russell & Mudar, 1995). Daily process methodology, in which daily events, moods and drinking behaviors are reported daily or multiple times per day, has been used to examine behavioral patterns that are consistent with discrete motivations. We advance the notion that repeated patterns of drinking in various social contexts as a function of positive or negative mood increases can provide evidence of individual-level if-then drinking signatures, which in turn can predict drinking-related outcomes. The purpose of …

Evaluation Of The Efficacy Of A Rat Agreement Based Reinforcement Procedure, Katherine B. Lalonde

Masters Theses

Since 2007, giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) have been used successfullyfor detecting Tuberculosis (TB) positive patients.The rats are trained to detect TB-positive sputum samples through the use of operant conditioning techniques, in which an indicator response is rewarded with food. If the rats are to be used for first line screening of patients reinforcement could not be provided because the true status of the sample would be unknown. The present study evaluated the effects of a reinforcement-for-agreement procedure that could be used to reinforce indication responses when the true status of the sample is unknown. Four rats evaluated 100 …

A Comparison Of Behavioral And Academically-Focused Goals Within The Mystery Motivator: Effects On Disruptive Behavior And Academic Performance, Christina Michelle Hardy

Dissertations

Class-wide group contingencies are effective for decreasing inappropriate behavior and increasing academic performance. An interdependent group contingency, a subtype of group contingencies, sets a specific goal for performance across the class, and a reward is delivered only if the group meets the specified criterion. One interdependent group contingency, the Mystery Motivator, has been designed to target behavioral or academically-based goals; however these goals have guided the type of data collected. There are no published studies, to date, that compare behavioral and academic goals and the effects of each type of goal on both decreasing disruptive behavior as well as improving …

Actively Caring About The Actively Caring Survey: Evaluating The Reliability And Validity Of A Measure Of Dispositional Altruism, Philip Randall

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Geller’s Actively Caring Survey (ACS) was theorized to measure person states deemed necessary to “Actively Care” or act altruistically toward others. Empirical research of the ACS has been limited, and this researcher sought to evaluate its reliability, validity, and factorial consistency. Undergraduate students (n = 1,095) completed the measure online. Hypotheses were partially supported. Unrotated primary component analysis found the ACS to be a unitary measure with 73.3% of the items loading onto the first factor. The ACS showed excellent internal consistency. Convergent and divergent validity with existing measures (i.e., the Big 5 Personality, Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability, Cognitive Failures …

Reflections On The Metamorphosis At Robben Island: The Role Of Institutional Work And Positive Psychological Capital, Wayne F. Cascio, Fred Luthans

Department of Management: Faculty Publications

Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners from South Africa were imprisoned on notorious Robben Island from the mid-1960s until the end of the apartheid regime in 1991. The stark conditions and abusive treatment of these prisoners has been widely publicized. However, upon reflection and in retrospect, over the years, a type of metamorphosis occurred. Primarily drawing from firsthand accounts of the former prisoners and guards, it seems that Robben Island morphed from the traditional oppressive prison paradigm to one where the positively oriented prisoners disrupted the institution with a resulting climate of learning and transformation that eventually led to freedom …

Influences Of Tnt-Food Pairings On The Performance Of Mine Detection Rats In Early Training Stages, Timothy L. Edwards

Dissertations

Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling (APOPO), a Belgian nongovernmental organization headquartered in Tanzania, trains giant African pouched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) to detect land mines and deploys the rats for operational use in countries afflicted with mines and explosive remnants of war. In the present study an evaluation of the influence of ongoing scent-food pairings on the performance of the rats in early mine detection training was conducted. Twenty young rats in APOPO’s mine detection rat program were divided into two groups and exposed to five daily stimulus-food pairing sessions each week. For the experimental group the stimulus was the …

Communication And Common Interest, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Manolo Martínez

Publications and Research

Explaining the maintenance of communicative behavior in the face of incentives to deceive, conceal information, or exaggerate is an important problem in behavioral biology. When the interests of agents diverge, some form of signal cost is often seen as essential to maintaining honesty. Here, novel computational methods are used to investigate the role of common interest between the sender and receiver of messages in maintaining cost-free informative signaling in a signaling game. Two measures of common interest are defined. These quantify the divergence between sender and receiver in their preference orderings over acts the receiver might perform in each state …

Strength, But Not Direction, Of Handedness Is Related To Height, Ruth E. Propper, Tad T. Brunyé, Karly Frank, Sean E. Mcgraw

Department of Psychology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Left-handers are reputed to be shorter than right-handers. However, previous research has confounded handedness direction (left- versus right-handedness) with handedness strength (consistency with which one hand is chosen across a variety of tasks; consistent- versus inconsistent-handedness). Here, we support a relationship between handedness strength, but not direction, and stature, with increasing inconsistent-handedness associated with increasing self-reported height.

The Influence Of Anger On Implicit Biases, Katherine Reiter

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Interpretation of ambiguous information is influenced by anxious (Richards, Reynolds, & French, 1992) and depressive (Wisco, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2010) symptoms. Emotion regulation strategies, and in particular, cognitive reappraisal has shown to be effective at reducing feelings of distress (Denson, Grisham, & Moulds, 2011). The current study seeks to understand the extent that emotion regulation can influence interpretation bias, thoughts and behaviors. In the current study, participants underwent both Angry and Neutral mood inductions. For each mood condition, participants were instructed to cognitively reappraise and attend to their emotions. Participants rated the degree of negative affect they experienced, and completed 6 …

Re-Interpreting Melton’S Study Of Gallery Density And Visitor Attention, Stephen Bitgood, Todd Mckerchar, Stephany Dukes

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The works of Edward Robinson and Arthur Melton conducted in the 1920s and 1930s are often cited, but rarely read. The focus of this article is on one of Melton’s (1935) classic visitor studies, re-examined in terms of several explanatory mechanisms including a decision-making model of visitor attention. Melton varied the number of paintings in a gallery from 6 to 36 in increments of 6. As the number of paintings increased, the proportion of paintings actually viewed decreased; however, the average viewing time per painting remained constant. Melton’s findings of decreased attention are discussed in terms of four possible explanations: …

Evaluation Of A Pilot Of The Oregon Department Of Transportation’S Ecodrive Program, Donald M. Truxillo, John Macarthur, Frankie Guros, Layla R. Mansfield

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Economical, ecological, and safe driving – eco-driving – is aimed at reducing fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions (Martin, Chan, & Shaheen, 2012). The adoption of energy-efficient driving styles and practices has been recognized as a means of reducing energy consumption, and estimates of energy savings attributed to eco-driving have been reported to range from 5% to as high as 20%, depending on the driving context (Barkenbus, 2010; Stillwater & Kurani, 2013; van der Voort, Dougherty & van Maareseveen, 2001). Eco-driving is being promoted in partnership among the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) (Planning, Safety and Motor Carrier Division), the …

Satisfaction Pursuing Approach And Avoidance Goals: Effects Of Regulatory Fit And Individual Temperaments, Guihyun Grace Park, Linn Van Dyne, Daniel R. Ilgen

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Going beyond previous studies on satisfaction in pursuing approach versus avoidance goals, the current study is the first to examine individual satisfaction in pursuing approach and avoidance goals as determined by regulatory fit between type of goal and type of strategy. Specifically, the present study shows that people with approach goals have greater satisfaction when they use an approach strategy rather than an avoidance strategy. People with avoidance goals have greater satisfaction when they use an avoidance strategy rather than an approach strategy. In addition, we explored how individual differences in the Behavioral Activation System and the Behavioral Inhibition System …

Like Or Dislike: The Emotional Toll Of Being On Facebook, Lauren N. Weathers

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The current study examined the relationship between affect changes or lack thereof when one logs onto Facebook or Yahoo!. Facebook was specifically chosen for examination in the current study due to its widespread use, its vast effect on society, and its unique features that allow users to obtain information and have social interaction at the same time. Yahoo! served as a control due to the fact that it is a highly popular site that has similar features of Facebook without having the social functions. Both sites allow users to observe news that is pertinent and of interest to them and …

The Effect Of Motive And Coworker Liking On The Intention To Perform Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Caley M. Foster

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) is defined as employee behavior that benefits others yet is not required by the employee’s job description. OCB can be divided into two categories: behavior that is either directed toward individuals (OCBI) or behavior that is directed toward the organization (OCBO). Researchers have posited that there are three different motives behind OCB: impression management, prosocial values, and organizational concern. Additionally, researchers have recognized the importance of coworker relationships within organizations and have suggested that the degree to which one likes his or her coworkers may serve as an additional source of motivation to engage in different …

Dynamics Of Perceptual Organization In Complex Visual Search: The Identification Of Self Organized Criticality With Respect To Visual Grouping Principles, Attila Jozsef Farkas

Dissertations

The current project applies modern quantitative theories of visual perception to examine the effect of the Gestalt Law of proximity on visual cognition. Gestalt Laws are spontaneous dynamic processes (Brunswik & Kamiya, 1953; Wertheimer, 1938) that underlie the principles of perceptual organization. These principles serve as mental short-cuts, heuristic rule-of-thumb strategies that shorten decision-making time and allow continuous, efficient processing and flow of information (Hertwig & Todd, 2002). The proximity heuristic refers to the observation that objects near each other in the visual field tend to be grouped together by the perceptual system (Smith-Gratto & Fisher, 1999). Proximity can be …

Mindfulness, Facets Of Big Five Personalities, And Psychological Health, Nicholas J. Schmidt

Dissertations

The concept of mindfulness, nonjudgmentally being aware of one’s environment, whether internal or external, has long been a core component of eastern religions, such as Buddhism, for over 2,000 years. Not until relatively recently, however, has the concept of mindfulness gained attention in Western psychology. As mindfulness has come to be associated with both psychological health and the absence of psychological distress, its practice has begun to be implemented in a number of cognitive behavioral therapies for a wide range of mental disorders.

The purpose of the present study was to examine the possible relationships between facets of measures used …

Effectiveness Of Teacher-Implemented Function-Based Interventions Versus Non-Function-Based Interventions For Preschoolers, Katherine Marie Bellone

Dissertations

Disruptive behaviors occur frequently in preschool classrooms. Children who exhibit early-onset behavioral concerns in educational settings are at greater risk for negative developmental outcomes than their peers. In order to address problem behaviors in the classroom, practitioners may use functional assessment methodology to design an individualized intervention tied to the function of the behavior. Alternatively, practitioners may choose to use an evidence-based practice, not tied to behavioral function, shown to be beneficial through research. Though much research states the need for empirical comparisons between function-based interventions and non-function-based interventions, past comparisons have often been unbalanced, such that the interventions included …

Sharing: Social Behavior In Situations Of Risk, Stephanie Theresia Stilling

Dissertations

The present study will experimentally investigate human cooperation (sharing) in a laboratory foraging task that simulates environmental variability and resource scarcity (shortfall risk). Specifically, it investigates whether a risk-reduction model of sharing developed by evolutionary biologists (derived from a risk-sensitive optimization model known as the energy-budget rule) could predict human cooperative behavior. Participants respond to earn points exchangeable for money when point gains were unpredictable. Failures to acquire sufficient points result in a loss of accumulated earnings (a shortfall). Participants are given the choice between working alone or working with others. The difficulty of meeting the earnings requirement is manipulated …

Computerized Behavioral Activation Treatment For Major Depressive Disorder And The Effects On Sexual Desire, Anthony G. Bonita

Dissertations

The present study was designed to examine the effects of a computerized behavioral activation treatment program on sexual desire, sexual behavior, and depression symptoms. Seven adults who met criteria for either major depressive disorder or dysthymic disorder were recruited from Kalamazoo, Portage, and surrounding areas in Southwestern Michigan. All participants completed at least five sessions of behavioral activation treatment, and six out of seven participants completed all ten sessions. Symptoms of depression, sexual desire, and sexual behavior were assessed at pretreatment and before each treatment session through a combination of the Beck Depression Inventory – II (BDI-II), the Revised Hamilton …

Analyzing Reflective Functioning As A Potential Mediator In The Relationship Between Parent's Attachment, Past Trauma, Depression, And Their Parental Sensitivity: Implications For Treatment Of Higher Risk Dyads, Kayla M. Sizemore

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Kayla M. Sizemore on July 11, 2013.

Treatment Of Psychiatric Inpatients With Relationship Dysfunction Using A Short Term Cognitive Interpersonal Intervention: A Pilot Study, Tamra Rasberry

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Relationship conflict for the psychiatric patient can have significant detrimental effects. There are specific types of interactions that can increase conflict and predict the potential for relapse; these have been identified by research and designated as components of Expressed Emotion (EE). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) have been very effective when targeting specific psychiatric diagnoses, but less effective when addressing relationship conflict. The majority of studies addressing relationship conflict have taken place in an outpatient, long-term setting. There is limited research that utilizes an inpatient short-term intensive therapy with relationship conflict as its sole focus, targeting areas …

Moral Development In The Military: The Efficacy Of Rotc Morality Training At The Sophomore Level, Paul A. Gillett

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) is an accessions program designed to produce quality commissioned Officers for operational units, in support of strategic Department of Defense (DoD) objectives. The traditional program length of 4 years coincides with the average number of years required to obtain a baccalaureates degree in the United States, in part because a degree is required for program completion. The program goals are to develop candidates physically, mentally, and morally in order to ensure they can be entrusted with the highest levels of leadership required of a US citizen.

This study aimed at assessing the moral development …

Hyperboloid Discounting Of Delayed Outcomes: Magnitude Effects And The Gain-Loss Asymmetry, Todd Mckerchar, Stephen Pickford, Shannon R. Robertson

Research, Publications & Creative Work

For more than 20 years, a plethora of research has been conducted on the discounting of delayed rewards. In contrast, there has been relatively little research on the discounting of delayed aversive outcomes (e.g., monetary losses). The present study examined the discounting of delayed hypothetical gains and losses by 55 college undergraduates at two monetary amounts, $1,000 and $25,000. A simple hyperbola generally provided very poor fits to the data. In contrast, a hyperboloid provided much better fits to the discounting of all outcomes, and its exponent was frequently less than unity. Although the rate of discounting was greater for …

Empowerment-Based Positive Youth Development: A New Understanding Of Healthy Development For African American Youth, Raphael Travis Jr., Tamara Leech

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

A shift occurred in research about adolescents in the general population. Research is moving away from deficits toward a resilience paradigm and understanding trajectories of positive youth development. This shift has been less consistent in research and practice with African American youth. A gap also exists in understanding whether individual youth development dimensions generate potential in other dimensions. This study presents an empowerment-based positive youth development model. It builds upon existing research to present a new vision of healthy development for African American youth that is strengths-based, developmental, culture-bound, and action-oriented. It emphasizes the relationship between person and environment, the …

Use Of A Gateway In-Street Sign Treatment To Increase Yielding To Pedestrians At Crosswalks, Miles K. Bennett

Masters Theses

An important goal to reduce the number of collisions between motorists and pedestrians is to increase motorist’s yielding right-of-way to pedestrians in crosswalks. The current study addresses this goal. A Gateway installation of instreet signs (one in-street sign installed between the two travel lanes in each direction and one on both edges of the roadway in each direction) was evaluated on multilane roads. The first experiment compared the efficacy of adding multiple in-street signs used in a gateway configuration with a single sign between the two travel lanes in each direction. The second experiment compared the in-street sign gateway treatment …