Other Psychology Commons^™

Unmade And Unmanned Men: Reading Traumatized Masculinity In Late Nineteenth-Century British Adventure Fiction Through The Lens Of The Indian “Mutiny” Of 1857, Madison A. Bettle

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Unmade and Unmanned Men: Reading Traumatized Masculinity in Late Nineteenth-Century British Adventure Fiction through the Lens of the Indian “Mutiny” of 1857 examines the selected adventure fiction of George Alfred Henty, Rudyard Kipling, and Joseph Conrad through the historico-political context of India’s First War of Independence, known in Victorian Britain as the Indian “Mutiny” of 1857. Examining masculine trauma in adventure fiction reveals how British men, who were themselves colonized by the Empire’s expectations of them, sought not only to recover from the scars inflicted by imperialism, but also to expose the Empire for inflicting the psychologically damaging expectations that …

Toward A Fluid Cinematic Spectatorship And Desire: Revisiting Laura Mulvey’S Psychoanalytic Film Theories, Taylor Ashton Mcgoey

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis project re-evaluates Laura Mulvey’s film theories regarding psychoanalysis and the “male gaze,” first found in her essay “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” (1975). By re-evaluating the limitations of Mulvey’s use of the Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalytic model this project seeks to understand the desires and processes of identification of cinematic spectators who reject the ideological imperative of the “male gaze”. As many critics have noted, Mulvey’s initial examination of cinema does not account for LGBTQ+ spectators and/or black spectators who occupy looking relations that reject cis-normative and heteronormative white Hollywood cinematic conventions. From this standpoint, we begin the …

Developing A Feasible Survey For Community Organizations To Evaluate A Healthy Relationships Program, Maria C. Ibanez

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

For community-based organizations that work with vulnerable youth, evaluation measures and activities are important strategies for assessing a program’s impact on youth on different outcomes. However, rigorous program evaluation involving pretest-posttest measures and control trials are impractical to implement in community settings. It is critical for organizations to continuously measure programming efficacy, as it is an issue of accountability, ethical responsibility, and program improvement. Additionally, funders, policymakers, and stakeholders typically require organizations to monitor the effects of programming in their setting to continue receiving support. However, organizations conduct program evaluation under many constraints. There is an emergent need for a …

Death Of The Clinic: Trans-Informing The Clinical Gaze To Counter Epistemic Violence, Diana E. Kuhl

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This case study research (Patton, 2002, 2014; Flyvberg, 2006) has grown out of an awareness of deep resistance from the psy disciplines to trans-informed epistemologies as a source of legitimate knowledge (Tosh, 2015, 2016; Winters, 2008). It focuses on examining how the closure of The Gender Identity Clinic (GIC) for Children and Youth at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, signaled a paradigm shift from the ‘treatment model’ to the ‘affirmative model’ with respect to clinical approaches for supporting trans and gender diverse children and youth. As such the case study involved tracing the …

Promoting Mentally Healthy Classrooms: Evaluation Of Online Mental Health Literacy Instruction In Pre-Service Teacher Education, E. Robyn Masters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

To better understand how to prepare large numbers of pre-service teachers for their role in creating and leading mentally healthy classrooms, this program evaluation explores outcomes related to an online mental health literacy course at a large central Canadian university. The course was delivered to 275 teacher education students simultaneously over 10-weeks and 20-hours of online instruction and professional reflection. Results indicated significant improvement in self-reported levels of mental health literacy, stigma toward mental illness, and self-efficacy for teaching students with diverse challenges. Qualitative reviews of participant feedback identified the most valuable aspects of the course and the ways in …

Biofeedback Use In Sport, Kendra Nelson Ferguson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The general purpose of this dissertation was to examine the effects of biofeedback training on sport performance. This dissertation was divided into three studies. Study 1 qualitatively explored athletes’ perspectives of biofeedback post-intervention. Five varsity athletes were provided with a five-session biofeedback intervention training respiration rate, heart rate variability, and skin conductance. Following the intervention, an interview was conducted. Athletes perceived biofeedback to enhance self-regulation skills both in sport and academics, contributing to perceptions of superior performance.

To further examine perspectives of biofeedback training, Study 2 qualitatively explored mental performance consultants’ use of biofeedback and their perceptions of the tool. …

Investigating How Neural Entrainment Relates To Beat Perception By Disentangling The Stimulus-Driven Response, Aaron Wc Gibbings

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Beat perception – the ability to perceive a steady pulse in music – is nearly ubiquitous in humans, but the neural mechanisms underlying this ability are unknown. A growing number of electroencephalography (EEG) studies suggest that beat perception is related to neural entrainment, a phenomenon in which cyclic changes in the excitability of populations of neurons synchronize with a rhythmic stimulus. However, the relationship between acoustically-driven and entrainment-driven neural activity is unclear. This thesis presents EEG research that extends our understanding neural entrainment is related to beat perception by characterizing, equating, and finally removing the stimulus-driven response in the neural …

Missed Opportunities For Saving Children From Domestic Homicide: Implications For Prevention, Intervention, & Community Collaboration, Katherine Reif

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation is comprised of three studies that explored the risks faced by children exposed to domestic violence, as well as systemic and agency-related recognition of, and responses to, these risks. Literature in the field has demonstrated that children living in these circumstances are at risk of significant adverse outcomes stemming from their exposure to domestic violence, and at its extreme, domestic homicides (Alisic et al., 2017; Jenney & Alaggia, 2014). In addition, these children are also at risk of becoming homicide victims in the context of domestic violence, either through being directly targeted in the homicide, or as a …

Prevalence Of Moral Injury In Canadian Forces Members Deployed To Afghanistan, Kevin T. Hansen

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Moral injury is a relatively new area of study within military mental health care, as such, prevalence estimates for both moral injury and exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIE; a moral injury precursor) are unknown for many of the world’s militaries. PMIE is commonly defined as the perpetrating, failing to prevent, witnessing, or learning about acts or events that transgress an individual’s deeply held moral belief(s). The primary purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of PMIE in a population of Canadian Armed Forces (CF) members who served in support of the recent mission to Afghanistan. How …

Cardiodynamic Associations With Resilience In Undergraduate Students And The Effect Of A Mentorship Intervention, Rachel J. Knetsch

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The National College Health Assessment (NCHA) indicates that a majority of Canadian university students report feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and anxious during their undergraduate studies. Resilience refers to positive adaptation, or the ability to maintain or regain mental health, despite experiencing adversity (Herrman et al., 2011). While autonomic indices have been used to describe chronic physiological stress, the role of heart rate variability (HRV) as an index of resilience remains unclear. This research tested the hypotheses that (1) there is a relationship between HRV and resilience scoresand (2) a mentorship intervention will improve HRV and resilience outcomes. Fifty-seven first year students …

Imidacloprid Impairs Performance On A Model Flower Handling Task In Bumblebees (Bombus Impatiens), Jordan D. Phelps

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Bumblebees exposed to neonicotinoid pesticides collect less pollen on foraging trips. Exposed bumblebees are also slower to learn to handle flowers, which may account for reduced pollen collection. It is unclear, however, why neonicotinoid exposure slows learning to handle flowers. I investigated the effect of imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide, on bumblebee motor learning using a lab model of flower handling. Bumblebees learned to invert inside a narrow tube and lift a petal-shaped barrier to reach a reward chamber. Imidacloprid-exposed bumblebees showed a dose-dependent delay to solve the task, which resulted from reduced switching between behavioural strategies and a subsequent delay …

The Self-Diss: A Comprehensive Measure Of Self-Defeating Interpersonal Style, Breanna E. Atkinson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research reports the development and validation of the Self-Defeating Interpersonal Style Scale (SELF-DISS), a measure for the assessment of the propensity to engage in the chronic tolerance of mistreatment in relationships. Studies 1 and 2 followed a strategical 7-step process for developing valid and reliable measures. Study 1 proposed a theoretical model and developed a reliable measure to tap the three proposed factors on three scales: Insecure Attachment, Undeserving Self-Image, and Self-Sacrificing Nature. Study 2 replicated Study 1 as well as refined the SELF-DISS model to 35 items that indicated an excellent fit. Study 2 tested construct validity via …

The Effects Of Cognitive General Imagery Use On Tactical Decision-Making In Curling, Nicole Westlund Stewart

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The general purpose of this dissertation was to determine the effects of cognitive general (CG; images of game plans and strategies) imagery use on tactical decision-making in curling. This dissertation is divided into four studies. Study 1 outlines the two-stage development of the Curling Strategy Assessment Tool (CSAT-2), a computerized measure of curlers’ tactical decision-making (i.e., response accuracy and response speed). During Phase 1, 123 curlers evaluated 75 curling scenarios via an online survey. Twenty-one scenarios showed acceptable interrater agreement for a correct shot option. Pilot testing of the original version of the CSAT indicated that modifications were needed to …

The Sixties Scoop Among Aboriginal Veterans: A Critical Narrative Study, Munira Abdulwasi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study explored the experience of Aboriginal Veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop using critical narrative inquiry. The objectives were to: 1) understand the lived experience of Aboriginal veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop, 2) explore any health needs expressed by Aboriginal veterans adopted and/or fostered during the Sixties Scoop, and 3) provide recommendations for the implementation of health services and programs to assist this group of Aboriginal veterans with their health needs. Eight individual interviews were conducted with participants in Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Vancouver. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using …

Pearl Harvesting Autism, Mariya Gruntovskaya

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis addresses the difficulties of on-line information searching as it relates to the topic of autism. A review of existing search strategies is presented and their limitations are discussed. A new method for deriving a set of search-terms for comprehensive searching, Pearl Harvesting, was tested here to determine the necessary search terms (i.e., synonym ring) for ERIC and PsycINFO databases. Once discovered and validated, a synonym ring can be copied and pasted directly into the search box of the database, providing a simple, thorough and time saving way of conducting on-line research in the field. This easily used method …

Caregivers' Experiences Raising A Child With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Aamena Kapasi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The purpose of this study was to identify challenges and strengths of caregivers to a child with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). Thirty-two caregivers raising a child with FASD participated in phone interviews that included the questions: "What challenges do you face in making your household function well?" and "What strengths do you have to make your household function well?" Responses to the questions were sorted by participants and the data was analyzed using multi-dimensional scaling and cluster analysis. In response to the question about challenges, seven concepts emerged: 1) Extra Responsibility on Caregivers, 2) Difficulty Keeping Daily Routine, 3) …

Agoraphobia And Emptiness: Theoretical Considerations From A Psychoanalytic Perspective, Sheena L. Yates

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Milrod (2007) identifies persistent emptiness in agoraphobia patients whose symptoms of anxiety and avoidance have remitted. Through an analysis of the available theoretical and clinical literature on agoraphobia, the psychological experience of emptiness, and the development of the ego, I argue that agoraphobia is not an anxiety about “open spaces” but, rather, about the boundaries between spaces. In agoraphobia, there is a pathological persistence of the psychological processes of normal ego development. Recognition of the usefulness of agoraphobic anxieties in the development of ego boundaries may help to identify the point at which they persist beyond usefulness and into pathology, …

Motivation And The 40-Hour Community Involvement Program: Their Relationship To Identity Status In First Year University Students, Michael A. Mcdonald

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Purpose: The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the relationship between motivation and identity status in first year university students through examining their participation in the Ontario secondary school community involvement program. This document consists of three separate, but related studies: a scoping review, a mixed-methods research study, and a document review.

Methods: The scoping review was completed using the methodology outlined by Arskey and O’Malley (2005). The Mixed-methods research was conducted using an embedded mixed methods approach. The quantitative aspect was approached from a cross-sectional, descriptive design, with the qualitative component being addressed from a phenomenological perspective. The …

Interesting Shapes Of Vegetables: Is It A Strategy To Promote Consumption Among Preschool Children?, Salma H. Alhabshi

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This study highlighted the low intake of vegetables by preschool children and determined whether changing the shape of vegetables increased their level of consumption. A new strategy of repeated exposure to interesting-shaped vegetables was a step aimed at increasing vegetable consumption by increasing the fun element in having vegetables as snacks. Vegetables are the less desirable food in comparison to more attractive unhealthy choices available to children, and discovering a strategy to promote vegetables is considered an important step in nutrition. The primary aim was to explore the effect of repeated exposure (eight times) of shaped vegetables on consumption by …

Labelling & Intervening In Parental Alienation Cases: A Review Of Canadian Court Decisions 2010-2012, Karendeep Aujla

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Parental alienation was examined using 101 retrospective high-conflict Canadian custody court cases between 2010 and 2012. Previous literature in the debate about whether this phenomenon should be considered a formal diagnosis or syndrome, defining behaviours of parental alienation, the impact on children, the relationship between domestic violence and alienation and use of therapeutic interventions were the major research questions. Findings demonstrate only 2% of judges used the term “Parental Alienation Syndrome.” Parents were likely to make a negative comment about the alienated parent in 90% of cases, while a child was likely to speak negatively of the alienated parent in …

Stimulus Control By Timing In Pigeons, Neil Mcmillan

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Timing has been widely studied in humans and animals across a variety of different timescales. The concept of time as a stimulus dimension, and how it is processed relative to other stimulus dimensions, has only recently been scrutinized. In the current work I present a review of interval timing as it relates to stimulus control, and discuss the role of attention in timing in the context of three sets of studies in pigeons.

In the first set of studies, I analyzed whether the presence of a non-reinforced timed stimulus would disrupt timing of a stimulus reinforced on a fixed-interval schedule. …

The Role Of The Resiliency Process In Skilled Immigrants' Job Search, Kelly Kisinger

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

For many skilled immigrants settling in Canada, the obtainment of employment is a difficult and lengthy process. The current study seeks to examine how skilled immigrants deal with the adversity of the job search by applying a process model of resiliency (King & Rothstein, 2010) to the job search of skilled immigrants. The study examined the interplay between individuals’ psychological characteristics, knowledge, and environment and their self-regulatory processes, and how those processes influenced the job search individuals performed and subsequent job search outcomes. Using a cross sectional design, 94 immigrants throughout Canada completed an online survey. The findings showed individuals’ …

Examining The Relationships Between Imagery, Sport Motivation, And Athletic Identity In Curling, Nicole Westlund

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Imagery use, motivation, and athletic identity all have been investigated in sport; however, a study examining the relationships among these three constructs has yet to be conducted. The participants (N = 213) were club and competitive curlers (M_age = 49.0; SD = 15.39). Results showed that athletic identity was significantly correlated with all five imagery functions and six behavioural regulations (p < .01) except for external regulation and amotivation. Multiple regression analyses predicting imagery use from both the behavioural regulations and athletic identity were conducted for each imagery function in club and competitive curlers. Athletic identity, identified regulation, and integrated regulation emerged as significant predictors of imagery use (p < .05). These findings suggest that there is a link between imagery use, motivation, and athletic identity. Researchers and sport psychologists can use these findings to develop more effective psychological skills training programs to improve the performance of curlers.

The Effects Of Neonatal Immune System Activation With Lipopolysaccharide On Adolescent And Adult Anxiety Behaviours In Male And Female Rats, Alina Zaltzman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The present study examined the effects of neonatal (postnatal days 3 and 5) acute immune system activation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) on adolescent and adult anxiety behaviours. The major findings suggest that neonatal LPS does not have general long-lasting effects on adolescent anxiety and locomotor behaviours. Rather, early endotoxin treatment has highly specific effects on certain anxiety behaviours that vary depending on the development period. Moreover, neonatal LPS does not seem to influence adult voluntary and non-voluntary locomotor activity or anhedonia, independent of, or in response to, an adult immune challenge. Finally, sex differences were observed in various responses in adulthood, …

Self-Presentation And Social Physique Anxiety In Injury Rehabilitation Settings, Molly Driediger

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The objective of this dissertation was to provide an initial description of self-presentation in injury rehabilitation (i.e., physiotherapy). To accomplish this, one qualitative and two quantitative studies were conducted. Study 1 determined whether self-presentational concerns were present in this setting. Female (n = 134) and male (n = 54) undergraduate students with a mean age of 20.64 years (SD = 1.99) completed measures of Social Physique Anxiety (SPA; Hart et al., 1989), self-presentational concerns, and preferences for features of the social and physical physiotherapy environment. An examination of the relationships between these variables revealed that self-presentation exists …

Motivation In Goal Orientation And Motivational Climate In Elite Wheelchair Tennis Players, Laurence M. Zalmanowitz

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This research explored motivation in relation to goal orientation and motivational climate among elite wheelchair tennis players in Canada who were asked to recall their experiences from early development to the highest levels of competition. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three Canadian wheelchair tennis players via Skype. Each represented Canada in international competition during their career. An ethnographic collective case study method was followed. All interviews were transcribed and analyzed by the researcher. Four themes emerged from the data, including involvement, process, impact/support of others and measures of success. Results were compared with existing research. Similarities and differences were discussed. …

Sexual Differentiation In The Auditory System: An Investigation Into Prenatal And Adult Sex Steroid Influences On Otoacoustic Emissions, Adrian W.K. Snihur

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) are a naturally occurring by-product of the outer hair cells in the cochlea of the inner ear. A sexual dimorphism in OAE production favouring females has been reported in both human and non-human species. The broad objective of the present set of studies is to explore how the sexual dimorphism originates and the degree to which it reflects the organizational and activational influences of sex steroid hormones.

Most previous studies of sex differences in OAEs have been based on neonatal, infant, or broad adult samples, Study 1 of the present work was done to verify the reported …

The Development And Validation Of An Expertise Development Model For Sport Coaches, Melissa L. Wiman

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The objective of this dissertation was to develop and validate a model for coaching expertise development using semi-structured interviews. The aim of Study One was twofold: first, to examine how coaching expertise is defined and second, to investigate how this expertise develops over time. Interviews were completed with elite athletes and elite coaches and were done in the tradition of grounded theory. Results suggested that there is a need to go beyond identifying a coach as an expert based on the performance of his/her athletes. Some of the additional criteria suggested included: be recognized by peers (other coaches) as experts; …