Other Psychology Commons^™

Effects Of Foreperiod Regularity And Muscle Size On Fractionated Reaction Time, Ronald Joseph Benedict Ii

Wayne State University Dissertations

Fractionating reaction time (FRT) chronometrically separates central (PMT) from peripheral (MT) processing, allowing for analysis of the variables that may have a timing effect on either. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of foreperiod regularity and muscle size on the components of FRT. Forty-four male (n = 21) and female (n = 23) healthy Wayne State University students responded to a visual stimulus in a simple reaction time task, either by alternating foreperiod by block (Exp1) or by alternating muscle size by block (Exp2). All participants completed six blocks of eight trials using their right-side, with …

Anticipatory Grief, Tara Fox Hall

Animal Sentience

This commentary reviews Barbara King’s How Animals Grieve, delving into the controversial topic of the status of animals in our society, as well as the key difference between human and non-human grief: the ability to anticipate death.

0832: Victor Billie Bodo Collection, 2007-2014, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Mr. Victor Billie Bodo (1928-2014) was a native of West Virginia and a graduate of Marshall University. He served as an adjunct professor in the Psychology Department and Political Science Department at Marshall University. Mr. Bodo was directly involved with The Atlantis Program, a cooperative enterprise between the U.S. Department of Education and the European Commission, from 2007 through 2009.

The bulk of the collection contains material related to the Atlantis Program. A grant-funded program, the Atlantis Program was "…designed to better prepare psychology majors for the competencies required by the modern global job market and to promote and enhance …

Relationship Among Motivation, Emotion Regulation, And Psychological Well-Being Of Sophomore And Senior Level Nursing Students, Aryene Delgado, Douglas Garner, Nicole Langhals

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Nursing education and professional work involve stressful circumstances that may lead to attrition, which can further contribute to the projected nursing shortage. This study examines the relationships between motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being and academic performance in baccalaureate sophomore and senior level nursing students at a Midwest urban university in the United States. The non-experimental, correlational study is guided by Deci and Ryan’s self-determination theory and uses an online survey data collection and convenience sampling. Measures include: motivation, emotional regulation, psychological well-being (burnout; inauthenticity), and academic performance (GPA), and will be measured using Deci and Ryan’s scale, the Emotion Regulation …

Effects Of Priming The Concept Of Luck On Task Persistence, Koryn R. Haight

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Does feeling lucky influence the way we perform? Do we try harder and persist at tasks if we think luck is involved, or are we more prone to give up? To help answer these questions, this research examines the effect of priming the concept of luck on persistence. In particular, some participants completed a word descramble task designed to prime luck; others completed a neutral word descramble task. All participants then completed a set of reasoning puzzles, one of which they were told was ‘difficult’ but in reality was unsolvable. Persistence was measured by (a) the amount of time participants …

Slam Poetry: An Online Intervention For Treating Depression, Spencer J. Ruchti, Mercedes Becker, Cara Mckee, Austin Herron, Alex Swalling

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

Given that depression is the “leading cause of disability worldwide,” and that less than 50% of people suffering from depression receive treatment, this study aims to provide support for a globally accessible depression treatment (WHO, 2012). The study conducted implemented an internet-based treatment for depression in which users were provided an opportunity to watch slam poetry videos related to mental health issues and write free responses regarding the content of the videos and their subjective experience of depression. Numerous studies provide support for the effectiveness of expressive writing, online mental health interventions, and slam poetry in particular for reducing symptoms …

Cognitive Phenotypes And The Evolution Of Animal Decisions, Tamra C. Mendelson, Courtney L. Fitzpatrick, Mark E. Hauber, Charles H. Pence, Rafael L. Rodriguez, Rebecca J. Safran, Caitlin A. Stern, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Despite the clear fitness consequences of animal decisions, the science of animal decision making in evolutionary biology is underdeveloped compared with decision science in human psychology. Specifically, the field lacks a conceptual framework that defines and describes the relevant components of a decision, leading to imprecise language and concepts. The ‘judgment and decision-making’ (JDM) framework in human psychology is a powerful tool for framing and understanding human decisions, and we apply it here to components of animal decisions, which we refer to as ‘cognitive phenotypes’. We distinguish multiple cognitive phenotypes in the context of a JDM framework and highlight empirical …

Context-Dependent Seed Dispersal By A Scatter-Hoarding Corvid, Mario B. Pesendorfer, T. Scott Sillett, Scott A. Morrison, Alan C. Kamil

Avian Cognition Papers

1. Corvids (crows, jays, magpies and nutcrackers) are important dispersers of large-seeded plants. Studies on captive or supplemented birds suggest that they flexibly adjust their scatter-hoarding behavior to the context of social dynamics and relative seed availability. Because many corvid-dispersed trees show high annual variation in seed production, context-dependent foraging can have strong effects on natural corvid scatter-hoarding behavior.

2. We investigated how seed availability and social dynamics affected scatter-hoarding in the island scrub jays (Aphelocoma insularis). We quantified rates of scatter-hoarding behavior and territorial defense of 26 colormarked birds over a three-year period with variable acorn crops. …

Differences In Attitudes Towards Heterosexual And Lgbt Homeless Youth In College Students, Jonathan P. S. Clinkenbeard

All Master's Theses

Youth homelessness, particularly among those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT), continues to be an underreported problem in society today. This research was designed to investigate hypothesized differences in college students’ empathy towards heterosexual and LGBT youth, and what factors influence these differences. A sample of 81 female and 36 male participants read one of 12 vignettes describing a homeless youth’s situation and then, using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, rated their level of empathy on a scale of 1 (low) to 7 (high). Vignettes differed by the youth’s gender, sexual orientation, and reason for …

Leadership Styles In Military Settings And Their Influences On Program Satisfaction, Jilian Gonzales

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold. The first purpose was to investigate the presence and prominence of transactional and transformational leadership styles among US Army ROTC cadets in authority positions. The second purpose was to see whether these leadership styles had a significant influence on the program satisfaction of US Army ROTC cadets who are not in leadership positions. Those in leadership positions were predicted to rate themselves as being more transformational than those in subordinate positions would rate them. Transformational leadership was expected to be more positively associated with program satisfaction, while transactional leadership was expected to be …

Exploring Barriers To The Generalization Of Social Skills Interventions For Children Diagnosed With Asd: A Qualitative Analysis Of ‘Youth Engagement Through Intervention’, Zachary Shindorf

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Many children who are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have difficulty with social skills and maintaining friendships. In turn, many social skills interventions have been developed to aid in the treatment of children diagnosed with ASD. Children with ASD, however, have difficulty generalizing the skills learned in social skills interventions to more natural settings like the home and school. This study, therefore, explored the barriers to the generalization of a social skills intervention, Youth Engagement Through Intervention (YETI) for children with ASD. Barriers to the generalization of YETI were explored through the qualitative examination of parents’ acceptability of the …

Family Leadership Through Submission., Beverly J. Sedlacek, David Sedlacek

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Cognitive And Behavioral Mechanisms Underlying Alcohol-Induced Risky Driving, Jennifer R. Laude

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol intoxication represents one situation an individual might increase their amount of risk taking when driving. This dissertation is comprised of three studies that investigate the mechanisms by which alcohol increases driver risk-taking. Study 1 examined the effect of alcohol on driver risk-taking using a proxemics approach. The study also tested whether alcohol-induced increases in risky driving co-occurred with pronounced impairment in the driver’s skill. The study also examined whether the most disinhibited drivers were also the riskiest. Indeed, alcohol increased driver risk-taking and impaired driving skill. The study also revealed risky driving can be dissociable from impairing effects on …

Decision-Making Processes, Driving Performance, And Acute Responses To Alcohol In Dui Offenders, Walter Roberts

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol-impaired driving is a major cause of motor vehicle accident and death in the United States. People who are arrested for DUI (Driving under the Influence) are at high risk to reoffend; approximately one in three of these individuals will commit another DUI offense in the three years following their first conviction (Nochajski & Stasiewicz, 2006). This high risk for recidivism in these individuals suggests that cognitive characteristics may contribute to a pattern of pathological decision making leading to impaired driving. Indeed, individuals with a history of DUI report higher rates of impulsiveness and behavioral dysregulation compared to their nonoffending …

The Empty Chair Appointment, Jody Long, Ken Sakauye, Khaja Chisty, John Upton

Research, Publications & Creative Work

The objective was to test an intervention to reduce failed rates for psychiatric appointments. We collected data for this study of the characteristics of patients who missed appointments from March 2011 through September 2012. A phone triage assessment intervention was implemented to address chronic first-time failed attendance appointments (N = 78). The main reason for failed appointments was transportation difficulties. The first-time appointment show rate increased after implementing an assessment intervention. Phone assessment intervention was practical and may improve nonattendance for psychiatric appointments. The discussion reflects speculations about causes and possible measures to make services more accessible.

Catching Up And Staying Out Of Trouble: Serious Juvenile Offenders’ Facility School Experiences And Their Transition To The Community, Lena Jäggi

Theses and Dissertations

Despite recent drops in rates, juvenile incarceration remains a serious issue in the United States (Hockenberry, 2013; Mendel, 2011). One shared part of the incarceration experience across different systems and facility types is the obligation for juvenile offenders to receive correctional education. Ample research demonstrates that increased academic achievement, attending community school, and being employed are connected to better community outcomes and desistance, yet little is known about how school experiences in the facility influences these outcomes. Applying life-course theory of the development of crime (Sampson & Laub, 1997, 2005), the present study investigates whether correctional education serves as a …

The Adaptive Memory Effect: Exploring Need For Cognition And Survival Processing, Nora Del Giudice

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive memory demonstrates that memory is enhanced when information is processed because of its relevance to survival (Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007). In the present experiments we examined whether there was a difference in individuals Need for Cognition (NFC) in regards to adaptive memory. Need for Cognition is characterized as the differences in individual’s preference for engaging in thought that requires effort. Specifically, individuals high in NFC could think of numerous ways to survive, thus being more likely to generate more thoughts and ideas, ultimately leading to better memory compared to low-NFC individuals. For both experiments participants read survival and …

Bind, Tether, And Transcend: Achieving Integration Through Extra-Therapeutic Dance, Megan M. Kain

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this study is to examine the lived experience of achieving integration through the fine art form of dance, using a phenomenological method coupled with narrative and arts-based research. Research material illustrating the various manifestations of integration will be derived from interviews of ten professional dancers representing the non-dominant cultural discourse. Through the application of theoretical underpinnings of somatic psychology, interpersonal neurobiology, psychoneuroimmunology, and relational psychotherapy, this qualitative research seeks to articulate the esoteric healing forces derived from creative movement that fortifies self and fosters resilience within individuals. While dance might constitute an effective processing and coping mechanism …

‘Let’S Work Together Towards Children’S Nutrition’: Building Bridge Between Child Care Providers And Parents For Promoting Child Health, Dipti A. Dev, Courtney Byrd-Williams, Samantha Ramsay, Brent A. Mcbride, Ashleigh L. Murriel, Chrisa Arcan, Anna M. Adachi-Mejia

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: To investigate childcare providers’ perspectives for communicating with parents to promote children’s nutrition and health.

Design, Setting, and Participants: In-person, semistructured interviews. Licensed center-based child care. Eighteenfull- time childcareproviders caring for children2-5 years old, 67% caring for children who pay with federal subsidy.

Outcome Measures and Analysis: Participants were selected using maximum variation purposive sampling. Interviews were conducted until saturation was achieved. NVivo, thematic analysis used to code and identify themes and meta-themes regarding providers' perspectives for parent communication.

Results: Two meta-themes emerged from providers’ responses: barriers to communication, and strategies to communication. Barriers to communication include: parents are …

Nutrition Education Resources In North Carolina–Based Head Start Preschool Programs: Administrator And Teacher Perceptions Of Availability And Use, Sarah Lisson, L. Suzanne Goodell, Dipti A. Dev, Kristi Wilkerson,, Archana V. Hegde, Virginia C. Stage

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide new insight into common barriers to the availability and use of nutrition education (NE) resources in Head Start preschool programs based on administrator and teacher perceptions.

Methods: In-depth, semistructured phone interviews (n = 63) were conducted with administrators (n = 31) and teachers (n = 32) from North Carolina–based Head Start programs. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed qualitatively using content analysis to identify common themes.

Results: Five emergent themes were identified within the areas of NE resource availability and use and barriers to NE resource availability and …

Does Parental Financial Assistance Assist Young Adults To Be Financially Healthy? Effects Of Parent-Child Relationship Qualities On Financial Outcomes And Happiness, Ji Hyun Kim, Julia C. Torquati

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

Many parents provide financial support for young adult children (Padilla-Walker, 2012). This financial support could help or hinder young adults' financial wellbeing. This current study investigates young adults' financial outcomes (e.g., financial responsibility, money management behavior and worry about money) as mediators of the associations between qualities of parent-child relationships (e.g., closeness with father, closeness with mother, spending time with father, and spending time with mother) and young adults' overall happiness. The role of parental financial support was tested as a moderator of all significant pathways.

Data from the Transition into Adulthood data set of the 2011 Panel Study of …

Evaluation Of The Health Rocks! Program: The Association Of Youth Engagement With Program Outcomes, Yan Xia, Sarah Taylor, Maria Rosario De Guzman

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

This evaluation research examined the relationship between program process and program outcome, specifically, youth engagement in the national 4-H Council Health Rocks! program and their program outcomes. Based on program evaluation surveys completed after the program by participants, youths’ engagement in the program was associated with their gains in knowledge and skills about substance use, and personal assets related to avoiding risks. When youth participants find a program interesting, are actively engaged in the program, and find the program staff friendly, they benefit more from the program. Findings underscore the importance of engaging curriculum and friendly staff to the success …

Early Childhood Educators’ Knowledge, Beliefs, Education, Experiences, And Children’S Language- And Literacy-Learning Opportunities: What Is The Connection?, Rachel E. Schachter, Caitlin F. Spear, Shayne B. Piasta, Laura M. Justice, Jessica A.R. Logan

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

In this study, we investigated how multiple types of knowledge and beliefs, along with holding an early childhood-related degree and teaching experience, were linked to amounts of early childhood educators’ language and literacy instruction. Quantile regression was used to estimate associations between these variables along a continuum of language and literacy instruction for 222 early childhood educators. In general, low levels of language- and literacy-related instruction were observed; however, the use of quantile regression afforded unique insight into the associations of knowledge, beliefs, education, and teaching experience with instruction when levels of instruction were sufficient. These findings would not have …

The Effects Of Pet Ownership On Anxiety And Depression Among Trauma-Exposed College Students, Dung N. Nguyentran, Marlene A. Michniak, James J. Jung, Christine Q. Do

Undergraduate Research Posters

Rates of anxiety and depression are prevalent in college students and can be attributed in part to stress and trauma-related events. However, studies suggest that pet ownership has the possibility of alleviating symptoms of anxiety, depression, negative emotions, and suicide. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between pet ownership and levels of anxiety and depression among those who have experienced a traumatic event. The sample was comprised of five hundred and forty-seven VCU students who completed an online survey from Spit for Science during their junior year. Linear regressions were performed to determine the nature and …