Cognitive Psychology Commons^™

Intertemporal Similarity: Discounting As A Last Resort, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

Standard models of intertemporal choice assume that individuals discount future payoffs by integrating reward amounts and time delays to generate a discounted value. Alternative models propose that, rather than integrate across them, individuals compare within attributes (amounts and delays) to determine if differences in one attribute outweigh differences in another attribute. For instance, Leland (2002) and Rubinstein (2003) propose models that 1) compare the two reward amounts to determine whether they are similar, 2) compare the similarity of the two time delays, and then 3) make a decision based on these similarity judgments. Here, I tested discounting models against attribute-based …

Reflections Of The Social Environment In Chimpanzee Memory: Applying Rational Analysis Beyond Humans, Jeffrey R. Stevens, Julian N. Marewski, Lael J. Schooler, Ian C. Gilby

Jeffrey Stevens Publications

In cognitive science, the rational analysis framework allows modelling of how physical and social environments impose information-processing demands onto cognitive systems. In humans, for example, past social contact among individuals predicts their future contact with linear and power functions. These features of the human environment constrain the optimal way to remember information and probably shape how memory records are retained and retrieved. We offer a primer on how biologists can apply rational analysis to study animal behaviour. Using chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) as a case study, we modelled 19 years of observational data on their social contact patterns. Much …

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 …

Working Memory And Interference Control In Children With Specific Language Impairment, Klara Marton, Naomi Eichorn, Luca Campanelli, Lilla Zakarias

Publications and Research

Language and communication disorders are often associated with deficits in working memory (WM) and interference control. WM studies involving children with specific language impairment (SLI) have traditionally been framed using either resource theories or decay accounts, particularly Baddeley's model. Although significant interference problems in children with SLI are apparent in error analysis data from WM and language tasks, interference theories and paradigms have not been widely used in the SLI literature. A primary goal of the present paper is to provide an overview of interference deficits in children with SLI. Review of the extant literature on interference control shows deficits …

The Matching Criterion Purification For Differential Item Functioning Analyses In A Large-Scale Assessment, Hyesun Lee, Kurt F. Geisinger

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The current study investigated the impact of matching criterion purification on the accuracy of differential item functioning (DIF) detection in large-scale assessments. The three matching approaches for DIF analyses (block-level matching, pooled booklet matching, and equated pooled booklet matching) were employed with the Mantel– Haenszel procedure. Five factors—the length of a test, the proportion of items exhibiting DIF, a sample size, a ratio of a reference and focal group, and the existence of an average ability difference between two groups—were manipulated. The three matching approaches were used with and without purification. Also, a systematic test form difference was considered. The …

Bullying Intervention In Adolescence: The Intersection Of Legislation, Policies, And Behavioral Change, Susan M. Swearer, Meredith Martin, Marc Brackett, Raul A. Palacios Ii

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This article reviews current research on bullying during adolescence. The complexity of bullying behaviors during the adolescent time period are discussed and a review of the developmental literature on adolescence provides suggestions for why current bullying prevention and intervention programs are less effective for this age group. Current anti-bullying policies and legislation are reviewed under a framework of adolescent brain development and the development of consequential thinking. Suggestions for implementing social-emotional learning programming during the adolescent period are provided and a novel approach using social media is presented. In order to effectively combat bullying during this developmental period, programming must …

Does Child Temperament Modify The Overweight Risk Associated With Parent Feeding Behaviors And Child Eating Behaviors?: An Exploratory Study, Allan D. Tate, Amanda Trofholz, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, Jerica M. Berge

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Background: Child temperament is a measure of an individual’s behavioral tendencies. The primary objective of this study was to examine whether child temperament modified the overweight risk associated with parent feeding behaviors and child eating behaviors. Methods: A sample of predominantly African American, Midwest families (N = 120) recruited from four metropolitan primary care clinics participated in this cross-sectional, mixed methods study. Parents reported on feeding practices, child eating behaviors, and child temperament. Results: Difficult temperament was not statistically related to parent feeding practices or child eating behaviors (p > 0.05). Tests of interaction indicated that the risk …

Temperament And Teacher–Child Conflict In Preschool: The Moderating Roles Of Classroom Instructional And Emotional Support, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Leslie Hawley, Victoria J. Molfese, Xiaoqing Tu, Amanda Prokasky, Kate Sirota

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Research Findings: This study is an examination of (a) links between preschool children’s temperament (effortful control, shyness, and anger) and teacher– child conflict and (b) classroom instructional and emotional support as moderators of associations between temperament and teacher–child conflict. Children (N = 104) were enrolled in 23 classrooms in 9 preschools in a Midwestern city. Teachers provided ratings of children’s temperament and parents reported demographic information in the fall of the school year, classrooms were observed in the winter to assess instructional and emotional support, and teachers rated conflict with children in the spring. Multilevel models were estimated, and 3 …

Review Of Ordinary Magic: Resilience In Development By Ann S. Masten, Eric S. Buhs, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

The notion of risk has been a mainstay of research in child development for decades. Studying and understanding risk have led to important discoveries that have informed policy and practice, particularly for children living in situations where risk is abundant. More recently, there has been attention to cumulative risk, or the idea that single indicators of risk – for example, poverty, hunger, and home insecurity – tend to co-occur. Individuals and families facing higher levels of cumulative risk are thought to have compounded problems, regardless of the risks themselves, because these multiple stressors together wear down a family’s resources and …

The Impact Of Religious Commitment On Women’S Sexual Self-Esteem, Dena Abbott, Jeff E. Harris, Debra Mollen

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Religious commitment is associated with decreased sexual activity, poor sexual satisfaction, and sexual guilt, particularly among women. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how religious commitment is related to sexual self-esteem among women. Participants included 196 female undergraduate students, 87 % of whom identified as Christian. Participants completed the Sexual Self-Esteem Inventory for Women (SSEI-W), Religious Commitment Inventory-10, Revised Religious Fundamentalism Scale, Brief Sexual Attitudes Scale, and a measure of their perception of God’s view of sex. Results suggested that women with high religious commitment held more conservative sexual attitudes. Significant relationships between religious commitment and two subscales …

Adolescence In Lifespan Perspective: Review Of Laurence Steinberg, Age Of Opportunity: Lessons From The New Science Of Adolescence, David Moshman

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Laurence Steinberg, Age of opportunity: Lessons from the new science of adolescence. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2014, ISBN: 978-0-544-27977-3 (cloth), 264 pp., $28

Adolescence, argues Laurence Steinberg in Age of opportunity, is the new zero-to-three. Noting the extensive publicity regarding evidence of the developmental plasticity of the very young brain, Steinberg writes, “We now know that adolescence is a similarly remarkable period of brain reorganization and plasticity” (p. 22).

As indicated in the subtitle, the book's intent is to provide “lessons from the new science of adolescence.” What is the new science of adolescence? Brain science. And what are …

Title: Parents And Teachers’ Perceptions And Clinical Diagnosis Of Autism Among White And Non-White Groups, Margaret Gopaul

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The pervasiveness of autism has significantly increased over the past 2 decades with the 2014 Center for Disease Control and Prevention report indicating 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Early intervention is recommended as the most effective treatment approach. Nevertheless, previous research has indicated that White children are diagnosed with ASD about 1.5 years earlier than are Non-White children. A current gap remains in literature regarding ASD and different racial groups, and evidence has been inconclusive regarding disparities in identifying and diagnosing ASD. To fill this gap, this study investigated the relationship between child race, …

Nashbots: How Political Scientists Have Underestimated Human Rationality, And How To Fix It, Daniel Enemark, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Mark Turner

Faculty Scholarship

Political scientists use experiments to test the predictions of game-theoretic models. In a typical experiment, each subject makes choices that determine her own earnings and the earnings of other subjects, with payments corresponding to the utility payoffs of a theoretical game. But social preferences distort the correspondence between a subject’s cash earnings and her subjective utility, and since social preferences vary, anonymously matched subjects cannot know their opponents’ preferences between outcomes, turning many laboratory tasks into games of incomplete information. We reduce the distortion of social preferences by pitting subjects against algorithmic agents (“Nashbots”). Across 11 experimental tasks, subjects facing …

Evidence-Based Alternative Therapy To Reduce Anxiety In Ambulatory Mental Health Patients, Renee Ann Denobrega

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Evidence-Based Alternative Therapy to Reduce Anxiety in Ambulatory Mental Health Patients

by

Renee Denobrega

MS, Widener University, 2013

BS, Alvernia University, 2007

Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Nursing Practice

Walden University

January 2016

Adult Development Of Positive Personality Traits Through Character Formation Mentoring, Robert Mark Colborn

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Positive psychologists have published hundreds of empirical studies correlating positive personality traits with improved outcomes in mental health, physical health, academic and career success, resilience, relationships, and personal happiness. But there remains a dearth of research on the emergence and development of positive personality traits. This grounded theory, qualitative research sought to discover whether positive personality traits can be developed in adult mentoring relationships. Sixteen participants responded in structured interviews about the benefits of their mentoring experiences, and in addition to performing coding analysis as described by Strauss and Corbin (1990), the researcher also compared the answers to Peterson and …

Relationship Between Autonomous Motivation And Ego-Depletion, Mark A. Heilman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Previous research has shown that exerting self-control on a demanding task can impair performance on a subsequent demanding self-control task. This phenomenon is known as ego-depletion; however, its underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Notable gaps in the literature exist regarding whether participants’ motivation levels can attenuate the depletion effect, and whether trait self-control is related. Drawing from the process model of depletion and the self-determination theory, the goal of the study was to examine whether motivational incentives in the form of autonomy can impact performance on tasks in an ego-depleted state, and the potential relationship of trait self-control. Amazon …

Short Term Memory Of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Technologists, Samuel Maldonado

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study examined the short term memory (STM) difference of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technologists versus non-MRI technologists. Human and animal studies have indicated that residual magnetic fields have caused changes within the cerebral structure. Research on residual magnetic fields and their effect on STM is still at its infancy. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine if any significant difference existed between the STM of MRI technologists (n = x) and a control population sample (n = x). The STM of both groups was assessed with the use of the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test-Third Edition. Solicitation of the participants …

Outcomes Of Aggression Replacement Training For U.S. Adolescents In Residential Facilities, Coral Ann Ondrus

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A National Survey indicated that 1.6 million adolescents in the U.S. were arrested in 2010 and 1.5 million in 2011 for erratic aggressive behaviors, thus showing a decline from the 2.18 million adolescent arrests in 2007. Residential facilities in the state of Pennsylvania offer a group intervention called Aggression Replacement Training (ART) to help adjudicated adolescents regain control of erratic behaviors. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which level of group participation in ART and certain demographic factors (age, gender, ethnicity, family socioeconomic status, parental involvement, and education) predict decreased aggression and increased anger control …

Examining The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence And Interpersonal Forgiveness Among Internet Users, Noelle Lowry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Emotional Intelligence (EI) and forgiveness both involve interpreting emotional content. Empirical study of a relationship between these two constructs is lacking. This is a problem as many psychological studies infer a relationship between these two constructs. The purposes of this study were to explore whether EI and forgiveness are correlated and to identify whether predictor variables (empathy, life satisfaction, emotional management, and emotional understanding) contribute to the probability of forgiveness within an interpersonal relationship. A quantitative, nonexperimental research design, based on the theory of mind, was used to answer two research questions: Does a correlational relationship exist between the two …

Cognitive Processes And Memory Differences In Recall And Recognition In Adults, Laura Elaine Fitzgerald

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Eyewitness testimony is critical in both criminal court and civil court, so determining the most reliable method to gain information from witnesses is imperative. Past research in this area has focused on false memory, assisted recall, stress, and event perception. A gap exists in the current literature regarding the best method to gain the most accuracy in recall. The purpose of this study was to evaluate free recall, cued recall, and recognition, in an attempt to examine the accuracy of eyewitness memory. The study utilized a quantitative design to assess the accuracy of eyewitness memory as measured by results on …