Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of An Evidenced-Based Decision Making Program In Criminal Justice Systems, Tashina Lorraine Keith

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

Abstract The National Institute of Corrections selected the Yamhill County Department of Corrections to implement a new evidenced-based decision making program within their criminal justice system. As part of the new program, every individual who was arrested and placed on probation went through a case analysis assessment and had their treatment programs approved by a judge prior to sentencing. In this study 20 randomly selected individuals who received their treatment programming prior to sentencing were matched to 20 randomly selected individuals who received treatment programs post-sentencing. The hypothesis of this study was that those probationers in the pre-sentencing group who …

An Examination Of Psychoeducation And Its Potential Modifying Influence On Alcohol Use Patterns Among Adults Reporting Co-Occurring Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms And Hazardous Alcohol Consumption, Sarah Jo Bujarski

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has suggested that consumption of alcohol in the presence of elevated posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) may serve an avoidant function to cope with negative emotions. These coping-related motives for use are theorized to both maintain PTSS and relate to poorer prognoses in treatment for alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Treatments utilizing coping skills training, which typically also involves educating clients about the negative consequences of drinking alcohol to cope, suggest the utility of targeting coping behaviors to reduce alcohol use. These studies, however, have not attempted to isolate the effects of psychoeducation on alcohol-related factors. The current study investigated the …

Humor Types: Replication Using Latent Profile Analysis And Associations With Maladaptive Personality Traits, Joseph Robert Finn

Master's Theses

Martin’s (2003) Humor Styles Questionnaire measures four distinct styles of humor usage. However, examining these humor styles individually fails to account for the combination with which they are used as well as how these combinations may affect the relationship between humor and personality. The present study examined relationships of the humor styles, both individually and in combination, with a broad array of maladaptive personality traits. The incremental validity of accounting for the combinations with which the humor styles are used was examined through the use of hierarchical multiple regressions. Results demonstrated that the humor styles, both individually and in combination, …

Racial Discrimination At The Crosswalk, Tara Goddard, Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Arlie Adkins

TREC Project Briefs

A look at pedestrian fatality rates in the United States reveals that minorities are disproportionately represented. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2013 that in the first decade of this century, the fatality rates for black and Hispanic men were twice as high as they were for white men. Multi-disciplinary research has shown that racially biased behaviors are evident in many parts of society. Minorities experience differential outcomes in education, employment, health care, and criminal sentencing. Could racially biased treatment exist in transportation as well?

Implicit racial biases are subtle beliefs that individuals may hold beneath the …

Effects Of 17Β-Estradiol On Learning And Memory And Strategy Use During A Hole Board Spatial Navigation Task In Aged Male Rats, Megan Berthiaume

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Treatment with 17β- estradiol has been shown to ameliorate age related deficits in spatial learning and memory as well as to promote the use of an allocentric strategy during spatial navigation. While the majority of research using 17β- estradiol has been done using females rodents, there have been studies showing an improvement in spatial learning and memory and promoted use of allocentric strategies in spatial navigation in males as well. In males testosterone (T) is metabolized into estradiol by aromatase. As circulating levels of T decline with aging there is less available T to be metabolized into estradiol. The current …

Automation Reliability And Performance Detection Using Two Systems Of The Multi-Attribute Task Battery, Brianna Alex

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

With the advancements of new and emerging technology in the modern cockpit, it is important to understand the effect of these enhancements on performance. Our research seeks to examine both the effect of display type and reliability level on an operator’s performance. The goals of this research are to evaluate and compare the new MATB-II to the original MATB, as well as to further investigate the effect of reliability level in a automated aviation environment.

In the current study, we empirically test the impact of a specified reliability level on performance for a controlled and modernistic automated aviation task. Previous …

The Role Of Attention In Retrieval Practice, Joshua W. Whiffen

Open Access Theses

Dividing attention during encoding is detrimental to learning. In contrast, dividing attention during retrieval appears to have very little effect on recall. However, very few studies have investigated whether dividing attention during initial recall has an impact on subsequent retrieval attempts. ^ Research on retrieval practice has clearly shown that retrieval is an active process that leads to important changes in memory that ultimately enhance long term retention. However, it has yet to be established exactly how retrieval practice derives its benefits. One possibility is that retrieval involves the reinstatement of temporal context, which leads to the updating or encoding …

Ethical Behavior And Ajzen’S Theory Of Planned Behavior Applied To The Decision To Obtain Professional Credentials, Sarajo Paluch

Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the requirement to obtain and maintain professional credentials within the engineering discipline varies among the five military departments within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). However, there may be an ethical requirement to do so. The purpose of this research was to investigate ethical theory and behavior theory, and their influence on the decision to obtain and maintain professional credentials. Individual Moral Philosophy (IMP) is one approach describing ethical thought. The Ethics Position Questionnaire (EPQ) measures the two dimensions of IMP: idealism and relativism. The Theory of Planned Behavior (ToPB) is used in research to predict behavior intentions and …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Bisphenol-A Exposure During Adolescence Leads To Enduring Alterations In Cognition And Dendritic Spine Density In Adult Male And Female Rats, Rachel E. Bowman, Victoria N. Luine, Samantha Diaz Weinstein, Hameda Khandaker, Sarah Dewolf, Maya Frankfurt

Psychology Faculty Publications

We have previously demonstrated that adolescent exposure of rats to bisphenol-A (BPA), an environmental endocrine disrupter, increases anxiety, impairs spatial memory, and decreases dendritic spine density in the CA1 region of the hippocampus (CA1) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) when measured in adolescence in both sexes. The present study examined whether the behavioral and morphological alterations following BPA exposure during adolescent development are maintained into adulthood. Male and female, adolescent rats received BPA, 40 μg/kg/bodyweight, or control treatments for one week. In adulthood, subjects were tested for anxiety and locomotor activity, spatial memory, non-spatial visual memory, and sucrose preference. Additionally, …

Repeated Effects Of The Neurotensin Receptor Agonist Pd149163 In Three Animal Tests Of Antipsychotic Activity: Assessing For Tolerance And Cross-Tolerance To Clozapine, Shinnyi Chou, Collin Davis, Sean Jones, Ming Li

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Neurotensin is an endogenous neuropeptide closely associated with the mesolimbic dopaminergic system and shown to possess antipsychotic-like effects. In particular, acute neurotensin receptor activation can inhibit conditioned avoidance response (CAR), attenuate phencyclidine (PCP)-induced prepulse inhibition (PPI) disruptions, and reverse PCP-induced hyperlocomotion. However, few studies have examined the long term effects of repeated neurotensin receptor activation and results are inconsistent. Since clinical administration of antipsychotic therapy often requires a prolonged treatment schedule, here we assessed the effects of repeated activation of neurotensin receptors using an NTS1 receptor selective agonist, PD149163, in 3 behavioral tests of antipsychotic activity. We also investigated whether …

Comparing Short-Term Outcomes Of Three Problem Gambling Treatments: A Multi-Group Propensity Score Analysis, Adam David Soberay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study applied a multi-group form of propensity score analysis to the study of outcomes related to problem gambling treatment. Across various treatment settings, it is often unfeasible or unethical to randomly assign participants to different treatment conditions, particularly when one of the conditions involves not receiving treatment. Additionally, evaluative practices often involve assessing outcomes from a primarily treatment focused setting, in which case clients are likely not randomly assigned to treatment. Consequently, where randomization does not exist, methods such as propensity score matching need to be implemented to separate what part of the observed outcomes is attributable to treatment …

Ua66 Ogden College Of Science & Engineering Newsletter, Cheryl Stevens, Dean

Ogden College of Science & Engineering Publications

No abstract provided.

Mechanisms For The Association Between Traditional Masculine Ideologies And Rape Myth Acceptance Among College Men, Catherine J. Lutz-Zois, Karisa Ann Moler, Mitchell Brown

Psychology Faculty Publications

We explored mechanisms for the relationship between traditional masculine ideologies and rape myth acceptance. We hypothesized that locus of control would serve as a mediator for victim precipitation rape myths, while negative attitudes toward women would serve as a mediator for victim masochism and victim fabrication rape myths. Using a sample of 100 male college students, the results indicated that negative attitudes toward women mediated the relationship between traditional masculine ideologies and all three types of rape myths, but locus of control did not serve as a mediator for any. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Against Game Theory, Gale M. Lucas, Mathew D. Mccubbins, Mark Turner

Faculty Scholarship

People make choices. Often, the outcome depends on choices other people make. What mental steps do people go through when making such choices? Game theory, the most influential model of choice in economics and the social sciences, offers an answer, one based on games of strategy such as chess and checkers: the chooser considers the choices that others will make and makes a choice that will lead to a better outcome for the chooser, given all those choices by other people. It is universally established in the social sciences that classical game theory (even when heavily modified) is bad at …

Tornado Trouble: How Can Current Tornado Warnings Be Improved?, Jonathan P. Evans

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

There are many unnecessary deaths from tornadoes every year (NOAA.org, 2013). Although there have been great advancements in tornado warning systems (Coleman, Knupp, Spann, Elliot, & Peters, 2010), more changes to systems could be made to motivate people to take action in preparation for tornadoes (Brotzge & Donner, 2013). Protection motivation theory outlines the process by which we assess threats and decide whether or not preventative actions are worth performing. If the threat is perceived as severe enough and the preventative actions are seen as capable of mitigating the threat, the individual is motivated to act (Rogers, 2000). One means …

The Motivation To Express Prejudice, Patrick S. Forscher, William T.L. Cox, Nicholas Graetz, Patricia G. Devine

Psychological Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

Contemporary prejudice research focuses primarily on people who are motivated to respond without prejudice and the ways in which unintentional bias can cause these people to act inconsistent with this motivation. However, some real-world phenomena (e.g., hate speech, hate crimes) and experimental findings (e.g., Plant & Devine, 2001; 2009) suggest that some expressions of prejudice are intentional. These phenomena and findings are difficult to explain solely from the motivations to respond without prejudice. We argue that some people are motivated to express prejudice, and we develop the motivation to express prejudice (MP) scale to measure this motivation. In seven studies …

Racial Bias In Driver Yielding Behavior At Crosswalks, Tara Goddard, Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Arlie Adkins

Psychology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Psychological and social identity-related factors have been shown to influence drivers’ behaviors toward pedestrians, but no previous studies have examined the potential for drivers’ racial bias to impact yielding behavior with pedestrians. If drivers’ yielding behavior results in differential behavior toward Black and White pedestrians, this may lead to disparate pedestrian crossing experiences based on race and potentially contribute to disproportionate safety outcomes for minorities. We tested the hypothesis that drivers’ yielding behavior is influenced by pedestrians’ race in a controlled field experiment at an unsignalized midblock marked crosswalk in downtown Portland, Oregon. Six trained male research team participants (3 …

Does Humor Promote Cognitive Flexibility By Way Of Its Affective And Cognitive Components? : A Prospective Test, Stuart Jenkins Daman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Two studies tested hypotheses regarding the idea that humor promotes cognitive flexibility. Two components of humor are argued to promote cognitive flexibility. First, the positive emotion associated with humor may enhance cognitive flexibility. Second, the processing of humor may exercise complex cognitive processing, thus making similar processing more efficient on subsequent tasks. Participants in Experiment 1 read humorous sentences or one of two types of non-humorous sentences. Participants in Experiment 2 viewed captioned images that varied in the presence of positivity and incongruity. Results of both studies do not support the idea that humor promotes cognitive flexibility, nor do they …

Behavioral Effects Of Fluoxetine On Aggression And Associative Learning In Betta Splendens, Benjamin Eisenreich

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

While the link between serotonin and the behaviors of aggression and learning has been elucidated, few studies have examined the impact serotonin has on learning for aggressive rewards. In particular, the SSRI fluoxetine has been demonstrated to reduce aggression as well the acquisition of instrumental responding for rewards indicating that this drugs behavioral effect may be related to motivational processes important for learning. To examine the relationship between fluoxetine and motivational process important for learning, two experiments were conducted using Betta splendens, a species well known for their robust aggressive response and drive to engage in aggressive behaviors, to examine …