Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons^™

Choice Overload, Information Acquisition, And Gift Incentives In An Altruistic Context: Economic Experiments Exploring Decision Making In Charitable Giving, Jessica Adach White

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contains three essays on economic experiments concerning altruistic motives. The first chapter, “Choice Overload and Charitable Giving: Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing?” concentrates on the effects of list sizes of charitable options on an individual’s decision making. The second chapter, “Is No News Good News? Motivated Reasoning in Charitable Giving,” focuses on the impact of information acquisition on an individual’s altruistic contributions. Finally, the third chapter, “Thank You, but No Thank You: Gift Incentives in Charitable Giving,” investigates gift incentives and their influence on donating behavior.

In the first chapter, “Choice Overload and Charitable …

Body Swapping With A Black Person Boosts Empathy: Using Virtual Reality To Embody Another, Rémi Thériault, Jay A. Olson, Sonia A. Krol, Amir Raz

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Perspective-taking, whether through imagination or virtual-reality interventions, seems to improve intergroup relations; however, which intervention leads to better outcomes remains unclear. This preregistered study collected measures of empathy and race bias from 90 participants, split into one of three perspective-taking groups: embodied perspective-taking, mental perspective-taking, and a control group. We drew on virtual-reality technology alongside a Black confederate across all conditions. Only in the first group, participants got to exchange real-time viewpoints with the confederate and literally “see through the eyes of another.” In the two other conditions, participants either imagined a day in the life of the Black confederate …

Representation Of Reward And Risk In The Brain’S Motor System: Studies In Adolescents And Adults, Xingjie Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

In the neuroscience of economic decision making, the brain’s motor system has been ascribed a role in implementing choice actions. However, recent work has revealed canonical motor signals much in advance of choice action, possibly indicating their role in evaluation of decision options. In the current dissertation, we applied multimodal neuroimaging combining EEG and fMRI and used a novel paradigm that temporally separated the evaluation phase from the action phase of a decision-making process to investigate the mechanisms through which the motor control system contributes to decision making. Additionally, we further examined the developmental changes during the two phases of …

Sustaining Continuous Improvement In Public Sector Services Through Double Loop Learning, Chris Buckell Msc, Mairi Macintyre Assoc. Prof.

International Conference on Lean Six Sigma

Abstract

Purpose: Public Service Organisations (PSOs) are facing continuing funding challenges and increased pressure to maintain and improve service delivery with fewer resources. One response, with the promise of improving efficiency rather than cutting services, has been to implement Continuous Improvement (CI) but success has been sporadic and unpredictable. The well documented and pervasive CI methodologies in PSOs, including Lean and Six Sigma, have general agreement across practitioners and scholars alike, thus the reasons behind their potted success must lie elsewhere, in the culture or the environment perhaps? This work explores the wider contextual issues of CI implementation with the …

Motivation For Physical Training In Army Rotc Cadets, Christina Frederick, Stephen Rice, Grace Richards, Keith Ruskin, Kyle Gatrost

Publications

The present study used Self-Determination Theory to study motivation for physical training (PT) in ARMY ROTC cadets (n=139). Results found that length of participation in ROTC lowered cadets’ intrinsic motivation, which then resulted in lower levels of enjoyment for PT. Application of results for future training is discussed.

Fostering Attachment In Romantic Relationships Through Creative Art Therapies, Mary Hachey

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Attachment theory examines the infant/caregiver’s relationship by the attachment style they develop in the first years of life. Over time, these same attachment styles affect adult romantic relationships. Bowlby defines four infant/children attachment styles as securely attached, anxious-ambivalent-insecurely attached, avoidant-insecurely attached, and disorganized-disoriented-insecurely attached. These four styles transferred into three main types for adults: secure, anxious-ambivalent, and avoidant. A couple’s relationship can become affected by personal values, behaviors, environmental situations, attachment styles, and beyond. This literature review discusses how couples behave, relate, and interact with one another based on their attachment styles and it also gives critical details on how …

Reiki For Recovery: Incorporating Japanese Health Practices To Increase Contemporary Resiliency In American Health, Leif Peterson

Master's Projects and Capstones

The Japanese health practice of Reiki attempts to maximize the latent ability of the human system to heal itself. The Reiki system, established over a century ago, combines multiple Asian health traditions, experimenting with practices that maximize the natural processes of the body to perform its own repairs. Reiki encourages healthy behaviors that balance the mind and body, return the human system to a lowered stress level, and allow for an optimal recovery state for the patient. This paper illustrates how this Japanese health-affirming method can be integrated and utilized within existing health and medical practices. An area that is …

Perceptions Of Covid-19 Among Religious Leaders, Anna Anderson

Symposium of Student Scholars

The research shows how religious leaders have been affected and have attempted to adapt to COVID-19. The research was compiled of responses from religious leaders and affiliates to get a better understanding of their opinions. The data we are collecting is being analyzed so that we, the researchers, can determine if religious leaders are using their title to lead the community that follows them on the safest path or not, as well as if they are spreading an accurate message to their community about the COVID-19 Pandemic. The purpose of being able to identify how religious leaders are responding to …

The Relation Of Therapist Behaviors To Treatment Engagement And Outcomes In Pcit, Kristine Gese Ba

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) has proven to be a very effective treatment for child behavioral problems, however, PCIT does not benefit all families equally, presumably at least partly because therapists may not be equally effective in coaching their clients. Although researchers have proposed several dimensions of therapist coaching behaviors that are considered desirable, few of these have been empirically examined in relation to family engagement or child outcomes. Data from two clinical trials examining the effectiveness of culturally modified versions of PCIT (GANA and PersIn), were used to investigate which of several therapist coaching behaviors (brevity, positivity, consistency, accuracy, …

Factors Affecting Pubertal Timing And Perceptions Of Birth Control, Ashley L. Gomm

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Menarche is the occurrence of a first menstrual period in the female adolescent. The age of menarche has been decreasing over the past 150 years. While some factors have been identified, like increased body mass index (BMI), such factors alone cannot account for the overall decrease in age.

Due to the decreased age of menarche and as additional uses for oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) have been identified, it is becoming clear that females no longer use “birth control” or “oral contraceptives” primarily to prevent pregnancy, but instead for a myriad other reasons including “menstrual suppression.” Menstrual suppression is …

Qanon: The Effects Of Radical Ideology On Conspiracy Belief, Sam Andrus

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

The study of conspiracy theories has existed for many decades, however, a new species of conspiracy, labeled QAnon, has surfaced in recent years - QAnon theories are directly tied to current radical politics and former President Donald Trump. My research will aim to explain how the outlandish and often racist beliefs of QAnon followers have come to be not only believed but have affected so many people that a terrorist attack on the United States Capitol occurred as a result. My research will include analysis of the Chapman Survey of American Fears which includes people on both sides of the …

Big Five Personality Traits And Political Orientation: An Inquiry Into Political Beliefs, Ian E. Phillips

The Downtown Review

Personality research centered on the Big Five personality traits has heavily impacted our understanding in regards to what forces orient a person on a political spectrum. Examining how personality differences interact with political orientation, this research seeks to provide information on what makes someone either more or less likely to be liberal or conservative based on their temperament. In this paper, previous personality research is synthesized into one discussion, centered on what the effects of each trait are and how they impact political orientation, the heritability of personality, and what implications there are for such research in the realm of …

Better Together? Effects Of Dyadic Collaboration On Intertemporal Preference, Emily Edgington

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Abstract

Intertemporal choices have been researched extensively in the context of individual choices. However, empirical evidence is absent regarding intertemporal preferences when two individuals collaborate on a choice task. This study aimed to compare the rates of discounting under the condition of dyadic collaboration and individual decisions. Furthermore, this study examined the collaboration sessions in an online video conferencing platform. Results showed a strong, positive correlation between average individual discounting rates and corresponding dyad rates of discounting. The findings of this study should be considered when making intertemporal decisions.

Key Words: delay discounting, group decision-making, online collaboration

Hidden Links: Trait Anxiety And The Hostile Attribution Bias, Sarah Gracia

Honors Program Theses and Projects

The hostile attribution bias (HAB) is a tendency to interpret malevolent intentions when confronted by ambiguous actions of others. Much research has been conducted to examine the relationship between HAB and aggression, but little on HAB and other personality traits; further, comparatively little research has examined whether strategies like metacognition can reduce HAB. This project examines the relationship between HAB and trait anxiety and whether a metacognitive manipulation reduces HAB. In Study 1, participants filled out a survey questionnaire containing the Beck Anxiety Inventory to measure trait anxiety and both the W-SAP and the hostility section of the Aggression Questionnaire …

Decreases In The Frontal Cortical Areas Following A Developmental Disruption Model Of Schizophrenia, Anna Healy

Honors Program Theses and Projects

Methylazoxmethanol Acetate (MAM) is a toxin that temporarily blocks mitosis in developing embryonic brains. Exposure in rats on embryonic day 17 (E17) selectively targets frontal and hippocampal regions of the brain and produces behavioral and anatomical effects strikingly similar to those seen in human patients with schizophrenia. While previous studies examining these induced neuroanatomical disruptions support E17 MAM exposure as an animal model of schizophrenia, the vast majority focused on male rats. However, there have been a dearth of studies specifically looking at female rats in this model. This is significant since there is evidence of sex differences in the …

Analysis Of A Rough-Toothed Dolphin (Steno Bredanensis) Introduction In A Human Care Setting, Lindsey Johnson

Dissertations

Rough-toothed dolphins are a rarely studied species of cetaceans found in temperate and tropical waters throughout the world. These dolphins live in fission-fusion societies and are highly social, swimming in tightly-packed and highly synchronized subgroups consisting of 2-10 individuals. The current study documents the introduction of a stranded calf into an existing population of six rough-toothed dolphins living in a human care setting. Specifically, recordings of vocal and non-vocal behaviors were analyzed across the four phases of the study: baseline, day of introduction, post-introduction, and follow-up. Whistles, a vocal signal associated with social contexts, increased from baseline to post-introduction phases …

Identity-Specific Positive Psychology Intervention For Sexual Minorities: A Randomized Control Trial, Sarah Job

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sexual minorities experience mental and physical health disparities in comparison to heterosexual individuals due to minority stress (Branstrom et al., 2016; Kerridge et al., 2017; Meyer, 2003). Positive psychology interventions have improved mental and physical health (Antoine et al., 2018; Lambert D'raven et al., 2015), and therefore these interventions have potential to address health disparities. The current study tested an identity-specific intervention (n = 30) to a general positive psychology intervention (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30) among sexual minorities. This built on a recent pilot study which tested the efficacy of an …

Profiling Child Molesters: Thematic Differentiation Of Crime Scene Indicators And Correlations To Psychopathology, John P. Santora

Student Theses

Offender profiling has become an increasingly important tool in criminal investigations. The current research took an expansive, multifaceted empirical approach to the profiling of child molesters through investigative psychological methodologies with additional perspectives investigating concomitant clinical implications. In doing this, offenders were thematically differentiated based on their behaviors at the offense. The quality of the differentiation was tested, and the distribution of offenders across the derived themes was developed. Associations between the Massachusetts Treatment Center Child Molester Three, Axis One (MTC:CM3 A1) were assessed. This process was repeated for offender characteristic variables which were also thematically differentiated. Finally, behavioral themes …

The Impact Of Mindfulness On Healthy Food Choices, Kaylea Hopfer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The practice of mindfulness has a long history in research, particularly psychological studies. In this paper I examine the effects of a short mindfulness intervention on healthy food purchases. Specifically, I developed an online survey and recruited 634 participants via Prolific between July 24 - July 27, 2020. I randomly assigned participants to either a mindfulness manipulation or a control condition. Following treatment (or control) participants completed a food choice task and various other control. Following the survey, I analyzed data using R version 4.0.2 (2020-06-22) and R-Studio. I estimated three different regression models, ordinary least squares (OLS), Poisson, and …

The Development And Evaluation Of Novel Da Transport Inhibitors And Their Effects On Effort-Related Motivation: A Review, Mukund Desibhatla

Honors Scholar Theses

Depression is a debilitating disorder that can cause motivational deficits such as psychomotor retardation, anergia, apathy, and fatigue. Recent research indicates that these motivational deficits, and potential pathways of therapeutic intervention, can be studied in animal models involving rats and mice. Treatments with the VMAT-2 inhibitor tetrabenazine (TBZ) and cytokine interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) can create a low-effort bias and impair effort-related motivation (Nunes et al. 2013, 2014). A number of high-affinity DA transport inhibitors such as d-amphetamine, methylphenidate, and cocaine can restore extracellular DA, albeit with the cost of undesirable effects such as high abuse liability. These observations have led researchers …