Quantitative Psychology Commons^™

Assessing Examinee Effort: The Role Of Test Length In Low-Stakes Testing, Jonathan M. Henriques

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the context of low stakes testing, where students have no benefits or consequences for their performance, test-taking effort becomes a central validity concern. Recent research has explored how shortening tests might improve effort. With modern planned missingness designs, it is possible to reduce the length of the test for the student without compromising the validity and reliability of the test. In this study, I investigated the impact of test length on effort using rapid guessing, a more contemporary technique that has not been applied to this research area. I randomly assigned students to one of three conditions: the full …

The Mindful Way: A Mindfulness Psychoeducational Group For Latinx College Students, Karen A. Morales

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have extensively studied mindfulness as a promising intervention that can aid college students in managing stressors. Unfortunately, researchers have underrepresented minority populations like Latinx college students in mindfulness literature. The Mindful Way (TMW) is a culturally responsive psychoeducational group program that aims to close the gap in the literature. The pre-test and post-test of TMW program measures student’s tendency to practice mindfulness, their personal and academic resilience, degree of self-compassion, emotion regulation skills, problematic alcohol consumption, and symptoms of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, before and after participating in the program. The hypothesis of the present study is …

Healthy Dietary Patterns’ Impact On Depressive Symptoms: A Meta-Analysis Of Randomized Controlled Trials, Angela Encardone

All Theses

As the search for innovative mental health treatments expands, dietary interventions have emerged as a promising approach for alleviating depressive symptoms. This thesis presents a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the efficacy of whole-of-diet nutritional interventions in reducing depression symptoms among adults. Grounded in Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Model and Engel’s Biopsychosocial Model, this study explores the intersection of biological, psychological, and social factors that influence mental health outcomes. A systematic review identified six eligible RCTs assessing the impact of healthy dietary patterns, including the Mediterranean diet and other plant-based interventions, on depression symptoms. A random-effects meta-analysis revealed a significant …

Improving Home Security Through User Centered Device Positioning, Lalith Nadipalli

Theses and Dissertations

In today’s world, where technology is advancing rapidly and security threats are becoming more complex, the need for effective home safety measures is more critical than ever. Homeowners are increasingly turning to a variety of smart devices, such as smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and security cameras, to protect their living spaces against potential dangers like burglary, fire, and environmental hazards. These devices offer essential protection, acting as both early warning systems and visual surveillance tools. However, their effectiveness largely hinges on how well they are placed within the home. Proper placement of these safety devices ensures that they provide …

Representative Sampling, Jessica Choe, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

The research process begins with an initial observation that scientists or researchers of various backgrounds want to engage in and understand, which prompts them to formulate theories and hypotheses, collect data, and use statistical procedures to organize, summarize, and interpret gathered data. Research conducted through questionnaires or surveys are often utilized to determine the nature of a population or the interests of members in a particular group.

Generative Ai In A Statistical Methods In Psychology Classroom, Karyna Pryiomka

Open Educational Resources

No abstract provided.

The Development Of The Mindful Parenting Scale For Indonesian Parents, Carrenina Prilly Juaninda, Khairunnisa Fahira Dumbi, Dewi Maulina, Aliyya Amanda

Psychological Research on Urban Society

Mindful parenting benefits both parents and children; however, Indonesia lacks a valid and reliable tool for it. This study aims to develop a mindful parenting scale (MPS) as an effective tool for parents of children aged 3–6 years. The MPS is a multidimensional scale comprising five dimensions based on the theories of previous researchers (Kabat-Zinn and Kabat-Zinn and Duncan et al.). The study involved 326 participants with marriage durations of 2–32 years (M = 8.4, SD = 4.53). The results demonstrate that the final version of the MPS exhibits high internal consistency for the total score and each dimension. …

Proximity In Pixels: The Moderating Roles Of Structural And Psychological Distance On Behavioral Leadership Effectiveness, Ethan J. Ray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

With a sharp increase in virtual working arrangements in recent years, there is a distinct need to reevaluate what constitutes effective leadership at a distance. Although research on virtual leadership exists, it has often lacked a focus on specific leader behaviors and the psychological intricacies unique to virtual work settings. The present study examines followers' perceived effectiveness of two enduring leadership behavior categories: task-oriented and relationship-oriented. Utilizing dyadic distance theory, the study tested whether perceived effectiveness of these behaviors is contingent not only on the tangible effects of virtual work, referred to as structural distance, but also on the intangible …

Constructing A Parameterized Stimuli Space Suitable To Induce Controlled Changes In Human And Machine Perceptual Systems, Andrew Frankel

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Traditional computer vision applications focus on objective tasks, such as object detection, classification, or segmentation. Much of human experience is inherently subjective, such as our personal response to artwork. Individualized experiences are challenging to replicate in a controlled laboratory environment, as those experiences depend on the unique history and internal models of the observer. This work presents a technique to construct a 2-dimensional parameterized stimuli space suitable to induce controlled changes in the perceptual systems of both human and machine observers. Our contributions are threefold:

1. Using a balanced dataset of 8,800 fine art images spanning 11 art movements and 88 …

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Quantified Lives: Data, Bias, And The Cost Of Categorization, Colin F. Geraghty

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This project critically examines how statistical methods and data visualization have historically been used to categorize, rank, and control human populations. By exploring the works of key figures like Francis Galton, Karl Pearson, and R.A. Fisher, it traces the evolution of categorization frameworks from their eugenic roots to modern applications in artificial intelligence and global metrics like the World Happiness Report. Through interactive visualizations and historical analysis, the project invites users to question the legitimacy of these frameworks and reflect on their impact on society. At its core, this work emphasizes the need to move beyond rigid classification systems, challenging …

The Psychometric Properties Of A Spanish Version Of The Attitudes And Beliefs Scale-2 Short Form In A Mexican Sample, Verónica Compeán

Theses and Dissertations

The Attitudes and Beliefs Scale 2-Short Form (ABS2-SF) is one of the most widely used measures of irrational and rational beliefs central to Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT). While evidence supports its reliability and validity in English-speaking populations, little is known about its applicability across cultural and linguistic groups. This study investigated the psychometric properties and cultural validity of the Spanish version of the ABS2-SF in a Mexican sample (n = 579) collected from undergraduate students in Tampico, Mexico, and compared them with English-speaking American non-clinical samples (n = 1,167). Using a bifactor multi-group confirmatory factor analysis (MG-CFA), I examined …

The Moderating Role Of Personality In The Relationship Between Cognitive Ability And Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Sarah Jacobsen

Theses and Dissertations

Counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs) are negative behaviors that detract from an organization’s goals and cause harm to the organization and to those involved. The current study investigated cognitive ability and personality as predictors of CWB and explored a moderating role of personality on the cognitive ability-CWB relationship. The results found no significant relationships for cognitive ability and personality with self-reported CWBs. Additionally, personality did not moderate the cognitive ability-CWB relationship. An exploratory analysis revealed significant relationships between personality and supervisor-rated CWBs, but no significant relationship for cognitive ability nor significant cognitive ability-personality interactions were found. The current study challenged previous …

Testosterone Reactivity And Parental Care Motivation In Men As A Function Of Parental Status, Nathan Boone

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

Paternal investment and caregiving quality have lasting impacts on children's well-being. Children with sensitive, involved fathers typically develop more secure attachments and have fewer behavioral and psychological problems than children with less sensitive and involved fathers. While the importance of fathers’ engagement with their children is well established, the biological mechanisms that underpin paternal behavior are not fully understood. Previous research has found that baseline testosterone levels and testosterone reactivity to infant stimuli are both relevant predictors of paternal sensitivity. Short-term decreases in testosterone in nurturant contexts, and short-term increases in testosterone in challenging contexts have both been linked to …

Supervisor Support And Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Roles Of Work-Life Balance And Perceived Employability With Gender As A Moderator, Tori Lomelino

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the relationship between supervisor support and job satisfaction, offering work-life balance and perceived employability as key mechanisms through which this relationship occurs. It also explored gender differences in the relationship between work-life balance and job satisfaction, and perceived employability and job satisfaction. Participants were full-time employees in the U.S, recruited via Prolific, who completed an online survey. While supervisor support was found to have positively influenced job satisfaction through perceived employability, the role of work-life balance was less clear. Interaction effects including gender were not significant. This study highlights the significant role of perceived employability as a …

Comparison Of Cnn And Lstm Networks On Human Intention Prediction In Physical Human-Robot Interactions, Khosro Ghorbani Zadeh, Niloofar Zendehdel, George L. Holmes, Keyri Moreno Bonnett, Amy Costa, Devin Michael Burns, Ming-Chuan Leu, Yun Seong Song

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Advancements in robotics and AI have increased the demand for interactive robots in healthcare and assistive applications. However, ensuring safe and effective physical human-robot interactions (pHRIs) remains challenging due to the sophistication of human motor communication and intent recognition. Traditional physics-based models struggle to capture the dynamic nature of human force interactions, limiting robot adaptability. To address these limitations, neural networks (NNs) have been explored for force-movement intention prediction. While multi-layer perceptron (MLP) networks show potential, they struggle with temporal dependencies and generalization. Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks effectively model sequential dependencies, while Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) enhance spatial feature …

Balance Assistance Without Mechanical Support Using A Virtual Cane With Haptic Feedback, Sindhu Reddy Alluri, Sambad Regmi, Fazlur Rashid, Devin Michael Burns, Yun Seong Song

Psychological Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Light Touch (LT) has been known to improve standing balance without mechanical support by providing sensory information about the movement of the body. Inspired by this, this work developed a Virtual Cane (VC) which gives no physical support but provides other sensory information that a physical cane would. The VC is developed with a distance sensor and vibration actuators to provide cane tip-to-ground distance information to the user. The extent to which this haptic feedback improves standing balance was assessed in a human experiment. 10 healthy young participants underwent a standing balance experiment with tandem stance and eyes closed, using …

Perceptions And Treatment Decisions For A Drug Offender Based On Social Class, Cocaine Type, Personal Characteristics, And Compassionate Love: A Vignette Study, Yasmin A. Odeh

Theses and Dissertations

Problem: The shift from a focus on rehabilitation to the more punitive, “tough on crime” approach to illegal behavior in the U.S. has been enacted in no small way by policies connected to the use and abuse of drugs. The disparities between crack and powder cocaine—two chemically similar substances—have headlined this shift (Vagins and McCurdy 2006). However, research is scarce on laypeople’s approval of deterrence approaches for drug offenses, including as a function of types (e.g., powder vs. cocaine possession). This study examined people’s perceptions of prosecutorial decisions for drug offenders—whether they are punished, rehabilitated, or both—and whether people perceived …

Pay Attention! A Comparative Analysis Of Psychological Assessments And Neurological Mechanisms For Adhd Within A Pediatric Population, Kristen E. Newberry

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This study evaluated the predictiveness of the WISC-V, NEPSY-II, CPT-3, and CATA when compared to each other in a sample of 272 children aged 8–16. Archival data was analyzed using binary and multinomial logistic regression models to assess concurrent validity of specific subtests and indexes. Participants were grouped by ADHD subtype (inattentive, combined/hyperactive, or no diagnosis), with gender and executive functioning measures included in the models. Findings indicated that lower Cognitive Proficiency Index (CPI) and executive functioning scores (e.g., Animal Sorting, Response Set) predicted any ADHD diagnosis compared to the no diagnosis group, whereas higher CATA scores predicted lower Inattentive …

Subthreshold Depression In The National Epidemiologic Survey On Alcohol And Related Conditions Iii (Nesarc-Iii): A Quantitative Analysis Of Prevalence, Characteristics, And Burden In A Nationally Representative Sample, Scott T. Young

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

While subthreshold depression (subD) is relatively young for a diagnostic concept at a mere half century old, it has burdened individuals and societies for far longer. Research has established that it is a highly prevalent, clinically important entity with clear links to personal distress and impairment (including increased suicidal ideation and behavior), societal burden (e.g., increased reliance on public assistance programs), and economic costs (both personal and public). Research has also demonstrated that it represents a significant risk factor for incident major depression (MD) and that it likely represents both a prodromal and residual state in the normal course of …

How Do Religious Beliefs, Practices, And Experiences Impact Mental Health?, Samantha Coyne, Margo Gregor

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The following literature review discusses the influence religious practices, beliefs, and experiences impact mental health. The discussion will revolve around three main religions: Catholocism, Judaism, and other denominations of Christianity. Negative and positive influences of religion on mental health were found and discussed.