Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2009. / Title from title screen (site viewed October 13, 2009). PDF text: 134 p. : ill. ; 964 K . UMI publication number: AAT 3358954. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 216-257). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2004. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains v, 42 p. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 25-31).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-129).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008. / Title from title screen (site viewed Nov. 25, 2008). PDF text: vii, 160 p. ; 723 K. UMI publication number: AAT 3311407. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2005. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2009. / Title from file title page. Page Anderson, committee chair; Julia Perilla, Roderick Watts, Leslie Jackson, committee members. Description based on contents viewed Sept. 14, 2009. Includes bibliographical references (p. 73-83).

The current study examined the prevalence of severe weather phobia in high school students who had experienced a traumatic weather event and considered possible predictor variables to distinguish between students who did and did not develop severe weather phobia after experiencing the traumatic weather event. Participants (N = 17) completed a diagnostic interview and various questionnaires. Severe weather phobia symptoms (e.g., excessive fear, avoidance, anticipatory anxiety, realization that fear is excessive, distress or dysfunction) were common in the sample. Higher levels of PTSD symptoms and certain coping styles distinguished between those with phobia or subclinical phobia and those without, indicating that traumatic responses to severe weather and coping with severe weather by using social support or restraint predicts the development of severe weather phobia.

There is now considerable evidence that phobic responding is associated with a bias towards expecting aversive or traumatic outcomes following encounters with the phobic stimulus (e.g. Davey, 1995). In terms of conditioning contingencies, this can be described as a bias towards expecting an aversive or traumatic outcome (the unconditioned stimulus - UCS) following a phobic stimulus (the conditioned stimulus - CS). Research into the role of UCS expectancy biases in the development and maintenance of specific phobias has three basic requirements. First, it is not clear whether the ues expectancy biases evidenced in specific phobias represent a stimulus specific response or a more generalised associative phenomenon. Second, it is not clear what dispositional or state factors might contribute to the development and maintenance of such ues expectancy biases. Third, it is not clear what type of cognitive mechanisms might underlie UCS expectancy biases. This thesis uses a thought experiment version of a threat conditioning procedure to explore these requirements. The key findings indicate that spider phobics tend to overestimate the likelihood of aversive outcomes following phobic, but not other fear relevant stimuli, and tend to underestimate the likelihood of aversive outcomes following fear irrelevant stimuli in comparison to non-phobic controls. This dichotomous ues expectancy bias is mirrored both in the evaluation of stimuli in terms of dangerousness and valance, and in the generation of harm and safety cues with regards to these stimuli. Both positive and negative mood states, but not arousal states contributed to ues expectancy inflation, and in the case of revulsive animals induced state disgust also increased reported ues expectancies. The thesis concludes with an evaluation of the role of UCS'S expectancies in the development and maintenance of specific phobias, and a discussion of the implications of these findings for our understanding of the information processing mechanisms underlying the specific phobias.