The concept of mindfulness stems from Buddhist philosophies. Recently, it has become secularized and used in psychological and medical treatments. Training in mindfulness has been shown to improve a variety of mental disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety), as well as physical conditions (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome, chronic pain). Additionally, mindfulness training has been shown to improve risk-taking behaviors following several weeks of training. Reducing risk-taking behaviors is of particular importance in regards to specific psychological disorders, such as substance use and eating disorders. Many studies that examine the effects of mindfulness utilize training programs that are typically 8-weeks or longer in duration. However, some evidence indicates that brief, single-use mindfulness practices can have substantial effects on changing emotion and cognition in laboratory settings. The present study examined the immediate effects of a single-use mindfulness practicethe mindful body scanon risk-taking in an experimental laboratory setting. ANOVA analyses indicated that there was no significant interaction of condition and scores on the risk-taking tasksuggesting that the mindful body scan audio did not impact risk-taking. Implications and limitations are discussed.

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Psychological research on resilience has not adequately included minority populations, specifically lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and queer (LGBTQ) people. Additionally, LGBTQ research has been limited by its problem-focused paradigm which does not adequately account for the strengths that are found within this population. However, resilience may have a unique function within LGBTQ people. For instance, how might individuals thrive despite or as a result of enduring sexuality-related stressors and discrimination? This thesis engages with these issues/questions across four quantitative and qualitative studies. The aim is to examine how resilience functions within a LGBTQ and specifically lesbian context. The findings show that a heterosexual sample and LGBTQ sample had statistically similar levels of resilience (as measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), although the LGBTQ sample endured cumulatively more lifetime trauma. However, higher levels of trauma in the LGBTQ group were not associated with lower levels of life satisfaction, positive adjustment, or well-being. Subsequent qualitative analyses examined the influences on and processes of resilience in experiential accounts from lesbian women. The high resilience participants reported traumatic experiences during their lives, whereas low resilience participants did not, although all women reported homophobic experiences. Many of the findings yielded by this analysis echoed resilience research among other groups. If the findings apply beyond these participants, generic strategies for promoting resilience may be applicable to lesbian women. A further qualitative analysis explored the multidimensionality of resilience. The results highlighted that resilience is not the sole responsibility of the individual; rather, the family unit, the workplace and larger societal sphere play an influential role. A qualitative longitudinal case study with a participant was then conducted that paid close attention to factors associated with the dynamic nature of state-like resilience. The emphasis was on understanding what processes led to an increase in resilience over time. The main themes developed through this analysis included the strengthening of family relationships, the positive initiation of action towards personal growth, the development of internal affirmation of self, prioritization of mindfulness, and the discovery of meaning through self-reflection. A final quantitative survey-based study applied variables that were identified as important in the qualitative analyses (mindfulness, cognitive flexibility, personal and collective self-esteem and lesbian identity). The aim was to discover if these variables correlate with one another on a large-scale sample to better understand the process by which resilience fluctuates over time within a marginalized group. Findings indicate that self-esteem was the most significant predictor of resilience in a lesbian sample, followed by mindful non-reactivity, and psychological flexibility. The lesbian-specific measures were not as strongly related to resilience which reiterates the potential for the application of generic resilience-promoting interventions. A detailed intervention is then presented in the final discussion chapter which includes individual, group, family and societal segments. Overall, the contribution of this thesis lies in the development of novel research that highlights the strengths found in lesbian women. This in turn can help advocate for the equality of LGBTQ people as well as expand the current understanding of psychological resilience.

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Dietary restraint, or chronically controlling one's weight through diet, is a difficult pursuit. When faced with tempting foods, only a minority of restrained eaters manage to regulate their intake. Impulsivity, a multidimensional construct implicated in addictive behaviors, may be a factor that predicts regulation. The goals of the current study were twofold: firstly, we examined the effect of consuming a diet-violating preload on state impulsivity, and secondly, we examined how dietary restraint and changes in state impulsivity interact to influence subsequent overeating. In a laboratory study, female participants (n=146) with differing levels of dietary restraint provided measures of their state impulsiveness before and after consuming a 16oz preload of either a milkshake (High Calorie group) or water (Control group). The two state impulsivity subtypes assessed were inhibitory control, measured using the Stop Signal Task (SST), and food-specific impulsive choice, measured using a modified Delay Discounting Task. Results showed that after consuming a preload, all participants showed decreases in food-specific impulsive choice but not in inhibitory control. For those in the milkshake condition who were high in dietary restraint, higher initial inhibitory control and larger decreases in food-specific impulsive choice predicted lower subsequent caloric intake. No effects of impulsivity on consumption were seen for participants in the Control condition. These results suggest that subtypes of state impulsivity play differential roles in the eating behaviors of restrained eaters, and highlight important predictors of counter-regulation. Understanding the causal pathway between restraint and counter-regulation informs future directions in creating healthy eating interventions.

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Abstract This present study was conducted to examine the relationship between religious involvement and empathy towards victims of crime. There was a total sample size of 84 individuals that participated in an online survey. Religiosity was measured using the Belief into Action scale. Empathy towards victims of crime was observed using the Victim Impact Scale. A Pearson correlation showed no significant relationship between religious involvement and empathy towards victims. There was, however, a negative significant correlation between Accountability score and percent of income given to religious causes (r=-.297, p=.011), victim blaming and how much time is spent in religious volunteering (r=-.261, p=.025), knowledge of victim-related facts and how often one attends religious services (r=-.263, p=.029), percent of income given to religious causes (r=-.301, p=.012), and time spent in religious volunteering (r=-.312, p=.01).

abstract: Multimedia learning has become increasingly popular as it proceeds to understand how different senses such as the visual and auditory systems work together to present information. The aim of the present study was to examine the effect of temporal contiguity, a principle of multimedia learning, while displaying images and narration of fruits and vegetables to increase memorization of content. 21 preschool students between the ages of 4 and 5 from Arizona State University’s Child Study Lab were recruited for the purpose of the study. Students received one of two versions of a short video while inside the classroom. The two videos displayed information either at the same time or successively. Children’s knowledge was assessed with a drag and drop categorization game. The findings show there were no significant differences between the two conditions. Future studies should consider a longer training period when developing multimedia learning technology to ensure content is retained. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Engineering 2019

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