Thesis (Ph.D.)--James Madison University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Dissertation (Ph.D.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Rosemery O. Nelson-Gray; submitted to the Dept. of Psychology. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 17, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 72-92).

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Psy.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2003. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 64-01, Section: A, page: 0066. Chair: Judith Kaufman.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains ix, 120 p.; also includes graphics. Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-120). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Working memory is involved in a variety of cognitive tasks, with working memory capacity predicting an individual's ability to process information and focus attention on taskrelated information. Subsequently, recent research has investigated whether working memory capacity can be improved through training and whether improvements generalise to other cognitive, behavioural or emotional domains. This training is typically adaptive in nature, changing in difficulty according to participant ability, and can be completed in the participant's home on a computer, giving it the potential to be an easily accessible intervention for a range of clinical populations. The first paper presents a systematic review evaluating the effectiveness of computerised working memory training for individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders, which are often associated with working memory difficulties. The review found that to date, working memory training has been investigated in four neurodevelopmental disorders: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; autism spectrum disorder; intellectual disability and specific learning disorder. The findings indicate that although training appears to produce short-term improvements in the working memory capacity, this does not reliably generalise to other cognitive processes or disorder-specific symptoms. The second paper presents a randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of working memory training for reducing worry in high-worriers. Working memory capacity limitations, and subsequent difficulties in attentional control, are believed to be central to the maintenance of worry. Participants were randomly assigned to complete 15 days of nonadaptive working memory training using a 1-back task, or adaptive working memory training using a n-back task. Training led to improvements in working memory capacity and worry symptoms post-training and at four-week follow-up, with improvements on the adaptive training task significantly correlating with improvements in working memory capacity and worry. These findings are discussed in terms of implications for clinical practice and future research, together with the limitations of the study.

<p> The purpose of this research is to explore similarities and differences of student burnout and student depression through educational (engagement in studying) and personal (personality traits) perspective. Due to the claims in literature considering burnout a popular word for depression, the main research question was whether burnout can be considered an independent nosological entity. The study included 135 undergraduate students in a Midwestern university, who filled out self-report questionnaires to measure burnout, depression, engagement, and Big Five personality traits. Correlational analyses showed moderate correlation between burnout and depression, and a similar correlation pattern of burnout and depression with engagement and personality traits. However, several regressional analyses indicated major burnout-depression differences in predicting engagement and personality. Based on these findings, the moderate relationship between the two constructs assumes that burnout belongs to the category of depressive disorders. At the same time, however, it was concluded that the significant differences in the way burnout and depression relate to engagement and personality may suggest that burnout can be differentiated from depression.</p><p>

No description available.

This study investigated the contributions that cognitive ability, social connectedness, and social exclusion make to employee workplace deviance. Positive correlations were predicted between social exclusion and workplace deviance. Participants with low cognitive ability were expected to respond to social exclusion with higher rates of deviance than persons with higher cognitive functioning. In addition, participants scoring high in social connectedness were expected to engage in less deviant behavior than those who generally feel disconnected from their environment. The measurements employed included the following: the Wonderlic Personnel Test, the Social Connectedness Scale, and the Bennett and Robinson (2000) Workplace Deviance Scale. Undergraduate participants were administered a series of vignettes and measures. Social condition was manipulated according to two levels (inclusion and exclusion). The results demonstrated no significant correlation between intelligence and CWB or social connectedness and CWB. Stronger correlations were observed between the social exclusion and workplace deviance. In addition, a significant interaction was detected in which persons with low cognitive ability who felt social disconnected were more likely to engage in organizational deviance under conditions of social exclusion than their socially connected counterparts with higher cognitive functioning.

Belief in the paranormal is a ubiquitous phenomenon throughout the world. However, valid evolutionary reasons to account for such beliefs are limited in their ability to fully explain all types of paranormal belief. In order to test the hypothesis that superstitious beliefs may have evolved as a by-product of a mind mechanism that promotes sociality and social intelligence survey data were collected. Furthermore, a second hypothesis was tested in opposition to the first. This hypothesis sought to illustrate that any negative impact on sociality caused by paranormal belief would require that the benefits of holding such beliefs be far greater than the costs of impaired social ability. Level of social ability was measured using the Tromso Social Intelligence Scale, the Revised Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test and the Revised Experiences in Close Relationships measure. Results for global paranormal beliefs were weak, but supported the second hypothesis. Further analysis showed that two factors from the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale, superstitious belief and traditional religious beliefs, showed consistent statistical significance. Belief in superstitions was negatively correlated with measures of sociality, whereas traditional religious beliefs were positively correlated with measures of sociality. These results indicated that these two types of paranormal beliefs have different effects on sociality. Further investigation into these differences may be beneficial. Further implications for an evolutionary model of paranormal beliefs are discussed.