In this Dissertation, the effects of amphetamine (AMPH) exposure on pair bond formation in the socially monogamous prairie vole (Microtus ochrogaster) are characterized and the neural mechanisms that underlie these effects are investigated. As reviewed in Chapter 1, drug use and abuse have profound consequences on social behaviors, including pair bonding, in humans. Researchers have begun to use animal models to systematically examine the effects of drugs of abuse on a variety of social behaviors and have identified potential neural circuits that may be involved in these effects. However, the effects of drugs of abuse on pair bonding behavior have remained unstudied—perhaps due to the lack of an appropriate animal model. Therefore, in this Chapter, we also introduce the prairie vole as a candidate animal model for use in such studies and review the growing literature that has begun to elucidate the neurobiology of pair bonding. In Chapter 2, we establish the prairie vole as an animal model with which to study of the effects of drugs of abuse on pair bonding. We first investigate amphetamine (AMPH) reward in this species and then demonstrate that repeated exposure to AMPH impairs pair bond formation. In Chapter 3, we examine the neural mechanisms that underlie AMPH reward and the AMPH-induced impairment of pair bonding in male prairie voles. We demonstrate that the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) acts in a receptor-specific manner in a mesolimbic brain region called the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) to mediate these behaviors. In Chapter 4, we examine the involvement of mesolimbic DA and the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT) in the effects of AMPH on pair bonding in the female prairie vole. We demonstrate that AMPH exposure alters OT and DA neurotransmission in mesolimbic brain regions and that these effects likely underlie the AMPH-induced impairment of pair bonding. Additionally, we demonstrate that site-specific treatment with OT into the prelimbic cortex restores partner preferences in AMPH-treated voles, and that this effect may be mediated through an interaction with NAcc DA. Finally, in Chapter 5, we discuss these findings and their implications in a general context and suggest future directions for related research. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2011. / Date of Defense: March 30, 2011. / Drugs Of Abuse, Oxytocin, Pair Bonding, Amphetamine, Nucleus Accumbens, Prairie Vole, Dopamine / Includes bibliographical references. / Zuoxin Wang, Professor Directing Dissertation; Thomas Keller, University Representative; Mohamed Kabbaj, Committee Member; Barbara Licht, Committee Member; Elaine Hull, Committee Member.

The Computerized Monitoring of Early Reading Skills (CMERS) is a computer adaptive test designed to measure reading skills (alphabetic knowledge, phonological awareness, vocabulary, comprehension, and fluency) in students in kindergarten through third grade. This test as well as conventional counterparts (CTOPP blending and sound matching; PPVT; WRMT word identification, word attack, and passage comprehension; WRAT spelling; DIBELS ORF, NWF, PSF measures; letter name and letter sound tests) and outcome measures (WRMT word identification, SAT-9, and FCAT-NRT) were given to 123 kindergarten students, 124 first grade students, and 119 third grade students in order to assess the validity of the CMERS measures. The results indicated that while the CMERS measures have good convergent validity there was little evidence for discriminant validity. The conventional measures always accounted for significantly more variance in the outcome measures than the CMERS or DIBELS measures. However, the classification rates of CMERS were similar to those for the conventional measures as well as the DIBELS measures. The results suggest that a) CMERS is a good first attempt at a computer adaptive test for reading given the convergent validity and b)CMERS could be used as a tool in the classroom for progress monitoring, but it is more time consuming for the student than current procedures. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2005. / Date of Defense: January 17, 2005. / Classification Accuracy, MTMM Matrix / Includes bibliographical references. / Joseph K. Torgesen, Professor Directing Dissertation; Stephanie Dent Al Otaiba, Outside Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member; Christopher J. Lonigan, Committee Member; Jon Bailey, Committee Member.

Children's reading success throughout elementary school can be predicted from their emergent literacy skills, behavior, and temperament. The mechanism linking these constructs is complex; the goal of this study was to use latent variable models to test whether the relation between temperament and emergent literacy was mediated by externalizing behavior. Children (N = 211) completed a battery of tests assessing their emergent literacy, inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional defiant behavior, positive reactivity, negative reactivity, and effortful control. In addition, adults rated children's temperament (parents and teachers) and externalizing behavior (parents, teachers, and examiners). Limitations of the measures used in this study, which are discussed at length, precluded use of planned analyses. Results from simplified analyses indicated that, in general, inattention mediated the relations between negative reactivity and effortful control with definitional vocabulary and phonological awareness. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2011. / Date of Defense: April 26, 2011. / Temperament, Emergent Literacy, Externalizing Behavior / Includes bibliographical references. / Christopher J. Lonigan, Professor Directing Dissertation; Barbara Foorman, University Representative; Janet Kistner, Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member; Mark Licht, Committee Member.

More than ten years of research has been conducted on the use of social stories to change the behavior of children with autism, yet the results of these studies continue to be inconclusive. While many articles indicate that social stories do result in positive behavior change, these articles are fraught with errors or threats to internal validity. The most promising results to date indicate that social stories are most effective when combined with prompts and/or reinforcement. This study sought to examine the impact of social stories on independent and prompted peer-directed social interactions while measuring frequencies of prompts and reinforcers available in the natural environment. These data were then compared to results obtained when prompts were combined with social stories or prompts were delivered without social stories, continuing to collect data on incidence of positive consequences. These data were evaluated using modified reversal designs with four participants who had all been diagnosed with autism. Three males and one female, with ages ranging from 10 to 21 years old, served as participants. Results indicate that increases over baseline in independent appropriate interactions were seen for all four participants, especially during the social story plus prompts condition and prompts only conditions. With only one exception, the social story alone (without prompts) did not result in increased social interaction. The greatest increases occurred when natural positive consequences were available at high rates. These data provide direction for future research on the use of social stories including incorporating prompts into the social story protocol and scheduling reinforcement for behaviors identified in the social story. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: April 3, 2008. / Social Skills, Autism, Social Stories / Includes bibliographical references. / Jon Bailey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Bruce Thyer, Outside Committee Member; Ellen Berler, Committee Member; Colleen Kelley, Committee Member; Frank Johnson, Committee Member.

Small group instruction was provided to preschool children (n = 58) to examine (1) potential benefits of systematic alphabet instruction as compared to typical preschool instruction, (2) the letter name-to-sound facilitation effect, (3) causal relations between alphabet knowledge and emergent literacy skill development, and (4) the influence of phonological processing abilities on alphabet knowledge development. Children were randomly assigned to receive letter name and sound training, letter sound training only, or numeracy training (serving as a treated control). Thirty-four 15 minute lessons were provided. Results suggest benefits of combined letter name and sound instruction in promoting children's letter sound acquisition, possibly due to letter name-to-sound facilitation. Benefits did not generalize to other emergent literacy skills. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2008. / Date of Defense: May 14, 2008. / Emergent Reading, Letters, Phonological Awareness, Literacy, Sounds, Preschool, Training, Alphabet / Includes bibliographical references. / Richard K. Wagner, Professor Directing Dissertation; Carol McDonald Connor, Outside Committee Member; Mark H. Licht, Committee Member; Christopher J. Lonigan, Committee Member; Christopher Schatschneider, Committee Member.

Joiner's (2005) interpersonal-psychological theory of suicidal behavior builds upon previous theories to provide a potentially more useful framework for differentiating between those who do and do not die by suicide. According to Joiner, three jointly necessary conditions must be met for an individual to both desire and have the ability to die by suicide: 1) feelings of perceived burdensomeness (i.e., feeling as though one's death is worth more than one's life), 2) a sense of thwarted belongingness (i.e., sense of disconnection with others), and 3) an acquired capability to engage in acts of self-harm. Joiner contends that not everyone has the ability to die by suicide; the human will to live is a strong force that is difficult to overcome. Engaging in behaviors meant to cause death can be a frightening experience that very few individuals are able to endure. According to the theory, the fear-inducing aspects of such behaviors can be overcome only through practice and gradual habituation. This can occur when an individual is exposed to life events (i. e., painful and provocative experiences) that inure him or her to the pain and fear associated with suicide. The purpose of the following studies was to explore three potential traits (i.e., affective lability, affective intensity, and impulsivity) that could confer distal risk for suicide insofar as they contribute toward individual acquiring the ability for suicide through increased exposure to painful and provocative experiences. Study 1 focused on the relationship between affective lability and intensity and exposure to painful and provocative events. Based upon prior research, we predicted a significant interaction between gender and affective lability and intensity, such that men with high levels of affective lability and intensity would have the highest likelihood of engaging in painful and provocative events. Contrary to expectation, gender did not interact with affective lability or intensity to predict exposure to painful and provocative experiences; however these variables did interact to predict acquired capability for suicide. Specifically, there was a negative association between affective lability/intensity and acquired capability for suicide for men, whereas there was no such relationship for women. Study 2 focused on the nature of the relationship between impulsivity (as measured by several different self-report and one behavioral measure) and acquired capability for suicide (as measured by self-report and physical pain tolerance and threshold), with the prediction that it is mediated by exposure to painful and provocative events. Results conformed to expectations; effect sizes were largest for facets of impulsivity related to sensation seeking behavior. Theoretical implications as well as implications for suicide prevention, risk assessment, and treatment are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2010. / Date of Defense: August 21, 2009. / Suicide, Impulsivity, Affective lability, Affective Intensity, Acquired Capability / Includes bibliographical references. / Thomas E. Joiner, Jr., Professor Directing Dissertation; Mark Winegardner, University Representative; Norman B. Schmidt, Committee Member; Jeanette Taylor, Committee Member; Jon Maner, Committee Member.

Children's reading success throughout elementary school can be predicted from their emergent literacy skills; thus, researchers have begun to increase their focus on preschool educational environments in an attempt to identify children at risk for later reading difficulty. Because in-depth diagnostic measures are often expensive and time-consuming to administer, researchers have developed emergent literacy screeners that can help identify children who have poor emergent literacy skills. In this study, 177 preschoolers were administered two emergent literacy screeners, the Get Ready to Read! (GRTR) and the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIs) and a diagnostic measure, the Test of Preschool Early Literacy (TOPEL) at two time points. Results suggested that the GRTR either matched or outperformed the IGDIs in terms of test-retest reliability, concurrent validity with the TOPEL, and the ability to predict TOPEL scores three months after initial screening. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2007. / Date of Defense: August 8, 2007. / Screener, Emergent Literacy, ROC Curves, Assessment, Preschool / Includes bibliographical references. / Christopher J. Lonigan, Professor Directing Thesis; Mark H. Licht, Committee Member; Chris Schatschneider, Committee Member.

Joiner's (2005) theory suggests that there is a key difference between those who attempt and those who complete suicide. Although both attempters and completers have a desire for death, Joiner proposes that only those who complete suicide have acquired the ability to end their lives. He posits that one can acquire the ability for completed suicide through exposure to painful and provocative experiences, including previous suicidal behavior. Two other variables are posited to contribute to an individual's desire, but not ability, for suicide completion: feelings of burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness. There is evidence, however, that social rejection (i.e., thwarted belongingness) can result in an individual being "numbed" to physical pain (DeWall & Baumeister, in press). This suggests that thwarted belongingness may also contribute to an individual's ability to engage in serious suicidal behavior. The current study compares a group of suicide attempters (n = 97) to a group of suicide completers (n = 86). It was hypothesized that both thwarted belongingness and history of pain exposure would be predictive of an individual's status as a suicide attempter or suicide completer. Results did not conform to prediction: history of pain exposure was not predictive of an individual's status as a suicide completer. Thwarted belongingness, however, was a marginally significant predictor of suicide completion. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2006. / Date of Defense: February 23, 2006. / Older Adults, Need to Belong, Suicide / Includes bibliographical references. / Thomas E. Joiner, Jr., Professor Directing Thesis; Norman B. Schmidt, Committee Member; Jon K. Maner, Committee Member.

A growing body of literature has begun to examine the transdiagnostic qualities of a variety of etiological and maintaining factors. Research suggests that intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is one such transdiagnostic factor that has been examined in various disorders including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), generalized anxiety disorder, as well as other internalizing pathology. A similar construct, intolerance of ambiguity (IA), has also been identified as a potential transdiagnostic factor. To date, IA has not been examined as extensively in clinical research, and while a theoretical distinction between the IA and IU has been made, it has yet to be examined in depth. Research suggests that uncertainty refers to future focused unknown elements while ambiguity relates to present oriented unknown. The present study sought to investigate this time-oriented distinction between IU and IA by examining the role of these constructs in checking behaviors. A student sample (N = 111) was recruited. Following completion of a questionnaire battery assessing OC symptoms, IU, and IA, participants completed a modified eye tracking task that had previously been associated with checking behaviors. This task included three periods; in the first period participants encoded the locations of letters in a grid, followed by the second period of a delay, culminating in a probe in which participants were asked whether or not a letter had appeared in the encoding grid (misleading vs. resolvable trials). This eye tracking task allowed for distinct blocks of trials, in which participants received the same amount of information in order to complete a trial. However, in the second block participants had the potential for future threat (a noise blast) if they responded to trials incorrectly. The difference in blocks provided a manipulation for the time-orientation of the unknown. Results indicated that in an unselected sample and when examined continuously, checking symptoms and intolerance of uncertainty were not significantly associated with most outcome measures from the eye tracking task. Higher intolerance of ambiguity was associated with more fixations and shorter duration of fixations during the encoding period. Limitations and future directions are discussed. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2016. / June 13, 2016. / Intolerance of ambiguity, Intolerance of uncertainty, Obsessive-compulsive disorder / Includes bibliographical references. / Jesse R. Cougle, Professor Directing Dissertation; Heather Flynn, University Representative; Walter R. Boot, Committee Member; Arielle Borovsky, Committee Member; Norman B. Schmidt, Committee Member.

Firefighters in the United States are at risk for developing a range of concerns given the physical and psychological risks of their job duties (Farnsworth & Sewell, 2011; Lourel, Abdellaoui, Chevaleyre, Paltrier, & Gana, 2008; McFarlane & Bryant, 2007; Wagner, McFee, & Martin, 2010). Additionally, the risk for suicide may be higher in this population than the general population (Savia, 2008). This phenomenological qualitative research study aimed to understand firefighters’ experiences following work-related crises, including how they were impacted across domains (e.g., emotional, cognitive, physical, relational), how they coped in the aftermath, and their use of social support. Therefore, 10 professional, active firefighters were interviewed in order to gain insights into their experiences. Additionally, an online survey was used as a sampling strategy, and to gain information on the types of events they experienced and those they find most distressing. The survey yielded a total of 132 completed responses with an additional 18 partial responses. The findings of this study included the identification of 11 cluster themes related to impact, coping strategies, and social support. Impact cluster themes included: different types of negative impact, different types of positive impact, circumstances of event, and cumulative impact of event. The themes related to coping strategies included: emotion-focused coping skills, problem-focused coping skills, and factors that are unhelpful to coping with an event. Lastly, social support themes included: types of support utilized, differences in support from firefighters and non-firefighters, barriers to using social support, and attitudes towards professional mental health services. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester 2016. / October 24, 2016. / coping strategies, firefighters, first responders, social support, trauma, work-related crises / Includes bibliographical references. / Frances Prevatt, Professor Directing Dissertation; Lenore McWey, University Representative; Alysia Roehrig, Committee Member; Shengli Dong, Committee Member.