<p> Children often use social exclusion both to establish friendships and to protect interactive space during early childhood (Fanger et al., 2012). However, previous research has focused on elementary school age. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between friendship and exclusion among preschool children. The current study observed 16 focal children (named either part of a best friend pair or non best friend pair) for all behaviors related to being a perpetrator or victim of six types of exclusion as named by Fanger et al. Results revealed that children who were part of a best friend pair excluded others more, but were excluded by peers less while children who were not named as having a best friend excluded less, but were excluded by others more. These results identify a need for further research on social exclusion within the preschool context.</p>

<p> In a global context of rapidly expanding security practices, those cast as social threats are themselves often most risk of harm. In this dissertation, I develop the concept <i>surveillance threat</i> (ST) to describe the perception or experience of impending or actual harm faced by targeted civilians when they are stopped or screened by law enforcement. Singled out by race and other lines of sociocultural force, those stopped risk physical, legal, sexual, and spatial consequences. Yet focusing solely on the risk of harm limits the full meaning of this encounter. As I show in my research, civilians persistently struggle against these threats. Using the police practice of "stop and frisk" in New York City as a case study, I analyze ST and civilian response from the civilian perspective. In my mixed methods approach, I bring together survey and narrative data on stop and frisk, widening the unit of analysis from unidirectional harm to multidirectional struggle. Shifting attention to the interaction as a dynamic reframes these relations of power as more than a simple, imbalanced opposition. Instead, based on my findings, I theorize an embodied civilian <i>psychology of responsiveness to threat</i> that enables those targeted to engage the encounter as an active site of conflict. I find civilians consistently claim their rights, protect themselves and others, assert social power, construct critical knowledge, and pursue justice. Applying Abu Lughod's (1990) insight "where there is resistance, there is power," I then study how civilians enact urban civil life through their interactions with police, recognizing a <i>collective imaginary </i> civilians draw on to influence the conditions of their daily lives. With concern for the ways police practice is restructuring urban environments by enforcing particular raced sexualities and genders, I bring a special focus to civilian constructions of racialized, sexual, and gender-infused space. </p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of group songwriting versus poetry writing on the self-efficacy of adults who are homeless. The study was conducted in the day center of an emergency shelter where participants took part in one of two conditions. The treatment condition consisted of a single music therapy songwriting session during which participants (<i> n</i> = 19) collaboratively wrote lyrics and composed the music for an original song. After the group performed the song together, with the use of handheld percussion instruments, the researcher facilitated a closing discussion. The control condition consisted of a single poetry therapy session during which participants (<i>n</i> = 14) collaboratively wrote a free-verse poem, recited it together, and concluded with a facilitated discussion. Results showed increased mean self-efficacy scores for both conditions, though neither group's improvement was significant. While there was also no significant difference in the amount of change exhibited by one condition as compared to the other, the music group did evidence a stronger trend of movement toward higher self-efficacy. Music participants had higher mean change scores on 4 out of 5 pre/posttest questions, as well as a higher overall mean change score (6% change as compared to 2% in the poetry condition). The products created in each session were analyzed for observable differences. Overlapping themes included: love, peace, happiness, unity, goals, change, positive thinking, and overcoming adversity. The songs composed by the two music therapy groups were written in verse-chorus form and produced between 6 and 8 unique, unrepeated lines. The poem written by the poetry therapy group was through-composed and produced 26 unique lines. The poetry group product also contained more themes, more sub-thematic material and greater complexity, as evidenced by more detailed explication of each idea. The unique strengths of songwriting and poetry writing in this setting were illuminated by their use in this study; specific goal areas best suited to each modality are discussed. Literature reviewed strongly suggests the need for additional research regarding the use of music therapy with adults experiencing homelessness. The results of this study suggest that both music therapy and poetry therapy are effective therapeutic approaches for this population and that songwriting specifically, may have distinct advantages in addressing self-efficacy.</p>

<p> This study assessed the extent to which multiple administrations of an intensity scale; in this case, the Simulator Sickness Questionnaire (SSQ), influences participant responding on subsequent administrations of the same scale. The first experiment sought to determine this by using a laboratory task in which one group of participants were asked to watch a number of identical videos depicting a simulated drive from the driver's point of view, and fill out an SSQ and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) between viewings of the videos. Another group of participants were asked to view the videos, but were only asked to fill out the SSQ and CES-D once before the first video and once after the last video. Overall, it was found that multiple administrations of the SSQ and CES-D do not substantially influence subsequent responding on both scales. The second experiment sought to replicate the findings from the first experiment online by using Amazon's Mechanical Turk service. Here, the same pattern of responding to the SSQ was found. Together, these findings suggest that additional administrations of an intensity scale; in this case, the SSQ, do not substantially influence participant responding on subsequent administrations.</p>

<p>Throughout history, humans have gathered to create, produce, or listen to music. The ubiquity of behavior suggests music provides a social bonding mechanism, a concept however, that remains theoretically controversial. This dissertation uses four studies to examine social bonding theory, by testing the hypothesis that music structure and social context interact in the brain to produce pro-social behaviors, such as music preference similarity. To begin, we quantify and validate musical structure by employing a fractal model (1/f</p><p>&beta;of pitch interval complexity, and measure the effects on higher order systems such as perception (i.e., complexity, melodicity), emotion (i.e., mood, preference), and cognition (i.e., memory) in both a novel and repeated exposure paradigm. Results show that when complexity reflects an optimal ratio of predictability to unpredictability, random tone sequences evoke the perception of music, positive mood, and near perfect memory recognition. In addition, optimal levels are unaffected by repeated exposure, but responses to higher and lower levels become more music-like as exposure increases, providing the first evidence of a categorical response to different levels of musical complexity. Neurally, we show that optimal levels of complexity engage the primary sensory cortex (i.e., bilateral A1) and the sub-cortical reward system, specifically the nucleus accumbens (NAcc), a structure known to process both pleasant music and social rewards. We finish by showing that for an adolescent population, social context (i.e., knowledge of peer ratings) interacts with the level of complexity. When sequences are initially rated as musical, knowledge of positive peer ratings increases the magnitude of ratings. In contrast, when highly complex sequences are initially rated as ambiguous (i.e., neither musical nor not musical), negative peer ratings result in subsequent strong non-musical ratings. Together, results show that social context causes an additive effect that segregates the perception of what is rated as musical and what is not, ultimately driving preference similarity. In addition, results may account for why some preferences are universal and others are highly specific to a group or culture. Future directions are discussed in light of potential neural assessment tools and sound-based therapies to facilitate social bonding.</p>

<p> Community psychology is a unique field of psychology that perceives individuals as linked to their context. The role of psychologist within this branch of psychology is viewed as one who is responsible for addressing the individual, as well as the social patterns and structures that adversely affect well-being. The use of community gardens as a therapeutic tool may serve as a two-fold intervention that can be used at both the individual and community levels. This doctoral project explores the therapeutic benefits of community gardening through the lens of the community psychology perspective. Framed within a community psychology perspective in which clients are inextricably linked to their social and physical context, engaging with nature through community gardening may lead to healthier client outcomes. A literature review was conducted to inform the author of current data related to the study of community gardens and their impact on mental health. The reviewed data pointed to the impact of community gardens on individual physical and mental health, and the social and physical community contexts that additionally affect mental health. Additional consultations with experts in the field were used to corroborate and extend research findings in the literature. The information collected from the current body of literature and consultations were presented as a professional presentation to mental health workers to increase their knowledge of the therapeutic benefits of community gardening. The limitations of the current body of literature, considerations for application in clinical practice, and recommendations for future areas of study were also considered.</p>

<p> The current study examined how parental underestimations of child&rsquo;s weight status, parental worry, and the Theory of Planned Behavior variables (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) predict intentions to adhere to the American Academy of Pediatrics&rsquo; (AAP) recommendations of four childhood health behaviors. These behaviors include: 1) eating five fruits and/or vegetables per day; 2) spending two hours or less on screen time (television, computer, and video games) per day; 3) engaging in at least one hour of physical activity per day; and 4) limiting (having zero) sugarsweetened beverages. Parents (N = 78) of overweight and obese children, ages six to 13 years old, were recruited from pediatric medical clinics and participated in an online study, where they were exposed to these AAP behavioral recommendations for children and completed online measures. Attitudes predicted of behavioral intentions for all recommendations except fruit and vegetable consumption. Subjective norms marginally predicted behavioral intentions for physical activity and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. Perceived behavioral control predicted behavioral intentions for the four recommendations. Parental worry predicted behavioral intentions for fruit and vegetable consumption. Additional theoretical and practical implications of this research are also discussed.</p>

<p> The effects of homonegativity for same-sex attracted individuals in the United States can lead to serious physical and/or mental health problems, affecting more than 9 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals. While research into LGBT issues has been undertaken in earnest since the 1970s, there has been little examination on the role of homonegativity for gay men, nor the types of support that would be helpful to combat the effects of homonegativity. This qualitative study explored the lived experiences of homonegativity among gay White men in the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants were recruited through the use of convenience sampling, snowball sampling, and strategically placed posters in locations frequented by gay men. The 12 participants were between the ages of 29 and 81 and identified as gay men who had experienced at least one significant gay relationship. The research questions explored these men's perceptions and experiences of homonegativity and its impact upon various aspects of their lives. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis utilized to identify relevant themes and interpretations. Participants acquired new knowledge and meaning through the exposure and discussion of in-depth concepts of homonegativity. They also identified experiences that included internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural homonegativity. Ten prominent themes emerged from this study. Among them were: prescriptive gender role compliance; a general unease with being gay; experiences of bullying, verbal and physical attacks; workplace discrimination; religious exclusion and discrimination; the effect of negative media portrayals of homosexuality; and experiences of governmental discrimination. Seven themes emerged from an exploration of homonegativity, prominent ones were: lack of family support, safety concerns, experiences of homonegativity from their partners, and an acknowledgement that homonegativity impacts their relationships. Participants reported that the process of being exposed to new and expanded concepts of homonegativity created insight into how homonegativity operates in their lives and relationships. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to identify meaningful personality differences (and/or personality disorders) between convicted sexual offenders and convicted Internet sex offenders. For the purpose of this study, convicted sexual offenders will include only rapists and child molesters, referred to as Hands-On Adult Victims (HOAV) and Hands-On Child Victims (HOCV), respectively. </p><p> Nine of the 24 MCMI-III clinical scales were used to examine potential meaningful differences: schizoid, avoidant, depressive, dependent, histrionic, narcissistic, antisocial, compulsive, and negativistic scales. Archival data consisting of MCMI-III scores of 75 convicted sex offenders from the three groups were analyzed. Significant differences were found in two of the nine MCMI-III scales: schizoid and narcissistic. Internet offenders displayed higher elevations on the schizoid scale when compared to the HOAV and HOCV offenders; no differences were found between the HOAV and HOCV offenders in this scale. On the narcissistic scale, HOCV and HOAV offenders scored similarly to each other but both had elevated scores compared to the Internet offenders. The general lack of differences in personality profiles among the three offender groups suggests that treatment interventions could usefully focus on dynamic risk factors rather than on personality factors.</p>

Experiments reported here examine the susceptibility of memory to social influence. In Experiments 1 and 2, the subject's recognition memory for a list of words was tested in the presence of another respondent, with the two taking turns to report their responses aloud. The other respondent was another subject in the first experiment and a confederate in the second. In Experiment 2, each response was supplemented by a confidence rating according to a 3-point scale. In Experiment 3, rather than responding aloud, subjects recorded their answers in a booklet which contained the responses of two pseudosubjects. In all experiments responses were biased in the direction of preceding responses of other respondent(s). Conformity was greater when the word had not been studied than when it had. Thus, conformity of (reported) memory can readily be demonstrated in the laboratory. Such findings of conformity illustrate one source of false memory.