<p> Self-regulation is considered one of the most important operations of the human self and is correlated with multiple variables. The objective of this quantitative study was to explore the relationship between one&rsquo;s capacity to generate vivid visual mental images and one&rsquo;s capacity for both behavioral and physiological self-regulation. Fifty-three participants completed three assessments for this study: the Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire (VVIQ-2) measured capacity for mental imagery; the Self-Regulation Questionnaire measured behavioral self-regulation; and a baseline assessment of heart rate variability using a HeartMath^&reg; device measured physiological self-regulation. When using bivariate correlations to analyze the data, the results revealed that a significant relationship existed between capacity for visual imagery and self-reported behavioral self-regulation. Using a more modest &alpha; level of 90%, there was also a weak relationship between capacity for visual imagery and the predetermined markers for physiological self-regulation. These results underscore the value of visual imagery and imagery vividness when working with individuals struggling with self-regulation and they open the door to exploring causality between the two. </p><p>

abstract: Daily dairies and other intensive measurement methods are increasingly used to study the relationships between two time varying variables X and Y. These data are commonly analyzed using longitudinal multilevel or bivariate growth curve models that allow for random effects of intercept (and sometimes also slope) but which do not address the effects of weekly cycles in the data. Three Monte Carlo studies investigated the impact of omitting the weekly cycles in daily dairy data under the multilevel model framework. In cases where cycles existed in both the time-varying predictor series (X) and the time-varying outcome series (Y) but were ignored, the effects of the within- and between-person components of X on Y tended to be biased, as were their corresponding standard errors. The direction and magnitude of the bias depended on the phase difference between the cycles in the two series. In cases where cycles existed in only one series but were ignored, the standard errors of the regression coefficients for the within- and between-person components of X tended to be biased, and the direction and magnitude of bias depended on which series contained cyclical components. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Psychology 2013

<p> This quantitative study examines how attachment and masculinity influence men in their participation in social groups and support or therapy groups as measured by the ECR-RS (Fraley, Brumbaugh, Heffernan, &amp; Vicary, 2011) and the MRNI-SF (Levant, Hall, &amp; Rankin, 2013). An online survey was given to 308 U.S. male adults asking questions about their attachment to their primary partner, their family of origin, social groups they participate in, support or therapy groups they participate in, and their endorsement of traditional masculine gender norms. The results from this study suggest the following: that men will have the same level of attachment to their family of origin as they do to both romantic dyadic relationships and to social groups they participate in, men are more securely attached the more they participate in groups, more traditionally masculine men are more drawn to competitive type social groups, more traditionally masculine men tend to have a more avoidant attachment to groups, and masculinity endorsement doesn&rsquo;t affect men&rsquo;s level of participation in groups. Keywords: men, attachment, masculinity, groups, gender, norms</p><p>

<p> This study aims to advance understanding of the impact of higher education on students&rsquo; career development in today&rsquo;s more diverse student body, and to revisit the career development model to meet the evolution of the labor market. A latent structure incorporating three indicators is developed to measure college-prepared career readiness, i.e. generic competencies, subject-specific skills, and degree completion status. Using a national dataset of the 2004/09 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS: 04/09), this dissertation examines college students&rsquo; career readiness and the impact on their labor market outcomes in terms of job status and income six years after entering college. The central research questions are: 1) what is the status of students&rsquo; career readiness acquired through higher education, and what are the individual and institutional factors that affect college-prepared career readiness; 2) what are the relationships between college-prepared career readiness and labor market outcomes, and what are the student-level and institution-level variables associated with students&rsquo; labor market outcomes. A series of two-level hierarchical linear regression models are developed to address the research questions. </p><p> Results suggest that American students&rsquo; college-prepared career readiness is associated with multiple individual factors, including gender, ethnicity and immigrant status, academic integration, majoring STEM fields, high school GPA and college entrance exam scores. At the institution-level, selectivity and school control are related to college-prepared career readiness. With respect to labor market outcomes, college-prepared career readiness plays the most important role among all variables involved in predicting students&rsquo; job status and job income, at both student- and institution-level. In addition, socio-economic status, college major, duration of employment, academic integration and college entrance exam scores are variables affecting job status at the student-level. For job income, gaps favoring male and students majoring STEM fields are found at the student-level. Mean SES and research emphasis are associated with job income at the institution-level. </p><p> The findings provide evidence for university-wide programs designed to boost students&rsquo; academic integration, and partnerships between STEM departments and predominantly minority or high-need school districts. Particularly, there is a need for special career services that assist females in STEM fields access to equal opportunities.</p><p>

Direct behavioral observation of children in a classroom setting has become a required assessment procedure by school psychologists in order to determine possible out of class placement, services, and/or interventions. However, the reliability of direct behavioral observations has come under criticism. The purpose of this study was to determine the generalizability of systematic direct observation across items. In this study, a partial interval and momentary time sampling observational system is used in which 102 second grade children are observed during math for on/off task behaviors for 15 second intervals for 15 minutes. Data from this study were collected from two Western Massachusetts Elementary Schools and two elementary schools located on Cape Cod. Generalizability theory was employed to determine how many 15 second intervals are needed for reliability. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to obtain the variance components for the three sources of variability (i.e., persons, items, items x persons, and residual). Data were analyzed in two ways. The first looked at a simple definition of on and off task behavior using a momentary time sampling procedure. It was determined that the majority of variance was attributed to error (88%). Person variance or the differences among individuals did not contribute much to the variance (12%). Items did not contribute to the variance. Gabsolute and Grelative were both .88 indicating high dependability. A second analysis explored a more multidimensional definition of on and off task behavior using both a momentary time sampling and a partial interval procedure. Similarly, the majority of variance contributed to error (82%). Person variance only accounted for a small portion of the variance (18%) and items did not contribute to the variance. Gabsolute and Grelative both increased to .93. Due to the large amount of error in both analyses D studies were not able to be conducted to determine the number of items necessary to obtain a dependable sample of behavior. Further interpretation of results from a behavioral assessment perspective, implications for practice, and future directions are discussed.

No description available.

<p> Nonprofit organizations traditionally lack in areas such as financial resources, leadership development as well as a history of suffering from the effects of burnout. The concept of Emotional Intelligence has been associated with effective leadership skills such as employee motivation, job satisfaction and organizational loyalty. This study applied a non-experimental quantitative analysis to examine the models of Emotional Intelligence (ability and trait) and burnout as related to current nonprofit organizational leaders. Current nonprofit organizational leaders were assessed using the surveys Trait Emotional Intelligence Questioner- Short Form, Assessing Emotions Scale and the Maslach Burnout Inventory &ndash; General Survey. These surveys were distributed to identify the predictability of Emotional Intelligence ability from trait Emotional Intelligence, burnout, gender and age through the use of a multiple linear regression analysis. The multiple linear regression statistical analysis stepwise method found that trait Emotional Intelligence is a statistically significant predictor of identifying Emotional Intelligence ability of current nonprofit organizational leaders. The practical implications of this study provided nonprofit organizations the justification to create leadership developmental practices based in foundational psychological principles. The theoretical implications of this research identified that further scholarly literature be conducted on the correspondence of trait Emotional Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence ability as distinctly differing models that are associated through forecasting and prediction.</p>

<p> Police officers decide to detain and search civilians under uncertainty and risk, and both false positive and false negative errors can be costly. The courts apply the <i>reasonable suspicion</i> standard of proof to evaluate the constitutionality of nonconsensual stops and searches, placing an ambiguous and subjective assessment of a poorly understood psychological state at the center of laws, policies, and trainings on police-civilian contact. The law and psychology of suspicion may have important effects on the frequency, accuracy, and reporting of policing decisions. Investigating those effects requires an understanding of the policy landscape of police decision-making and the basic psychology of suspicion. </p><p> In this dissertation, I explore suspicion as a legal concept and as a psychological experience. I describe the role of the reasonable suspicion standard in judicial evaluations of the constitutionality of police practices, and the implications for the guidelines and trainings that agencies provide to officers. I contend that legal and quantitative analyses of policing practices should incorporate an understanding of the psychology of individual decision-making and the incentives created by the regulatory environment. The constitutional analysis assumes that civilian behavior, situational circumstances, and prior knowledge all affect an officer&rsquo;s experience of suspicion and subsequent actions. Very little is known, however, about the basic psychology of suspicion and how it might affect judgment and decision-making. </p><p> I investigate the psychological properties and covariates of interpersonal suspicion as reported by lay participants in a series of studies, establishing a baseline to which I will compare the effects of training and professional experience in future research. Using latent variable models and automated text analyses, I find that during experiences of interpersonal suspicion of a stranger, people tend to question the stranger&rsquo;s intentions and experience intuition, attentiveness, and wariness. In these situations, distrust is more closely associated with emotional arousal than interpersonal suspicion. On average, female participants report slightly higher situational interpersonal suspicion relative to male participants, and participants who identify as Black or African American report lower suspicion relative to those who identify as White, Latino, or Hispanic. </p><p> Relative to participants, the people who are targets of situational suspicion are more often described as male, Black, and Latino. On average, participants report a similar degree of suspicion across perceived target gender and racial categories, but there are significant differences among the associated emotions, inferences, and behavioral responses. Participants describing male and Black targets report experiencing greater fear and believing that the target&rsquo;s behavior was dangerous. Participants describing male targets are more likely to report inferring that the target&rsquo;s behavior was criminal, relative to participants describing female targets. </p><p> The dispositional tendency toward interpersonal suspicion is associated with neuroticism and low agreeableness in two samples of university students, and these findings are insensitive to variations in measurement instruments. In a simulation where university students take on the role of a police officer and report their suspicion in response to either Black or White male targets, I find that aggregate measures of dispositional interpersonal suspicion are uncorrelated with ratings of situational suspicion in response to the stimuli, which do not differ significantly by race of the target. An exploratory analysis suggests that dispositional suspicion, as measured by a single item, is associated with higher ratings of situational suspicion in response to White targets only. </p><p> My findings suggest that during experiences of interpersonal suspicion of strangers, people tend to question the stranger&rsquo;s intentions and experience intuition, attentiveness, and wariness, and that the type of cognitive arousal associated with suspicion may be context-specific. In the concluding discussion, I also identify findings that could be particularly relevant in the legal context, including the salience of intuition in experiences of suspicion and the variation associated with target race in the correlates of suspicion. I aim to advance the current understanding of suspicion and establish a foundation for future research on its role in legal decision-making.</p><p>

The purpose of this study was to develop a self-report questionnaire that would address subjective symptoms associated with seizures in adolescents. The study was a preliminary investigation as to the reliability and validity of the Seizure Disorder Questionnaire.;Two groups of subjects were studied. The seizure group consisted of 31 adolescents diagnosed with epilepsy and contacted through the Epilepsy Clinic at the Medical college of Virginia, the Comprehensive Epilepsy Clinic at the University of Virginia, Cumberland Hospital for Children and Adolescents in New Kent, Virginia, and the Williamsburg-James City County public schools. The control group consisted of 125 adolescents who did not have seizure disorders and were contacted through the Williamsburg-James City County Schools. It was hypothesized that the seizure group would affirm higher frequencies of symptoms associated with seizures than the control group, and that a significant difference would exist between the groups.;It was concluded that the reliability of the Seizure Disorder Questionnaire was moderate to high. The preliminary estimate of validity was supported by a significant difference between groups on 24 of the original items in the Seizure Disorder Questionnaire. A factor analysis of the 24 items suggested three factors that may represent separate sets of seizure disorder symptoms in the areas of physiology, perception, and memory.

No description available.