Psychology Theses and Dissertations
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This collection contains some of the theses and dissertations produced by students in the University of Oregon Psychology Graduate Program. Paper copies of these and other dissertations and theses are available through the UO Libraries.
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Investigating Dopamine- and Norepinephrine-Linked Variability in Cognitive Control in Lab and in Life
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)A series of experiments investigated the relationship between locus coeruleus-norepinephrine (LC-NE) function and striatal dopamine (DA) tone and the flexibility of stability of cognitive control. Across 4 experiments, ... -
DOUBLY DOUBLE NEGATIVE: WHEN NOT BEING NEGATIVE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN BEING POSITIVE
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)When people are asked to compare themselves to others, they frequently engage in self-enhancement. Further, prior work has shown that when engaging in self-enhancement, people tend to downplay how often they engage in ... -
Investigating the Structure and Functions of Worldview Assumptions
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)The goal of this dissertation was to develop a relatively comprehensive and culturally de-centered measure of worldview assumptions, basic beliefs that humans have about the world and reality. A pool of 179 items was ... -
STATUS RELEVANT SOCIAL CONTEXT, GROUP MEMBERSHIP, AND FINGER LENGTH RATIO (2D:4D) AS PREDICTORS OF ONLINE SOCIOECONOMIC BEHAVIOR
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)It is often argued that increased prenatal androgen exposure (as measured by the second-to-fourth-digit ratio, or 2D:4D) predicts increased aggression. Such simplified models may obscure subtler processes, however. ... -
Moral Injury and Suicidal Ideation after Military Service: Mediating and Moderating Factors
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)The term “moral injury” has recently been introduced to describe psychopathology resulting from perpetrating or bearing witness to an event that transgresses deeply held moral beliefs, typically in relation to military ... -
ROLES OF PHYSICAL AND PERCEIVED COMPLEXITY IN VISUAL AESTHETICS
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)The aesthetic response is a multifaceted and subtle behavior that ranges in magnitude from sublime to mundane. Few studies have investigated the more subtle, weak aesthetic responses to mundane scenes. But all aesthetic ... -
The Dynamics of Global States in Executive Control
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)In the present work, we examine how the cognitive system responds to complex environments. It has been proposed that executive control, which is responsible for orchestrating high-level behavior in such environments, ... -
Where the Heart Meets the Mind’s Eye: Associations Between Cardiac Measures of Autonomic Activity and Selective Attention in Children and Adults
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)Multiple theoretical frameworks posit that interactions between the autonomic nervous system and higher-order neural networks are crucial for cognitive regulation. However, few studies have directly examined whether autonomic ... -
PSYCHOSOCIAL AND ENDOCRINE ANTECEDENTS OF RESPONSES TO SOCIAL-EVALUATIVE STRESS
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)Stress often precedes the onset of physical and mental health disorders, leading to costly and extended disability and even increased risk for death. I investigate psychosocial and endocrine precursors to stress responses, ... -
Pathways to Substance Abuse Treatment Success in Pregnancy
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)This mixed-methods dissertation considers the experiences of women who used substances during pregnancy. Retrospective interviews with 15 women, currently accessing inpatient substance abuse treatment, identify trends in ... -
Relationships without Reward: The Role of Childhood Abuse History in Maternal Addiction, Mental Health, and Parenting
(University of Oregon, 2017-09-06)Being a mother is often described as a difficult but rewarding experience. Maternal parenting reward (PR) may serve an important function, helping to facilitate responsive maternal care and healthy infant development. ... -
What Does Accuracy Get You? Empathic Accuracy During a Negotiation.
(University of Oregon, 2017-05-01)Accurately guessing the thoughts and feelings of another person, known as empathic accuracy, is thought to be a useful skill across many domains. However, the evidence supporting the value of empathic accuracy has been ... -
Understanding Patterns in Infant-Directed Speech in Context: An Investigation of Statistical Cues to Word Boundaries
(University of Oregon, 2017-05-01)People talk about coherent episodes of their experience, leading to strong dependencies between words and the contexts in which they appear. Consequently, language within a context is more repetitive and more coherent than ... -
The Axiology of Necrologies: Using Natural Language Processing to Examine Values in Obituaries
(University of Oregon, 2017-05-01)This dissertation is centrally concerned with exploring obituaries as repositories of values. Obituaries are a publicly-available natural language source that are variably written for members of communities that are wide ... -
Is Belongingness the Key to Increasing Student Wellness and Success? A Longitudinal Field Study of a Social-Psychological Intervention and a University’s Residential Communities
(University of Oregon, 2016-11-21)Institutions of higher education are replete with programs designed to position incoming undergraduate students to successfully persist toward a degree and to do and be well along the way. This longitudinal field study of ... -
The Biological, Psychological, and Social Properties Children and Adults Attribute to Virtual Agents
(University of Oregon, 2016-11-21)For children, high quality friendships are associated with adaptive social, emotional and academic functioning. There is also evidence that children experience real and imaginary friendships in similar ways, and that ... -
The Effects of Parenting on Well-Being in Families Reunited After Foster Care
(University of Oregon, 2016-11-21)Child maltreatment is a costly social problem that carries with it significant risk of poor outcomes across the lifespan. There is a large body of research on risk and protective factors associated with child maltreatment. ... -
IDENTIFYING PERINATAL PREDICTORS OF DISORGANIZED INFANT-MOTHER ATTACHMENT: AN IMPORTANT STEP TOWARD CONNECTING FAMILIES WITH APPROPRIATE EARLY INTERVENTIONS
(University of Oregon, 2016-10-27)Four decades of research demonstrates that infant-caregiver attachment has important implications for subsequent socio-emotional functioning, with attachment security predictive of a wide range of positive outcomes, and ... -
Social Status across Contexts
(University of Oregon, 2016-10-27)Social groups without formally designated leaders spontaneously form status-based hierarchies in order to facilitate efficient and effective progress toward a common goal. The prevailing theoretical perspectives about who ... -
First, Do No Harm: Institutional Betrayal in Healthcare
(University of Oregon, 2016-10-27)Seeking healthcare is an act of trust: patients reveal private information, pain, and vulnerability to physicians who have specialized knowledge and skills. Patients may endure risk and uncertain treatment outcomes based ...