Browsing Psychology Theses and Dissertations by Issue Date
Now showing items 21-40 of 76
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Perspective taking, stereotyping, prejudice, and behavioral explanations: When, why, and how perceivers take on the attitudes of a target
(University of Oregon, 2010-06)A growing body of research has focused on how perspective taking leads people to perceive themselves as "merging" with the target of perspective taking, in terms of how they cognitively represent themselves and the target. ... -
Reward abnormalities among women with bulimia nervosa: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study
(University of Oregon, 2010-06)The current study measured BOLD brain response using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore the hypothesis that women with bulimia nervosa have a hyper-responsivity of the mesolimbic reward system. Women ... -
Delaying decisions in order to learn the distribution of options
(University of Oregon, 2010-09)This dissertation explores two basic hypotheses about how humans make decisions when presented with a sequential series of options: 1) people have a desire to learn about or experience qualities of the set of options ... -
Effects of attention and working memory on perception
(University of Oregon, 2010-09)Selective attention refers to perceptual selection and working memory refers to the active maintenance of mental representations. Selective attention and working memory are believed to be two of the most important functions ... -
An observational and experimental examination of responses to the disclosure of stressful life experiences in real time
(University of Oregon, 2010-09)This dissertation involves two studies investigating the disclosure of life experiences in the context of real relationships in real time. Study 1 included 126 university students and community members. Pairs of participants ... -
Military influence tactics: Lessons learned in Iraq and Afghanistan
(University of Oregon, 2011-03)For most influence attempts in everyday life, success makes life easier and failure is a disappointment, not a tragedy. When U.S. soldiers deployed overseas attempt to influence civilians, however, success can save lives ... -
Differential Susceptibility to Rearing Influences: The Role of Infant Autonomic Functioning
(University of Oregon, 2011-06)The Differential Susceptibility Hypothesis and the related Biological Sensitivity to Context theory contend that individuals with "susceptible" traits reap the benefits of positive rearing environments and exhibit better ... -
The Influence of Gestalt Grouping Principles on Active Visual Representations: Neurophysiological Evidence
(University of Oregon, 2011-06)The cognitive ability to group information into chunks is a well known phenomenon, however, the effects of chunking on visual representations is not well understood. Here we investigate the effects of visual chunking using ... -
Intergenerational Relationships between Trauma, Dissociation, and Emotion
(University of Oregon, 2011-06)The purpose of this study was to investigate intergenerational relationships between trauma, dissociation, and emotion. Short and long term consequences of betrayal trauma on cognitive and emotion coping strategies in a ... -
Understanding Patterns of Change: Predictors of Response Profiles for Clients Treated in a CBT Training Clinic
(University of Oregon, 2011-06)Empirical support for the efficacy of CBT in treating depression suggests that the majority of clients will respond to this intervention. However, the more nuanced, and clinically relevant, question of "Which clients will ... -
Understanding Early Vulnerabilities for Anxiety: Predictors of Self-Efficacy in Toddlers
(University of Oregon, 2011-06)Self-efficacy, a proposed vulnerability for anxiety, is thought to be rooted in repeated experiences during children's early years. Few studies have directly examined how these beliefs and behavior patterns are manifested ... -
The “Ignored Common Factor”: The Role of Expectancy in the Treatment of Adolescent Depression
(University of Oregon, 2011-09)Since Rosenzweig's "Dodo Bird Verdict" in 1936, the "common" versus "specific" factors debate has continued to polarize the field of psychotherapy. Treatment expectancy is an important but often overlooked common factor. ... -
Neural Mechanisms of Mnemonic Precision
(University of Oregon, 2011-12)Working memory (WM) enables the storage of information in a state that can be rapidly accessed and updated. This system is a core component of higher cognitive function - individual differences in WM ability are strongly ... -
Resilience Among Veterans: An Archival Study
(University of Oregon, 2011-12)To investigate resilience against combat stress, 175 interviews from the Veterans' History Project were coded using the Deployment Risk and Resiliency Inventory and analyzed using the Linguistic Inventory and Word Count. ... -
The Relation of Impulsivity and Obesity: A Neuroimaging Analysis
(University of Oregon, 2012)The current study examined the relation of impulsivity and obesity in three neuroimaging studies using MRI techniques to test the hypothesis that deficits in brain regions responsible for inhibitory control are associated ... -
Development and Correlates of Anthropomorphism
(University of Oregon, 2012)One of the most heavily researched topics of cognitive development concerns children's growing understanding of people's behaviors as reflecting mental states such as beliefs, desires and intentions. Anthropomorphism is ... -
Implicit and Explicit Neural Mechanisms Supporting Language Processing
(University of Oregon, 2012)Despite the enormous complexity inherent to language, almost all humans acquire and use their native language with apparent effortlessness, simply from being immersed in a normal social environment. It has been hypothesized ... -
Trauma, Trust, and Betrayal Awareness
(University of Oregon, 2012)Women and men who experience early interpersonal violence are at increased risk for subsequent victimization. Little is known about the mechanisms by which early trauma increases vulnerability for revictimization. According ... -
Investigating the Role of Executive Processes in Young Children's Prospective Memory
(University of Oregon, 2012)Prospective memory (PM) is the ability to remember to carry out one's intentions. This is a critical ability for children to develop in order to function independently in their daily activities. This dissertation examines ... -
Attending to Action at Your Own Pace: Benefits for Knowledge Acquisition?
(University of Oregon, 2012)Past research has established that children typically learn better from live demonstrations than from 2-dimensional sources of information like video. The current dissertation investigated the efficacy of a new form of ...