Browse Exhibits (28 total)

Camryn Zeller | More Knowledge and Less Sleep: Sleep Patterns in Nursing Students

There is precedent that nurses and students have unhealthy sleep patterns and sleep hygiene. The purpose of current research is to determine if a student’s year in school (i.e., first year, second year, etc.) is related to any unhealthy sleep patterns or hygiene they may present. A survey including the PSQI, the Sleep Hygiene Knowledge subsection of the SHAPS, and a survey of demographics screening out those with disordered sleep will be used to determine sleep quantity, quality, and hygiene knowledge patterns across cohorts. If there is evidence of poor sleep quality, quantity, or hygiene knowledge in this population, it indicates that more research should be done on how severe these variables may impact performance of nursing students. Highlighting specific years or times where these unhealthy practices may be more prevalent could help determine when sleep education should be utilized to help the population build healthy sleep habits before going into the nursing field. It will also provide data for future studies on what patterns of sleep to expect in this population. 

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Thomas Holtgraves

Psychological Science

Graduate

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Cassandra Zeigler | Emotion Dysregulation, Attachment Insecurity, and Perceptions of Justice and Fairness Among Emerging Adults in Romantic Relationships

Attachment styles in adulthood describe individual approaches to interacting and behaving interpersonally, or patterns of secure and insecure attachment orientations in romantic relationships (Bowlby, 1969). While previous research has demonstrated that insecure attachment styles are related to difficulties with regulating emotions (Gross & John, 2003; Owens et al., 2018; Winterheld, 2016), present literature has not addressed these associations in both members of relationship dyads using counterbalanced self-report measures. The current study will examine the associations between insecure attachment styles and emotion dysregulation among couples in romantic relationships. This study will employ a cross-sectional survey design with a sample of approximately 84 dyads of college students to obtain a medium effect size (r = .30) and a power level of 80% (Faul et al., 2007). It is hypothesized that individuals with lower levels of anxious and avoidant attachment tendencies will also report fewer difficulties with emotion regulation strategies, and couples are expected to report a high degree of similarity on both measures relative to each other. These anticipated findings would align with the similarity hypothesis that individuals choose dating partners with the same attachment style as themselves (Strauss et al., 2012) and the concept of assortative mating, that individuals seek partners with similar traits to their own (Macrae et al., 2008). Results will be analyzed with a series of Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r) tests to examine associations between variables at the individual level and to determine the degree of nonindependence, or the extent of similarity between the two members of the dyadic unit.

Faculty Mentor: Thomas Holtgraves

Psychological Sciences

Graduate

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Chloe Woodling | Resilience and Attrition of Women in Male Dominated STEM Occupations

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Gender disparities in occupation may greatly have to do with attrition rates of women in male-dominated STEM fields. These attrition rates may be due to sexism, perception of ability, and other various stressors associated with being in male-dominated occupations. It is important to understand differences between women who stay in STEM and those who leave to assist in addressing the gender gap in STEM occupations. Previous research has found that individuals with high levels of resilience are more likely to cope well with various adversities. Based on these findings, it is hypothesized that women with STEM degrees working in male-dominated STEM occupations will have higher levels of resilience than women with STEM degrees working in non-STEM occupations. By determining whether resilience is a protective factor for women in STEM, we may be able to begin building resilience level from a young age. A preliminary independent samples t-test revealed that there is no significant difference in resilience levels between women with male-dominated STEM degrees working in STEM versus women with male-dominated STEM degrees working in non-STEM. For the rest of data collection, the PI will be working toward recruiting more women in non-STEM fields as the number of women in male-dominated STEM is much greater.

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Thomas Holtgraves & Dr. Katie M. Lawson

Department of Psychological Science

Graduate

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Colette Delawalla | Development of the Impulsive Action Questionnaire

Impulsivity is empirically associated with externalizing psychopathology such as substance use (Berg et al., 2015), antisociality (Whiteside et al., 2005), ADHD (Winstanley et al., 2006), and internalizing psychopathology such as fear and distress disorders (King et al., 2018), Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorders (Henry et al., 2001). The widely used UPPS-P Model of Impulsivity suggests the construct of impulsivity reflects: Urgency (positive and negative), (lack of) Perseverance, (lack of) Premeditation, and Sensation-seeking (Lynam et al., 2007). Arguably the least well understood and most consequential facet of impulsivity is Urgency; the propensity to partake in rash action under the influence of intense positive or negative emotion (Whiteside & Lynam, 2001; Cyders & Smith, 2007). A key gap in our understanding of these mechanisms is if Positive and Negative Urgency are two separate constructs, or if they represent two variations of the same underlying mechanism. One way to evaluate if Urgency is one or two separate constructs is to see if individuals take different specific impulsive actions in the face of positive versus negative affect. As such, this study proposes the development of a scale to assess specific categories of behavior empirically associated with impulsivity. This study will gather one round of data, via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, of participants’ level of trait impulsivity, the types of impulsive actions they have taken in the last 30 days (ranging in three levels of severity; mild, moderate, severe), and how problematic those actions were to their long-term goals.

Faculty Mentor: Thomas Holtgraves

Psychological Science

Graduate

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Elli Cole | Graduate Students’ Health Insurance Needs: The Relationship to Depression, Anxiety, and Perceived Stress

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Graduate students frequently report intense stress which contributes to susceptibility to mental health difficulties (Evans et al., 2018; Marks et al., 2011). They are six times more likely to experience depression or anxiety than non-graduate students. Many seek psychological treatment and 50% report considering seeking mental health services (Hyun et al., 2006). However, 46% cite financial constraints as a barrier to receiving services (El-Ghoroury et al., 2012). Currently, there is no research on graduate students’ health insurance, despite potentially being an underinsured population at risk for poor mental health. It was hypothesized that lack of health insurance would predict greater stress, depression, and anxiety in graduate students. Data was collected from graduate students at Ball State University (N = 65), who answered questions about health insurance, depression, anxiety, and stress. The results indicated 21% of students did not have health insurance. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to assess how a lack of health insurance was associated with depression, stress, and anxiety. The results suggested there were significant differences between the groups F3,61 = 334.67, p < .001 and lack of health insurance accounted for 13% of the variance in depression, stress, and anxiety. Discriminant analysis suggested that depression was most strongly associated with differences between groups (.67) followed by stress (.25) and anxiety (.01). The need for health insurance and the mental health of graduate students is discussed.

Faculty Mentor: Anjolii Diaz, Ph.D.

Psychological Science

Graduate

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Erin Kaihara | Evaluations of Applicants for a Leadership Position in a Male-Dominated Academic Field: The Role of Gender and Race

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The current study analyzed how gender and race play a role in the hiring process of candidates for a male-dominated position in academia. Specifically, this research looked at how Hispanic/Latinx individuals compare with White individuals when applying to be the head of a computer science department at a university.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Katie Lawson

Psychological Science

Undergraduate

Honors College

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Jas Humble | The Expansion and Further Development of a New Episodic Memory Task

Humble_Student_Symposium1.pdf

Traditional episodic memory tasks utilize static images of objects, scenes, or words that do not mimic real-world memory experiences (i.e., they lack context). The contextual piece of information that is most frequently overlooked in current episodic memory research is the significance of the memory itself (i.e., why) (Leal et al., 2019). A recent study by Leal and colleagues (2019) developed a modified mnemonic discrimination task (MDT) using a set of naturalistic stimuli that included video clips of everyday experiences (e.g., positive, negative, and neutral stimuli). The current study aims to expand the development of Leal and colleagues’ (2019) modified MDT to establish its future use in an event-related potential (ERP) framework. Thus, we will expand the current data set used in the modified MDT to verify whether the additional videos and photos can elicit similar patterns as what were established in the previous study (Leal et. al, 2019).

Faculty Mentors: Dr. Thomas Holtgraves & Dr. Stephanie Simon-Dack

Psychological Sciences 

Graduate 

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Jessica Kiefor | Pandemics and Athletics: How COVID-19 Affected Sport Injury Rehabilitation

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This study sought to better understand the lived experiences of NCAA collegiate athletes who suffered an injury during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study utilized a descriptive phenomenological approach with focus groups. Eleven student-athletes that fit the inclusion criteria were interviewed, and the transcriptions were analyzed for themes. Themes included: (1) emotional stress, (2) impact on interpersonal relationships, and (3) delay in recovery. Subthemes were also identified to further expand the concepts illustrated within the main themes. This research provided insight to the common reactions of a student-athlete post-injury, interpersonal impacts on a student-athlete from both their injury and COVID-19, rehabilitation changes due to COVID-19, and a perspective from injured student-athletes on the current availability and effectiveness of mental-health resources. This information is valuable for athletic trainers, sport psychologists, social workers, and other physical and behavioral health providers working to promote the rehabilitation and well-being of an injured athlete during COVID-19.

Faculty Mentor: Matt Moore, PhD, MSW

Psychological Science

Undergraduate

Honors College

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Joseph T. Trentadue | COVID-19 and Mask Wearing Support

Moral Foundations Theory proposes that there are five moral frameworks through which individuals view their world from: care/harm principles, fairness/cheating principles, loyalty/betrayal principles, sanctity/degradation principles, and authority/subversion principles. Research has shown that liberals are more likely to both endorse and utilize moral arguments that are based on the principles of care/harm and fairness/cheating, whereas conservatives are more likely to endorse and utilize moral arguments that are based on the remaining three principles. The current study analyzed the impact that moral framing could have on individuals who selfidentified as either liberal or conservative in relation to mask-wearing and the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire assessing perceptions of COVID-19 regarding individual concern and perceived threat of the virus. Participants were then asked to complete the right-wing authoritarianism scale as well as the social dominance orientation scale to assess participant’s leanings. Participants were then shown one of three messages regarding COVID-19, framed in either a harm avoidance and fairness moral framework or purity and ingroup loyalty moral framework. Participant’s level of persuasion was then assessed, by assessing how often participants intend to wear a mask and how likely participants would be to support a national mask mandate. Results of this study will contribute to previous research that shows moral framing of statements can influence persuasion among a population that might not be likely to support it.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Andrew Luttrell 

Department of Psychological Science

Undergraduate

Honor's College 

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Katelyn Singer | Where's Your Mask? Changes in Distance Perception in Mask-Wearing

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This study presented a comprehensive view of the role that psychological resources (such as fear and anxiety) play in distance perception.

Utilizing a novel, virtual approach, researchers asked participants to judge the distance of a series of virtual characters while being depicted as either wearing or not wearing a mask. Participants were also asked to make these judgments under conditions in which the virtual character being depicted was identified as either someone familiar (friend) or unfamiliar (stranger). Participants also completed a demographic questionnaire and a Likert-style measure assessing their level of fear during conditions present in the coronavirus pandemic.

Results of the study indicate mask-wearing does influence participant distance estimates. Participants underestimated the distance of virtual characters in both experimental conditions when the character was depicted as not wearing a mask. Familiarity did not influence distance perception in this study. Age and education level were also found to be correlated with participant fear ratings and participant mean distance error scores in experiment 1.

These findings extend previous research that supports the role of fear in changes in perception, such as making objects closer (Cole, Balcetis, & Dunning, 2013), bigger (Vasey et al., 2012), and appear to move faster (Witt & Sugovic, 2012) when participants are exposed to fear-inducing stimuli. Continued research in this may provide clinical importance as identifying factors that affect perception may allow for better planning and awareness in the instance of other pandemic or mass disease events. Additional research should also be conducted to extend these findings to other populations.

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Daniele Nardi

Department of Psychological Sciences

Graduate

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