Theses and Dissertations - Department of Educational Studies in Psychology, Research Methodology, and Counseling

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A Need-Press Comparison of Australian and United States College Groups
(University of Alabama Libraries, 1970) Lewis, Ruth Benella; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of the study was to conduct a cross-cultural comparison of students and environments in colleges and universities of the United States and the University of Adelaide, South Australia. As a result of a Fulbright-Hayes research grant, it was possible to gather data for this study in Adelaide, from August, 1966, to September, 1967.
Relationships Between Frequently Used Measures of Verbal Intelligence and a Measure of Personal Langauge Development
(University of Alabama Libraries, 1974) Gunn, Curtis Dale; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
In recent years the widespread use of intelligence tests in the school age population has been strongly criticized. The most prevalent criticism of these tests is that the resulting IQ scores are verbally based. Those who criticize these tests say that the verbal portion may not be fair to members of subcultural groups because of differences in language experiences in their backgrounds. While most of the complaints about the inequalities of intelligence testing revolve around this idea, the fact that our society is a highly verbal one is recognized and accepted. Many investigators say that people with different cultural backgrounds may have some peculiar condition of perceptual or learning set that causes their understanding of verbal behavior to be different from that of the norming groups, and not related to intellectual deficits.
Living on the down low: stories from African American men
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Wilson, Priscilla Gann; Carmichael, Karla D.; Pleasants, Heather M.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This study examined the lived experiences of African American men who publicly identified as heterosexual, but privately engaged in intimate relationships with other men. These men are identified by several terminologies including Down Low (DL) and men who have sex with men (MSM). Seven men participated in the study which consisted of three audiotaped phone interviews over the course of three months. One of the participants withdrew from the study before his last interview. The participants identified themselves as being African American, over the age of 19, and having lived, or are currently living, on the DL. The participants were interviewed about their experiences including family of origin beliefs about people who were gay, influences in the African American community that shaped their sexual identity construction, their lives on the DL, mental health issues that they may have experienced, and disclosure and non-disclosure of their sexual identity. Phenomenological research methodswere used to collect and analyze and data along with the theoretical methodological framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT), which was used as a tool to identify how factors of race, gender, and sexuality play roles in the construction of African American DL and MSM. QSR NVIVO qualitative research software was also used to code categories and identify relationships that resulted from coding the transcripts. Themes that resulted from the data analysis included how the African American family and community (including the church) influenced the construction of sexual identity of African American men. Other themes included masculinity, mental health issues and the issue of disclosure and non disclosure of sexual identity among African American DL and MSM. The CRT concept of counterstories allowed the men to discuss pivotal stories that marked a defining moment in their lived experiences. Research is still needed to further explore sexual behavior of African Americans. Counselors and mental health providers are encouraged to educate themselves about the sexual identity construction of African Americans, and how factors in the African American family and community continue to shape the sexual identity of its members.
Perceptions of a university-school collaborative partnership
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Smith, Annie Kaye; McLean, James E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Issues of educator accountability and student achievement have almost demanded scientific research showing the impact of university- school partnerships. Assessing Professional Development School (PDS) partnerships in teacher education presents a challenge for researchers because of the uniqueness of each program and the lack of a universal definition, outlining a single prototype. PDS partnerships have become a model for school reform by underlining the need for collaboration between K-12 schools and universities. The desired outcome is education reform that occurs simultaneously between K-12 schools and at the university level. Although participants involved in PDS partnerships tend to attest to their value, connections between PDS activities and their impact on teaching have been hard to document. Using a mixed methods research design, this study examined the impact of the partnership of the University of Alabama and the Tuscaloosa City and County School Systems and then compared those findings to other PDS programs.
The academic achievement gap between African American and White students: an exploratory study on reading achievement and intrinsic motivation
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Herron-McCoy, LaMonica Lanell; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this study was to explore the academic achievement gap between upper elementary African American and White students. This study sought to assess any relationships between whether academic reading, students attitudes toward reading, and academic intrinsic motivation related to ethnicity. This study also sought to assess whether differences in reading achievement, attitudes, and intrinsic motivation varied by ethnicity, gender, or SES. Participants in the study were students enrolled in grades 4 through 6 in a rural West AL school district. Students with parental consent participated by completing the Children's Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory (Gottfried, 1990) to assess motivation and the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey (McKenna & Kear, 1990) to assess reading attitudes. Scores from the SAT 10 and Dibels were also utilized to assess reading achievement. Results indicated that based upon the population observed that SES is an outstanding variable in this study. In addition to research suggesting evidence that SES is a major correlate of the achievement gap, the focus turned towards a specific aspect of SES which is wealth. Children from wealthy families acquire more experiences through provisions of social and cultural capital which may be supportive in explaining the disparities between African American and White students in academics, including reading achievement and intrinsic motivation.
Bibliotherapy: an examination of school counselors' attitudes and use
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Townsend, Karen Moore; Satcher, Jamie; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Bibliotherapy has been shown to be a natural, appropriate tool for school counselors, supporting both student therapeutic concerns, as well as the academic goals of the setting. However, no prior research was identified that examined counselors' attitudes toward bibliotherapy or their use of bibliotherapy as a counseling technique in the schools. This study proposed to determine (a) if school counselors differed in their use of or attitudes toward bibliotherapy when compared by student and counselor characteristics, and (b) if selected student and counselor characteristics predicted the counselors' use of or attitudes toward bibliotherapy. The data were collected using an instrument developed for this study, the Attitudes Toward Bibliotherapy Scale. Participants were members of the Alabama School Counseling Association (ALSCA). Of the 870 packets that were mailed to members, 250 usable surveys were returned. The results indicated that counselors' use of bibliotherapy, as well as their attitudes toward bibliotherapy, differed significantly on one variable: predominant gender of the students served. Only one variable was found to significantly predict the counselors' use of bibliotherapy: the average age of the children served. Finally, two variables were found to significantly predict the counselors' attitudes toward bibliotherapy: (a) the average age of the children served, and (b) the number of continuing education activities related to bibliotherapy in which the counselors participated in the past 12 months.
Impact of moral judgment and moral disengagement on rape-supportive attitudes in college males
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2009) Carroll, Jessica Ashley; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Sexual aggression and, more specifically, non-stranger sexual assault, commonly referred to as date rape, has been documented as a serious problem on college campuses for at least three decades (Fezzani & Benshoff, 2003). Current research shows that college fraternity men are more likely to rape or sexually assault college women than non-fraternity men (Bohmer & Parrot, 1993; Boumil, Friedman, & Taylor, 1993; Sanday, 1990). This study supplemented the existing explanations for high incidence of sexual assault by confirming a hypothesized model to explain rape-supportive attitudes in fraternity males. Specifically, this study hypothesized a model in which moral disengagement and moral judgment explained the rape-supportive attitudes of fraternity members. The Moral Disengagement Scale, Defining Issues Test-2, and Sexual Assault Vignette were administered in a cross-sectional study to undergraduate fraternity (N=66) and non-fraternity males (N=134). Preliminary analysis indicated that fraternity men were significantly higher than non-fraternity men on moral disengagement (t (198) = 12.27, p<.05, d = 1.7), lower on measures of moral judgment (t (198) = 3.85, p<.05, d = .58) and higher on measures of rape-supportive attitudes (t (198) = -5.10, p<.05, d=-.74). The path analysis indicated that there were significant relationships between the variables in the hypothesized model, and a t-test for parallelism indicated that there were significant differences in the paths for fraternity and non-fraternity men. The relations among constructs and significant differences in scores indicate that future research on ethical interventions should be explored.
Moral identity of teachers of the underprivileged
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Hunter, Mark Alan; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Moral identity is the extent that a person has constructed his or her sense of self around moral concerns (Hardy, 2006). This research study focuses on whether there is a difference in the moral identity of teachers who serve underprivileged students in the inner city and teachers who serve more affluent students in the suburbs. Insight into the moral identity of teachers of the underprivileged was achieved by utilizing both quantitative and cognitive anthropological qualitative methods, and focusing on the role of moral judgment, religiosity, and personality. Teachers were categorized based on educational environment (inner city or suburban), educational experience (taught for less that ten years or more than ten years) and educational level of teachers (Bachelors or either a Masters or Educational Specialist degree). The Defining Issues Test 2, a measure of moral judgment, did not reveal significant differences in the scores of inner city teachers (N = 29) and suburban teachers (N = 32); teachers who taught less than ten years (N = 27) and teachers who taught more than ten years (N = 34); and teachers who did not have a graduate degree (N = 22) and teachers who did have a graduate degree (39). The Quest Scale on the Religious Life Inventory (Batson, 1993) is an open-ended, questioning approach to religion that is associated with reduced authoritarianism, tolerance, and universal compassion (Batson, 1983). A one-way ANOVA revealed no significant difference between elementary inner city and suburban teachers on the Quest Scale F (1,61) = 1.859, p = .178; no significant difference between teachers who taught in the classroom less than ten years and those who have taught ten years or more F(1,60) =1.881, p = .175; However, higher Quest Scale scores for teachers with a graduate degree than teachers with a undergraduate degree only resulted in a significant difference between the two categories of teachers, F(1, 60) = 7.460, p = .008. Cultural domain analysis, a cognitive anthropology methodology, examined contrasts between inner city and suburban teachers in their classification and ranking of 21 qualities of a good teacher. Both categories of teachers classified the same qualities as either child-centered, with both equity and caring components, which are associated with moral cognition; or adult-centered, with both openness or interaction components. Inner city teachers preferred equity based qualities when interacting with students and suburban teachers preferred caring based qualities. Only the inner city teachers achieved cultural consensus in their classifying the 21 qualities of a good teacher, and neither group utilized the same cultural domain in classifying the qualities of a good teacher as they used in ranking the qualities of a good teacher. Teachers who were highly positively or highly negatively correlated to the cultural domains of inner city or suburban teachers were selected to be interviewed with the Life Story Interview (McAdams, et al, 2008). There was not a difference between the inner city and suburban teachers regarding a religious motivation for becoming a teacher. However, inner city teachers stated that there is a great sense of community and teamwork between inner city teachers in supporting one another to remain dedicated to their jobs. This sense of community and teamwork was not found among the suburban teachers. Findings of this research indicate that further implementation of cultural domain analysis should be explored in the field of moral psychology.
Examining explanatory style's relationship to efficacy and burnout in teachers
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Fineburg, Amy Cheek; Robinson, Cecil D.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Explanatory style, the ways in which people explain both good and bad events (Seligman, 1998), shares theoretical components with teachers' sense of efficacy (Tcshannon-Moran & Woolfolk-Hoy, 2001), which is how capable teachers feel about teaching. According to Bandura (1994), efficacy informs explanatory style, but this assertion does not explain how hard-fought classroom mastery experiences are overcome with little or no efficacy. The three studies presented here suggest that explanatory style mediates teachers' sense of efficacy in predicting burnout in teachers, providing a way to develop efficacy using positive and negative events. Study one provides a conceptual overview of teacher self-efficacy, explanatory style and teacher burnout research and examines the theoretical relationships among these constructs. This study provides the theoretical foundation for studies two and three. In study two, the Educator Attributional Style Questionnaire (EdASQ), based on the more general Attributrional Style Questionnaire (ASQ), was developed to measure teachers' explanatory style. Study two surveyed 350 teachers from three school districts, two of which were used as a cross-validation group for comparison with the other district. The items of EdASQ have high internal reliability and convergent validity, for it correlates with the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) in a similar fashion as the ASQ. Confirmatory factor analysis supports two distinct measurement models for the EdASQ, one for positive event items and one for negative event items. Study three tests the relationships among explanatory style, teachers' sense of efficacy and teacher burnout. The responses from all the teachers from study two were used for this study. Structural models where explanatory style is a mediator for teachers' sense of efficacy in predicting burnout, as measured by the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI) and the number of upcoming professional development hours teachers expect to participate in, were superior to the alternative models. The models suggest that pessimists' explanations of good events mediate their efficacy in predicting burnout while optimists' explanations of bad events mediate their efficacy in predicting burnout. Future research is discussed, including the development of teacher training that capitalizes on explanatory style's role in building efficacy to avoid burnout in teachers.
Biofunctional embodiment of moral development: the impact of affect, moral cognition, maturation and experience playing sports on acceptance of aggression in sports by Italian adolescents
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Zengaro, Sally Ann; Iran-Nejad, Asghar; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the relationships between moral judgments, affect, moral disengagement, general aggression, and the self-reported attitudes toward the acceptance of aggression in sports among Italian adolescents. Several research questions guided this investigation: 1) Can moral disengagement, maturation, affect, and sports experience predict the acceptance of aggression in sports? 2) Are there significant differences in a model of acceptance of aggression between male and female participants? 3) Are there significant differences in a model of acceptance of aggression between participants in Northern Italy and Southern Italy? Three hundred thirty-two adolescents from two high schools in northern and southern Italy participated in the study. They completed a demographic questionnaire about their age, gender, height, weight, main sport, years they have played their main sport, and the level of competition. They also completed five questionnaires on moral decision-making in sports, moral disengagement, a general aggression scale, a scale measuring positive and negative affect, and the Defining Issues Test-2. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to identify a model of adolescents who are more likely to approve of sports aggression. The results indicated that the acceptance of sports aggression could be predicted by an integrated model based on the biofunctional modes of constructive and unconstructive functioning. It was found that adolescents who were already in a negative state and who characterized themselves as generally aggressive were more likely to accept sports aggression. Those who participated in sports were more likely to have a positive disposition, which was not a significant factor in accepting sports aggression. The results indicated that participating in sports was not a significant predictor of sports aggression, and it was the adolescents in an unconstructive dispositional mode who were more accepting of aggressive tactics in sports. This dissertation contributes to our understanding of adolescents and their attitudes towards unethical sports behavior and moral decisions.
Differences in motivation, self-evaluation, and academic achievement for African American and Caucasian students using structural equation modeling
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Raineri, Gina M.; Harrison, Patti L.; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Structural equation modeling was used to determine if the relationships between motivation, self-evaluation, and academic achievement can be defined by a proposed structural model for a total sample (N=231) and for African American (n=144) and Caucasian (n=78) samples examined separately. The proposed model suggested that there are direct relationships between motivation and academic achievement, self-evaluation and academic achievement, and motivation and self-evaluation. Measurement models were tested to determine if the observed variables were appropriate measures for their respective latent variables. Structural models were then tested. Results indicated that the proposed model does not correctly define all of the relationships between motivation, self-evaluation, and achievement. For the total sample, as well as the African American and Caucasian samples, a direct path was found from goal orientation to achievement. For the ethnic samples, self-evaluation was directly related to motivation and goals; however, it was not part of the total sample model. There were differences in the models of achievement for the African American and Caucasian samples, as motivation was more predictive of achievement for Caucasian students and goal orientation was more significant in defining achievement for African American students. Results of this study should direct future research to consider further evaluation of models of achievement with different and larger populations of ethnic groups, as a significant difference was found for ethnicity on measures of achievement. Socioeconomic status and gender were also possible confounding factors that should be further investigated.
Codependency among nurses: a comparison by substance use disorder and other selected variables
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Self, Jo Simmons; Satcher, Jamie; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Previous studies have shown that the profession of nursing has inherent risk factors that may contribute to Substance Use Disorder among nurses. One of those risk factors may be codependency. This study explored the relationship between codependency and self-reported history of treatment for SUD among nurses. It also compared nurses' codependency scores by gender, race, birth order, having experienced or witnessed physical violence in the family of origin, having a parent or primary caregiver with SUD, and having a parent or primary caregiver with a history of mental illness. One thousand nurses with active licensure in a southeastern state were mailed survey packets which included the Spann-Fischer Codependency Scale and a demographic questionnaire. Two hundred and two surveys were returned. The results indicated that the nurses' codependency scores differed significantly when compared by history of treatment for SUD. Nurses who reported treatment for SUD had higher codependency scores than nurses who reported no treatment for SUD. The nurses also differed significantly in their codependency scores when compared by their having witnessed or experienced physical violence in their family of origin. Those who reported a history of witnessing or experiencing physical violence in their family of origin had higher codependency scores than those who did not. The third significant finding was that nurses who reported having a parent or primary caregiver with a history of mental illness had higher codependency scores than those who did not.
Theoretical counseling orientation: an initial aspect of professional orientation and identity
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Jackson, James Lloyd; Wilcoxon, S. Allen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The literature on counselor development suggests that the development of a professional identity is a fundamental aspect of counselor training. The unique demands placed on counselors to integrate aspects of both personal and professional identity into the therapeutic process (Skovholt & Ronnestad, 1995) make development of a professional identity a critical component of the training of counseling practitioners. An examination of the counselor development literature suggests that the processes of developing an integrated professional identity converge with the processes by which counseling students align with a theoretical orientation. Furthermore, the significant impact of theoretical orientation on clinical work suggests that the articulation of a personal theoretical orientation is an essential component of professional identity development for counselors. The current study examined how a graduate course emphasizing a review of counseling theories impacted the identity statuses of graduate counseling students from the beginning to the end of a semester. Participants were enrolled in a counselor education program accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Identity status was explored using the identity status model of James Marcia (1964) which consists of four identity statuses, Diffusion, Foreclosure, Moratorium, and Achievement. These statuses are based on the dimensions of Exploration and Commitment in Erik Erikson's (1950) fifth stage of psychosocial development, Identity vs. Identity Diffusion. Specifically, this study investigated how the process of articulating a theoretical orientation impacted levels of Exploration, Commitment, and the identity statuses of graduate students enrolled in coursework in counseling theories. Empirical evidence of counseling student development as an outcome of this curricular activity was examined through a single group pretest-posttest design using the Ego Identity Process Questionnaire (EIPQ), which was administered at the beginning (T1) and end (T2) of the theories coursework within a given semester. An analysis of Exploration mean scores, Commitment mean scores, and identity status categories found no statistically significant differences between the T1 and T2 administrations of the EIPQ. A discussion of the findings is included, with implications for counselor educators as well as recommendations for further research.
Does affect explain the relationship between moral judgment development and political choices?
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Mechler, Heather Susanne; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Over the past four decades, research in the area of moral judgment development has shown a relationship between indices of moral judgment development and political choice measures, although no common factor has been proposed to explain this relationship. A more recent development in the field of moral psychology focuses on the role of affect in morality. While there is no consensus on the nature of this influence, researchers still actively pursue understanding of how emotions influence the ways in which people make moral judgments. Affect has also been an important component of research in cognition, as many believe that the two constructs are related. The particular aims of the study were to attempt to replicate previous findings on the relationship between moral judgment development and political choices, to determine whether negative affective arousal influenced this relationship, and to assess the ability of moral judgment development to predict dogmatism and negative affective arousal within the context of the 2008 U.S. Presidential elections. Political choices were measured using candidate feeling thermometers, questions about stances on five primary campaign issues, and voting intentions. In the political choice section, there were three experimental manipulation conditions that used photographs to elicit affective arousal in participants. The data showed that previously established curvilinear patterns in the relationship between moral judgment development and political choices remain consistent. Affective arousal did not serve as a moderator variable in the relationship between moral judgment development and political choices, but moral judgment development was found to be a statistically significant predictor of negative affective arousal and dogmatism. The dissertation concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings with regard to Haidt's Social Intuitionist Model and influencing voter behaviors.
Children's social reasoning in the context of bully victimization
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2010) Porter, Malvin; Curtner-Smith, Mary Elizabeth; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new measure of children's social reasoning about bully victimization, the Children's Bully/Victim Survey (CBVS). The CBVS attempts to assess what children think are appropriate behavioral responses to hypothetical scenarios about being victimized by bullies and about witnessing bully victimization. The study also examined how children explain or justify their actions. Participants in the study included children enrolled in the 5th grade and their teachers from schools in the southeast. This study examined how the quality of children's Action Choices in hypothetical stories about bully victimization relates to their Justification Choices. This study includes the influence of demographic variables such as gender, intellectual ability, bully/victim group membership, story character role, and story form of victimization on children's Action and Justification Choices. Teacher reports of children's behavior were compared with children's self-reports of Action and Justification choices. Significant relationships were found between children's Actions Choices and Justification Choices. However, teacher reports of children's social behavior with peers did not significantly relate to children's self reports of how they would respond to hypothetical bully victimization scenarios. Additionally, child demographic variables did not reflect significant variation between teacher groupings for children's intellectual ability and bully/victim group membership. However, there were significant differences in children's Action Choices and Justification Choices based on gender, story character role and story form of victimization.
Help-seeking decisions among college students: the impact of mental health service affordability
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Marsh, Carey N.; Wilcoxon, S. Allen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Recent statistics indicate that approximately 40% of students enrolled on U.S. college and university campuses report experiencing at least 1 mental health problem in the previous 12 months. Despite the documented benefits of counseling and mental health services on academic performance and degree attainment, only about 10% of mentally and emotionally distressed students ever seek professional help. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to gain a better understanding of why, among college students experiencing similar types of mental and emotional distress, some seek help, whereas most do not. For this study, 2 samples of students were recruited from 1 large, research university campus. The first was a clinical sample and consisted of distressed students who were attending a first screening appointment at the university's counseling center. The second was a random sample of students from the general student population who demonstrated levels of distress similar to the first sample, but who had chosen not to seek professional help. Participants in both samples completed 4 study instruments used for collecting demographic data, as well as data pertaining to help-seeking attitudes, help-seeking behaviors, treatment barriers, types of distress, and levels of distress. Data from both groups were combined to examine what variables contribute to the prediction of who, among similarly distressed college students, chooses to seek professional help and who does not. Of particular interest was the role that treatment barriers related to the affordability, availability, accessibility, and acceptability of mental health services might play in distinguishing help-seekers from non-help-seekers. A binary logistic regression model revealed that treatment-related barriers associated with cost of services, not knowing what services are available, and stigma were found to be significant predictors of help-seeking behavior. Among person-related barriers, measures of depression, generalized anxiety, eating concerns, and substance use were found to be significant predictors of help-seeking behavior. Another person-related barrier, help-seeking attitude, was found to be a significant predictor, but showed a lower rate of accuracy in predicting help-seeking behavior than the other significant predictors. A discussion of these findings is presented, along with associated implications for college campus stakeholders and directions for further research.
Rational, intuition, and insight: three phenomenologically distinct modes of decision making
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Gunnells, Ronald Kenyon; Thoma, Stephen; Johnson, Diane E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This research was conducted in order to uncover the characteristics of, and factors related to, the emergence of the three phenomenologically distinct modes of rational, intuitional and insightful decision making. The theoretical foundation for these three distinct modes was crafted from the theoretical domains of Social Psychology, Gestalt, Creativity, Insightful, and Biofunctional theory. The study involved the use of two sampling groups. Sample 1 consisted of 68 undergraduate students, and Sample 2 consisted of 98 undergraduate students. Participants' problem solving performance was examined with a series of time-limited novel and non-novel word puzzles, in which a set of three clue words was presented. There were two phases of problem solving, with an incubation period between phases. These problem outcomes were examined against problem difficulty, current affect, personality preferences for rationality and intuition, solution cues in the environment during incubation, problem novelty status, and intelligence. The data revealed a strong bias for insight for solved novel problems, while a strong bias for rationality was found for novel problems that participants failed to solve. As problem difficulty increased, participants used rationality proportionally more often to solve problems. When current affect was higher, participants were more likely to use insight for solved novel problems, and when current affect was lower, rational solutions were more likely. Intelligence was found to increase the number of problems solved and problem solving speed. The findings provided evidence for three distinct problem-solving modes. Rational problem solving was slowest and least frequently used to solve novel or non-novel problems. Insightful novel solutions took half the time of rational solutions. Insight is affectively informed sudden knowing, and was the predominant novel problem solution mode. Intuition is also affectively informed sudden knowing. Intuition was found to be the fastest and most successful solution mode for non-novel problems. This research provided empirical evidence to counteract the common conflation of intuition and insight. It illustrated the distinctiveness of the rational, insightful and intuitional modes of decision making and produced evidence of the relationship between each mode and the factors commonly considered to influence decision making.
Protective factors and resilience among college students
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Johnson, Ebony L.; Lo, Celia C.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
This study's main goal was to examine the impact of internal and external protective factors on resilience among college students. While much of the literature on resilience focuses on children and younger adolescents, there are relatively few studies that examine resilience levels among college students and the adult population in general. Specifically, this study examined the internal protective factors of optimism, self-efficacy, and dimensions of psychological well-being and the ways in which they predict resilience levels among college students. The effects of optimism, self-efficacy, and psychological well-being on college students' resilience levels were also hypothesized to be different between different genders and between different races. Data were collected in the spring and fall at a large southeastern university. A survey design was employed in this study to analyze resilience levels among a sample of college students. Multiple regression techniques were used to analyze the data. The results confirmed the protective effects of self-efficacy, external protective factors, and two dimensions of psychological well-being. Empirical evidence shows that some of the internal protective factors operate differently in explaining resilience among different racial and gender groups. Implications are discussed.
The effects of medical play on reducing fear, anxiety, and procedure distress in school-aged children going to visit the doctor
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) Burns-Nader, Elizabeth Sherwood; Hernandez-Reif, Maria; Thoma, Stephen; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Play promotes typical development and allows children to express their fears, anxieties, and misconceptions and better cope with stressful experiences. Therefore, play is often used in the medical setting to normalize the experience of doctor visits, hospitalizations, or dental checkups. Medical play is play that involves a medical theme or medical equipment. The purpose of this study is to examine which type of activity (i.e., medical play versus viewing a medical information video versus typical play, versus viewing a non-medical information video) decreases the amount of fear, anxiety, and procedure distress in school-age children going to a doctor's visit. Seventy-two school-aged children visiting a doctor's office were randomly assigned to one of four groups: medical play (e.g., play with a medical buddy and medical equipment, such as a stethoscope), medical information video (e.g., watch a video of a child participating in medical play), typical play (e.g., play a developmentally appropriate board game), and non-medical information video control (e.g., watch a video on safari animals). Child participants completed a fear self-report measure, had their pulse taken, and completed a drawing as a projective measure of anxiety. The child's distress behaviors were assessed through nurse and researcher behavioral observations. Parents completed a demographic questionnaire and a development checklist on their child. Findings revealed the medical information video decreased fear and procedure distress more so than the medical play group, typical play group, and non-medical information video control group. Therefore, the children benefitted more from the medical information video (i.e., the obtainment of information) than the medical play activity (i.e., hands on manipulation), suggesting it is the obtainment of information rather than the actual hands on manipulation of medical items that benefits children. Finally, the typical play activity was found to increase alertness. The findings of this study imply the best way to provide for the psychosocial needs of patients at a pediatrician's office is to provide information to patients through a video of a child engaging in medical play. In addition, the medical team should consider providing structured activities, such as games, in pediatrician's offices for school-aged children.
Examining hope, self-efficacy, and optimism as a motivational cognitive set predicting academic achievement and general well-being in a diverse educational setting
(University of Alabama Libraries, 2011) McBride, Marcus L.; Thoma, Stephen; Schumacker, Randall E.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
Hope, self-efficacy, and optimism are concepts of motivational psychology that have evidenced significant relationships with achieving goals and student achievement (Bandura, 1977; Snyder, 2004; Chang, 1998; Lin & Peterson, 1990). Research to test these measures across diverse populations as a cognitive set and examine the constructs' ability to predict student achievement and general well-being are sparse (e.g., Schunk & Zimmerman, 2006). Cross-cultural theoretical models investigating motivation in education fail to investigate constructs within positive psychology (self-efficacy, hope and optimism) that are rigorously measured and considered by Magletta and Oliver (1999) as "powerful, if not the strongest determinants of human behavior" (p. 541). Investigating competence and control beliefs across diverse student populations could yield important explanations for the disparity of scores in education among African American and Caucasian students in academic settings. This study specifically examined theoretically competing confirmatory factor models and identified the best-fitting structural equation model dependent on variables of academic hope, academic self-efficacy, and optimism in a diverse student population. The sample size (N = 466) was made up of a diverse group of high school and college students. The results of the study indicated that a system of competence and control adequately predicted student achievement and general well-being. The results of the study also indicated that the structural model of a System of Competence and Control did not differ according to age group, gender, and ethnicity in predicting student achievement and general well-being.

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