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- Title
- From mortality to connectedness: an experimental study of affiliation, punitiveness, and mood.
- Creator
- Rosenzweig, Garreth., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
Terror Management Theory posits that induced death-related cognitions lead to anxiety. To relieve anxiety, individuals may bolster their self-esteem or current cultural worldviews. The current study hypothesizes that induced thoughts of social connectedness will be an anxiety-buffering mechanism that will reduce the need to defend one's worldview. Participants watched one of two films which were intended to either induce social connectedness or have no effect on the individual. Each...
Show moreTerror Management Theory posits that induced death-related cognitions lead to anxiety. To relieve anxiety, individuals may bolster their self-esteem or current cultural worldviews. The current study hypothesizes that induced thoughts of social connectedness will be an anxiety-buffering mechanism that will reduce the need to defend one's worldview. Participants watched one of two films which were intended to either induce social connectedness or have no effect on the individual. Each participant watched a short film clip then completed measures pertaining to moral transgressions, affiliative and agentic extraversion, self-esteem, and positive and negative affect. Females who were high on affiliation were found to defend their worldviews more often than males high on affiliation following the social connectedness induction. The experimental (42-Up) condition showed lower levels of punitiveness than the control (K-Web) condition.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11602
- Subject Headings
- Experience, Psychological aspects, Interpersonal relations, Affect (Psychology), Mortality salience, Terror management theory
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Watching a life over time: the effects of viewing a videotaped longitudinal portrayal on cultural worldviews.
- Creator
- Franz, Stephanie., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
Terror management theory focuses on defenses used to buffer the anxiety caused by the awareness of death. This study attempted to induce an effect opposite to anxiety interpersonal connectedness-using a video clip. This feeling of connectedness was anticipated to decrease the need for the defenses described by terror management theory, and more specifically to lower the need for cultural worldview defense. Participants were assigned to one of two video conditions: the control video condition ...
Show moreTerror management theory focuses on defenses used to buffer the anxiety caused by the awareness of death. This study attempted to induce an effect opposite to anxiety interpersonal connectedness-using a video clip. This feeling of connectedness was anticipated to decrease the need for the defenses described by terror management theory, and more specifically to lower the need for cultural worldview defense. Participants were assigned to one of two video conditions: the control video condition (K-Web) or the experimental video condition (42-Up). After the video clip was shown, participants judged a list of social transgressions and rated the amount of punishment they felt the transgressor deserved. Individuals with high levels of self-esteem and positive affect were found to be more punitive than their counterparts, but the amount of punishment doled out to the transgressors was lower in the experimental video groups than in the control video groups.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/11617
- Subject Headings
- Interpersonal relations, Terrorism, Psychological aspects, Attitude (Psychology), Testing
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Collective memory of Japanese naming rituals through the incorporation of anime and manga.
- Creator
- Kirk, LauraLynn., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
In this paper, I ask how members of Japanese society are able to remember naming practices in which some of the traditions are no longer in use. Members of Japanese society perpetuate their collective memory through the utilization of Japanese media to include past and present Japanese name alterations. I explain the reasons behind name alterations, and how knowledge and use of the naming rituals continue through the collective agency of contemporary Japanese media such as anime and manga....
Show moreIn this paper, I ask how members of Japanese society are able to remember naming practices in which some of the traditions are no longer in use. Members of Japanese society perpetuate their collective memory through the utilization of Japanese media to include past and present Japanese name alterations. I explain the reasons behind name alterations, and how knowledge and use of the naming rituals continue through the collective agency of contemporary Japanese media such as anime and manga. Each anime and manga example correlates to past and present naming rituals. Social name alterations occur at birth, genpuku, marriage, and changes in levels of skill. Political alterations occur from hostage exchange or adoption, change in ideologies, occupational change, or the assumption of new roles from a higher-ranking member of society. While members of Japanese society learn naming traditions from daily interactions with other people, media such as anime and manga reinforce expected behavior and customs.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165337
- Subject Headings
- Memory, Social aspects, Rites and ceremonies, Psychological aspects, Comic books, strips, etc, Criticism and interpretation, Animated films, Criticism and interpretation
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Jury decision-making: a study of the influence of sentencing information on jurors.
- Creator
- Hackett, Steven., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
This thesis is a study of the empirical significance of sentencing information on jury decision-making. A challenge in conducting jury behavior research is that direct observation of jury deliberation is either illegal or impractical. Thus most studies of jury behavior are conducted using archival analysis and mock jury questionnaires. And while we have some information on the issue of jury instruction complexity on jury decision-making, we know very little about the specific role of...
Show moreThis thesis is a study of the empirical significance of sentencing information on jury decision-making. A challenge in conducting jury behavior research is that direct observation of jury deliberation is either illegal or impractical. Thus most studies of jury behavior are conducted using archival analysis and mock jury questionnaires. And while we have some information on the issue of jury instruction complexity on jury decision-making, we know very little about the specific role of sentencing information on jury decision-making. My research combines aspects of the jury decision-making literature with the sentencing literature, and thus fills a crucial gap in the literature. While we know much about jury decision-making and much about the process of sentencing--this research directly tested whether these two phenomena are related. Mock trials of 100 participants were used to collect the data for this thesis study. The results provide clear evidence that there is a significant effect on jury decision-making when the jurors are provided with sentencing information.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/209991
- Subject Headings
- Sentences (Criminal procedure), Justice, Administration of, Decision making, Judicial discretion, Verdicts, Psychological aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Social networks and personality in a liberal arts college.
- Creator
- Gopaldas, Amrita, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
In this study, relationships between social networks and personality in a small liberal arts college were examined. Participants were asked to list members of their social networks, the activities in which they participated, and to complete the Sentence Completion Test (SCT), and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). On the CPI, individuals with high scores on measures related to extraversion (particularaly the CPI Sociability scale) will have a greater network size and report a...
Show moreIn this study, relationships between social networks and personality in a small liberal arts college were examined. Participants were asked to list members of their social networks, the activities in which they participated, and to complete the Sentence Completion Test (SCT), and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). On the CPI, individuals with high scores on measures related to extraversion (particularaly the CPI Sociability scale) will have a greater network size and report a larger number of activities. In additon, the extent to which participants formed relationships with individuals with similar levels of ego development, and similar personality profiles, that is, the degree of homophily in relationships were evaluated. Finally, it was examined whether this homophily increased over time, that is, whether students increasingly gravitated towards others with similar personalities during the college years.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359293
- Subject Headings
- Online social networks, Psychological aspects, Identity (Psychology), Interpersonal communication, Social perception, Self-perception
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Establishing Hyrule: analyzing the construction of the world and levels in Shigeru Miyamoto's Ocarina of Time.
- Creator
- Hollingsworth, Douglas A., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
Shigeru Miyamoto's The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time pushed the boundaries of video game design in 1998 by introducting players to one of the first virtual worlds fully-rendered in three-dimensions. The shift from rendering game worlds in two-dimensions to rendering them in three-dimensions required the development of new techniques for constructing virtual worlds. This thesis focuses on the construction of the virtual realm in Ocarina of Time, particularly the ways by which players are...
Show moreShigeru Miyamoto's The Legend of Zelda : Ocarina of Time pushed the boundaries of video game design in 1998 by introducting players to one of the first virtual worlds fully-rendered in three-dimensions. The shift from rendering game worlds in two-dimensions to rendering them in three-dimensions required the development of new techniques for constructing virtual worlds. This thesis focuses on the construction of the virtual realm in Ocarina of Time, particularly the ways by which players are presented with cosmology of the virtual world and the divine ordering of the races that dwell there. In addition, this thesis explores how the process of building the virtual worldof Hyrule is mimicked in the design of the game's individual levels, in terms of the spaces that players explore, the rules they are bound by, and the goals that they must reach while progressing through the central plot.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359295
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Video games (Philosophy), Legend of Zelda (Game), Computer games, Psychological aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- What are words worth?: Thomas Malthus and political economy in William Wordsworth's poetry and prose.
- Creator
- Kirchner, Christina R., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
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The works of Romantic poet William Wordsworth are generally regarded as idealistic nature poems. However, Wordsworth was writing in a turbulent era, between the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Contrary to conventional labels, Wordsworth's prose and poetry of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries strongly critiques social and economic affairs, similar to the ways Thomas Malthus comments on the same subjects. In 1798, political and economic theorist Thomas Robert...
Show moreThe works of Romantic poet William Wordsworth are generally regarded as idealistic nature poems. However, Wordsworth was writing in a turbulent era, between the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution. Contrary to conventional labels, Wordsworth's prose and poetry of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries strongly critiques social and economic affairs, similar to the ways Thomas Malthus comments on the same subjects. In 1798, political and economic theorist Thomas Robert Malthus published his infamous Essay on the Principle of Population, in which he devotes considerable thought to the subjects of poverty and England's Old Poor Law system. This thesis explores the connections between Wordsworth and Malthus, establishing Wordsworth as an amateur political economic theorist, who was concerned with the contemporary treatment of poverty and the morals of the legislators of the Poor Laws. I further claim that Wordsworth was a parable-poet, who sought to provide moral guidance regarding poor relief through affective poetry.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359307
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Criticism and interpretation, Poetry, Psychological aspects, Economics
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Perceptions of beauty.
- Creator
- Metzner, Michael John., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder? Historically, philosophers, poets, artists, and scientists have striven to define and express one of the most complex words in the English language : beauty. In contemporary society we tend to casually ascribe the word beauty to many various objects,paintings, sounds, and ideas. Its meaning can adhere to a stone, to the oscillating waves of an ocean, to the nonorganic as to the organic. Perceptions of Beauty is a project the follows my journey as...
Show moreIs beauty really in the eye of the beholder? Historically, philosophers, poets, artists, and scientists have striven to define and express one of the most complex words in the English language : beauty. In contemporary society we tend to casually ascribe the word beauty to many various objects,paintings, sounds, and ideas. Its meaning can adhere to a stone, to the oscillating waves of an ocean, to the nonorganic as to the organic. Perceptions of Beauty is a project the follows my journey as an artist and how my perception of beauty has changed over the past four years. Using examples from select artists, philosophers, and scientific studies, I will contend that Beauty is not "in the eye of the beholder," but is a complex and formulated characteristic that inspires not only an emotional response, but evokes mechanisms that defy our understanding of ourselves.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359317
- Subject Headings
- Perception (Philosophy), Visual perception, Aesthetics, Psychological aspects, Art, Philosophy, Philosophy of nature
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- " Guilty" until proven innocent: interrogation and false confessions.
- Creator
- Wailes, Meridith, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
In 1956 Darrel Parker was convicted of murdering his wife, with no evidence of his guilt except his own confession. Like Parker, some individuals confess to crimes which they did not commit. These confessions are generally made with a lawyer present when police us deception or coercion. While deception is constitutional, and a permitted police tactic, coercion is not. THis paper distinguished between the two and provides a philosophical framework for determining when deception becomes...
Show moreIn 1956 Darrel Parker was convicted of murdering his wife, with no evidence of his guilt except his own confession. Like Parker, some individuals confess to crimes which they did not commit. These confessions are generally made with a lawyer present when police us deception or coercion. While deception is constitutional, and a permitted police tactic, coercion is not. THis paper distinguished between the two and provides a philosophical framework for determining when deception becomes coercive. While non-coercive deception can lead to false confessions, I do not argue that deception should be banned, as it is a useful tool for police in catching criminals. Instead, I argue that police may deceive suspects, but prosecutors and judges should provide a check by using a three-pronged test to ensure that individuals are not convicted of crimes they did not commit.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359324
- Subject Headings
- Confession (Law), Psychological aspects, Police questioning, Psychological aspects, Criminal justice, Administration of, Moral and ethical aspects, Interviewing in law enforcement, Criminal investigation, Psychological aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Is age really just a number?: neuropsychological predictors of eyewitness memory errors.
- Creator
- Tsikis, Tina, Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
Two separate groups of young and middle-aged adults watched videos of events being performed by a number of different college-aged females. Both the young goup of adults and the middle-aged group of adults were later tested on their memory for both the individual features of these events (i.e., actors and actions), and for conjunctions of features (i.e., which actor performed which action) in order to determine how likely they were to remember which actors performed which actions. Our results...
Show moreTwo separate groups of young and middle-aged adults watched videos of events being performed by a number of different college-aged females. Both the young goup of adults and the middle-aged group of adults were later tested on their memory for both the individual features of these events (i.e., actors and actions), and for conjunctions of features (i.e., which actor performed which action) in order to determine how likely they were to remember which actors performed which actions. Our results showed that frontal lobe functioning is not affected with age. However, there is a slight decrease in medial temporal functioning that continues on throughout life. There was a main effect of Question, Item Type, and Age Group explained through a three-way ANOVA. Binding errors increase with age because specific areas of the brain, such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, deteriorate with age.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/3359329, http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT3359329
- Subject Headings
- Aging, Psychological aspects, Memory, Age factors, Eyewitness identification, Age factors, Recollection (Psychology), Cognition, Age factors, Transference (Psychology)
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Personality and the news: the Five-Factor Model and headline preferences.
- Creator
- Curry, Mila., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
- Abstract/Description
-
The current study examines the relationship between the Five-Factor Model of Personality and preferences for news headlines. This is an online study in which participants were presented two headlines and were asked to choose one of them. Next, participants were asked to fill out a personality inventory. In the results we examine whether certain personality types are more likely to read certain news stories. Authors created five news headline domains, which were intended to map onto the Five...
Show moreThe current study examines the relationship between the Five-Factor Model of Personality and preferences for news headlines. This is an online study in which participants were presented two headlines and were asked to choose one of them. Next, participants were asked to fill out a personality inventory. In the results we examine whether certain personality types are more likely to read certain news stories. Authors created five news headline domains, which were intended to map onto the Five-Factor Model of Personality. As hypothesized, Openness to Experience significantly (p < .05) predicted selection of items within the news headline domain entitled Culture. The study also found that personality can be predicted from news headline selection.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/77663
- Subject Headings
- Personality and culture, Emotional intelligence, Image (Psychology), Mass media, Psychological aspects, Five-Factor Model of Personality
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Social networks and personality in a Liberal Arts College.
- Creator
- Gopaldas, Amrita, Lanning, Kevin
- Date Issued
- 2012-04-06
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/3350905
- Subject Headings
- Online social networks, Identity (psychology), Social perception, Self-perception, Interpersonal communication, Psychological aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Validating music therapy and its effectiveness in treating brain disorders: the role of emotions in music and in therapy.
- Creator
- Hurley, Kristin Renee., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of Music
- Abstract/Description
-
The success of the music therapy profession has been well established, though the healing properties of music are not yet fully understood. Clinical observations show the medicinal value of music therapy; however, it is challenging to quantify music's beneficial effects. Examining music therapy's effectiveness in treating neurological disorders can possibly help to better validate this profession. However, music therapy is a multidisciplinary field, and perhaps we must come to a better...
Show moreThe success of the music therapy profession has been well established, though the healing properties of music are not yet fully understood. Clinical observations show the medicinal value of music therapy; however, it is challenging to quantify music's beneficial effects. Examining music therapy's effectiveness in treating neurological disorders can possibly help to better validate this profession. However, music therapy is a multidisciplinary field, and perhaps we must come to a better understanding of how the various disciplines relate to one another. Music has the power to modulate our emotions. Neurological studies involving music therapy might help to uncover the connection between our emotional states and our physical health. To truly understand the success of music therapy, we must further study the role of emotions in the healing process. Future examinations of the emotional factor in music therapy may hold the key to a better understanding of how music affects us.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/165942
- Subject Headings
- Music, Psychological aspects, Cognitive neuroscience, Healing, Psychological aspects, Medicine and psychology, Mind and body
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Integrity and reflections of the past: a phenomenographic analysis.
- Creator
- Rio, Germina Emily Risos., Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
- Abstract/Description
-
The graying of America as a sociological and health care phenomenon continues to dictate the demand for creative and innovative interventions that can directly influence the quality of life of nursing home residents. Creative Reminiscence is a program that fosters the active reliving of the past through narration, such as in story-telling, and the use of creative art expression to uncover meaningful life events or valuable life experiences. The purpose of this study was to investigate and...
Show moreThe graying of America as a sociological and health care phenomenon continues to dictate the demand for creative and innovative interventions that can directly influence the quality of life of nursing home residents. Creative Reminiscence is a program that fosters the active reliving of the past through narration, such as in story-telling, and the use of creative art expression to uncover meaningful life events or valuable life experiences. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the meaningful life events elicited by the experience of Creative Reminiscence using a phenomenographic approach. Existing (archived) data-transcribed interviews, poetry and painting on planters that were obtained from 20 participants of the Creative Reminiscence program entitled Le Jardin de Sante were analyzed. Five variations of meaningful memories evoked by Creative Reminiscence were identified. These are described as follows: (a) memories that rejuvenate the elder's sense of connectio n; (b) memories that revive the elder's sense of love and intimacy; (c) memories that restore the elder's sense of being; (d) memories that reassert the elder's sense of control; and (e) memories that reinstitute the elder's sense of purpose. In a caring interaction with Creative Reminiscence, the nursed are able to transcend, moving back in time (past) to appreciate segment(s) of their lives, with triumphs and disappointments that give meaning to their inner conflict/human struggle (present), and integrate a sense of confidence and acceptance of their lives to sustain well-being and a sense of wholeness. This research highlights the similarities and differences in the description of memories by the nursing home residents evoked during Creative Reminiscence., The results of the study support Erikson's notion of the circular nature of the life cycle, wherein there is an inherent need at the last stage of life to re-integrate ascendant psychosocial themes.Taking into account the meaning that nursing home residents ascribe to their experiences provided data on strategies nurses and caregivers can use effectively to help these elders transcend despair. Further research is recommended using a more diverse sample and in more diverse geographical locations. Current standardized instruments may be revised to quantify effects on the ascendant psychosocial themes.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/177012
- Subject Headings
- Aging, Psychological aspects, Memory in old age, Analysis, Nursing, Philosophy, Depression in old age, Research, Reminiscing in old age
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- System justification requires psychological proximity.
- Creator
- Martens, Nicholas J., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
- Abstract/Description
-
System justification theorists have proposed that people will defend one's circumstances, even if they inflict psychological and material costs. This tendency has been found to extend even to outcomes that have not yet been decided, but are perceived as being likely; however, this research has only examined outcomes that will be decided on in the near future. According to Construal Level Theory (CLT), distant future events are represented primarily according to their essential features, while...
Show moreSystem justification theorists have proposed that people will defend one's circumstances, even if they inflict psychological and material costs. This tendency has been found to extend even to outcomes that have not yet been decided, but are perceived as being likely; however, this research has only examined outcomes that will be decided on in the near future. According to Construal Level Theory (CLT), distant future events are represented primarily according to their essential features, while thoughts about temporally near events are more concrete and contextual. We hypothesized that system justification results from the motivational impact of low-level thinking, and so would be expected to occur for near-future, but not distant-future, outcomes. Consistent with our hypothesis, our Main Study found evidence of system justification only when outcomes were to be decided in the near future. Distant future outcomes, in contrast, were viewed as being more undesirable as they became increasingly likely.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2008
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186299
- Subject Headings
- Motivation (Psychology), Social service, Psychological aspects, Resilience (Personality trait), Affect (Psychology), Study and teaching
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Thai nurses' lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in intensive care units.
- Creator
- Kongsuwan, Waraporn., Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
- Abstract/Description
-
The objective of this study was to describe the lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in the intensive care units in Thailand. A qualitative research design informed by hermeneutic phenomenology was used to analyze data. Participants were 10 intensive care nurses working at adult intensive care units in south Thailand. A snowball purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. Participant inclusion criteria were at least six months' critical care...
Show moreThe objective of this study was to describe the lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in the intensive care units in Thailand. A qualitative research design informed by hermeneutic phenomenology was used to analyze data. Participants were 10 intensive care nurses working at adult intensive care units in south Thailand. A snowball purposive sampling method was used to select the participants. Participant inclusion criteria were at least six months' critical care nursing experience, experience in caring for a person who had peaceful death, able to describe peaceful death, and willing to participate in this study. Participants who met the inclusion criteria were interviewed. Face-to-face individual verbal interviews were conducted in the Thai language. These interviews were audiotape recorded. Descriptions were transcribed and translated for data analysis. Van Manen's (1990) hermeneutic phenomenological approach was used to analyze and interpret the data. The findings of this study were presented in each of 4 categories of the lived world of temporality, of spatiality, of corporeality, and of relationality. The description of the lived experience of caring for persons who had a peaceful death in ICU was, "understanding the other through the valuing of experience and enhancing relations with others by recognizing time is short and is a priority." This study may contribute to nursing knowledge of the end-of-life care to enhance a peaceful death in intensive care units congruently with Thai culture and society. In addition, this study directs the translations of its knowledge into implications that will benefit in helping Thai nursing to move forward. The implications of this study in advance will benefit terminally ill persons and family members regarding receiving good quality end-of-life care.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186331
- Subject Headings
- Criticism and interpretation, Intensive care nursing, Nurse and patient, Terminal care, Psychological aspects, Nursing, Practice
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Attitudinal study of older adult African Americans' interaction with computers.
- Creator
- Lovell-Martin, Nigel Leon., College of Education, Department of Educational Leadership and Research Methodology
- Abstract/Description
-
It was estimated that 35 million people age 65 or older lived in the United States in 2000. Of that number 2.8 million were Black/African American. The U.S. Census Bureau's (2000) population projections show that there will be 70 million older adults age 65 or older by 2030 and African Americans are expected to comprise over 12% of that population. In 1993 older adults had made less elective use of computers than younger adults, accounting for 24.2% of those age 55 to 64 and 4.9% of adults...
Show moreIt was estimated that 35 million people age 65 or older lived in the United States in 2000. Of that number 2.8 million were Black/African American. The U.S. Census Bureau's (2000) population projections show that there will be 70 million older adults age 65 or older by 2030 and African Americans are expected to comprise over 12% of that population. In 1993 older adults had made less elective use of computers than younger adults, accounting for 24.2% of those age 55 to 64 and 4.9% of adults over age 65. By 2003 adults over age 65 recorded a 20.1% increase in computer usage becoming the fastest growing segment of computer users who are engaging in learning computer skills as a way of coping with the technological changes. Studies have found that greater experience with computers is associated with more positive attitudes; however, it has never been determined whether this is true of the older African American population since there is a paucity of research documenting their computer attitudes. This study utilized a mixed methods research design that included an experimental design and an inductive approach with interviews. The following findings emerged: (a) attitudes differed for older African Americans who received computer training and those who did not; (b) there was no distinction in computer attitudes between older adult male and older adult females in the African American population; (c) there was no interaction effect on computer attitudes as moderated by training and gender; (d) older African Americans exhibited a positive disposition towards computers which elicited positive attitudes towards the technology; (e) older African Americans had a nascent need for computer self-efficacy; and (f) older African Americans constructed new meaning regarding computers as a result of their reflection on their computer interaction experience., The findings have established that older African Americans' attitudes can be influenced by direct computer experience and the study extends prior research by identifying the process by which attitude change takes place.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/186682
- Subject Headings
- African Americans, Education (Continuing education), African Americans, Intellectual life, Aging, Psychological aspects, Attitude (Psychology), Computer literacy
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The role of identity in posttraumatic growth and psychological adjustment for adults with cancer.
- Creator
- Abernathy, Barbara E., College of Education, Department of Counselor Education
- Abstract/Description
-
This mixed methods sequential research study was performed to explore the role of identity in posttraumatic growth and psychological adjustment for adults with cancer. One hundred nineteen individuals participated in an online survey which included items from Brief COPE, Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Sense of Coherence Scale - 3 items (SOC-3), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS), and...
Show moreThis mixed methods sequential research study was performed to explore the role of identity in posttraumatic growth and psychological adjustment for adults with cancer. One hundred nineteen individuals participated in an online survey which included items from Brief COPE, Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC), Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Sense of Coherence Scale - 3 items (SOC-3), Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS), and Centrality of Event Scale (CES). A two-step cluster analysis divided the sample into two clusters based on the integration of cancer into identity: High Cancer Identity Cluster (cancer identity scores above M) with strong cancer identity and Low Cancer Identity Cluster (scores below the M) with a weak or absent cancer identity. HCIC yielded positive and negative subgroups. A discriminant analysis revealed which variables are significant predictors of group membership: PTG factor New Possibilities (Wilks'l = .781, F (1, 119) = 32.834, p = .000), Psychological Adjustment factor Anxious Preoccupation (Wilks' l= .863, F (1, 119) = 18.612, p = .000), Illness Intrusiveness factor Intimate Relationships (Wilks' l= .794, F (1, 119) = 30.348, p = .000), and Illness Perception factor Perceived Life Impact of Cancer (Wilks' l= .783, F (1, 119) = 32.412, p = .000). From the sample, 17 individuals and spouses/partners were interviewed to obtain a deeper understanding of the lived experience of cancer. Qualitative themes of suffering, woundedness, and uncertainty were found. Narrative data corroborated the quantitative data and contributed depth to the analysis. A new Cancer Identity Process Model was offered in which assimilative and accommodative efforts are informed by identity structures., Performing Normalcy is an assimilative process in which stressful life events such as cancer activate automatic behaviors guided by existing identity structures with the goal of reg As dissonance grows over the inability to re-establish valued former identities, negative affect and intrusive rumination prevails. Individuals then utilize accommodative strategies in a process of Constructing Survivorship to either regain valuable aspect of former identities or to create equally valued new ones.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/187204
- Subject Headings
- Adjustment (Psychology), Cancer, Psychological aspects, Stress management, Identity (Psychology), Mind and body
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- The war within houses.
- Creator
- Boles, Hillary., Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
- Abstract/Description
-
This work of creative nonfiction is meant to explore the effects of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder in American war veterans and their families. As a work of blended literary journalism and memoir, the author interviewed afflicted veterans from World War II to the current Iraq and Afghanistan wars, included scholarly research, and reflected on how her father's dealings with the disorder have affected her family.
- Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/187205
- Subject Headings
- Symbolism in literature, Post-traumatic stress disorder, Patients, Family relationships, Reportage literature, Technique, Creative writing (Higher education), Veterans, Mental health, War, Psychological aspects
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- Title
- Age-related changes in executive function and the influence of processing speed.
- Creator
- Jurado Noboa, Maria Beatriz., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
- Abstract/Description
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Healthy aging has been associated with declines in executive functioning (EF) but it remains unclear how different subprocesses of EF are affected by age and by other possibly mediating variables. The principal aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of age and processing speed on three executive functions: set-shifting, planning, and attentional control. Four age groups (20-29 years, 60-69 years, 70-79 years, and 80-89 years) were compared on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ...
Show moreHealthy aging has been associated with declines in executive functioning (EF) but it remains unclear how different subprocesses of EF are affected by age and by other possibly mediating variables. The principal aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of age and processing speed on three executive functions: set-shifting, planning, and attentional control. Four age groups (20-29 years, 60-69 years, 70-79 years, and 80-89 years) were compared on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), the DKEFS Tower Test, the Conner's Continuous Performance Test, and a Letter comparison test of processing speed. Results suggested that increased age was associated with decreased performance on most of the studied executive measures, but not all EF are equally affected by age. A slowdown in processing speed mediates some, but not all, decrements in executive performance. The results are interpreted in light of recent neuroimaging data on age-related changes in brain functioning.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2009
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/187213
- Subject Headings
- Aging, Psychological aspects, Cognitive psychology, Memory disorders in old age, Ability, Influence of age on, Context effects (Psychology), Cognition, Age factors
- Format
- Document (PDF)