http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/3651 2013-05-25T11:07:34Z 2013-05-25T11:07:34Z Sotomayor, Jason http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14854 2013-05-10T02:17:51Z 2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

Perceptions of Advice Interactions and their Relationships with Ethnicity and Type of Problem Sotomayor, Jason How social support manifests itself varies by cultural context, most notably between members of individualist and collectivist cultures. Perceptions of social support interactions have also been thought to differ. We looked at a sample of Asian Americans (n = 33) to see how their perceptions of social support varied by cultural context, as well as by the type of problem being discussed, gender, and receiver-giver status (whether one gives the support or receives it). We found that advice for practical problems was perceived as more helpful than non-practical problems. Advice for emotional problems is perceived as less helpful, less satisfying, and less liked compared to advice for problems that were not emotional. Advice for relational problems is perceived as less helpful compared to support for problems that were not relational in nature. The ethnicity of the advice partner, that is, whether the partner was Asian American or European American, and whether or not the participant was the receiver or giver of the advice in the interaction has no relationship with the perceptions of the interactions. Asian Americans interacting with European Americans find advice less helpful and less liked if the problem at hand is emotional, whereas interactions with other Asian Americans do not differ that much in perceived helpfulness or liking when dealing with an emotional problem. Males find the advice of a given problem to be less helpful than females do when the problem is emotional or relational, relative to advice for non-emotional or non-relational problems. Taken together, these findings suggest that cultural and gender differences and the type of problem may play a significant role in the efficacy of advice. This study lays the groundwork for further investigation into how the type of problem at hand and other demographic differences between individuals in an interaction may affect perceptions of a social support exchange.

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z Sandberg, Laura http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14853 2013-05-10T01:47:19Z 2013-05-09T00:00:00Z

Psychology at Georgetown University: An Institutional History Sandberg, Laura In this paper I will explore the institutional history of the Georgetown University Department of Psychology. First, I will provide an historical background of Georgetown University, and illustrate what the early program of study looked like as prescribed by the Jesuit tradition of Ratio Studiorum. I will then arrive at my discussion of the steps leading up to the establishment of the Psychology Department in 1967, where I will shed light on the reasons behind the Department’s formation, as well as the key players during this time period. Using correspondences between faculty members and administration, as well as undergraduate bulletins that track course offerings, I will explain the history of the Department up until the present day. Then, using material from interviews with current faculty members, I will discuss the present identity of the Department and the direction of the broader field of psychology. My paper will conclude with a prediction, gleaned from faculty interviews, of where the Department is headed in the future.

2013-05-09T00:00:00Z Balhorn, Nicole http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14799 2013-05-07T07:41:19Z 2013-05-06T00:00:00Z

Gender Differences in Perception of Spending and Financial Risk Aversion Balhorn, Nicole Previous studies have indicated significant relationships between the spending habits of individuals and those of their parents. However, studies have indicated mixed findings as to whether parents tend to teach differing financial lessons to their children depending upon their child’s gender. Some studies suggest this finding, indicating a dichotomy between the financial behaviors of men versus women while other studies do not replicate this finding. This study attempted to determine whether there was a gender difference between individuals’ perception of spending/saving and their willingness to take on financial risk. The findings indicated that there was a significant difference between how men and women perceived themselves and others as spenders/savers. Additionally, the findings also indicated that women tended to be more financially risk averse than men; however, the difference was not significant.

2013-05-06T00:00:00Z Gomes, Alyssa http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14798 2013-05-06T17:15:45Z 2013-05-06T00:00:00Z

Subjective and Physiological Reactivity to Film Clips Depends on Focus of Attention Gomes, Alyssa Emotional experience can be seen as an affective experience (known as psychologization in the clinical literature) or a somatic or bodily-focused experience (known as somatization in the clinical literature). This study sought to determine whether the focus of attention on either one's emotions or one's body would affect participants’ emotional reactivity to a sad film. For this study, we recruited 20 female participants, and collected their emotional self report, physiological responses (skin conductance, heart and respiration rates) and facial behavior. Participants were randomly assigned to either attend to the film itself, their bodies or their emotions. Our preliminary results showed mostly marginal, but consistent patterns. Self-reported sadness, and intensity of facial expression of sadness increased after watching the sad film for participants in both the emotion condition and the body condition. Consistently with typical physiological responses to sadness, skin conductance rate and respiration rate decreased for participants in these two groups as well. Thus far, the data suggests that attending to aspects of the self, whether the emotions or the body, can increase emotional reactivity, as evident from self report, physiological data, and facial behavior. These results have implications for future research in emotions and even clinical assessment.

2013-05-06T00:00:00Z Meyering, Kelly http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14797 2013-05-06T17:13:22Z 2013-05-06T00:00:00Z

Social and Emotional Responses to Being Envied in a Face-to-Face Social Interaction Meyering, Kelly Envy is a social emotion characterized by coveting another person’ relationships, life circumstances, or material wealth. Most literature on this topic focuses on the envious individual, yet there is little research on its effects on the person receiving envy. In this study, we examined the effects of envy on the development of real-life relationships, as well as the personality traits that make people respond to envy in unique ways. 38 Georgetown University students were separated into three conditions. One condition received envy after a prime of positive ideas about success, the second condition received envy after a prime of negative ideas about success, and the control condition did not receive any expression of envy. An experimenter methodically expressed envy towards them and measured their reactions. Overall, receiving envy did not significantly affect likelihood of doing a favor for the experimenter. Yet those who received a positive concept of success prime were significantly less likely to do a favor than controls. Collectivism-Individualism and personality types greatly impacted one’s reaction to envy. Those who returned compliments had high levels of horizontal collectivism and high levels of warm-heartedness, compared to those who did not. Personality plays less of a role in likelihood to do favors if receiving envy. Extroversion is strongly correlated with doing a favor, yet this relationship disappears when one receives envy. Personality strongly affects how one responds to envy and one’s likelihood to do a favor for someone, but only in a normative social interaction.

2013-05-06T00:00:00Z Yao, Quianwen http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14796 2013-05-06T16:13:40Z 2013-05-06T00:00:00Z

THE EFFECT OF THE ADDITION OF A SEMANTICALLY MEANINGFUL CONTEXT AND LANGUAGE ON THE VIDEO DEFICIT EFFECT Yao, Quianwen Young children typically demonstrate a video deficit, learning less from video than live presentations. Both semantically meaningful context have been demonstrated to enhance learning in young children. In this present study we used the magnet imitation task to examine the role that semantically meaningful context and demonstration method (live demonstration vs. video demonstration) plays on imitation and learning in 24- and 30-month olds. One hundred and twelve 24- and 30-month olds participated in a puzzle imitation task to examine learning from live and televised models. An experimenter demonstrated how to assemble a three piece puzzle to make a fish or a boat. In Experiment 1, for half the children the puzzle was depicted against a semantically meaningful context (context of the sea) and for the other half there was only a yellow background (no context). Experiment 1 showed that the addition of a semantically meaningful context did not help nor hinder imitation of either the gesture or goal. In Experiment 2 half of the children saw the demonstration on video and the other half saw a live demonstration. Experiment 2 provided some evidence to the video deficit effect, for participants in the video condition performed significantly worse than participants in the live condition in gesture and goal. However, both groups score equally in emulation. We also found a significant positive correlation in the video group between the ability to label the fish or boat and goal score as well as a negative correlation between the hours of TV watched and goal score. These results suggest that in regards to imitation and learning 24- and 30-month olds do not benefit from the positive effect of semantically meaningful contexts. These results also suggest that the video deficit effect is no an all encompassing deficit; for it negatively effects imitation of gesture and goals but it does not negatively effect emulation, and these effects may be intensified with increased television watching.

2013-05-06T00:00:00Z Morin, Marisa http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14795 2013-05-06T16:03:14Z 2013-05-06T00:00:00Z

Delivering Services to Incarcerated Teen Fathers: A Pilot Intervention to Increase the Quality of Father-Infant Interactions during Visitation Morin, Marisa The absence of a father figure has been linked to very poor developmental outcomes for the child. During incarceration, there are limited opportunities for visitation between fathers and their children. The Baby Elmo Program provides incarcerated teen fathers with parenting training and visitation with their children with the stated goal of enhancing father-child interactional quality. Forty incarcerated teen fathers and their infants ranging from 1 to 15 months of age participated in the present study. A trained facilitator prepared fathers for visits with their children by introducing key concepts, such as following the child’s lead, and used developmentally appropriate media to illustrate those concepts. After each training session, the father interacted with his infant and the visit was video recorded. Analysis focused on father’s use of time on different activities during the visit, father’s use of target skills, and the quality of father-infant interactions. The time use analysis revealed that time use changed as a function of infant age. Growth linear modeling indicated that there were significant positive increases in the amount of parent support and infant engagement as a function of the number of sessions. Follow-up analyses indicated that changes between specific sessions mapped onto the target skills discussed during specific training sessions. This study’s preliminary findings suggest that an intervention integrating visitation and appropriate media may be effective for incarcerated teen fathers. Due to the lack of a randomized control group, the present findings are exploratory and are discussed with a focus on further program development.

2013-05-06T00:00:00Z Galloway, Daniel http://aladinrc.wrlc.org:80/handle/1961/14794 2013-05-06T15:54:40Z 2013-05-06T00:00:00Z

Whoa!, slow!, go!: Marketers Target Unhealthy Foods to Children Using Media Characters Galloway, Daniel Background. Research suggests that media characters influence children’s food choice, leading the Institute of Medicine to recommend that characters be used to market healthy foods to children (IOM, 2006 & 2012). Some industry leaders have taken the initiative to promote healthy lifestyles. Sesame Street, for example, has put forth its Healthy Habits for Life initiative in which their characters are reserved for health eating. Seventeen food and beverage corporations have created pledges to change their marketing to support healthier options for children through the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). Purpose. The study examines the nutritional quality of foods featuring media characters on their packages in a general grocery store and a health-conscious grocery store using a simple classification system from the Department of Health and Human Services. It also evaluates the impact of self-regulation by food marketers and, specifically, the healthfulness of foods and beverages marketed by Sesame Street characters. Results. As expected, the preponderance of foods marketed by media characters were unhealthy. While products detected at the healthy grocery store were, on average, more nutritionally sound than those at the general grocer, they still fell short of being called “healthy.” The same holds true for products marketed by Sesame Street. CFBAI corporations in fact marketed proportionally more unhealthy products using media characters than non-participating companies. The implication is, of course, that self-regulation is not effective in this industry.

2013-05-06T00:00:00Z