Master of Music (MM), Ohio University, 2019, Music Therapy (Fine Arts)

This study examined the impact of a somatic voice intervention on child witnesses of intimate partner violence and utilized a convergent parallel mixed methods design. Study participants were a convenience sample drawn from the clients of the Peace: A Learned Solution (PALS) Program in Pleasantville, NJ. Participants were cisgender females, who received music therapy at the facility, between the ages of 8-17 years old. Two participants received a somatic voice intervention at the beginning of each weekly music therapy session for six sessions. Quantitative data measures included the Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness and Regulation of Arousal Behavioral Assessment, created by the researcher. Qualitative data sources included post-intervention interviews and observed participant-researcher interactions during the implemented interventions. The results of this study suggest that the somatic voice intervention had a positive impact on interoceptive awareness and regulation of arousal states, which are necessary components of safe trauma processing. The thematic analysis of interviews and observed participant—researcher interactions yielded six themes: Body Awareness, Emotional Awareness, Musical Awareness, Exploration of Boundaries, Expression, and Connection to Past or Outside Experiences. The qualitative results supported the quantitative data, where themes Body Awareness, Emotional Awareness, and Exploration of Boundaries corroborate the overall increase in interoceptive awareness and regulation of arousal that the participants experienced. The remaining themes, Musical Awareness, Expression, and Connection to Past or Outside Experiences, indicate that the somatic voice intervention may provide novel experiences and repeated opportunities for disclosure and exploration of memories. The results of this study suggest that the somatic voice intervention fills a need within music therapy treatment and literature by providing a means by which to addre (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brent Beeson (Advisor); Kamile Geist Dr. (Committee Member); Richard Wetzel Dr. (Committee Member); Debra Rentz (Committee Member) Subjects: Music; Therapy

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2021, Psychology - Experimental

In cases of child maltreatment, children's testimony is typically the central or even sole case evidence. Although age is one of the most consistent predictors of children's memory and suggestibility, age alone cannot explain the variations in children's forensic reports. In the present study, I explored the independent and combined associations between children's social and cognitive skills and their memory and suggestibility across various delay intervals. I also explored whether social and cognitive measures are differentially related to various measures of suggestibility. Sixty-one children (ages 4-9 years) were interviewed three times about a staged event. One week after participating in the event, children recalled the event and answered a series of questions containing true and false details. Four days later, at the exit interview, children recounted the event and completed a recognition test. Approximately one year later, 52 children returned for a follow-up interview identical to the exit interview. Children and their parents completed a battery of social and cognitive measures. Social predictors of interest included trait and social anxiety, autobiographical narrative quantity, obedience, and outer-directedness. Cognitive predictors included baseline recall, event-specific narrative quantity, expressive vocabulary, and general memory ability. The results of the present study mirrored general findings of the eyewitness literature such that no single predictor was consistently associated with all measures of children's memory and suggestibility. Of the predictors in the present study, language abilities (i.e., expressive vocabulary and event- specific narratives) emerged as the most consistent predictors of children's memory. Collectively, social and cognitive predictors explained as much as 70% of the variance in children's memory and suggestibility. Finally, the findings suggest social measures may be more consistently correlated with measures of interroga (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Kamala London (Advisor); Sarah Francis (Committee Member); Jason Rose (Committee Member); Ruslan Slutsky (Committee Member); Cin Cin Tan (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2019, Psychology - Experimental

Children's narrative accounts play a major role in cases of alleged child maltreatment. Case outcomes are highly dependent upon the statements children provide during forensic interviews. Bilingual children are vastly underrepresented in the forensic interviewing literature despite the overrepresentation of ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system. The present study compared monolingual (n = 31) and bilingual (n = 34) preschool-aged children's ability to provide meaningful reports about a staged event following a delay. Additionally, we examined group differences in resistance to suggestion, language abilities, and executive functioning. Bilingual and monolingual children's narrative quality scores and performance on suggestive questions did not differ significantly. Individual difference factors such as age, language abilities, and executive functioning were significantly correlated with narrative quality and resistance to suggestion. Explanations for the findings and forensic implications are discussed.

Committee: Kamala London (Committee Chair); Jason Rose (Committee Member); Stephen Christman (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology

Master of Arts, University of Toledo, 2014, College of Languages, Literature, and Social Sciences

A growing body of literature demonstrates that child witnesses are frequently asked to recall conversations during forensic investigations. The present study examined children's (n = 90) ability to recall a dyadic conversation after a one-week or three-week delay. Children were questioned about the target conversation using free recall and recognition style questioning during the memory test. Children's overall accuracy and characteristics of their memory reports were examined. Children in the one-week delay condition accurately reported significantly more of the conversation than children in the three-week delay condition, but free recall of the conversation was low for children in both conditions. The majority of what children recalled from the conversation was accurate. Additionally, when asked to recall the conversation in its entirety, children had a strong tendency to recall what they said from the target conversation and rarely recalled utterances said by their conversational partner. Memory for self-generated and partner-generated utterances did not differ during recognition testing. Memory for the structure of the conversation was low in both delay conditions and across all question types. Forensic implications and future directions are discussed.

Committee: Kamala London PhD (Advisor); Stephen Christman PhD (Committee Member); A. John McSweeny JD, PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Psychology