MA, Kent State University, 2018, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of Psychological Sciences

Why does making judgments of learning (JOLs) influence subsequent memory, and when learners make JOLs for some items but not others, how is recall performance affected? To answer these questions, participants studied related and unrelated word pairs and made JOLs for half. Pair type was either randomly intermixed within a list (Experiment 1) or blocked (Experiment 2). I evaluated two hypotheses. The changed-goal hypothesis, proposed by Mitchum, Kelley, and Fox (J Exp Psychol Gen, 2016), states that making JOLs leads learners to notice differences in item difficulty and allocate more resources to learning easier pairs, ultimately leading to higher recall for easier (i.e., related) pairs and impaired recall for more difficult (i.e., unrelated) pairs. In contrast, the positive-reactivity hypothesis predicts increased recall performance for both related and unrelated pairs. As predicted by the positive-reactivity hypothesis, recall performance was higher for pairs that were judged versus not judged on both a mixed and blocked list of related and unrelated pairs. In Experiment 3, I evaluated one proximal mechanism for increased performance for judged pairs: The use of more effective encoding strategies during acquisition. Making JOLs did not influence strategy use, which suggests that the benefit of making JOLs on memory performance results from increased attention. These and other findings converge to support the claim that the requirement to monitor learning benefits memory.

Committee: John Dunlosky (Advisor); Maria Zaragoza (Committee Member); Katherine Rawson (Committee Member); William Lechner (Committee Member) Subjects: Cognitive Psychology; Psychology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2016, Human Ecology: Human Development and Family Science

Bowen (1966) created Family Systems Theory as a way to expand the comprehension of human behavior by using individual and familial factors. One concept nested within this theory is Differentiation of Self (DoS). DoS is a universal and multifaceted concept that pertains to one's ability to use thoughts as opposed to emotions (intrapersonal DoS), and the interplay between individuality and togetherness (interpersonal DoS; Kerr & Bowen, 1988). Current instruments that measure DoS, such as the Differentiation of Self Inventory (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998) place individuality and togetherness on the same continuum, which has limited the understanding of DoS. Bowen (1966) hypothesized that one's level of differentiation is directly correlated with one's anxiety (Skowron & Friedlander, 1988), and could contribute to the presentation of symptoms, such as an alcohol use disorder (Bowen, 1974). However, the current understanding of Bowen's (1966) concept of DoS is limited, in that individuality and togetherness are treated as if they are on the same continuum, where individuality is a more desirable than togetherness. The belief that DoS is on one continuum removed the ability to study the positive aspects of togetherness. To further the research of DoS, an instrument, called the Differentiation of Self Quadrant Inventory (DSQI) was created that separated healthy and unhealthy individuality and togetherness, creating four subscales. The DSQI was piloted and tested for reliability, convergent validity, predictive validity, and discriminant validity. From these analyses, an instrument was created that was significantly related with another measure of DoS, and successfully predicted alcohol use and consequences associated with alcohol use. These findings not only supported Bowen's (1974) theory that low DoS is significantly related to alcohol use, but expanded the understanding of DoS by including healthy togetherness.

Committee: Suzanne Bartle-Haring (Advisor); Keeley Pratt (Committee Member); Xin Feng (Committee Member) Subjects: Families and Family Life; Therapy

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2007, Psychology/Clinical

Financial Stress has been associated with adverse health consequences. Yet, no validated measures exist. Two studies were conducted to produce a valid financial stress scale. Study 1: The scale was administered with other validation criteria electronically to 177 undergraduates. The reliability, validity, and factor structure were evaluated. Results indicate good reliability and adequate validity, suggesting that the measure can be used to assess financial stress. Study 2: This study aimed to validate the measure using cardiovascular reactivity as a criterion. Forty-three undergraduates were assessed for cardiovascular reactivity to laboratory stressors using impedance cardiography. Results suggest that the scale does have predictive validity for some cardiovascular reactivity variables. Possible implications for health are discussed.

Committee: William O'Brien (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology, Physiological