Symposium

Department of Psychology

Nicholas A. Alexander

Professor Alida Westman, Sponsor

Use of Learning Styles and Abstracting Depend on the Content Area: Academic or Religious

Students who looked for meanings in, or for applications of, academic materials also were more likely to do so with religious materials. However, the more students looked for meanings in academic materials, the more skilled they were at abstracting and the less likely they conceptualized the divine concretely. The more religious students were, the more they emphasized only applications of religious materials, and, no matter how skilled at abstracting, the more they conceptualized the divine concretely.

Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m.

Alison Bedingfield

Professor Dennis Delprato, Sponsor

Relationships Among Different Forms of Aggression and Control

The main purpose of this study was to identify relations between forms of control and aggression. Thirty-five participants completed scales designed to measure coerciveness, countercontrol, three other control variables and four types of aggression. Several statistically significant correlations occurred. One was a positive correlation between verbal aggression and countercontrol, meaning verbal aggression scores increased along with countercontrol scores. The project demonstrated the importance of rapid assessment instruments in studying relationships between personality characteristics.

Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m.

Tiffany Edwards

Professor Nina Nabors, Sponsor

Homophobia and Homosexual Disapproval in Black Film: A Study of Black and Homosexual Representation in American Cinema.

This study examined the psychological and sociological literature bases on the topic of homosexual and black representation in contemporary American cinema. Considering historical contexts, ethnic and subcultural experiences and the modern media structure, this study analyzes current African-American films in three categories (Afrocentric, LGBT and mainstream) according to several hypotheses. The results of this study will reflect the present attitudes on homosexuality in Black American cinema.

Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m.

Elizabeth Hammond

Professor Jeffrey Dansky, Sponsor

Children's Creativity in Play and Their Creativity in Verbal Storytelling: Are They Related?

There are theoretical reasons for believing that the imaginativeness of young children's playful activities should be related to the imaginativeness of their storytelling. Data from this study revealed a significant relationship (r = .62, p < .05) between creativity scores on a storytelling task and imaginativeness ratings of young children's free-play behaviors. Details of this study and the relationship between story telling and playful activity will be discussed.

Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m.

John Gaffka and Laci Tuttle

Professor John McManus, Sponsor

Compliance/Adherence Personal Companion Program

This project utilized a team approach for increasing client compliance in carrying out daily exercises in a physical rehabilitation program. Two undergraduate psychology students served as "personal companions" to the client in implementing a successful behavior change program. Personal companions carried out a number of important functions, including daily record keeping/feedback, prompting/reinforcement of client behaviors, fly-on-the-wall observations and professional consultation. Client compliance rates increased from 40 percent to 100 percent, facilitating goal achievement in all areas.

Session A - Gallery II - 9:15 a.m.~9:30 a.m.

Lisa Scholey

Professor Dennis Delprato, Sponsor

Hardines and Movie Preference

Do men prefer manly films? Do old people only like boring films? If a person is "hardy", or considered to have a high well-being and ability to make sound decisions, what kind of film to they prefer? The purpose of this study was to answer these questions. We found that people who score high in hardiness preferred fun movies. On the other hand, people who scored low on hardiness reported liking "wimpy" animated movies.

Session C - Gallery II - 12:30 p.m.~12:45 p.m.


			Department of Psychology Nicholas A. Alexander Professor Alida Westman, Sponsor Use of Learning Styles and Abstracting Depend on the Content Area: Academic or Religious Students who looked for meanings in, or for applications of, academic materials also were more likely to do so with religious materials. However, the more students looked for meanings in academic materials, the more skilled they were at abstracting and the less likely they conceptualized the divine concretely. The more religious students were, the more they emphasized only applications of religious materials, and, no matter how skilled at abstracting, the more they conceptualized the divine concretely. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. Alison Bedingfield Professor Dennis Delprato, Sponsor Relationships Among Different Forms of Aggression and Control The main purpose of this study was to identify relations between forms of control and aggression. Thirty-five participants completed scales designed to measure coerciveness, countercontrol, three other control variables and four types of aggression. Several statistically significant correlations occurred. One was a positive correlation between verbal aggression and countercontrol, meaning verbal aggression scores increased along with countercontrol scores. The project demonstrated the importance of rapid assessment instruments in studying relationships between personality characteristics. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. Tiffany Edwards Professor Nina Nabors, Sponsor Homophobia and Homosexual Disapproval in Black Film: A Study of Black and Homosexual Representation in American Cinema. This study examined the psychological and sociological literature bases on the topic of homosexual and black representation in contemporary American cinema. Considering historical contexts, ethnic and subcultural experiences and the modern media structure, this study analyzes current African-American films in three categories (Afrocentric, LGBT and mainstream) according to several hypotheses. The results of this study will reflect the present attitudes on homosexuality in Black American cinema. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. Elizabeth Hammond Professor Jeffrey Dansky, Sponsor Children's Creativity in Play and Their Creativity in Verbal Storytelling: Are They Related? There are theoretical reasons for believing that the imaginativeness of young children's playful activities should be related to the imaginativeness of their storytelling. Data from this study revealed a significant relationship (r = .62, p < .05) between creativity scores on a storytelling task and imaginativeness ratings of young children's free-play behaviors. Details of this study and the relationship between story telling and playful activity will be discussed. Poster - Guild Hall - 9:00 a.m.~12:30 p.m. John Gaffka and Laci Tuttle Professor John McManus, Sponsor Compliance/Adherence Personal Companion Program This project utilized a team approach for increasing client compliance in carrying out daily exercises in a physical rehabilitation program. Two undergraduate psychology students served as "personal companions" to the client in implementing a successful behavior change program. Personal companions carried out a number of important functions, including daily record keeping/feedback, prompting/reinforcement of client behaviors, fly-on-the-wall observations and professional consultation. Client compliance rates increased from 40 percent to 100 percent, facilitating goal achievement in all areas. Session A - Gallery II - 9:15 a.m.~9:30 a.m. Lisa Scholey Professor Dennis Delprato, Sponsor Hardines and Movie Preference Do men prefer manly films? Do old people only like boring films? If a person is "hardy", or considered to have a high well-being and ability to make sound decisions, what kind of film to they prefer? The purpose of this study was to answer these questions. We found that people who score high in hardiness preferred fun movies. On the other hand, people who scored low on hardiness reported liking "wimpy" animated movies. Session C - Gallery II - 12:30 p.m.~12:45 p.m.