Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Winding Path: Reflections On Preparing For A Career In Neuropsychology, Derek Mckay Phd

Journal of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Processes

Career decision-making can be a complicated process, particularly for Psychology majors who often find many areas of the discipline interesting. Students are often confronted with questions such as, “what do I really want to do?”, and “how much future education will I need to achieve my goals?” Moreover, there are often many uncertainties regarding how to take specific steps toward a particular professional direction in Psychology. In this article, neuropsychologist and university professor Derek McKay shares a unique perspective on his own process of finding his way toward a career as a neuropsychologist. He addresses a number of important steps …

An Epigenetically Driven Relationship Between Parental Ptsd And Inflammatory Disease In Offspring: A Proposal, Emma Griffith, Kevin P. Kaut

Journal of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Processes

Could a combat veteran's horrific experiences in early-2000s Afghanistan have a direct, biological impact on his or her now-adult daughter's risk of a heart attack later in her life? This concept would have been unapologetically mocked a mere twenty years ago, and it has only been in the past decade that the new field of epigenetics has revealed a distinct possibility for this event to actually take place—for parents' experiences to profoundly influence the biology of their children. The major objective of this research project is to argue for the legitimacy of this theoretical phenomenon by discussing the latest data …

Phototaxis In The Terrestrial Isopod: A Mechanism For Investigating Invertebrate Learning And Memory, Christopher Buzzelli, Jessica Kent, Chelsea Pawlak, Kevin P. Kaut

Journal of Neuropsychology and Behavioral Processes

Isopods readily explore new environments and typically prefer contexts with lower levels of illumination (i.e., negative phototaxis). In the first of two behavioral experiments reported here, the ability of isopods to discriminate between light and dark nesting regions was confirmed, although evidence suggests an initial ‘instinctive’ draw toward a darker context. Extending these findings to experiment 2, isopods were trained against their negatively phototaxic tendency and had to exit a darkened start chamber in order to locate nesting material in a brighter chamber. Within-session improvements in latency to enter the nesting region were noted across training trials, coupled with evidence …

Mukha Bhastrika On Reaction Time In Male High School Athletes: A Pilot Study, Malachi D. Ruiz, Matthew D. Ruiz

CSKLS Annual Conference

This pilot study investigates the potential impact of yoga (Mukha Bhastrika) practice on reaction time in male high school athletes. While existing literature emphasizes the importance of reaction time in contact sports and the potential of calming exercises like yoga to reduce it, there remains a gap in the literature focusing on male high school athletes in contact sports. This pilot study utilized a randomized controlled trial with ten male high school athletes. The participants were divided into two groups: one practicing Mukha Bhastrika and the other serving as a control group which simply rested between reaction time tests. Reaction …

A Qualitative Investigation Of Clinical Mental Health Counselors' Group Practicum Training Experiences, Brittany L. Pollard-Kosidowski, Monica E. Kaule, Heather Uphold, Chad Losinger, Adam F. Stephens

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

The authors of this study used inductive content analysis to qualitatively explore the group practicum training experiences of clinical mental health counselors who graduated from one CACREP-accredited program. Fifteen participants shared about their firsthand experiences in a required group practicum course and described the ways in which the experience impacted their competence and self-efficacy as counseling professionals and group workers. Five resulting themes highlight the significance and value of practical training experiences dedicated solely to group facilitation. Implications for counselor educators and program accreditors are provided, along with recommendations for future research.

A Guide To Infuse Trauma Informed Principles In Counselor Education, Amirah R. Nelson

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Trauma informed principles (TIPs) are minimal within counselor education and supervision literature. After reviewing TIPs that have been incorporated into other graduate programs, counselor educators (CEs) should consider integrating more trauma informed concepts. Through this conceptual article the author: a) defines TIPs, b) explores ways to combine TIPs into most curricula and the learning environment, c) infuses TIPs across the eight core areas of CACREP, and d) discuss future implications for having a robust and well-rounded curricular for future counselor educators.

Keywords: trauma informed principles, counselor educators, counselors in training, CACREP, counseling programs

A Counseling Student’S Experiences With Vision Impairment: A Narrative Inquiry, Jason J. Li, Susan Bray, Jody Fiorini, Philip Mullins

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This article explores a female counseling student’s experience with vision impairment in a counselor education program. By using narrative inquiry, three main themes (perceptions, received supports, and challenges for a visually impaired student) and seven subthemes (perceptions of herself, perceptions of others, daily commute, attitudinal barriers, barriers to access, practicum experiences, and disability services) emerged from the analysis. Recommendations for counselor preparation and research are provided.

Group Counseling Preparation Amidst Crisis And Disaster: An Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Heather C. Sands, Kristopher M. Goodrich, Monique N. Rodríguez, Kelley R. Holladay, Renee C. Howells

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

There is consensus that group counseling and the use of telehealth platforms (i.e., phone or video conferencing usage) are highly effective interventions during and in response to crises and disaster situations. Wishing our Counselor Education and Supervision (CES), program had access to this information prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; we use this study to reflect on what we learned from that time. Building from the experiences of eight masters-level students enrolled in a group counseling internship at the height of the pandemic, this manuscript connects our programmatic oversights to the sparsity of information related to group counseling and the use …

Faculty Search Experiences Of Assistant Professors Of Counselor Education, Gregory Hatchett

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Using an online quantitative survey, the primary objective of this study was to investigate the faculty application experiences of assistant professors of counselor education (N = 159). The counselor educators in this sample completed a median of two off-campus interviews and a median of one on-campus interview. They received a median of one offer for any faculty position and a median of one offer for an assistant professor position on the tenure-track. Assistant professors on the tenure-track differed from those not on the tenure track on the following variables: demographic and professional characteristics, application strategies, credentials/qualifications at the time …

A Duoethnographic Investigation Of A Cross-Cultural Dissertation Chairing Relationship, Phillip L. Waalkes, Yuima Mizutani

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Despite the importance of cross-cultural mentorship in supporting doctoral counselor education students with international backgrounds in overcoming barriers, few have researched the specific complexities of these relationships with critical depth. Therefore, in this duoethnographic study rooted in relational cultural theory, we offer a critical and transformative polyvocal dialogue of the cross-cultural dissertation mentoring relationship of [author 1], a White counselor educator, and [author 2], an Asian-Japanese former doctoral student with an international background. We discussed how our cultural backgrounds impacted the relationship, our experiences of imposter phenomenon, and how broaching may have impacted our relationship. We present a series of …

Challenges With Social Emotional Learning At A Rural School District, Jennifer Rogers, Kristopher M. Goodrich, Melissa Luke

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Social emotional learning (SEL) is a systemic approach that includes key competencies that can support school personnel to advance educational equity by focusing on all stakeholders within a system. The link between educator and student SEL has grown, as educators practice, model, and support the development of SEL in students. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore six mental health personnel’s experiences of implementing SEL at one rural school district in a southwestern state. Analysis identified four roadblocks to SEL implementation: a lack of foundational knowledge of SEL, lack of structural supports, learned helplessness, and inadequate ongoing professional …

Gatekeeping In Online Learning: Best Practices To Facilitate Non-Traditional Learning, Amanda Faucher, Ajitha Chandrika Prasanna Kumaran, Wannigar Ratanavivan

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

Online learning has evolved, bringing several opportunities and challenges to counselor educators. Gatekeeping is an ethical responsibility of counselor educators, especially in a distance education platform, to evaluate personal and professional growth of counselors-in-training. To minimize gateslipping, there is working literature evidence that looks quite different in an online platform. In a synchronous setting, technology allows us to offer an experience that is not drastically different from traditional learning, but literature on asynchronous learning is far more limited. The authors will highlight the strengths and challenges of gatekeeping in a distance learning environment and discuss potential strategies for gatekeeping to …

Building Competence: Trainee Counselors’ Supervision Journey With Self-Injury And Suicidality, Rachel Jacoby, Karen M. Roller, Latoya Smith, Shreya Vaishnav, Tasmeer Ali

Journal of Counselor Preparation and Supervision

This grounded theory study examines the supervision needs of counselors-in-training (CITs) addressing clients with non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal ideations. The qualitative research question focused on counselor-in-training perception of their counseling program and practicum supervision preparation. Four key themes emerge: Supervision Facilitation, Secure Base Provision, Clinical Identity Development, and Sufficient Preparation. CITs express readiness concerns and a need for enhanced support in supervision for NSSI and SI. CITs also clarify logistical and emotional support that addresses their needs to serve NSSI and SI clients effectively.

Social And Cultural Factors Beyond Washback Of The National Examination: Exploring The Impact Of High-Stakes Testing In Indonesian Secondary Schools From Teachers’ Experiences And Sociocultural Factors, Maya Puspitasari

The Qualitative Report

This article investigates the conditions that cause a negative washback impact on English as language teaching (ELT) in Indonesian secondary schools. I interviewed eight English teachers to learn about the factors influencing their pedagogical choices for the test. This research draws on the literature of washback research and empirical evidence for the notion that contextual factors and external social cultural elements may have a significant role in defining the form of washback. Emphasizing the causal relationship concerning instruction and testing may be unduly simplified if it only covers its washback effect on the teachers and their teaching practices. High-stakes testing …

Challenges Confronted, During Data Collection Concerning Nurses And Paramedics In Bahawalpur, Pakistan, Humera Gul Dr, Syed Shakir Ali Ghazali Dr, Huma Qasim

The Qualitative Report

Data collection is one of the initial steps in almost all research practices. This study describes the challenges and issues faced by a researcher, in a developing country like Pakistan, during the execution of time-use research on nurses and paramedics, working in public sector hospitals of District Bahawalpur. We collected the data from the year 2018 to 2021, in three phases from 364 participants. Obstacles faced included: non-cooperative behavior of health department officials, non-response, reluctance, disinformation and misinterpretation on behalf of participants during working hours or after working hours and limited resources regarding funds and time. This paper also highlights …

Daughters Of The Diaspora: Using Autoethnography To Interrogate Impositions Of Cultural Conformity, Rose M. Wake Dr, Jane Southcott, Maria Gindidis

The Qualitative Report

In this collaborative autoethnography, I (Rose) discuss my personal experience with cultural transmission as cultural conformity. As a cultural hybrid and a daughter of a southern Italian proxy bride I share my narratives with a daughter of a Greek proxy bride (Maria). We find confluences in our experiences and understandings that suggest we are Daughters of the Diaspora. We may not be unique. Using a shared autoethnographical approach between ourselves and a collaborator (Jane), we construct and critique vignettes that capture and interrogate our understandings. This study offers a potential model for further inquiry by women who are daughters of …

Humanizing The Research Process: Collaborative Reflections On Prioritizing Research Participants’ Agency, Trust, And Connection, Anne E. Pezalla, Alyssa Scott, Lex Nappa, Diane Hsieh

The Qualitative Report

All research is a social construction. In this paper, we work to illuminate those moments of co-constructed meaning by taking readers on a “behind the scenes” tour of a collaborative research project that explored educator relationships. We describe our priorities in and care for participant recruitment and scheduling, our post-hoc reflections on the differences in emotional tenor between interviews and focus groups, and our own roles and positionalities within the data collection and analysis process. Action-items are recommended for other group-based qualitative studies to humanize the process of research and prioritize moments of agency, trust, and connection among participants.

Trans And Gender-Diverse Latinx Individuals In The Southern United States: Experiences With Violence And Service Utilization, Luis Alvarez-Hernandez, Kristie L. Seelman, Alaina Joyner, Roseangela Hartford

SW Publications

Using secondary data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, we explored transgender and gender-diverse Latinx individuals in the Southern U.S. experiences with transprejudice and antitrans violence at the individual, interpersonal, and structural levels. Findings include high rates of any form of antitrans violence in the past year and intimate partner violence in a lifetime. Most respondents accessed healthcare services in the past year. However, many reported transprejudice and antitrans violence accessing these services. Findings highlight the need for comprehensive changes at all levels to improve the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse Latinx Southerners experiencing gender-based violence.

Universally Accessible: An Investigation Of College Accommodations For Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder In The United States And Netherlands, Mikayla "Mak" Pennington

Global Honors Theses

With the global prevalence rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) increasing in post-secondary institutions, such as colleges and universities, having accessibility to accommodations becomes important to ensure ASD undergraduate students’ success. Many colleges and universities are required to provide accommodations for students with disabilities, yet often students with ASD find the accommodations given do not meet their individual needs or believe they would not benefit from the accommodations the disability support officers (DSOs) provide. Moreover, studies found that students in their first year of college find college more challenging due to the transition from secondary to post-secondary education. Programs to …

Concussion Severity And Generalized Anxiety In Professional Ice Hockey Players, Edward Louis Yerage

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An estimated 1.6 to 3.8 million concussions occur annually in the United States, and 42 million concussions occur annually worldwide, making concussions one of the most frequent injuries among all athletes at all levels. Research in detecting the relationship between generalized anxiety and concussions in ice hockey players from all professional ranks was lacking. The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether professional ice hockey players experienced a form of generalized anxiety when they returned to play following a severe concussion. The intolerance of uncertainty model detailed anxiety regarding fear and anticipation of the unknown or future uncertainty …

The Wicked Problem Of Climate Change And The Challenge Of Engagement: Exploring Educational Approaches And Possibilities For Information Literacy, Andrea Baer

Libraries Scholarship

Climate change is a prime example of a “wicked problem”: it is characterized by complexity and unboundedness and has no complete or simple solutions, though communities can develop constructive interventions that address particular aspects of the problem (for example, in cities increasing green spaces that have a cooling effect). Because the problem of climate change is so expansive and the answers to it remain limited in scope and impact, engaging with the topic inevitably evokes difficult emotions like uncertainty, overwhelm, despair, and grief. So it is understandable that a common response to the realities of climate change has been denial …

Reflections On A Trip To Remember: 2024 Ouachita Mba Retreat, Mallory Lester, Office Of Communications & Marketing

Press Releases

Last week, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Jackson Hole, Wyo., with my Ouachita MBA cohort, and it was a blast!

The day we took a scenic float trip down the Snake River, it was unbelievably cold. I'll be honest – it was a rocky start! We were all huddled down in the bottom of the boat because the wind was so cold on our backs. We passed a goose that was floating across the river, and I made the corny joke, "I bet that goose sure is silly."

Everyone laughed except Dr. Madison Ngafeeson, one of our …

Mexican American Men Who Have Sex With Men: Cultural Factors And Substance Use, Michael L. Garcia

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research has shown substance use affects sexual minority communities disproportionately. Studies have shown when individuals are part of ethnic or sexual minority groups, negative attitudes and risk behaviors that can lead to substance use are experienced at a greater scale compared to their majority counterparts. There have not been significant investigations regarding relationships between cultural values and sexual and ethnic minority subpopulations within the United States. The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify relationships between religion, family structure, traditional gender roles, and substance use in terms of Mexican American men who have sex with men (MAMSM) populations. This …

The Budget Proposal As A Constructive Collections Engagement Tool And Practice, Evan Rusch, Pat Lienemann, Heidi J. Southworth, Nat Gustafson-Sundell

Library Services Publications

At Minnesota State University Mankato (MNSU), our story might sound familiar. After more than a decade of flat or decreased budgets, we have cancelled hundreds of journal subscriptions and numerous journal packages. We do occasionally add journals, but only by cancelling others. We often say we are “managing library decline,” and our primary objective is to cut cleanly and accurately, so that we can continue to support accreditation and an evolving curriculum. Over the years, we have developed various tools to guide our cuts and we have demonstrated these at NASIG and elsewhere. These tools have also served for collection …

Starbucks Workers United And The Future Of American Labor Activism, Sophia Drake Braymen

Honors Projects

This essay explores the goals, motivations, and methods of Starbucks Workers United (the campaign of the labor union Workers United that is aimed at organizing Starbucks employees), as well as the Starbucks Company’s response to it. The analysis is informed by the author’s interviews with both a Workers United organizer and a Starbucks corporate employee. This essay explores the position of Starbucks Workers United within the broader history of American labor activism and our current epoch of union decline, as well as what the recent breakthrough in cooperation between Workers United and Starbucks means for American workers going into the …

Pediatric Obesity In The United States: Age–Period–Cohort Analysis, Ashley W. Kranjac, Dinko Kranjac, Roxanne I. Aguilera

Sociology Faculty Articles and Research

The rates of obesity among American children aged 2–5 years has reached a historic high. It is crucial to identify the putative sources of population-level increases in obesity prevalence among preschool-aged children because early childhood is a critical window for obesity prevention and thus reduction of future incidence. We used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data and hierarchical age–period–cohort analysis to examine lifecycle (i.e., age), historical (i.e., period), and generational (i.e., cohort) distribution of age- and sex-specific body mass index z-scores (zBMI) among 2–5-year-olds in the U.S. from 1999 to 2018. Our current findings indicate that period effects, …

Trans And Gender-Diverse Latinx Individuals In The Southern United States: Experiences With Violence And Service Utilization, Luis R. Alvarez-Hernandez, Kristie L. Seelman, Alaina Joyner, Roseangela Hartford

School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using secondary data from the 2015 U.S. Transgender Survey, we explored transgender and gender-diverse Latinx individuals in the Southern U.S. experiences with transprejudice and antitrans violence at the individual, interpersonal, and structural levels. Findings include high rates of any form of antitrans violence in the past year and intimate partner violence in a lifetime. Most respondents accessed healthcare services in the past year. However, many reported transprejudice and antitrans violence accessing these services. Findings highlight the need for comprehensive changes at all levels to improve the well-being of transgender and gender-diverse Latinx Southerners experiencing gender-based violence.

"Me? Be A Coach?" A Grounded Theory Investigation Of Coach Identity Among Managers Who Coach, Sara Mary Cannon

Industrial-Organizational Psychology Dissertations

In the 21st century, organizational expectations of managers have shifted away from traditional command-and-control toward a model of facilitating employee development (Ibarra & Scoular, 2019). Modern managers are expected to be good coaches, even though the coaching discipline is growing faster than it can be regulated (Garvin, 2013; Sherman & Freas, 2004). This research investigated the lived experiences of managers who coach and their emergent concept of identity through the lens of manager as instrument. I utilized a constructivist grounded theory approach to generate insights about coach identity experiences of managers who coach. This perspective and methodology provided an opportunity …

Prison Social Organization: Applying Social Psychology To Explain Racial Grouping In Prison, Siobhan Wynn

University Honors Theses

Since the creation of the United States, minorities have been controlled through various laws and practices such as slavery, Black Codes, Vagrancy Laws, and Jim Crow Laws. While these laws have been abolished, minorities in the United States are still being controlled in various areas such as the criminal justice system. This thesis will examine how certain codes in prisons have controlled Adults in Custody (AICs), in addition to examining two theories: Uncertain Identity Theory and Intergroup Threat Theory to help explain the social psychological functions of how and why racial grouping in prisons happen.

Commercial Property Vacancies In American Cities, Emily Dinh

University Honors Theses

This paper examines the alarming impacts of the vacancy phenomenon on commercial properties across American during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The increase in remote work encourages people to work from home more frequently. This does not only lessen employees' foot traffic to offices, but also disconnects the engagement of consumers and visitors to public areas, such as malls, stores, and other amenities. Many commercial properties have closed, shrunk their operating spaces, or reallocated for safety and security reasons. Reduction in occupancy rate among mentioned properties influences negatively on business owners, their associated partners, residents of the impacted areas, and …