Psychology
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Item The Marriage Revolution: The impact of legalized same-sex marriage on non-heterosexual relationships across cultures(2009-06-24T19:07:08Z) Abbott, ShelleyLocated within a larger social equality movement, the current global debate over legalizing same-sex marriage has personal implications for non-heterosexuals and their relationships. To understand the impact of legal recognition on individuals' perceptions of self and their relationships, 712 participants across the world were surveyed via the internet about their relationship status, their level of satisfaction, commitment and investment in their current relationship, their feelings towards their sexual orientation, the support they receive from family and friends, and their personal feelings about legalized same-sex marriage. Participants’ responses on each of these variables were compared based on the presence or absence of legalized same-sex marriage legislation in their place of residence. Results showed that location was significant regarding levels of investment in relationships, levels of internalized homophobia, involvement in the LGBT community and feelings of social support.Item Preschoolers’ Perception Of Numerosities(2009-06-04T00:33:46Z) Pena-Diaz, SoniaUnderstanding how children perceive the concept of numbers is critical for developmental and cognitive psychologists, teachers, and even parents. This study seeks to answer whether the specific arrangement of a display affects a preschooler’s ability to identify the larger of two numerical displays. Thirty-three boys and girls with a mean age of 4 years old currently enrolled in pre-school participated in the study. Participants were shown pairs of arrays that were composed of either: individual petals in both arrays, petals grouped into flowers with both arrays having the same number of flowers, or petals grouped into flowers with both arrays having a different number of flowers. Participants were asked to identify which had the most petals. It was expected that as the complexity of the arrays increased, preschoolers’ ability to correctly identify the most numerous display would decrease. It was also expected that the size of the petals would have a stronger effect than the composition of the petals on proportion correct. There were no main effects for petal composition, number, age, or gender. There was a significant main effect for petal size and for age. This is consistent with prior research that children in this age range are in a preoperational stage of cognition and cannot easily process concepts they cannot see or touch. There was a significant interaction between petal composition and number and between petal composition and petal size. There was a significant three-way interaction among number, gender, and age and among petal composition, number, and age. There was also a four-way interaction among petal composition, size, gender, and age. Possible future studies could investigate the effects of item composition on elementary school children.Item Pessimists’ And Optimists’ Reactions To Interruptions On A Creativity Task(2009-06-04T00:16:02Z) Alfonso, VeronicaDo pessimists and optimists react differently to interruptions on a creativity task? Sixty participants were asked to complete the Attributional Style Questionnaire, three divergent thinking tasks, and a questionnaire asking for participant demographics and attitudes about the interruptions they experienced during the tests. Three interruptions, which were initiated by a confederate or the experimenter, occurred between the tasks for the control group and during tasks for the experimental group. It was hypothesized that interruptions occurring during tasks would cause a decrement in performance and that pessimists would outperform optimists in the creativity task. An interaction between explanatory style and interruptions was also predicted; the interruptions were expected to have a greater negative impact on optimists. Although no significant differences were found for either optimism group or interruption condition, pessimists had slightly higher mean creativity scores than optimists. Also, when hopelessness scores were considered, individuals who were more hopeless had slightly higher creativity scores than individuals who were less hopeless. Practical applications to school and work environments are discussed.