Poster Presentations
Class-Wide Peer Tutoring: What Do Students Want?
Kim Paquette
Special Education ‘08
Peer tutoring enhances students’ academic achievement and social confidence. Both students with and without special needs benefitted from class-wide peer tutoring (CWPT)/Class Learning Assistant (CLA) programs at a regional high school. Their perceptions of CWPT/CLA will be presented. This session will provide tools to evaluate and improve CWPT/CLA programs based on students’ input. Faculty Advisor: Nanho Vander Hart
Evaluating Social Synchrony in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Kayla Farley
Counseling Psychology Program
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) display various impairments in social interaction that affect development, learning, and behavioral functioning. The current study examined whether adolescents with autism demonstrate different social synchronization behavior than those without autism and whether these differences in social synchronization are related to clinical assessments and performance in social cognitive tasks. Results indicate that adolescents with autism had lower scores on measures of social synchrony and social synchrony was significantly correlated with autism severity, theory of mind, and facial emotion recognition. While coordinating ones movements with another person typically helps to facilitate social connection, these findings suggest that adolescents with autism have disruptions in social synchronization that may interfere with the formation of social bonds.
Faculty Advisor: Paula Fitzpatrick
Exploring Serenity: How to Induce It?
Lauramarie Rahusen and Nabil Georges
Counseling Psychology Program
The purpose of this pilot study was to test serenity induction procedures, using both self-report and physiological measures, in order to later examine the link between the experience of serenity and information processing in a larger scale study. Participants’ emotional state and skin conductance levels were measured while being exposed to a variety of visual and auditory stimuli. Along with baseline, induction, and incubation stages, participants were exposed to one of three different conditions: “video only,” “statements only,” or “combination.”. Preliminary results from self-reports show significant temporal increase in positive emotions, however, all conditions were equally effective in inducing serenity.
Faculty Sponsor: Maria Parmley
Do Young Adults' Views of Family-of-Origin Co-parenting
Predict their Future Parenting Confidence and Co-parenting Outlooks?
Stacy Stewart and Juliana Eells
Counseling Psychology Program
The purpose of this study was to investigate whether family-of-origin experiences with co-parenting impact young adults’ expectations of their future co-parenting relationships. The literature indicates that couples’ expectations of future co-parenting relationships during pregnancy predict co-parenting harmony after birth, but it is unclear whether ideas about future family dynamics predate pregnancy. The present study interviewed 123 undergraduates living on campus using the Perceptions of Parental Co-parenting Interview. Participants were asked to report on their family-of-origin experiences with co-parenting and to describe their future ideas about family life. Findings supported predicted correlations between family-of-origin experiences and future ideas about co-parenting.
Faculty Advisor: Regina Kuersten-Hogan
The Rehabilitative Journey of Individuals Who Exhibit Non-Suicidal Self-Injurious Behaviors Versus Suicidal Behaviors
Alyssa Breen and Mackenzie Dezieck
Rehabilitation Counseling Program
Self-Injury is defined as “intentional self-poisoning or injury, irrespective of the apparent purpose of the act” (NICE, 2004). While self-injury is primarily focused on emotional regulation, suicide is a deliberate act to end one’s life. Self-injury and suicidal behavior may both occur in an individual, yet they’re substantially different from one another from a rehabilitative perspective. These two behaviors are managed differently, yet they are evaluated interdependently. Evidence-based treatments, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Illness Management and Recovery (IMR) are extremely effective rehabilitative approaches for treating individuals who display these types of behaviors.
Faculty Advisor: Lee Pearson
Pre- and Postnatal Predictors of Infant Communication at 12 Months
Gil Poplinger
Counseling Psychology Program
Twelve-month old infants combine sounds with gestures, follow gaze, and point to communicate with caregivers. These early joint-attention behaviors predict optimal cognitive and emotional functioning. Parental language input is critical in supporting communicative skills. While previous research examined the effect of maternal language, few studies have included the role of fathers and the quality of co-parenting. Our results show that mothers who took more turns had infants who initiated more joint attention with others. Maternal use of imperatives was positively related to both joint attention and greater number of verbalizations. Prenatal synergetic co-parenting (cooperative and warm) predicted greater infant verbalizations at 12 months. Fathers seem to influence language development through their co-parenting.
Faculty Advisor: Mari Kalpidou
Presentations
Strategic Plannign Project for BeLikeBrit Foundation
Andrea Tobin and Monica Castillo
MBA Program
This project was conducted for the MBA Business Strategy Capstone and BeLikeBrit, a foundation founded by the Gengel Family after the death of their daughter in the devastating earthquake during a service trip to Haiti. The Gengel family has invested their own money, created the foundation, have written a book and raised money to build an earthquake-proof orphanage that can welcome 85 children as a permanent memorial to the legacy of their daughter. MBA students have applied their general management skills to draft a Strategic Plan aimed at identifying key issues facing the Foundation and providing recommendations for sustaining the organization in the future.
Faculty Advisor: Eric Drouart
Evaluating the Clinical Utility of the ADHD Rating Scale in a Clinic Population
Suyi Liu and Melissa Symolon
Counseling Psychology Program
The ADHD Rating Scale-IV is most commonly used to diagnostically evaluate ADHD symptoms. However, research on the clinical utility of the scale is scarce. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the predictive validity of the ADHD Rating Scale in a clinic sample, specifically examining whether the scale differentiated between youth diagnosed with ADHD and youth with other DSM-IV diagnoses. One-way ANOVA analysis and the logistic regression analysis were used to differentiate ADHD groups (combined & inattentive) and control groups. Presenting findings indicate that ADHD Rating Scale has high diagnostic utility.
Faculty Advisor: Leonard Doerfler
The Impacts of Relaxation Techniques on Self-Esteem, Stress Reduction, and Athletic Performance
Ashley Januszewski and Rachel Hedge
School Counseling Program
In this study the stress levels, self-esteem, and academic and athletic performances of female college softball players were measured. Relaxation and mindfulness techniques were presented in a six-session format over the course of three weeks. Pre- and post-tests of subjective experience were collected through self-report. Research supports the use of breath-focused relaxation techniques to reduce stress and increase self-esteem. There is little research on how these combined factors can increase athletic performance (pitcher ERA, errors, and batting average) and thus the current study sought to bridge this gap and give athletes the tools to utilize relaxation techniques in future real-life scenarios.
Faculty Advisor: Evans Tsoules
Rehabilitation Challenges for the U.S. Justice System Today
John L. Quinn
Rehabilitation Counseling Program
Little of the $80 billion the United States spends a year on criminal justice, is spent on former inmate rehabilitation. 2.3 million individuals were incarcerated in the U.S. in 2013, of these inmates, 95 percent will be released. The costs of imprisonment are immense, yet the recidivism rate in the U.S. is 60 percent. Social scientists and criminologists agree that efforts in, education, retraining and counseling play key roles in preventing inmates from returning to prison. This power point will consider incarceration, the present opportunities for rehabilitation former inmates and some optimum potential opportunities that should be considered.
Faculty Advisor: Lee Pearson