Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item REAL-WORLD EMOTION DYNAMICS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH CURRENT AND FUTURE INTERNALIZING SYMPTOMS(2024) Didier, Paige Ryan; Shackman, Alexander J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Most studies of internalizing disorders have emphasized the role of emotional traits in the development of internalizing disorders, however more proximal pathology-promoting processes like momentary emotional experiences remain underexplored. Given that the current treatments for these debilitating illnesses are far from curative, understanding proximal processes is critical to optimize interventions and alleviate suffering. Here, we utilized smart-phone ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to identify the relevance of real-world emotional dynamics in internalizing symptomatology and change over a 2.5-year follow-up period. Results demonstrate that one’s event-independent (tonic) level of affect are predictive of broadband (Dysphoria) and narrow-band (Panic and Well-being) internalizing symptoms, whereas positive and negative event exposure is not. Notably, increased emotional reactivity to negative events predicts greater concurrent and future Dysphoria symptoms but not its trajectory. Whereas tonic levels of negative affect lose predictive value for future Dysphoria when controlling for baseline symptoms, elevated tonic positive affect uniquely predicts healthier Well-being trajectories. These findings advance our understanding of real-world emotional dynamics in internalizing illnesses and lay the groundwork for improved research paradigms and targeted interventions.Item Towards a Theory of Transmedial Immersion(2020) Frew, Kathryn Kaczmarek; Kraus, Kari; English Language and Literature; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Immersion names a physical, mental, and emotional state in which narrative can take control over a reader. Traditional theories of immersion, rooted in the metaphors of enchantment and transportation, assume that the boundaries of the text constitute the boundaries of the reader’s engagement with the story. In other words, if you close the book, immersion ends. Transmedia narratives, such as the Matrix franchise, challenge these assumptions because the story moves across media boundaries. By putting theories from disciplines such as psychology, cognitive science, narratology, and media studies in conversation and testing them against case studies of transmedia narratives, I propose a new theory of transmedial immersion that accommodates all narratives, particularly those crossing media boundaries. Transmedial immersion is the phenomenological experience of a narrative by which the features of the storyworld, characters, and plot become the primary focus of the reader/viewer/player’s consciousness. This immersion bleeds beyond the boundaries of the medium and narrative experience, allowing it to be individual or communal. As I show through a reading of the interaction of print text, augmented reality, and digital narrative in The Ice-Bound Concordance, transmedial immersion relies on distributed, rather than focused, attention, and embraces the materiality and hypermediacy of the reading/viewing/playing experience. Contrary to assumed effortlessness, transmedial immersion requires cognitive effort as readers collate and assemble all the aspects of the narrative. For example, players of the alternate reality games DUST and The Tessera use cognitive blending (as described by Mark Turner) to blur the ontological boundaries of fiction and reality, demonstrated in their use of metalepsis. Finally, transmedial immersion allows the narrative to be simultaneously enjoyed and critiqued, an approach Alexis Lothian calls “critical fandom.” The theory explains how Harry Potter fans reacted to the Fantastic Beasts movies by embracing Newt Scamander as an unlikely hero while raising concerns about cultural appropriation and queer representation. This theory of transmedial immersion not only provides a framework for understanding narrative engagement in the new media landscape, it also prompts literary scholars to reexamine how their assumptions about the process of reading, viewing, and playing texts in a single medium inform their criticism.Item INTERACTIONS BETWEEN APPETITIVE AND AVERSIVE PROCESSING DURING PERCEPTION AND ATTENTION(2017) Padmala, Srikanth; Pessoa, Luiz; Neuroscience and Cognitive Science; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Although understanding brain mechanisms of appetitive-aversive interactions is relevant to our daily lives and has potential clinical relevance, our knowledge about these brain mechanisms is rudimentary. To address this gap in the literature, we conducted two functional MRI studies that investigated appetitive-aversive interactions during perception and attention in healthy adult human brain. In the first study, we probed how potential reward signaled by advance cues altered aversive distractor processing during a subsequent visual task. Behaviorally, the deleterious influence of aversive stimuli on task performance was reduced during the reward compared to no-reward condition. In the brain, at the task phase, paralleling the observed behavioral pattern, significant interactions were observed in the anterior insula and dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, such that responses during the negative (vs. neutral) condition were reduced during the reward compared to no-reward condition. Notably, negative distractor processing in the amygdala appeared to be independent of the reward manipulation. During the initial cue phase, we observed increased reward-related responses in the ventral striatum, which were correlated with behavioral interference scores at the subsequent task phase, revealing that participants with increased reward-related responses exhibited a greater behavioral benefit of reward in reducing the adverse effect of negative images. Furthermore, the ventral striatum exhibited stronger functional connectivity with fronto-parietal regions important for attentional control. These findings contribute to the understanding of how potential reward influences attentional control and reduces negative distractor processing in the human brain. In the second study, we investigated brain mechanisms underlying the joint processing of positive and negative emotional information during a passive viewing task. Specifically we focused on probing the pattern of appetitive-aversive interactions in brain regions sensitive to the valence and salience of emotional stimuli. In a subset of regions that were sensitive to stimulus valence, competitive interaction patterns were observed. Notably, in other valence-coding regions such as the ventro-medial prefrontal cortex no evidence for competitive interactions was detected. Conversely, in regions sensitive to salience, cooperative interaction patterns were observed. The findings of competitive and cooperative type interactions supported contextual modulation of emotional processing in the human brain.Item Distress and risk behavior in borderline personality disorder: Motivation and self-efficacy for emotion regulation(2014) Matusiewicz, Alexis Katherine; Lejuez, Carl W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a persistent psychological disorder characterized by pervasive emotional difficulties, unstable relationships, identity disturbance and high rates of engagement in self-damaging risk behavior. Prominent theoretical perspectives on BPD suggest that the primary motivational basis for risk behavior is the regulation of negative emotional states. The goal of this study was to test several of the hypotheses suggested by emotion regulation models of risk behavior, using a rigorous experimental design. Specifically, we sought to demonstrate the causal effect of distress on risk behavior among individuals with and without BPD, and to examine motivational and self-regulatory mediators of: a) the relationship between emotion and engagement in risk behavior; and b) the relationship between BPD and distress-induced change in risk behavior. To this end, participants with and without BPD provided ratings of emotion, motivation for emotion regulation and risk behavior in the context of induced calm and distress, and completed a self-report measure of trait self-efficacy for emotion regulation. Results provide partial support for the study hypotheses. Only women with BPD showed an increase in risk behavior in the distress condition, and distress-induced change in risk behavior was predicted by both the intensity of emotion regulation goals and self-efficacy for emotion regulation. Findings support the perspective that risk behavior is enacted strategically in response to negative emotions and associated motivational states. For those with BPD, distress-induced risk behavior may reflect a type of emotion-regulatory resourcefulness that becomes maladaptive when used inflexibly or to the exclusion of other strategies.Item Infants' representations and memories of their social-emotional interactions(2013) Sherman, Laura Jernigan; Cassidy, Jude; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)According to several theorists, infants form mental representations and memories of their social-emotional interactions (e.g., Bowlby, 1969/1982), but very few studies have investigated these claims. Across two studies, I hypothesized that 10-month-old infants would form representations and memories of their social-emotional interactions. In Study 1, infants (N = 24) were familiarized to a positive and negative puppet and their representations and memories were assessed with visual-paired comparison (VPC) and forced-choice tests. Ten minutes after their interactions, but not immediately after, significantly more infants chose the positive puppet (17/24, p = .030). To better understand these results, I conducted another study in which infants (N = 32) were randomly assigned to be familiarized to either a positive and neutral puppet or a negative and neutral puppet. In the positive condition infants were more likely to choose the positive puppet immediately after (12/16, p =.038), but not 10 minutes after the interactions, whereas in the negative condition infants' choices were at chance - but older infants were more likely choose the neutral puppet (Mdiff = 11.50 days, p = .022). In both studies, no effects emerged with infants' preferential looking. Overall, the results indicated that infants' representations and memories of their brief social-emotional interactions were stronger for positive than negative interactions. Results are discussed with regard to existing theory and research and the negativity bias hypothesis.Item Light in the Landscape(2013) Thum, Erica Marie; Sullivan, Jack; Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This design-research thesis proposes the redesign of Tide Lock Park in Alexandria, Virginia as an exploration of light. By researching the cultural history of artificial lighting as well as the sculptural use of light as art, this thesis seeks to distinguish lighting design that goes beyond functional and safety concerns to include design that honors the human relationship to darkness, as well as the artistic and emotive qualities of lighting. To accomplish these goals, this thesis proposes a landscape design for Tide Lock Park which meets the City of Alexandria's objectives as described in the Waterfront Small Area Plan. The design includes three distinctive areas of light, providing visitors the opportunity to engage the night in multiple ways.Item Distress and risk-taking in borderline personality disorder: An examination of neurocognitive mechanisms(2010) Matusiewicz, Alexis Katherine; Lejuez, Carl W; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a severe mental illness characterized by high rates of engagement in distress-induced risk behavior. Unfortunately, extant laboratory-based risk paradigms have failed to account for the role of distress in precipitating risk behavior, so many questions remain about processes mechanisms that underlie this behavior. The current study examined affect as a moderator of the relationship between diagnostic status and risk behavior, as measured by a behavioral risk task, and affective and non-affective neurocognitive functioning as potential mediators of this relationship. Results indicated that individuals with BPD engaged in more risk behavior in the distress condition than in the neutral condition, whereas individuals without BPD showed a decrease in risk behavior across the two conditions. However, corresponding changes in executive functioning were not observed, suggesting the need for continued research to identify alternative mechanisms (e.g., neurocognitive, motivational) to explain this effect.Item THE EMOTIONS SOCIAL MEDIA BRING TO NEWS: THE EMERGENCE OF EMPATHY AND COMPASSION AS ELEMENTS IN NEWS MESSAGES(2012) Chong, EunRyung; Newhagen, John E; Journalism; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study is an experiment examining qualitative differences of social media as an emerging news platform from traditional main stream media. The study argued a need of the reinterpretation of Marshall McLuhan's notion, "media is the message" in terms of an interaction between news content and media platforms. The study proposed a new concept of users' proximity to news, called "locality," which has been matured by user driven social media environments. For the study, a laboratory experiment was conducted. A total of 83 college students in a large mid-Atlantic university participated in the laboratory experiment as a representative of young adult news consumers. A main stream media news website and Facebook were assigned as news platforms, while negative and positive news content was provided as news content to subjects. Subjects' responses to news content which was laden in the same directional valence of a platform (negative news on a negative main stream media news website) and an opposite directional platform (negative news on positive social media) were observed. Subjects' reaction time and accuracy of memory of news content were measured by psychological software. Subjects also reported their emotions such as valence, intensity, compassion and empathy on negative and positive news content. Results exhibited an effect of coactivation between news content and media platform. When the valence of news contents and its platform were contradicted, the effect of coactivation such as users' hesitation of decision making was found. The results implicated that users' preoccupied expectation for specific news platform may filter their attention to news stories on a specific platform. The ambivalent responses of both empathy and compassion on identical negative news contents supported the proposed concept of "locality." It was revealed that media users manipulate their psychological proximity to news within securing safe distances from negative situations in recent user driven communication environments. Based on the examination, implication of the study for the practice of journalism against confronting challenges was discussed.Item Nuclear reactions: Testing a message-centered extension of enduring predictions about expert and lay person perceptions of and reactions to risk(2011) Evans, Sarah Anne; Turner, Monique M; Communication; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this dissertation was to critically examine differences in risk perceptions among experts and lay people. In particular, this project aimed to address inconsistent definitions of "expert" found in the existing literature and to test the predictions of the psychometric paradigm in the context of communication. To examine the effect of message features and expertise on risk perceptions and evaluations of risk characteristics, this dissertation employed a 2 (emotional appeal: fear, anger) x 2 (message topic: nuclear energy, traffic accidents) x 4 (expertise: general risk assessors, traffic safety experts, nuclear energy experts, lay people) between-participants design. The results replicated some findings of the existing research. First, in the main, experts reported lower risk perceptions than lay people. Second, expressed fear led to increased risk perceptions compared to expressed anger. This study also advanced theory regarding risk perception and risk communication in two critical ways. First, differences were found not only between experts and lay people but also among the various expert groups, and, even in the expert groups, these differences were influenced in meaningful ways by the messages viewed. Second, this study demonstrated the potential for messages to affect not only risk perceptions but also the evaluation of risk characteristics, a possibility not previously tested. Specifically, the findings indicated that emotional appeals and message topic can affect evaluations of risk characteristics for risks both related to the message and unrelated to the message. The messages' effects on evaluations of risk characteristics were, in fact, more pronounced than the effects of the messages on general risk perceptions. The results suggest the factors argued to be predictive of risk perception (dread risk and knowledge risk), presented previously as inherent characteristics of risks rather than as targets for influence, can be altered through strategic communication. Both theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.Item The Social Behaviors and Emotional Characteristics of Individuals Elevated on Social Anhedonia(2010) Llerena, Katiah; Blanchard, Jack J; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research suggests that social anhedonia (SocAnh) is a promising indicator for the vulnerability towards developing schizophrenia-spectrum disorders as well as an important determinant of the social impairment associated within these disorders. In this study we sought to examine the hypothesis that, within social affiliative interactions, individuals with SocAnh demonstrate problematic behavioral skills and experiential deficits. The current study compared controls (n=54) to individuals elevated on SocAnh (n=42) within a videotaped social interaction focusing on an initial affiliative interaction. Compared to controls, participants with SocAnh were rated as less behaviorally affiliative and they were rated as having overall lower social skills. There were no group differences on ratings of facial affect. SocAnh participants reported experiencing less positive affect in response to the social interaction, were less willing to engage in future social interactions with their interaction partner, and had less affiliative reactions toward the interaction partner. Results converge with prior findings in that individuals with SocAnh may experience less positive and affiliative reactions in response to social interactions. They may also be less apt in interacting with social partners in affiliative ways. Notably, results of the current study also demonstrate that the simulated live social interaction developed for the current study may better elicit social affiliative behaviors and experiences than previous stimuli.