Psychology

Past research suggests that students who are more academically resourceful tend to attain higher grades and feel more socially and academically adjusted at university. These same studies also show that students' general resourcefulness and academic self-efficacy are strong, positive and direct predictors of their academic resourcefulness. My thesis expands upon this line of research by investigating the six dimensions of self-compassion (i.e., self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, self-criticism, isolation, over-identification) within the framework of the academic self-control model. In Study 1, a mixed methods approach was used, whereby after completing a measure on general learned resourcefulness, 20 students were interviewed to describe in detail their experiences with academic success and failure. Across the continuum of resourcefulness, interviews were analyzed for usage of self-compassion, academic resourcefulness, and explanatory style. Four themes emerged illustrating, compared to the highly resourceful students, the less resourceful students demonstrated fewer instances of academically resourceful behaviour, believed academic successes should require little effort, focused on the product of getting a high grade versus the process, and were less socially adjusted and mindful, and more isolated, ruminative, and overly self-critical when describing academic disappointments. Study 2 employed a correlational design to examine the relationships between the dimensions of self-compassion and the variables of the academic self-control model, with a sample of 196 students. As expected, the six dimensions of self-compassion were more strongly related to general resourcefulness than academic resourcefulness, with mindfulness and common humanity being unique predictors of the former variable. The contribution of the six dimensions to academic resourcefulness was shared with general resourcefulness and academic self-efficacy. The bivariate relationships between the dimensions of self-compassion and students' grades were largely non-significant. Two dimensions uniquely predicted students' adjustment to university – isolation and common humanity – alongside general and academic resourcefulness. In summary, the dimensions of self-compassion uniquely related to the more general measures of the model. Future research should explore the usefulness of an academic-specific measure of self-compassion in the prediction of academic resourcefulness, explanatory style, and grades. Whether including training on how to be more self-compassionate, in conjunction with teaching resourcefulness strategies, is beneficial for students is discussed.

Author Keywords: academic resourcefulness, adjustment, explanatory style, general learned resourcefulness, self-compassion, self-efficacy

It has been proposed that individuals often form a romantic attachment to their sexual partners. However, there is little understanding of the role of sexual behaviours in an attachment relationship. This study aims to explore the effect of attachment representations on sexual behaviours during foreplay, intercourse, and afterplay. In two studies, individuals (N = 478) and couples (N = 50) completed self-reported measures of attachment, sexual behaviours, and sexual satisfaction. As expected, security predicted various behaviours during each part of a sexual encounter and greater sexual satisfaction. Insecurity (preoccupied, dismissing, and fearful attachment) predicted engagement in post-coital behaviours – bonding efforts as well as seeking extrinsic rewards and experiencing body worries. Fearful attachment predicted less sexual satisfaction, while preoccupied attachment unexpectedly predicted greater sexual satisfaction. These findings provide support for the associations between individual attachment styles and sexual behaviours and suggest the implications of sexual behaviours on intimate needs within relationships.

Author Keywords: afterplay, attachment, foreplay, relationships, sexuality, sexual satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students at the Royal Military College (RMC) preferred electronic or print texts, their reasoning for this preference, and whether preference was related to student characteristics. Students (N=139) in a core course were provided with both formats. Due to a limited number of e-text users, statistical analyses of most variables were not possible. Instead, qualitative responses were analyzed to gain insight into student preferences. Students reported on the benefits and concerns of using each format. Their discussion of the benefits to the e-text and concerns about the print text were related to the level of convenience of each format. When considering the benefits of print and drawbacks of e-texts, students explained how these features could impact their reading experience. This study provides qualitative support for the continued use of print texts. Although they frequently use various forms of technology in the classroom, students are reluctant to study using electronic devices and feel their reading experience is best with print.

Author Keywords: Educational technology, Qualitative, Textbooks, Text preferences

How one identifies their nonconsensual sexual experiences (NSE) and

cognitively integrates the experience into their sexual schemas may affect how individuals perceive and negotiate sexual consent. Previous research has demonstrated that both the method of quantifying NSEs and the labels used to describe NSEs yield different results in psychosexual outcomes associated with NSEs. The current study assessed differences in subjectively and behaviourally quantified NSEs, as well as the role of cognitive and affective appraisals of sexuality and sexual interactions, on sexual consent attitudes. While behaviourally measured NSE history did not significantly influence sexual consent attitudes, the subjective identification of NSEs with various labels did influence attitudes toward sexual consent. Cognitive appraisals of rape and affective appraisals of sexuality also significantly predicted sexual consent attitudes. Implications for future research and NSE prevention are discussed.

Keywords: Nonconsensual sexual experiences, sexual consent, quantifying NSEs, affective sexuality, cognitive sexuality

Author Keywords: identification, nonconsensual sexual experiences, rape, sexual affectivity, sexual assault, sexual consent

After active tool-use visual stimuli near a tool are processed more quickly and accurately than those farther away from a tool. Can these near-tool effects be modulated by training demands? To investigate this we asked the participants to complete a tool training task followed by a cross-modal interference task. During the training task the participants performed quick and accurate pointing movements to reach a strict or moderate criterion. The results indicated that the strict group made faster movements than the moderate group. During the cross-modal interference task visual distractors were presented along handheld tools in conjunction with vibrotactile stimuli on the hand. No significant compatibility effects were found for visual distractors near the hand or tool tip, and no consistent group differences were found. Our findings demonstrate the importance of using a novel tool during training, and that virtual stimuli may not be effective to elicit near-tool effects.

Author Keywords: bimodal neurons, cross-modal interference, near-tool effects, tool training, training demands

Previous research has suggested that childhood sensory sensitivity may predict adult obsessive compulsive (OC) behaviours. To date, however, research has not addressed how the separate dimensions – harm avoidance and incompleteness - may influence this relationship or why it exists. The current study used a retrospective design to test a) if sensory sensitivity in childhood predicts trait incompleteness in adulthood, as well as b) if emotion regulation variables mediate this relationship. Questionnaires pertaining to OC dimensions and childhood anxieties were completed independently by 172 undergraduate participants and their primary childhood caregiver. Results showed a linear relationship between sensory sensitivity in childhood and incompleteness in adults. Emotion regulation variables failed to mediate this relationship, although a trend for mediation was present. Additionally, exploratory analysis found perfectionism in childhood to be a predictor of trait incompleteness but not harm avoidance, whereas physical anxieties predicted harm avoidance and not incompleteness. Results are discussed in the context of clinical and theoretical implications.

Author Keywords: Distress Tolerance, Harm Avoidance, Incompleteness, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Sensory Sensitivity, Symmetry

The assessment of visuomotor function can provide important information about neurological status. Several visuomotor tasks exist for testing in the laboratory, although attempts to make these tests portable to allow quick and reliable assessment have been limited. We developed an assessment tool using two laboratory visuomotor tests as a tablet application: the double-step task, and an interception task. Performance was assessed by measuring the participants' ability to reach toward unpredictably moving targets in each task. Response patterns were compared across equipment types to determine if participants were responding similarly to the moving targets in the standard laboratory and the tablet version of the tasks. On the double-step task, participants adjusted to the displaced target adequately in both the lab and tablet versions. On the interception task, participants intercepted non-accelerating targets, and performed worse on accelerating targets in both versions of the task. These findings suggest that the tablet version of these tasks assesses similar visuomotor processing as the respective laboratory version.

Author Keywords: concussion assessment, double-step task, interception task, visuomotor processing, visuomotor system

The relationship between siblings is unique in both its history and duration across the lifespan. Previous relationship researchers have examined siblings in childhood, but few have explored this distinctive relationship in adulthood. In this study, the adult sibling relationship was explored from an attachment perspective to determine the effect of an individual's attachment on conflict and collaboration with siblings. As expected, secure attachment predicted negative associations with conflict and positive associations with collaboration whereas insecure attachment (fearful, preoccupied, and dismissing) predicted opposite patterns. Results were compared to the abundance of literature on romantic relationships and findings from this study provided support for the theory that siblings function as attachment figures in adulthood.

Author Keywords: Attachment, Collaboration, Conflict, Relationships, Romantic partners, Siblings

The objective of this dissertation is to measure the influence of the contemporary influx of women's involvement in the horror genre in three dimensional capacities: female representation in horror films, female representation as active, participatory spectators and female representation in the industrial production of horror. Through the combined approach of theoretical and empirical analysis, this dissertation examines the social conditions that facilitated women's infiltration of the horror genre. Beginning with psychoanalytic theories of spectatorship, it is demonstrated that female filmmakers have challenged horror's traditional images of victimized women through the development new forms of feminine representation in contemporary horror films. Using data collected from a sample of 52 self-identified female horror fans, it is revealed that the purported invisibility of female horror spectators is a consequence of their alternative modes of consumption. Through interviews conducted with four female producers and an examination of their cultural productions, I illustrate that women have reconstituted the horror genre as a space for inclusivity, political activism and feminist empowerment. Cohesively, these findings reveal the contemporary feminist reclamation of horror to be a form of resistance intended to challenge the patriarchal structures that facilitated women's historical exclusion from the horror genre.

Author Keywords: Abjection, Feminism, Film, Gender, Horror, Psychoanalysis

Human-wildlife interactions are inevitable and lead to decisions about wildlife. The current research investigated what demographic and psychological factors influence decisions in wildlife management. Also, a new measure, the Tolerance for Wildlife Scale, was developed. A student sample (n = 329) and a community sample (n = 213) completed measures on their nature relatedness, environmental concern, and emotions towards wildlife. They completed the Tolerance for Wildlife Scale and rated decisions to use lethal or non-lethal action in nine human-wildlife scenarios. Correlation analyses revealed people who are more tolerant towards wildlife are more connected with nature, concerned for the environment, feel positive emotions towards wildlife, and are more likely to choose non-lethal management actions. ANOVAs revealed that location and occupation have an impact on tolerance for wildlife. By identifying factors that influence tolerance for wildlife, humans can hope to share space with wildlife and foster coexistence.

Author Keywords: emotion, environmental concern, nature relatedness, tolerance, wildlife, wolves