Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Behavioral psychology'

Managing the behavioral needs of individuals with developmental disabilities has been a long-standing concern for group home managers and direct care staff. Consultee-centered consultation has a history of documented benefits for children in schools and was theorized to be beneficial to adults with developmental disabilities residing in group homes. Adults with disabilities continue to experience behavioral difficulties while staff lack the training to maintain quality support services. Caplan’s consultee-centered consultation (1993) bridges the gap between client centered behavioral consultation and consultee effectiveness in addressing client behavioral concerns. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of consultee-centered consultation on client behavior and the group home environment. Three community-based group homes were chosen to participate in this study using matched assignment. Participants included ten clients with challenging behaviors, two consultees (managers of group-homes), three data collectors and direct-care staff working with clients. This study showed encouraging support of a decrease in the frequency of challenging behaviors exhibited by clients residing in two group homes that received consultee-centered consultation for twelve and six weeks. The level of job satisfaction for employees participating in this study did not demonstrate change over the course of the 15-week study. Despite a lack of support for a change in employee satisfaction, both consultees receiving consultee-centered consultation reported that consultation helped them to address staff concerns and improvements in their level of confidence and skills.

The literature supports that as leaders pursue personal and professional growth, they achieve a sense of well-being, become healthier, more engaged, and more productive. This study explores how Christian leaders who have a strong core spiritual identity experience growth toward their best-self. According to the literature, the best-self is a positive psychology approach to personal growth that utilizes a person’s natural strengths and skills to describe one’s personal best. Adult identity development is multifaceted and influenced by numerous factors. A spiritual identity built upon strong beliefs results in a salient identity that influences every part of one’s life. Utilizing a generic qualitative methodology and a snowball sampling strategy, eight participants were interviewed. Multiple consistent themes were identified in the data: (a) an integration of spiritual identity (b) enhanced self-awareness (c) saliency of spiritual identity, (c) roles and motivations defined by faith, (d) altruism, (e) role identity as a calling, (f) faith-based decision-making, (g) intrapersonal and interpersonal prayer, a personal relationship with God, (h) the need to be supported by like-minded individuals, (i) the alignment of organizational values and personal values, and (j) personal growth defined by God. One unexpected finding was the way the participants defined best-self. Based on their narratives, the participants viewed their best-self, including their talents and abilities, as being defined by God, stating that to become the person that God designed them to be would be achieving best-self. The significance of spirituality in the workplace was discovered through the participants’ experiences. This was also supported in the literature. These themes are presented and explored along with recommendations for future research.

Scope of Study: This study was designed to investigate the lived experiences of middle to executive level leaders who participated in positive psychology coaching during midlife. Through personal interviews, participants shared comprehensive descriptions of their experiences in an effort to provide a deep understanding of the ways in which they benefited both personally and professionally while facing challenges typically associated with middle age.

Findings and Conclusions: This study generated three major findings that support this effort (1) participating in positive psychology executive coaching provides focus and confidence that facilitates personal and professional growth during midlife by helping clients identify and overcome real life and work challenges while pursuing their over-arching goals; (2) the coaching experience and associated results largely vary from participant to participant based on their wants, goals and aspirations for the future; and (3) the client’s perception of coaching impact was tied, at least in part to the length of coaching, the quality of their relationship with the coach and a perceived positive experience. These results support the employment of positive psychology interventions as part of an executive coaching engagement, showing that to do so with midlife clients not only supports their goal achievement, but also facilitates resolution of other work and life challenges over time and within a quality client-coach relationship.

This research explored the topic of team building for a multicultural team and investigated the impact on group cohesion. The participants were members of a work group, each of a different nationality. Review of existing literature revealed a list of team building elements most suited for the multicultural context. A team building program incorporating those elements and customized for the participant group was designed and implemented. Pre and post survey data showed no significant difference in group cohesion, although there was a slight increase in the score for task cohesion. Qualitative interview data, however, suggested a positive impact on group cohesion, with the impact perceived to be greater on task cohesion than social cohesion. Elements of the team building program that were found to be the most impactful were: it provided an opportunity to generate a deeper awareness of others, it provided an opportunity to generate deeper self-awareness, it provided a platform for team collaboration, and it contained fun and interesting activities.

PURPOSE. The purpose of this study was to identify the career benefits and calculate the return on investment (ROI) of unpaid volunteer leadership as perceived by chapter leaders in a professional talent development industry association. The definition of career benefits was adapted from Hirschi’s Career Resources Model, which includes: social capital, human capital, career identity and psychological resources (2012). Additionally, this study used the ROI Institute’s ROI MethodologyTM to identify and calculate the costs and benefits of volunteer leadership to determine the ROI of time served as an unpaid volunteer leader (2013).

METHODS. This descriptive mixed-method study gathered quantitative and qualitative data via an online survey and semi-structured telephone interviews from 40 volunteer chapter leaders of the Association for Talent Development (ATD).

FINDINGS. There were multiple positive findings and several levels of ROI data documenting the strong value of volunteer leadership in a professional talent development association, and also demonstrating that there is very positive return from giving back to the profession. By giving their time and sometimes their money, volunteer leaders reaped multiple career benefits such as skill development, deeper relationships, publishing, contracts, speaking opportunities, new jobs and promotions. These specific career benefits resulted in a very significant positive financial ROI of 246%.

CONCLUSIONS. This study proved the paradox of volunteer leadership — often the main motivator is to give back, however what volunteer leaders receive is so much more. There is a strong tangible return on investment, as well as numerous intangible career benefits for serving as a volunteer leader in a professional talent development association. RECOMMENDATIONS. This study provides ideas for leveraging the value of volunteer leadership for individuals, associations and organizations. Individuals can improve or enhance their social capital, human capital, psychological resources and career identity. Associations can use this data to provide clear evidence of the value of volunteer leadership. Finally, corporations can encourage volunteer leadership as a tool to enhance or accelerate the leadership development of employees while also supporting professional industry associations.

The literature on person-organization (P-O) fit has been plagued with inconsistencies in the conceptualization, operationalization and measurement of P-O fit. Despite numerous studies examining the relationship between P-O fit and outcomes, these inconsistencies in measurement and operationalization have led to mixed findings concerning specific individual outcomes. The goal of this dissertation was to address some of these inconsistencies by examining the relationship between P-O fit, using perceived and subjective measures of fit, and attitudinal and behavioral outcomes. In addition, previously unexplored mediators of the P-O fit-outcome relationships were examined. Although not formally hypothesized, it was believed that the magnitude of the relationships would differ such that perceived fit would have a stronger relationship with attitudinal outcomes than subjective fit, and that subjective fit would have a stronger relationship with job performance than perceived fit.

A sample of 188 entry-level managerial employees, working in a national transportation organization, was used to examine the relationship between P-O fit and job attitudes (i.e., job satisfaction, commitment, organizational citizenship behaviors and turnover intentions) and supervisor rated job performance. The results of this dissertation suggest that perceived fit is related to positive attitudes and better job performance. Furthermore, perceived organizational support partially mediates the relationship between perceived fit and the attitudinal outcomes studied, lending partial support for hypotheses. Role ambiguity was also examined as a potential mediator between fit and job performance, however, although perceived fit was significantly related to role ambiguity, the results did not support the relationship between role ambiguity and job performance. Tests of the specific hypotheses for subjective fit were not supported. Instead, the results indicated that organizational values, rather than fit between person and organizational values, were a strong predictor of attitudinal outcomes.

This study examined the relationship between employees’ Organizational Commitment and the perception of the management of deviant behavior and examined if Organizational Culture moderated the strength of the relationship between Organizational Commitment and the perception of the management of deviant behavior. Three assessments were administered either electronically or in hardcopy form and were completed by 114 participants who were employed adults ages 18 and above, managed by someone else, in the southeastern U.S. The Organizational Culture Inventory (OCI) developed by Cooke and Lafferty (2013) measured overall Organizational Culture of employees at an individual level of assessment. The instrument used to measure employee Organizational Commitment was the TCM Employee Commitment Survey (Wellspring Worldwide, LLC, 2010). The instrument used to measure the perception of the management of deviant behavior was derived from a non-self-report measure created by Stewart, Bing, Davidson, Woehr, and McIntyre (2009). A moderated multiple regression analysis determined that the relationship between the perception of the management of deviant behavior and organizational commitment was not predicted by a constructive, aggressive/defensive, or passive/defensive culture style. The study found that the perception of the management of deviant behavior did not have a statistically significant predictive relationship with regards to organizational commitment, nor did workplace culture moderate the perceptions or attitudes of employees. The empirical evidence provided in this study enhanced the body of knowledge related to workplace culture. Specifically, the results of the study provided quantitative information, which provided a valuable understanding that a macro-variable such as workplace culture does not necessarily attenuate the relationship between perception of management and organizational commitment within certain diverse workplaces.

This transcendental phenomenological study sought to understand how the followers of authentic leaders in a multi-national healthcare organization experienced well-being. Twenty followers of 5 authentic leaders participated in the research and shared their lived experiences. Followers reported they experienced workplace well-being by maintaining work-life balance, feeling fulfilled/doing meaningful work, and feeling appreciated/recognized for their contributions. Workplace well-being was experienced as a result of their perceptions of feeling trusted and cared about as a whole being and not just an employee by their leaders. Followers also reported that the organizational culture provided support for leaders to demonstrate behaviors of authentic leadership, caring, trust, appreciation, respect, valuing others, openness, honesty, and transparency, which led them to feel an attachment to their leaders and organizations. Followers were motivated to exhibit organizational citizenship behaviors by providing extra or discretionary effort beyond their expected role requirements. These findings indicate that authentic leaders can provide value by cultivating well-being in the workplace. Findings also suggest recommendations for establishing organizational best practices.

There is not a common, agreed upon definition of authentic leadership. There are varying opinions as to whether authenticity is a trait or a style; however, most scholars believe authenticity is a purpose and value based characteristic (Gardner, Cogliser, Davis, & Dickens, 2011) that is developed over time (George, 2003). Transparency is a core concept of authentic leadership, and situational awareness is a critical skill for leaders to determine the degree of transparency that they should demonstrate. There is limited theoretical and empirical research on how transparency and self-monitoring can be used in conjunction with situational leadership and situational awareness theory. This study measures the impact of a leader’s expression of transparency on follower’s confidence in his or her ability with consideration of a number of covariates. The findings of this study are intended to help advance authentic leadership theory with specific focus on situational awareness and transparency as core concepts of authenticity. Implications are discussed on the advancement of leadership theory, authentic leadership, and transparency as a core concept of authenticity.

Data collection used Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) and yielded 1,006 global participants who met the inclusion criteria. In general, higher degrees of leadership transparency yield higher levels of follower confidence. Situation can impact how expressions of transparency impact follower confidence. Thus, situational awareness and situational leadership are critical competencies for leaders to use transparency effectively. Leader-Member Exchange does not, generally, moderate the relationship between a leader’s transparency and his or her follower’s confidence. There was statistical significance in the difference in responses between geographies, but there were not statistically significant differences in the results when considering gender, years of work experience, education, age, and race in the US.

Diabetes is linked to behavior and requires patients to engage in complex self-management practices to attain glycemic control and prevent complications. Group medical visits (GMVs)—which are shared medical appointments used in primary care—provide a model of care to help patients adhere to self-management behaviors. Developing, implementing, and translating this model of care in a clinical setting has proven challenging, and the underlying mechanisms related to improved outcomes found in participants of GMVs are undetermined. The purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate GMVs for diabetes care in a primary-care and residency-training facility and explore changes in behavioral intentions, self-management behaviors, and blood HbA_1c levels. The study also explored whether behavioral intentions and self-management behaviors functioned as mediators of changes in HbA_1C levels.

A repeated measures design with 37 participants examined the behavioral intentions to diet, to exercise, and to adhere to medication; self-management behaviors (i.e., diet, exercise, and adherence to medication); and HbA _1C levels of participants with Type 2 diabetes during and after the GMVs. Behavioral intentions and self-management behaviors were measured through self-report instruments at baseline, posttreatment, and 3-month follow-up; HbA_1C values were measured at baseline and 3-month follow-up. Self-reported adherence to diet changed significantly from baseline to posttreatment and remained at 3-month follow-up.

Self-reported exercise changed significantly from baseline to posttreatment; changes were not sustained at 3-month follow-up. Clinical and statically significant changes in HbA_1C levels were seen at 3-month follow-up. A reduction of 0.7% in blood glucose levels was observed; the majority of the participants (59.5%) attained diabetes control at 3-month follow-up. No mediation relationship was found between behavioral intentions, self-management behaviors, and HbA _1C levels.

This study is the first reported examination of GMVs that found significance in biophysical outcomes without research-based funding. GMVs focused on health-behavior change can be executed and sustained in primary care and residency-training facilities. This program modality is a promising model of care for motivated patients and may help patients reach self-care goals and diabetes control. Future research with a larger sample size and a control group is needed to enhance the current findings.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) come from different ethnicities and backgrounds. With the growing Hispanic population and increased prevalence of ASD, it is imperative that our evidence-based practices support and assist Hispanic families. Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is a supported practice that satisfies evidence-based criteria and has been used to train caregivers in applied behavior analysis (ABA) techniques to teach their children new skills and manage challenging behaviors. We completed a quality improvement project on a BST based parent training program used to teach parents ABA interventions. We evaluated the fidelity of implementation of the intervention during a training provided in English via a video interpreter and fidelity of implementation during a training provided with cultural accommodations (a bilingual clinician and documentation translated into the participant’s dominant language). Fidelity of implementation was evaluated with a clinician and with the participant’s child during in-vivo trials. This program was completed with three participants using a nonconcurrent multiple baseline across skills for each participant. BST with cultural accommodations was needed for training to mastery in at least one ABA intervention across all participants, however the skill that required accommodations varied. For some, there was a clear difference between rates of acquisition in clinician trials and in-vivo trials. Social validity measures showed that parent preference for treatment presentation was related to their response on level of proficiency in either language.

Understanding the variables that maintain reinforcer effectiveness has important implications for basic research to inform applied behavior analysis. The goal of the current study was to investigate the combined effects of rate of reinforcement and variability in duration and delay of reinforcement on within-session changes in operant responding in two experiments. In each experiment, Wistar rats (Rattus norvegicus) lever pressed for liquid sucrose on three fixed interval (FI) schedules of reinforcement. In Experiment 1, subjects lever pressed for liquid sucrose on either a constant or a varied duration of access to reinforcement. In Experiment 2, subjects were exposed to a constant or variable delay of reinforcement. Results showed two fundamental properties of behavior undergoing habituation. First, within-session decreases in responding were steeper (greater habituation) at higher rates of reinforcement than at lower rates. Second, within-session rates of responding declined more slowly (slower habituation) when access to the reinforcer was presented in a variable versus constant manner. Because habituation occurs for both ingestive and noningestive stimuli, the present study adds to the body of literature on habituation and can inform clinical practice on the variables that sustain operant behavior through varying the delivery of the reinforcer.

Donor behavior in the non-profit organizational environment is a complex matrix of social influences that include social expectations from social media sites, direct cohort and peer influence, and perceptions of organizational performance, transparency and fundraising expenditures. A widespread general problem in non-profit organizations (NPOs) is that organizational members (cohorts) can exert an influence on the donor behavior of others, and organizational fundraising objectives can be adversely impacted. The purpose of this research was to identify those predictor characteristics that negatively influence donor behavior and would assist in minimizing costs associated with fundraising. I employed a quantitative study using a correlational design of multivariate analyses to identify a set of predictor characteristics originating from the influence of organizational cohorts on donor behavior. This study used a modified original survey to collect data from 244 non-randomized participants from the State of Colorado who donated to non-profit organizations (NPOs) in the last year.

A series of backward regressions produced five statistically significant models that showed positive correlations among the fifteen dependent variables that were included in the survey. In addition, the statistical evidence (p >.001) provided additional support for the three alternate hypotheses in all three research questions. In this study, I attempt to provide correlations that serve as predictor characteristics of cohort influence in the non-profit organizational environment. This data also provides additional information on donation behavior patterns for the three-key areas of interest: Donation Amounts, donation frequency, and volunteer hours. Additional research across other demographic and geographic areas is recommended.

Athletes are given many forms of advice about how to think in ways that promote persistence in the face of aversive and fatigue-producing events. This study evaluated the impact of different kinds of verbal statements on task persistence by athletes. Competitive CrossFit athletes from the Western United States were recruited to participate in one of two experiments. Experiment 1 employed a within subject, alternating treatments design (ATD); Experiment 2-used a pre-and-post group comparison. The ATD investigated the efficacy of three kinds of specific statements designed to increase performance during a demanding and stress-producing task: two were suggested by traditional sports psychology (a statement to focus on the task and a statement to distract from the task), and one suggested by Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and the concept of psychological flexibility (a statement to focus on willingness to persist in the face of aversive emotions). The pre/post group design aimed to replicate and statistically improve the power of the effects indicated in Experiment 1. Results from this program of research suggest that the statement focused on openness to experience improved task persistence significantly over baseline, and more so than a statement instructing athletes to distract themselves from the task. The willingness statement was also marginally more effective than the statement prompting the athletes to focus directly on the task.

The dominant theory of PTSD and, subsequently, current gold standard PTSD treatments are based on a model of dysregulated fear. However, a growing body of research suggests that other emotional responses, like shame, are important contributors to PTSD symptom maintenance. The current study sought to forward the trauma literature by using an experimental paradigm to test if trauma survivors, especially those distressed by an interpersonal (vs. non-interpersonal) trauma, experience shame in response to day-to-day experiences of fear. This experimental study used a pre-post between group design in which participants (N = 178) were randomized to receive either a fear or neutral emotion prime with postmanipulation state shame serving as the outcome measure. As predicted, the fear emotion prime interacted with PTSD symptom level to significantly predict postmanipulation state shame. Among participants who reported an interpersonal index trauma and received the fear emotion prime, those with high PTSD symptom levels reported significantly more postmanipulation shame than those with low symptom levels. Interestingly, among participants who reported a non-interpersonal index and received the fear emotion prime, those with high PTSD symptom levels reported significantly less postmanipulation shame than those with low symptom levels. Exploratory analyses did not implicate emotion regulation skill deficits in this relationship. This study contributes to the literature by demonstrating the relationship of shame to daily experiences of fear in the maintenance of PTSD symptoms, but further exploration into the dynamics of fear, shame, and PTSD represents a priority for the field of traumatology. This is, in part, because shame may impede the treatment and emotional processing of traumas in current gold standard exposure-based treatments.

Leaders are frequently called to apologize on behalf of their organizations, in some cases skillfully resolving episodes of failure while meeting the unique, competing needs of diverse stakeholders. However, too often leaders handle apology poorly, exacerbating tense situations and alienating key constituents. This study is an examination of the practice of apology as a leadership behavior in an organizational context. To answer the question, How might the existing literatures on apology be examined, integrated and refocused to apply specifically to leaders operating within an organizational context ? the study provides a meta-analysis of the diverse literatures that address the practice of apology. Examining literature from theology and philosophy, the social sciences, law, public relations and organizational management, the study builds a framework to understand and evaluate apology and its appropriate application to episodes of organizational failure. The literature integration and analysis demonstrates a diversity of perspectives on the definition of apology, its purpose and goals, the modes through which apology is delivered, the process or steps involved in apology, and the alternatives to apology. Using the adaptive leadership framework and a stakeholder management perspective on organization, the research is organized around the unique and distinct needs of organizational leaders. The Organizational Apology Model, offered in Chapter 5, provides a robust set of tools and examples designed to support organizational leaders considering the practice of apology.

There are more self-made, billionaire entrepreneurs than billionaires who simply inherited their fortunes, but the majority of startup ventures fail within five years. A possible factor in business success or failure could be the emotional intelligence (EI) level of the entrepreneur, defined broadly as the ability to perceive, interpret, and manage emotions. Although there is substantial literature on EI applications in established organizations, there are few empirical studies exploring the predictive value of EI in the context of success for startup entrepreneurs. The purpose of this study was to determine whether EI scores can predict how successful an entrepreneur will be using objective success criteria, as defined in this study (Hypothesis 1), and which, if any, EI competencies are particularly relevant for entrepreneurs (Hypothesis 2). Hypotheses were tested using Spearman correlation and Ordinal regression, with sensitivity testing with Pearson correlation and Ordinary Least Squares regression, respectively. Each analysis controlled for the entrepreneur’s demographic profile and subjective success measures. Regression analysis (n=31); ordinal analysis and correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant effect of only one of the 15 EI scores (Empathy) on entrepreneurial success, as defined in this study, but the exponentiated coefficients from the ordinal regression indicate that improving Overall EI scores can increase Overall Success. Specifically, six of the 15 EI scores were more than two times more likely to increase Overall Success scores (Empathy, Interpersonal Relationships, Social Responsibility, Flexibility, Stress Tolerance, and Optimism), which is consistent with Hypothesis 2. This study is one of the first to empirically examine the EI construct in the context of entrepreneurial success with a population of entrepreneurs seeking assistance using the EQ-i 2.0 emotional intelligence assessment. A key implication of the results is that teachers, emergency services personnel, legal and financial services personnel, even sports coaches and single parents, can all develop competencies to make them more successful in their chosen endeavor, have a sense of fulfillment, and increase the success rate of industries that go far beyond entrepreneurs.

This dissertation seeks to understand how five women currently enrolled in doctoral level psychology programs emotionally and relationally experience the process of recovery from an eating disorder. Contemporary interdisciplinary discourses are inconsistent in their discussion of recovery, with differing accounts of what constitutes recovery and the typical course of recovery. Using a voice-centered and relational approach, I interviewed five female doctoral-level students in the fields of clinical and counseling psychology about their experience of recovering from eating disorders. Interview data was analyzed using the Listening Guide Method (Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Gilligan, 2015) in order to emphasize the emotional and relational qualities of informant voices. My interest in this subject is, in part, inspired by my personal eating disorder history and doctoral training experiences. Although my personal experiences no doubt shaped what I asked and how I listened to the women in this study, I found that these courageous and honest women independently corroborated three interrelated themes. One, these women’s stories each directly addressed a controversial issue in the literature: What is the nature of eating disorder recovery? Is it an end-state or an ongoing process? Two, connection and disconnection from the self and others, which in many respects is perpetuated by societal pressures and expectations placed on women, plays a critical role in the development of eating disorders. And three, the informants highlighted the potentially critical role of self-disclosure in addressing the sensed disconnections from self and others, within both clinical-therapeutic and professional-academic relationships.

This paper reviews existing literature on Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and the benefits and challenges associated with conducting the cornerstone of behavioral observation, Systematic Direct Observation (SDO), in schools. It also presents literature on Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) and its application to conducting an FBA. The purpose of this study was to evaluate paraprofessionals’ ability to generate believable data using DBR to assess functional relationships relative to SDO and to examine their perceptions regarding DBR’s acceptability. In the study, paraprofessionals (n = 7) observed the behavior of 16 students in their classroom setting and then completed DBR ratings of disruptive behavior and four potential consequences (adult attention, peer attention, escape/avoidance, access to tangibles). Concurrently, an expert observer collected SDO data using a combination of a 15-second partial interval recording system and frequency count. Estimates of the true occurrence of disruptive behavior and the percentage of disruptive behavior met with each consequence were calculated based upon the SDO data. Differences in agreement between the DBR and SDO data were examined to obtain an understanding of the degree of association between the two observation methods. The results of this study indicated strong levels of agreement between the DBR and SDO data for overall disruptive behavior. However, despite a visual analysis of the data that suggested similar conclusions would be reached regarding the function of the disruptive behavior, weaker levels of agreement were found regarding the similarity of the data for each of the consequence targets. Results did indicate paraprofessionals perceived DBR to be an acceptable tool for collecting data related to functional contingencies. Guidelines for implementing DBR when conducting an FBA, limitations of the study, and suggested directions for future research are discussed.

Early literature on leadership focused on the traits of a single individual, usually male, who manages employees within a clearly defined hierarchy for a U.S.-based company. The last several decades have seen the concept of leadership expand to include followers, peers, supervisors, the public and the non-profit sectors, and culture across a diverse sample of populations globally. Indigenous leadership contributes to this discussion by including a social, historical, and political context that acknowledges connection to land. However, leadership theories have yet to address the topic of reconciliation and overall community wellbeing. To address this gap, this paper explored what leadership looks like in a more holistic community context where a community program that includes food production, native reforestation, cultural education revitalization, and healing are all meaningful components of leadership development and community transformation. The following questions were explored: 1) What does leadership look like when one seeks to provide people of a community the freedom and space to build meaningful relationships with land, each other, and themselves? and 2) How can we help leaders flourish in our communities to work towards this and other types of reconciliation? Using phenomenology as a method of inquiry, interviews and participant observations were used to capture the stories of staff and volunteers as part of program connected to a comprehensive health center in Kalihi. Leadership in this program is understood as the matching of gifts to kuleana. This leadership model recognizes the potential for all members of the community to fulfill meaningful leadership roles. The synergistic process of offering a gift, and having it valued is healing for both an individual and a community. Being in a safe and welcoming space offers an environment where people are free to explore what their gift and kuleana may be. Parallels between shared leadership, multicultural leadership, and Indigenous leadership are presented. This model of leadership contributes to the literature by grounding leadership in reconciliation and healing for all. This model and how leaders are developed within it are discussed.

The present study investigated the effects of various fluency aims on the emergence of derived relational responding for various populations. Derived relational responding is a skill needed to develop complex language. Determining fluency aims to ensure derived relations can impact how we teach language and other complex skills. A parametric analysis of various fluency aims was completed using a multiple treatments design with ongoing probes of derived relational responding. Participants’ performance during accuracy and fluency tasks was assessed using a computer program designed for this study and presented on a tablet computer. The computer program recorded correct responses per minute and number of correct responses out of a total number of responses. A fluency aim could be experimentally verified if participants met criterion during tests of derived relational responding at an initial aim, that aim could be replicated with a novel symbol set, the participant met criterion during a test probe after performing at a higher frequency and failed to meet criterion during a test probe after performing at a lower frequency. Across all populations recruited for this study, a fluency aim that was empirically verified was not found. Participants performance did not match the performance described above and in some cases, performance was opposite, meaning participants passed a test probe after performing at a lower aim and failed the test probe after performing at a higher aim.

Assuming the perspective of evolutionary psychology it was hypothesized that tattoo stigma is the result of evolved socially exclusionary mechanisms activated by heuristic cues signaling a potential threat of infectious disease. It was conjectured that perception of atypical morphology, like the discoloration associated with significant tattooing, would activate into working memory implicit associations linking tattooing with infectious disease, triggering an aversive reaction. Using a quantitative quasi-experimental approach, the study measured participant implicit associations between disease connoting concepts and the perception of images of tattooed people as compared with images of non-tattooed people. Implicit associations between disease connoting concepts and tattooing were measured using an Implicit Association Test. An assumption made by the IAT developers that people accomplish tasks faster and with greater accuracy when the tasks are based on well-established learned cognitive routines or associations that are the product of evolved adaptive mechanisms, as compared with unpracticed tasks. This study provides the first empirical test of a causal link between tattooing, disease threat management, and stigma. Findings indicate that a significant majority of the sample associated tattooing with infectious disease, this association is not affected by the participants having tattoos or expressing a positive or neutral attitude toward tattooed people. Given these findings, it is recommended that future research more broadly test the construct of voluntary disfigurement (e.g., body scaring, piercing, and “face painting”) which BIS theory predicts would be likely triggers for BIS reactions.