Browsing by Subject "Fear"
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Item Attribunal processes concerning medication taking and their subsequent effects on fear reduction during exposure-based treatment(2006-05) Powers, Mark Bradley, 1971-; Telch, Michael JosephThe primary aim of the current study was to investigate the effects of attributions on fear reduction by having participants undergo exposurebased treatment in the context of an inactive medication that they were led to believe made the exposures easier (informed that the medication had a relaxing/sedating side-effect profile) or made the exposures more difficult (informed that the medication had an activating side-effect profile). Participants (N = 95) displaying marked claustrophobic fear were randomly assigned to 1 of 6 conditions: (a) Exposure Only (EO), (b) Exposure + Pill Placebo + Arousal Instruction (EPA attribution for pill interference), (c) Exposure + Pill Placebo + Neutral Instruction (EPN), (d) Exposure + Pill Placebo + Relaxation Instruction (EPR attribution for pill facilitation), (e) credible psychological placebo treatment (PLT), or (f) wait-list (WL). Consistent with prediction, results showed that an attribution for pill facilitation (EPR: relaxing/sedating instruction) interfered with fear reduction and led to higher relapse. Contrary to prediction, an attribution for pill interference (EPA: arousal instruction) did not outperform the other exposure conditions. Clinically significant improvement rates at posttreatment were as follows: EO = 73%, EPA = 75%, EPN = 78%, EPR = 76%, PLT = 60%, WL = 10%. Clinically significant improvement rates at follow-up were as follows: EO = 87%, EPA = 85%, EPN = 89%, EPR = 53%, PLT = 40%, WL = 30%. Relapse rates at follow-up were as follows: EO=0%, EPA=0%, EPN=0%, and EPR=39%. The deleterious effects of the relaxation instructions were fully mediated by attributions about the helpful effects of the medication reducing the variance accounted for by treatment from 30% to 7%. Findings suggest the importance of assessing attributions during combined exposure-based and pharmacological treatments and attention to a slow medication taper and reapplication of exposure during the taper.Item The effects of disgust eliciting persuasive messages on physical activity(2007) Woolf, Julian Robert; Green, B. ChristineItem The effects of disgust eliciting persuasive messages on physical activity(2007-05) Woolf, Julian Robert, 1971-; Green, B. ChristineItem Let me tie you up : methods of creating theater by control and surrender(2016-05) Horowitz, Joanna Beth; Engelman, Liz; Lynn, Kirk; Dietz, StevenFear can be a paralyzing inhibitor to creative work, yet it is also a necessary force. Through my journey of graduate school, I discovered the important role fear plays for me as a catalyst for art-making, a signal to go deeper into uncomfortable topics, and a necessary counter to the comfort of control. I am most thrilled by theater that pushes me to surrender that control. Using my plays Please Open Your Mouth, Wild Places, and Knotted as examples, this thesis documents examines my methods for balancing a need for control with the power of surrender in my writing process, in the content of my work, and in the audience experience of my plays.Item Predator Influences on Behavioral Ecology of Dusky Dolphins(2010-01-16) Srinivasan, MridulaI developed a spatially explicit individual-based model (IBM) to capture the dynamic behavioral interaction between a fierce predator (killer whale, Orcinus orca) and a clever prey (dusky dolphin, Lagenorhynchus obscurus), and to answer the ultimate question of costs vs. benefits for dusky dolphins when making anti-predator decisions. Specifically, I was interested in calculating time/distance budgets for dusky dolphins in the presence/absence of killer whales and the presence/absence of movement and behavioral rules, which presumably evolved in response to spatial and temporal variations in predation risk. Results reveal that dusky dolphins rest less, travel more and have reduced foraging time when killer whales are present. These effects are more pronounced with increased presence of killer whales. The model suggests that a strong reason favoring the adoption of short and long-term anti-predator mechanisms is increased survival resulting from decreased encounters with killer whales. Further, a mother with calf rests less and travels more when killer whales are present relative to a dolphin without calf. However, a mother with calf on average, flee shorter distances and have fewer encounters with killer whales than a dolphin without calf. Thus, despite ecological costs, it makes evolutionary sense for dusky dolphins to adopt anti-predator rules. Bioenergetic consequences for dusky dolphins with and without calf were estimated as total energetic costs and foraging calories lost due to low/high presence of killer whales. I calculated total energy costs as: Foraging costs (FC) Locomotor costs (LC) (Travel) or LC (Travel) LC (Flee) based on the absence, as well as low/high presence of killer whales. Foraging costs contributed significantly to total energetic costs estimated. Travel costs are minimal owing to proximity to deep waters. The total energy costs were not significantly higher from low or high presence of killer whales for mother with calf, but increases by about 90 kcal/day for a dusky without calf. However, I estimate foraging calories lost due to increased killer whale presence is almost 5 times more for mother with calf. Therefore, it might be important to consider indirect predation risk effects by social type in future studies on animal bioenergetics.Item Rigorous honesty : an ongoing wrestling match with happiness and fear(2015-05) Kettler, Brian Klein; Dietz, Steven; Lynn, Kirk; Engelman, LizIn my thesis, Rigorous Honesty: An Ongoing Wrestling Match with Happiness and Fear, I will examine the role of fear and ego in my artistic practice and collaborations with other artists. My investigation is based around the concept of The Process vs. The Ticket mentality. At UT, I've committed fully to the process of creating and mounting new work. This has helped to combat the "Ticket" mentality or, thinking of each project as a ticket to widespread success, acclaim of financial gain. Additionally, I have craved and sought out close scrutiny and critique from my colleagues and professors. This commitment to the "process" of UT has helped me find moments of joy, connection and artistic breakthrough. While I still struggle with fear, jealousy and ego, I’ve been able to adopt concrete strategies to keep the focus on my work and my own personal version of success.Item Something to Fear: Perception of Defining Characteristics of Animals, Evaluation of Animals, and the Moderating Role of Speciesism(Texas A&M International University, 2015-06) Waters, Allison Elaine; Muñoz, MonicaSpeciesism, a form of prejudice wherein a person gives or takes value away from an organism based upon how he or she categorizes living things, is most likely a form of flexible evolutionary adaptation. However, with increasing awareness of humanity's impact on the environment and growing morality, speciesism is increasingly becoming a disadvantage. Speciesism can be reflected in actions from unethical breeding habits to outright attacks on certain animals. The purpose of this study was to examine if altering the physical appearance of animals affects the person's attitudes towards those animals. It was hypothesized that altering physical characteristics of some animals would increase attractiveness of the animals and this effect would be moderated by speciesism. Fifty-six university students were asked to rate each of a series of 20 animal images to measure their specific animal attitudes, defined as their evaluation of the appearance, predicted behavior, and threat potential of those animals. The control group (Condition 1) evaluated 9 unaltered animal images and the experimental group (Condition 2) evaluated the altered versions of those images. Speciesism was measured as a potential moderator of altering the image. Hierarchical regression showed altering the image to be a significant predictor (β = -.271, p = .043) of attitudes. Speciesism, however, was neither a significant predictor by itself (β = -.144, p = .276) nor significantly strengthened or weakened the effect of altering the images (β = -.516, p = .197).Item The Walk : holding space in the face of crisis, failure, and fear(2015-05) Hutchinson, Jessica Rae; Rasmussen, Sarah; Carlson, Andrew; Dietz, Steven; Engelman, ElizabethThis thesis is about fear, failure, and faith. The tools I have developed during my graduate study have enabled me first to tolerate and then to welcome the energy of these forces into my artistic process. By examining and establishing Structure, creating and empowering Ensembles, and insisting upon an Inquiry-driven process, I can encounter fear and failure as I seek out the unpredictable, unrepeatable transcendence of the living play. By cultivating and inviting uncertainty, I hold space for the emergence of grace.Item Youth under the gun : violence, fear, and resistance in urban Guatemala(2014-12) Martinez, Denis Roberto; Hale, Charles R., 1957-This study examines how violence affects youth in marginalized urban communities, focusing on the experiences of three groups of young people: gang members, activists, and the “jóvenes encerrados”, youth who live confined to their homes due to fear. Based on 14 months of ethnographic research in El Mezquital, an extensive marginalized urban area in Guatemala City, I explore the socio-economic conditions that trigger violence in these communities, the responses of young people and the community to violence, and the State’s role in exacerbating violence in impoverished neighborhoods. In this dissertation I argue that gang members and activists are expressing a deep-seated social discontent against the exclusion, humiliation, and social stigmatization faced by young people in marginalized urban neighborhoods. However, the two groups express their discontent in significantly different ways. Initially, gangs used violence to express their discontent, but they gradually resorted to a perverse game of crime, in complicity with the police, and they distanced themselves from their own communities; in this work I analyze gangs’ process of transformation and the circumstances that led to this change. Activists express their discontent through community art and public protest, but their demonstrations have limited social impact, since public attention continues to focus on gangs; here I examine activists’ motivations, struggles, and obstacles. However, the vast majority of young people live in a state of fear, preferring to keep quiet and withdraw into their homes; here I show how violence, fear, and distrust affect the generation born into postwar Guatemala. This study illustrates the perverse role of the State in impoverished urban neighborhoods and its responsibility for the escalation of urban violence in Guatemala. On the one hand, the State shuns residents from these neighborhoods and systematically denies them basic services; it criminalizes and abuses young people, even forming social cleansing groups to eliminate gang members. On the other hand, the State fosters crime in these communities and acts as gangs’ accomplice in extortions, drug trade, and robberies. As in many other Latin American countries, the Guatemalan State penalizes crime, but simultaneously encourages and benefits from it; the State is complicit in crime.