The effects of approach-avoidance behaviors on goal appraisals

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 15, 2010)The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Laura KingVita.Includes bibliographical references.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Psychology.Previous research has demonstrated that behaviors associated with approach and avoidance motivation can influence cognitions in line with the particular motivational state (e.g., Friedman & F̈örster, 2008). The present studies examined whether behaviors associated with approach and avoidance motivation similarly influence the value associated with one's life goals. In both studies, participants performed a task aimed to elicit approach or avoidance motivational states. After the manipulation, participants completed an idiographic goal ratings task. The results of Study 1 showed that participants in the approach motivation condition reported their goals were more self concordant compared to participants in the avoidance motivation condition. Study 2 replicated this finding and additionally showed that participants who were high in dispositional approach motivation reported being more invested in their goals after exposure to the approach related cues. In addition, dispositional approach related motivation was more strongly related to state positive affect for participants in the approach condition, compared to participants in the avoidance condition. Implications for research on motivation and well-being are discussed

A Meta-Analysis of Quantitative Collecting Techniques for Spiders

Quantitative sampling of organisms is often used to provide information in ecological studies, monitor populations, and aid in biodiversity projects. Many studies involve the quantitative sampling of spiders. In this meta-analysis study, 207 peer-reviewed journal articles formed the basis of an initial data set for a quantitative analysis of spider collection techniques. Data collected included country of study, mode of study, trapping techniques used, spider diversity, and number of specimens collected. Our meta-analysis gathered research articles that included 33 different countries of study. Trapping techniques greatly vary depending on the habitat in which spiders dwell. These were divided into aerial, arboreal, terrestrial, and subterrestrial. From the gathered data, 5% of the articles included aerial trapping, 20% included arboreal trapping, 1% included subterrestrial trapping, and 80% included terrestrial trapping. 60% of the terrestrial studies utilized pitfall trapping, 20% used hand collecting, 15% used sweep netting, and 5% used branchbeating.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2022/1033/thumbnail.jp

Survey of Spiders within Eastern Kentucky

Biodiversity is known to be the variation of living organisms compromising several levels, beginning from genes, then species, communities, then finally ecosystems. Biodiversity is crucial in maintaining ecological balance, boosting ecosystem productivity, and determining the quality of ecosystem services such as pest management in agriculture. Being aware of biodiversity\u27s importance can also help with the prevention of continuous threats to biodiversity and be best prepared to manage conservation challenges. Typically, mammals, birds, and plants are used to assess biodiversity. However, spiders may be effective in indicating environmental change because they are taxonomically quite diverse, species fill a variety of ecological niches, and they are easy to trap. Spiders can also be very numerous and reflect the heterogeneity of their environment. We assessed spider biodiversity within Eastern Kentucky using pan traps, net hunting, and sifting leaf litter. We have collected a couple thousand spiders so far and identified spiders from 20 families, including Agelenidae (grass spiders), Antrodiaetidae (Folding door Spiders), Anyphaenidae (ghost spiders), Araneidae (orb-weaver spiders), Atypidae (pursueweb spiders), Clubionidae (sac spiders), Ctenizidae (trapdoor spiders), Dictynidae (mesh web spiders), Dysderidae (Woodlouse Spiders), Hahniidae (dwarf sheet spiders), Linyphiidae (money spiders), Lycosidae (wolf spiders), Oxyopidae (lynx spiders), Philodromidae (running crab spiders), Pholcidae (cellar spiders), Pisauridae (nursery-web spiders), Salticidae (jumping spiders), Tetragnathidae (long-jawed orb weaver spiders), Theridiidae (tangle-web spiders), and Thomisidae (crab spiders). Most spiders that were found are Wolf Spiders (Lycosidae) whereas Antrodiaetidae (folding door spiders) and Atypidae (pursue-web spiders) were very rare. We have also discovered 3 genera of tarantula cousins.https://scholarworks.moreheadstate.edu/celebration_posters_2022/1032/thumbnail.jp

Parental bereavement and the loss of purpose in life as a function of interdependent self-construal

Children are often inextricably linked to their parents’ hopes and dreams. As such, the loss of a child often represents one of the most traumatic experiences possible. The current research explores how this specific loss relates to one’s sense of purpose in life. We further explore whether the loss of a child is particularly detrimental to one’s sense of purpose for highly interdependent parents. Analyses of parents from the Midlife in the United States data set revealed, as expected, that the loss of child negatively predicts one’s sense of purpose in life, and that this effect is most pronounced for parents high in interdependent self-construal. Potential mechanisms and implications of the present findings are discussed.The open access fee for this work was funded through the Texas A&M University Open Access to Knowledge (OAK) Fund

The COVID-19 pandemic is a lousy natural experiment for studying the effects of online learning

Accepted manuscrip

What matters to whom and why? Understanding the importance of coastal ecosystem services in developing coastal communities

Coastal ecosystems support the livelihoods and wellbeing of millions of people worldwide. However, the marine and terrestrial ecosystem services that coastal ecosystems provide are particularly vulnerable to global environmental change, as are the coastal communities who directly depend on them. To navigate these changes and ensure the wellbeing of coastal communities, policy-makers must know which coastal ecosystem services matter to whom, and why. Yet, in developing coastal settings, capturing people's perceptions of the importance of ecosystem services is challenging for several reasons. Firstly, coastal ecosystem services encompass both terrestrial and marine services across multiple categories (i.e. provisioning, supporting, and cultural) that are difficult to value together. Secondly, widely used monetary valuation techniques are often inappropriate because of culturally specific attributions of value, and the intangible nature of key cultural ecosystem services. Thirdly, people within communities may hold different ecosystem services values. In this paper, we examine how people ascribe and explain the importance of a range of marine and terrestrial ecosystem services in three coastal communities in Papua New Guinea. We use a mixed-methods approach that combines a non-monetary ranking and rating assessment of multiple ecosystem services, with a socio-economic survey (N = 139) and qualitative explanations of why ecosystem services matter. We find that people uniformly ascribe the most importance to marine and terrestrial provisioning services that directly support their livelihoods and material wellbeing. However, within communities, gender, wealth, and years of formal schooling do shape some differences in how people rate ecosystem services. In addition, although cultural ecosystem services were often rated lower, people emphasized that they ranked provisioning services highly, in part, because of their contribution to cultural values like bequest. People also expressed concern about extractive ecosystem services, like fuelwood, that were perceived to be destructive, and were rated low. We contend that comprehensive ecosystem services assessments that include narratives can capture the broad importance of a range of ecosystem services, alongside relational values and normative judgements. This exploratory approach is a useful step towards understanding the complexities of ecosystem services in developing coastal settings

Open repair of chronic thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic dissection using deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest

Background Chronic dissection of the thoracic and thoracoabdominal aorta as sequela of a prior type A or B dissection is a challenging problem that requires close radiographic surveillance and prompt operative intervention in the presence of symptoms or aneurysm formation. Open repair of chronic thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic dissection using deep hypothermia has been our preferred method to treat this complex pathology. The advantages of this technique include organ and spinal cord protection, the flexibility to extend the repair proximally into the arch, and the ability to limit ischemia to all vascular beds. Methods Open repair of arch by left thoracotomy and descending thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic pathology using deep hypothermia was performed in 664 patients from 1995 to 2015. A subset of this cohort had chronic thoracoabdominal aortic dissection (n = 196). All nonemergency cases received coronary angiography and echocardiography preoperatively. Significant coronary artery disease or severe aortic insufficiency was addressed before repair of the chronic dissection. In recent years, lumbar drains were placed preoperatively in the most extensive repairs (extents II and III). Important intercostal arteries from T8 to L1 were revascularized with smaller-diameter looped grafts. Multibranched grafts for the visceral segment have been preferred in recent years. Results Mean age of patients was 58 ± 14 years. Men comprised 74% of the cohort. Aortopathy was confirmed in 18% of the cohort. Prior thoracic aortic repair occurred in 57% of patients, and prior abdominal aortic repair occurred in 14% of patients. Prior type A aortic dissection occurred in 44% of patients, and prior type B occurred in 56% of patients. Operative mortality was 3.6%, permanent spinal cord ischemia occurred in 2.6% of patients, permanent hemodialysis occurred in 0% of patients, and permanent stroke occurred in 1% of patients. Reexploration for bleeding was 5.1%, and respiratory failure requiring tracheostomy occurred in 2.6%. Postoperative length of stay was 11.9 ± 9.7 days. Reintervention for pseudoaneurysm or growth of a distal aneurysm was 6.9%. The 1-, 5-, and 10-year survivals were 93%, 79%, and 57%, respectively. Conclusions Open repair of chronic thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic dissection using deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest has low morbidity and mortality. The need for reintervention is low, and long-term survival is excellent. We believe that open repair continues to be the gold standard in patients who are suitable candidates for surgery