M.A. Theses

Permanent URI for this collection

https://digitalarchive.library.bogazici.edu.tr/handle/123456789/11692

Browse

Now showing 1 - 20 of 238

A developmental investigation of the concept of nationality and its relationship with social expectations
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Kurupınar, Mahmut.; Soley, Gaye.
National identity has various components such as ethnic, civic, or cultural, and these are prioritized differently in different contexts. This dimensional perception of national identity has social implications regarding attitudes toward minorities or expectations from immigrants. The current study investigated the developmental course of this dimensional understanding and its relationship with children's expectations regarding the assimilation of immigrants among children in Turkey. Six-to- eight- and 9-to-11-years-old children (N = 83) were introduced two novel national groups and targets who are associated with two features implying membership in different national groups. Children were then asked which nation the target would belong to. Children were also presented with an immigration scene and asked whether the national identity and different features related to it would change after immigration. Overall, children prioritized the ethnic dimension of national identity over civic, cultural, and affective dimensions, and they prioritized the civic dimension over cultural and affective dimensions. Prioritization of ethnic over civic cues became stronger with age, but other contrasts were similar across age groups. Regarding assimilation expectations, children expected immigrants to follow the destination country’s rules but expected them to keep the religion of the first country. Moreover, diversity exposure mostly predicted higher assimilation expectations, while prioritizing ethnic cues over civic ones predicted lower assimilation expectations. Finally, children expected national identity not to change after immigration, and this expectation increased as children prioritized ethnic cues over civic cues. These findings contribute to our knowledge about the developmental process of national identity and children’s perception of immigration.
The role of time perception in goal-directed action
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Doğaner, Alperen.; Ayhan, İnci.
In pursuit of a desired future state, much of human behavior is geared toward achieving certain goals. How are these goals represented in the cognitive system, and how do they gain the power to control bodily movements? According to the ideomotor theory, whenever actions are performed, they become bi- directionally associated with the accompanying perceptual effects. These action-effect associations are suggested to form the basis of goal-directed actions. By anticipating the perceptual effects related to intended goals, associated goal- directed actions can be generated. The claims of ideomotor theory received substantial empirical support in recent years. However, previous studies primarily used momentary effects, and whether temporal effect features can also be associated with and used in performing goal-directed was not directly investigated. The present study utilized a two-staged ideomotor learning paradigm to address this gap. In the acquisition stage, participants established action-effect associations by performing actions and experiencing their dynamic effects, which specifically involved duration as the contingent feature. In the subsequent test stage, participants were instructed to respond to the previously associated action-effects. Overall, the actions compatible with the acquired action-effect mapping were facilitated. However, this facilitation appeared to rely on the saliency of the to-be-acquired dynamic effects compared to already present body-related effects during acquisition. The findings indicate that people can anticipate how long the effects of their actions will last and that the temporal effect features might play an important role in goal-directed action control.
The role of causal reasoning in children’s social inferences about leaders
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Yılmaz, Duygu.; Soley, Gaye.
Attributional processes influence children’s status-based attitudes. Children approach high-status individuals more positively when the status is attributed to internal factors. The present aimed to understand the influence of different causal attributions (internal vs. external) on 6-7-years-old and 9-10-years old children’s attitudes toward leaders by comparing two leaders who attained equally high statuses due to different causes. Parental education of the children was also examined to understand its role in children’s attributional processes and status-based judgments. Children (N = 64) saw two presidents, one of whom became a president due to internal reasons, and one due to external reasons. Children were asked how much they supported presidents and to infer presidents’ intelligence and success in their roles. Finally, children were asked whether they expected these presidents to become presidents in different contexts as well. Both younger and older children thought leaders who attained their position due to internal factors (vs. external factors) were more successful and intelligent, and the difference was larger for older children. Older children supported leaders with internal explanations more than leaders with external explanations but younger children’s support for the leaders did not differ based on causal attributions. Furthermore, as parental education increased, children tended to support leaders less. Older children thought that leaders who attained their role due to internal factors would be more likely to have a leadership position also in different cities, while younger children were at chance level. Moreover, as parental education increased, children were more likely to attribute less stability to the leadership status of the leaders with external explanations. Overall, results revealed that children’s evaluations of leaders interact with attributional processes and contextual factors throughout their development.
Role of cognitive abilities on autobiographical memory performance
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Yaşar, Merve.; Tekcan, Ali. İ.
How individuals remember their personal past has an impact on daily life functioning since it establishes a context for future actions. However, the cognitive basis underlying autobiographical recollection have been scarcely investigated in empirical designs. Furthermore, literature suffers from the absence of studies regarding how accurately individuals retrieve their original memories and underlying cognitive mechanisms. In this vein, a basic-systems model was proposed, and it asserts that lower-level cognitive systems interact to form autobiographical memories. The current study empirically tested this model and investigated the relative contributions of these basic systems (i.e., explicit memory, search and retrieval, mental imagery, language, emotion, and narrative) to metacognitive judgments (i.e., reliving and belief) and retrieval accuracy of memories. The first experimental session served as an autobiographical experience and participants had predetermined conversations and subsequently performed some cognitive tasks. Following 7 to 15 days, participants recalled the previous session, made metacognitive judgments, and completed the remaining cognitive tasks. Findings suggested that narrative coherence was the strongest predictor of how intensely one relived the original memory, and it was followed by explicit memory and then, search and retrieval. Moreover, belief ratings were solely predicted by explicit memory. Last, retrieval accuracy was explained by a general tendency to reexperience the same emotions with the same intensity. Nonetheless, when considering event characteristics, reminiscing about the previous session independently predicted retrieved correct details above and beyond emotional intensity.
The role of group’s social status in children’s fairness judgments
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Çetin, Özdeş.; Soley, Gaye.
Children consider various cues when making social decisions. As they socialize, children’s knowledge of social dynamics improves. Combining this knowledge with the inferences about social status, they form their social decisions and judgments. The current study focused on the effects of the group size (majority, minority) and social status on their endorsement of group decisions and the fairness judgments of these decisions. In the current study, the social status depended on the groups’ wealth status. 6-7 and 10-11 year-olds were introduced two novel groups differing in terms of their wealth status and group size. After being presented with different decisions by the groups, children were asked which group’s decision should be applied. Furthermore, they were also expected to judge the fairness level of applying each group's decisions separately. While young children generally endorsed the decision of the rich group, older children endorsed the decision of the poor group, regardless of the groups’ majority and minority status. The potential underlying mechanisms for these choices, as well as the developmental changes, are discussed.
Learning from storybooks : does the theme matter?
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Kara, Hatice Şeyma.; Tahiroğlu, Deniz.
Reading storybooks are one of the most preferred pastime activities in childhood. In addition to entertaining feature, storybooks can be used to improve children’s social and cognitive skills. However, there is limited research on whether and what kind of information children can learn from storybooks and what kind of storybooks promote this learning process. Study 1 investigated whether story theme (i.e., realistic, anthropomorphic, or fantastical) and the problem context (i.e., physical or social) influence children’s learning of analogical problem solutions. In Study 1, 91 preschool children listened to storybooks and were asked to solve problem solution analogies. Results showed that children who listened to realistic stories were more successful while solving physical problem solution analogies. However, this was not the case for the stories which had more social context. In Study 2, we examined whether story theme has an impact on children’s learning of pro-social behaviors such as sharing, helping and honesty. Seventy-eighty 6-year-old children were administered pro-social behavioral tasks before and after listening to either realistic, anthropomorphic or fantastical storybooks. It was found that children who listened to realistic storybooks showed an increase in their sharing behavior from pre-test to post-test compared to children in either anthropomorphic or fantastical conditions. Even though we did not find this kind of story theme effect on children’s helping or honesty behaviors, children’s scores on these behaviors increased from pre to posttests which suggested that listening to storybooks promoted children’s prosocial behaviors.
Infants’ expectations about third-party affiliations based on infant-directed speech : a pupil-size study
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Oğuz, Neslihan.; Soley, Gaye.
Various cues are used by infants to infer others’ social preferences. This thesis aims to ask whether infants use infant-directed communication to make such inferences. Three experiments, using a VoE (Violation of expectation) paradigm and eye tracking, investigating 14- to 18-month-olds’ expectations about affiliative decisions based on speech registers. Experiment 1 and 2 presented infants videos where an adult character responded to a crying baby either using infant- directed speech (IDS) or adult-directed speech (ADS). In the silent test trials infant character approached the adult character who previously used IDS (congruent) or the adult character who previously used ADS. Infants showed equal looking time at congruent or incongruent events. Experiment 3 presented videos where an adult character responded to a babbling baby either using IDS or ADS to 14- to 18-month-olds. In the silent test trials infant character was seen either next to the adult character who previously used IDS (congruent) or next to the adult character who previously used ADS. Again, infants showed equal looking time at congruent or incongruent events., however they showed greater pupil dilation during incongruent events. According to these findings, infants may infer third parties’ affiliative relationships from their speech registers, however, these expectations seem to be only evident in their pupil reactions and not in their looking times. These results provide insight into the different methodologies used to examine infants’ third-party inference.
The development of guilt and shame attributions to moral and conventional norm transgressors
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Sezerkan, Simge.; Soley, Gaye.
Children distinguish between moral and conventional norms very early. Past research points to the role of emotions in children’s understanding of and distinguishing between different social norms such as moral and conventional norms. The present study investigated the development of guilt and shame attributions to moral and conventional norm violations. Five-6- and 9-10-year-olds (Experiment 1, n = 133) and adults (Experiment 2, n = 177) were randomly assigned to moral or conventional norm transgression conditions. Participants were asked (1) to rate how much guilt and (2) shame the transgressor should feel using a 5-point scale, (3) to choose which of the two emotions (guilt vs. shame) the transgressor should feel more and (4) to rate how bad and (5) how shameful (ayıp) the violations are. Results suggested that all age groups had higher ratings regarding emotions (guilt and shame) and badness and shamefulness to moral compared to conventional violations. Although emotion ratings did not differ across guilt and shame, 5-6, and 9-10-year-olds and adults distinguished guilt and shame in forced-choice attributions. As expected, older children attributed more guilt to moral, but more shame to conventional norm transgressors. Younger children ascribed more guilt to moral, and adults ascribed more shame to conventional transgressors, but other attributions did not differ. Affective empathy was also found to play a role in children's ability to distinguish the emotions these norms violations elicit.
The role of religious ideologies in children's expectations about moral and conventional norm violations
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Serbest, Oya.; Soley, Gaye.
Previous research shows that children differentiate religious groups and expect different behaviors from them starting from 5 years of age. This study aimed to understand how children’s expectations from religious groups change across social norm domains and age. In this online study, 81 6-7-year-olds and 80 9-10-year-olds were recruited and introduced to characters with contrasting religious beliefs based on randomly assigned conditions. Characters were Muslim-believers and disbelievers in one condition and were Muslim-believers and non-Muslim believers in the other condition. Across four trials, children were asked about which characters might have violated a moral or conventional norm. Then, they were asked about whom they would trust and play with, and which character is most like them. Overall, children expected more norm violations from disbelievers than believers. Older children attributed more norm violation to non-Muslims than younger children. Younger children expected more conventional violations from disbelievers, whereas older children expected more moral violations (vs. non-Muslim believers). Compared to younger children, older children expected more moral violations from disbelievers and conventional violations from non-Muslim believers (vs. Muslims). Also, children of all ages trusted Muslim characters more than non-Muslim characters, and this trend strengthened with age. On the other hand, children preferred to play with Muslims over non-Muslims, except younger children who were introduced to Muslim and non-Muslim believer characters. In sum, these results show that children judge religious groups in a nuanced way; yet their expectations from and attitudes toward those groups might change during elementary school years.
The effect of annotations on CO2 accumulation understanding and attitudes toward climate change policies
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Boz Yılmaz, Hatice Zülal.; Tekcan, Ali İ.; Boduroğlu, Ayşecan.
One critical yet cognitively challenging component that is not well understood by people is that the effect of anthropogenic factors on atmospheric CO2 cycle. Rapidly increase in concentrations of CO2 are accelerating the alarming impacts of climate change in our lives. Numerous studies have indicated that greater awareness of the gravity of climate change could lead to more proactive steps being taken to mitigate the effect of climate change. This study aimed to enhance understanding of the relationship between CO2 emissions/absorptions (flows), and CO2 levels in the atmosphere (stock). The study assessed participants' stock and flow (SF) comprehension using the Climate Stabilization Task (CST), in which participants were asked what levels of CO2 emissions are needed to be in the future to realize the goal of stabilizing CO2 level in the atmosphere. Focusing on past data, I provided annotations to highlight the link between particular patterns of emissions (flow) and overall CO2 levels (stock) and consequently I aimed to improve participants' SF reasoning. Participants in annotation and annotation with feedback conditions viewed the annotated graphs while the participants in the active control group answered some graph reading questions. Nevertheless, annotation intervention was not strong enough to eliminate the robust SF reasoning error and did not improve performance beyond an active control condition. Further studies should investigate the effect of annotations on the performance of CST by using the trajectories including various schematic patterns so the link between flows and stock patterns can be presented more clearly.
How does paternal involvement during marital conflict contribute to young children's socioemotional outcomes?
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Karan, Rümeyza Pınar.; Çorapçı, Feyza.
The family is a system in which each existing relationship, such as mother-father or father-child, affects each other. Past research has shown that marital conflict negatively impacts fathers' engagement, their direct care activities, and children's socio-emotional adjustment. No study has yet examined children's socio-emotional adjustment by examining the combination of marital conflict and paternal involvement. The present study is in the scope of a representative project called “Socio-cultural and Psychological Antecedents and Consequences of Child-rearing Styles Across Generations and Developmental Stages in Turkey" and investigated the relationship between these variables as well as the role of marital conflict on toddlers' socio-emotional adjustment in the combination of low and high paternal involvement. Mothers with children aged 13-40 months (699 boys, 676 girls) participated in the study. They completed a comprehensive demographic form, marital conflict, paternal involvement (i.e., paternal engagement and paternal care), toddlers' social-emotional adjustment, and mother involvement scales. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that maternal involvement and marital conflict uniquely contribute to paternal engagement and care. Additionally, marital conflict has a unique contribution to toddlers' behavioral problems. Likewise, paternal engagement and care in total have a relatively main effect on toddlers' social competence. There was an interaction between paternal engagement and marital conflict such that the relationship between marital conflict and toddlers' social competence was significant only when paternal engagement was high.
Predicting child socioemotional competence : the role of different forms of parental control and warmth
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Özyol, Beyza.; Çorapçı, Feyza.
The current study focuses on the role of parental control and warmth on child socioemotional competence. Therefore, this study examined how maternal control (i.e., parental monitoring, structuring, psychological control, and culturally valued parental control) and warmth relate to school age children's social and emotional functioning based on self-report from a sample of Turkish mothers. Participants were 213 mothers of children (112 girls and 101 boys) between 7-18 years. Participants were administered a battery that consist of a demographics form and various scales regarding parenting practices and child outcomes. Data was analyzed using principal component analysis, bivariate correlation, and hierarchical multiple regression. Findings revealed that maternal psychological control was related to lower prosocial behaviors and higher child internalizing symptoms; however, it was not associated with child externalizing problems. Parental structuring was only found to be positively related to higher prosocial behaviors. Parental monitoring was linked to lower child internalizing problems and higher prosocial behaviors; however, it was not related to child externalizing problems. Culturally valued parental control was associated with higher child internalizing, externalizing problems, and lower prosocial behaviors, addressing the importance of examining culture-specific parental practices. Lastly, parental warmth was only associated with higher prosocial behaviors.
Solicitation and emotion socialization in Turkish adolescents’ socioemotional adjustment : a combined predictive model
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Kömbe Elazab, Zeynep.; Çorapçı, Feyza.
Previous research has indicated that parental emotion socialization (ES) and solicitation may support socioemotional adjustment especially during adolescence. However, the literature still does not have a sufficient answer to how these two parenting behaviors operate together in relation to adolescent socioemotional adjustment. This thesis comprises of two survey studies that examined how parental solicitation, supportive and nonsupportive ES separately and combined predict socioemotional adjustment in a sample of Turkish adolescents. ES practices’ role as a moderator the relation between parental solicitation and adolescent outcome variables was also investigated. The first study consisted of 183 mothers (Mage=42.11, SDage= 5.04) who reported their parenting behaviors and their adolescents’ adjustment. Results from this study indicated that when considering all parenting behaviors together, nonsupportive ES negatively predicted prosocial behaviors and positively predicted internalizing and externalizing problems significantly. Supportive ES and solicitation each significantly predicted prosocial behaviors positively. Marginally significant interactions between solicitation and nonsupportive ES in the prosocial behaviors model and solicitation and supportive ES in internalizing problem were explored. The second study consisted two socioculturally and socioeconomically representative samples of 376 (Mage=40.24, SDage= 5.34) mothers and 323 fathers (MAge= 43. 06, SDAge = 5.48). Results showed that solicitation was marginally significantly related to externalizing behaviors in both paternal and maternal models and significantly related to prosocial behaviors in the paternal model. Significant interactions between solicitation and supportive ES in the internalizing problems model and solicitation and nonsupportive ES in the prosocial behaviors model for the maternal dataset. Results are discussed with regards to sociocultural and socioeconomic contexts and the self-determination theory.
The effect of affordances on perceived interval durations during motor action
(Thesis (M.A.) - Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in Social Sciences, 2023., 2023) Jin, Sunny.; Ayhan, İnci.
Affordances describe the possible actions that an agent can perform on an object, determined by the agent’s morphology as well as the object’s perceptual features. Using a stimulus- response compatibility (SRC) setup in virtual reality, this study aimed to investigate whether visual perception of affordances while performing motor actions could affect the perceived durations of these actions or the visual stimuli being acted upon. The reaching affordance was proposed to be present in congruent conditions, in which the handle of a pan stimulus was on the same side as the hand to respond. Subjects reported longer perceived durations in congruent conditions than in incongruent conditions, hinting at the possibility of affordance effects on perceived time. However, the control study suggests that these differences in perceived time may have been due to Vierordt’s phenomenon. Additionally, subjects similarly reported longer perceived durations in congruent conditions when the pan stimulus was placed in extrapersonal space, where reaching was not afforded. While this thesis could not elucidate the relationship between affordance perception and time perception, the results suggest that the differences in response times to and perceived durations of graspable stimuli in SRC setups might be due to spatial compatibility, rather than affordance potentiation. Further research is still necessary to determine the effects of affordances on perceived time. Once these effects are determined, the exact details of the mechanism by which these effects are mediated can be investigated.
Effects of motives, volunteer role identity and sense of community on sustained volunteering
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Akman, Petek.; Köksal, Falih.
The aim of this study is to examine the effect of volunteer motives, volunteer role identity, sense of community, social responsibility and satisfaction with volunteering experience on length of volunteering and amount of time spent volunteering. 294 volunteers of Turkish Association of Education Volunteers (TEGV) participated in the study. Sense of community was found to be the only predictor of length of volunteering and none of the variables predicted amount of time spent volunteering in TEGV. Additional analyses pointed out that understanding and protective motivations, sense of community and social responsibility were determinants of volunteer role identity whereas enhancement motivation and sense of community were the only variables predicting satisfaction with volunteering experience. Overall, results showed that sense of community decreased with duration of volunteering and strength of volunteer role identity was related to self-oriented motivations, shaped by a general tendency to help others and feelings of belonging to the group. In addition, TEGV volunteers felt more satisfied if they volunteered for personal development and to enhance self-esteem, and felt stronger sense of community in TEGV. The present study is believed to contribute to volunteering literature by including sense of community and social responsibility to the study and emphasizing the effect of the type of non-governmental organization on volunteering experience. Besides, the study is one of the few studies attempting to provide a profile of Turkish volunteers and to determine the factors underlying their volunteering behaviors.
Gender roles, ethics of care and social dominance orientation: a feminine view on hierarchy
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Bayram, Fatma Nur.; Köksal, Falih.
The present study is an investigation of the relationships between biological sex, socially acquired gender schemas, adoption of particular ethical paradigms (ethics of care vs. ethics of justice), and the interplay between these variables as they relate to attitudes towards hierarchy (social dominance orientation). Two samples; one from Istanbul (61 female, 41 male), and the other one from Çanakkale (61 female, 51 male) were recruited for the study. In addition to a demographic data sheet, Moral Orientation Scale Using Childhood Dilemmas, (Yacker and Weinberg, 1990), Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1981), and Social Dominance Orientation Scale-6 (Pratto et al., 1994) are utilized. Sex was found to have significant main effects on both gender roles and social dominance orientation (SDO). Males were higher than females in masculinity, and females were higher than males in femininity. Males were also higher than females on SDO. Participants from Çanakkale were higher both on masculinity and femininity than their Istanbul counterparts. For the Istanbul sample, ethics of care was positively correlated with femininity for males, and negatively correlated with masculinity for females. No such correlations were found for the Çanakkale sample. The results also revealed a negative correlation between femininity and social dominance orientation. The implications of the findings are discussed by bringing together the theoretical frameworks of Social Dominance Theory (Sidanius and Pratto, 1999), Gender Schema Theory (Bem, 1974), and Ethics of Care (Gilligan, 1981).
Anatomy of antidepressant effect of light: the role of the BNST lesions
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Avlar, Billur.; Canbeyli, Reşit.
The aim of the present study was to shed light on the anatomy of antidepressant effect of bright light therapy. In line with this, lesions of the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis (BNST) which is implicated as an important relay area in mediating stress related circuitry in the brain, or sham operations were done in male Wistar rats. Nine weeks later, a single 10 min, 200 watt, 1350 lux bright light stimulus was administered at ZT21 (04:00) to lesioned (LL) or sham operated rats (SL). Control group animals; either lesioned (LC) or sham operated (SC) did not receive light stimulus. Behavioral despair was assessed by consecutive forced swim tests. The results replicated the aggravation of the immobility behavior in LC group and demonstrated an ameliorative effect of the light even in the presence of the BNST lesion (LL). These findings suggest that the BNST lesions confined to mostly the medial division do not have an integral role in mediating the antidepressant effects of light.
Characteristics of self-consistent and self-discrepant autobiographical memories
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Erdoğan, Ahu.; Tekcan, Ali İ.
Although the relationship between self and autobiographical memory has been examined in the previous literature, the nature of self-consistent and self-discrepant memories has not been explored. The purpose of the present study was to examine self-consistent and self-discrepant autobiographical memories in terms of memory characteristics. Forty seven participants reported one self-consistent and one self-discrepant memory and completed the Turkish version of the Memory Experiences Questionnaire, which measures aspects of participants’ phenomenological experiences at retrieval, for each. Results revealed that self-consistent memories were more vivid and coherent, involved more sensory details, were closer to the self concept, more positively valenced and remembered more from a first person’s (field) perspective than self-discrepant memories. The two types of memories did not differ in terms of the characteristics of emotional intensity, accessibility, sharing and time clarity. Also both memories were highly vivid, coherent, had high emotional intensity and sensory details, were accessible, had time clarity and were not shared. The findings indicate that although the consistency of memories with the self concept provides them with a privileged condition over self-discrepant memories in many aspects, self-discrepant memories may also benefit from these aspects just by being related to the self, even if this relationship is in terms of discrepancy.|Key words: autobiographical memory, self, self-consistent memory, self-discrepant memory
Differential effects of photic stimulation of different wavelengths on behavioral despair in male and female wistar rats
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) İyilikçi, Onur.; Canbeyli, Reşit.
There is ample evidence in both humans and animals that light therapy has ameliorative effect on depression and behavioral despair. However, there is a paucity of studies investigating the mechanism of light treatment using animal models of depression. The present study therefore investigated the effects of light stimulation of different wavelengths presented in the late dark phase of an L/D lighting cycle on behavioral despair. Adult male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to a control and two experimental groups (n=8 for each). Animals were exposed to a 10-min pulse in the blue or red region of the visible spectrum, late in the dark phase of the L/D cycle (0400 h) at approximately 1300 lux. This manipulation was followed by forced swim test (FST) procedure starting from the very next day. Moreover, light induced c-Fos immunoreactivity in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN) had been investigated to assess the subdivisions involved in the process. Results of the present study indicated that a short pulse of blue light has ameliorative effect for male rats, but not for female rats. Moreover, blue and red light administration aggrandized c-Fos immunoreactivity in the ventrolateral region of the SCN.
Factors underlying peer acceptance: gender, age and social skills
(Thesis (M.A.)-Bogazici University. Institute for Graduate Studies in the Social Sciences, 2008., 2008.) Eğercioğlu, Nurçin.; Çorapçı, Feyza.
The aim of the present study is threefold: first, to assess the psychometric structure of Social Skills Rating System-Student form (Gresham & Elliot, 1990) in a sample of Turkish students from third through eighth grades; second, to test age and sex-related differences in same sex preference (gender cleavage) so as to determine developmental trajectories in this tendency for boys and girls; and lastly, to examine the effects of gender and age on the relationship between peer acceptance and social skills. The Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients for the elementary and the secondary scale were .86 and .89, respectively. In line with Gresham and Elliot (1991), cooperativeness, self control, assertiveness and empathy factors were found for the secondary level; the same factors, except for empathy, were also found for the elementary level. Same-sex preference was found for both the elementary and the secondary boys and girls. Girls’ social skills scores were higher than those of boys except for assertiveness at the secondary level. The impact of cooperativeness on peer acceptance emerged for the elementary level whereas assertiveness, self control and empathy gained significance for the secondary level. Boys’ cooperativeness and self control was related to peer acceptance, particularly among girls at the elementary level whereas boys’ assertiveness and empathy was crucial for peer acceptance by secondary level students.

Browse

Recent Submissions