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Introduction: Understanding and predicting chemical effects on development and reproduction is a complex challenge. The zebrafish embryo is an in vitro test system increasingly used for its transparency, short development time, easy husbandry and gene homologies with humans. Objectives: To better explain and predict developmental toxic effects observed in zebrafish embryo, we are developing a generic physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model to predict target organ concentrations of neutral or ionizable chemicals. We present an application of the model in the assessment of the teratogenicity of valproic acid (VPA) and nine analogs. Material and Methods: Quasi steady-state distribution of chemicals is modeled in ten embryo organs, and in two sub-cellular organelles: lysosomes and mitochondria. The partition coefficients between the organs or organelles and the culture medium depend on physico-chemical properties of the substances. Organ volumes grow over the first 5 days of life. Liver metabolism can be linear or saturable. For VPA and analogs, metabolic parameters were estimated by Bayesian fitting of the model to data on culture medium and embryo concentrations during repeated dosing. Results: The kinetic data were reasonably well fitted by the model (Figure 1), even though residual uncertainty was substantial. Linear clearance estimates for VPA and analogs were around 10-10 to 10-11L/min, which for an embryo volume of 3×10-7L, correspond to half-lives of about 11.5h. Embryo organ concentrations were used to calculate dose-response for general lethality and heart defectcaused deaths. Naïve dose-responses were also calculated using nominal dose. Using target organ concentrations shifts substantially the magnitude of dose-response parameters and the relative toxicity ranking of the VPA analogs studied (Figure 2). Conclusion: The model can be used to relate zebrafish effects observed in vitro to cellular exposures. It should improve the translation of in vitro zebrafish data to humans for safety assessment.

Several investigations were undertaken to examine the relationship between desirability responding and depressive disorders. Desirability responding was defined as the propensity of subjects to make responses to personality inventories that convey a socially favorable impression of the respondent. Some researchers (e.g. Beck, 1976; Rehm, 1977; Ruehlman, West, and Pasahow, 1985) have suggested that such response variation has theoretical importance for understanding the etiology of depression. The first study investigated individual differences in depressed patients for the salience of desirability content in their responses to self-report measures of personality. Depressed patients were differentiated from normal subjects by their nonendorsement of desirable content, rather than their endorsement of undesirable content, as has been suggested in the literature. A second study examined depressed patients' sensitivity to desirability in their judgments of personality in others. In contrast to marked differences in self-reports, there is only a very slight difference between normal and depressed subjects in their judgments of the desirability of behaviour for other people in general. It was suggested this difference may be partly due to an intrusion of self-evaluations in depressives' judgments of others, versus any major cognitive deficits. A third study examined the relationship between response latencies and social desirability. In normal subjects there is a predominant "inverted-u" shaped function between the reaction time to personality test items and the desirability content of those items, with the largest amount of time taken to respond to items of neutral desirability. This function is distinctively flatter in depressed subjects. A final study investigated the effect of removal of desirability content from MMPI scales in differentiating psychiatric patients. While MMPI scales so extricated of desirability response variation were better suited at differentiating some psychiatric diagnostic groups, MMPI scales still saturated with desirability content specifically aided in the discrimination of depressed patients. Discussion included a consideration of the implications of the desirability response style for understanding the etiology and treatment of depressive disorders.

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Experimental and Applied Psychology, University of Regina. vi, 63 p. The present research investigated the effects of legal articulation on police cadet memory performance in applied contexts. Legal articulation is a memory retrieval framework used by police officers to recall their actions for legal procedures and courtroom testimony. This research compared the level of detail (quantity) and accuracy (quality) of police cadet’s memories for a low-stress crime event under two different memory retrieval frameworks: legal articulation and serial recall. The findings can be used to guide police training programs to use procedures that support reliable memory recalls. No significant differences were found after the initial retrieval; however, significant differences were found in both quantity and quality of recall after a one-day delay. When serial recall was used initially to recall the event, the final retrieval was significantly more detailed and accurate than participants that initially recalled the event using legal articulation. These findings can be used to assist police agencies in their formal applied training programs for police officers. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology, University of Regina. xxii, 287 p. Past research indicates people have some capacity to intuitively (i.e., informally) detect, estimate, and apply information derived from important data characteristics (e.g., mean, sample size, SD) in various statistical judgment tasks. This research has also found that people are generally capable of making intuitive between-group comparisons, which involve comparing groups of data and making judgments on these data. However, people also tend to exhibit a bias in such comparisons against normatively integrating the withingroup variability (e.g., standard deviation; SD) of the groups with the between-group variability (e.g., mean differences) while making between-group comparisons. This can lead to errors in judgment, because accurate inferences about any differences between the groups requires considering the between-group variability in relation to the within-group variability. Few studies have investigated targeted educational interventions for overcoming this intuitive statistical bias. These studies have tended to be based on incorporating targeted educational material specific to the bias in a semester-long introductory statistics course. A brief laboratory-based educational intervention would allow for a more tightly controlled experiment with a larger sample size. For this purpose, a brief computer-delivered educational intervention was developed to offer subjects practice and feedback opportunities while engaging in between-group comparison tasks. These experimental learning condition tasks, and associated assessment tasks, were presented in the context of making judgments between products based on customers’ product ratings. The ratings for the groups were displayed visually on frequency distribution graphs. Practice opportunities consisted of allowing subjects to manipulate relevant statistical characteristics of the between-group comparisons (i.e., the mean ii difference, SD, sample size), one-at-a-time. Feedback opportunities provided subjects information on how many manipulations of the statistical characteristic being currently focused on would be necessary for there to be a significant difference between the groups. A series of three experiments using a pretest–posttest design were run to test the hypotheses that: (a) subjects will exhibit a pretest bias against normatively integrating within-group variability into their between-group comparisons; (b) that subjects receiving practice, feedback, or both opportunities would show greater improvement on their between-group comparisons at posttest than those in a control condition; and (c) that subjects receiving both practice and feedback will show greater improvement at posttest than those who received either practice or feedback alone. Subjects were randomly assigned to receive practice and/or feedback, or to a control condition with neither practice nor feedback. The dependent measures for the experiments included: (a) novel between-group comparison tasks designed for these experiments (Forced-Choice Task; used in all three experiments; Strength-Of-Evidence Task, used in Experiment 1), which displayed the data for the groups visually on frequency distribution graphs; and (b) a between-group comparison task that has been shown to elicit the bias in previous research (Intuitive ANOVA task, used in Experiments 2 and 3). The findings of these experiments revealed that subjects exhibited the bias strongly when measured with the Intuitive ANOVA task but that the bias was either extremely diminished, or unobservable, when measured with the Forced-Choice Task or the Strength-Of-Evidence Task, consistent with recent findings by other researchers. These experimental learning conditions were also found to have no reliable effect on subjects’ performance on any of the dependent measures. Implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology, University of Regina. xii, 272 p. Cancer affects a large number of people. According to the Canadian Cancer Society (2016), the prevalence of cancer is 2.4% or approximately 1 out of every 42 Canadians. Chemotherapy is a common component of cancer treatment protocols; however, there are varying reports of cognitive dysfunction following administration. A proposed mechanism of dysfunction is that chemotherapy expedites the presentation of outcomes associated with the normal aging process, particularly frontal lobe functions (e.g., verbal fluency, planning, and inhibition). As frontal lobe functions have been shown to be more vulnerable to aging than other cognitive processes, these functions were the focus of the present review. The purpose of the present study was to amalgamate the existing literature to determine if frontal lobe functions are adversely affected by chemotherapy administration. A Cochrane Review-style meta-analysis was conducted, which included 19 studies that examined frontal lobe function objectively in individuals with cancer who received chemotherapy. Generally, effect sizes were small with a pattern of results emerging in which groups treated with chemotherapy performed worse than control groups in between-subjects designs; however, within-subjects designs showed improvement following chemotherapy. Specifically, the chemotherapy groups performed worse than cancer control groups on short-term and working memory, and worse than healthy control groups on short-term memory, working memory, attention, and verbal fluency. Within-subject designs showed improvement on measures of inhibition, working memory, attention, and processing speed post-chemotherapy in comparison to pre-chemotherapy scores. There was some evidence that the chemotherapy group had higher depression scores in comparison to the healthy control group. Worse anxiety prior to chemotherapy was present in within-subjects designs, but this effect did not reach statistical significance. The risk of bias assessment revealed a need for more structured recruitment, better descriptions of published data (e.g., z-score, standard score mean), and considerations for practice effects. Given the weaknesses identified through the risk of bias assessment and the fact that the studies in the meta-analysis were non-randomized, an overall rating of very low quality was assigned to each cognitive domain associated with the frontal lobes. Therefore, the confidence and generalizability of the results should be viewed with some caution. More research is needed to quantify the effects of chemotherapy on cognitive function, with the goal of improving quality of life following cancer treatment. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Kinesiology and Health Studies, University of Regina. XVI, 226 p. The objectives of the study were to assess the nature of nutritional and fall risk in older adults living in LTC facilities in New Delhi, evaluate the inter-relationship of nutritional and fall risk, and assess whether depression, fear of falling, and physical function predict fall risk, and to test the reliability of nutrition and fall risk measures. Eighty five women aged 60 years and over living in six LTC facilities in New Delhi were recruited. Measures included the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), Falls Efficacy Scale International (FES-I), Downton Index, SF-36 Health Survey, Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), Mini Mental State Exam (MMSE), and a background profile and physical activity questionnaire. Mobility was assessed using Timed up and go test (TUG), and handgrip strength was assessed using Jamar hydraulic hand dynamometer. Using SPSS software (version 22.0), descriptive statistics, correlation between different variables, predictors of fall risk, and reliability measures were analysed. The mean age of participants was 74.21(5.52) years. A majority were widowed with poor educational and income level. Findings revealed that 54% of the older women were at a high level of nutritional risk. The factors that accounted for a large proportion of variance in the nutritional risk level were mobility status, intake of psychotropic medications, low dietary intake, and poor self-perception of health status. MNA scores had significant negative correlation with Downton Index scores (R= -.419, p

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Experimental & Applied Psychology, University of Regina. vii, 78 p. Framing research demonstrates that making simple changes to the description of a task or task strategy can affect behaviour in a number of contexts (Almashat, Ayotte, Edelstein, & Margrett, 2008), but to my knowledge they have not been examined in a law enforcement setting. The present research examines officer decision-making processes during an emergency situation by investigating the influence of framing effects on the use of force. An interactive video-based use-of-force simulation scenario represented the emergency situation and participants were presented with one of three preceding framing manipulations. The experimental conditions emphasized either upholding public safety (i.e., avoiding unnecessary/excessive force) or officer safety (i.e., avoiding personal injury) and a third condition (i.e., control) included only a scenario description. Subsequently, participants were queried about their perceptions of risk regarding the scenario and their self-reported officer and civilian relationships. These results indicate that framing effects influence decisions relating to Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray (i.e., pepper spray) usage and the participants’ perceptions of suspect risk. Positive officer relationships were also found to predict early firearm and OC spray deployment. This research has important implications for the language used when training law enforcement officers and briefing officers during emergency calls. If minor variations in wording can bias officers to use more or less force, this may have important implications for law enforcement practices. This research also has important implications regarding officer relationships with fellow officers and civilians. It may be important to manage officer relationships within the workplace as well as in the community to reduce any potential, negative impact on operational duties. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental and Applied Psychology, University of Regina. xiii, 153 p. Whenever lineups are prepared for eyewitness identification, the investigator constructing the lineup must decide how to choose lineup members to appear in the lineup with the person under investigation. Accordingly, three research projects were conducted to inform lineup construction practices. The first project is a meta-analysis of lineup similarity effects. Results of the meta-analysis suggest that biased lineups yield the highest rate of suspect identifications, regardless of whether that person is guilty or innocent. When lineups with moderately similar members are compared with lineups containing highly similar members, increasing similarity reduces innocent suspect identifications and has only a small and nonsignificant effect on correct identifications. Two experimental studies were then conducted using morphing software to systematically manipulate the degree of similarity between lineup members who are known be innocent (fillers) and the lineup member who is under investigation (the suspect). In the first experiment, lineups with moderately high similarity fillers yielded a higher correct identification rate than did lineups with very high similarity fillers. When comparable procedures were used in the second experiment, fillers of low and moderately low similarity to the culprit yielded nearly identical correct identification rates. In both experiments, increasing suspect-filler similarity led to a decrease in innocent suspect misidentifications. The accumulation of evidence from the three research projects suggests lineups would be best constructed with fillers of moderate similarity to the suspect. A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy *, University of Regina. *, * p. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Kinesiology & Health Studies, University of Regina. vii, 94 p. The benefits and potential of biofeedback training for enhancing athletic performance has received noticeable consideration in both research and practice. While most biofeedback research applied to sport participants has focused primarily on athletes, one group of participants has been neglected in both research and training. This group is known as sports officials. Ice hockey officials are required to possess various physical, cognitive, and psychological skills, suggesting that biofeedback training to enhance their on-ice performance holds strong utility. Since biofeedback research applied to sport offers very little perspective into the needs and requirements of biofeedback protocols applied to officials of sport, the purpose of this research project is to develop the first context-specific biofeedback training screens applied to hockey officiating. Working in conjunction with and obtaining approval from the Saskatchewan Hockey Association (SHA), participating referees and linesman were outfitted with a Contour 1080p© helmet camera to capture various on-ice experiences from a game-to-game basis. A focus group was held with SHA official representatives (i.e., official supervisors, mentors) to gain a better understanding as to (a) the various physical and cognitive/mental skills and abilities that are necessary to the official while on the ice, (b) the potential utility of biofeedback training for enhancing hockey official’s performance, and (c) how the previously obtained videos could be incorporated into the training experience so as to make the training experience more applied and meaningful. The results of the focus group provided valuable insight as to how the biofeedback training screens and tasks could be developed around the acquired video segments. Once the video segments were identified and validated by contextual experts (participants of the focus group), they were incorporated and configured into formatted biofeedback training screens using software offered by Thought Technology™. The implications of this research include educating officials on how their psychophysiology can influence their on-ice performance as well how they can utilize biofeedback training methods to restore and improve their performance. As a result, this research project is a critical step for future biofeedback research and training applied to sports officials. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, University of Regina. vii, 97 l. Previous research has found a relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD; e.g. Basile, Arias, Desai, & Thompson, 2004). The purpose of the current study was to investigate PTSD in a diverse sample of Saskatchewan women who have experienced IPV. This study utilized the Composite Abuse Scale in order to examine whether or not severe combined, emotional, physical, or harassment abuse predict the development of PTSD. The Composite Abuse Scale allowed us to investigate combined forms of abuse, which included sexual violence as well as severe physical violence by an intimate partner. This study added to previous findings by accounting for experiences of abuse in childhood as well as potential moderating variables as measured by demographic characteristics. The current study was a sub-study of a larger research project called “The Healing Journey: A Longitudinal Study of Women Affected by Intimate Partner Violence”. The results suggest that all forms of IPV were significantly correlated with PTSD; however, once entered into the multiple regression only severe combined forms of abuse proved to be a significant predictor for PTSD. Further, emotional abuse in childhood and level of education were found to be significant predictors of PTSD alongside severe combined forms of abuse. Scientific and clinical implications are presented as well as directions for future research. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology University of Regina. xiii, 174 l. Existing research literature shows that mental health care services are under-utilized among individuals who have mental health problems. In Canada, it is estimated that only 40% of individuals who have mental health problems are provided with mental health care. Although some past research have examined predictors of mental health care utilization, there are gaps in our knowledge of how these predictors interact with one another and how these predictors specifically affect mental health care utilization in Canada. In this study, data from the 2007/2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) were used with the goal of developing a more accurate picture of trends in mental health issues and care in Canada (N = 131,061, weighted N = 28,030,943). Guided by Andersen’s Behavioural Model of Health Care Use (2008), associations were examined between mental health care utilization (i.e., consultation with a psychologist, accessing mental health care services, and receiving care from a mental health specialist) and contextual factors (e.g., province of residence, health region), predisposing individual characteristics (e.g., gender, age, minority status), individual enabling factors (e.g., employment, income), individual need (i.e., stress, mental health well-being), general health behaviours (e.g., number of consults with health professional), and outcomes factors (e.g., satisfaction, difficulties getting services) were explored. Associations were observed between mental health care utilization and a variety of variables across most of the categories proposed by Andersen (2008). When tested as a model, the group of variables related to need generally showed the strongest influence on utilization. However, when examining individual variables contributing to the model, four predictors (perceived mental health, physician visits, income, and age) generally made the largest contributions to the models. These predictors represented factors proposed in Andersen’s model. The models were statistically significant, however, both models were limited in the amount of variation explained for consultation with a psychologist and receiving mental health care (Nagelkerke R2 = .145 and Nagelkerke R2 = .271 respectively). Clinical and theoretical implications and future research directions are discussed. A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy *, University of Regina. *, * p. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, University of Regina, xi, 133 p. The purpose of this feasibility study was to determine the efficacy of a cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) self-help book for health anxiety titled, It’s Not All in Your Head (Asmundson & Taylor, 2005) relative to a wait-list control. It was hypothesized that using a CBT self-help book would be a more efficacious treatment than wait-list control. Health anxiety is marked by anxious preoccupation about having a physical disease, based on the catastrophic misinterpretation of innocuous bodily sensations. It is associated with unpleasant physiological, behavioural, cognitive, and affective symptoms. When elevated, health anxiety affects an individual‘s interpersonal relationships, especially with his or her doctor, and increases health utilization of primary care, diagnostic tests, and secondary care resources (Conradt, Cavanagh, Franklin, & Rief, 2006). Although once regarded as a chronic disorder resistant to treatment and often associated with a poor prognosis (Avia, Ruiz, Olivares, & Crespo, 1996; Barsky, Bailey, Fama, & Ahern), there are now several empirically-supported treatment options (Taylor, Asmundson, & Coons, 2005). In particular, CBT treatments that aim to identify maladaptive thoughts and behaviours and replace them with healthy and adaptive ones, have been proven effective, and are the treatment of choice for many (Furer, Walker, & Freeston, 2001). The development of CBT programs for treating elevated health anxiety has progressed to the point where widely accessible self-help options are available. In this trial, 14 volunteers experiencing health anxiety were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to either an 8-week self-help book treatment (SHB; n = 10) during which they read the self-help book and received therapist guidance sessions or an 8-week wait-list control group (WLC; n = 4). Health anxiety, depression, and general health symptoms were assessed at pre-, mid-, and post-treatment. T tests were used for statistical analyses and intention-to-treat analyses were employed. Relative to WLC, SHB participants reported minor reductions in health anxiety symptoms after 3 weeks of treatment and significant reductions in health anxiety and depression symptoms post-treatment. Unfortunately, due to the small sample size and lack of statistical power, some analyses could not be performed. These findings provide preliminary support the trial hypothesis and can be used to inform a future, large-scale, randomized controlled trial. Participants had mostly positive feedback about the treatment, but reported difficulty completing treatment in 8 weeks and a poor therapeutic alliance. Procedural difficulties were encountered during the trial that limit the generalizability of the results. A clinically supported, CBT-based, self-help treatment for health anxiety will potentially improve the psychological and social lives of many individuals and reduce the financial and time expenditures of mental health care providers. A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy *, University of Regina. *, * p. Student yes

A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Psychology, University of Regina. vi, 81 l. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between advanced music training and neurocognitive functioning, with specific focus on executive function, working memory, and tactile interhemispheric transfer. Twenty professional musicians and a comparison group of 19 individuals with no formal music training or performance experience completed a battery of measures of executive functioning, working memory, and interhemispheric transfer. The musician group had an average of 20.4 years (SD = 9.6) of formal music training and had started formal music training at a mean age of 5.8 years (SD = 2.5). Results revealed significantly better performance of the musicians group on the Word, Colour, and Interference portions of the Stroop Test and on a test of tactile interhemispheric transfer. These findings provide support for the idea that advanced music training has a positive relationship with some aspects of executive function and interhemispheric transfer, and may have implications for the potential use of music training for therapeutic purposes, as well as for educational programming and policies regarding early music education in the classroom. Student yes