1 POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN SEPTEMBER 11TH SURVIVORS 9/11 Survivors with or without Injuries and the Severity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder STUDENT NAME University of Massachusetts Boston Your N. Here Psychology 100 Fall, 2009 2 Abstract: This is a proposal for a study to see if the severity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder increases in people who sustained an injury in the September 11th attacks compared to those who did not sustain an injury. The people who participate in this study will be survivors from the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and they will be asked if they had obtained an injury during September 11th or if they did not obtain any injuries, based on their answers they will be put into one of two groups; those with injuries and those without. Once the participants are put into their two groups they will be allowed to go about their daily routines. On the last friday of each month each group will be given a survey and asked questions to see how their symptoms of Post traumatic stress disorder are developing. This will be done over the course of three years. Previous research by Galea, Ahern, Resnick, Kilpatrick, Bucuvalas, Gold, & Vlahov (2002) show that some exposure to the attacks was a predictor to PTSD. One study looked at a sample of adults living in manhattan and asked them about the demographic characteristics and exposure to the the attacks and looked at how that had affected symptoms of PTSD. They concluded that exposure to the attacks were predictors of acute PTSD. This study hypothesizes that the survivors who have sustained injuries from the 9/11 attacks will develop PTSD more severely then those who did not sustain injuries. 3 9/11 Survivors with or without Injuries and the Severity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder The purpose of this study is to see if the severity of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is influenced by injuries sustained from the attacks or if injuries are not sustained. The hypothesis for this study is that people who had obtained injuries during the 9/11 attacks have PTSD on a more severe level then those who did not sustain injuries. The people who have injuries will have more severe uncontrollable re-experiences of the traumatic event, sleepiness, irritability, guilt, emotional numbing and depression. These symptoms will be measured and assessed for the severity. Prior studies have looked at the rescue and recovery workers and the experience of the workers in the World Trade Center building and compared it to refugees. In the article, “September 11th Survivors and the Refugee Model” by Myer, Moore, and Hughes (2003), they compare the experience of the people who worked the Trade Center and the experiences of refugees. Some of the people saw the first plane crash into the north tower of the WTC; whereas many saw the second plane hit ...

1. 1
POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER IN SEPTEMBER
11TH SURVIVORS
9/11 Survivors with or without Injuries and the Severity of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder
STUDENT NAME
University of Massachusetts Boston
Your N. Here
Psychology 100
Fall, 2009

2. 2
Abstract:
This is a proposal for a study to see if the severity of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder

3. increases in people who sustained an injury in the September
11th attacks compared to those
who did not sustain an injury. The people who participate in
this study will be survivors from the
September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and they will
be asked if they had obtained an
injury during September 11th or if they did not obtain any
injuries, based on their answers they
will be put into one of two groups; those with injuries and those
without. Once the participants
are put into their two groups they will be allowed to go about
their daily routines. On the last
friday of each month each group will be given a survey and
asked questions to see how their
symptoms of Post traumatic stress disorder are developing. This
will be done over the course of
three years. Previous research by Galea, Ahern, Resnick,
Kilpatrick, Bucuvalas, Gold, & Vlahov
(2002) show that some exposure to the attacks was a predictor
to PTSD. One study looked at a
sample of adults living in manhattan and asked them about the
demographic characteristics and
exposure to the the attacks and looked at how that had affected
symptoms of PTSD. They

4. concluded that exposure to the attacks were predictors of acute
PTSD. This study hypothesizes
that the survivors who have sustained injuries from the 9/11
attacks will develop PTSD more
severely then those who did not sustain injuries.
3
9/11 Survivors with or without Injuries and the Severity of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder
The purpose of this study is to see if the severity of Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder is
influenced by injuries sustained from the attacks or if injuries
are not sustained. The hypothesis
for this study is that people who had obtained injuries during
the 9/11 attacks have PTSD on a
more severe level then those who did not sustain injuries. The

5. people who have injuries will have
more severe uncontrollable re-experiences of the traumatic
event, sleepiness, irritability, guilt,
emotional numbing and depression. These symptoms will be
measured and assessed for the
severity. Prior studies have looked at the rescue and recovery
workers and the experience of the
workers in the World Trade Center building and compared it to
refugees.
In the article, “September 11th Survivors and the Refugee
Model” by Myer, Moore, and
Hughes (2003), they compare the experience of the people who
worked the Trade Center and the
experiences of refugees. Some of the people saw the first plane
crash into the north tower of the
WTC; whereas many saw the second plane hit the south tower.
During the escape, many
employees watched people jump from the windows of the WTC.
Seeing these things lead to
employees having PTSD because there were feelings of
separation and loss from their friends
and co-workers. When the survivors were able to have the
possibility of returning to work they
became distressed. The refugee model provides a better

6. description of survivors experience than
a diagnostic model.
In another article, “Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for
World Trade Center Post -
traumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Report” by Difede and
Hoffman (2002) they examined PTSD
in a young man who had developed acute PTSD and did not
make progress in the traditional
4
imaginal exposure therapy. In this study they had re-exposed a
patient to traumatic events and
and found that this imaginal imagery can lead to a reduction of
PTSD symptoms. One patient
was across the street from the North Tower when the first plane
hit. During her evaluation she
described with little emotion the sequence of events that she
experienced September 11th. This
patient has acute PTSD, which goes along with the idea that
people who have sustained injury
from the attack have more severe symptoms of PTSD then those
who did sustain an injury.

7. In the final article “Mental Health Status of World Trade
Center Rescue and Recovery
Workers and Volunteers”, it talks about the mental and physical
health of rescue and recovery
workers. In this study they tested people 18-65 and over, and
they were given the Patient Health
Questionnaire. The results of this experiment shows that there is
a need for better tools to assess
the mental health of responders to a disaster. It also talks about
how the mental health effects that
were observed in the population group suggest that there is a
need for better mental health
screening, follow-up and access to mental health services for
WTC rescue and recovery workers
and volunteers.
The purpose of this study is to see if the people who have
injuries because of the
September 11th attacks have more severe symptoms of PTSD
then those who have no injuries
from the attacks.
Method:
Participants are selected on a volunteer basis from a group of
people who survived the

8. September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. Once there
are enough volunteers, between 50
and 60, they then should be divided into two separate groups,
people who have injuries i.e.
broken bones, burns, cuts etc. and those who have no injuries.
Once they are divided into groups
5
they can go about their daily routines. At the end of each moth
they will meet at a hall and fill
out a survey. This survey will ask various questions that pertain
to a list of symptoms. For
example a question could be asking if they are sleeping through
the night and if not why. Then
once this survey is filled out answers will be looked at to see
how severe the PTSD is in each
group. This will be done every month over a three year period.
Then after the three year period
all surveys will be compared to see which group of people
developed PTSD more severely.
Discussion:
This section will talk about some of the problems and

9. limitations that may occur while
carrying out this study. The practical, methodological/design,
and ethical issues will be discussed
in this section.
When conducting this study there will be many practical
problems that may make
carrying out this study difficult. One problem would be other
factors that play a role in
developing PTSD. If someone saw a close co-worker fall from a
window and die but they
themselves suffer no injuries, that may effect the severity of the
PTSD that they develop.
Another problem would be the severity of the injuries that
could be sustained. Someone who
was trapped on the eighth or ninth floor who had suffered from
a broken foot might develop
more severe PTSD then someone who suffered from a broken
foot that was on the first floor.
Another problem would be where theses survivors were located
and what they went through to
survive could also have an affect on the severity of PTSD.
This study will also have methodological/design problems. One
Problem may be that we

10. do not how different people deal with stress and trauma. A
person who did not sustain an injury
from the attack may react in the same way as a person who did
sustain an injury and that can
affect the final outcome of the study.
6
References:
Myer, Rick A, Hughes, Tammy L; “September 11th Survivors
and the Refugee Model”, Journal
of Mental Health Counseling. Vol 25(3), Jul, 2003 pp. 245-258.
Difede, Joann, Hoffman G. Hunter; “Virtual Reality Exposure
Therapy for World trade Center
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder: A Case Report”, Cyber
Psychology and Behavior. Vol. 5,
Nov, 2002.
“Mental Health Status of World Trade Center Rescue and
Recovery Workers and Volunteers”
Journal of the American Medical Association. Vol 293(1), Jan,
2005 pp. 30-31.

11. · Abstract: A summary of your paper (1 P)
· Purpose
· The purpose of this research is to show that the chronotype of
people affects their creativity.
· Methods
· Hypothesis
· Implications
· Intro: 2-3 Articles (1-2 paragraph summaries each)
· Relevant literature
· Clear connection between previous research and proposed
study
· Statement of purpose
· Write about the purpose of the study you’re reviewing (no
meta analyses)
· Who are the participants?
· What is the method?
· What were the results?
· Make sure to link your literature review to YOUR STUDY
· This should appear at the end of your Intro (1-3 lines)
· To figure this out, answer the questions:
· How does your study BUILD ON other research?
· How is your study unique?
· Methods: What you will be doing in your study
· At least two variables
· Operationalized variables
· Participant section
· Procedure section: (what, where, when and how)
· Hypothesis is clearly stated
· Purpose of study is clear
· Type of study is clear(experiment or

12. · correlational study)
· Discussion: Potential flaws with your design
tered
· Include 1) practical, 2)methodological/design, And 3) ethical
problems
The Correlation between a Person’s Chronotype and the
Dimensions of his/her Creativity
Psychology 100

13. Abstract
(This is a proposal for a study to explore whether or not
the chronotype of a person affects his/her creativity. Creativity,
in the context, is defined as the ability to generate ideas or
products that are both novel and appropriate to the
circumstances. Its two dimensions are originality and
functionality. Chronotype is defined as the totality of factors,
associated with circadian rhythms, that determine if an
individual is most alert in the morning or evening. Its two main
dimensions are Morningness and Eveningness. While the
people that wake up early and are more active in the morning
are referred to as Morning lacks, the people that stay up late and
are more active at night are referred to as Night Owls. The
participants of this study will consist of the two groups; Night
owls and Morning larks. Both groups will be places into two
different settings where they will be giving a set of divergent
questions to answer. The first setting will acquire the attributes
of a regular day during daytime while the second setting will
acquire the attributes of a regular day during nighttime. After
both groups complete both tasks, we will asses their scores
based on … scales, in regards to the setting they were place in. I
believe that ) DON’T HAVE TO USE THIS, YOU CAN
WRITE YOUR OWN INTRO
Hypothesis
group a is more
·
Implications
· Length (1 paragraph)

14. Intro: 2-3 Articles (1-2 paragraph summaries each)
· Relevant literature
· Clear connection between previous research and proposed
study
· Statement of purpose
Write about the purpose of the study you’re reviewing (no meta
analyses)
Who are the participants?
What is the method?
What were the results?
Make sure to link your literature review to YOUR STUDY This
should appear at the end of your Intro (1-3 lines)
To figure this out, answer the questions:
How does your study BUILD ON other research?
How is your study unique?

15. Methods: What you will be doing in your study
· At least two variables
· Operationalized variables
· Participant section
· Procedure section: (what, where, when and how)
· Hypothesis is clearly stated
· Purpose of study is clear
· Type of study is clear(experiment or correlational study)
Discussion: Potential flaws with your design
· Possible difficulties that might be encountered
· Include 1) practical, 2)methodological/design, And 3) ethical
problems