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A Functionalist Perspective On Social Anxiety And Avoidant Personality Disorder, Peter J. Lafreniere Nov 2009

A Functionalist Perspective On Social Anxiety And Avoidant Personality Disorder, Peter J. Lafreniere

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

A developmental-evolutionary perspective is used to synthesize basic research from the neurosciences, ethology, genetics, and developmental psychology into a unified framework for understanding the nature and origins of social anxiety and avoidant personality disorder. Evidence is presented that social anxiety disorder (social phobia) and avoidant personality disorder may be alternate conceptualizations of the same disorder because they have virtually the same symptoms and genetic basis, and respond to the same pharmacologic and psychotherapeutic interventions. A functionalist perspective on social anxiety is formulated to (a) explain the origins of normative states of anxiety, (b) outline developmental pathways in the transition from …


Development Of Theory Of Mind From Ages Four To Eight, Rachelle Smith May 2009

Development Of Theory Of Mind From Ages Four To Eight, Rachelle Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study comprised two experiments that engaged one hundred eighteen children, divided into three age groups (4-, 6-, & 8-year-olds) in competitive games with an adult designed to explore advances in children’s theory of mind (TOM) beyond false-belief mastery. The game paradigms were designed so that children with an understanding of RAI (the understanding that a social partner may be observing one’s behavior to gain insight into one’s intentions and that one can observe the partner’s behavior to gain similar insight – a proposed later development of TOM) would be more effective competitors than children who lacked such awareness. It …


Criterial Noise Effects On Rule-Based Category Learning: The Impact Of Delayed Feedback, Shawn W. Ell, David A. Ing, Todd W. Maddox Mar 2009

Criterial Noise Effects On Rule-Based Category Learning: The Impact Of Delayed Feedback, Shawn W. Ell, David A. Ing, Todd W. Maddox

Psychology Faculty Scholarship

Variability in the representation of the decision criterion is assumed in many category learning models yet few studies have directly examined its impact. On each trial, criterial noise should result in drift in the criterion and will negatively impact categorization accuracy, particularly in rule-based categorization tasks where learning depends upon the maintenance and manipulation of decision criteria. The results of three experiments test this hypothesis and examine the impact of working memory on slowing the drift rate. Experiment 1 examined the effect of drift by inserting a 5 s delay between the categorization response and the delivery of corrective feedback, …


Arterial Pulse Wave Velocity And Cognition With Advancing Age, Merrill F. Elias, Michael A. Robbins, Marc M. Budge, Walter P. Abhayaratna, Gregory A. Dore, Penelope K. Elias Feb 2009

Arterial Pulse Wave Velocity And Cognition With Advancing Age, Merrill F. Elias, Michael A. Robbins, Marc M. Budge, Walter P. Abhayaratna, Gregory A. Dore, Penelope K. Elias

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

We hypothesized that carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV), a marker of arterial stiffness, interacts with age such that the magnitude of associations between PWV and cognitive performance are greater with increasing age and that this interaction is observed despite adjustments for demographic variables, mean arterial pressure, and cardiovascular risk factors. PWV was estimated using applanation tonometry in 409 dementia- and stroke-free participants of the Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (24 to 92 years of age; 62.3% women). Using linear regression analyses in a cross-sectional design, associations between PWV and age and the interaction of PWV and age were examined in relation to …


Chronic Kidney Disease, Creatinine And Cognitive Functioning, Merrill F. Elias, Penelope K. Elias, Stephen L. Seliger, Sriram S. Narsipur, Gregory A. Dore, Michael A. Robbins Jan 2009

Chronic Kidney Disease, Creatinine And Cognitive Functioning, Merrill F. Elias, Penelope K. Elias, Stephen L. Seliger, Sriram S. Narsipur, Gregory A. Dore, Michael A. Robbins

Maine-Syracuse Longitudinal Papers

Background. Non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney dis- ease (CKD) is related to cognitive impairment. Previous studies have not explored the extent of impairment across multiple cognitive domains. We examined the range of specific cognitive abilities affected by CKD and whether the associations of CKD with cognition were eliminated by statistical control for cardiovascular disease correlates of CKD. Methods. We performed a community-based cross-sectional study with 923 individuals free from dementia and end-stage renal disease. Two groups were defined based on estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR): eGFR/min/1.73 m2 versus eGFR≥60 mL/min/1.73 m2. Out- come measures were scores from multiple clinical tests of specific …


Working Parents And Child Care: Charting A New Course For Quality, Michael Lahti, Rachel Connelly, Georgia N. Nigro, Rebecca Fraser-Thill Jan 2009

Working Parents And Child Care: Charting A New Course For Quality, Michael Lahti, Rachel Connelly, Georgia N. Nigro, Rebecca Fraser-Thill

Maine Policy Review

Close to two-thirds of children in Maine under the age of five need child care while their parents work. The quality of child care is a critical policy concern, since research has found that early childhood experience plays a major role in later-life success for individuals. The authors report on findings from three studies regarding child care arrangements in Maine and the quality of child care in the state and nationally. They describe the development and implementation of Maine’s new Quality Rating System (QRS) for child care facilities, Quality for ME, and the role that it can play both in …