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The Effects Of Alcohol On Different Classes Of Motion Perception, Steven J. Matson Dec 2014

The Effects Of Alcohol On Different Classes Of Motion Perception, Steven J. Matson

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

We used a psychophysical approach to investigate how alcohol affected visual sensitivity to perceive different classes of motion. Visual sensitivities were measured in both a non-alcohol and an alcohol condition for three classes of motion: Minimum Motion, Simple Motion, and Complex Motion. Perceptual thresholds, taken as the degree of motion at which an observer responded correctly with an accuracy of 75%, or Weber fractions were compared between the non-alcohol and the alcohol conditions. For Simple and Complex motion, similar comparisons were made as a function of speed (e.g., 2°s-1, 6°s-1, and 12°s-1). Perceptual thresholds …


Parent-Adolescent Communication About Health Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Ashley Charlene Moss Oct 2014

Parent-Adolescent Communication About Health Risk Behaviors Among Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Ashley Charlene Moss

Master's Theses (2009 -)

Health risk behaviors, like drinking alcohol or using tobacco, are a common problem among adolescents in the United States. For healthy adolescents, health risk behaviors may be hazardous to their health; for adolescents with chronic illnesses, the risks associated with these types of behavior are compounded and may further impact their health status. This is particularly true for adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), whose blood sugar may be directly impacted by consumption of alcohol or use of tobacco. Parent-child communication has been found to act as a protective factor against adolescent engagement in health risk behaviors; however, this …


The Temporal Association Between Alcohol, Negative Affect, And Dating Violence, Ryan Christopher Shorey Aug 2014

The Temporal Association Between Alcohol, Negative Affect, And Dating Violence, Ryan Christopher Shorey

Doctoral Dissertations

Dating violence is a serious problem, with psychological aggression being the most common topography of aggression. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of research on temporal risk factors for psychological aggression perpetration and victimization. Thus, the proposed study examined whether alcohol and negative affect increased the odds of psychological aggression perpetration and victimization, and whether these two risk factors interacted to temporally predict aggression. That is, consistent with the Attention-Allocation Model (AAM), it was hypothesized that at high levels of negative affect, acute alcohol consumption would increase the odds of aggression. However, at low levels of negative affect, acute alcohol consumption …


Environmental Context And Aggression: An Experimental Demonstration Of The Role Of Alcohol Expectancies, Brynn E. Sheehan Jul 2014

Environmental Context And Aggression: An Experimental Demonstration Of The Role Of Alcohol Expectancies, Brynn E. Sheehan

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Research has extensively investigated predictors of alcohol-related aggression. Alcohol expectancy theory suggests that the link between alcohol and aggression may be related to one's beliefs regarding the expected effects of alcohol on aggression. As such, research has found that exposure to a bar environment may elicit alcohol-related aggression expectancies (Wall, McKee, & Hinson, 2000; Wall, McKee, Hinson, & Goldstein, 2001). Additionally, aggression expectancies have shown to predict direct aggression, such as hitting or yelling (Leonard, Collins, & Quigley, 2003; Smucker Barnwell, Borders, & Earlywine, 2006). While these research studies have shown separately that alcohol cues elicit aggression expectancies, and that …


Predicting Alcohol Consumption In Adolescent Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Andrea Nichole Sorenson Jun 2014

Predicting Alcohol Consumption In Adolescent Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Andrea Nichole Sorenson

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies show that a low level of response to the intoxicating effects of alcohol is considered a risk factor for future alcoholism. However, assessing this sensitivity usually requires administering a controlled dose of alcohol, which has a number of inherent problems. Early observations in our lab suggest that the response to anesthetics that show cross tolerance with alcohol, like ketamine, are blunted in nonhuman primates at risk for high alcohol intake, and may be a viable measure of future alcohol consumption. This study was designed to test potential predictors of future alcohol consumption using the change in ketamine across …


Psychometric Evaluation Of A Standardized Set Of Alcohol Cue Photographs To Assess Craving, David Edison Lovett May 2014

Psychometric Evaluation Of A Standardized Set Of Alcohol Cue Photographs To Assess Craving, David Edison Lovett

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To date, research paradigms using alcohol-related stimuli have been limited in their reliability and generalizability due to a lack of published studies examining the psychometric properties of alcohol cues. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the factor structure of a set of alcohol cues and the associated validity and reliability of examining craving for alcohol in an alcohol cue-reactivity paradigm. Participants (N = 195, 74.4% male, 56.4% Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander) completed a web-based survey in which valence, arousal, and craving ratings were obtained following presentation of picture cues. Prior to picture cues, participants …


The Effect Of Ovulation As A Male Mating Prime On Drinking And Other Mating Behaviors, Robin Tan May 2014

The Effect Of Ovulation As A Male Mating Prime On Drinking And Other Mating Behaviors, Robin Tan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recent line of research grounded in evolutionary theory has shown that exposure to women's fertility cues affects men's mating cognition and behavior. This area of research has not yet been examined in relation to alcohol. As alcohol has also been shown to facilitate the formation of sexual connections for males, establishing the intersection between these two lines of research seems necessary to understand the impetus behind human behavior. Ninety-eight male participants were primed with either the scent of a fertile woman or the scent of nonfertile woman and then completed measures assessing their level of attraction to pictures of …


Towards An Improved Understanding Of The Heterogeneity Of Violence: A Test Of The Clinical Utility Of The Reactive-Instrumental Distinction Among Adult Male Inmates, Jennifer L. Tapscott Apr 2014

Towards An Improved Understanding Of The Heterogeneity Of Violence: A Test Of The Clinical Utility Of The Reactive-Instrumental Distinction Among Adult Male Inmates, Jennifer L. Tapscott

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Purpose: Interpersonal violence exacts a high cost on society, both in terms of its impact on victims and its associated financial burden. To better understand the heterogeneity of violence, forensic researchers often distinguish between reactive violence, which occurs in response to provocation, and instrumental violence, which is goal-oriented. Although these subtypes of aggression have been associated with unique psychosocial vulnerabilities in samples of children or community adults, the current study examined whether this pattern of divergence generalized to an adult correctional sample. Method: Participants were 151 adult male federal inmates. Inmates completed self-report measures of childhood maltreatment, social-cognitive processing, and …


Evaluation Of A Digitally-Automated Alcohol Curriculum Designed To Alter Expectancies And Alcohol Use In First Year College Students, Amy Schreiner Jan 2014

Evaluation Of A Digitally-Automated Alcohol Curriculum Designed To Alter Expectancies And Alcohol Use In First Year College Students, Amy Schreiner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High-risk alcohol consumption remains a primary public health concern for students on college campuses. In response to this concern the National Advisory Council of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism created a task force to identify and recommend strategies to aid college administrators in implementing effective alcohol programming at their institutions. While most administrators report being aware of these recommendations, many have not successfully implemented empirically supported interventions on their campuses. One significant barrier is the cost and difficulty of training and hiring skilled staff to implement these interventions. Of the strategies identified as effective, challenging alcohol expectancies …


Acute Effects Of Alcohol On Simulated Driving Performance And Self-Perceptions Of Impairment In Dui Offenders, Nicholas A. Van Dyke Jan 2014

Acute Effects Of Alcohol On Simulated Driving Performance And Self-Perceptions Of Impairment In Dui Offenders, Nicholas A. Van Dyke

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Licensed drivers arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol have increased rates of vehicle crashes, moving violations, and traffic tickets (Evans, 2004). To date, no research has examined specific self-regulatory mechanisms of the DUI driver under a dose of alcohol that might underlie risky driving behavior. The present study examined the degree to which DUI drivers display an increased sensitivity to the acute impairing effects of alcohol on driving performance and overestimate their driving fitness following alcohol consumption. Adult drivers with a history of DUI and a demographically-matched group of control drivers without a DUI were tested following …


Negative Urgency, Pubertal Onset And The Longitudinal Prediction Of Alcohol Consumption During The Transition From Preadolescence To Adolescence, Lauren Helena Boyle Jan 2014

Negative Urgency, Pubertal Onset And The Longitudinal Prediction Of Alcohol Consumption During The Transition From Preadolescence To Adolescence, Lauren Helena Boyle

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol use in early adolescence is associated with numerous concurrent and future problems, including diagnosable alcohol use disorders. The trait of negative urgency, the tendency to act rashly when distressed, is an important predictor of alcohol-related dysfunction in youth and adults. The aim of this study was to test a model proposed by Cyders and Smith (2008) specifying a puberty-based developmental increase in negative urgency, which in turn predicts subsequent increases in early adolescent drinking. In a sample of 1,910 youth assessed semi- annually from spring of 5th grade through spring of 8th grade, we found support for this model. …


The Role Of Distress Tolerance And Expectancies In Women's Alcohol Consumption, Cathryn Glanton Holzhauer Jan 2014

The Role Of Distress Tolerance And Expectancies In Women's Alcohol Consumption, Cathryn Glanton Holzhauer

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The current study explored risk factors for alcohol misuse in women. Past research suggests that negative emotions and stress responsivity may be causally related to alcohol use in women. Based on negative reinforcement models of alcohol use, it was hypothesized that low levels of behavioral distress tolerance (behavioral DT; defined as the ability to persist in goal-directed behavior in the face of psychological distress) may put women at greater risk of alcohol misuse particularly in the context of positive expectancies about the tension-reducing qualities of alcohol. Additionally, the study explored physiological underpinnings of behavioral distress tolerance, and particularly how skin …


What You See Is What You Forget : Alcohol Cue Exposure, Affect, And The Misinformation Effect, Camille Crocken Barnes Jan 2014

What You See Is What You Forget : Alcohol Cue Exposure, Affect, And The Misinformation Effect, Camille Crocken Barnes

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Previous research has suggested that both alcohol cues and positive affect increase the tendency to incorporate false information into memory. This series of studies sought to determine if affect mediates the influence of alcohol cues on incorporation of false information into memory. Initially, a pilot study was completed to determine the individual differences that predict which individuals experience a heightening of positive affect following visualization exercises involving alcoholic beverages. Next, a study was conducted to determine if this affect increase from exposure to alcohol cues leads to increased acceptance of misinformation into memory. Participants' memories were tested while they were …


Psychographic Characteristics And Health Behaviors In Young Adults, Jose Alonso Cabriales Jan 2014

Psychographic Characteristics And Health Behaviors In Young Adults, Jose Alonso Cabriales

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Non trivial smoking rates are observed among young adults and Hispanics, particularly as light and intermittent smoking is on the rise. Additionally, the assessment of other health behaviors including alcohol use, physical activity, and dietary practices seems warranted in young adults. The primary aim of this study was to identify clusters of individuals based on psychographics (e.g., lifestyle, preferences, personality characteristics), and their relation to tobacco use within a primarily Hispanic young adult border sample. Secondary aims were the assessment of group differences with respect to alcohol use, …


Assessment Reactivity Within The Context Of A Web-Based Brief Intervention For Alcohol Use, Tera Leigh Fazzino Jan 2014

Assessment Reactivity Within The Context Of A Web-Based Brief Intervention For Alcohol Use, Tera Leigh Fazzino

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Introduction: Unhealthy alcohol use is a substantial problem among college students and can lead to a variety of negative consequences. Commercially available web-based brief alcohol intervention (WBI) programs have demonstrated efficacy in a range of student groups and have been widely disseminated to colleges to address this issue. However, the majority of published WBI studies required participants to complete baseline research assessments (RA) about their alcohol use before the WBI and reactivity to the RA may have inflated WBI efficacy estimates in these studies. The present study tested whether there was an additive effect of RA administered online plus a …


Examining The Vulnerability Of Inhibitory Control To The Impairing Effects Of Alcohol, Melissa A. Miller Jan 2014

Examining The Vulnerability Of Inhibitory Control To The Impairing Effects Of Alcohol, Melissa A. Miller

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

There is growing evidence that acute changes in fundamental mechanisms of impulse control contribute to the transition from social drinking to abusive drinking. One component of impulsivity concerns the ability to inhibit maladaptive behaviors (i.e., inhibitory control). Inhibitory mechanisms are reliably shown to be sensitive to the impairing effects of alcohol, and studies have begun to show that this impairment fails to recover at the same speed as other aspects of behavior. However, the degree to which inhibitory control develops tolerance to alcohol has only been examined under limited conditions. This dissertation consists of three studies examining contexts in which …


Characterization Of The Hippocampal Acetylcholine System In A Rodent Model Of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Amy Elizabeth Perkins Jan 2014

Characterization Of The Hippocampal Acetylcholine System In A Rodent Model Of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Amy Elizabeth Perkins

Theses and Dissertations

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) are a major public health concern, as it is estimated that 2-5% of children are exposed to alcohol at some point during prenatal development. FASD have been shown to cause damage to multiple brain regions, but research shows that the hippocampus is especially sensitive to alcohol exposure. This damage to the hippocampus explains, in part, deficits in learning and memory that are hallmark symptoms of FASD. The acetylcholine neurotransmitter system plays a major role in learning and memory, and the hippocampus is one of its main targets. This experiment used a rodent model of Fetal …