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Rats (Rattus Norvegicus) Flexibly Retrieve Objects’ Non-Spatial And Spatial Information From Their Visuospatial Working Memory: Effects Of Integrated And Separate Processing Of These Features In A Missing-Object Recognition Task, Corrine Nicole Keshen, Jerome Cohen

Psychology Publications

After being trained to find a previous missing object within an array of four different objects, rats received occasional probe trials with such test arrays rotated from that of their respective three-object study arrays. Only animals exposed to each object’s non-spatial features consistently paired with both its spatial features (feeder’s relative orientation and direction) in the first experiment or with only feeder’s relative orientation in the second experiment (Fixed Configuration groups) were adversely affected by probe trial test array rotations. This effect, however, was less persistent for this group in the second experiment but re-emerged when objects’ nonspatial features were …

Efficacy Of A Sexual Assault Resistance Program For University Women, Charlene Y. Senn, Misha Eliasziw, Paula C. Barata, Wilfreda E. Thurston, Ian R. Newby-Clark, H. Lorraine Radtke, Karen L. Hobden

Psychology Publications

Background

Young women attending university are at substantial risk for being sexually assaulted, primarily by male acquaintances, but effective strategies to reduce this risk remain elusive.

Methods

We randomly assigned first-year female students at three universities in Canada to the Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act Sexual Assault Resistance program (resistance group) or to a session providing access to brochures on sexual assault, as was common university practice (control group). The resistance program consists of four 3-hour units in which information is provided and skills are taught and practiced, with the goal of being able to assess risk from acquaintances, overcome emotional …

Racial Identity Profiles Of Asian-White Biracial Young Adults: Testing A Theoretical Model With Cultural And Psychological Correlates, Vanessa Chong, B.C.H Kuo

Psychology Publications

Although the biracial population is expected to grow at astonishing rates in the upcoming decades across North America, rigorous quantitative psychological research on biracial identity is currently scarce. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine biracial identity profiles in a large sample of Asian-White biracial young adults (n=330, aged 18-30) living in the United States and Canada, as well as assess the interrelationships among biracial identity and psychological adjustment variables. Grounded in the expanded theoretical model of Multiracial Heritage Awareness and Personal Affiliation (M-HAPA:Choi-Misailidis, 2004) and its corresponding biracial identity measure, cluster analysis was conducted to evaluate …

Rats Anticipate Damaged Rungs On The Elevated Ladder: Applications For Rodent Models Of Parkinson's Disease, Daniel Lopatin, Nicole Caputo, Chelsey Damphousse, Siyaram Pandey, Jerome Cohen

Psychology Publications

The present study examined rats' ability to anticipate undetectable wider gaps between rungs produced when they stepped on and dislodged damaged rungs while they traversed a slightly inclined elevated ladder. Rats in the first of three experiments reduced running speeds when they encountered four evenly spaced damaged rungs either always placed on the first or second half of the ladder (the break-a-way (BW) phase) but quickly recovered to their baseline (BL) levels when damaged rungs where replaced with intact rungs (the recovery phase). Rats previously exposed to damaged rungs over the first half of the ladder increased their speeds above …

Psychological Help-Seeking Among Latin American Immigrants In Canada: Testing A Culturally-Expanded Model Of The Theory Of Reasoned Action Using Path Analysis, B.C.H Kuo, Alma Roldan-Bau, Robert Lowinger

Psychology Publications

The current study investigated the psychosocial and cultural predictors of psychological help-seeking based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA: Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) in a sample of 223 adult Latin American immigrants living in Canada. Using path analysis, the results provided empirical support for the TRA, as both help-seeking attitudes and subjective norms were found to influence participants’ help-seeking intentions. Moreover, the re-specified culturally-expanded model showed a good fit to the data and revealed the direct and indirect effects that bi-directional acculturation (Latino and Canadian Cultural orientations), familism, and collective coping had on help-seeking intentions. The results point to …

Lecture Engagement And Metamotivational States: Tracking And Intervention, Kenneth M. Cramer, Kathryn Lafreniere

Psychology Publications

We studied the underlying motives governing students’ active learning in the classroom. Previous investigations indicate that during a standard lecture, student ratings of engagement decrease along with serious-mindedness (telic state). In each of two studies, a questionnaire packet was distributed to participants at the start of their 75-minute social psychology class. The instructor paused the lecture every 10 minutes (from Time 1 to Time 6) to assess the extent to which students were (a) serious-minded or telic and (b) engaged in the lecture. Results from Study 1 showed that both serious-mindedness and lecture engagement together dropped over the span of …

Respondent Self-Focus And The Internal Consistency Of The Motivational Style Profile, Kenneth M. Cramer, Kathryn Lafreniere, Phillip A. Ianni

Psychology Publications

One of the underlying tenets of both personality and social psychological theory assumes that questionnaire respondents have access to their thoughts and feelings. The same tenet underlies the various reversal theory states (e.g., telic/paratelic, negativism/conformity, autic mastery /sympathy, alloic mastery/sympathy), so that individuals who are more internally focused should have better access to their internal states and have higher internal consistency ratings across all measures. To evaluate this tenet, 620 participants recruited from a community sample completed a questionnaire that included the Motivational Style Profile and three self-focus measures: self-monitoring, identity formation, and private self-consciousness. Participants were divided (by median …

The Multidimensional Mortality Awareness Measure & Model (Mmamm): Development And Validation Of A New Self-Report Questionnaire & Psychological Framework, Mark R. Mcdermott, Kathryn Lafreniere

Psychology Publications

For each of eight literature-identified conceptual dimensions of mortality awareness, questionnaire items were generated, producing 89 in all. 359 participants responded to these items and to questionnaires measuring health attitudes, risk-taking, rebelliousness and demographic variables. Multivariate correlational analyses investigated the underlying structure of the item pool and the construct validity as well as the reliability of the emergent empirically derived subscales. Five components, rather than eight, were identified. Given the item content of each, the associated mortality awareness subscales were labelled as: legacy, fearfulness, acceptance, disempowerment, and disengagement. Each attained an acceptable level of internal reliability. Relationships with other variables …

University Students’ Coping Behaviours And Perceived Parental Depression: The Role Of Hope And Implications For Counsellors, Shawna A. Scott, Emily M. Johnson, Julie Hakim-Larson

Psychology Publications

Research has shown links between perceived parental depressive symptomology and young adults’ depressive symptoms (Rounding & Jacobson, 2013). Hope has been linked to fewer depressive symptoms and to greater adaptive coping behaviours (Chang & DeSimone, 2001). The relation between perceived parental depression, hope, and undergraduate university students’ coping behaviours was examined. Participants were 223 undergraduates (51 males, 172 females) aged 17 to 24. Beyond perceived parental depression, hope predicted higher levels of religion/spirituality, active coping, and planning, and predicted lower levels of humour and behavioural disengagement. Implications for counselling clients at risk for intergenerational depression are discussed.

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