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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Contributions Of Reward Identity And Time Prediction Errors To Pavlovian Learning, Daniel B. Siegel
Contributions Of Reward Identity And Time Prediction Errors To Pavlovian Learning, Daniel B. Siegel
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Some models of associative learning attempt to explain effects such as blocking and unblocking as reflecting a prediction error (PE): Associative strength, and thereby learning, are said to be greater when the unconditioned stimulus (US) received following a cue deviates from one’s expectations. Some models of PE-motivated behavior and PE-relevant brain activity represent the US as a single quantitative variable for outcome value, and that learning therefore only occurs when outcome value differs from expectations. There is growing evidence to suggest that changes in other dimensions of reward, such as identity and timing, also contribute to learning. In Experiment 1, …
Early Emotion Regulation In The Children Of Superstorm Sandy, Jessica L. Buthmann
Early Emotion Regulation In The Children Of Superstorm Sandy, Jessica L. Buthmann
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Rising prevalence of childhood psychopathology mandate investigation into the antecedents of symptom onset. Growing evidence shows prenatal maternal stress experienced in utero is a strong contributor to offspring neurodevelopmental deficits, including emotion dysregulation, a core feature of many types of psychopathology. This dissertation summarizes a body of work studying children prenatally exposed to maternal stress related to a natural disaster, Superstorm Sandy (i.e., storm stress). This work includes six experiments conducted in the framework of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis. The DOHaD hypothesis posits that developmental disruptions, like storm stress exposure, during a critical period of …
Circuits Underlying Serotonin Mediated Sex Differences In Fear Learning, Rebecca Ravenelle
Circuits Underlying Serotonin Mediated Sex Differences In Fear Learning, Rebecca Ravenelle
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-related disorder characterized by intense fearful memory formation. Women are twice as likely as men to develop PTSD, indicating there may be sex differences in the underlying neural circuits. Given that serotonin (5-HT) dysfunction is implicated in PTSD, and 5-HT modulates fear learning, we investigated whether there are sex differences in the modulation of fear learning by 5-HT. We administered the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram (20mg/kg or 10m/kg, i.p.) once to male and female mice prior to auditory fear conditioning and tested the effects on fear memory the next day. We found …
The Effect Of Anticipatory Anxiety On Fear Extinction Learning, Daniela C. Echeverria
The Effect Of Anticipatory Anxiety On Fear Extinction Learning, Daniela C. Echeverria
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Adaptive regulation of fear is dependent on successful fear extinction learning; therefore, investigating factors that both enhance and diminish fear extinction learning is a critical line of research. In the present study, we induce mild anticipatory anxiety during fear extinction learning in an attempt to modulate how participants extinguish fear memory. In the experiment, we apply a classic three-day fear learning protocol to both control participants (N = 20) and an experimental group (N = 20) with fear acquisition, fear extinction, and fear recovery phases; each phase is separated by a period of 24 hours and we use a skin …