Psychology Commons^™

Destined Failure, Chengjun Pan

Masters Theses

I attempt to examine the complex structure of human communication, explaining why it is bound to fail. By reproducing experienceable phenomena, I demonstrate how they can expose communication structure and reveal the limitations of our perception and symbolization.I divide the process of communication into six stages: input, detection, symbolization, dictionary, interpretation, and output. In this thesis, I examine the flaws and challenges that arise in the first five stages. I argue that reception acts as a filter and that understanding relies on a symbolic system that is full of redundancies. Therefore, every interpretation is destined to be a deviation.

City As Cemetery, Siqiao Zhao

Masters Theses

The traditional funeral service industry has enormous environmental and financial costs. In contrast, green burial, and Natural Organic Reduction (NOR), accelerate the human body’s degradation and reduce toxic substances in the land, assuming responsibility for our burden on the earth. They provide a gateway between us and the processes of nature and ask us to set aside self-consciousness to accept our oneness with the universe. By gifting our bodies back to the earth, where decomposition enriches soils and nurtures the growth of other life forms, we honor those who have transitioned to another state by continuing the cycle of renewal. …

Evaluation Of Α-Pyrrolidindovalerophenone (Α-Pvp) And Its Isomers In Male And Female Sprague-Dawley Rats Trained To Discriminate Mdpv, Kaley Cargile

Masters Theses

Recreational use of synthetic cathinones, 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) and α‐pyrrolidinovalerophenone (α‐PVP), has become increasingly popular, thus prompting characterization of their behavioral and neurochemical effects. MDPV has been studied for several years now, though there is still much unknown about α‐PVP, and its isomers. The primary objective of this study was to characterize the discriminative effects of α‐PVP and its isomers in comparison to MDPV. Male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to discriminate 0.5mg/kg MDPV from saline injections under a fixed ratio 20 (FR 20) schedule of food reinforcement. Substitution tests were conducted with MDPV (0.05-0.5mg/kg), α‐PVP (0.05-0.5mg/kg), (S)-α‐PVP (0.05-1mg/kg) and …

Studies On High-Throughput Single-Neuron Rna Sequencing And Circadian Rhythms In The Nudibranch, Berghia Stephanieae, Thi Bui

Masters Theses

One of the goals of neuroscience is to classify all of the neurons in the brain. Neuronal types can be defined using a combination of morphology, electrophysiology, and gene expression profiles. Gene expression profiles allow differentiation between cells that share similar characteristics. Leveraging the advantage of Berghia stephanieae (Gastropoda; Nudibranchia), which has around 28,000 neurons, I constructed high-throughput single-neuron transcriptomes for its whole brain. I produced a single-cell dissociation protocol and a custom data analysis pipeline for data of this nature. Around 129,000 cells were collected from 18 rhinophore ganglia and 20 circumesophageal ring ganglia (brain), consisting of the cerebropleural, …

Functional Analysis In The Home Setting Of An Older Adult With Neurocognitive Disorder, Emily Norton

Masters Theses

Currently within the behavioral gerontology literature there are no published studies that include a functional assessment in the home setting. The primary goal of the present study was to address this gap by conducting a functional analysis on a challenging behavior of an older adult with neurocognitive disorder in the home. This study occurred in two phases. During phase one, researchers conducted an antecedent functional analysis on the bizarre speech of an 81-year-old female with suspected dementia across four conditions (television on, no interactions initiated; television on, interactions initiated; television off, no interactions initiated; television off, interactions initiated). Results from …

Changes In Color Guidance Over The Course Of A Complex Visual Search, Ryan Papargiris

Masters Theses

When searching for an object, we store a mental representation of the target, which guides our search through the use of attention. The effectiveness of this search guidance varies depending on the task and the relationship between target and distractors. With a better understanding of how search guidance changes over time within a trial, we can better compare the differences between experimental conditions. Eye tracking data from a variety of search tasks were analyzed to determine how color guidance varied over the course of the trial. Color guidance for a given fixation was evaluated based on the distance in color …

Waist Circumference And The Relation To Aerobic Exercise And Perception Of Illness In Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Bailey J. Huebner

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to observe the relationship between waist circumference (WC), amount of aerobic exercise performed weekly and overall Health Belief Model (HBM) score in adults with diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Members from a local Midwest adult fitness program (n = 5) who had been diagnosed T2DM participated in this study. Participants ranged in age from 70 to 80 years with an average age of 74 years. Four of the participants were female and one participant was male. The questions included in this study were 1 .) in those with diagnosed T2DM, was a low …

Effort-Related Motivational Dysfunctions: Behavioral And Neurochemical Studies Of The Wistar-Kyoto Rat Model Of Depression, Brendan Abbott

Masters Theses

Depression and related disorders are characterized by motivational dysfunctions, including deficits in behavioral activation and exertion of effort. Animal models of relevance to depression represent a critical starting point in elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms underlying motivational dysfunctions. The present study explored the use of the Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) animal model of depression to examine effort-related functions as measured by voluntary wheel running and performance on a mixed fixed ratio 5/progressive ratio (FR5/PR) operant task. Given the known link between activational aspects of motivation and the mesocorticolimbic dopamine (DA) system, the behavioral effects of d-amphetamine (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg, IP), a psychostimulant …

A Representational-Hierarchical Account: A New Theory Of False Memories, D. Merika Wilson

Masters Theses

Past research has supported a representational-hierarchical theory of memory and perception that extends the ventral visual stream into the medial temporal lobe. In this account, representations are organized in a hierarchical manner, such that structures located further anterior in the brain contain complex representations of whole objects and areas further posterior in the visual cortex contain representations of simple features. When conjunctive representations are compromised, an individual must rely on simple-feature representations to complete mnemonic and perceptual tasks. However, these simple-feature representations are susceptible to feature-level interference, which can cause false recognition of novel objects. The goal of the present …

Evaluation Of The Recreational Catch-And-Release Fishery For Golden Dorado Salminus Brasiliensis In Salta, Argentina: Implications For Conservation And Management, Tyler Gagne

Masters Theses

Golden dorado (Salminus brasiliensis, Cuvier, 1816) is increasing in popularity as a target for recreational anglers practicing catch-and-release (C&R) in northern Argentina and bordering countries. However, to date no research has looked at the potential social and ecological implications of growth in this recreational fishery. The first manuscript of this thesis assessed the consequences of C&R on golden dorado captured by anglers on the Juramento River in Salta, Argentina. This evaluation examined physical injury, physiological stress, reflex impairment, and short term post-release behavior to develop a clear set of evidence-based best practices for C&R. In addition, the Juramento …

The Effects Of Cognitive Rehabilitation For Improving Prospective Memory In Acquired Brain Injury, Emily M. Aiken

Masters Theses

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) includes any damage to the brain resulting from traumatic (e.g. motor vehicle accident) or non-traumatic (e.g. stroke) incidence, that occurs after birth and is not resulting from genetic or congenital factors. Individuals with ABI report that prospective memory (PM) deficits are the most detrimental cognitive impairment following injury, persistently and negatively impacting their ability to function properly in everyday life. PM refers to the ability to remember to carry out intended tasks in the future, including the recall of both time and event regulated intentions. Using neuropsychological assessments to produce patient deficit profiles, this study examines …

The Effects Of High Intensity Interval Training On Body-Esteem Among College-Aged Women, Chelsea K. Duncan

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on body-esteem among college-aged females. The study had four participants complete a pre-intervention questionnaire, which included BMI information and the Body-Esteem Scale (BES: Franzoi & Shields, 1984). The participants then completed 12 sessions of HIIT, three sessions each week for four weeks. After completing the HIIT protocol, participants filled out a post-intervention questionnaire, including BMI and the BES. The post-intervention questionnaires were then compared to the participants' pre-intervention questionnaires using a paired-samples t test with SPSS software. Small changes in BES scores occurred, however …

Mechanisms For Social Influence, Jeremy David Auerbach

Masters Theses

Throughout the thesis, I study mathematical models that can help explain the dependency of social phenomena in animals and humans on individual traits. The first chapter investigates consensus building in human groups through communication of individual preferences for a course of action. Individuals share and modify these preferences through speaker listener interactions. Personality traits, reputations, and social networks structures effect these modifications and eventually the group will reach a consensus. If there is variation in personality traits, the time to reach consensus is delayed. Reputation models are introduced and explored, finding that those who can best estimate the average initial …

Attention Modulates Erp Indices Of The Precedence Effect, Benjamin H. Zobel

Masters Theses

When presented with two identical sounds from different locations separated by a short onset asynchrony, listeners report hearing a single source at the location of the lead sound, a phenomenon called the precedence effect (Wallach et al., 1949; Haas, 1951). When the onset asynchrony is above echo threshold, listeners report hearing the lead and lag sounds as separate sources with distinct locations. Event-related potential (ERP) studies have shown that perception of separate sound sources is accompanied by an object-related negativity (ORN) 100-250 ms after onset and a late posterior positivity (LP) 300-500 ms after onset (Sanders et al., 2008; Sanders …

"It Starts With Having A Conversation": Lesbian Student-Athletes' Experience Of U.S. Ncaa Division I Sport, Jamie Fynes

Masters Theses

According to Griffin (1998), the U.S. NCAA Division I sport environment is not very welcoming for lesbian student-athletes because of existing negative myths and stereotypes. In addition, the experiences of both current and former lesbian collegiate athletes is an underrepresented research topic. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of 10 former U.S. NCAA Division I lesbian student-athletes using a semi-structured personal identity interview guide (Fisher, 1997) and Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR) (Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Five domains, 19 categories, and related core ideas were found in the transcribed interviews. In Domain I: Stereotypes and …

Social Identity Theory In Campus Recreation: Examining Organizational And Exercise Identification Among Recreation Center Users, Kiel Emberton

Masters Theses

Social identity theory is often used in commercial settings to provide a basis for psychographic market segmentation. This usage has led to the development of organization identification in traditional business settings. Campus recreation is unique in that the primary product of consumption is exercise. In describing exercise behavior, social identity theory has been applied to explain the unique psychological attachments exercisers have to their exercise behavior. This application of social identity theory created the exercise identity construct. The purpose of this study was to examine social identity theory in campus recreation. Specifically, this study investigated the correlation between frequency of …

Response Cost In The Treatment Of Lunging In Dogs, Jennifer L. Sobie

Masters Theses

Contemporary professional applied animal behavior management employs a diagnostic and treatment approach for unwanted pet behavior that incorporates ethology-based causal factors. As in behavior therapy for humans, behavioral assessment includes descriptive functional analysis when possible to determine relevant contingency variables. But this information is then considered in the context of an appropriate motivational classification, such as social or prey-directed motivation or fear-motivated, and treatments are designed accordingly. A different view is that behavior can be treated effectively without a presumption of the motivation through analysis of the manifestation of the behavior itself. This study sought to evaluate the efficacy of …

Effects Of Phenobarbital In Combination With Phenytoin Or Valproic Acid On The Delayed-Matching-To-Sample Performance Of Pigeons, Catherine Ann Karas

Masters Theses

The present study examined the effects of phenobarbital (S, 10,20, and 40 mg/kg), phenytoin (2.5, 5, 7.5, and 15 mg/kg), and valproic acid (40, 60, 80, and 120 mg/kg), and those of phenobarbital (10 and 20 mg/kg) in combination with phenytoin (2.5,5, and 7.5 mg/kg) or valproic acid (40, 60, and 80 mg/kg), on the delayed-matching-to-sample performance of pigeons. In general, high doses of each individual drug reduced accuracy. Drug combinations also reduced accuracy relative to control values. Reductions in accuracy produced by drug combinations were very similar in magnitude to those predicted by a response-addition model of drug interaction.

Stress And Anxiety Levels Of Exercising Versus Sedentary Male Adults, Michael James Hanley

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to compare stress and anxiety levels of exercising and sedentary male adults at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Illinois.

Forty-four male adults were selected as subjects for the study. Thirty-two subjects were chosen from an Adult Fitness group and comprised the exercising group. The sedentary group, chosen at random, consisted of twelve staff members who were not currently in a regular exercise program.

The Anxiety Scale Questionnaire developed by the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (IPAT) was used. Using a provided answer key, a raw score was obtained for each participant. Raw scores …

The Relationship Between Whole Brain Catecholamine Depletion In Carassius Auratus And The Exposure To Inescapable Shock In A Learned Helplessness Paradigm, Roderick J. Misunis

Masters Theses

Learned helplessness is a psychological concept that describes the subsequent escape-avoidance behavior of experimental subjects who are exposed to uncontrollable stressors. Subjects after treatment are unable to respond in situations where escape is possible. Two major theorists, Seligman and Weiss, have proposed explanations concerning the phenomena. Seligman feels that the subject is unable to respond due to the fact that the exposure to an uncontrollable stressor has caused him to learn to be "helpless". Weiss feels that the inability to respond can best be described by alterations in the subject's brain neurochemistry, specifically the neurotransmitter norepinephrine. This paper is an …

Validation Of The Tactual Performance Test As An Organicity Screening Device, Stephen C. Lippold

Masters Theses

Organicity screening devices are those psychometric tests used to detect brain dysfunction during the initial assessment. The characteristics of such tests were listed and ones currently being used were reviewed. The review concentrated on the validity and clinical utility of these organicity tests. From the review it was concluded that the validity has not been thoroughly established, partially because weak criteria have been used. It was also concluded that current screening tests have questionable clinical utility, since an inordinant number of organically impaired people are not detected by the tests. The concept of organicity was discussed, and the Tactual Performance …

Comparative Effects Of Two Avoidance Paradigms Upon Ethanol Self-Selection, Richard O. Shellenberger Ii

Masters Theses

Twelve adult male rats were given free access to a two bottle free-selection of tap water or a 10% ethanol/tap water solution in the home cage for a period of 140 consecutive days with the alcohol consumption data in the form of mg absolute ETOH/g subject weight collected daily. This study incorporated three stages. Phase I was a 40 day period of alcohol acclimation with alcohol consumption during the second 20 days constituting the baseline consumption rate. Mean baseline alcohol consumption was used to block subjects into three groups. The second phase of the study consisted of an 80 day …

An Attempt To Find Auditory Communication In The Squirrel Monkey Via Cooperative Conditioning, Michael T. Bardo

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of The Four Psychological Primary Colors On Gsr, Heart Rate, And Respiration Rate, Keith W. Jacobs

Masters Theses

Measurement of GSR, heart rate, and respiration rate were taken on twenty-four male S's during presentation of four colors (red, yellow, green, blue). Four sequences of color presentations were used based on a 4 by 4 latin square with six subjects receiving each presentation. Significant color effects (p < .05) were found when GSR was used as the measure of activation. The most arousing color was red, followed by green, yellow, and blue, with significant differences in arousal value found between colors. Significant trial effects, disregarding colors, were found in respiration rate. No significant effects on heart rate were found as a function of trials or color. The arousal values of the colors do not support either a linear or U-shaped function of wave length.

Voluntary Control Of Gsr Using Continuous Visual Display And Simultaneous Changes In Other Autonomic Functions, Laurence E. Boyce

Masters Theses

Using 28 male undergraduate university students provided with continuous oscilloscope display of basal skin resistance, this study investigated voluntary control of the GSR and concurrent changes in respiration. It was found, given feedback, subjects could voluntarily raise or lower their GSR. Subjects instructed to increase their GSR (N-14) could do so within the first trial session. However, subjects instructed to decrease their GSR (N-14) required additional practice. With less than 20 minutes of practice all subjects were able to reach a criterion of 2,500 ohms change from their basal level. Subjects increasing their GSR were found to have a significant …

An Investigation Of Handwriting Traits, Colleen Ann Petty

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.