Psychology Commons^™

Investigating The Impact Of Dividing Attention On Auditory And Visual Object Memory, Sharica Lee, Alexa Salomon, Laura L.S. Werner, Kevin D. Mohawk, Maggie Mcmullin

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Recently, we found that dividing attention reduced recollection and familiarity for visual objects, but a different pattern emerged for auditory object memory: auditory object recollection was not affected by dividing attention. This could be attributable to differing levels of baseline performance with visual memory far exceeding auditory memory. Thus, we attempted to equate baseline performance in both modalities in order to adequately investigate the previous findings.

Musicality, Misophonia Sensitivity, And Responsiveness To Misophonia Videos, Alexis Rice, Jennifer Hsu, Kaela Omengan, Sivan Barashy

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Misophonia sensitivity as measured by the A-MISO-S predicts emotional responses to misophonia trigger videos, but musical sophistication (Gold MSI scores) did not. A measure of real-time responses to videos can capture a meaningful aspect of misophonic experience in the general population. Future research should investigate whether more direct measures of musicality such as perceptual tasks will show a relationship between musicality and misophonic reactions.

The Stability Of The Speech-To-Song Illusion, Jennifer Hsu, Brooke Booth, Jordyn Karns, Rodica R. Constantine

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

The Speech-to-Song (STS) illusion: when a listener is presented with multiple repetitions of a spoken phrase and begins to hear it as increasingly song-like. In the present study, we aim to verify anecdotal evidence that suggests the STS illusion is temporally stable and replicate existing evidence that excerpts transform to song by the third or fourth repetition and perhaps faster upon future encounters.

Infants' Intermodal Knowledge Of Gender Using Faces And Voices, Bijoux Cheun, Christina Saliba, Alexis Rice, Marian Espina

Undergraduate Research Symposium Posters

Infants begin to use intermodal knowledge to match male and female faces to the corresponding voice, in their first year of life.

Infants have more experience with female faces which should lead to greater intermodal knowledge of female faces.

Previous studies have found inconsistent results. This could be due to the type of stimuli used.

This study uses several pairs of static and dynamic faces to investigate how methodological differences may impact infants' performance.

Attitudes And Opinions About Direct-To-Consumer Genetic Testing In Undergraduate Science Students, Morgan N. Driver, Sally I-Chun Kuo, Olivia Nayeri, Chloe J. Walker, Chelsea Derlan Willians, Tricia Smith, Amy E. Adkins, Danielle M. Dick

Graduate Research Posters

Background: There has been exponential growth in the number of direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits sold in the past decade. Consumers utilize direct-to-consumer genetic tests for a number of reasons which include learning about one’s ancestry and potential ways to manage health. Emerging adults tend to be early adopters of new technologies; however, there has been little research regarding the opinions about direct-to-consumer genetic testing in emerging adults.

Methods: Data came from a study conducted in an upper-level biology course focusing on understanding undergraduate science students’ overall experiences with receiving personalized genetic testing results from 23andMe. The present study used data …

Principal Components Analysis Corrects Collider Bias In Polygenic Risk Score Effect Size Estimation, Nathaniel S. Thomas, Peter B. Barr, Fazil Aliev, Sally I. Kuo, Danielle M. Dick, Jessica E. Salvatore

Graduate Research Posters

BACKGROUND: Genome-wide polygenic scoring has emerged as a way to predict psychiatric and behavioral outcomes and identify environments that promote the expression of genetic risks. An increasing number of studies demonstrate that the effects of polygenic risk scores (PRS) may be biased by the inclusion of heritable environments as covariates when the environment is influenced by unmeasured confounding variables, an example of collider bias. Inclusion of the principal components of observed confounders as covariates may correct for the effect of unmeasured confounders.

METHODS: A simulation study was conducted to test principal components analysis (PCA) as a correction for collider bias. …

[Introduction To] Well-Grounded: The Neurobiology Of Rational Decisions, Kelly Lambert

Bookshelf

Contingency calculations—the ability to predict the outcomes of decisions and actions—are critical for survival and success. Our amazing brains continually process past and current experiences to enable us to make the most adaptive choices. But when the brain’s information systems are compromised—by such varying conditions as drug addiction, poverty, mental illness, or even privilege—we can lose the ability to arrive at informed decisions.

In this engaging book, behavioral neuroscientist Kelly Lambert explores a variety of the modern factors that can lead to warped neural processing, or distorted realities she terms “brain bubbles.” Individuals who define success in terms of creature …

College Student Alcohol Use And Engagement In Prevention Programming, Alexis H. Branch, Shimona Kumar, Christina Mcgrath

Undergraduate Research Posters

Social problems and adverse consequences have been associated with risky alcohol use (Paschall et al, 2015). Personalized Normative Feedback (PNF) has been utilized to address these problems (White and Hingson, 2014) by comparing students’ alcohol use to campus or national norms (Butler et al, 2009). The current investigation sought to understand differences in alcohol use behaviors in freshmen who did and did not report completion of a personalized feedback intervention (PFI) in a diverse sample of college students from the Spit for Science (S4S) project. S4S is a campus-wide, longitudinal study on the genetic and environmental factors that contribute to …

The Musicality Of The Water Lilies/La Musicalité Des Nymphéas (Library Resources), Holy Cross Libraries

Library Resources for Campus Events

A bibliography of resources available through the Holy Cross Libraries which provide additional information related to the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Art Gallery exhibition “Gabrielle Thierry: The Musicality of the Water Lilies/La Musicalité des Nymphéas” from Aug. 30 through Oct. 7.

Thierry’s series of eight large-scale paintings were inspired by her rediscovery of the “Water Lilies” landscapes by Claude Monet on view at the the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris. With special permission from the museum, Thierry painted in front of Monet’s originals over a period of 18 months from 2010 to 2012, where she explored the inner musical …

Incorporating The Brain Sciences Into The Teaching Of Business Psychology, Raymond L. Forbes Jr.

Learning Showcase 2016: A Celebration of Discovery, Transformation and Success

Franklin University has been at the forefront of integrating the findings of Neuroscience into its' masters degree program in Business Psychology. The teaching problem has been how to translate the often esoteric research of brain scientists into applications useful at the personal and organizational levels.

The Relationship Between Exercise And Depression And Anxiety In College Students, Joshua Frank, Dr. Amy Adkins, Nathan Thomas, Dr. Danielle Dick

Undergraduate Research Posters

The literature shows an inverse association between exercise and mental disorders. The aim of this study is to further elaborate on this association with regards to exercise and its relationship with anxiety and depression in a college sample. The subject group focused on seniors in the Spit for Science data set which incorporated a total of 821 students. Physical activity was assessed using the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) to estimate the overall metabolic equivalents (MET’s) each student spent in walking, moderate, or vigorous activity levels in the previous week. Sum scores were used to measure depression and anxiety. Overall,the …

The Effects Of Pet Ownership On Anxiety And Depression Among Trauma-Exposed College Students, Dung N. Nguyentran, Marlene A. Michniak, James J. Jung, Christine Q. Do

Undergraduate Research Posters

Rates of anxiety and depression are prevalent in college students and can be attributed in part to stress and trauma-related events. However, studies suggest that pet ownership has the possibility of alleviating symptoms of anxiety, depression, negative emotions, and suicide. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between pet ownership and levels of anxiety and depression among those who have experienced a traumatic event. The sample was comprised of five hundred and forty-seven VCU students who completed an online survey from Spit for Science during their junior year. Linear regressions were performed to determine the nature and …

Human Issues In Horticulture: A Bibliography, Diana M. Farmer

NPP eBooks

This is a comprehensive bibliography of a rather broad subject area—horticultural therapy. The subject reflects a change in the definition of horticulture as the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables and flowers to include horticulture’s effects on human well-being. The number of citations also reflects the growth and continuing evolvement of this discipline. This bibliography does not include journal articles. It does include monographs, treatises, books, pamphlets, theses, dissertations and media published prior to 2000. The gardening references include a human focus and there are references as well to associated topics such as universal design, accessibility, human perception, environment …

Integrating Cognitive Science With Innovative Teaching In Stem Disciplines, Mark A. Mcdaniel, Regina F. Frey, Susan M. Fitzpatrick, Henry L. Roediger Iii

Books and Monographs

This volume collects the ideas and insights discussed at a novel conference, the Integrating Cognitive Science with Innovative Teaching in STEM Disciplines Conference, which was held September 27-28, 2012 at Washington University in St. Louis. With funding from the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the conference was hosted by Washington University’s Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE), a center established in 2011. Available for download as a PDF. Titles of individual chapters can be found at http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/circle_book/.

The Importance Of Female Choice: Evolutionary Perspectives On Constraints, Expressions, And Variations, David Frederick, Tania A. Reynolds, Maryanne L. Fisher

Psychology Faculty Books and Book Chapters

This chapter introduces the reader to some of the influential perspectives on female mate choice in human evolutionary biology, including parental investment theory. We then present two key theories in evolutionary psychology that have been applied to understand variations in women’s mating preferences and choices: sexual strategies theory and strategic pluralism theory. Although the importance of female choice has gained widespread acceptance in the biological sciences, the influence that female choice has on mating systems can be limited by many factors, such as control over mating decisions by parents and men’s control over women’s sexuality. Despite these constraints on female …