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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Sustained And Transient Reward Effect On Cognitive Control In Schizophrenia: The Relevance Of Negative Symptoms, Yu Sun Chung Aug 2014

Sustained And Transient Reward Effect On Cognitive Control In Schizophrenia: The Relevance Of Negative Symptoms, Yu Sun Chung

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is characterized by severe cognitive impairments and amotivation, generally referred to as negative symptoms, including anhedonia and/or avolition. Amotivation tends to exist in prodromal patients and persist over the illness course regardless of successful antipsychotic medications, which are known to reduce positive symptoms, including hallucination and delusions (e.g., (Horan, Blanchard, Clark, & Green, 2008; Tarbox et al., 2013). Importantly, amotivation is a promising predictor for later social functioning in SCZ, even after accounting for patients' cognitive impairments (e.g., (Evensen et al., 2012; Faerden et al., 2010). Despite this crucial impact on functioning outcome in SCZ, to date, no …


Combining Attentional Control And Semantic Memory Retrieval: A Sensitive Marker For Early Stage Ad And Ad-Related Biomarkers In Healthy Older Adults, Andrew Jacob Aschenbrenner Dec 2013

Combining Attentional Control And Semantic Memory Retrieval: A Sensitive Marker For Early Stage Ad And Ad-Related Biomarkers In Healthy Older Adults, Andrew Jacob Aschenbrenner

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Past studies have shown that measures of attentional control and semantic memory retrieval are sensitive markers of Alzheimer disease: AD). The present study examined the utility of combining measures of attentional control and semantic retrieval within a single task to discriminate healthy aging from early stage AD and show sensitivity to AD biomarkers in healthy control individuals. On each trial of the present task, participants viewed a category: e.g. “a unit of time”) and verified whether a subsequent target item was an exemplar of the category: “hour”) or not: “clock”). Importantly, the nonmembers of the category were associatively related: e.g., …


The Effect Of Age-Related Declines In Inhibitory Control On Audiovisual Speech Intelligibility, Avanti Dey Dec 2013

The Effect Of Age-Related Declines In Inhibitory Control On Audiovisual Speech Intelligibility, Avanti Dey

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Audiovisual: AV) speech perception is perception in which both auditory and visual information is available in order to understand a talker, compared to an auditory signal alone, during face-to-face communication. This form of communication yields significantly higher word recognition performance as compared to either sensory modality alone, constituting a general AV advantage for speech perception. Despite an overall AV advantage, older adults seem to receive less benefit from this bimodal presentation than do younger adults. However, there is evidence to suggest that not all age-related deficits in AV speech perception are of a sensory nature, but are also influenced by …


Tests, Tests, And More Tests: A New Era For Dementia Diagnosis, Jonathan Gooblar Dec 2013

Tests, Tests, And More Tests: A New Era For Dementia Diagnosis, Jonathan Gooblar

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Cerebrospinal fluid: CSF) proteins correlate with pathological changes that are hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease: AD). CSF biomarkers have been used in research settings to predict AD diagnosis and rate of cognitive decline, however their use in clinical settings is limited. Given their potential utility in identifying preclinical AD and in increasing diagnostic confidence in clinical settings, we sought to understand how clinicians use CSF biomarkers in conjunction with other clinical details to diagnose AD. Participants: N = 193) were physicians and other medical professionals who routinely evaluate older adults for neurodegenerative disease. In a within-subjects factorial design, participants were randomized …


Personality Accounts For The Connection Between Volunteering And Health, Hannah Rose King Dec 2013

Personality Accounts For The Connection Between Volunteering And Health, Hannah Rose King

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.


Emotion Versus Motivation: Probing Dissociable Effects On Cognitive Control Through Task Performance, Pupillometry Methods, And Individual Differences, Kimberly Sarah Chiew Nov 2013

Emotion Versus Motivation: Probing Dissociable Effects On Cognitive Control Through Task Performance, Pupillometry Methods, And Individual Differences, Kimberly Sarah Chiew

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

It is becoming increasingly appreciated that affective influences can contribute strongly to goal-oriented cognition and behaviour. However, much work is still needed to properly characterize these influences and the mechanisms by which they contribute to cognitive processing. An important question concerns the nature of emotional manipulations: i.e., direct induction of affectively valenced subjective experience) versus motivational manipulations: e.g., delivery of performance-contingent rewards and punishments) and their impact on cognitive control. Given previous empirical evidence suggesting that positive emotion may enhance cognitive flexibility and reactive control, while performance-contingent rewards may enhance goal maintenance and proactive control, we sought to directly compare …


Frequent False Hearing By Older Adults: The Effects Of Predictive Context In Speech Perception, John Ryan Morton Aug 2013

Frequent False Hearing By Older Adults: The Effects Of Predictive Context In Speech Perception, John Ryan Morton

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.


Insulin, Central Dopamine D2 Receptors, And Monetary Reward Discounting In Obesity, Danuta M. Gredysa Aug 2013

Insulin, Central Dopamine D2 Receptors, And Monetary Reward Discounting In Obesity, Danuta M. Gredysa

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.


Towards A Greater Understanding Of The Antecedents Of Dehumanization: A Contempt-Dehumanization Framework, Fade Rimon Eadeh May 2013

Towards A Greater Understanding Of The Antecedents Of Dehumanization: A Contempt-Dehumanization Framework, Fade Rimon Eadeh

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Although dehumanization has been studied in a variety of conceptual and methodological paradigms, surprisingly little is known about the role of affect as a mediator of the dehumanization process. In this paper we propose and test a contempt-dehumanization model, which stipulates that, the effect of severe norm violations on dehumanization is indirect, as mediated by contempt: norm violation ! contempt ! dehumanization). Across three studies we provide consistent support for this model in the realm of extremely immoral acts committed by drug dealers who intentionally target young children: Experiments 1 and 3) as well as unscrupulous Wall Street businessmen who …


The Impact Of The Built Environment And At-Home Calorie Consumption On Family-Based Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment Outcomes, Myra Altman May 2013

The Impact Of The Built Environment And At-Home Calorie Consumption On Family-Based Behavioral Weight Loss Treatment Outcomes, Myra Altman

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.


Toward A Greater Understanding Of The Impact Of Anger On Attitudes Toward War: A Consideration Of Three Hypotheses, John Paul Schott Feb 2013

Toward A Greater Understanding Of The Impact Of Anger On Attitudes Toward War: A Consideration Of Three Hypotheses, John Paul Schott

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Previous research indicates that emotion is an important factor in shaping attitudes towards war. Specifically, studies have shown that the experience of anger leads to increased support for war. However, little is known about the mechanisms and boundary conditions of the anger-war attitudes effect. In this dissertation, I propose three potential mechanisms: time perspective, changes in risk perception and preference, and cognitive control. Results indicated risk perception and preference and cognitive control were not related to either anger or war attitudes. The consideration of future consequences: CFC) scale, used to measure time perspective, revealed only weak effects as a mediator. …


Separating Component Signals Of Episodic Simulation Using A Catch Trial Design, Adrian W. Gilmore Dec 2012

Separating Component Signals Of Episodic Simulation Using A Catch Trial Design, Adrian W. Gilmore

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Tasks that require mentally simulating events, such as remembering events from one’s past and imagining events from one’s future, have been shown to involve a highly overlapping set of brain regions. Across a growing number of studies, relatively few regions have been found that show differences in activity between remembered and imagined events. However, studies have not disambiguated neural activity related to task orientation: i.e., preparing to remember events from the past or imagine events in the future) from activity related simulating events, per se. The current experiment uses functional MRI and employs a catch trial design to test the …


The Role Of Loneliness And Life Events: Comparing Avoidant And Borderline Personality Features And Their Relation To Depression, Janine Galione Dec 2012

The Role Of Loneliness And Life Events: Comparing Avoidant And Borderline Personality Features And Their Relation To Depression, Janine Galione

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Personality disorders are theoretically and empirically linked to experiencing high negative affect, such as depression, and individuals with features from some personality disorders, such as borderline: BDL) and avoidant: AVD), are hyper-responsive to rejection. Loneliness has also been established as a vulnerability to the onset of depressive episodes and as an outcome to rejection sensitivity, however the relationship between personality pathology and loneliness is still unclear. The purpose of this study is to compare whether AVD and BDL features might be differentially associated with depression scores by analyzing the interaction with life events and loneliness. We studied a representative, community-based …


Brain Structure In Older Adult Siblings, Nathaniel Lucena Dec 2012

Brain Structure In Older Adult Siblings, Nathaniel Lucena

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Considerable variability exists in patterns of brain aging within and across individuals. Quantifying familial contributions to brain structure in late life may help us understand this variability. We estimated heritability of gray and white matter volumes and cortical thickness in a sample of older adult full siblings: 2-4 individuals per pedigree; N = 75). Estimation of heritability was based on computation of intraclass correlations. Heritability estimates were higher for total cortical thickness compared to volumes. There was no evidence of overall laterality in heritability estimates, or differences between primary sensory and association regions. There was a tendency for lower estimates …


Effects Of Ownership Intuitions On Allocations In The Dictator Game, John Christner Dec 2012

Effects Of Ownership Intuitions On Allocations In The Dictator Game, John Christner

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

People’s implicit assumptions about ownership might influence their decisions in Dictator Games: DG), leading to generosity. Two studies tested subjects’ intuitions concerning ownership in fictional situations structurally analogous to the DG. Subjects read a story about a ritual in which an old man: experimenter in DG) provided an endowment that Person 1: dictator in DG) had to allocate between self and Person 2: receiver in DG). Subjects were told that in some instances the ritual was interrupted before completion. As an assay of their intuitions regarding ownership, subjects were asked who owned the endowment and how it should be allocated …


Discounting Of Hypothetical Monetary Outcomes That Are Both Delayed And Probabilistic, Ariana Mae Vanderveldt Aug 2012

Discounting Of Hypothetical Monetary Outcomes That Are Both Delayed And Probabilistic, Ariana Mae Vanderveldt

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The value of an outcome is affected both by the delay until its receipt: delay discounting) and by the likelihood of its receipt: probability discounting). Despite being well described by the same hyperboloid function, delay and probability discounting involve fundamentally different processes, as represented by the opposite effect amount has on the degree to which delayed and probabilistic rewards are discounted. Most of the previous research has studied the discounting of delayed and of probabilistic rewards separately, with little research examining more complex situations in which the rewards are both delayed and probabilistic. In the present experiment, participants made choices …


Sensory And Cognitive Declines In Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study, Melanie Storm Bauer Aug 2012

Sensory And Cognitive Declines In Older Adults: A Longitudinal Study, Melanie Storm Bauer

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

In a recent cross-sectional study, as has been found in numerous previous studies, Sommers et al.: 2011) found that age-related declines in hearing, as assessed by pure-tone thresholds, begin around age 20 and continue across the lifespan. In another article published from the same cross-sectional dataset, Hale et al.: 2011) found that working memory ability also begins declining around age 20 and continues throughout life. The present study is a longitudinal follow-up of these two studies in which a sub-sample of older adults: ≥65 years old at the time of original testing approximately four years ago) were re-tested on sensory …


Exploring An Interactive Measure For Preferences In Early Childhood, Narges Afshordi Aug 2012

Exploring An Interactive Measure For Preferences In Early Childhood, Narges Afshordi

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Three experiments: total N=53) examined whether toddlers show preferences for people and objects in an interactive, touch-screen paradigm. In all experiments, children watched videos of stimuli pairs displayed on two monitors in each trial, and were then given the chance to watch another video of one of the stimuli items by touching the screen on which it had appeared. Experiments 1 and 2 exposed children to interesting vs. boring objects, and engaging vs. boring speakers. Experiment 3 examined children’s responses when presented with one actor who spoke English: native language speaker) compared to another actor who spoke in a foreign …


Knowing More Than We Can Tell: People Are Aware Of Their Biased Self-Perceptions, Kathryn Leigh Bollich Aug 2012

Knowing More Than We Can Tell: People Are Aware Of Their Biased Self-Perceptions, Kathryn Leigh Bollich

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

There is no question that biases exist in people’s self-perceptions of their personality. However, it is not known whether people are aware of these self-biases. In two studies: N = 130), I examined whether people have insight into their positive and negative self-biases across a range of traits. I predicted that self-biases result from self-deception: i.e., the intentional distortion of more realistic self-views), and as such, people should have some awareness of their self-biases. As predicted, people with positive biases: i.e., self-perceptions that are more positive than a reputation-based criterion measure) described themselves as positively biased, and people with overly …


Patient Perceptions Of Comorbid Depression In Heart Disease, Rebecca Lynn Reese Akcakaya Jun 2012

Patient Perceptions Of Comorbid Depression In Heart Disease, Rebecca Lynn Reese Akcakaya

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Depression is a risk factor for the development of heart disease, as well as for poor prognosis among patients with existing disease. However, clinical trials of treatment of depression in patients with heart disease have not resulted in improved cardiac outcomes, and have demonstrated modest effects on depression. The nature of depression in heart patients must be better understood in order to improve treatment and health outcomes. In samples of patients with medical illness as well as in patients with depression, illness perceptions have been useful in predicting both treatment outcomes and self-management behaviors such as coping and adherence. This …


Palliative Care Consultation Trajectories, Elissa Kozlov May 2012

Palliative Care Consultation Trajectories, Elissa Kozlov

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

In 2008, the Veterans Association: VA) mandated that all VA hospitals have a palliative care consult team: PCCT) to provide services to veterans with life-limiting illness. PCCTs within the VA are new, so little is known about their efficacy and utilization. The purpose of this study is to examine the timing of PCCT consultations and responses; document and categorize types and rates recommendations; determine rates at which recommendations are implemented; and identify factors related to if recommendations are made and implemented. This electronic medical records review study examined 200 initial palliative care consultations conducted in one VA hospital between January …