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Full-Text Articles in Psychology

Dissociating Allopregnanolone Mnemonic Effects From Sedation, Sarah B. Hartman Apr 2012

Dissociating Allopregnanolone Mnemonic Effects From Sedation, Sarah B. Hartman

Honors Projects

Allopregnanolone (Allop) is a neurosteroid metabolite of progesterone. Allop modulates cognition, specifically learning and memory, but these effects are frequently confounded by its anxiolytic and sedative properties. We attempted to dissociate the anxiolytic effects of Allop from its mnemonic effects by employing a pharmacological challenge with d- amphetamine. Because previous research suggests that the effects of Allop may vary with the cognitive domain being tested, we assessed both spatial and non-spatial memory. Spatial memory was tested in a Morris Water Maze, and non-spatial object memory was tested on a novel discrimination task. Allop, alone or in combination with d-amphetamine …


Implicit Encoding Explored Through The Flankers Task, Jaclynn V. Sullivan Apr 2012

Implicit Encoding Explored Through The Flankers Task, Jaclynn V. Sullivan

Honors Projects

The problem we examined involves the process of selective attention and its relationship with implicit and explicit memory encoding. One task that has been used previously to examine selective attention is the flankers task, which consists of three items with the center item being the item that requires a response - the target. The two items on either side of the target are the “irrelevant” flankers. The correlated flanker effect is the difference in reaction time between the trials in which the flankers that are correlated with the correct response are present (congruent) and trials in which the flankers correlated …


Biased Visual Attention To Out-Group Members' Skin Tone Does Not Lead To Discriminatory Behavior, Sathiarith Chau Apr 2012

Biased Visual Attention To Out-Group Members' Skin Tone Does Not Lead To Discriminatory Behavior, Sathiarith Chau

Honors Projects

According to the racial phenotype theory, the extent to which members resemble or depart from the physical prototype of a particular race will determine how strongly the perceiver associates them with preconceived racial stereotypes. For Blacks, skin color was predicted to be a primary feature attended to and those with dark skin were more negatively stereotyped. The current study aimed to explicitly measure visual attention during judgment of faces through the use of eye-tracking. Past methodologies measuring the attention to skin tone and its relationship to stereotype judgment were not directly measured. The study used a mixed model design: Label …


Stereological Assessment Of The Thalamus In A Rat Model Of Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia, Jason Lennox Apr 2012

Stereological Assessment Of The Thalamus In A Rat Model Of Periventricular Nodular Heterotopia, Jason Lennox

Honors Projects

Malformations of neocortical development such as microgyria (MG) and periventricular nodular heterotopia (PNH) have been observed in the brains of language learning impaired (LLI) humans. Rats with MG have shown rapid auditory processing (RAP) deficits similar to acoustic deficits observed in some human LLI populations. Threlkeld et al., (2009) previously reported RAP and other learning impairments in rats with PNH resulting from disruption to embryonic neuronal cell division by way of Methylazoxymethanol (MAM) treatment on embryonic day 15 (E15). The thalamus and its subnuclei may be vulnerable to neurodevelopmental disruptions. Studies of MG rats have shown changes in cell size …


Explicit Weight Biases Are Curvilinear: Testing Pathogen Avoidance, Intergroup Relations And Socialization Theories., Lauren Chaunt Apr 2012

Explicit Weight Biases Are Curvilinear: Testing Pathogen Avoidance, Intergroup Relations And Socialization Theories., Lauren Chaunt

Honors Projects

The present study builds on research (Malloy et al. 2011) that weight bias is best fit by a curvilinear function, that is; trait judgments should vary significantly as a function of weight. More weight bias should be elicited by those body types at extreme weights (i.e., skeletally thin and morbidly obese). Targets at such extreme weights were included to adequately test a new theoretical model of weight bias termed the Pathogen Avoidance Theory. Other theories of weight bias were also considered; Socialization and Intergroup Relations. Participants were presented with six female body types varying in weight and were then asked …


Conditions Of Cooperation Between Rats In The Prisoner's Dilemma Model, Malory B. Wodka Jan 2012

Conditions Of Cooperation Between Rats In The Prisoner's Dilemma Model, Malory B. Wodka

Honors Projects

Reciprocal cooperation is the act of working together with another individual to increase the likelihood that the other individual will continue to work together during future encounters. Reciprocal cooperation can be explained evolutionarily because it promotes the fitness of individuals in certain conditions. Cooperation is most commonly studied in humans. However less complex mammals such as rats display cooperative behaviors in certain conditions. This study examines the necessary conditions for cooperation in rats by testing the significance of housing conditions and prior interactions between cooperating rats. We found that rats did not cooperate at levels greater than chance.


Attachment Theory And The Sexual Double Standard, Erin A. Vogel Jan 2012

Attachment Theory And The Sexual Double Standard, Erin A. Vogel

Honors Projects

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between adults’ attachment orientation and their exhibition of the sexual double standard. According to attachment theory, adults who score higher on measures of anxious attachment are more clingy, jealous, and fearful of abandonment. Those who are more avoidant are distrustful and uncomfortable with intimacy. The sexual double standard is the belief that men are rewarded for sexual activity while women are derogated for the same activity. Participants read about a male or female who has had either 12 sexual partners or 1 sexual partner. They then evaluated the person’s …