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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Role Of The Medial Septal Area In Regulating Prefrontal Theta Rhythm In Rats, Leo Kelly '07
Role Of The Medial Septal Area In Regulating Prefrontal Theta Rhythm In Rats, Leo Kelly '07
Honors Projects
Theta rhythms are electroencephalogram (EEG) waveforms between 4-12 Hz and are correlated with arousal, orientation, exploration, attention, learning and memory, motivational drives and emotions and movements. The last sixty years have been witness to a greatly increasing understanding of the underlying anatomical pathways and mechanisms necessary for theta rhythms. Today, it is well established that cells of the medial septal area (MSA) fire in a rhythmic bursting pattern to pace the theta rhythm in the hippocampus (HPC) and that lesioning the MSA abolishes theta rhythm in the HPC. However, comparatively little is known about the anatomy driving the theta rhythm …
Influence Of Contrast Effects On Attractiveness Of Individual Faces And Facial Prototypes, Kelly Irvin '07
Influence Of Contrast Effects On Attractiveness Of Individual Faces And Facial Prototypes, Kelly Irvin '07
Honors Projects
This study investigated the influence of attractiveness contrast effects on individual and prototypical faces. In two experimental conditions, males (N= 38, M age = 19.21 years) and females (N= 78, M age = 19.13 years) were adapted to high or low attractive opposite-sex faces. Following adaptation, participants responded to a mate selection questionnaire and rated individual faces on attractiveness. Participants also rated prototypes on attractiveness and familiarity, either during the same session (males and females) or after a 1 week delay (females). Results indicated a weak contrast effect for male participants' attractiveness ratings for individual faces but not for prototypes. …
Practical Problems And Decision Making: The Effect Of Strategy And Experience, Sarah Flores '07
Practical Problems And Decision Making: The Effect Of Strategy And Experience, Sarah Flores '07
Honors Projects
What is the most effective way to make a decision? To examine the impact of strategy at varying levels of experience, 270 undergraduates solved problems in college life. Participants at three Levels of Experience (First Years, Sophomores, and Residential Life Staff) were assigned to one of four Strategy Conditions (Analysis, Holistic Intuition, Time Limit and Control). Results showed a marginal main effect of Level of Experience, a main effect of Strategy Condition, and an interaction of the two. Time Limit was detrimental for all conditions, except for Staff. First Years performed better with Intuition than Analysis, and Staff scored nonsignificantly …
Bipolar Disorder, Disclosure, And Their Effects On Employment Opportunities, Melissa B. Finch '07
Bipolar Disorder, Disclosure, And Their Effects On Employment Opportunities, Melissa B. Finch '07
Honors Projects
People with psychological disorders often experience stigma and discrimination, which can impact their ability to gain and maintain employment (Goldberg, Killeen, & O'Day, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of disclosure of a severe mental disorder (bipolar disorder) on employers' reactions. In addition, the study assessed the impact of diversity education on employers hiring recommendations for persons with severe mental disabilities. Participants listened to an interview of a student job applicant in one of three conditions (no disclosure, implicit disclosure, or explicit disclosure.) They rated the applicant on personal characteristics and likeability, as well as …
Reducing Hiv Stigma: A Common Group Identity Perspective, Heather Deutsch '07
Reducing Hiv Stigma: A Common Group Identity Perspective, Heather Deutsch '07
Honors Projects
The HIV/AIDS epidemic affects many individuals worldwide. Coupled with this epidemic is stigma levied against infected individuals. HIV stigma involves feelings of repulsion, discomfort, blaming, and sanctions. I attempted to combat HIV stigma by targeting emotional, motivational, and behavioral underpinnings in an intervention video. In this video, I manipulated: 1) whether the intervention speaker shared a group membership (IWU affiliation) with the audience and 2) the speaker's HIV status. I hypothesized that, when the speaker was affiliated with IWU and was HIV-positive, stigma would be reduced. Seventy-one lWU students watched the intervention video, and then I assessed participants' HIV-related implicit …
Satiation, Habituation, And Elasticity: An Economic Analysis, Amanda Zang '07
Satiation, Habituation, And Elasticity: An Economic Analysis, Amanda Zang '07
Honors Projects
Response rates typically change systematically within operant conditioning sessions. Proposed explanations for this phenomenon include habituation and satiation. The present study investigated these explanations. Six Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to a series of variable interval (VI) schedules. Each schedule consisted of a baseline, same pre-feed, and different pre-feed condition. During the same pre-feed, the rats received the same food as was earned during the session, whereas in the different pre-feed, the rats received a food that differed from that earned during the session. A larger decrease in responding during a same food pre-feed condition would support habituation as the explanation. …
Reactions To Ostracism And Their Predictors, Kelly J. Sanderson '07
Reactions To Ostracism And Their Predictors, Kelly J. Sanderson '07
Honors Projects
This study was conducted to examine how individual differences in personality predict variance in reactions to ostracism, and to explore the effects of re-inclusion on ostracism reactions. Participants completed five personality measures before the ostracism was delivered in a chat-room paradigm. The chat-room consisted of phases during which participants were included, excluded, and re-included in the discussion, and enjoyment and participation were measured after each chat-room phase. Enjoyment and participation decreased during exclusion and increased during re-inclusion. Throughout all phases of the chat-room, enjoyment and participation were positively correlated with social competence and negatively correlated with loneliness and social isolation. …
Social Ostracism And The Effect On Electroencephalogram Waves, Genevieve Nehrt '07
Social Ostracism And The Effect On Electroencephalogram Waves, Genevieve Nehrt '07
Honors Projects
Twenty one female Illinois Wesleyan students participated in an experiment examining changes in brain activity following social ostracism in a chat-room environment. More specifically theta EEG activity was recorded from three frontal areas (the Fz, F3, and F4 sites) and theta power and frequency were compared during three phases: inclusion, exclusion, and re-inclusion. The social ostracism paradigm was successful in creating a feeling of exclusion in participants. Participants had a lower level of interest, participation, and enjoyment during the exclusion phase than the inclusion and re-inclusion phases. Participants also typed fewer lines during the exclusion phase than in the other …
Effects Of Guanfacine On Mnemonic Processing Following Lesion To Rat Medial Septum: A Novel Treatment Approach To Alzheimer's Memory Type Deficits, Mark D. Opal '07
Effects Of Guanfacine On Mnemonic Processing Following Lesion To Rat Medial Septum: A Novel Treatment Approach To Alzheimer's Memory Type Deficits, Mark D. Opal '07
Honors Projects
Cognitive deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease are known to result from decreases in acetylcholine within the cholinergic system of the medial septal area, which projects to the hippocampus. The significance of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine within this context has not been extensively reviewed. The present study measured the effects that Guanfacine, an alpha-2 noradrenergic agonist, has on memory deficits produced by cholinergic cell lesion in the rat medial septum. Memory processing during pre-lesion, post-lesion, and post-drug administration groups was quantified using a socially transmitted food preference task. Following administration of the cholinergic neurotoxin 192 IgG-saporin, subjects exhibited a significant decrease in …
The Effect Of Mood And Individual Differences On Implicit Learning, Kathryn M. Sentman '07
The Effect Of Mood And Individual Differences On Implicit Learning, Kathryn M. Sentman '07
Honors Projects
This study investigated the relationship between mood, cognitive style, and implicit learning. Ninety-four participants were induced with a positive, neutral, or negative mood. We predicted that a positive mood would enhance implicit learning, while a negative mood would depress it. Additionally, we expected that participants with a more intuitive cognitive style would perform better on implicit learning. Implicit learning was measured using the Artificial Grammar (AG) and Serial Reaction Time (SRT) tasks. Our results suggest surprising differences between the tasks; positive mood and intuitive cognitive style seem to help the SRT, while negative mood and analytical cognitive style seem to …
The Color And Texture Of Hope: Some Preliminary Findings And Implications For Hope Theory And Counseling Among Diverse Racial/Ethnic Groups, Edward C. Chang, Kira Hudson Banks
The Color And Texture Of Hope: Some Preliminary Findings And Implications For Hope Theory And Counseling Among Diverse Racial/Ethnic Groups, Edward C. Chang, Kira Hudson Banks
Scholarship
For decades, researchers have been interested in identifying individual-differences variables that are linked to adjustment. One variable, which is believed not only to represent an important individual-differences predictor of a range of adaptive outcomes but also to have important implications for counseling students, is hope (Synder, 1995).
The Influence Of Racial Identity Profiles On The Relationship Between Racial Discrimination And Depressive Symptoms, Kira Hudson Banks, Laura P. Kohn-Wood
The Influence Of Racial Identity Profiles On The Relationship Between Racial Discrimination And Depressive Symptoms, Kira Hudson Banks, Laura P. Kohn-Wood
Scholarship
This study examined the association between racial identity profiles, discrimination, and mental health outcomes. African American college students (N = 194) completed measures of racial discrimination, racial identity, college hassles, and depressive symptoms. Four meaningful profiles emerged through a cluster analysis of seven dimensions of racial identity assessed using the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI). Results suggested racial identity moderates the relation between discrimination and depressive symptoms. Students whose racial identity profile involves the goal of blending with the mainstream and focusing on shared human qualities rather than race as a core ideological concept had a significantly stronger association …