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Full-Text Articles in Psychology
Behavioral And Neural Mechanisms Of Impulsive Choice, Jesse Mcclure
Behavioral And Neural Mechanisms Of Impulsive Choice, Jesse Mcclure
Doctoral Dissertations
Impulsive choice is defined as the preference for a small immediate reward over a larger delayed reward. Individual variablity in impulsive choice correlates with many socially relevant behaviors. Although forms of impulsive choice have been studied in both behavioral ecology and psychology, the exchange of knowledge between these fields is just beginning. Drawing from both of these fields will improve our research methods allowing for a more detailed understanding of this complex behavior. Existing tasks to measure impulsive choice conflate the delay and quantity of the reward. To address this, I have drawn from foraging research to establish a method …
Estrogen-Sensitive Learning Is Not Affected By Combination Ethinyl Estradiol And Levonorgestrel Oral Contraceptive Use, Darlene F. Ficco
Estrogen-Sensitive Learning Is Not Affected By Combination Ethinyl Estradiol And Levonorgestrel Oral Contraceptive Use, Darlene F. Ficco
Doctoral Dissertations
Two studies were conducted to explore the cognitive effects of combination ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel contraceptive use during late adolescence and young adulthood. Three groups of females, naturally cycling, active pill phase, and hormone-free interval phase, were tested on a battery of estrogen-sensitive, i.e., place learning and word generation, and estrogen-insensitive, i.e., map drawing, mental rotation, digit span, story recall, and object recall, tasks. Study 2 was conducted as a means to replicate the findings observed in Study 1 and to manipulate task difficulty and sensitivity. Two measures of mood were administered, and salivary estradiol levels at time of testing …
Mixed-Species Flock Members’ Reactions To Novel And Predator Stimuli, Sheri Ann Browning
Mixed-Species Flock Members’ Reactions To Novel And Predator Stimuli, Sheri Ann Browning
Doctoral Dissertations
Novel stimuli are ubiquitous. Few studies have examined mixed-species group reactions to novelty, although the complex social relationships that exist can affect species’ behavior. Additionally, studies rarely consider possible changes in communication. However, for social species, changes in communication, including rates, latencies, or note-types within a call, could potentially be correlated with behavioral traits. As such, this research aimed to address whether vocal behavior is correlated with mixed-species’ reactions to novel objects. I first tested the effect of various novel stimuli on the foraging and calling behavior of Carolina chickadees, Poecile carolinensis, and tufted titmice, Baeolophus bicolor. Chickadees …