Digital Commons Network^™

Language Acquisition And Cognitive Development, Veronica Regueiro

Whittier Scholars Program

Language is one of the attributes which set human beings apart from all other creatures. Although it can be argued that some animals , such as apes, exhibit a kind of language, the “language” used by animals and the thought of animals stem from different roots and also develop along different lines. The way animals think is in no way related to their language. Animal language functions apart from animal intellect. His project focuses on the relationship between language acquisition and cognitive development. It analyzes and cohesively explains the research done in the field, and any progress made in determining …

Explorations Of Self: A Philosophical Inquiry, Meredith Rathbun

Senior Honors Projects

Asking “Who am I?” seems to be something that everybody ponders. This concept of “I”—what is it? We all have an individual and unique “I”—something that has been with each of us since birth, something that has changed and grown, but also stayed the same in many ways. My question “What is The Self?” is imperative. What is it that experiences life, if not The Self? When a 99-year-old man watches his last sunset, reflecting on his life, what inside of him is doing that reflecting? As you read my ideas on this page, what inside of you is processing …

Portrayal Of Disabilities In Caldecott Books, Tina Taylor, Mary Anne Prater, Jennifer Jenson

Faculty Publications

The authors read all of the books that received Caldecott Medal and Honor status awarded between 1938 and 2005 and found that 11 included a character with a disability. For each book, they analyzed characterizations of those with disabilities and generated tips for using the book to teach about disabilities. They argue that accurate portrayals of characters with disabilities, particularly the types of disabilities encountered most frequently by young children, are needed in award-winning picture books.

Ventilator Induced Lung Injury, John A. Johnson Jr.

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Severe physical-trauma can lead to the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Currently, the only known treatment for ARDS is mechanical ventilation. However, if mechanical ventilation is applied inappropriately further injury and malfunction of the lungs may occur, and thus, causing a ventilator induced lung injury (VILI). VILI has several manifestations including volutrauma, atelectrauma, and biotrauma. These mechanisms often exacerbate one another adding further insult to the injury. The goal of this current study is to establish a stable control pig model of ARDS as a comparison for ventilatory strategies that will act in a more protective manner than …

Menstrual Cycle Phase And Gender Effects On Hippocampally Modulated Sensorimotor Processes: Classical Eyeblink Conditioning And Ppi Of The Acoustic Startle Response, Jacqueline L. Holloway

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Experimental animal research studies have demonstrated that hormones affect neurological physiology and morphology in areas such as the striatum, hypothalamus, and hippocampus. How the specific effects of estrogen and progesterone are manifested behaviorally in humans, however, is not yet understood. The current study tested sensorimotor responding and simple motor learning in three groups of women - follicular/low hormone, luteal/high hormone, oral contraceptive - and men. Using PPI as an operational measure, this study was designed to expand limited findings which report menstrual cycle phase effects on pre-pulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle response (ASR), a direct measure of sensorimotor …

Gender Differences In Emotion Regulation, Kristiane Madsen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Emotion regulation is conceptualized as the ability to identify and respond appropriately to emotions. Previous research on gender and emotional expression suggests that female children are socially conditioned to be more expressive, and thus may be more able to regulate emotion with their mothers in relation to their male peers. Participants include 144 mother-child pairs at child age points 14, 24, and 36 months and at Pre-Kindergarten entry who participated in a local Early Head Start Research and Evaluation project. Data consist of videotaped interactions of mothers and infants engaged in a 10 minute free play activity with three bags …

The Relationship Between Physical Activity In Adulthood And Late-Life Cognitive Decline: A Population Study, Tera L. Lensegrav-Benson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The present study examined the relationship between occupational physical activity, late-life leisure time physical activity, and cognitive performance/change over time considering vascular factors. The study followed participants over 7 years (baseline 1995/96; wave 2, 1998/99; wave 3, 2002/03) from the ongoing Cache County Study on Memory, Health, and Aging. Mean age at baseline of the 3,366 participants was 74.55 years (SD= 6.64) and 53.03% were female. Occupational physical activity was assessed via the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Late-life leisure time physical activity based on light, moderate, and vigorous activity was assessed at baseline. Cognitive status was measured with …

Disclosure Interviews David Buss. Evolutionary Psychology And Intimacy: The Science Of Violence, Competition, And Sex

disClosure: A Journal of Social Theory

No abstract provided.

Low Doses Of Memantine Disrupt Memory In Adult Rats, Catherine Creeley, David Wozniak, Joanne Labruyere, George Taylor, John Olney

Psychology Faculty Works

Memantine, a drug recently approved for treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, has been characterized as a unique NMDA antagonist that confers protection against excitotoxic neurodegeneration without the serious side effects that other NMDA antagonists are known to cause. In the present study, we determined what dose of memantine is required to protect the adult rat brain against an NMDA receptor-mediated excitotoxic process and then tested that dose and a range of lower doses to determine whether the drug in this dose range is associated with significant side effects. Consistent with previous research, we found that memantine confers a neuroprotective effect beginning …

2nd Annual Undergraduate Research Conference Abstract Book, University Of Missouri--Rolla

Undergraduate Research Conference at Missouri S&T

No abstract provided.

Bibliotherapy: School Psychologists' Report Of Use And Efficacy, Marci A. Olsen

Theses and Dissertations

This study focused on the use of bibliotherapy by school psychologists. A survey was created and distributed to 119 registered and licensed school psychologists in Utah to obtain information on this topic. Forty-one percent returned a completed survey. Results indicated that bibliotherapy is used by 82% of the participants in the study, and 31 of 34 (91%) use bibliotherapy with children grades K-6. Topics most used with bibliotherapy included self-esteem, bullying, divorce, anxiety, and grief. Efficacy varied depending on the topic of bibliotherapy. However, school psychologists regarded bibliotherapy across all topics to be very effective to effective.

Understanding Reported Cognitive Dysfunction In Older Adults With Cardiovascular Disease, Robert H. Paul, John Gunstad, Ronald A. Cohen, David F.

Psychology Faculty Works

High HIV-1 DNA (HIV DNA) levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) correlate with HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD) in patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). If this relationship also exists among HAART-naïve patients, then HIV DNA may be implicated in the pathogenesis of HAD. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between HIV DNA and cognition in subjects naïve to HAART in a neuro AIDS cohort in Bangkok, Thailand. Subjects with and without HAD were recruited and matched for age, gender, education, and CD4 cell count. PBMC and cellular subsets were analyzed for HIV DNA using real-time PCR. The median …

The Effects Of Contingency-Specifying Statements On Impulsive Behavior: Specifying The Dimension Of The Reinforcer, Susan Frances Makdisi

Masters Theses

This study replicated and extended research conducted by Douglas J. Navarick (2001) by investigating the effects on impulsive behavior of presenting participants with a contingency-specifying statement (CSS), or a question evoking a CSS. One-hundred two subjects categorized as impulsive, self-controlled, or neutral, based on their number of impulsive responses on a computer program, were divided into three groups: a control group and two experimental groups. Results demonstrated that impulsive behavior decreased when subjects generated accurate and complete CSSs, either with or without the assistance of corrective feedback on verbal or impulsive behavior. Implications for future research on impulsive behavior are …

Building The Emotionally Learned Negotiator, Erin Ryan

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Development Of Environmental Consciousness And Identity In Surfing Subculture, Alex Mass

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Since the 1960’s and 1970’s, surfing has exuded the stereotype of a laid-back, environmentally conscious and left-wing culture, a connotation often spread through media outlets such as movies, television, and music that encourage the idea. While the stereotype is often known and widely accepted, no studies could be found that actually tested this view. Using a series of interviews and surveys of the New Ecological Paradigm, this study investigated the formation of environmental consciousness and identity in surfing subculture in order to examine the accuracy of such stereotypes, and analyse the effect that such generalized views have on the formation …

Self-Reported Attitudes, Concerns, And Behaviors Related To Global Environmentalism: Can A Mandatory Class Make A Difference?, Erin Mehalic

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to determine what initial attitudes and behaviors first-year college students had about the environment and how they changed as a result of a taking a required global environmentalism course. A second goal in this study was to learn whether there were differences in environmental attitudes and behaviors based on gender and ethnicity. Participants in this study were first-year students at Old Dominion University enrolled in a mandatory general education course, New Portals to Appreciating the Global Environment ( GEN 101 ). An online survey was completed that measured the participants' attitudes and behaviors related …

Sex Similarities And Differences In Preferences For Short-Term Mates: What, Whether, And Why, Norman P. Li, Douglas T. Kenrick

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Are there sex differences in criteria for sexual relationships? The answer depends on what question a researcher asks. Data suggest that, whereas the sexes differ in whether they will enter short-term sexual relationships, they are more similar in what they prioritize in partners for such relationships. However, additional data and context of other findings and theory suggest different underlying reasons. In Studies 1 and 2, men and women were given varying "mate budgets" to design short-term mates and were asked whether they would actually mate with constructed partners. Study 3 used a mate-screening paradigm. Whereas women have been found to …

Differential Item Functioning In Asian-Americans On The Stanford-Binet Standardization Fifth Edition Verbal Subtests, Sheri L. Cardoza

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

This research examined the Standardization Edition of the Stanford-Binet, Fifth Edition (SB5), in order to assess the cultural validity of items using an index of differential item functioning (DIF) among Asian American and White/Caucasian American children. Archival data, obtained from the SB5 publisher, was used to determine DIF of items for the 101 Asian American and 200 White/Caucasian American children, ages 4-18. Potential bias was determined through the use of partial correlation. A significant correlation between item and an ethnicity code (with overall ability partialed out) indicated that, in general, one group performed better on a particular item than the …

Children's Tv Commercials: A Review Of Research, Anees A. Sheikh, V. Kanti Prasad, Tanniru R. Rao

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Grey Parrot (Psittacus Erithacus) Numerical Abilities: Addition And Further Experiments On A Zero-Like Concept, Irene M. Pepperberg

Sentience Collection

A Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus), able to quantify 6 or fewer item sets (including heterogeneous subsets) by using English labels (I. M. Pepperberg, 1994), was tested on addition of quantities involving 0–6. He was, without explicit training, asked, “How many total X?” for 2 sequentially presented collections (e.g., of variously sized jelly beans or nuts) and required to answer with a vocal English number label. His accuracy suggested (a) that his addition abilities are comparable to those of nonhuman primates and young children, (b) some limits as to his correlation of “none” and the concept of zero, and (c) a …

Philosophical, Psychological & Spiritual Perspectives On Death & Dying, David San Filippo Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This Ebook reviews the philosophical perspectives on death, the psychological perspectives on death and the fears of death and some religious perspectives of death. The philosophic section will review perspectives of death from ancient Greece through modernity. The psychological section will review death, and the fear of death, from the perspectives of psychoanalytic, humanistic, and existentialist theories. The religious section will provide a brief overview of Prehistoric, African, Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, and Christian religious beliefs concerning death and afterlife.

The Effect Of Substance P On Ovariectomy-Induced Memory Deficits In Rats, Jamie L. Haga

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The present experiment was designed to test whether pretreatment with substance P would affect ovariectomy-induced memory deficits in rats for retention in the Morris water maze. Adult female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided to two groups: (1) control (received saline) and (2) experimental group (received substance P). All rats underwent an ovariectomy, as this has been shown to significantly impair spatial reference learning and memory (Monteiro, Matté, Bavaresco, Netto, & Wyse, 2005). Approximately 8 months after surgery, all rats were trained in the Morris water maze in order to evaluate both reference and working memory. Results showed that substance P did …

It’S Not About The Money: The Role Of Preferences, Cognitive Biases And Heuristics Among Professional Athletes, Michael Mccann

Law Faculty Scholarship

Professional athletes are often regarded as selfish, greedy, and out-of-touch with regular people. They hire agents who are vilified for negotiating employment contracts that occasionally yield compensation in excess of national gross domestic products. Professional athletes are thus commonly assumed to most value economic remuneration, rather than the love of the game or some other intangible, romanticized inclination.

Lending credibility to this intuition is the rational actor model, a law and economic precept which presupposes that when individuals are presented with a set of choices, they rationally weigh costs and benefits, and select the course of action that maximizes their …

Social Psychology, Calamities, And Sports Law, Michael Mccann

Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article examines the role of situational pressures, fundamental attribution errors, and legal frameworks in how professional sports actors respond to the threat and occurrence of calamities. Both natural and manmade threats to American health are likely to rise over the next decade. Such threats may include catastrophic weather, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and communicable disease pandemics. In response to these threats, professional sports leagues, professional athletes, fans, and media might engage in unprecedented behavior. Consider, for instance, increasingly-devastating weather patterns, and how they might animate leagues to relocate franchises to cities with more favorable forecasts. The same outcome might …

Top-Down Modulation By Medial Prefrontal Cortex Of Basal Forebrain Activation Of Auditory Cortex During Learning, Candice Monique Chavez

Theses Digitization Project

The experiment tested the hypothesis that the acetylcholine (ACh) release in the rat auditory cortex is greater in rats undergoing auditory classical conditioning compared to rats in a truly random control paradigm where no associative learning takes place and that this is mediated by prefrontal afferent projections influencing the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM), which in turn modulates ACh release in neocortex. Rats with bilateral ibotenic acid lesions of medial prefrontal and agranular insular cortices were tested in an auditory classical conditioning task while ACh was collected from the primary auditory cortex. It was hypothesized that lesions of these prefrontal areas …

Differences In Mnemonic Processing By Neurons In The Human Hippocampus And Parahippocampal Regions, Indre Viskontas, B. J. Knowlton, P. N. Steinmetz, I. Fried

Psychology

Different structures within the medial-temporal lobe likely make distinct contributions to declarative memory. In particular, several current psychological and computational models of memory predict that the hippocampus and parahippocampal regions play different roles in the formation and retrieval of declarative memories [e.g., Norman, K. A., & O'Reilly, R. C. Modeling hippocampal and neocortical contributions to recognition memory: A complementary-learning systems approach. Psychological Review, 110, 611-646, 2003]. Here, we examined the neuronal firing patterns in these two regions during recognition memory. Recording directly from neurons in humans, we find that cells in both regions respond to novel stimuli with an increase …

The Effects Of (Rs)-Mcpg On Amphetamine-Induced Sensitization In Neonatal Rats, Fiona Yeuk-Lun Choi

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of the study was to investigate the role of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR) in the ontogeny of amphetamine-induced behavioral sensitization. Eleven-day-old rat pups were given five daily bilateral infusions of the mGluR antagonist, (RS)-methyl-4-carboxyphenylglycine (MCPG) followed by a systemic injection of amphetamine and locomotor activity was measured. It was hypothesized that rats receving amphetamine pretreatment and an amphetamine challenge would exhibit a significant increase in activity, indicating short-term behavioral sensitization. As predicted, repeated amphetamine administration during the pretreatment phase produced progressively enhanced locomotor activity, indicating the development of behavioral sensitization. The effect of MCPG on locomotor activity appears …

Biconditional Discrimination Learning In Rats With 192 Igg-Saporin Lesions Of The Nucleus Basalis Magnocellularis, Michael Ryan Kitto

Theses Digitization Project

The experiment tested the hypothesis that 192 IgG-saporin lesions of the nucleus basalis magnocellularis (NBM) in rats would impair performance in a biconditional visual discrimination task, which requires configural association learning. Experiment used 22 male Long-Evan rats (Harlan Sprague-Dawley). Behavioral testing was conducted in two identical T-mazes. Rats were randomly assigned to either a bilateral 192 IgG-saporin lesion group (n = 10) or to a control group (n = 12). Results support the hypothesis that NBM is critically involved in configural but not simple association learning and suggest that NBM may be involved more generally in cognitive flexibility.

Psychotherapy For Schizophrenia In The Year 2030: Prognosis And Prognostication, William D. Spaulding, Ben C. Nolting

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

A number of psychotherapy techniques have been developed that, to varying degrees, have empirical support demonstrating favorable effects in the treatment of schizophrenia (or serious mental illness [SMI]). These techniques, and the research, vary with respect to theoretical origins, format, treatment targets, and expected outcome. A historical perspective informs understanding of this proliferation. One landmark in psychotherapy research was the recognition of common factors: different therapies embody common therapeutic factors not central to any one school. Importantly, insights about common factors reflected a better theoretical understanding of the psychotherapy process and led to the translation of learning and conditioning theories …

Working With Children Suffering From Abuse And Neglect, Shalon L. Frye

Graduate Research Papers

This paper examines the history of advocacy for the rights and safety of children suffering from abuse and neglect in the United States and more specifically in the state of Iowa. It looks at statistical data concerning the incidence of child abuse and its correlation to age and ability level. It addresses the developmental, psychological, emotional, and physical effects of child abuse. This paper also outlines the role of the school counselor in helping children who are victims of abuse and neglect, as well as gives interventions that may be used to assist this population.