Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Bilateral Injections Of Neuropeptide K Into The Medial Preoptic Area On Male Rat Copulatory Behavior, Peter Malen '91

Honors Projects

The first mammalian neuropeptide to be characterized was substance P (sP) , and it is now recognized that sP is a member of a structurally related family of peptides, the tachykinins. Extensive studies have demonstrated. that sP and some related tachykinin peptides play key roles as neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. The synthesis of different members of the tachykinin family is in part due to the modifications' of three sP-encoding preprotachykinin (PPT) mRNA's that are derived from a single sP gene. At least four tachykinin peptides can be synthesized as a result of these differential modifications including sP, neurokinin A, neuropeptide and …

Bilateral Injections Of Substance K Into The Medial Preoptic Area Have No Effect On Malr Rat Sexual Behavior, Kevin Short '91

Honors Projects

Within the last five years, there has been increasing interest in the role of neuropeptides in the neuroregulation/modulation of both male and female sexual behavior. The impetus for this derives from several findings. Firstly, certain neuropeptides and their receptors are located in brain loci previously implicated in both male and female sexual behavior. Secondly, and most important, is the rapidly accumulating evidence that the concentrations of certain peptides within these behaviorally-relevant loci are regulated by gonadal steroids .

Intracerebral Injections Of Substance P Fragments (5-11) And (1-7) Into The Dorsal Midbrain Central Gray Have No Effects On Lordosis Behavior In The Female Rat, Jodi K. Block '91

Honors Projects

Substance P (sP), a neuroactive peptide, has now been implicated in a wide range of behaviors. One in particular is female rat sexual behavior. Recently, it has been shown that bilateral injections of sP into the dorsal midbrain central gray (dMCG) of estrogen-primed female rats facilitate sexual behavior (lordosis). Uncertainty remains, however, concerning the mode of action of synaptically released sP. Indeed, most of our understanding of sP activity has revealed that its full structural sequence is not needed for biological activity. This has led to speculation that sP may be processed into one or more types of fragments before …

Effect Of Straw On The Behaviour Of Growing Pigs, David Fraser, P. A. Phillips, B. K. Thompson, T. Tennessen

Social Behavior Collection

The effects of straw on the behaviour of young growing pigs were studied in two experiments. In Experiment 1, group of three pigs, aged about 7 weeks, were housed in raised decks with or without straw bedding. Time-lapse video recording showed no major differences between treatments in the amount or daily pattern of overall activity and feeding. Detailed observations showed that bedding reduced the incidence of rooting and chewing on pen-mates, but had little effect on other social activities such as mounting and aggressive biting. Experiment 2 compared groups of eight growing pigs aged about 10 weeks, housed in floor …

The Effects Of Self-Esteem, Performance Feedback, And Behavioral Verifiability On Self-Serving Biases, Diana C. Slatopolsky

Master's Theses

The present study examined the psychological processes underlying the self-serving bjas, the tendency to portray one's own qualities as more favorable then those of others. Subjects were asked to predict future success on a behavioral task for themselves and for the average student at their university after receiving performance feedback on the same task. It was proposed that self-enhancing predictions would be moderated by subject's self-esteem (high or low), the verifiability of task performance (high or low), and performance feedback (success or failure). The results revealed that subjects with high self-esteem displayed a self-serving bias regardless of performance verifiability or …

The Expanding Rol Of The President As Commander-In-Chief Since World War Ii, David E. Kugler

Theses and Dissertations

While conflict has always existed between the president and the Congress over war-making roles, the president's Commander-in-Chief role has expanded significantly since World War II. This study examines expansion of presidential power in terms of the establishment of the United States as a world economic and political power and the development of nuclear weapons.

Case studies were selected from each of the administrations from Truman through Reagan to illustrate these points. The Truman administration is studied in terms of the war in Korea and the advent of the limited war concept in a nuclear-powered world.

President Eisenhower's massive retaliation strategy …

Spark Without Flame: The German Library Of Information A Nazi Propaganda Agency In The United States, 1936-1941, Craig S. Olson

Theses and Dissertations

Most studies of Nazi propaganda have focused on main events inside Germany. This thesis proposes to examine German efforts in the United States in the years before American entry into the Second World War. This will be done by examining one Nazi agency: the German Library of Information which operated out of New York City from 1936 to 1941.

The first chapter explores the formation of the German Library of Information and its goals. The question of whether it as controlled by the Foreign Office or the Propaganda Ministry is also discussed.

The second chapter cover the association between the …

Acute Effects Of Smoking On Prose Memory And Physiological Arousal, Scott J. Krebs

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects smoking a cigarette of varying nicotine yields had on physiological arousal and memory for prose passages.

Forty-five male habitual smokers were assigned to either a placebo (0.1mg nicotine cigarette), a 0.7mg, or a 1.5mg nicotine cigarette group. All subjects were in good health, reported that they regularly inhale smoke, that they smoked daily, and have for at least the past 3 months. Subjects smoked their assigned cigarette in a controlled fashion prior to reading 4 prose passages from a computer screen. Immediately after reading each passage, subjects were asked …

Understanding Craving For Cigarettes: A Multidimensional Assessment Approach, H. Katherine O'Neill

Theses and Dissertations

Cigarette smoking is a serious health hazard affecting a sizeable proportion of the adult population. The addictive nature of cigarettes has been blamed for the difficulty smokers experience in achieving and maintaining abstinence. Cigarette cravings are frequently cited as a factor contributing to relapse. Addiction theories proposed independently by Wikler, Siegel, and Solomon view cravings as classically conditioned responses to internal or external cues. These responses are presumably multidimensional, having cognitive, emotional, and physiological manifestations.

The current study examined cigarette cravings under controlled laboratory conditions. Forty-six male and female undergraduates served as participants. Stimuli commonly associated with smoking relapse were …

Ethical Beliefs And Practices: Do Psychologists Differ From Other Health-Care Professionals, Gary Percival

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Ethical codes and principles, and laws govern the behavior of health-care professionals. Yet, the impact that ethical codes and laws have on the actual moral behaviors of health-care professionals is relatively unknown. A survey on the ethical beliefs and practices of health-care professionals was sent to the United States membership of the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback. AAPB's heterogeneous membership offers a unique opportunity to compare the ethical beliefs and behaviors of professionals across various health-care professions, educational levels, licensure and certification statuses, age, years in practice, and gender. The survey examined the respondents' ethical beliefs and practices in …

An Assessment Of Behavior Associated With Reproduction And Infant Caretaking In A Captive Family Group Of Saguinus Midas Midas, Melissa Elizabeth Martenson

Dissertations and Theses

The present study gathered both general and specific information about the behavior of a captive family group of Saguinus midas midas [red-handed tamarins] housed at the Washington Park Zoo, Portland, Oregon, USA. Saquinus midas midas is a rarely studied species, and detailed information about the behavior of this species is virtually nonexistent. For this reason, this study collected information about both activity budgets and social grouping within this family group.

The primary focus of this study was, however, the socialization of captive juvenile tamarins with respect to several behaviors relevant to reproductive success among the Callitrichidae. The behaviors assessed were: …

Attitudes Toward Animal Research Among Contemporary Psychologists, Carla A. Huskey

Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experience Program (OURE)

The present research examined the attitudes of a national sample of contemporary professional psychologists concerning the use of animals in research. A survey was developed similar to that used by Gallup and Beckstead (1988). Additionally, psychologists were asked about their agreement with the two fundamental philosophical positions outlined by Herzog (1990): the principle of equality and the principle of specific rights.

A Comparison Of Three Procedures For The Establishment Of A Novel Response With Delayed Reinforcement, Jayson W. Wilkenfield

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to compare three procedures for examining the degree to which delayed response-dependent presentations of food would result in the acquisition of lever-pressing in rats. Although there is an abundance of research examining the maintenance of behavior with delayed reinforcement, few studies have investigated reinforcement delays in the acquisition of new discrete behaviors. Historically two different procedures have been employed in the study of delayed reinforcement. In a nonresetting delay procedure a response sets up the delivery of a reinforcer to occur after t seconds, and responses that may occur during the delay interval …

Choice By Rats For Enriched Versus Standard Home Cages Plastic Pipes, Wood Platforms, Wood Chips, And Paper Towels As Enrichment Items, Anita Lynn Bradshaw

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether simple additions to the home cages of rats made those cages preferable to standard housing arrangements. Results indicated that the majority of rats preferred cages with wood platforms, wood chips, and paper towels to otherwise identical cages without these items. Wood chips were not, however, practical with the cages used in the present study. Plastic pipes caused no problems but were not preferred by the majority of individual animals. Both wood platforms and paper towels created no problems and appeared to be useful as enrichment items. The latter were preferred …

Touch Avoidance And Eating Disorders: A Relational Study, Christine L. North

Student Work

This relational study had therapists from an eating disorder program distribute a touch avoidance questionnaire to patients currently in treatment for an eating disorder. This study looked at touch avoidance among three groups: subjects with an eating disorder and non-sexual abuse background, subjects with an eating disorder and sexual abuse background, and a control group. The questionnaire consisted of the 20 question Same-Sex Touching Scale (SSTS) (Larsen & LeRoux, 1984) and the Touch Avoidance Measure (TAM) (Andersen & Leibowitz, 1978). T-tests revealed a significant value of -2.19 on the TAM between eating disorder and eating disorder/sexual abuse, a score of …

Effects Of Phenobarbital In Combination With Phenytoin Or Valproic Acid On The Delayed-Matching-To-Sample Performance Of Pigeons, Catherine Ann Karas

Masters Theses

The present study examined the effects of phenobarbital (S, 10,20, and 40 mg/kg), phenytoin (2.5, 5, 7.5, and 15 mg/kg), and valproic acid (40, 60, 80, and 120 mg/kg), and those of phenobarbital (10 and 20 mg/kg) in combination with phenytoin (2.5,5, and 7.5 mg/kg) or valproic acid (40, 60, and 80 mg/kg), on the delayed-matching-to-sample performance of pigeons. In general, high doses of each individual drug reduced accuracy. Drug combinations also reduced accuracy relative to control values. Reductions in accuracy produced by drug combinations were very similar in magnitude to those predicted by a response-addition model of drug interaction.

A Computer Simulation Of Braitenberg Vehicles, Eric B. Werkowitz

Theses and Dissertations

In his treatise, Vehicles: Experiments in Synthetic Psychology, Valentino Braitenberg used simple, autonomous vehicle designs to illustrate the principles behind animal nervous system organization and operation. The goal of this effort was to produce a computer program to allow a researcher to experiment with these concepts and to analyze their performance using methods employed by experimental psychologists. The resulting program allows the user to design vehicles that respond to changes in their environments and that have the ability to adapt their behavior, using a learning algorithm developed by Teuvo Kohonen. The vehicle designer is free to select sensor attributes, …

Pacifism And Emotional Arousal, Mark R. Mcminn, Scot A. Bolsinger, Stephanie A. Celley, Stephen L. Benson, Cathie J. Lebold

Faculty Publications - Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) Program

Excerpt: "At the age of eighteen, American youths must make an ideological decision about war. Although most probably perceive selective service registration as little more than a rite of passage, others struggle with the ethics of military service and options of conscientious objection.

What can be said of youths who decide, for moral and religious reasons, that they will not be involved in warfare? To date, no descriptive studies have been reported that address this question. Previous studies on pacifism focus on the likelihood of pacifism in eliciting cooperation (Gruder & Duslak, 1973; Marwell & Schmitt, 1973) or aggression (Borden, …

Childhood Maltreatment, Adult Attachment, And Emotional Adjustment, Cynthia Suzanne Nicholson

Theses Digitization Project

Possible relationships between early mistreatment, adult attachment security (Interpersonal functioning), and apprehension and melancholy.

A Curriculum For Dealing With Anger As An Emotion In The First-Grade Classroom, Marlene B. Cafferky

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Measures Of Auditory Processing In The Chinchilla: A Comparison Of Frequency Selectivity Derived From Critical Masking Ratios And Rippled Noise Masking, Andrew J. Niemiec

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Nueropsychological Motor Functioning In Children With Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus During Euglycemia And After A Mild Hypoglycemic Episode, Kim M. Dell'angela

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Pygmalion Goes To School: The Effects Of Goal Setting, The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy And Self-Efficacy On Trainee Performance, James Michael Benton

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examined the effectiveness of motivation techniques for increasing performance in a skill training program. A PC based software program provided structured training to increase subjects' typing skills. Motivation was manipulated by the use of goal setting and the self-fulfilling prophecy (SFP), alone and in combination. The moderating effects of self-efficacy on motivation, defined as a generalized "can do" personality orientation, were also examined. Two levels of goal setting were employed: (1) "do your best"; and, (2) a difficult, specific goal. The SFP was tied to the situation, not the person. It was invoked by informing subjects that the …

History Of Psychology, David E. Leary

Psychology Faculty Publications

Given the expansion and maturation of the field over the past three decades and its continued - and perhaps increased - relevance to the teaching of undergraduates and graduates, it is reasonable for the Annual Review of Psychology to offer its first review on the history and historiography of psychology [except for an earlier historical chapter by Mueller (1979)]. The treatment of the topic, which we hope will be particularly useful to teachers and students of the history of psychology, is rather straightforward. After a discussion of authors and texts on the general history of psychology, we highlight some of …

Affective Predication In Memory For Sentences: Anticipating Meaningfulness Before Meaning Is Fully Known By Alec Ulasevich., Alec Ulasevich

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Wellness Activity Choices On Urban Employees' Psychological Mood States And Job Satisfaction, Ruth Porter Holland

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

This ex-post-facto study was designed to examine the effects of varied levels of physical activity participation choices on employees' mood states and job satisfaction. A six (group) x two (sex) x three (times) ANCOVA method analyzed the relationship of three independent variables (group, sex and repeated exercise sessions) to ten dependent psychological measures (seven mood states and three job satisfaction components). Comparisons by group, sex, and time were made to determine whether four treatment groups of male and female employees who made choices to participate in varied levels of physical activity over an eight week period differed significantly from two …

The Relationship Of Temperamental And Representational Personality Dimensions To Each Other And To Subjective Life Satisfaction, Stephen M. Gedo

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Applying The Matching Law In A Sheltered Workshop, Kristin Elizabeth Skousgard

Masters Theses

This study assessed the validity of the matching law in an applied setting. It manipulated extraneous reinforcement and measured the rate of rocking in a 24-year-old developmentally disabled man. The resulting data were compared to that predicted by the matching law.

The results were important in three ways: (1) extraneous reinforcement systematically affected rocking in an applied setting in the manner predicted by the matching law, (2) a clinically undesirable behavior decreased in frequency, and (3) this decrease occurred in the absence of direct intervention on the target behavior. Thus, to a slight degree, scientific, practical and humanitarian goals were …

Stimulus-Specific And Stimulus-Nonspecific Reinforcement: Effects On Tact Training With Severely Mentally Impaired Young Adults, Steven J . Braam

Dissertations

The effects of specific or similar physical properties between discriminative stimuli and reinforcers in tact training were studied. Stimulus-specific reinforcement and stimulus-nonspecific reinforcement conditions were compared using a matched-groups design. When subjects correctly tacted in the former condition, the experimenter gave reinforcers with identical physical properties to the training stimuli. When subjects correctly tacted in the latter condition, the experimenter delivered reinforcers with different physical properties from the nonverbal training stimulus.

The subjects demonstrated no overall differences in learning trials. Only one subject, trained with stimulus- specific reinforcement learned tacts in consistently fewer trials than his counterpart trained with stimulus-nonspecific …

Within-Subject And Between-Subjects Evaluation Of The Effects Of Hallucinogenic Drugs In Pigeons Responding Under Two Variations Of A Fixed-Consecutive-Number Schedule, Rodney D. Clark

Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was twofold: To determine the effects of LSD (0.03 - 1.0 mg/kg), mescaline (0.3 - 5.6 mg/kg), and DMT (0.3 - 3.0 mg/kg) on the performance of pigeons under two variants on an FCN schedule and to determine whether these effects differed substantially as a result of experimental design (i.e., within subject or between-subjects). Under this schedule, food was delivered whenever subjects responded between eight and 12 times on one response key (work key), then responded once on a second key (reinforcement key). Under one version, (FCN-S^D), an external discriminative stimulus was correlated with …